I ♥ Mantel

Sweet Girl and I shopped the house at the end of January to come up with our mantel for the month full of pink and ♥'s.

Apothecary Jar filled with old lace and pink yarn in front of one of my chippy old mirrors. I ♥ chippy old mirrors. ;)
Apothecary jar filled with pink and silver ornaments (Sweet Girl ♥'s pink.)
Pictures by my favorite photographer (Christina) clipped to a piece of string inside a frame.
Oh and see "valentine" spelled out with scrabble tiles? We did several of those throughout the house. Gave Sweet Girl something fun to do while Mom was doing the heavy lifting. ;)

Happy Valentine's to you and yours today!

~Victoria~

Score 1 for Mommy

Recently I found a copy of Deceptively Delicious, the cookbook by Jessica Seinfield, at the GW and picked it up for $2.50. I have poured over this baby and have enjoyed looking at the recipes, tips from Jessica, etc. It is actually a very interesting read for a cookbook.

Tonight I tried my first real recipe from the book and made Lasagna. This recipe calls for cauliflower and sweet potato puree and neither are veggies my husband will eat and I don't particularly care for cauliflower myself. Too, this is a somewhat easy way to add in extra veggies vs me preparing several sides.

I don't make lasagna in our home for a couple of reasons. First, my Sis always made lasagna growing up and made it well, so I just ask her to make it for my birthdays and occasionally a family get-together. Secondly, my father-in-law makes what my daughter calls "Grumpy's world famous lasagna" and they have us over for lasagna so I get my second lasagna fix that way. Pretty smart girl, eh?

Tonight I told Sweet Girl and Sweet Man "hey guys, this is a new recipe, used ground turkey, we all may hate it and I might never make it again". My parents happened by about the time I took it out of the oven and I gave them the same spill as I invited them to stay for dinner.

Fast forward 30 min and pan is practically empty. No one notices cauliflower or sweet potato! Woohoo! SCORE 1 for Mommy!

I'll let you know when I try the brownies made with spinach puree. ;)


~Victoria~

Favorite Things Friday

Paperwhites.....
planted in a few of my milk glass containers.


My husband and Sweet Girl don't like the smell but they don't bother me at all. :)

Happy Friday people!

~Victoria~

Tis the Season...

for colorful gingerbread houses....

fun snowman's for the Sweet Girl...


all things glittery....


whites and greens...

and most importantly to celebrate the birth of our Lord...

Merry Christmas!


~Victoria~

Gobbly Good Ideas

My Sweet Girl would do crafts every day, all day, if her Momma had nothing else to do. :) Cutting, pasting, sewing, painting, cooking, you name it, she would do it!

This afternoon we made Pilgrim Hats (as shown here) for snack time at the Academy she attends.

First, we took Fudge Stripe shortbread cookies and placed them fudge stripes down on wax paper. Then we melted chocolate chips and shortening and coated large marshmallows. She placed the coated marshmallows on the cookies, then we let them harden in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

After that we took some yellow icing and SHE piped buckles on the hats.

They are imperfectly perfect and the best part is it gave Sweet Girl something to do! ;)

Doing this while listening to rain fall and Christmas music. Seeing this view outside our back windows.

Since it's a rainy cool day, and we have Sweet Girl's Thanksgiving Program tonight, I have soup bubbling on the stove. Not sure if I've shared the recipe here before or not but here is the easy-peasy Taco Soup that I make. I'm not sure where the recipe ultimately came from but my Mother-in-law shared it with me.

Taco Soup
1 can tomato soup
1 can whole kernel corn (do not drain)
1 can chili beans (do not drain)
1 pack taco seasoning
1 lb ground beef
1 can/cup water

Mix all together and put in crockpot or on stove. We eat with sour cream, tortilla chips and cheese. My family loves it, so I always make extra for leftovers. Hello supper for Wed night. ;)

Hope you are enjoying your Fall as much as I am! The leaves here are gorgeous and every morning as I drive to work and school I think of this verse:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.
Ps 19:1

~Victoria~

Fall in the North Georgia Mountains

Fall is slowly creeping its way to us in GA. We were in the north Georgia mountains last week and all around us we saw the in-between of the fall beauty to come.


My photo-lookout point Ft. Mountain


My Photo-Warm colors of fall.


My Photo-Golden Delight

My favorite picture may be this one below and I didn't even take it.

Photo credit: from my husband's Flickr photostream


My husband noticed this shelled nut laying on a rock. I can just see a little squirrel nibbling away and leaving the evidence of his visit behind.

We also picked up a variety of apples. Mostly Winesaps for Apple Butter and a few other goodies.

Photo credit: Karen Brugman's Flickr photostream


If you are looking for a wonderful and easy apple butter recipe, check out this one out on Manuela's blog. Victoria picked some apples in September and made this. It was delish and she shared the rest of her apples with me and I gave it a try. Yum! My family loved it, so we picked up another supply of apples.

And for another treat, try this old fashioned apple cake. So quick and easy. No sifting or adding the wet and then dry ingredients. Just add it all in and pop it into the oven.

Apple Cake

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups self-rising flour
3 cups diced apple
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (The original recipe did not call for cinnamon, but I find that it is a perfect addition)

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake 1 hour and 25 min.
325 degrees.


And last but not least, a joke. What is worse than finding a worm in your apple?................................
Finding half a worm.

Christina

A Touch of Fall

A few bits and pieces of fall decor are making their way into the house.



Chloe and I made this banner a few days ago. This was suppose to be my "under $10 under an hour" project for Melissa's party last week, but it didn't happen. There are lots of great ideas over there, so make sure you stop by.



We used bamboo from a bundle of ten bought a few years ago for $9.99 at Michael's. I don't want them for a vase arrangement anymore, so I'm finding uses for them individually. Burlap, which is actually buckram, bought at Hancock Fabrics. It has a plastic backing and is a little stiffer than just burlap would be. I believe it was $2.99 a yard, and this project only took a small amount. Muslin, from an unknown origin, was found in the craft bag and torn into strips. Stamp it, glue it, hang it. Done.

Mr. Crow has seen better days, but is still hanging around. His bill is about to fall off and he is missing some tail feathers, but hey, he can't resist a vase full of acorns.



Alongside is a Kabocha squash, that was bought to eat, but acts as decor until it makes it to the oven.


Christina