OK, So It's NOT the Iron Chef Competion

Being the partying kind of fools we are, we DIDN'T have an Iron Chef Competition, or light 89 candles on a beautiful cake only to blow them out. Although I wish we had been there for both events! Laurence and I spent Valentine's Day canning beef stew!! Bet you wish you'd been here:)
We are going to mom's this week. She told us on Thursday that they had made special arrangements with the butcher place that we could pick up our 1/2 beef while we are there. If you could see my freezer you would know why this sent me into panic mode! There was only one choice..... eat it and can it. I had 8 packages of stew meat that were taking up space. Laurence and I turned them into 8 quarts and 20 pints of beef stew. YUM!!! I am so tickled to be looking at this on our pantry shelf!! (I think my church calling is affecting my brain....)
AND..... after all the fun was over we cooked filet mignon and peach cobbler for dinner! It was a wonderful day!! Not to mention the beautiful rose Laurence gave me.
Happy Valentine's to All!!

My Favorite Things

I was writing 25 things about me on Facebook and realized that I have many, many favorite things. The top of my list of favorite things is my family. I have a picture of my family here along with one of my oil lamps that I really like. My sister-in-law collects these and really knows about them. I just know I like them. Here it is sitting on a beautifully cut mirror that I got at a garage sale, on a doily that I got at an antique store. More of my favorite things. I thin I'm going to post more of my favorite things in the future.

A Honey of a Mustard

Well I tried something new. Making my own Hot Honey Mustard. Now those of you who know me will find that really odd since I don't like any kind of mustard. But, I am trying to finish up converting some recipes from sugar to honey. I had this recipe that I used to make for my mother-in-law and she loved it! It was called hot honey mustard and didn't have one bit of honey in it. It was all sugar!! So I decided to work on converting it over. Laurence says it is great!! Just not hot enough, (but nothing is). So now we have the perfected Hot Honey Mustard with honey! We went out tonight and ate Chinese. I took along my bottle of mustard for Laurence to try. Here it is with their mustard and cocktail sauce.

HOT HONEY MUSTARD

1/2 c. high quality dry mustard
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. honey
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. miracle whip salad dressing

In a stainless steel pot mix together dry mustard and vinegar. Let stand overnight in pan.
In the morning cook mustard and vinegar mixture over low heat stirring constantly until it boils.
Cool.
Add salt and miracle whip mixing well. Can use immediately or store covered in refrigerator until ready for use.

I Am So Blessed!!

For quite some time now (a couple of years), my stove has been on it's deathbed. But, I kept nursing it along. I didn't really have the cash. I was down to one burner that worked well. The oven was still fine.
Last Sunday (a week ago), in church they asked if anyone needed a stove. Someone in town got a new one and their old one worked great, they just didn't need it anymore. We told them that if no one else needed it we would take it. No one else needed it. YEAH!!!!!Last Saturday, Brother Sloan brought it over and helped Laurence get it installed. Look at how it matches the dishwasher!! It was meant to be!! All I had to do was change the bottom panel on the dishwasher to match the stove and wa-la!! My efforts to be debt free are truly being blessed. Did I mention that this one is electronic AND SELF-CLEANING?! Neither of which my old one was!!

It's a Great Way to Spend Boxing Day

Aisling and I spent part of the day today canning spaghetti sauce. Last summer my tomatoes couldn't really get with the program. I took the tomatoes as I got them; blanched and quartered them and put them in the freezer. This morning the job was half done!I must say it sure beats canning during the heat of the summer!! We did 17 1/2 pints, now she'll have even more food to take back to school with her.

Hmmm... Glad We Weren't Christmas Dinner!!

Lately I've been wondering if I actually own my home and property or if we happen to be placed in the middle of someone's wildlife refuge. :)The turkeys seem to be back for a while. They usually come during the winter. They do a great job cleaning up under the bird feeders;) These guys are pretty fat, they'd make a great dinner for someone willing to do it. I remember once when mom and dad were gone, Grandma & Grandpa Baird were staying with my brother and me. There was a sage hen in the yard. Grandma had my brother go shoot it, then we had it for dinner. There was NO WAY I was going to eat it. I still feel that way.

They all seem to live in harmony...... I just wish the deer would live happily in someone else's yard.

No wonder I can't keep my birdbath filled!!

It's a Wonderful Life!

This year, for the first time in years, we stayed home for Christmas. We knew we would miss Christmas Eve with family so we looked for ways to make our own memorable.
Santa always brings us new jammies on Christmas Eve. This year, instead of getting jammies, Laurence got a cool Belgian Waffle Maker. We had a waffle supper, for the waffles we had whipped cream, frozen fruit, ice cream (my personal favorite), maple syrup, and blueberry topping. What a FUN supper!

This is my waffle with Double Strawberry ice cream. It was YUMMY!!

Then we each shared a Christmas Story along with some pitiful singing of Christmas Carols.

We watched a movie of the Christmas Story from Luke.

What a wonderful evening. It was just the three of us, but it was so nice. I feel so blessed tonight.