'Fess up

Ok......who hit me in the head with a shovel?

I am thankful though, that Sarah may be able to leave the hospital today, and have bed rest in the comfort of her own home. PTL! Thank you for praying for her.

Sick days

A couple of weeks ago, Kate's 6 year old was out of school for a couple of days with a cough.

Kate was sick with a cold, and her 2 year old and 4 year old got very sick with pneumonia.

We were so relieved when they "turned the corner" and were recuperating.

Thursday, we had a little girl with watery eyes, runny nose and cough.

Resting with her quilt,
watching Little Bear,at least brought a smile.

topped off with my favorite childhood sick day comfort food....
cream of tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwich.

This weekend she and her sister and Anna are all battling coughs and colds.

Friday morning we got a call that our oldest daughter, Sarah, was in ICU with pneumonia.

It was a scary time, Praise the Lord, she's responding to treatment.

She's still in the hospital, on oxygen, but we are believing for a rapid and full recovery.

Yesterday, I was reeling with vertigo.

During the night I came down with a throat that felt like it was full of razor blades.

I wanted comfort food that was soothing,

so I pulled out another childhood favorite.

My Nana's chocolate pudding.

I haven't fixed it in years.

wonderful, just like I remembered.

Berries and Buttermilk

(love this cover...Ashlyn has a little pair of red mary jane Doc Martins, and Sarah had a favorite little pair of red shoes when we lived in Savannah. My friend Donna thought I was being very impractical when I bought them, but ya know? I was never sorry.)

We haven't been having desserts around here much this month, but decided since the little girlies were going to be here overnight, we would splurge. We made a Berry and Buttermilk cake adapted from a recipe in another beautiful book by Tessa Kiros. The adaptation was from Amanda at SouleMama. I think we need new baking powder. And I think our batter was a bit too stiff, I would thin it down some next time, our berries didn't sink and intermingle with the batter. The light touch of nutmeg, and the fresh lemon zest make it especially tasty. Oops! caught snitching berries!

ready for the oven.


Eaten warm with whipped cream,
They wanted seconds.

Pleasant Surprises

Friday was a day of pleasant surprises. I opened an unexpected package from Dot yesterday.
It was a smoky bluegreen version of this JJill ultrasoft kimono sleeve cardigan. It's a soft cotton and cashmere blend, so very lovely.

The other surprise was this a combination of this and this soup from Joy the Baker.  I  used sweet potato instead of pumpkin, because I have a strong aversion to pumpkin in savory dishes.First, tossed the chopped butternut squash, sweet potato, and leeks in a bit of olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground pepper on a baking sheet and roasted them in a 375 degree oven. I haven't smelled anything that amazing cooking in our oven.....ever before. I'm serious. It had the most absolute mouthwatering aroma! I sauteed the onion, garlic and ginger in a bit of olive oil in a skillet, then added a bit of the chicken broth, and spices. I also added a tablespoon or so of brown sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. I pureed about a cup or so of the roasted veggies, in the food processor with a bit more of the chicken broth, and then added it to the skillet. We don't really care for pureed soup that much, so added the rest in their chunky form. With a sprinkling of fresh ground pepper and feta cheese crumbles, it may not look as pretty, but it was mmmmmmm, good. I have to admit I was a bit dubious about this recipe, as I've tried several different pumpkin soup recipes and didn't care for them. I was afraid this would be similar, but with the chunkier version, and sweet potato swap.... thankfully it was not. Surprise! The curry flavor is mild and pleasant.

In The Kitchen

Christmas Eve, we gave Christmas morning breakfast rolls as gifts to the girls and their families.

The recipe was Pioneer Woman's for her orange marmalade rolls. I added dried crannies, and chopped pecans. There was no chance to taste test them, it made just enough to give away, so hopefully they were ok. Something we have enjoyed plenty of times is Sherelle's sour cream banana bread. It is the best recipe I've ever used for bb. I used it the other day, giving delicious, new purpose to some pretty sad looking 'nanners. I've been cleaning the kitchen, tossing outdated stuff, and trying to plan the best use of what's left. We made Costco and grocery store runs, re-stocking supplies. Last night, a big pot of homemade chicken soup was on the menu. It was the perfect comfort food for this "put on your scuba mask" rainy weather we're having.

Visitors and Visits

Happy New Year! Sorry I've been so lax in posting. We didn't wait until 2011 to begin resolutions. In November, we felt led to be more hospitable. We know ourselves, and if we don't put it on the calendar, it just doesn't happen. Judi and Bob, our friends from church came to supper. They brought RieAnn and Jake who were visiting from out of town, with them. We really enjoyed getting acquainted with the kids. We had hot cider, cheeses and sausage. It was a simple weeknight supper of German goulash soup and french bread. Judi brought a beautiful salad, with all sorts of veggies in it. For dessert we had a little brownies with our peppermint frosting! Whoa! There was lots of stories, laughing, and RieAnn bowled everyone over with her 200 game on wii.

On New Years Eve day, we went to Jens for a bit. We hadn't gotten together for Christmas, so we exchanged personal gifts then. For her fam, I had put together a s'mores pkg. Andy has a little hibachi outside that he likes doing that sort of thing on.

While we were there, Jodie and Peter showed up with Tater Tot. Isn't he beautiful?

After a nice visit and coffee, we left Jens and went to Bob and Sarah's.
We stopped at the European Deli and picked up one of Sarah's favorite childhood treats from Germany. They are hollow chocolate eggs with a prize inside. Once you assemble the prize, you're amazed that it ever fit in that little egg! Sarah did an amazingly good ham.

Soooo good. She only put 1/2 as much liquid smoke as it called for and that was plenty for us.

Josie came home with us that night and watched movies and drank milkshakes
(my first eggnog this season). When the new year rang in, she and I marched outside banging on a pot with a wooden spoon and honking the car horn.
The next morning we had waffles with the last of Victoria's summer meadow syrup. (Dandelion and clover)

After breakfast, we decided to put a present to use, and baked pies.

She measured out the ingredients for the crust.

I was excited about trying to make a lacy snowflake lattice. First time...many lessons learned.

She however was intrigued by doing a wreath of hearts. Our berries were juicy and liberal, so we had a few "bleeding hearts". ;=)

I think her favorite part was collaging the dough scraps into "do-dads".

Many's the time I had these for an after school snack, when I was growing up.

While our pies were baking, we did some jewelry making, and worked together on a pair of earrings for her.

They're little pastel colored crystal leaves and clear crystal beads. It was fun having one on one time with her.

This past Wednesday, we went to Kates and did some more visiting, and furniture rearranging.

The boys made delicious ribs and a YUMMY salad and Joe made awesome corn muffins. Kate is working hard to get things functional for an addition of two more family members. That's no small task. We always enjoy our visits with them, so that was fun.

Sooooo, what have I been up to? Evidently from the looks of this post.......

lots of talking with my mouth full.