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Thursday, September 26, 2013

Thoughtful Thursday

I know someone who's husband was in a terrible motorcycle accident a year ago.  They were only married one month when it happened.  By all conventional standards she has every right to be angry at her situation, I think I might be, but she's full of grace, love and hope in God.  Her blog is one of my favorite places to go for inspiration.  Today's nugget of wisdom is in her June 15 post, which I wrote on an index card and placed on my black board:




Friday, September 20, 2013

Peach Sauce - like applesauce but with Peaches!

The Pear Cucumber Sauce worked out so well, I decided to follow the same theory for using up a bag of peaches my mom dropped off. I started by searching online for a peach sauce recipe but it seems the most common recipe has something with brandy - not to knock brandy but we just don't have it handy and I'm not about to go out and buy something else to use up for something I'm already trying to use up!  So I decided to take what works for a peach pie and turn it into a sauce!

Step 1:
Peel 7-8 peaches and slice into medium size chunks or slices

Step 2:
Place peaches into a sauce pan with the following:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
Cook for 20 minutes

Step 3:
Let peaches cool, then puree in blender or food processor

Serve warm or cold over ice cream or just eat it!


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Talk Like A Pirate Day - 2013

TLAPD is becoming a major hit, this year NPR put a post on Facebook and of course Twitter was abuzz with Pirate talk.  It's a fifth year tradition in our home; this year we went all out and hid pirate booty all over our backyard with a map to find the treasure!





Ah, the big treasure!


 Time to enjoy the booty!




Another great day!  We love building family traditions.

Fall, Fall, Fall - Glorious Fall

How I've missed you - all those years tucked down in Southern Florida, only wearing boots one week per year when we'd get a tiny cold spell.  I've just had one week of glorious cold weather in Hagerstown, MD and my boots are happy to be worn daily.

My oldest is enjoying stockings - bright, bright, bright stockings of fuschia pink and purple.  She attends a conservative private school where her uniforms are a bit bland in navy blue and tan so the bright colors really cheer her up each day.  I wonder if I could find butterfly stockings?  That would totally geek her out.

But alas, there is always a drawback.  Husband saw the summer electric bill and is freezing us to 70 degree temps inside.  I think he's willing to let it drop to 68.  This morning I tried, I really really tried to sit in a cold room with scarf, boots and sweater but my spine got cold!  Yes, my spine!  It felt all stiff and rigid until I finally caved and brought a little space heater in.  Now I'm nice and cozy in my den of solitude - i.e. home office.

I thought maybe the kids would revolt, but Sam, the three year old, is perfectly fine running around the house in a t-shirt and shorts.  I've asked him if he's cold and he says no!  The oldest also seems perfectly fine in short sleeves.  Kids, I can't believe they've left me out in the cold on this one! 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Bento Lunch Box

MORE BENTO LUNCH BOXES!

Tuesday's lunch includes the following:  cottage cheese, gummy bears, cheddar cheese, crackers, honey ham, banana and grapes.

 Wednesday's lunch:  grapes, cheese sandwich, carrots, Pringles and S'more's mix

Thursday's lunch:  Cottage cheese, Peach Sauce, Carrots, Cheese, Crackers, Carrots and Reese's cup!

Rose with Instagram


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Random Tuesday ~ Enjoying our new home

I've been in a bit of a blogging rut all summer - but according to the little counter on the side of my blog it looks like I've had 87 days since the BIG MOVE so it's time to join Random Tuesday folks and get back into the swing of things.

First of all - where is all my free time?  I thought that working from home would give me oodles of free time with no drive to work but somehow I have even more to do then ever before.  It might be due to a bigger house with a giant backyard that needs maintained.  Or maybe it's all the unpacking we have yet to do.  Or maybe it's all the stuff we've been invited to every single weekend!

Regardless, we are really enjoying life back in my hometown.  Here are a few great images directly from our yard!

Red Tail Hawk on our cloths line pole

Roses from our garden
(picked AND arranged by husband, he even added the little glass beads!)

Pool days!

Gardening

Look mom, we planted a dead branch!

Well that's all for now; I'll try to not be a hermit or overwhelmed with stuff to do and blog more often.  Have a great Tuesday!!

Stacy

Pear Coffee Cake

Credit goes to Martha Stewart's Apple and Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe, all I did was replace apples with pears.  In hindsight, it's very sweet so when I make this again I plan to reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup in the cake mix.

TIP:  I've found pears can make this type of cake very moist so it's best to eat within two days of baking.  Fortunately it freezes very well.  You can either pull it out of the freezer the night before or  microwave for 30 seconds to thaw the center and then bake in the oven for 5 or 7 minutes on 350.

Monday, September 09, 2013

Bento Box Lunch

I found this awesome blog that's been the inspiration for all of Charlotte's lunches this year - Bento for my girls.  This lady is truly creative, her entire blog is devoted to Bento lunches and she's up to 441!  Here is my first photographed effort:


Mandarin Orange, red grapes, carrot sticks, cheesy tortilla and vanilla cookies.

Husband helped by making the mouse face.  I have it on good report that Charlotte ate everything but the oranges.

Pear Cucumber Sauce

It sounds like a Bath and Body Works concoction or something one might find in a spa - but in my house, it's become a favorite snack.

Recently my mom dropped off one cucumber from her garden and my aunt dropped off a bag of pears from her neighbors back yard - yeah that's definitely a perk of moving back to my home town, they drop off random food ingredients every week! 

My kids however, were highly suspicious of the pears and refused to eat them.  First I tried a Pear Coffee Cake and that went over reasonably well but I still had like 5 pears left; then it dawned on me to make a pear cucumber sauce - like applesauce! 

Ingredients:
5 Pears
1/2 Cucumber (didn't want to overwhelm the Pear taste)

Step 1:
Peel, core and slice pears and cucumber.

Step 2:
Put pears and cucumbers into a steamer - mine is a pot with water on bottom and 2nd pot on top that has a vent for food to steam.  Cook on medium temperature for 20 minutes.

Step 3:
Puree cooked pears and cucumbers in a food processor. 

I tend to prefer things as natural as possible so I didn't add any sweetener and my kids still ate it up, but I'm sure it would taste fine with honey or any preferred sweetener.