Recently, through Tammy's Recipes, I happened upon a delightful blog by her sister, Bonnie. It's called Recipes Happen and if you head over there, you'll see that Bonnie is happy to share her cooking successes, while equally willing to share those inevitable kitchen failures we all experience. Check out a mouth-watering recipe for Roasted Chicken and Veggies, and smile along with her over a failed attempt at Peach Pancakes. Bonnie recently shared some ways to save space in a small kitchen, and you won't want to miss Kitchen Tip Tuesdays.
Bonnie recently held her first giveaway, and I won! Coffee--hot or iced--is my beverage of choice, so I'm super excited to brew up a pot of Gevalia Traditional Roast. And no kitchen is complete without a nice, flexible cutting mat or two. Thanks, Bonnie! Best wishes, and keep blogging!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunshine!
I was nominated by Stacey of Embracing Change for The Sunshine Award! I'm honored. Thank you, Stacey.
Now for this award, I am to answer 10 questions about myself, so here goes:
1) Favorite color?
Blue, any shade
2) Favorite animal?
Dog, hands (or paws) down, especially our sweet lab mix, Sheba
3) Favorite number?
Hmmmmm...
4) Favorite Drink?
A nice, hot cafe mocha from just about any coffee shop, with the cold version running a close second
5) Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook!
6) Good Book or Good Movie?
Book, although I only read at bedtime or on a long trip
7) My passion?
God's Word, my family, sewing and creating in general
8) Giving or getting gifts?
Giving!
9) Favorite day?
Tuesday
10) Favorite flower?
Lilac, as well any wildflower that grows on our hill
Now the rules for the Sunshine Award are:
1) Thank the person who took time out to give you the award - and link back to them.
2) Answer the 10 questions about yourself.
3) Forward this award on to 10 other bloggers - and let them know you have done so! (Sorry, until yesterday my blogging activity was sadly neglected, so I couldn't come up with 10 gals I felt I knew, or would know me, well enough.)
4) Copy and paste the award onto your site.
I am choosing the following gals and their blogs for their inspiring, encouraging posts. Their entries bring sunshine to my day. My nominations for The Sunshine Award are:
Tina of Hands On Home Arts
Georgia of More Like Home
Kristine of The Thomas Family Chronicles
Now for this award, I am to answer 10 questions about myself, so here goes:
1) Favorite color?
Blue, any shade
2) Favorite animal?
Dog, hands (or paws) down, especially our sweet lab mix, Sheba
3) Favorite number?
Hmmmmm...
4) Favorite Drink?
A nice, hot cafe mocha from just about any coffee shop, with the cold version running a close second
5) Facebook or Twitter?
Facebook!
6) Good Book or Good Movie?
Book, although I only read at bedtime or on a long trip
7) My passion?
God's Word, my family, sewing and creating in general
8) Giving or getting gifts?
Giving!
9) Favorite day?
Tuesday
10) Favorite flower?
Lilac, as well any wildflower that grows on our hill
Now the rules for the Sunshine Award are:
1) Thank the person who took time out to give you the award - and link back to them.
2) Answer the 10 questions about yourself.
3) Forward this award on to 10 other bloggers - and let them know you have done so! (Sorry, until yesterday my blogging activity was sadly neglected, so I couldn't come up with 10 gals I felt I knew, or would know me, well enough.)
4) Copy and paste the award onto your site.
I am choosing the following gals and their blogs for their inspiring, encouraging posts. Their entries bring sunshine to my day. My nominations for The Sunshine Award are:
Tina of Hands On Home Arts
Georgia of More Like Home
Kristine of The Thomas Family Chronicles
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Better Late?
Well, this is embarrassing. It's been almost a year since my last blog post. I can't even come up with a good excuse. I do apologize.
Let's see, where to start? Perhaps by sharing a few summer sewing pics.
In June, our church gave a shower for an 'en route' baby girl. I decided to stitch a few burp cloths as part of our gift to her. Fun!
Here's a little tote bag I made as a 'happy' for a friend.
A few pretty fabric scraps turned into reversible table napkins. We're trying to go greener around here.
New throw pillows to freshen up the great room. Incentive for this project? I invited my Bible study group over for brunch. There's a second floral pillow at the other end of the sofa, and I have yet to make the final tan print pillow.
Master bedroom throw pillows and master bath curtains, completed recently as part of the never-ending bed and bath redo. There are still pillowcases to be made and a small storage chest to paint, and now I think I'd like a deeper hue on the bedroom walls.
Here's a laundry room valance I promised a sweet friend back in twenty eleven. She didn't receive it until July of twenty-twelve. Apparently friends do let friends procrastinate. It's fun to write 'twenty eleven' and 'twenty twelve.'
I like to call this the 'Anybody missing a tablecloth?' skirt. Seriously, I washed the water repellent out of this rummage sale home dec print to add a summer skirt to my wardrobe. You can find the Favorite Things Cute Skirts pattern here. It's easy to sew and offers several variations. I plan to make a few more.
How about this 'Who stole the curtains?' top? I had tucked away a pair of unusable voile curtain panels awhile back and recently pulled them out to sew, a la Scarlett O'Hara, a wearable muslin. Remember when Scarlett made herself a dress out of the drapes? Anyway the popular, free, downloadable Sorbetto pattern from Colette can be found here. Google 'sorbetto' for inspiration; there are some creative sewists out there.
A skilled sewist drafted and generously offered online a sleeve pattern for the Sorbetto, found here, so you know I had to try a second, sleeved version. This was made from a cut of thrifted, vintage-ish cotton.
And what kind of grandma would I be if I didn't add this unrelated but timely gem? Our son-in-law's sister had a beautiful Georgia wedding last month. Grandkiddos Ethan, 6 and Ellie, 3, made a pretty cute ring bearer and flower girl, don't you think? It was a most wonderful celebration!
I'm excited to tell you in my next post about a favorite blogger of mine, Stacey from Embracing Change. What an honor to be nominated by Stacey for a Sunshine Award! And can you believe it? She named one of her darling furniture redos after me! She called the piece Red Hot Rhetta, hee hee. It's just one example of her many amazing furniture redos, detailed on her blog. Check it out!
Let's see, where to start? Perhaps by sharing a few summer sewing pics.
In June, our church gave a shower for an 'en route' baby girl. I decided to stitch a few burp cloths as part of our gift to her. Fun!
Here's a little tote bag I made as a 'happy' for a friend.
A few pretty fabric scraps turned into reversible table napkins. We're trying to go greener around here.
New throw pillows to freshen up the great room. Incentive for this project? I invited my Bible study group over for brunch. There's a second floral pillow at the other end of the sofa, and I have yet to make the final tan print pillow.
Master bedroom throw pillows and master bath curtains, completed recently as part of the never-ending bed and bath redo. There are still pillowcases to be made and a small storage chest to paint, and now I think I'd like a deeper hue on the bedroom walls.
Here's a laundry room valance I promised a sweet friend back in twenty eleven. She didn't receive it until July of twenty-twelve. Apparently friends do let friends procrastinate. It's fun to write 'twenty eleven' and 'twenty twelve.'
I like to call this the 'Anybody missing a tablecloth?' skirt. Seriously, I washed the water repellent out of this rummage sale home dec print to add a summer skirt to my wardrobe. You can find the Favorite Things Cute Skirts pattern here. It's easy to sew and offers several variations. I plan to make a few more.
How about this 'Who stole the curtains?' top? I had tucked away a pair of unusable voile curtain panels awhile back and recently pulled them out to sew, a la Scarlett O'Hara, a wearable muslin. Remember when Scarlett made herself a dress out of the drapes? Anyway the popular, free, downloadable Sorbetto pattern from Colette can be found here. Google 'sorbetto' for inspiration; there are some creative sewists out there.
A skilled sewist drafted and generously offered online a sleeve pattern for the Sorbetto, found here, so you know I had to try a second, sleeved version. This was made from a cut of thrifted, vintage-ish cotton.
And what kind of grandma would I be if I didn't add this unrelated but timely gem? Our son-in-law's sister had a beautiful Georgia wedding last month. Grandkiddos Ethan, 6 and Ellie, 3, made a pretty cute ring bearer and flower girl, don't you think? It was a most wonderful celebration!
I'm excited to tell you in my next post about a favorite blogger of mine, Stacey from Embracing Change. What an honor to be nominated by Stacey for a Sunshine Award! And can you believe it? She named one of her darling furniture redos after me! She called the piece Red Hot Rhetta, hee hee. It's just one example of her many amazing furniture redos, detailed on her blog. Check it out!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Cabinet Makeover
This little number used to be a forest green cabinet for my 'church secretary' office. However, since I retired and we put the kitchen TV on it, she's been known as 'the TV stand.' Clever, eh. Had two drawers up top and a door down below. Sorry, no 'before' shots. I keep forgetting to take them.
Sitting near our freshly made-over kitchen set, she appeared tired and worn. Enter a screw driver, some primer, nine thousand cans of red spray paint (Rustoleum's Merlot), a couple of inexpensive baskets from World Market, and ta-dah.
Not one to waste old cabinet parts, I gave the door a few coats of Rustoleum's Heirloom White and hung it over the towel rack in the guest bath, crossing my fingers that it looks more like 'Cottage' than '80's Country'. If you squint a little, it could be 'Cottage.' Couldn't it?
I have plans for the leftover drawer, too, with a little more red paint. If things go as planned, a post on that is coming soon.
Sitting near our freshly made-over kitchen set, she appeared tired and worn. Enter a screw driver, some primer, nine thousand cans of red spray paint (Rustoleum's Merlot), a couple of inexpensive baskets from World Market, and ta-dah.
Not one to waste old cabinet parts, I gave the door a few coats of Rustoleum's Heirloom White and hung it over the towel rack in the guest bath, crossing my fingers that it looks more like 'Cottage' than '80's Country'. If you squint a little, it could be 'Cottage.' Couldn't it?
I have plans for the leftover drawer, too, with a little more red paint. If things go as planned, a post on that is coming soon.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Treasure Hunt
A friend and I checked out a church rummage sale in the area this morning, and we came away with some mighty good finds. Here's what I brought home for $9.75.
Big, rustic basket - $1.50
And a decorative birdcage (to house a plant, maybe?) - $1.00
Leather-handled basket - $1.00
Mirror (with plans to paint the frame) - $2.00
Vintage bread cloth - 50 cents
Vintage roll cloth? - 50 cents
Anyone know what this is, for real? My friend and I are just guessing. It has two snaps, which when fastened, make the cloth look like this.
The embroidery lies face up, then, within the outer sections.
Jar candle - 25 cents
Rustic sled - $3.00
My friend spotted it, but she has two decorative sleds and decided that doesn't need another. Score!
Big, rustic basket - $1.50
And a decorative birdcage (to house a plant, maybe?) - $1.00
Leather-handled basket - $1.00
Mirror (with plans to paint the frame) - $2.00
Vintage bread cloth - 50 cents
Vintage roll cloth? - 50 cents
Anyone know what this is, for real? My friend and I are just guessing. It has two snaps, which when fastened, make the cloth look like this.
The embroidery lies face up, then, within the outer sections.
Jar candle - 25 cents
Rustic sled - $3.00
My friend spotted it, but she has two decorative sleds and decided that doesn't need another. Score!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Just Peachy
Recently, while giving our old chest freezer an overdue defrosting, I came across a forgotten bag of frozen sliced peaches. Since fresh peaches are in (sweet, juicy, drip-down-your-arm) season, it seemed almost heretical to consider using frozen now. Then I remembered a well-loved recipe for Peach Cobbler from Lora Lee Parrott's Sunday Dinner. It's quick, delicious, and calls for frozen peaches.
Warm from the oven with some whipped or ice cream--or in our case tonight, frozen vanilla yogurt--it says lovin' from the oven any time of year. Oh--I usually halve the recipe for just the two of us, since one of us has quite a sweet tooth and is semi-committed to watching her weight.
Some minor changes to the recipe--I add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the dry ingredients; also, like my friend Sharon, I use 4 cups peaches rather than 2 or 3. No oven temp is given, so I bake at 400 degrees and use a greased 8 or 9" square pan for half a recipe, 9 x 13" for full.
PEACH COBBLER
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
3/4 cup milk
2-3 cups frozen peaches
1/2 cup water
Melt butter in baking dish. Mix flour, baking powder, 1 cup of sugar, and milk; pour into baking dish. Arrange peaches over batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup sugar over peaches and pour water over peaches. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes.
'This is a quick- and easy-to-prepare dessert. Also easy to use with other fruits. Especially delicious served hot.'
Mrs. Bob (Mary Jo) Ketchum
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Warm from the oven with some whipped or ice cream--or in our case tonight, frozen vanilla yogurt--it says lovin' from the oven any time of year. Oh--I usually halve the recipe for just the two of us, since one of us has quite a sweet tooth and is semi-committed to watching her weight.
Some minor changes to the recipe--I add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the dry ingredients; also, like my friend Sharon, I use 4 cups peaches rather than 2 or 3. No oven temp is given, so I bake at 400 degrees and use a greased 8 or 9" square pan for half a recipe, 9 x 13" for full.
PEACH COBBLER
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
3/4 cup milk
2-3 cups frozen peaches
1/2 cup water
Melt butter in baking dish. Mix flour, baking powder, 1 cup of sugar, and milk; pour into baking dish. Arrange peaches over batter. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup sugar over peaches and pour water over peaches. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes.
'This is a quick- and easy-to-prepare dessert. Also easy to use with other fruits. Especially delicious served hot.'
Mrs. Bob (Mary Jo) Ketchum
Shawnee, Oklahoma
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Brighten the Corner*
Here's a small project I can lay claim to. We were given three chairs and a table just for clearing them out of a family member's basement. Here's one of the chairs before.
And after.
After sanding, priming, painting, re-sanding--wet this time--and re-painting. Paint on the seat bubbled up the first time. Either I hadn't sufficiently sanded, or the primer and paint were incompatible. Still learning.
So now, this cheery red chair brightens a corner of the deck. For more brightness, there happened to be some wildflowers growing among the weeds down the hill.
*In my youth, I sang alto in church with a girls' trio--creatively called The Girls' Trio. I'm pretty sure we weren't that good; bless the hearts of the folks who patiently listened to and encouraged us! 'Brighten the Corner' was one of 'our' songs. We loved to sing the last phrase:
Brighten the corner
Where (soprano)
Where (second soprano)
Where (alto)
You (and so on)
You
You
Are! (three-part harmony)
And after.
After sanding, priming, painting, re-sanding--wet this time--and re-painting. Paint on the seat bubbled up the first time. Either I hadn't sufficiently sanded, or the primer and paint were incompatible. Still learning.
So now, this cheery red chair brightens a corner of the deck. For more brightness, there happened to be some wildflowers growing among the weeds down the hill.
*In my youth, I sang alto in church with a girls' trio--creatively called The Girls' Trio. I'm pretty sure we weren't that good; bless the hearts of the folks who patiently listened to and encouraged us! 'Brighten the Corner' was one of 'our' songs. We loved to sing the last phrase:
Brighten the corner
Where (soprano)
Where (second soprano)
Where (alto)
You (and so on)
You
You
Are! (three-part harmony)
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