A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

For my birthday this year, my mom gave me this beautiful sign. A friend that she works with made it! It's on an old cabinet door -- it weights a ton! I was so excited for the holiday season to come around so that I could put it on my dining room tablescape! That's why we have a dining room table -- to decorate, not to eat at! Matter of fact, sad truth is, we haven't sat at this table in 2 years! Really! Look at all the stuff on the table -- it'd be such a hassle to move! So instead, we just decorate it every season and look at it! I just LOVE  this sign and knowing me I'll be using it in different ways all throughout the year -- not just at Christmas! My great grandmother simply loved birds, especially cardinals. I remember as a young girl, going to her house and in her backyard were lots and lots of bird feeders and we'd watch the cardinals peck away at the food. My grandmother has been in heaven for nearly 2...

Candied Bacon Bites It sounds strange, I know.  But keep an open mind and give it a try before you rule it out! Please! Some call it "Pig Candy," others call it "Sugared Bacon," but most call it "Candied Bacon." It's versatile, I think. "I think" is what I've been doing while I am making this appetizer. "I think" is what you do when you are cooking 11 pounds of Candied Bacon! I am cooking enough "Candied Bacon Bites" so that 300 women sample this treat at a holiday event tomorrow night! "I think" candied bacon will be good: crumbled into a salad a twist for a BLT a toast point with a small scoop of pimento cheese and a garnish of candied bacon cream cheese with a bit of blue cheese mixed in, spread on a cracker with a bite of bacon on top on a turkey, Swiss cheese, and candied bacon sandwich a cream cheese, candied bacon, and apple dip.  I don't know how to make that yet, but...

Image of basket of eggs used from the internet The other day I walked into the library at school and they were having a breakfast birthday party for the librarian. It was a very cute idea -- there was coffee, a breakfast casserole and a donut birthday cake!  I resisted everything at the moment . . . then! A friend of mine told me, after the party, that the breakfast casserole was absolutely yummy and I needed to take a bite. So I did. I don't like hurting people's feelings! She was right -- it was so yummy! So I asked the girl who made it for the recipe. And you know what? She doesn't like hurting people's feelings either! She gave me the recipe! Yeah, her! She said it's from a Gooseberry Patch cookbook.  Those are usually good cookbooks, if you haven't heard of them before.  I know the name of the casserole has got be be something different -- but I don't remember, so I renamed it! Speaking of Gooseberry Patch, here is the ...

Psalm 145:7 "They will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness."

Not long ago I was doing a lunch for a group of ladies and I wanted to serve a cranberry wild rice side dish. I was researching how to keep rice warm and discovered that it's not really safe to keep rice warm! Warm rice encourages bacterial growth. I know -- try not to think about all the times you've eaten "kept warm" rice.  Proof that it was OK is that you're still living -- but I didn't want to be responsible for ladies getting sick! So I changed the plan and made a cold wild rice salad. I've never eaten anything like it before and I was kind of creating as I was going. It actually turned out to be a nice side dish with the chicken. Later that evening, I even topped a spinach salad with a scoop of the wild rice salad and drizzle poppyseed dressing over it.  I surprised myself there too!  I liked the way the rice changed the texture of the salad! Wild Rice  Harvest Salad 1 box of wild rice (no seasoning packet needed) craisins, to...

The other day I cooked lunch for a meeting of a small group of women. When I do this, I usually go with my "stand-bys."  Those tried and true recipes that are easy to prepare and taste great! But this time, I went out on a limb and made a new casserole . . . and a new side . . . it was a whole new day! Actually, I'm not afraid to try a new recipe on unsuspecting guests -- it's a great way to see if it's a hit or not!  If you think about it -- when you're having company over, just about anything you make for them is "new."  So whether it's tried and true to you -- it makes no difference to them!  This casserole, when I was making it, I kept thinking, "ummm, I don't know.  I'm not so sure this is going to be good."  It's a Paula Deen recipe, and normally those are great.  Granted, I often make minor adjustments to them after the first time I cook them, but over-all, they're trustworthy. But I was...

I've said it before . . . I am not ashamed . . . I  L.O.V.E bread! I love to make bread -- but that's not the only way to have "good" bread!  You can find some great breads at a local bakery or the deli section of your grocery store . . . or in the freezer section! That's right!  The freezer section! I love these rolls: You can bake them off and serve them hot, which, by the way, melts your butter just perfectly!  Or, if you need to, you can thaw them out in the bag and dump them into your serving bowl and serve them room temperature. Which is exactly what I did today! They are great!  They're moist.  They're tasty.  And the best part of all -- they're easy! Right now, I've got 2 thawing out and I'm going to make my cherubs little grilled chicken sliders for their lunch tomorrow!  That's lunch-box envy, don't you think?