A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

Our trip to the New England states this Fall seems forever ago. Forrrrr-evah! While we were in Vermont, we went to Dartmouth College and King Arthur Flour Company. I'm not really sure which I liked better . . . but if my boy cherub decided to go to Dartmouth, I would NOT be disappointed! Those two amazing institutions are just minutes away from each other. M.I.N.U.T.E.S! As we were shopping, a sweet sales clerk recommended the almond cookies they had just replenished. She said they were her favorite, ever! We bought our one package to take with us. We were sad. We wished we had bought more packages. Because we loved them! One reason we love them is that it's something different. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate chip cookies. And peanut butter cookies. And oatmeal cookies too. But this one . . . .it's different and I like different! If you're an almond lover, then give this a try. They're wonderful! Almond Cooki...

Oh my word! How do the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas seem like a never-ending roller coaster that's out of control? Serious! I need to get in control of this! During these holiday weeks, if my family gets dinner, we're lucky. I'm not talking balance. Or even including a vegetable! I'm talking, if there's something that resembles a meal, there's  no complaining! We don't go and grab when it's hectic. It's still easier and far cheaper for me to fix something at home. The other night, I made this for me and the cherubs because the Mr. wasn't at home. It was so good that I made it again, two nights later! It is so forgiving! Since being gluten free, there are some things we miss. Chinese food is one of them! This filled the void! Plum Chicken Chicken breasts, cubed salt pepper garlic powder corn starch 2-3 egg whites, whisked oil plum jelly sriracha sauce For the 4 of us, I used 3 chicken breas...

It's cold outside, and I'm a little chilly. I have a headache, and I have no voice. It's the holiday season . . . My Mr. had me meet him outside of Costco. He bought me 2 gallons of apple juice. T.W.O. whole gallons! That's a lot of apple juice! He thought it would be great for my throat. What can I say -- I have a thoughtful man! I can tell you what would actually be good for my throat . . . about 3 days of nothing to do, locked up in my house! THAT would bring healing, I think! But since that isn't going to happen, I think I'll do something with my two gallons of apple juice, to help soothe me very sore throat. I made a cup of hot spiced cider for one! Single Serve Hot Spiced Cider 1 cup apple juice 4 whole cloves 2 allspice berries 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon OR 1 cinnamon stick* 1 tsp. brown sugar a WEE little , entsy , tensy bit of orange flavoring In a microwave safe mug, add the juice, spices, and sugar. ...

The Mr. and I recently took an anniversary trip through some lovely New England states. While traveling, we stayed in some fabulous bed and breakfast inns. We haven't done that a lot, as we have had about a 50/50 experience with B&B's! But taking a risk, we went for it! Each inn was great and I'd return to each of them if given the opportunity. That's a good endorsement, huh? Each breakfast we were served had at least one recipe that I requested! OK -- sometimes 2! One place we stayed, the inn owner served this bacon. She announced, on more than one occasion, that each guest would be limited to 2 pieces, as, "I am full with guests and this is all the bacon I had." Which, after tasting the bacon, I was able to translate to this: "This bacon is amazing and there is no way I could ever cook enough to satisfy the guests." So there! That's the truth! Since being home, the Mr. and I have made this several times fo...

I hate when I thaw out something for dinner and then we don't need it. That happened to me just the other night! I thawed out ground beef, with no idea of what I was going to do with it. Then the Mr. figured out that he was the only one that would be home for dinner and told me not to cook anything. But I already had the meat thawed, so the rational side of me said, "Self, why not go ahead and make something that can be used for dinner in a night or two." I didn't respond to myself, because there's a point when self-talk becomes strangely . . . strange! While browning the beef, I got out all of the ingredients for sloppy joes. I don't really care for sloppy joes, but the rest of the family likes them. But while grabbing the final ingredient, I decided I didn't want to make that and I would make soup. After looking through the cabinet, I grabbed a few cans of things and made this soup. I had no idea if it would be...

  When we first arrived in Dallas, there was a fellow pastor who loaded the Mr. into the car and said, "Let's go to Bonton." The Mr. spent the day in this area of far, South Dallas, learning about a ministry called H.I.S. Bridgebuilders. Fast-forward nearly 5 years. At our school, high school students have the week before Spring Break to participate in, "Minimester." Short synopsis:  it's a week to go on a mission trip. As a Freshman baseball player, my boy cherub went to Bonton . . . the place where the Mr. first toured. When the Baseball boys and two mom chaperons arrived in Bonton, a man named Trog met us there. Trog impressed my boy cherub. Trog has his own look, wears a leather knife holder . . . and knife, and gardens as apart of his ministry. In this inner city ministry, Trog cultivates both produce and disciples. This resonated with my boy cherub, who feels his own call to full-time ministry, but doesn't beli...

Many years ago, I met a girl from our church and we became great friends. We shared many things in common, but a real thread that bound us was a love for Southern Living cookbooks! Yes! It's been that long ago when we would pour over the magazines  and collect the annual cookbooks and share our love of trying a new recipe! We ate many Sunday lunches at their house. Two reasons for that: They lived close to the church . . . and we didn't They could leave right when church was over . . . and we couldn't By the time we got to their house on Sunday afternoons, she was able to have all the last minute things done and they were standing around waiting on us. That's the life of having a pastor over for lunch . . . you spend a lot of time waiting for them to get there! Anyway; it's been a very long time since we've seen each other, but I still make a lot of our shared recipes. This one, however, was not a Southern Living recipe. I'm ...