Wednesday's Winter Comfort Foods and Well-Said Sayings

Does this look yummy or what? It's so easy, too! Check out this link for easy to follow directions

http://www.foreverwherever.com/?p=760

And some quotes worth repeating:

"Well done is better than well said." - Benjamin Franklin

"People learn more quickly by doing something or seeing something done."

-Gilbert Highet

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." - Selected

"Education makes up what we are." - C.A. Helvitus

"We want to see the child in pursuit of knowledge - not the knowledge in pursuit of the child." - G.B. Shaw

"Educating your child isn't just completing bookwork, it's teaching your child who to be and how to be." - Selected

Enjoy this lovely Winter Wonderland - a Gift from the Father for His Much Loved Children!

Tuesday's Tea Time

Last Monday was my birthday. If you read my daughter's post, you will know that my mom, sister and her surprised me with a tea at Mrs. Teapots the previous Tuesday. (That was when they could work it out as a surprise). You can read about it on Lorna's blog.

It was the best birthday ever!

My mother-in-law gave me some money and this is what I purchased with it.

I fell in love with this teapot at Home Goods and decided that's what I would get with any money I received for my birthday.

On the way to the checkout, I spotted this darling set of tea towels and since they were having their first-time-ever 15% off sale, I was able to get the teapot and the tea towels with my birthday money!

I was so excited! Thank you, Mom T.!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Ok so you know this isn't Denise!! She would NEVER put a post on here for her birthday LOL!! So this is her daughter Lorna. I just wanted to let y'all know my mom is a WHOLE year OLDER!! Good thing is she doesn't look it LOL!! :) So leave a comment and wish her a Happy Birthday!! I know she'll appreciate it!! Thanks!! :)

Thursday Thirteen ~ "O" ~

I'm going to try to finish up the alphabet with Thursday Thirteen posts.

Counting blessings alphabetically is a great way to focus on things that otherwise just get lost in the shuffle of life.

So here goes

Blessings that Start with the Letter "O":

1. Our Father's outrageous (humanly speaking) offer to obliterate our sins! No longer an outcast, I enjoy this optimum opportunity to enjoy an earthly oasis from the oppression of the Old Man as long as I obey the Omnipotent One. He's my Alpha and Omega - I long for the day I observe my Beloved coming to take me to the home I'll occupy with Him forever!

2. Oceans - I've been blessed to observe the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Indian is the most beautiful, the Pacific the deepest and the Atlantic the most vast. No wonder they say His love is like an ocean! Beautiful, deep and vast!

3. Ona - the name of both my paternal grandmother and my dear sweet sister-in-law!

4.Ohio and Oklahoma - beautiful states I've been blessed to visit and one of which I call home.

5. Operating computers online!

6. Oblong oak table - I have a beautiful one built by our Amish friend, Owen, where we often enjoy old-fashioned meal time!

7. Orange Free State - one of South Africa's most beautiful provinces that I've been blessed to visit. My friend, Eleanor's daughter lives in it's beautiful city of Bloemfontein. The beautiful fields of sunflowers there are a sight to behold!

8. Oval - my favorite shape! I'm so glad God created that one!

9. Organ - I LOVE to play the organ and have been the organist at four different churches.

10.Orthopedic Operations - have given my son an extra-ordinary lease on life!

11. Ottoman - love my big ottoman!

12. Organize - working on getting organized - again. It's awful hard with surgeries interrupting all the time, let me tell you!

13. Orthodontics - my first job was working as a nanny for my orthodontist, Dr. Ann Wilson in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

Tuesday's Tea Time

While visiting my in-laws over the holidays, I came across my husband's grandmother's recipe box. The recipe cards were so neatly written out in her schoolteacher-perfect handwriting.

This card made me the most excited as I read, " Afternoon Tea Cakes" !

I planned to make them for our afternoon tea time today; but, alas, I spent most of the day getting my husband to his doctor's appointment and home.
We had a winter storm advisery and icy roads so ... Smile!

I do hope you'll stay and enjoy a cup of hot tea and sample some delicacies left from the holidays.

Don't you just love my teapot? It was Grandma's, too! Isn't the electric cord interesting?
I'm afraid to try it, though it probably still works. I love this moss rose pattern.
We can have hard boiled eggs in the matching egg cups that were also hers
and we'll share our sweets on the pretty matching dish that my mom gave me!
If you'll come back tomorrow, I'll have some of these "Afternoon Tea Cakes" for us to try.
I do wonder who shared this recipe with Grandma and when and with whom she shared them.
It would be fun to know, wouldn't it?
In case you can't read the recipe from the picture, here it is:

Afternoon Tea Cakes

1 cup shortening

2 c. brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 c. flour

Cream sugar and shortening. Add egg, then sifted dry ingredients. Chill, roll into log and cut. Bake on greased baking sheet 8-10 minutes at 450 degrees.

- Eula Truesdale
Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

Good Morning! It's a little chilly out this morning but the sun is shining! Hurray!

There's nothing like sunshine to give a cheery start to the week, is there?

January is not only the beginning of a new year, but it's also the beginning of the second semester of school. With a senior that needs to have all of his work done by the first part of April, I decided I would need to be VERY organized to make sure everything that needs to happen this semester - HAPPEN! First on the list is my menu. Everything goes smoother when the family is well-fed so... Here is our menu for this week and a recipe for

THE BEST HASHBROWN CASSEROLE EVER!

Monday: Spaghetti

Crescent Rolls

Cole Slaw

Tuesday: Hashbrown Casserole

Applesauce

Peas

Wednesday: Baked Pork Chops

Rice and Gravy

Salad

Thursday: Chicken Tacos

Friday: Fish Sticks

Macaroni and Cheese

Green Beans

Saturday: Chicken Rice

Corn

Applesauce

Blueberry Muffins

Sunday: Pork Roast / Potatoes / Carrots

Jello

Rolls

Green Beans

Best Hashbrown Casserole Ever!

2 pkgs. frozen hashbrowns

2 cans cream of chicken soup

16 oz. sour cream

1 stick butter / margarine

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degees. Melt one stick of butter. Mix with potatoes, soup, sour cream and cheese. Put in greased 9 x 13 and bake uncovered for an hour. This can also be baked for 45 minutes, cooled and frozen for use at a later date. I like to make two at a time and freeze one. Just set in fridge the night before and bake for 20-30 minutes before supper.

Have a wonderfully blessed week!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and your family!

May this be the best year you've ever had!