Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Banana and Blueberry Pancakes


I follow the 'Comfort of Cooking' on facebook and they posted this scrumptious recipe the other day. Banana and Blueberry Pancakes with Cinnamon vanilla butter. The pancakes were SO delicious. Here's the link for the recipe. I didn't make the cinnamon vanilla butter but instead made some orange butter that my Mom makes. All you need is to soften up a stick of butter and whip in some orange zest and about a teaspoon of orange juice. It's oh so yummy!

pic courtesy of 'CC'

Monday, February 21, 2011

Campbell's Covered Bridge


This afternoon we took a family excursion to the only covered bridge in South Carolina. It was built in 1909 and it still looks beautiful! The area has been renovated and there are even picnic tables and hiking trails you can check out. Here's a link with directions and more history.




Thursday, February 10, 2011

Herbed Dinner Rolls

I don't know what it is about homemade bread that gets so complicated sometimes. I have had my issues in the past, not adding the yeast at the right time or temperature, over kneading, not rising enough etc... But I found this recipe at Annie's Eats and was excited to make them. It looked easy enough!! So, I went step by step very carefully and everything turned out beautifully. I stuck them in the oven and the house started to smell so good. Then our company came over and I completely forgot about my rolls (partially b/c I forgot to turn the timer on) I remembered them about 30 minutes too late. : ( Needless to say they were worthless hard, burnt rolls. Grrrr!!!! That was a few months ago so I decided to give these guys another try. And second time was a CHARM!!! They turned out so yummy. These herbed rolls have parsley, rosemary, chives, thyme, sage, basil, dill....oh my! Check out the recipe HERE and enjoy.

P.S Don't forget to set your timer! ; )

Friday, January 28, 2011

Robert Sabuda Pop up Books


This is AmAzInG! I had never heard of Robert Sabuda but I am truly impressed by his pop art books! Read more about his beautiful creations at Snowy Bliss blog or Robert Sabuda.com
Amazon also sells his books. Here are some pictures of Cinderella and Alice and Wonderland pop up books that Anj over at Snowy Bliss captured.




Thursday, January 27, 2011

A walk down memory 'cake' lane...


My son's 2nd birthday is coming up and I couldn't be more excited! I love planning parties and baking cakes or cupcakes. My daughter is getting very particular when it comes to her birthday cakes but it's still easy to choose something for my son. ;) I thought I'd post a few of the birthday creations I've made through the years. I can't wait for the many more to come! There's been a first bday cake for Miss Emma, barnyard cupcakes, a princess castle, one huge cupcake, toy story jessie and chocolate cupcakes with the cutest topper ever. (And I'm not biased or anything. );) This year for Mr. Luke's birthday I didn't have to think long and hard. There isn't anything he loves more than BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! So, check back in March to see how that cake turns out. ;) I love searching the web for birthday ideas but some of my favorite sites are hostess with the mostess and of course etsy!





Thursday, January 20, 2011

How can I know God?

Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? It's the most important decision of your life.


How Can I Know God? from Frazor Team on Vimeo.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gingerbread Waffles

I think I've found the perfect recipe for Christmas morning breakfast! These waffles look so delicious! I love anything gingerbread... Here is the link to the recipe. (pic from annie's eats)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hot Chocolate goodness...

This evening the weather got bitter cold. (at least for us in South Carolina it did at 22 degrees ) ;o) It was the perfect night to sit by the fire and sip on some hot cocoa. Williams-Sonoma has some superb hot chocolate for all you hot cocoa connoisseurs out there. A friend of mine recommended it... so we gave it a try. In her words it will ''turn you into a hot chocolate snob''. You definitely won't think Nesquik tastes quite as good from now on. ; )

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Cleta Bailey's Toffee Squares


I made these for a Christmas party this week. Super easy, quick and tasty! Check out the recipe from pioneer woman here. (pic courtesy of pw)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Remembering the First Thanksgiving


This is a wonderful article that I found at crosswalk.com. I posted the first part of it here and I encourage you to read the rest in the link above. It only takes a few minutes of your time and it's a good reminder of how the First Thanksgiving really happened.

A few forgotten facts:

Half the Pilgrims that began their new life in Plymouth died in the winter of 1620

The first thanksgiving lasted three whole days

William Bradford (Governor of Plymouth) proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to God and the Pilgrims invited their Indian friends


"I'd stuffed many a turkey before I really understood Thanksgiving. Oh sure, I knew we were supposed to be thankful, and once I became a Christian I knew who we were thanking. But it wasn’t ‘til I taught my children at home that I really got the whole story.

Unfortunately, these days that story keeps getting harder to find.

For years, many public schools have left God out of Thanksgiving, teaching instead that the Pilgrims gave a party to thank the Native Americans or Mother Earth. Even more current are claims that the first Thanksgiving was a copy of European harvest festivals or a stolen Native American custom, or just a repeat of thanksgivings by other explorers.

But the Pilgrims’ own writings, and the historical events leading to the first Thanksgiving show the traditional accounts (available in pre-1960 books and encyclopedias) to be authentic. Thanksgiving was not as an isolated event, or an imitation, but a uniquely inspired Christian celebration – the culmination of a long journey of faith in which the Pilgrims had relied on God and trusted him through many adversities.

If the story is not to be forgotten, it is today’s Christian parents who must pass it on.

This year, make sure your celebration of Thanksgiving includes this portrait of God’s hand in history bringing people together to accomplish specific purposes – as well as the lesson of 1Thessalonian 5:18:"

Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Continue reading the rest here.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Mini pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting


I saw the most adorable little muffins over at Life of Bliss last month. I've been waiting for the perfect occasion to make these and finally had a chance. I took them to our monthly ladies Bible study at my church. With Thanksgiving coming up they would also make the perfect little addition to your table. Check out the instructions here.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Blackberry Scones

I've experimented with several different scone recipes and found one I liked on all recipes here. But I decided to buy Williams Sonoma's Garvey's Traditional Scone mix this time around. They were very delicious and more moist than the all recipes one. You can find the mix at your local Williams Sonoma store or online here. I added blackberries to my scones. They turned out so yummy and they go perfectly with a cup of black tea.





Saturday, August 21, 2010

Monkeying around

Today is a rainy Saturday and the kids were getting a little restless so we decided to just go bananas!! Ha! I thought it would be fun to have a 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed' themed morning. We started off by reading the book and then we watched the song below. I also found a page for Emma to color here. We made some banana pudding (which Luke really enjoyed) =), played her 5 Monkeys board game, made Curious George face masks here and read some more books. I think it was a success. Now it's nap time.....ahhhhhhh. : )








Thursday, July 15, 2010

Experimenting with Freezer Paper...oh the possibilities!!

I saw the cutest Captain America tshirt at the "I am Momma Hear me Roar" blog.
Cheri used freezer paper to create this awesome design. I tried my hand at it last night and made a shirt for the Lukester. =)
Don't look too closely but I think it came out ok for my first try at stenciling. Cheri has a video tutorial that takes you step by step. It's super easy! I know I'll be using my freezer paper a lot more from now on! =)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Memorial Day Tribute


Chase was given the opportunity to narrate this video for our Memorial Day service at our church.


Another antique made useful

Along with my little iron chairs that I found in the antique store in Newberry, I also found a coke crate in pretty good condition. I know Pottery Barn used to sell them but now it looks like they just have Pepsi crates. At any rate, I paid $8 for mine instead of the $24 PB asks for theirs! I thought about leaving in the dividers but decided against it. I was flipping through a Pottery Barn magazine and I saw that they had a coke crate on a lower shelf in their kitchen table holding some plates. I thought I could get better use out of mine by putting some dishes in it too. I know...call me copy cat. =)


Friday, May 21, 2010

Getting crafty

I love to spend hours in antique stores and think about all the stories behind everything that is crowded
in there. But I also scrounge around
to find cheap 'junk' that I can turn into
something beautiful again.
On our way home from our family
camping vacation we stopped in the town of Newberry, SC.
They have many little antique stores and
I found several treasures to restore. Here is
one of them. I went into a room in the back
of the store and found this cute little rocking
chair sitting on a dusty shelf. I decided it could be more productive as a plant holder. =) More crafty pictures coming soon...