Drinking from My Saucer

You've read about my Auntie Ruth who lives next door (94-years young on July 13th!) and how Nate loves to visit her once a week.  At her house, we exchange magazines -- I give her People Magazine and she loans me Reminisce Magazine.  Reminisce is quaint and a quick read -- I've enjoyed looking at the old photos.  But this poem caught my eye and I really like it.  The person who submitted it to the magazine wrote that her country preacher read this poem to the congregation in the 1930s.  I hope it strikes a chord with you too.

Drinking from My Saucer

I've never made a fortune

And it's probably too late now.

But I don't worry about that much,

I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's way,

I'm reaping better than I sowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I don't have a lot of riches,

And sometimes the going's tough.

But I've got loved ones around me,

And that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for His blessings,

And the mercies He's bestowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I remember times when things went wrong,

My faith wore somewhat thin.

But all at once the dark clouds broke,

And the sun pepped through again.

So God, help me not to gripe

About the tough rows that I've hoed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

If God gives me strength and courage

When the way grows steep and rough,

I'll not ask for other blessings,

I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy

To help others bear their loads.

Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer,

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

- John Paul Moore

Apparently Lunch Was Boring

Why on earth would anyone want to concentrate on eating a healthy meal when you could spend time trying to reach backwards to turn the kitchen light switch on and off over & over again??

50s Friday

I'm wishing I had a sweet treat right about now.  Junior Mints are my favorite candy.  They don't cost 10 cents like they do here.  Sigh.  The James O. Welch Company introduced Junior Mints in 1949.  Welch was acquired by Nabisco in 1963 then was sold off to Tootsie Roll Industries 30 years later.

Can you name the famous television show that had an episode revolving around Junior Mints?

 

Crunch Munch

Homemade salad croutons

+ 

my new favorite salad dressing

= perfection!

I cut up stale sandwich bread, toss the bread with melted butter and 2-3 cubes each of these lovely guys:

Toast them in a 300F oven until they look brown on both sides (turn them over once or twice during baking).  Let them cool completely for added crunch.

OxyClean - the Perfect Baby Shower Gift

Instead of focusing on preparing new mothers for labor/delivery, breastfeeding, and caring for an infant, I believe hospital administrators should offer a more important class:

Removing Stains 101

Doing laundry during the first part of my adulthood was a piece of cake.  Now, I spend time every day spraying, scrubbing, rinsing, spraying again, and rinsing again numerous pieces of clothing.

But as much as I complain about it (uhh, every day.  In my head.), my little man sure looks darn cute covered in dirt.

Nate Loves His Daddy

Happy Father's Day!

July 4th Decorating

Remember my 3-tiered cake stand from this post?  Well, I came up with a way to use it for a July 4th table centerpiece.  Here's what I started with:

Using anything I could find around the house that was small and square/rectangular (yes, I borrowed some wood blocks from Nate), I created this:

Using some tissue paper, fabric scraps, and ribbon, I came up with three tiers of presents.  Because, who doesn't love presents??  Even fake ones are cute and sweet.  I added the gumballs at the last minute and still feel a little ambivalent about them (I keep eating them!)

Do You Take This Man? "Ja"

I was fairly obsessed this weekend with a royal wedding.  Most of the US didn't even know it was taking place but for someone like me (1. a closet royalty buff and 2. a fan of anything wedding-related) waking up at 6:30am on Saturday to watch Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden marry her commoner boyfriend, Daniel Westling, streaming live on the internet (Thank you Al Gore! ha!) was so much fun. 

Yes, I didn't understand most of what they were saying but that's okay.  The bride radiated, the groom looked like, well, Clark Kent, and Stockholm has now been added to my Bucket List.  And don't even get me started on Victoria's gorgeous Cameo Tiara (rumored to be a gift from Napoleon to Josephine oh so long ago).  

It was just sweet to see two people so in love and beginning their lives together -- romance is definitely not dead.  In fact, I predict there will be a little baby Swede nine months from this weekend :)

50s Friday

I love this griddle -- it's not really toddler-friendly but it sure looks handy.  And, I have to ask, do you pour out your pancakes using a cute little pitcher like this one?

We {heart} Spanish Doughnuts!

After approximately six months of not putting any new foods in his mouth, Nate decided he had to partake in this treat as I was leaving Costco:

That's right, a churro.  One of the greatest things on God's green earth, in my opinion.  I'm so proud of my little boy.  He practically yanked it out of my hand and stuffed it in his mouth and then ate a good 3/4 of my churro (which, if you've seen Costco churros, those things are pretty big).

As a side note, I'm so over the sippy cups he's been using for the last year or so because they eventually leak all over my floors, so we introduced a new sippy cup this morning.  At breakfast it was thrown (hard) against the floor with lots of tears.  BUT after consuming that huge churro, he had no choice but to drink out of it at lunch and now loves it.  Thank you churro!

GOOOOAAALLLL!

Nate's ready -- let the World Cup mania begin!

Go Team USA!!

Photo editing courtesy of piknik.com


Oh, and this too...

 

Joe 5, Julia 0

This recipe is in the dessert section of my Trader Joe's cookbook (go here to learn more about this cookbook and my project).  Honestly, I really think it's a waste to make a dessert using Trader Joe ingredients because the store has so many wonderful pre-made desserts in the freezer and bakery sections.  But this one is easy (there's that buzzword again) and can be done using ingredients from anywhere.

Berry-Zin Sauce

1 bottle of drinkable but not expensive Zinfandel

1 16-oz. bag frozen Berry Medley (or a bag of frozen raspberries OR use a mix of fresh berries since they're in season and it seems ridiculous to use frozen berries in the middle of June)

1 cup of sugar

Several grinds of black pepper

Ice cream or pound cake to eat with your yummy sauce :)

Place all ingredients in a saute pan (not a saucepan - you want more surface area for more efficient reduction) and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes (it took longer for me), until mixture is reduced to two cups.  Strain through a sieve to remove seeds (the sauce is strained in the picture above but next time I'm going to skip this part because I like having the fruit "bits" in the sauce).  Store the extra sauce in your frig for about a week (if it lasts that long!)

Other notes:  We ate our vanilla ice cream and cinammon graham crackers with the Berry-Zin Sauce while it was still warm the night I made it.  A couple nights later, we had it cold and I think I prefer it that way.  Also, the flavors had meshed together after 48 hours and I liked the taste a lot.  

This is a fun recipe to play around with so now it's your turn :)

50s Friday

In honor of summer and all things pretty, here is an image from an article on summer clothes.  LOVE this dress, especially the neckline.

My Kitchen has a History

Same kitchen.  Four generations.

Top photo:  My Great-Grandma Mary (L) and my Grandma Joy (R)

Bottom photo:  My Mom Denise (L) and me :) (R)

Don't I look like an Amazon woman??  I must be wearing heels.

Lee asked if the photo of my mom and I was taken before we were married (that would be 5 years ago).  I replied, "no, that's last Thanksgiving."  He says "wow, your hair is so long."  Apparently, I've been rockin' the shorter, mommy hairdo for 7 months but it feels like an eternity to my husband. 

Three Cheers for Three Tiers

I love playing around with the 3-tiered cake stand I bought at Ikea last year.  In November, it held small candles and an assortment of nuts for Thanksgiving.  In December, it was colored glass ornaments.  So when I trimmed our giant Bougainvillea  earlier this month, I thought the leaves and blossoms would make a nice centerpiece.  It only last a day before wilting, but it still made me smile.  I'm starting to daydream about what to do for 4th of July....any ideas?

What the Heck?!?

Why in the world would an animal eat my plastic flower pot?  Is this the work of a squirrel or a raccoon?  This worries me -- we were hoping to plant some veggies this weekend and now I'm afraid my vegetable garden may meet the same fate as this poor pot.  This explains why my neighbors are currently building Fort Knox a fence around their backyard.

50s Friday

I love how this frig is so organized....look at the fruit lined up on the inside of the door!  What I should have pictured below is a shot of my frig so you can see that mine is the exact opposite of this, to the point that things fall out when I start rummaging around inside.  Frustrating.  Doesn't help that I'm the only one interested in keeping it tidy.  Men...

Card Table Castle

When Nate I came up with this idea, I referred to it as our playhouse.  Lee later informed me the correct term is "fort."  I find that difficult to believe since the exterior of the fort/playhouse is covered in purple flowers.  Nate doesn't seem to mind.