Soldier's Journal

I love this piece!!! Reproduction Soldier's Journal is the perfect piece to include with your Early Settler, Colonial, Primitive decor. 

(For ordering information, please click on the photo above.)

Take Time To Remember

The Memorial Day weekend has increasingly become a "holiday" where we shop for some great sales, get ready for summer with barbeques, beaches, fireworks or just relax having three days off from our grueling work week.


The original intention for Memorial Day was first enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. It was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.


Take some time today to remember our service men and women, past and present. So many have given there lives for our freedom and so many are faced with danger every day for our continued liberty. We praise them and pray for them!!!

Red & White Swap

Red and white seems to be my new favorite colors!!! So - how could I not join in the fun Red & White fabric swap at Sew Many Ways!!! I have my 125 - 5" squares all cut and ready to go in the mail. Can't wait to see what fabrics I get in return. What to do, what to do? Any suggestions?

Stop and visit Karen's Sew Many Ways blog. She is quite a talented lady. Just click here.

Banana Blueberry Quick Bread

This quick bread is so easy to make and oh so good :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries or 3/4 cup frozen blueberries thawed
• 2 TBS + 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripened bananas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl, dredge blueberries in 2 tablespoons flour. Gently stir blueberries together with oats, nuts, 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream shortening. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in mashed banana. Add blueberry mixture to creamed mixture, and stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 loaf/12 servings

American Beauty

A special thank you to Vintage Polka Dotcom for putting together this true American Beauty treasury!!!

BEN FRANKLIN Tie Ta... FunckyTieTac $9.00	Declaration of Inde... nonfictiontees $18.00	liberty bell cast b... ionesAttic $22.00
Born in the USA, Ca... StuffDepot $1.50	Statue of Liberty NYCZomp $15.00	Revolutionary War (... popsflags $110.00
The Declaration of ... workbox $9.00	George Washington- ... heartworksbylo... $40.00	Why Can't We Be... alliterationz $10.00
LIBERTY Patriotic H... LazyCaterpilla... $12.00	Love Americana Bird... mulberrylanefo... $19.95	Silver. Aluminum. W... karalmava $29.00
Little Miss FireCra... AudryAndUlric $14.00	Vintage Rustic Tin ... uglysanta $30.00	Red white and blue ... JLPerillo $22.00
Americana Drum farmersattic $69.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

New Arrival

I just completed the Americana Drum I've been working on for a while. For more information, check it out at The Farmer's Attic. Just click on the photo above and take a look.

Chicken In A Nest

No - Not chicken ON a nest!!!

Chicken In A Nest

Ingredients:

Dressing:    

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp Dijon country-style mustard
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 TBS finely chopped parsley 

To make dressing: In small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients. Chill.

Salad:

8 oz skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 1/2 tsp each paprika, garlic powder, Italian seasoning

4 tortillas, crisped to form shells (see instructions below)

2 cups baby spinach leaves

2 cups baby Romaine lettuce leaves

2 cups finely sliced red cabbage

1 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 cup julienne sliced radishes

1/2 cup sliced green onions

To make salad: Preheat broiler. Combine seasonings and sprinkle half over one side of chicken breasts. 

Broil 6 minutes. Turn chicken and sprinkle with remaining seasoning. Broil 6 to 8 minutes or until juice runs clear when pricked with skewer. Let cool to room temperature.

To make tortilla shells: Place each tortilla in a small oven-proof bowl. Place a smaller bowl inside to mold tortilla. Bake at 350 degrees F about 10 minutes or until crisp. Set aside to cool.

When tortilla shells are cool, it's time to assemble your salad. Place tortilla shell on serving plate.

Line tortilla shells with spinach and lettuce leaves. Top with red cabbage. Slice chicken and divide equally over cabbage.

Decorate with tomatoes, radishes and green onion. Serve dressing separately. ~ Makes 4 servings.

This is an excellent salad. The dressing is out of this world!!! When my girls were younger and living at home, I had to triple the dressing recipe.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Caramel Frappe

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I have "perfected" my own version of a Chocolate Caramel Frappe. I thought that I'd share my recipe with you just in case anyone wanted to try their own. This recipe is made using the Mr. Coffee Frappe maker but I'm sure you can modify it for your blender.

In the blender, I add about 12 - 14 ice cubes and crush them slightly before adding ingredients or brewing the coffee. Over the ice, pour 1/4 cup milk (I use Fat Free), 2 TBS sugar (I use non-sugar sweetener) and 3 TBS Chocolate Syrup (I use sugar free).

In the coffee maker, I use three tablespoons Starbuck's Caramel Coffee and 1/2 cup water. Set your machine to "Frappe" and let it do it's thing! (If you are using a blender, I would use strong brewed coffee and add that to your blender mix and then give it a whirl.)

As you can see, it is now a nice semi-frozen consistency. Before pouring in your favorite mug, squirt about a tablespoon or more (to taste) in the bottom of your mug. Add your frappe. Top with whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel and chocolate syrup. Pop in a straw (the larger ones like they have at the fast food restaurants are better than the smaller ones).

Enjoy!!!

This recipe makes two servings and if I have to "drink alone", I will prepare the second serving in my mug and freeze for another day. It can take quite some time to start thawing enough to drink it so you need to take it out about 1/2 hour before you indulge.

WARNING: These can be habit forming!

Do you think there's something strange about this?

I'm pretty sure most of us have lots of different mugs in our cupboards. These are just a few that are used regularly in my house. What I'm wondering is - do you have a favorite mug that is used just for a favorite beverage? I do! And I'm beginning to think that this might be a strange habit. Let me show you what I'm talking about:

This mug here is my morning coffee mug. That's all I drink out of that mug at home in the morning. I own a few of these in case I have company in the morning for coffee. However, if I have company over for breakfast, I will serve coffee in a smaller coffee cup, which could be a plain white Corelle cup or a fancier floral cup and saucer. It depends on what I'm serving for breakfast or what dishes I'm using.

Do you see where I'm going with this yet? No? Let me continue!

This mug is the mug I usually give my husband to have when he's not working so that we can have coffee together. I only have a couple of these and I usually reserve them for him. I do not give him coffee usually in the first mug I pictured above because I'm partial to those myself and I think I might be selfish. Is this odd?

The mug shown below with the Rooster on it is reserved for tea. Tea for me or tea with friends. These mugs have never held anything in them but tea. I especially enjoy tea on a chillier evening. I very rarely drink tea during the day and I never drink tea in my coffee mug!!!

I'm really starting to wonder if I'm a little strange.

Now for my last mug (which really isn't the only mug left that I have - I had my special mug that I drank coffee in at work, I have mugs that my grandchildren use for tea or hot chocolate, and I have special hot chocolate mugs that I use and there are others as well). Okay I digress thinking about the mugs that I own.

This mug is a favorite for my Frappe's!!! My daughter and son-in-law gave me a Mr. Coffee Frappe machine that is wonderful. I love Micky D's Caramel Frappes but after learning how many calories and how much fat is in one medium frappe, I had to quit. But since I received my own maker as a gift, I have tweaked my own Chocolate Caramel Frappe which I only serve in the clear glass mug.

What started me thinking about whether or not this behavior regarding my mugs is strange was yesterday. My daughter and grandchildren spent a few hours here and it was very warm. We decided that it would be a good day to enjoy a Chocolate Caramel Frappe. The first time I made one for my daughter she commented that she thought mine tasted better than the Caramel Frappe at Micky D's. Yesterday she said again that she thought they tasted better but she also said that the mug I used was the perfect mug for it and maybe that was why. (Is she displaying the same strange behavior that I am? No matter, they are still delish!!!)

I go back to my original question: Do you think there's something strange about this? Do you have favorite mugs that you use only for your favorite beverages OR am I the only one out there that does this?!?

(After I read this to my husband, he laughed and said "Oh, that's why you give me coffee in this mug and you use the other one". - After 32 years of marriage, we still don't know EVERYTHING about each other!!!)

Laundry Detergent

I've been making my own laundry detergent for almost a year now. I have saved a fortune, our clothes are cleaner and there is no risk for allergic reactions because of perfumes, dyes or chemicals. These detergents will not suds the same as store bought detergents which is what we are used to seeing and think that it must clean better because it's sudsy. These detergents, I believe, actually clean as well if not better than store bought. I thought you might like to try some for yourself:

Powdered Laundry Detergent


1 cup grated Fels-Naptha Soap
1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda)
1/2 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax

Mix all ingredients together. Put in a decorative glass container. For a light load or lightly soiled load, all you need to use is 1 Tablespoon. For heavy loads or heavily soiled loads, use 2 Tablespoons.

If you would like to use other bar soaps, such as beauty bars or deodorant bars, you can substitute for Fels-Naptha.

Liquid Laundry Detergent


3 pints water
1/3 bar of grated Fels-Naptha Soap

1/2 cup of Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (not baking soda)

1/2 cup of 20 Mule Team Borax

1 quart hot water

2 gallon bucket

In a saucepan, add 3 pints of water and grated soap. On low heat, stir soap until dissolved. Stir in washing soda and borax. Stir until thickened. Remove from heat and add 1 quart of hot water. In 2 gallon bucket filled with hot water, add soap mixture and mix well. Allow mixture to sit and thicken for 24 hours. You can store this in empty gallon milk or water cartons, large glass jars or double the batch and store in larger spackle buckets.

I have found that the liquid does tend to separate and has even cooled to a "gel" consistency. All you need to do is shake the contents to mix before using. Use 1/2 cup per load of laundry.

Mission Accomplished

You may remember that my daughter was recently involved in Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone, Africa. We picked her up on Saturday, spent a few days with family and she is now back safe and sound in her home in North Carolina. Thank you all for praying for her. I'm sorry that I have not been able to share much with you all, she had requested that I do not share anything on the blog. I would love to have you all come to my house so that I could show you the photo DVD she made. Since that's not feasible, click on the photo above to see how you can be a part of Mercy Ships.

Orphan

This little woodchuck let me walk right up to it to take a picture. The mother was hit and killed on the highway by our house. I wonder what the survival rate is for an orphaned woodchuck? Does anyone know?

What fun!!!

I participated in a Dishcloth Swap in order to encourage everyone to enjoy the joy of washing dishes. My swap partner is Linda from Grend Bend, Kansas. She is new to knitting but you would never know it!!! She did a great job on my dishcloth. And look at the goody she sent along with the dishcloth!!! I'm thinking about tea and toast with my Apricot Jam.

Thanks Linda!!!

Nurse's Day

Happy Nurse's Day to my beautiful daughters!!! What a joy it was to see my girls together and a blessing to have one daughter pin the other. Both are RN's, both are making a difference in people's lives, both love the Lord and both are loved very much by their families!!!

Thank you to all the nurses who give all to help those in need. It is a selfless act of love to care for others. You all deserve to be honored!!!

There's Still Time...

...to sign up for the Old Farmhouse Gathering's 4th Annual Sweet Summertime Hugs Giveaway!!! There will be one  lucky winner drawn on May 28th!