Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Brrr - it's been cold here!  No snow, but temps in the 30-s and 40's.  When Spring comes that will sound good, but right now I'm cold.  So, that means it's time for soup!                                                                    This recipe is one I got from an aunt, and was probably in Junior High, so I've been making it for a while.  It's a simple soup, perfect for chili weather!

Vegetable Meatball Soup

8 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Accent
1 pound ground beef in 1 inch balls
1 1/4 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup uncooked rice
2 small potatoes, diced
1 can chopped tomato
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables 
2 envelopes Lipton Beefy Onion soup

Bring water to boil.  Add salt, accent and meat balls.  Bring back to a rapid boil and skim off meat sediment.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 2 hours.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Sheep-scale

 

A few shots from last week

 Here's a few photos from things that were happening in my world last week!

This is a leaf bug.  I saw it sitting by our garage last week.  It was pretty cool to see in person. From the side, it really did look like a leaf!

The corn is being harvested around here!

Andrew has been coming over and working with Bob in the shop.  They're building a crib for the baby. While they were out there, Heather was hanging out with me inside and I got to feel the baby kick!

This is the view from our living room.  It's been such a gorgeous Fall.  I love this view, no matter the season.

Saturday night I had a surprise retirement party.  This wine bottle was sitting on our table.  :)

This is Stacie, the one that's retiring. She's one of the best Nurse Aides I've ever worked with.  I'll miss her working with me, but she'll be back next week as a volunteer.

That's it for last week, now on to the week ahead!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Here's a yummy recipe I made for Sunday morning breakfast last week.  It can be made ahead and was really tasty with a moist cake base and ribbons of cinnamon running through it.  As you can see, you shouldn't eat it too often!

Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake

1 stick butter , softened

1 1/2 cups, plus 1/3 cup sugar , divided

1/2 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2½ cups powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray.

In a stand mixer beat the sugar (not including the 1/3 cup) and butter together for 2-3 minutes or until noticeably lighter in color and fluffy.

Add in the eggs, sour cream, milk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Using the last 1/3 cup of sugar, add the 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to it.

Add in half of the batter, then half the cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.

Add another half of what you have left (so a quarter of all the batter you started with) and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar over that layer.

Add the rest of the batter.

Bake for 60 minutes or until your tester comes out clean.

Cool cake completely before adding the icing.

Mix the powdered sugar and milk (just enough to have a thick but pourable consistency, like honey.

Reserve 1/4 cup of it and add the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to it.

Pour the regular icing over the cake.

Add the cinnamon frosting to a small ziploc bag.

Cut a tiny bit off the edge and pipe a zig zag line on the top of the cake.

*I didn't make the extra cinnamon frosting, just added some cinnamon to my regular frosting.  I'm sure it looks pretty that way, but it tasted just as good the easier way!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Fall!

 We have had the most beautiful Autumn this year!  The weather has been nice, the skies have been beautiful, even when cloudy and the colors are brilliant.  I'm afraind it's coming to an end and lots of leaves have fallen and the temps are gettting cooler.  Here's a few photos from a drive I took recently.

This tree is in m front yard. It has red, yellow and green leaves!

These cows were enjoying the war weather!

I came across this old one room schoolhouse.  I always love seeing them.

This is our road.  Our house is over that little rise, on the right.

Down the road from our house.

Another photo of our road, this time from the other direction.  Our house is in the trees on the left.

This is down the road from our house. 

Our back yard

I love living in  a place with changing seasons.  I may not be a fan of winter, but changing seasons helps me appreciate each one a little more!  It also reminds me of the majesty of God and the glory of His creation.

"For by him all things were created in heaven and on eath, visible and invisible."

Colossians 1:16

Baby Shower!

 We had a baby shower for Heather this weekend.  The baby isn't due until January, but with winter and holidays coming up, we thought we would beat crazy schedules this way.

This shower was from my family.  My sisters and I always work together for these, no matter whose kid it is for.  It makes it easier, and more fun too!

Cute decorations!

There was lots of pink, including this raspberry punch that Cheri made, with edible gold hearts in it!

Fruit kebobs with fruit dip, strawberry bread, chicken salad croissants and and pink cheesecake desserts.  Yum!

Fun gifts!

We don't have a big group - my step mom, 2 sisters, 3 nieces and 2 daughters, but we had enough!

The guest of honor!

Heather and Laura

Part of Laura's gift.

This baby is loved by her aunt and also the rest of us!

Good times with family, good food, lots of laughs!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 My sister Cheri gave me a recipe she said I had to try.  It's for White Chicken Chili.  I have a few recipes that I alternate between, this one is being added to the mix!  It's so easy to make and is really good!

Easiest Ever White Chicken Chili

2 lbs chicken cooked and cut into bite size pieces

1 48 oz jar of great northern beans (do not drain)

1 16 oz jar of salsa mild, medium, or hot

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 4 oz can of diced mild green chili’s

1 lb of cheese shredded–use your favorite kind(s)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cumin

 sour cream for serving

Place all ingredients except sour cream and cilantro, in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

Garnish with sour cream.

Wordless Wednesday

 

A little paint job

 I'm sure you've seen images of buildings or streets that have been painted to look entirely different.

I saw this building that was given a new paint job and thought it was worthy of a share.

Before...

After!

I can't imagine how long it took to do this, but I think this artist is pretty talented!

Girly Weekend

 Our girlies came over last weekend and I didn't get a chance to tell you about it.  We didn't do anything huge, but we always have fun.

Here's a few pics.

We did something new with them  Bob got out our old Wii system and played Mario Cart with them.  Ruby decided it wasn't for her and wanted to watch.  She also kept patting Bob on the arm and saying "You're doing good Grandpa!"  Alaina was driving her car off the road and spinning around.  We told her she was never going to get a license.  Lots of laughs!

The next day we made some birdseed cakes to hang up and feed the birds.  Once they got hard, the straws came out and we put jute through the holes to hang them with.

Here they are - they looked cute, but right after we took this pic, they fell apart!  So this one was kind of a flop.  The girls took them and put them on the ground in our side woods hoping the birds would find them.

They decided to collect some acorns for the squirrels at their house, and they found this big branch and tried to balance it.

Here's a few of the acorns they collected.

A while after I left, I went into our bedroom and found this little bag between our pillows.

It was from Alaina.

Inside was a yarn critter, a Perler bead creation, one of her treasured shells, a cootie catcher (she has been really into them lately, and $5!  We thought it was so sweet!  We'll be getting the money back to Laura to sneak back into her piggie bank, but will treasure the other treasures.  :)

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Todays recipe is another one from the Pioneer Woman.  These are a recipe she shared for cookies that she says are brownies and cookies married.  They are good - soft, chewy chocolate!

Brownie Cookies

2 oz.baking Chocolate (unsweetened Or bittersweet)

2 sticks softened butter

2 c.sugar

3 large eggs

1 tbsp.vanilla 

2 1/4 c.flour

1/4 c.cocoa powder

1 tbsp.(additional) cocoa powder

1 tsp.baking powder

1/2 tsp.salt

powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, stir, and let it cool.

Mix the butter and sugar together until totally combined. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the cooled chocolate. Scrape the bowl and mix again. Mix in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Scrape the bowl once more and mix.

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir it together, then add it in scoops to the mixing bowl with the mixer on low. Scrape the bowl once and mix one final time until all combined.

Scoop generous tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a baking mat or parchment, then bake them for 11 minutes until poufy and set. Remove them from the oven, let them sit on the pan for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove them to a baking rack to cool completely. Once cool, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.

Not so wordless wednesday

 I was driving home from work the other day, admiring the beauty around me.  I went past a pond that I drive by often, and as usual, there were lots of geese around.  The geese and the trees made such a pretty scene that I stopped for a photo.

As I continued on, I thought I saw something unusual next to the little stream by the pond.  I stopped and backed up (this is a dirt road with very little traffic, so I could safely do that!)

This is what I saw!

A blue heron!  I think they are such an elegant bird.  As I watched, he flew off.  I was so glad that I saw him with my camera ready!

Beautiful skies and a little color

 The skies here in West Michigan have been quite beautiful lately.  They've been filled with some amazing clouds.  We're also starting to see some color on the trees.

Last week I had to go in to work very early to work part of a night shift.  I started at 2:30 in the morning, then stayed until about 1 in the afternoon to get some of my regular work done.  When I left, I was planning to go home and take a little nap, but it was so pretty out, that I took some extra time getting home.  I drove some back roads and tried to capture a little beauty.

Here's a few of the photos I took. Some that are friends on facebook may have seen a few of these already.