A Baby Blanket

I've gotten a little more work done,

on my latest knitting project.

Can you see the heart?

And the teddy bear? :-)

Bible Quiz Day 66

Answer to question 65 - Pilate (Luke 23)

Question 66 - Herod beheaded __________, the brother of John.

Decorating a Farmhouse Kitchen

~with things on hand~

I was inspired by sprinkles, colored sugars, and candies

that I saw displayed in Mason jars at a restaurant 

in (of all places!) New York City.

I thought, why keep dry goods tucked away in a cabinet?

I had a case of mason jars leftover from 

the cookie mix order

that were just sitting around.

So, I filled them up with beans, pastas, rice, couscous and oats

and plan to sit them out on the kitchen counter.

The bonus?  I freed up two whole shelves in the cabinet!

"Starting" Over ;-)

I  regret to inform you,

that the sour dough bread starter experiment
did not succeed...

I am planning to try a recipe that uses a bit of yeast next.
I'm still craving some homemade sour dough bread.
I will not be defeated! ;-)

My birthday present!

I ask my Daddy to make me a little stool to sit on in the barnyard.

So this is what he made me for my birthday! :-)

Recycling Feed Sacks

into useful tote bags! 

These are really fun to make.

I learned a lot making my first one.

And thought my second attempt

turned out better!

I used the instructions found on this blog.

Can't wait to make more!

Where'd I go??

Sure didn't mean to disappear for so long!  Hoping to be back this weekend to share a few things I've been up to! :-)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are some ideas to make your day extra sweet -

Why don't you...

craft a valentine banner

make a cookie sandwich

watch Be My Valentine Charlie Brown

whip up some Oreo truffles

dip some strawberries in chocolate

read about God's love

Whatever you do, have a sweet day with the ones you love!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

The B~E~S~T Cupcakes

Devil's Food Cupcakes
makes 30 cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup hot water
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.  Whisk together cocoa and hot water until smooth; set aside.  Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.  Melt butter with sugar in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat until mixture is cooled, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each incorporated.  Add vanilla, then cocoa mixture, and beat until combined.  Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in  two batches, alternating with the sour cream, and beating until just combined after each.  Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full.  (Batter will be thick in consistency.  I used a 1/3 cup measuring scoop to keep the cupcakes uniform in size.)  Bake about 20 minutes.  Let cool 15 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks and let cool completely.  Cupcakes my be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months.  After frosting, place cupcakes in refrigerator until serving.  Frosted cupcakes will keep in the fridge for 3 days.

Cream Cheese Frosting

about 4 cups (enough to frost 30 cupcakes)

2 packages cream cheese, 8 ounces each, room temperature

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract; beat until smooth.  Add food coloring if desired.  Place frosting into piping bag (freezer baggie works just fine) and put bag in the freezer for about 5 minutes to let frosting harden up just a bit.  Decorate cupcakes and enjoy!

Thank you for this wonderful recipe Aunt Lauren!

Oreo Truffles

These are as easy as 1-2-3!

1 - Crush up an entire bag of Oreo cookies.

2 - Stir cookies crumbs together with a softened block of cream cheese.

3 - Shape cookie/cream cheese mixture into balls and dip in melted chocolate candy coating.

Linked to Sweet Indulgences Sunday.

Our Valentine's Date

I told Mr. H. all I wanted for Valentine's Day this year was to start working together on our outbuildings.

So this weekend we started fixing up the little shed and the big storage building in the backyard.

We aren't finished yet,

but they are already starting to look good!

Bible Quiz Day 65

Answer to question 64 - thieves, Calvary (Luke 23:32-33)

Question 65 - __________ was the Roman governor when Jesus was crucified.

First Dozen

I am gathering between 3 and 5 eggs now everyday!

Even during our recent cold temperatures,

the girls kept a layin'.

I go through the eggs pretty quickly,

but at one point this week,

I had a dozen in the fridge at one time. :-)

Oatmeal for Breakfast

As I was preparing some oatmeal this morning,

I thought I'd treat the girls to a warm breakfast, too, 

since it was so chilly outside.

I took out a serving for them,

before I added the butter and sugar to ours.

At first they weren't too sure about it.

But as soon as they got a taste,

they gobbled it right up!

Before I could even blink,

it was gone!

Bible Quiz Day 64

Answer to question 63 - Paul (Romans 11:16)

Question 64 - Jesus was crucified between two __________ on the hill of __________.

"The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life."

 ~Robert Louis Stevenson

260 in 260

The ladies of my congregation are starting a new Bible study "260 in 260".  I thought it was such a neat plan that I wanted to share the idea.

There are 260 chapters in  the New Testament and there just so happens to be 260 weekdays in a year...

So each weekday we'll be reading a chapter of the New Testament.  We are keeping notebooks  to take notes, summarize the chapter, and choose a favorite verse from each chapter.  Twice a month we get together to go over what we have read and share our notes.  

I thought I would share the reading plan on Monday each week throughout this year and also share the verse I choose each day.  Join in if you'd like to or, better yet, start a Bible study group of your own.  

We began last week.  To catch you up, here are the reading assignments through the end of this week.

January 31st - Matthew 1

February 1 - Matthew 2

February 2 - Matthew 3

February 3 - Matthew 4

February 4 - Matthew 5

February 7 - Matthew 6

February 8 - Matthew 7

February 9 - Matthew 8

February 10 - Matthew 9

February 11 - Matthew 10

Freedom!

I am happy to report that the wing clipping was successful.

The girls have their freedom and they are loving it!

They can't wait to get out of the coop yard each morning.

I've been letting them out pretty early,

and so far they've been very good about going into the hen house mid-morning to lay their eggs in the nesting boxes.  If they get lazy and start laying them in the yard, I'll have to keep them penned up a little longer each day.

They are just BUSY all-day-long. 

I think we're enjoying watching them as much as they are enjoying running around.

They are just too funny when I walk up to the gate.

They literally RUN to me to see what treat I've brought them!

Fenced In!

I helped Mr. H. hang the barnyard gate this evening!

And, with that, the barnyard is entirely fenced.

On tomorrow afternoon's agenda...wing clipping.

Wish us luck! ;-)

Jeremiah Johnson

Bible Quiz Day 63

Answer to question 62 - water, Spirit (John 3:1-3)

Question 63 - __________ is called the apostle to the Gentiles.

Snow Day 2011!

We got a little bit of the white stuff today,

and had more fun!