This week in my kitchen....

Hello.. I am linking with Heather over at Beauty that Moves for her This week in my kitchen blog hop..

A weekly collection of photos from the centre of my home.. 

If you have any questions please leave them in your comments and I will get back to you.. 

What have you been cooking up in your kitchen? 

Keepers of the Home meeting for March..

Good Evening ladies.. 

Hope you all are enjoying lovely Spring weather ... 

Let's just say we are not.. smile.. 

Saturday morning turned out ok after the terrible storm we had.

Our attendance was down but I am sure the weather was responsible.. 

What a Winter/Spring we are having.. 

They are now calling it Sprinter... grin.. 

Anyway.. 

We started as usual with breakfast.. 

This was a new recipe we tried and it was very good.. 

Overnight Berry French Toast..

The link for the recipe is HERE..

We had some wonderful fellowship.. 

Stories were told.. smile.. 

The coffee and breakfast were tasty.. 

Then these two sweet girls taught us how to decorate some soaps.. 

It was a simple craft and so much fun.. 

They gave us several examples of ways to use the soaps for our gift pantries.. 

They brought several pages of Victorian graphics that we just cut out, wet in water and stuck on the soap.. 

Then taking the soap we dipped just the paper covered side into melted paraffin wax.. 

Taking a sharp knife you just scrape off some of the wax and it is finished.. 

The picture will last until the soap is all gone.. 

I loved this craft.. 

Look for sticker books and then copy them on your computer or just print some from the web.. 

Then these two ladies taught us to make some homemade hand sanitizer.. 

Each one took home a bottle.. 

Here is the recipe.. 

HAND SANITIZER RECIPE

1/2 cup of aloe Vera gel 

1 1/2 tsp. witch hazel

15 drops of tea tree essential oil..

5 drops of lavender essential oil or oil of your choice..S... 

some purified water to thin mix if desired if you would like to spray it.. 

Just whisk this all together and place in purse size bottles.. 

You can buy these at the dollar stores.. 

THANK YOU, LADIES.. 

Our lesson on this day was very simple.. 

The room we were focusing on was the bathroom.. 

So, we talked about how a simple act of a toilet overflowing can give us a moment to pause and take the time to slow down and not get all upset but to just do the chore in good spirits.. 

We can do this when we put God first in our day. 

He grants us the strength and purpose we need.. 

We want to remember that it is our family that counts and we as Mamas need to purposely show them our love and affection despite the upsets of our day.. 

Small things mean a lot even if we are going out straight.

So our goal this month is put God and our family first in our everyday lives.. 

Thank you again for your visits and comments.. 

If you live nearby we would love to have you join us later this month as we are redoing and making do... 

It is held in Salisbury, N. B. 

Just email me or leave a comment.. 

God bless.. 

Psalm 51:10

King James Version (KJV)

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Celebration Dinner...

Hello everyone.. 

Hope you are all doing well... 

Just wanted to post some pics of our 44th Wedding Anniversary dinner as requested.. smile.. 

The first photo is what it looked like here in Maritime Canada on our anniversary day..  

These are the pics of the table..

Do you like the candle holders?

I bought these in Pa. a couple of years ago to sell in the shop. 

Someone came in and bought quite a few and told me that this is what she planned to do with them.. 

Needless to say I saved the rest for home here.. 

For a little centrepiece I took an old milk pitcher and put in a stem of hydrangea and put a little pip berry wreath on top.. 

We had a Caesar Salad first with homemade dressing... 

1/2 cup of mayo 

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of Parmesan 

1/2 - 1 tsp. anchovy paste 

1 clove of garlic, chopped and smashed

squeeze of lemon 

pinch of red pepper flakes (opt.)

salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together well and let sit for flavors to blend for a bit.. 

This is just a top of the head recipe I use.. 

You may want to add more or less of some of the ingredients.. 

And then we had Seafood Pasta for the main dish.. 

I had thought we would have some garlic bread but decided we didn't need it.. 

I made a dessert but we passed on that, too.. 

Our drink was Mountain Dew.. smile.. 

Next week we hope to go to a special place for our Celebration Dinner..  

Well, girls that is all for tonight.. 

We had Keepers of the Home today so I will try and post about it at the first of the week.. 

It was a great day.. 

Thanks so much for all of your kind wishes .. 

We appreciate them so much.. 

There was even a special phone call from our sweet friends the Mayo Family in Wisconsin.. 

Their blog is HERE..

Thanks so much for calling, Lori.. 

It made my day.. 

Tomorrow is the Lord's Day and we are having potluck after church so I need to go and make a dish.. 

They are calling for bad weather once again so we are praying that it will hold off.. 

Take care, dear hearts... 

Married 44 years today..

Good afternoon, dear hearts.. 

Today Terry and I are celebrating our 44th anniversary.. 

Can you imagine.. 

I think we must be old.. 

I remember when his parents were celebrating their 45th and I thought they were antique.. smile.. 

We are having a huge blizzard here in Maritime Canada.. 

The wind is fierce and you can't see across the street but it is warm and snug here inside.. 

All those years ago it was a rainy warm Spring day.. 

I was 17 and he was 20.. 

I woke up early and went and did some chores while my Mom and Terry's Mom prepared the food for our reception.. 

I think it was turkey and salads.. 

I remember taking Mom's car and picking up our wedding cake and how it almost fell over because as usual I was driving too fast. smile. 

My dress was simple but with lovely lace and I wore a wee veil over my bubbles.. 

Remember those?  grin.. 

And gorgeous pink roses... 

We were married at 7 p.m. on a Thursday evening.. 

The next day was Good Friday so we had a long weekend for our little honeymoon to Halifax, Nova Scotia.. 

It was rainy and windy.. 

It was and is still my favorite kind of weather.. smile.. 

My, how the years have flown.. 

 Today we feel so blessed to be together and enjoying our retirement years.. 

God has been so good to us.. 

He has blessed us with a wonderful family and love that has lasted down through the years.. 

We are having a lovely dinner here at home due to the weather.. 

We went to town this morning before the storm began and picked up a few things.. 

Lovely fresh scallops, shrimp, herbs and such to make my signature dish... smile.. 

Thank you for all of your lovely comments lately..

You girls are so sweet.. 

I will give you the recipe for the squares in the last post next time.. 

Ok? 

God bless you all... 

He is faithful.. 

It still seems like Winter here...

Good Evening everyone.. 

Just a little posting tonight.. 

We have had a couple of lovely days.. 

A bit mild during the day and then cold and windy nights.. 

Lots of icicles hanging around..

There is a big storm forecast for Wednesday.. 

That doesn't mean it will get here but it probably will.. 

You can feel the Spring in the air, though.. 

It has me in the housecleaning mode.. smile.. 

We had some sweet company the other day.. 

A few little visitors looking at books and eating cookies.. 

The dogs were up on the snowbank outside the window and would have loved to join us.. 

I knew they were coming so made a few sweeties .. 

Chocolate Macaroons... most kids love them.. 

And then my friend told me she made a pan of those squares so I had to, too.. smile.. 

Hello Dollies.. 

I took the picture of the old barn when we were on our way to the city last week.. 

I wonder if she accepted.. smile.. 

My dear Mom is turning 80 on her birthday next month.. 

We could all get together this past weekend so we did.. 

All 17 of us.. 

She had a great time..

I will post a few more pics on her actual birthday which is

 April 15.. 

Are you ladies in the Spring cleaning phase yet? 

It is not the same as it used to be, eh? 

I do want to clean some closets and drawers.. 

Take down curtains and hang them out.

That kind of stuff... 

Well, dear ladies sorry for the short post but to be honest I have a weird flu.. 

I feel much better today but have times of being so dizzy.. ugggh.. 

Thanks so much for your visits and comments.. 

So appreciate you all.. 

Ya all rock.. smile.. 

God bless..

Last day of Winter Field Trip in Rural Canada..

Hello everyone.. 

Just thought you might like to take a little field trip with us as we went for a little drive along some rural country roads here in Eastern Canada on our last day of Winter.. 

The sun was out and beautiful and the temps were not too bad.. 

As you can see we still have a lot of snow and nights are cold.  

You can feel the Spring trying to show it's lovely face but Winter is still holding on very tightly.. smile.. 

We Canadians are used to this type of weather but I think we are yearning for warm winds and bare fields.. 

All in due time I guess.. 

A lot of farm animals were out and enjoying feeding in the afternoon sunshine.. 

My two favorites are in the first picture, of course.. 

You no doubt remember how I would love to have just one donkey.. 

And 3 sheep, 6 chickens, a couple of ducks and geese... 

Oh well.. 

We dropped by and visited with one of Terry's friends and had a great chat with him.. 

He thought we had the life.. 

Driving around in our truck and drinking coffee and taking pictures.. grin.. 

He farms on the side and really enjoys it .. 

I can understand why... smile.. 

The area is beautiful in any season and a drive we take verily often.. 

It was such a treat to see those hundreds of wild ducks in the farmer's corn field.. 

They have been there for ages.. 

I think they are all mixed up about when they should return home.. 

Then we saw a wild peasant.. So pretty.. 

We arrived back home and enjoyed some homemade soup that I found HERE..

We were into the Walmart and they had watercress.. 

I was so excited because the supermarkets here never carry it.. 

The soup was simply delicious.. 

If you can't find watercress then you could use arugula... 

Terry even loved it.. 

Well, that is all for now my friends.. 

I can't help but notice that there is a significant slack not only in the readers but also in us who post the blogs.. 

I think Face Book is taking over people's time instead of blogging.. 

I find it kind of sad as I do not enjoy FB at all and only go on occasionally although dear hubby enjoys it very much.. smile.. 

Thank you so much for your faithfulness in reading and commenting.. 

I enjoy having you and will continue for as long as I keep getting readers and comments, Lord willing.. 

Take care and God bless.. 

A Sunday Night Supper..

Good Morning, dear hearts.. 

What a beautiful day here in Eastern Canada.. 

Did you notice the deer in the blue dawn of the morning??.. 

The one with the injured leg is there that I posted about HERE... .. 

He is doing fine although his leg is stiff from the ankle down.. 

His friends left him once but came back for him while he finished eating something out there.. Must have been apples.. smile.. 

He finally left with them.. 

I think he winked at me on his way past the window.. grin.. 

Just posting our Sunday night Supper.. 

Notice my new wee gravy boats from the Thrift store.. 

Along with a couple of Wedgwood type glasses.. 

Supper was grilled chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, my homemade sauerkraut, salad and a parsley dressing.. 

Dessert was Pumpkin and Raisin Cake with Caramel Icing.. 

 Here is the recipe for the cake.. 

It is from my Mennonite cookbook.. 

More Food That Really Schmecks.. 

Edna Staebler from 1979.

It is a St. Patrick's  day dessert she says.. 

Laurie Bennett's Pumpkin Ring.. 

1/3 cup of shortening 

1 1/3 cups of sugar 

1 egg

1 cup of pumpkin 

1 2/3 cup of cake flour 

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. soda 

3/4 tsp. salt 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. clovcs

1/3 cup water 

1/3 cup chopped nuts

2/3 cup raisins.. 

Cream the shortening and sugar.. Stir in egg and pumpkin.. Mix together the dry ingredients and add alternately with water. Stir nuts and raisins in by hand.. (I just used a cup of raisins) ..

Pour into a greased tube pan and bake at 350 degrees F. for 40 to 50 minutes.. 

She says this cake is as light as an Irish Mist.. 

The Irish in me loves that.. grin.. 

Now.. 

The icing was out of this world  good... 

When we were across to Maine last month I picked up a little package that you add to icing... 

It was made by you know the cake mixes that start with a D. 

Sorry, I can't remember.. smile.. 

Anyway, I just mixed up a batch of icing and added it.. 

Terry loved it so I had to hide the cake... grin..

This is a short post.. 

I made a nice long one last night and lost the whole thing.. 

I couldn't get it to publish so left the page and it disappeared.. 

So annoying.. 

Oh well... 

Here is the short version and I will try to do another tomorrow.. 

How is that? 

Thanks for visiting my friends and thank you for your lovely comments and emails.. 

So appreciate them.. 

When a blogger gets comments then they think they had better do another posting..smile

So happy you liked Faye's pantry.. 

We will try to do another one when she prepares it for Spring.. 

We had to postpone our Keepers Meeting due to weather but will do it hopefully in 2 weeks.. 

God bless.