::PLAYING CATCH UP::

Wow, I just realized that  it has been a month since I posted!

May was a super busy month for us.  Our son graduated from high school, we took a trip across the country and I went to the Farm Chicks show for the first time ever!   Lots of fun, lots of pictures.  I even brought home a few goodies from the Farm Chick show.

Since returning home from our trip life has been busy.  I styled and catered a baby shower and all this week I will be involved with Vacation Bible School.  I promise Friday I will post some vacation pics, my goodies form the Farm Chick show and some projects I am working on.

Hope you are having a good summer in your little part of the world.Pin It Now!

::Saturday night fresh baked good::

My family occassionally requires me to make a "fresh baked good" after dinner.  I love to bake and I love to try new recipes. SinceI have gone gluten free I have tried many a gluten free flours and a lot of them had an off after taste and I didn't get that texture and taste I really missed in baked breads, muffins, cakes, etc. that I did with regular flour until now.  Williams-Sonoma carries this flour called C4C.  The abbreviation stands for cup for cup.  So if you have a non gluten free recipe for baking and you want to substitute this gluten free flour you can do it cup for cup.  No adding xanthum gum and all the other stuff most gluten recipes call for.  I am so beyond excited about not only being able to bake again, but also  to eat said baked good!  Here is what the C4C flour looks like

So, did I mention that this flour is a little pricey???  Yeah, well, it is, but I am okay with that because I don't bake every night.  So, I won't plow through this bag like it's toilet paper going out of style. 


Now, onto Saturday nights fresh baked good.



I used to make these when the children were small.  Years ago when we homeschooled we had the opportunity to incorporate field trips into our curriculum.  I loved taking the kids on field trips.  One of our most memorable field trips was to Lariland Farms in Woodbine, MD   A friend of mine and her two kids and my two kids and me all went to pick apples.  Such fun!  My friend and her two kids picked ten pounds of apples and so did we.  We made some apple butter and some apple fritters.  The kids enjoyed that field trip so much that to this day they ask me to make these fritters.  I usually make them in the fall when apples are most prevalent in many varieties, but tonight I was in need of a quick fresh baked good.  Y'all know what I mean when I say instant gratification, right?  I needed to whip something up fast.

Here are the ingredients:

Here are the directions:

Peel your apples and dice them in to chunks (yeah, I know the recipe above says sliced, just ignore that and dice).  Set aside  .  Then  in a  separate bowl mix flour,baking powder and salt.  Then add eggs, milk and the melted fat.  I used unsalted butter.  Then drop the diced apples in the batter and stir until comined.

Next you will need a shallow pan.  I used a skillet .  I poured about a cup of vegetable oil in the pan and turned the heat to medium high.  You will know that your oil is ready if you drop a small bit of batter in the oil and it rises to the top quickly and is golden brown on one side.  I suggest dropping  four small spoonfuls of the apple batter in the skillet at a time.  This way the temperature of your oil doesn't drop too much and you can be sure that the fritters will be cooked on the inside as well.  You will see them start to get golden brown and this is when you turn them over.  Let them cook on that side for about another minute and a half and then drain on a plate with some paper towels.  Sprinkle with powder sugar if you like and enjoy!

Tomorrow I will share a sneek peak of another fresh baked good I made with this new flour. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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::LINKY LOVE AND WHAT I HAVE BEEN READING::

Hi All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend in your little corner of the world.  We did.  After a week of thunderstorms, rain and tornadoes we are finally enjoying some beautiful weather. 

In between all the sewing, working and taking care of my family I find time to check out other blogs.  I wanted to share a few with you today that  have either done some room redos or shared a really cool project that I thought you all might be interested in.

I always enjoy a good room makeover.  Especially when the after photos are so dramatically different than the befores.  You all have to hop on over to http://beauxrevesamore.blogspot.com/2012/03/guest-room-reveal.html    She redid her guest room and it is just stunning.  The after photos have her room, light, fresh and welcoming.  She did many a project in this room for the reveal.  My favorite is the bedding.

photo by Cindy at  http://beauxrevesamore.blogspot.com/

The next project I loved was this lovely knockoff linen napkin by Mary Beth from http://blog.annapolis-online.com/  I say knockoff because while they look like linen napkins, Mary Beth shares that it's not actually linen, but linen look fabric instead.  I have shared before that earlier this year we stopped purchasing paper napkins and use cloth napkins daily for each meal.  Every meal should be special.  Why wait to bring out the cloth napkins just for company?  Use them everyday and make every meal with your family a four star dining experience.

photo by Mary Beth at http://blog.annapolis-online.com/

Isn't it lovely?   Mary Beth not only shares a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these, she also shared how she did that lovely stitching on there to bump up the quality of them.  Writing tutorials with beautiful step-by-step photos takes time and I sure do appreciate Mary Beth taking the time to share how she makes her cloth napkins with us.  Here is the link for her tutorial:

http://blog.annapolis-online.com/2012/03/linen-embroidered-napkins/

I will be back later in the week to hopefully share a recipe with you.  We'll see if it turns out.  If it does, I will be sure to blog about it.

Have a blessed day!
Cheryl

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:: Signs of Spring and participating in Sweet Shot Tuesday::

I  am participating in Sweet Shot Tuesday.  Let me know what you think of the roses in my garden.  If you have time, hop over to Darcy's and check out all the other Sweet Shots.  Just click the link below .


Our many rose bushes have been blooming lately.  We bought our house about a year and a half ago and I have no idea what any of the rose bushes are called.  What I can tell you is that they are incredibly vibrant in color and so very full.  Here are a couple of them from around the yard.

On the right side of our backyard the fig tree has started to show show some blooms.    Looks like there will be a bumper crop.....I hope.  Uforutnately we haven't been able to ever harvest enough to make some preseves.  We'll eat them raw or in a salad and that's about it.

I wish the blog had a smell feature.  The orange trees are blossoming as well and they smell delicious.  When the wind blows I love to take a big whiff of the orange blossoms.  It almost smells like honeysuckles, but sweeter if you can imagine that .

I also prettified the counter top in the laundry.  I needed a place to place the lint that we clean out from the dryer; a place for my tide pen; and all the "loot" I find in pockets and on the floor.  You wouldn't believe the small fortune I have been able to gather in just the laundry room alone.  I made the woolen bag out of canvas  that I had in my fabric stash and then used some stamps to put the saying on.  The silver cake holder is a yard sale find I found a couple of years ago.  The little terra cotta dish was a gift from many years ago and the mini mason jar had some kind of preserves in it at one time.  So, everything was all stuff I had already to prettify this little spot.  I also placed my Country Living Simple Wisdom book here too.  Great ideas on homekeeping, etc. in this little book.

On the sewing front I am still busy at the machine.  Life, laundry and family come first and sewing takes a backseat.  So, it is slow going.

A big thank you to everyone that commented and gave me suggestions and links about gluten free stuff.  You all are the best.

Enjoy your day!Pin It Now!

{GLUTEN FREE and still sewing at the machine}}

Over the holidays I found out I needed to be gluten free.  I don't have celiac, but I do have a gluten intolerance.  I am so much happier now that I know what's going on.

I do some research on what all has gluten in it so I could avoid it.  You wouldn't believe all the stuff that has gluten in it...like almost everything I like to eat. 

I have had to come up with new ways to make my favorite dishes and even look into making new dishes to eat.  One of my favorite indulgences is bread.  Any kind of baguette, ciabata, french bread.  You name it, I love to eat it.  Sadly, the few gluten free bread mixes I have found to use just aren't doing it for me.  They just don't have the texture that bread with gluten has...nor the taste.  But I eat it anyway because I have to.

Suprisingly Wal Mart and Whole Foods as well as Target have a great gluten free section.  Everything from past, to cake mixes, cookie mixes, pancake mixes.  You name it, I have found it.  They are a little more pricey, but when I have a taste for cookies, pancakes or pasta, they do the trick.

Another down side...well, not totally a down side, but a wee bit of a bummer is that we can't eat out anymore.  Pizza has gluten in it.  Chineses food, if breaded has gluten in it and even hamburgers have gluten in the buns.  Ugggh!  It's been hard adjusting, but I have been making the changes.  One of the things I read on http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/ is that you can't cheat and maybe have some gluten here and there.  For me, I know I can't it really bothers my intestines, so I stay away from it.  She also suggests ridding your pantry of anything with gluten in it.  Last weekend I did just that. The only thing with gluten in there is cereal for my hubs and the kids.  I can't deprive them of that.  : )

I am still enjoying sewing on my machine and hope to have a finshed...or almost finished quilt to show you next week.
Happy Thursday!
CherylPin It Now!

((Thank You and some quilt inspiration))

Thank you to all you ladies that left sweet comments about our sweet Penny.  Meant so much to me.

The next couple of weeks I will be busy quilting and sewing. I may be scarce on the blog while I am having fun quilting.

I did want to leave you with a little inspiration though.  I have seen a few "plus quilts" lately.  Quilts that look like they have plus signs in them.  Check out the quilt below.

photo and quilt by Amy Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns.

April Rosenthal from Prairie Grass Patterns has this over at

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/01/positively-perfect-nap-quilt.html#more

She has broken down in easy step-by-step directions with lovely photos how to put this lovely quilt together.  I am so excited to shop for fabrics for this and get started as when it is finished it will be a quilt for my sweet daughter for her birthday. 

Hop on over to http://www.modabakeshop.com/p/recipes.html and check out their other recipes they offer.

Have a great weekend!

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((LOSS...How do you cope??))

Our sweet Penny enjoying her favorite spot in the house....The corner of the couch.

I have been away from the blog for a bit and have delayed posting what my word for 2012 would be because we lost someone very dear to us.

We had to put down our family dog, Penny, the first weekend in the new year.  It was really hard for me.  Growing up I never had a dog.  Our sweet Penny was a well loved friend to both our children as well as my husband and myself.  Our children had the privilege having her since she was a puppy.   We have taken her on many travels with us across these great United States.  We have moved to many different states and she always moved with us.

We will miss her......
 -   getting excited every time she saw suitcases  getting zipped up because it meant she was going to go in her travel crate and go on an adventure with us.

 - we will miss her soft, velveety ears and those caramel paws.

-  we will miss her guard dog qualities.  She was always so protective of us.

-  I will miss the way you loved to snug up to us and get showered with love and fall asleep on a lazy afternoon on the couch.

We will miss you being a part of our family sweet Penny.Pin It Now!

{{HAPPY 2012!!}}

Happy New Year!  I hope your Christmas was merry and filled with good food and family.

December was a busy month for us.  We had family visit the first week of the month and then I took a vacation the last week of the month.

We've lived here in Louisiana for a year and a half now.  We are always learning new things about this state.  Over the holidays we were watching PBS and they had a special on the little town of Natchitoches.  Yeah, it's a mouthful to pronounce and not the way you would think.  It's pronounced (Nack i tish)  with the "i" being short.

 It's a quaint town.  One of the oldest that was established in 1714.  It also was the backdrop to the movie Steel Magnolias.  They have a lovely historic downtown district full of shops, dining and antique stores.  But that is not why we packed up the kids and the dog and drove two hours to see this place.  You see, they have something called the Festival of Lights each year.  Last year we missed it, so this year my sweet husband took as all up there to see it.  It starts the first weekend in December and goes all the way until the December 30th.  Except this year they extended it into New Year.

The town is full of old charm.  I love architecture and had to get a picture of this old bank building to share with you.  Look at all the details with the dental molding and the shutters and the beautiful iron railing on the balconies.

They had horse drawn carriage rides

We walked into a few boutique shops and a toystore and a general merchandise store.  That store was cool.  It had a little bit of everything in it.  Here is my family taking it all in and "chiefing it" as we like to call it.  Other wise known as walking ahead and leaving other family members in the dust.  (insert loving snicker here)

It was just starting to get dark when we were heading to a restroom.  We had been walking all afternoon and had eaten lunch and that wonderful glass or two of sweet tea was starting to kick in.  I love the old fashioned style street sign and  the way the lights twinkled in the background.  I took the picture in hopes of maybe getting some of the that magic "bokeh" in the background, but I wasn't successful.  Still need to practice.

Here is the same area at night.

Down on the riverbank is where the rest of the lights are.  Nothing extravagant, but simple and sweet.  I loved it.  This year marks their 85th year celebrating the Festival of Lights.  Here are just a few pictures of the lights at night.

Even amidst all the twinkling of the lights they still managed to share the "true reason for the season."



I enjoyed our trip there.  The hubs took the scenic route.  He knows I love that stuff.  I enjoyed time with family and I enjoyed the lights!

The younger generation  in our family even indulged me in a phot op.  I LOVE those sweet faces.

Tomorrow I will be sharing my word for the new year.

Have a blessed day!

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::JOIN ME::

I finally joined pinterest.  Lotsa fun and a great way to have all my fave inspirational pics in one place.

I have only made three boards so far, but check it out.

 

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::HANDMADE HOLIDAYS:::

Have you checked out all the great links for handmade holiday ideas?  I am sure pinterest has a ton of them.  I don't pin, so I wouldn't know.  I am still old school.

This year I am trying go handmade on the wrapping.  I also wanted to make some new ornaments for our tree as well as make some for family that will be visiting soon.

This year I am choosing to use brown kraft paper as the wrapping and embelish with some simple ribbon or yarn.  I have been finding some really cool tags to add to these gifts.  Here are a few links to some lovely tags that these bloggers have made as a freebie.

http://www.kindovermatter.com/2010/12/free-printable-holiday-wine-gift-tags.html

http://www.belvederedesignsblog.com/2010/12/free-printable-holiday-gift-tags.html

Also, check out Emily over at http://jonesdesigncompany.com/
Here is the link for her lovely gift tags:
http://jonesdesigncompany.com/holiday/christmas-goodies-week-gift-tags/

I have fallen in love with all the lovely clay tags I have seen on etsy.  So many pretty and unique tags.  My all time faves are from Jami over at http://www.freckledlaundry.com/
Check out this post and you will know what I mean.
http://www.freckledlaundry.com/2011/11/e.html  Are they not fabulous.  Simple, yet elegant.  That's me all over.

If you would like to make some of your own this year as well pop on over to Craft Snob blog.  Allison of http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/ shares a step-by-step tutorial with pictures. 

Here is a sample of her tags.


photo by Allison of http://www.littleloveliesbyallison.com/

I will be back over the weekend to share some handmade holiday gifts and hopefully my version of the clay tags I will be putting on my tree this year.

Until then, have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!Pin It Now!