Another Fun Video

I love this one too!

Winter Whip-Up

This week's challenge was to clean out and de-clutter the dishes and cookware/bakeware cabinets.

Last night I completed the challenge, and these are all the things that are being de-cluttered. If I haven't used it in years, or maybe even NEVER used it....it's gone! I will be donating them to a fund-raiser yard sale in a couple weeks. The old food that I found in a non-food cabinet are of course headed to the trash. They aren't things we really eat anyways....particularly if they contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.

I Will Survive!

I LOVE this!!!! LOL

Class Picture ----- Gone Crazy!

We recently needed to submit a "class photo" for our yearbook, and this year, instead of individual photos....and because I forgot about them until 15 minutes before I had to go turn them in....we decided to do a group shot with the fresh snow in the back ground.

A nice "Class Photo"



And because we can't be too serious for too long......

Monday Challenge

Okay, here we go!

This week's challenge is your dishes, and cookware/bakeware locations.

Take out all the dishes, wipe down the cabinets, inside and out. Then take a look at the contents of those cabinets. Especially those cookware & bakeware. Any pans you haven't used in years? Do you REALLY need them? If not, reclaim that space!

I'll post the pictures later this week!

The Winning Biscuits!

Okay, why do I call these the "Winning" biscuits? Because for 18 years, I have tried various biscuit recipes, never finding THE recipe that would work. They always came out hard, dense, floury-tasting, and just plain icky! The best biscuits that were made in this house, were out of a bag from the freezer section of the store.

Sad, I know.

But I kept searching, and finally decided to play around and make some alterations, and AT LAST! Perseverance paid off!

In our house, we finally have a winner! These biscuits are crunchy on the outside, and soft on the inside, and make a regular appearance around here. And best of all, no special trips to the dairy section for buttermilk!



2 c a/p flour (all purpose)
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (I use kosher or sea)
2 Tb sugar
1/3 c cold butter
3/4 c plus 2-3 Tb whole milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

Cut the butter into slices, and drop into the flour mixture. With a pastry blender, fork or knives, cut the butter into the mixture until all of the butter pieces are "pea-sized" or smaller.

Stir in 3/4 c of the milk, and add 2-3 Tb more as needed to just mix together the dough.

On a floured surface, pat out the dough mixture to around 1/2 inch thick. With a biscuit cutter or glass, cut biscuits, placing them on a baking stone/sheet. This usually makes between 12 and 15 biscuits, depending on how you pat out the dough.

Bake for about 10-13 minutes, or until just golden on top.

Enjoy!

My dearest daughter says, "Are you done? Good! Give me a biscuit!"

Printable Version: Winning Biscuits

Birthday Dinner

Well, my middle child and oldest son turned 14 years old today. Where does the time fly?!

As is our family custom, the "birthday boy" gets to pick what is for dinner. JD chose Baked Ham, Peas, Corn, Rolls and Pumpkin Pie!




Pumpkin Pie? Yes, Pumpkin Pie instead of a cake....as you can see, I don't think he could have been more excited! (That's almost scary!)


Opening his cards...


Father and Son

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday son!

Fun times

JR headed out this afternoon, and started pulling together all the scraps of plywood we had...along with the platform of his old bed, that is no longer used. And as boys do, his imagination went to work.

Daddy came home and saw JD giving him a hand, so he joined in on the fun.

And here is the new "fort" --- complete with a guard and everything.



The side view....


And inside....

MrsMamaHen.com

Just wanted to share that I finally got around to setting up my domain....

MrsMamaHen.com

Now I feel all official and everything, hehehe!

Index of Recipes

Bread Recipes (some sweet):

My Basic Bread Recipe (with "pan-ease" mixture)

"Winning" Biscuits

Cinnamon Rolls

Pepperoni Rolls

Swiss Onion Bread - (with step-by-step)

Pumpkin Bread

Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

Focaccia

Pilgrim Brown Bread

Cinnamon Swirl Quickbread

Pumpernickel Bread

Portuguese Sweet Bread

Blackberry Scones


Meals:

Skillet Fritatta

Not-So-Mini-Strone & Dangerous Biscuits

Yummy Pizza

Chunky Chicken Chili & Cornbread

French Toast

Hearty Split Pea Soup

Stir-Fried Beef

Scallops L'Orange

Farmer's Pasta

Complete Meal: Chicken & Sausage Platter, Smashed Potatoes, Onion Peas & Rice Pudding

Roasted Cornish Hens & Sweet Potatoes

Meatball Stew

Simple Sloppy Joes

Chicken Salad in toast cups

Oven Baked Chicken

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll

Chicken Tortilla Bake

My Meatloaf

Hungarian Goulash

Scalloped Potatoes & Ham

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Cheddar Ham Chowder

Chicken & Dumplings (buttermilk dumplings)

My Lasagna

German Potato Soup

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Sante Fe Chicken Chili

Stromboli & French Bread


Sweets or Appetizers:

Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Cookies

Chewy Brownie Cookies

Cheerio Treats

5 Star Brownies

Fudge Pudding Cake

Blackberry Cobbler

Blackberry Elation

My Chocolate Coffee Creamer

Woof! Ginger yaps Dog treats

Chocolate Pie

Blondies

The Good Chocolate Cake

The Best Chocolate Frosting

Gramma's Ice Cream Dessert

Dessert Apple Pizza with wheat pizza crust

Snickerdoodles

Hot Beef Dip

Pineapple Up-Side-Down Cake


SLIME recipe (non-food)

A Little Behind

I got a little off schedule this week, and didn't post a "Monday Challenge" on Monday. Don't worry, there will be one next week!

Blackberry Scones

NOTE: This recipe has been redone with a pictorial, and the addition of a Lemon Glaze. You can find it ---> "HERE"



I made these for a brunch today, and they were so moist and yummy! Another great use for my stash of wild blackberries in the freezer.

2 c + 3 Tb flour, Divided*
1 Tb baking powder
3 Tb sugar
1/8 tsp kosher or sea salt
6 1/2 Tb cold butter, Divided*
1 Tb vanilla
1 c cold half & half
1 c frozen blackberries

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place frozen blackberries in a small bowl, and toss with 1 Tb of the flour. Put bowl back in the freezer or you will end up with mush instead of berries.

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (remaining flour, baking powder, salt & sugar).

Cut 6 Tb of the butter into small pieces, and then "cut" into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or fork, or knives. Butter should not have any pieces larger than a pea.

Stir in vanilla and half & half, until just mixed.

Take blackberries out of the freezer, and with floured hands, gently work the blackberries into the dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and pat it into a square-ish shape. With a knife, cut dough in half each way, making 4 squares. Cut each square diagonally, making 8 triangles. Place triangles onto a baking sheet or stone. (I have a well-seasoned baking stone, you may want to line your stone/sheet with parchment paper.)

Take the remaining 1/2 Tb of cold butter, and cut it into 8 tiny pieces. Place one piece on top of each scone.

Bake for about 15-17 minutes, until scones are just turning golden brown.

Remove to a cooling rack.. Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Hebrews 10:25

This is a post from my old blog.....placing it here for those that wanted it:


***
Ever since I have been a Christian, I have always heard that this scripture is our "commandment" of sorts, that we are to be in church EVERY single time the doors are open. That if your "church" has 2 services a week, you should be at 2 services a week, if your church has 4 services a week, you should be at all 4 services and so on. That if you didn't come to every service, you just weren't a committed Christian, and you weren't as "spiritual" as Brother and Sister so-and-so who are here ALL the time. It is even taught by some that it is a SIN to miss church!

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

First of all, to "forsake" something means to completely quit or give up on something, to abandon it.

The dictionary defines "forsake" this way: "to renounce or turn away from entirely"

Did you catch that? ENTIRELY. Now how can it be that if you are only able to, or choose to only go to a traditional church service on Sunday mornings, that you are accused of FORSAKING the assembling of the church? That just doesn't line up even with the definition of the word! Maybe we need to take an English class refresher.

My second issue with using this scripture to indicate perfect attendance in "church" is the assumption that this is even talking about such an assembly.

The Greek word that is used here and translated as "assembling" (and taken to mean church service) is "Episunagoge."

Episunagoge means: "a complete collection."

Here is my first thought: if a complete collection means a collection of ALL the believers or ALL the brethren or ALL the saints, when has there ever been a church service that contained ALL the believers? The only assembly of ALL the believers that I can even think of, was on the day of Pentecost, in the upper room. When has there been one since? When will there ever be a collecting or gathering of the WHOLE CHURCH?

Secondly, I once heard a Greek scholar speak on this very word, "episunagoge." He stated that "epi" indicates and upward or lifting motion. So episunagoge could be translated as an upward collecting of all the believers. What does that sound like to you?

Next, I would like to look at the one other location in the entire bible, where the word "episunagoge" was used.

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, or by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand..." 2 Thess. 2:1-2

Paul then goes on to describe the events quickly preceding the SECOND COMING of Jesus!

Here, the word "episunagoge" is in the first verse, translated "gathering," and is clearly speaking of what we refer to as "the rapture." The time of the gathering of ALL the believers.

Why would the same word mean the "rapture" in one place and a "church service" in another?

To sum it all up, here is what I think Hebrews 10:25 is talking about.

I think that there were many Christians who believed that Jesus was going to be coming right back to get them all. That as time progressed, they became frustrated and were giving up hope that Jesus was ever coming again. They were starting to lose faith in that promise of His coming!

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

I think that what was being said here was simply this, "Don't give up! Don't stop believing that our Lord is going to gather us up some day like some people have! Encourage one another, encourage one another even more as you see the time coming!"

I just want to finish with this. I do believe that it is very important to have fellowship with other believers. We strengthen one another, we pray for one another, we lift one another up, and as scriptures says, "Iron sharpeneth iron." (Prov 27:17) But I don't believe that a perfect attendance record in a dedicated building is what that scripture was talking about. Historically, believers simply could have never traveled to a "church service" 2, 3, 4 or more times a week. Up until this past century, the means simply did not exist for such travel! And for someone to declare an absence a "sin" just seems to be going way beyond what that scripture says at all.

This is something I felt like studying today, as I had read another statement, using Hebrews 10:25 to tell someone that were sinning if they missed a church service, and it just struck me in an odd way. I thought I would share my discoveries on this, for anyone that may appreciate them.

"Study to shew thyself approved!" (2Tim 2:15)

God Bless!

Ooshy Gooshy

I guess I am an odd duckling.  I am very practical.  I think "Valentine's day" is a bunch of hooey balooey, and nonsense.


And yet....


My husband came home with a gift for me.








What was I suppose to do? Send them away?  I love that man :-)

Mmm Mmmm Good! - Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

This is one of my favorite "comfort snacks" - great for company too.


1 8-oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 c mayonnaise
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c grated Romano cheese
1 clove garlic (finely minced) & about 1 Tb olive oil
about 4 or 5 artichoke hearts, chopped
1 cup chopped spinach, washed and patted or squeezed dry
1 c shredded Mozzarella cheese (divided)

In a small skillet, saute garlic in oil until tender. Cool.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayo, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, artichokes and spinach. Stir in about 1/4 c of the Mozzarella cheese.
Spread mixture into a small baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining Mozz. cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees, for around 15-20 minutes, or until bubbly and just beginning to brown on top.
Serve with tortilla chips, toasts, crackers, or other dippers.

Enjoy!

Separation Anxiety

A few minutes ago, a very nice couple came and picked up our turkeys to take them to their new home.  When I came inside, I was greeted by the quiet of a bunch of sleeping chicks.  When I peeked in at them, I saw the funniest thing! 

We have the little chicks separated from the bigger chicks, because the bigger ones were beating them up.  But the little ones want to go over there SO BAD!  They keep sticking their heads through the fencing, but can't go any further.

So what did they do?

Three of the little ones fell asleep, with their heads as close to the big ones as they could get!

Standing up, heads through the fencing.  I guess this could be labeled "Separation Anxiety."


Of course right after I took the pictures, they woke up and started running around.  But that was a sight! :-P

We ....Got ...BABIES!!!

We got Ameraucanas, Jungle Phoenix, and one lone little Silky---it was the last one they had.









Aren't they cute!!!????

Sewing Projects

Well, I was very busy over the weekend, working on several sewing projects.  Here is what I got done...

2 Aprons for my shop...
This one made of recycled jeans, and fabric remnants



This one made of recycled, vintage napkins and muslin



The front of my son's quilt, made of recycled jeans and BDUs...  All I have to do is add the back.  I also have about 2/3 of the squares cut for my other son's quilt of the same kind.  I'll start sewing that one this week.



A "Little House" dress for my friend's daughter....



And last....a work apron for my daughter to keep, made out of recycled overalls and fabric scraps.  She loves the pockets in this, and can use it when she is working with the horse.



This week's challenge on MTH, is to clean your oven/range.

Dinner tonight in my house is Baked Mac & Cheese, and a veggie.

Sewing goals this week: 

1. Progress on the other quilt


2. 2 aprons for the shop


3. An art kit or 2 for the shop


4. A dish carrier, photos to go with the instructions here on my blog, and the carrier itself for my shop.

A fifth goal this week is to practice making button holes.  I have the worst trouble with those!  I still need to put buttons on that little dress, and practiced on some scrap fabric.  Perfect.  As soon as I tried making one on the dress, I had a HUGE MESS!  UGH! 

Have a blessed week!

Sunrise like a Symphony

Yesterday we went to see the North Carolina Symphony perform.  Every year, they do a "School Children's" performance.  We greatly enjoyed it.  But what is it about kiddos, that they think the highest, balcony seats are the best seats in the house?  LOL



Man-made beauty....





Then this morning, we awoke to another bright and sparkly day....



God's paintbrush...

Monday Challenge

Last week, our challenge on MTH was to organize and clean out the pantry or food cabinets.

Here are mine:



I keep most of my dry goods in jars. If you've ever had an issue with pests in the kitchen, this is a good way to keep them out. Last year, we had ants get in, but because everything was sealed in jars, the ants never found the food cabinet, and all the food was safe.

My "baking supplies" are over where my mixer is, for convenience, so that everything is right in reach.



Okay, here is this week's challenge:

Clean any small kitchen appliances, such as the coffeemaker, toaster oven, microwave, your stove vent, etc. How about your mixer? When appliances are kept clean, they last longer!

Inspiring!!!