Show and Tell

Live!... and... Delicate Doilies Recipe Card

Today is Sunday, December 11. And what you see above is a teaser for what's (way) below. Yesterday was stamp club and I like to give a little preview of the project that I made to swap at the beginning of my stamp club post. Gotta keep you intrigued. Can't have you cutting out early, you know? :)

We had a precious time of worship at church today. We don't normally have a choir, but over the past few weeks the worship ministry has put together a choir of volunteers from the congregation and it was just such a blessing to worship with a diverse group and different musical styles. I just love my church!

On the medical front, I thought I'd let you know that we decreased the steroids by one more milligram today. So starting today, I'm only take 2mg. I took one this morning around breakfast time and will probably take the other while we're watching The Amazing Race tonight. So far, so good. I definitely can tell that I "need" something (probably more psychological), but I haven't gotten all wacky yet so I'm thinking that this is going to go well and that pretty soon I'll be able to completely stop taking them. Considering that at the beginning of this journey I was taking 16mg a day, this is very good. 

 

So, let's go right into some scripture. These are the verses that jumped out at me today. They're not all consecutive, but they are all of the same theme.

Amos 5:4b, 6a, 14a, 15a, 24

"'Come back to me and live!... Come back to the Lord and live!... Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!... Hate what is evil and love what is good;... I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.'"

From these words in the Old Testament it's pretty clear that the Lord desires for us to be close to Him. He longs for a relationship with us and that relationship will give us life.

In order for us to get the most from our relationship with the Lord He exhorts us to hate what is evil, love what is good, and live righteously. As far as hating evil, it may be significant to note that He doesn't say to hate those who do evil... He says to hate the evil. I've heard people say to hate the sin, but love the sinner. I think that can be pretty difficult at times, but this is how we show people God's love... by loving them when they are not very lovable to us. Most people will eventually respond to love and kindness, so as Believers we need to make sure we are consistently displaying those attributes in our lives — then as people respond to God's love, a flood of righteous living will spread across our land. And how cool would that be?

 

 

So yesterday was the Christmas party of the Stampin' Up club that I'm a part of. Oh, my. What fun! Our swap for December is recipe cards — and then we each make our item and bring it to share. I've given you this recipe on the blog before and we make this dish regularly at our house, but I've never made a recipe card for it. Seemed like it was high time to do so.  

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This casserole has been part of our Thanksgiving Day meal for years... ever since some friends brought it to share with us one holiday when they were in town for a soccer tournament that their son was playing in. So — we've had it every Thanksgiving since then. We also usually take it to a neighbor's 4th of July party. And to just about any other carry-in meals that come up. It's so easy to make and so yummy that it's the perfect dish for just about any occasion.

I'm kinda of diggin' the stamping that I did on this card. I really like the neutral colors and the design. My original plan was to embellish some of the lace images with buttons, twine, and silk ribbon, but when I started playing around with the idea it just wasn't working for me. And, I'm glad. Because I really like the simplicity of what I ended up with. And it won't be all bumpy in someone's recipe card file. :)   

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Delicate Doilies); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream); ink is SU (Crumb Cake, River Rock, Sahara Sand).

Would you like to see the other dishes from Stamp Club?

These are Kelley's (White Chili) and Kathy's (Deviled Egg Dip). 

 Then we have Rita's (Buffalo Chicken Dip) and Judy's (Queso Enchildas).

Then we have Sheri's (Creamy Pumpkin Mousse) and mine (Grandma's Company Corn). 

And finally Cherie's two desserts (The Best Canadian Butter Tart and Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle).

And, I'll tell you, everything was as delicious as it looks. After dinner we moved to Judy's beautiful living room...

and exchanged gifts. We each bring, as Judy says, "the best $5 stamp you can find".  We wrap our offerings up, they're numbered, and we draw numbers to determine which gift we get. (Hopefully, that makes sense.) In coming days I'll show you the gift bags that I made for Kris and my exchange stamps.

And here is our whole group...

 Well, our whole group minus Kris who took the picture. It was such a fun evening with tons of laughter... just the way a holiday gathering should be.

Well, I think that will have to be it for tonight. Thanks so much for stopping for a visit. I love hearing from you and will look forward to talking with you again tomorrow. Sending you lots of love!

Back to School

Today is Tuesday, September 6. The first day of preschool for our students. The littlest kids have a shortened day for the first week... just 9:30 to 11:30 (we call it the easing-in schedule). And two hours is plenty for them. And for the teachers, too, since many times there are a lot of criers -- especially in the toddlers and younger 2 year olds. The 4 and 5 year olds have their full day of school -- which is really just a half-day... 9:30 to 1:15. They eat lunch at school. (In case you're wondering about the 3 year olds, they do the shortened day for the first week, too.)

So -- it's now 9:30 a.m. I'm here at home praying over the first day of school. I'll be going to work after the little kids are gone today... so around 11:45 or so. I decided that too much activity (and crying) may not be good for me. Yes. I'm wimping out a bit. Or, I guess we can just say that I'm easing back in, too. I'll let you know how it goes. I probably won't be staying very long... I have a radiology treatment at 1:50 (or something like that) and will, of course, need to eat lunch before that. Food reigns around here these days. :)

One thing that I'm most grateful for today is that I made it through the weekend without devolving into some sort of delirium. It felt tenuous at times -- but I think that was just a mental thing on my part. So... I am truly, truly thankful that my thought processes still seem to be relatively clear and intact. And I'm quite looking forward to getting back into treatment. Hopefully that will relieve any swelling that's going on in my brain and in the rest of my body (like my legs and ankles are starting to turn into tree trunks and I won't even tell you about my waist, thighs, and face!). But, really, the Lord has been so gracious and good to me! And I am truly thankful!

So -- here is some scripture that I pulled from what I read this morning:

Psalm 50:14-15

"Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory."

Lord, I am so thankful for all You have done for me. Throughout my life... but especially over the past 5 weeks. I'm not sure what I've done to deserve so many blessings from You, but I am so, so grateful! You know my situation... You know my needs... You know my desires. And You know that I count on You to rescue me. You're the only One who truly can! And -- all the glory will go... does go... to You. Don't allow me to take things for granted... or to have expectations of what You will or will not do. You are all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. And You know what is best for me. But... this isn't all about me. It's about You and what You want to accomplish -- not just in me but in everyone that I come into contact with... whether that contact is actual or "virtual". Thank You for blessing me with the opportunity to make an impact for your glory!

OK -- that's kind of an example of how I've been doing my morning prayer time. I read my scriptures for the day, pick out a verse or passage and pray with it, meditate on it, rewrite it, whatever. Just something to get it more solidly in my head. And to touch base with my Lord. Really, you've been privy to at least an adaptation of that part of my day for most of the weeks since my brain tumor diagnosis. I'm not sure how many years I've been doing this (on-and-off) -- but I do know that the years I've really made it a priority have been my best and biggest years spiritually (and otherwise, too). So why I ever lapse is a mystery to me.  

Now... 

I know that some of you are waiting for the corn casserole recipe... so here it is. I'd like to put it on a recipe card at some point and do a blog entry with that, but don't think that you really want to wait for that to happen. Who knows how long it could be!

Grandma's Company Corn

1 can cream style corn  (14.75 oz)

1 can regular corn  (15.25 oz)

1 stick butter or margarine (melted)

1 cup sour cream (I use light)

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

2 eggs

Mix all the above ingredients together & pour into a 9"x9" pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

(I usually double all ingredients and use a 9x13 pan. It'll need to bake at least 60 minutes then... maybe more.)

Who am I kidding. I ALWAYS double the ingredients and use a 9x13 pan. :) It's just too good not to! It's good fresh, it's good leftover... it's even pretty good cold. If you've never had this before, you really need to try it. And, oh... the recipe isn't really from my grandma. That is what was written on the paper when the recipe was given to me. And, since I liked the cozy sound of it... well, I kept it. Why not?

 

Moving on to today's card...

In recent years I've been leaving some kind of treat for the weekday school teachers on the first two days of school. Baking just seemed a little overwhelming this year so I went with the standard apple for a teacher thing. It's healthier anyway. :) 

Ken bought the apples and took them up to school for me.

Impressively arranged, aren't they? Yep. He's an impressive guy. :)

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And here's a look at the inside. Usuallly I'm not much for cutesy little abbreviations, but "UR" seemed to work best... so "UR" it became.

 

 

 

 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Tag-its #6); cheap clearance aisle notecard; ink is Stampin' Up (Real Red, Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight) and PTI (True Black); also used SU's Stampin' Write markers (More Mustard, Always Artichoke).

That's about it for now. My stamping friends will be interested to know that my Papertrey Ink order arrived today... five stamp sets (well, two are minis... but still, five total!) Pretty exciting stuff. :) Now to discipline myself to finish up my current projects before breaking them open... Well see how successful I am at that.

Thank you so, so much for stopping by and for loving me. :) I'm loving you all back!

Dilled Macaroni-Chicken Salad

Today was our monthly stamp club meeting. This month we met at the home of our Stampin' Up demonstrator, Judy, had a potluck lunch, and swapped recipe cards. My time to prepare was short, so I took the easy route — both with my recipe card and with my food.

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I used my standard recipe card fonts (that I copied from Michelle Wooderson, if I remember right). The handwritten looking one is from Creating Keepsakes — you can download it here (CK Becky). The other one that looks like a typewriter was on my computer... maybe it's on yours, too — Arabic Typesetting. As I do for my stamp club projects, on the back I stamped a partial image, initialed, and dated it.

And here is a picture of the salad.

It's really not much to look at, but it sure is tasty. At least, we in the Hayes house like it. In case you're wondering, I doubled the recipe — although I wouldn't have needed to. With all those leftovers, it did make dinner tonight pretty easy, though. :)

AND TELL:  stamp is from Stampin' Up (Silhouette Sentiments); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Rustic White) and SU (Kiwi Kiss); ink is Memento (Tuxedo Black); button is PTI (Blueberry Sky); baker's twine is from The Twinery (Lemondrop); also used a SU marker (Basic Black) and a Creative Memories corner rounder.

There were just five of us at stamp club today, but that didn't prevent us from eating a lot and having a great time. Only Judy and I had our recipe cards finished. Here's hers:

And here is the food the others brought:

So yummy. We never talk about what we will be bringing in advance and it always turns out perfectly.

We also got our new Stampin' Up catalogs today... so that was exciting. I have plenty of things to do, but I may just have to make a little time to sit with that catalog tonight. :)

I sure hope you have a great evening. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to see you again very soon!

Mom's Meatloaf

A couple weeks ago I showed you a card that I made for a wedding we attended. But — I didn't show you the gift at that time... and I'm finally getting around to it today.

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Lest you think I'm really cheap, this was just an add-on to the gift. The main gift — a platter and meat fork from their registry — was sent by Bed Bath and Beyond to the bride and groom's home in Texas. Since there was a time that Daryl took a few meals at our house, I know that he enjoyed my mom's meatloaf recipe (like... he single-handedly ate about half of a loaf one night), thus the need for them to have a platter and serving fork — and the meatloaf recipe. Then to elevate the recipe card to gift status, I created a box to put it in.

I slid the card in under the box's belly band, rather than sticking it in an envelope.

I think they looked pretty good together like that. :) (Here is a link to the card's post, in case you missed it.)

Oh, and here is the back of the recipe card...

so they remember where it came from.

AND TELL: stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Borders & Corners: Circles, Just for You, Button Boutique, Vintage Picnic Sentiments); cardstock is PTI (Rustic White, Stampers Select White) and Stampin' Up (Kiwi Kiss; Rich Razzleberry); patterned paper is from Crate Paper (Restoration collection), October Afternoon (Thrift Shop collection), and Cosmo Cricket (Garden Variety collection); ink is PTI (Vintage Cream) and Memento (Tuxedo Black); button is PTI (Dark Chocolate); baker's twine is from The Twinery (Lemondrop); sticker (on back of recipe card) is October Afternoon; also used a Martha Stewart doily and the PTI Parisian Lace Doily die.

Before I get started here... I have to print a retraction. You know how I indicated that I nap quite a bit on these long car trips? Well, apparently I napped so much this time that I didn't even know where we were... but now I know... and it was not Cincinnati... it was Louisville. Yes, Kentucky... not Ohio. Boy. What a boneheaded mistake. I really was out of it, wasn't I? Ken got quite a kick out of what I wrote yesterday... I don't think he realized before quite how little I pay attention when he's driving. But... don't you think he should take that as a great compliment? I mean, I don't need to worry about little details like what route we're taking... I just put all my trust in him to get us where we're supposed to be. Yes... I think he should feel complimented. :)

So — I'll show you a few pictures from last Friday... our day at Winona Lake. Since Lynne and Mike's house was packed to the gills, they made sure that we were comfortably housed at a nearby bed & breakfast, The Chestnut House.

Beautiful, isn't it? And just wait till you see the inside.

A basket of slippers inside the door so that the floors remain in tip-top shape.

The woodwork was beautiful... it gleamed. And check out the built-ins in our room (the White Oak Suite)...

kinda made ya wanna unpack and stay awhile.

That picture's representative of the first B in the B & B (gorgeous inlays, huh?).

Here's the second B.

Mmmm. Yummy.

It was our first bed & breakfast stay. May not be our last.

And, you know, I think that's enough for me to share in one day. There was just too much packed into our Winona Lake day, so I'll divide it up over a few posts. Don't want to take up too much of your time tonight. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I plan to be back tomorrow with another card and more from our trip to Indiana. Hope to see you then!

December Stamp Club

If you've been around here for awhile, you may remember that our December Stamp Club meeting, instead of including a greeting card swap, revolves around dinner and trading recipe cards. Each person brings a food to share and makes 5" x 7" recipe cards to go with it. Here's mine.

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So, today I broke a rule. It's my own rule, though. Does that make it OK? And, aren't rules made to be broken? My rule is that when I make things for Stamp Club I only use Stampin' Up stamps, inks, and cardstocks (except white, cream, and kraft). After all, it's a Stampin' Up club and it just seems to be the right thing to do. But once I had this idea, nothing else would do. I tried. I really tried. I pulled out the SU cupcake set that has the cake stand. And I have Tart & Tangy, which includes an apple. Just couldn't make them work as well as these Papertrey Ink stamps, though, so... I broke the rule. And I only feel slightly guilty because I'm quite pleased with the results.

The base of the cake stand is the Christmas tree stand from Tree Trimming Trio. For the cake plate I cut patterned paper with the Banner Builder dies. Each plate took a little more than 1 full piece of trim, so I added the word CAKE (punched with SU's Word Window punch) over the seam. The apple stamp is from School Time and was first entirely inked in yellow, then just the leaf and stem area were pressed in a green ink pad, and the right edge was rolled in red. So fast and easy. (And, since the lightest color was stamped first, no stamp pads appear to have been damaged in the process!) The green border on the right was made with a border punch that punches out full circles from the scallops — I just adhered the recipe half-way across the open circles. Some of the circles were rescued from the trash and used as centers for the red flowers. That's probably more details than you needed, just thought you might be wondering about a few of those things. :) The strip of patterned paper and the flower were last minute additions. There was too much blank space so I needed a little something to fill it up.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Tree Trimming Trio, School Time, Everyday Treats); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Daffodil Delight) and PTI (Rustic White, Stampers Select White); patterned paper is from Making Memories (the green) and Cosmo Cricket (Garden Variety Mini-Deck); ink is SU (Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler); button and twine are PTI (Fine Linen, Rustic Jute): also used an EK Success border punch, PTI's Banner Builder dies and SU's Word Window and Five Petal Flower punches.

As it's Christmastime, we also do a little gift exchange at our December meeting — the best $5 stamp you can find. Here's my packaging...

 
which has a little foreshadowing to what's inside. I ordered two of that $5 set — one for me and one to give. :) We pick numbers to choose gifts. I got the cutest little Nativity set. We'll see if I have time to make something with it before Christmas gets here.

Thought I'd share a few photos from the evening...

Sauerbraten and Chic-key Chili

Chicken Salad & Taco Casserole

Lori's Cranberry Sausage Stuffing & Jam Crumble Bars

Cappuccino Mousse Trifle & Gingerbread Roll

Oh, and my Easy Apple Cake...

 
er, really, Bakerella's Easy Apple Cake. Yum, yum, yum.

Well, since I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, I think it's time to finish this up. Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you had a great Saturday!

Luscious Lemon Cake

 
Today's stamp club swap was recipe cards (5"x7"). In the past we've done this only at Christmas. This year we decided to do one during the summer, too.

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I really try to use all Stampin' Up products when I'm going to card club — at least for the stamps, inks, and colored cardstocks. And major decorative elements. But, somehow those Martha Stewart doily tags snuck their way onto my recipe cards. I bought them quite awhile ago and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use them.

As is usual for stamp club, I stamped and signed the back of my cards.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Stampin' Up (Tart & Tangy, Nice & Narrow, Yummy); cardstock is SU (Ruby Red, So Saffron) and Papertrey Ink (Rustic White); ink is SU (So Saffron, Summer Sun, Ruby Red), PTI (Tea Dye Duo), and VersaMark; also used SU's Lattice embossing folder, 1-3/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, and Martha Stewart's doily tags. The fonts I used are the same ones that Michelle Wooderson uses on her recipe cards. I'm such a copycat sometimes.

I thought I'd show you my original copy of this recipe in my very own senior year of high school handwriting. The assignment was to start a file of recipes that we enjoyed from our home ec class(es), supplementing them with favorite recipes from home. The Lemon Cake recipe was one that I copied from my mom's extensive collection.

Thought you also might like to see the grade I received on my recipe project. Written in my mom's very own handwriting. Yep. My mom was my high school home ec teacher. haha. She mentioned organizing my recipe cards better in her note. Ummm. Sorry, Mom. I'm quite sure every card is in the exact same place that it was in when you graded my book. Surely my 'A' grade is safe after over — yikes! — 30 years.

And for those of you have been asking, here's the recipe:

Luscious Lemon Cake

 

2 (3 ounce) packages of lemon jello

1 package yellow cake mix

4 eggs

¾ cup water

¾ cup canola oil

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Juice of two lemons (about 6 tablespoons)

 

Beat first 4 ingredients with mixer for 2 minutes. Add oil and beat 2 minutes more. Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, then reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake until done, about 15-20 more minutes (may take longer). While cake is baking, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. After cake is removed from oven, poke all over with a meat fork and pour lemon juice mixture over the top. The cake is tasty as is, or top it with fresh berries and maybe some whipped topping for an extra treat.

I have more pictures from today to show you, but think I'll save those for next time. It's getting rather late and Flylady would want me to get to bed — the Day 28 task is to eat good food, drink water, and get your rest. (How was that for a quick update on the Beginner BabySteps?)

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Company's Coming Tossed Salad

 
Our December Stamp Club meeting is always a potluck party. It is at the home of our fearless leader, Judy. Instead of swapping greeting cards, each person brings a dish along with corresponding recipe cards. This year I'll be taking a simple salad recipe that I adapted from a Taste of Home Light & Tasty recipe.  

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I make variations of this recipe a lot. The dressing is fabulous. And, I'm lovin' fruit mixed in with salad greens. Oh, and sugared nuts. So yummy.

(I may come back later to edit this post — adding more details and maybe the recipe so you don't have to squint and copy from my photo... Right now, though, I'm running out of time!)

[Edited to add recipe:  So — I'm back! Here's the recipe for the salad. The original recipe can be found here.

And, here is my version:

Company’s Coming Tossed Salad

2 T. sugar

½ c. pecans

1 pkg. spring mix salad greens

1 pkg. hearts of romaine

1 granny smith apple, chopped

1 red delicious apple, chopped

2 celery ribs, thinly sliced

1 small red onion, chopped

Dried cranberries

Dressing:

3 T. canola oil

2 T. cider vinegar

5 t. sugar

1/4 t. salt

In a heavy skillet, cook and stir the sugar over medium low heat until melted. Stir in pecans; cook for 1 minute until browned. Spread onto foil coated with cooking spray; set aside.

In a large salad bowl, combine the mixed greens, romaine, and other salad ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad; add pecans and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

(This is my Christmas version of the salad. It’s also really tasty with sugared almonds and a can of mandarin oranges or fresh strawberries.)]

AND TELL:  stamp is from Stampin' Up (Friendship Grows); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Mellow Moss, Pink Pirouette) and Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Mellow Moss); ribbon is PTI (Vintage Cream grosgrain); also used a flower border embossing folder from Provo Craft, Creative Memories corner rounder, and Spellbinder's Classic Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities.

We also do a little gift swap — the "best" stamp we can find for no more than $5.00. This year I bought my stamp at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. Loved it so much I bought one for me, too. Haven't used it yet, but I do still love it. I'll have to use it soon so you can see, too. I'm planning to package my stamp in a template, but am running out of time — so I may be using a gift bag. Oh, well. That's what you get when you do everything at the last minute.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you're having a fabulous weekend! I plan to be back tomorrow, so see you then!

Interesting. . .

What's that in the sky?

 

Can you tell now?

  

The Quail Hollow PGA golf tournament (not it's official name, I'm sure) is going on just a couple miles from our house. It's always exciting when the blimp shows up. Maybe not so exciting when the volume of traffic in our little neck of the woods increases, but kind of fun knowing that Tiger, Phil, and those other big name golfers are just down the road doing their thing. I'm not much of a golf fan, but Ken is and he has volunteered during the tournament as a marshall for a few years now. Wednesday during the pro-am, he was working a fairway and got to mark the location of one of Tiger's balls (it had been a crummy shot) — and then was close enough to overhear the conversation between Tiger and his caddy. Ken will be working out there again tomorrow, and I'm sure he'll have more interesting stories to tell.

Speaking of interesting, I was invited to a little party for "interesting" women last night. One of our former preschool moms invited women she knows (ones that I guess she deems as interesting) to come to her house. Each of us was assigned to bring either an interesting bottle of wine or an interesting dish to share. I made Rhubarb Crisp to take along with me. I'm not a fancy, gourmet cook — not by any stretch of the imagination! But, since every time I buy rhubarb I have to identify it for the cashier, I decided that it must be interesting — or, at least, unusual. I LOVE Rhubarb Crisp — but, in retrospect, it probably wasn't the best choice. I had to cover it with foil while it was still warm and by the time I arrived at the party Rhubarb Soggy would have been a more appropriate name. Oh, well. It was still tasty. We were asked to bring the recipe along and since the Rhubarb Crisp looked so bad, I'm glad that I at least made the recipe look cute — using an idea from Michelle Wooderson. I love looking at her recipe cards and mine pretty closely resembles this one of hers, even the fonts she uses, although mine is 5" x 7" instead of 4" x 6". I guess my older eyes need the type to be a little larger these days!

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AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Recipe Box), cardstock and ink are from Stampin' Up (Ruby Red), and the patterned paper is from KI Memories.

I hope that by tomorrow or Sunday I'll have the post finished that goes with the sneak peak I showed last weekend (at the end of this post). See you then!