food, crochet, merriment
Every noble impulse, every unselfish expression of love, every brave suffering for the right; every surrender of self to something higher than self; every loyalty to an ideal; every unselfish devotion to principle; every helpfulness to humanity; every act of self-control; every fine courage of the soul, undefeated by pretense or policy, but by being, doing, and living of good for the very good’s sake–that is spirituality.
David O. McKay
Oh, yes. I am in love again. This does happen quite frequently–doesn’t it?
If you have the deep and abiding love of peppermint–like I do, then my wish for you is that you have this lovely experience sometime in your life. Purely, pepperminty hand lotion. Have you ever heard of such a thing? This particular brand is from William Sonoma–I know, I know…just a tad snooty. But oh my goodness! This was just the perfect little touch of luxury that I was needing right about now, you know? Didn’t hurt my feelings at all that it was 50% off either! Might just be a great gift for Valentine’s Day–if you throw the hints the right way.
My little Jillian tucked this surprise in with some other Christmas goodies and let me just say, “Hea-ven!” It smells just like my daddy’s “sugar room” from when I was a kid. He was a chef and made candy and cakes and pulled sugar taffy that always smelled like peppermint. Mmmmmm.
It’s all I can do not to lick my fingers—but even I know that would be unwise. I have no idea if the brand makes a difference or not–but I’m telling you…
If you get the chance to be near Peppermint lotion in this or the next life–take it. Or come over to my house and I’ll share a smidge…just a smidge.
Then you gotta get your own.
…understand one thing…
…you ain’t never gettin’ it back.
Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Chompy!
I know that the actual holidays are behind us, but there are still 150 cans of Libby’s Pumpkin in our pantry…or so it seems.
This recipe has been stuck to my recipe “to do” board for weeks now and finally—holidays or no holidays–I just had to make the darn thing. Holy cow–am I glad I did. This cake was incredibly light and fluffy but rolled perfectly into a little log. Please notice how curled the center of the cake is—I’m pretty proud of that thing. And we haven’t even talked about how it tasted. Holy Cow–did I already say that? Sorry. At any rate–it was a wonderful, glorious experience and I was sorely tempted to eat the whole thing myself. In fact, I believe I tried.
Trust me when I say that I’ll be making this one again…and again…and—well, until the 150 cans are gone. You know…
just trying to help.
3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional confectioners’ sugar, optional
Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and pumpkin, beating on high until sugar is almost dissolved.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gently fold into pumpkin mixture.
Spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes.
Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners’ sugar.
Gently peel off waxed paper.
Roll up cake in the towel jelly-roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Unroll cake; spread filling evenly to within 1/2 in. of edges.
Roll up again. Cover and freeze until firm. May be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before cutting. Dust with confectioners’ sugar if desired. Yield: 10 servings.
To Cut:
To avoid smashing your roll when cutting it with a knife, slide a piece of string or dental floss under the roll, cross it at the top…
and close the circle through the cake. This will make your cuts clean and smooth.
Ain’t that pretty?
made their way to our bookshelf this Christmas.
Aren’t books the most incredible gift? I mean, to me, it’s like finding an immediate, soul mate to explore the planet with. The best part is that you have no real idea where you’ll end up with a new one at your side.
“Little Felted Animals” is going to teach me how to make–ahhh—well, little felted animals. Doesn’t that kitten look positively real? I’ve always wanted to try felting. I don’t even really know what it is–but I’m going to learn. My creatures may end up looking more like SpongeBob than animals, but I’m excited to give it a try. If it ends up really scary–well, then–we’ll have some new crafts for Halloween. har har.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Here we have “Celebrating Cookies.” Now I ask you…who can resist a title like that? The best part about this book is that each recipe has a full page photo of the cookie–like the cover–so you know way before you start if it’s something you want to eat. Pretty sure, if it’s a cookie in any form, I want to eat it. But I still like to have a picture first. Good things coming from this place soon. Mmmmm….
The Bald Kid and April’s Jacob both got a large package of Paracord (really strong, kinda pretty rope) for Christmas to make some survival gear with. When I saw all the colors that this stuff came in, my creative juices started flowing and before I knew it, I’d–ahem–accidentally pushed the Amazon 1-click button and had to give “Decorative Knots” to myself for Christmas. It looks fun and has projects in it that–again–I’m quite certain you’ll see in the next few weeks.
But before I can get too carried away with my new treasures, I’ve got to get better acquainted with an old, dear friend. Remember our family book club? Well, it’s still going along nicely–with the exception of the slow poke, that everyone has to wait for. I love to read– really I do. But the problem is, I’m usually in the middle of about 8 books at one time and so it is…slow going. But this one, along with “Simple Abundance” that a few of us are reading again this year–are just the motivation I need to get all my little duckies lined up and heading in the right direction.
After all, any journey is better when walking with a friend.
What about you? Did you get any “literary companions” for Christmas this year?
If you’re curious about the “Simple Abundance” adventure–grab a copy here and read with us.
Who knows?
Maybe our dreams are about to come true…
