It has been a long time….

 ….a very long time! 

Does October bring thoughts of pumpkins to you?  It does for me, and that means it’s time to bake Pumpkin Bread!

Three loaves….one for now, one for the freezer, and one for the neighbor!

Happy Pumpkin month!

Winter pleasures….

 Hello!  Wow!!  Checking the stats for views of my last blog post….over 200!!  Some of you perhaps keep checking to see if I’ve updated my entries…or perhaps it’s the title.  I don’t recall ever having that many views! 

This February has been packed with special events, beginning with Groundhog Day.  We don’t have a resident groundhog here currently, so there was no chance of a picture to see if he saw his shadow.  

The mantle shows some of the special days this month.

February 10 was the Lunar New Year.  This is the Year of the Dragon, which coincidentally occurred the year I was born!  Celebrations may continue for several days because this is considered a greater than usual year. 

The table setting is ready for all of the special days!

February 13 was Mardi Gras.  No King Cake here this year.  On past blog posts, I’ve shown the progress as I proceeded to bake our own.  

Then, Wednesday was not only Valentine’s Day, it was also Ash Wednesday, with Easter’s earlier arrival this year.

We began our Valentine’s Day with Quiche Lorraine and Blueberry Muffins, thanks to my favorite grocery.

The Husband and I were able to go out for a Valentine’s Day dinner.

The bread was so good, especially dipped in that oil!

I chose the salmon.  The Husband chose stuffed cod.

Time has been spent in the kitchen, however, for home-cooked meals.

Lots of chopping for this very tasty Root Vegetable Soup!

Toasted oats were also an ingredient!

It was delicious!  The recipe is in the Grit Magazine for March/April 2023.

Of course, dessert receives some attention.  This time it was Black Forest Cake, first time for baking it.

The cake was very well-received!

February has been full of special observations.  We still have Presidents Day, plus there is that extra day in the month included this year….Leap Year!

Oh, one more thing I didn’t include above.  When I was shopping at World Market, there was a Lunar New Year chart on display.  

Can you find your year?

Thank you for being here.  Sending along wishes for all good things to come your way!

The big news….

 ….where we are is SNOW!  

We rarely have much snow in our area, the best some flurries or enough for a bare ground cover.  This is one of those very unusual occasions for more than just a simple ground cover!

This was the view from our front door on Monday morning about 7:30 a.m.

About the middle of the day on Monday, we had this view.

This morning, Tuesday, this is the view out the bedroom window.  The bird bath looks like a giant ice cream cone to me!

This is our view from the front door.  We haven’t been outside to attempt to measure it, though nearby friends have measured and report eight inches!  The wind chill is enough to convince us to stay indoors where it’s warm.  We have all we need, and we are grateful there has been no power outage at this point.

Do you have snow where you are?  Stay safe and warm!

Before the New Year comes….

 ….I want to review a few things that were special during the Christmas season.

One of three Angel Trees at our church.  Church members provided Christmas gifts for 120 families this season.

The festive table setting at my Circle Christmas luncheon.

There was plenty of good food available.

This jolly soul held his place at a visible corner.

Decoration at our church.

The Nativity set out at the beginning of the Christmas season.  

It would appear that Santa found our house this year!

Lovely and delicious gluten-free cake with cranberry compote brought by Muncho Mom for dessert after Christmas dinner.

Wishing you and yours a New Year with many joyous moments!  Take care! 

Before Christmas….

 ….we celebrate birthdays!

That’s right!  It was 49 years ago that we welcomed TWO babies instead of the expected ONE on December 23, one day before our due date of the 24th.  Muncho Mom and Country Girl joined their 20-month old big sister, City Girl.  

There are a few dietary concerns to be considered these days, and Muncho Mom came up with this specially-baked cake….

It was perfect with peppermint stick ice cream! 

Now….it’s on to the next celebration!

Merry, merry wishes to all!

A new Advent activity….

 On a visit to Williamsburg, VA in October, we ventured into the Bruton Parish Church gift shop.  Always looking for a souvenir from our travels, my attention was drawn to this Advent puzzle….

This is the scene that will show in the finished puzzle.

The puzzle box is filled with these 24 small boxes.

Each box is filled with puzzle pieces that will fit in a section specifically numbered for the correct day.  Here, I had just begun the puzzle, and all the pieces have the number 1 on them.

This is the progress after three days.  

This shows the progress on the seventh day.  It will require assembly on Christmas Eve to have the puzzle fully complete. 

It has been quite awhile ago, but I featured some of the jigsaw puzzles that I have assembled on this blog.  A number of them have been framed and are hanging in different areas of the house.  I think I’ll be interested in framing this one, and it is likely that I’ll be looking for another Advent puzzle next year!  

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on this one!

Remember to slow down and enjoy the beauty around you each and every day!  

Stay well! 

The baking continues….

 How about you?  Have you been baking for the holidays?  This was the view here on Saturday….

Tried a new recipe for Red Velvet cake, and this one made three layers!  Here they are cooling before being assembled….

Here is the finished cake.  Its destination was my Circle lunch on Sunday following our church service.  Guests were invited, and The Husband was able to go along with me.

I think it’s safe to say that it was well-received.  This is what came home with us, and I was happy to be able to share it with a neighbor!  

Be sure you are taking time to enjoy the beauty of the season!