Women's High Tea

We are having a Women's Tea at my church tonight. We do this several times a year and it is always so much fun to fellowship with women without our husbands and kids around! Different women are selected each time to decorate one of the tables and with this month's theme being "High Tea" I can't wait to see all of the cups and saucers and tea kettles. People usually get pretty creative and if I remember I will bring my camera and take some pictures!

I'm not decorating this time but I did bring something to share with everyone. My husband got the recipe from a lady he works with and he couldn't tell me the name of it except to say "a strawberry cream thingy." I am going to call it Strawberry Angel food Trifle (pretty good title don't you think?).

So without further adieu: Strawberry Angel food Trifle

1 angel food cake cut or torn to fairly small pieces
1 small box instant vanilla pudding (make according to directions on box)
16 oz. case fresh strawberries cut up
2 cups heavy cream + 2 tbsp. powdered sugar(whipped until peaks form)


fold angel food cubes into pudding until well coated.

once everything is prepped and ready you can start layering into your trifle bowl. angel food mixture first, followed by strawberries and then whipped cream. you will have two layers of each thing.

That's all there is to it! If you have kids make extra, because they will strongly oppose all of said dessert going to some Women's Tea (as will your husband).

Enjoy!

Want to see what other people are cooking up this weekend? Join me...

I'm also sharing at Favorite Things Friday!

Laura from Along for the Ride came by and invited me to her party! Don't you just love to be invited to parties? Makes me feel like one of the cool kids. Come check it out with me so you can feel cool too!

Amelia

What a Bargain!

We inherited a boat load of neat things when we purchased this house. The house belonged to a retired school teacher who was very organized (a place for everything and everything in its place). She was a great lover of books (some dating back to the early 1900s), she loved to sew, and had a pretty extensive tool collection. We just went through one of the sheds in the back of the house and we found...

hand carved spoons

an assortment of tools...machete anyone?!

old oil cans




that's were I left my brass knuckles!!!

dozens of old Mason jars

and a few rusty old irons (we need to clean them:)

It has been so much fun (the boys think its a treasure hunt)!! In a small way we feel like we have gotten to know the retired school teacher who lived here before us!

I'm linking up today with Home is...over at Reluctant Entertainer.

Patience on a Cloudy Day

We have had what seems like an endless supply of rainy, overcast days here. The dark clouds have rolled in and seem content to settle over our little town for the duration. The boys and I watch and wait, hopeful for a glimpse of the sunshine peeking through. But all we see is the gray colorless sky and feel the dampness that seeps in and chills us to the bone.

What we need is a bit of warm to kiss our skin, put a smile on our face and make us sing and dance for the joy of living. Nature always does this for us. Whenever we feel the melancholy cling or the walls close in, we kick the blues off and kick up our heels. We go outside and rejoice in the heavens, in the bird calls, in the feeling of freedom.

But today the weather has decided to make us wait. This “waiting” is a lesson that I have been learning a lot lately. It is a force bigger than me...and important...if I will only listen.

Hope is patiently waiting expectantly for the intangible to become reality. Avery D. Miller

Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith. Adel Bestavros

I'm linking up with Chatting at the Sky and Sweet Shot Tuesday.

I can't Be Still

I can’t “Be Still” today. I would like to turn it over to Him and let go of the worry that is consuming me but I find myself wanting too much control. Even as I sit here typing on these keys my gut is a knotted mass of nerves. I think that if I worry I can control the outcome. But I know in my heart that I can’t.

My husband went to work early to talk to his boss about buying the business. There have been phrases thrown around like purchase agreement and confidentiality agreement, enough big words to make my head spin. And I have been having a really hard time trusting God with this. Even though I know that He is the one that brought us here in the first place.

We have found ourselves letting go and giving it up to Him so many times these past two years. We have learned some hard lessons; nothing about this process has been easy. Every time I do give my cares and worries to God I feel a sense of peace inside and everything has worked out.

But today I want control and peace. Is that too much to ask?

My mantra is this verse: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. ~Prov. 3:5-6

I have been saying this verse over and over and it mingles with the whispers of worry. My hope is that it will drown out the worry, but I am not there yet.

So today I can’t “Be Still.” Hopefully other people can. I'm going over to One Nutty Girl to find out.

Many Aprons in the Kitchen

(photo by laylegrayce.com)

My great aunt Edna had a roadside café in Ashville NC. She would start her day at 4 a.m. rolling out dough for homemade buttermilk biscuits and making meringue for pies- chocolate, lemon, and coconut cream. I would sit on a bar stool, legs tucked under, eyes wide with wonder, as I felt the energy of the café pulse all around me. It was magical.

My Grandmother was a small feisty southern woman who taught as she worked. She could grow the sweetest, juiciest tomatoes and we would eat them sun warmed and salted off the vine. She would put away corn and string beans. Make homemade pickles with fresh dill and jellies of every kind. She could make fried okra like nobody’s business!

I learned to cook in my mother’s kitchen. With gentle instruction she would give me free reign to create and explore. She taught “healthy” with a southern twist. I was introduced to grains, nuts, sprouts, fruits and vegetables and how to combine them to make delicious whole meals.

My mother-in-law is hospitality extraordinaire. She can set a table and host a party with grace and charm. The food is beautifully presented, linens pressed, candles lit and she makes it all look easy. It’s a joy for her to feed her family and she makes you feel warm and welcome.

My little ones sit on the countertop next to the stove in my kitchen, much like where I sat as a girl in my mother’s kitchen. As I wrap an apron around I teach them how to stir measure and pour. I’m doing much more than teaching them how to cook. I’m passing down a legacy of love than has grown and endured through the generations of women who came before me.

I'm sharing this today at Home is...Wearing an Apron over at Reluctant Entertainer.

Be Still. Let Go

Be Still. I let it go and my world didn’t come to an end. My children didn’t cry out that I was being a bad mama for not taking them to umpteenth after school activity. My husband wasn’t upset that the house wasn’t perfectly perfect. They supported me.

I felt this sense of freedom. Like a weight lifting off. I just let go of two things last week. But in doing so I was able to sit on the patio with my boys and play in their imaginations. We were the Scooby Doo gang going to solve a mystery. We were outdoor explorers in search of exotic flowers and rocks. We were not stressed out mama and tired boys wrestling into gym clothes quickly before we were late for yet another practice.

I was also able to sit with my husband and talk about our day, our plans and dreams for the future. We were able to sit close on the couch and hold hands, and flirt, and laugh, and love. And the stress of not getting everything done melted into an insignificant puddle.

We were “Still” last week and so much the better for it.

I want to thank MJ at One Nutty Girl and her Be Still Monday. If not for this, I’m not sure I would have had the courage to let go.

I'm also linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday!

Fight Day

They fought like crazy today
At the top of their lungs made their opinions known
Full of passion
Hurt feelings
Righteous indignation
Fight to the bitter
Won’t back down
Snotty tears and red faced anger
And it’s my place
Punisher
Referee
Mediator
Peacemaker
Mamma
Thank-you God for helping us through this day

Calvin: I feel bad that I called Suzie names and hurt her feelings
Calvin: I'm sorry I did it.
Hobbes: Maybe you should apologize to her
Calvin: I keep hoping there's a less obvious solution
--Calvin & Hobbes

(This was written a few days ago out of desperation, or thanksgiving, that the day was finally over. Do you ever have days like this?