Thoughtful Thursday

I have always been fond of collecting and sharing quotes, inspirational thoughts, poems, scriptures, and words of wisdom.  Over the years I have saved scraps of paper where I've written these meaningful expressions, stashed them in envelopes, tacked them to bulletin boards, and sometimes tucked them between the pages of my Bible.  Several years ago I decided I needed a little more organized method for my madness so I purchased a nice little leather journal.  It was very inexpensive but the words within its pages are priceless.  There are some days that I just need a lift so I pull out my journal and just read through some thoughts, and then there are days when a burdened friend needs a little encouragement and I've turned to my trusty "Reflections" journal to find the perfect quote.  Whatever the need may be I have found my collection to be the medicine for many wounds.  I have to share a quick story with you about how this all started, many years ago when I was in fifth grade.

I grew up in Atlanta and as most people know, Atlanta is the home of the Coca Cola Bottling Company.  Every year the Cola Cola Company would give all students a Coca Cola tablet and pencil, and every year I just couldn't wait to get mine because I always used it to "play school".  It was the perfect thing to use for my grade book!  Fifth grade was no different and the morning I walked into my classroom and saw that stack of tablets on Miss Davidson's desk was like winning the lottery.  My mind was churning as I thought about how I was going to create my new grade book!  It's hard to believe that a fifth grader loved to play school but, that was back in the good old days when children really knew how to be creative with their playtime.  Anyway, as I remember it, after we had our morning devotional (yes we had those back in the day too!), the pledge to the flag and sang "My County 'Tis of Thee" I saw Miss Davidson quietly pick up the stack of tablets.  A big smile came over my face.  She passed a tablet  to each student and then turned on her perfect 3 inch pumps (yes teachers actually use to wear heels...all . day . long!) and said, "Boys and girls, this year we will be using our Coca Cola tablets to collect "Thoughts for the Day".  Wait a minute, did I hear her correctly?  Certainly she wasn't telling me how I was suppose to use MY tablet?  Oh but she was!!  She gave us all an ink pen and said it was also time for fifth graders to learn to write properly, with perfect penmanship, in ink!  My day was ruined!  I wanted to cry.  But I didn't....I took my tablet an began to write.  Every morning there would be a thought for the day on the board that we would have to write and occasionally, even memorize.  All that being said you know what?  I still have my Coca Cola tablet and it is one of most prized possessions.  I keep it here in my room at school and I can't tell you how many times I've pulled it out just to read some words of wisdom, copy a verse, or more times than not....just to travel back to  my fifth grade classroom and reminisce about the teacher who inspired me more than any other teacher I have ever had.  The teacher who taught me more than readin', ritin' and rithmethic!  She taught me about citizenship, about giving to others, about being a good person.  Now that my friends, is a good teacher.

Now, to my Thoughtful Thursday . . . I share with you the quote above. I've had this one for some time and read it often.  Just like I thought I had plans for my Coca Cola tablet . . . there were other more important plans for it, and I do believe God had a hand in it, and I believe His plan was the best plan.  I enjoyed our visit today.  Ya'll come back soon!     

My Coca Cola table - 1965

My journal now.

                                                                             

Halloween Moon Pies . . .A Southern Treat!

Well, ya'll all know there is nothing like a moon pie and an RC Cola to take care of a little hunger pain and here is a cute way to decorate a plain old moon pie and make it something special for Halloween!  Unwrap your moon pies and insert a 9" wooden dowel into the side, up through the marshmallow middle.  I pushed my dowel through, almost to the top.  Now you are ready to decorate them.  I laid them all out on a sheet of wax paper and used melted chocolate as my glue. I used the back of a spoon as my spatula and applied the melted chocolate all around the outter edge, then sprinkled orange Halloween sprinkles while the chocolate was sticky.  It only takes a few minutes for it to harden.  After the melted chocolate was hard I turned the moon pies over and shook off the excess sprinkles.  I attached candy corn with more melted chocolate, let that harden, packaged them in cellophane bags from AC Moore and tied them with curling ribbon in Halloween colors!  These are the cutest little treats!  I can't wait to give these to the children that will be coming to have some Halloween fun with me at school on Friday!  They will be so surprised!  Just let your imagination run with the decorating!  I love the banana moon pies too and I think they would be so cute decorated with a monogram!  Now you know everyone needs a monogrammed moon pie!  Hope ya'll have as much fun making these fun treats as I did!  Trick or Treat!!!

                                                                                                              ~Becky

Fall memories are all in the smell and taste!

When I was a little girl one of my fondest memories was coming in from school on a cool fall or cold winter day and having the smell of my mama's gingerbread or fresh apple cake baking in the oven drift by my nose.  It's funny how now, years later, just the smell of cinnamon, ginger or cooked apples takes me back to a precious time in my life and conjures up all sorts of wonderful memories.  My mama was the Martha Stewart of the 60's and 70's and even today her organization skills will put Martha's to shame!  She always knew just what we needed when we walked in the door from school.  So, when the cool temperatures of autumn knock on my door I can't help but get out the cook book and look for recipes that not only tantalize the taste buds but...take me back to my childhood with their fragrance.  This weekend's cool temperatures brought that urge to me so I decided to bake up a batch of Molasses Cookies.  These cookies have a bit of a nostalgic tradition tied to them as well.  This recipe was shared with me by my sweet friend Sara who tells the story of her grandmother baking them every year in the fall.  The story goes that her grandmother was a docent at the Levi Coffin House in Fountain City, Indiana.  Each year during their Fall Festival Sara's grandmother would bake these cookies and serve them with tea on the back porch of the Coffin House for the visitors who came for a tour.  Of course, it would become a tradition for her grandmother to bake them every year and now Sara tells me that every fall she bakes these cookies because... they just taste like fall!  I can certainly vouch for that too because the first time she shared them with me I had to have the recipe.  Saturday I baked a batch and as soon as everyone in my family took a bite they all said, "This tastes like fall!"  So today I'd like to share the recipe with you in hopes that the smell and taste of these cookies will take you back to a sweet childhood memory of fall.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup shortening, melted

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup sorghum molasses

1 egg

2 teaspoons soda

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Melt shortening in saucepan over low heat.  Remove and cool.  Add sugar, molasses and egg.  Beat well.  Sift dry ingredients.  Add to first mixture.  Mix well and chill.  Form into 1" balls.  Roll in granulated sugar and place on greased cookie sheet.  Gently press the top of each ball to slightly flatten.  Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes.  You will think they are not fully cooked but they are ready!  The cookies will have soft centers.  If you would like a crispier cookie, let them bake about 9 minutes.  ~Enjoy!

It's Fall Ya'll!! I'm lovin' the weather!

The last time I made a blog post was at the beginning of my summer....it is now the beginning of my fall . . . so where has the time gone?  I have no idea!!  My summer was full of lots of things, not to mention computer problems, so every day my posting was put on the back burner.  Now that I have a new computer I have got to get out of the habit of moving things to that back burner!  I have so many things I want to share I am committing myself to post more regularly and it is starting today! 

Cool air is creeping into South Carolina and I am so ready for it.  This has been one of the hottest summers I have ever lived through.  It has been said that the only thing between Columbia, South Carolina and Hell is a screen door and honey, I am here to tell you that is so true!  Another reason for not posting much during the summer.  My computer is in my room over the garage and even though it is air-conditioned up there the hot Carolina sun beams down on that roof and it's never cool enough to stay up there more than 10-15 minutes.  I even had to drag my sewing machine downstairs to a bedroom so I could work in comfort!!  But the hot days are coming to end this weekend and Carolina breezes are starting to blow.  My creative juices are starting to flow and after decorating with  pumpkins and fall decor on the inside I can't wait to work on adding a fall flair to my screen porch.  My porch is my haven...mostly in spring and fall because it is much more bearable.  Cool mornings and evenings are calling my name!  I have some ideas for making pillows and maybe placements using this graphic . . .

Have you ever used heat transfers with graphics?  I've been doing it for years...long before there was ever a Silhouette machine!  And speaking of Silhouette, I treated myself with a little surcie by purchasing one of these babies when they went on sale this summer!  I am so excited about learning about this machine and finding some good projects.  If anyone has ideas they would like to pass on, please send me the link! 

And finally . . . I have some exciting news!  My daughter Brooke is engaged!  My new son (I don't like the term son-in-law) will be Brice Sprayberry and we couldn't be more thrilled!  Brice surprised us all when he asked Brooke to be his bride at Battery Park in Charleston on September 15 . . . but I wasn't surprised at all when she said YES!  They are the perfect couple and I pray God's blessings on them both for a long, wonderful life together!  Thanks for spending a little time with me today!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend....fall is in the air!

Girls' Day In . . . What Fun!

Today was spent with my dear friend Patty and what a good time we had . . . relaxing and catching up!  Actually we had a celebration!  We finally got to celebrate our birthdays....mine having been in February and Patty's was in May!  Time just gets away from us during the year.  Everything is so hectic, our schedules never seemed to mesh, something just always seemed to get in the way . . . so we decided to wait until school was out to have our celebration and today was the perfect day!

Patty wanted me to come to her house for lunch and upon arriving our first order of business was a nice cool glass of Chardonnay....first order of relaxing that is!  Oh, did I mention Patty has a beautiful house on the lake with gorgeous view?  You'll see that in a minute...right now let me tell you about the delicious lunch she had prepared...Chilled Blueberry Soup that could have been a dessert...so cool and refreshing...and my favorite, Curried Chicken Salad and croissants!  It was all so delicious!! After the Chardonnay and that delicious lunch I was prepared for a nap, but no....Patty said, "Let do a peppermint foot soak!!"  Sounds good to me...first I'm relaxed with the wine...got a full tummy from lunch... and now we're going to soak our feet in a something that smelled so good I wanted to drink it!!!  I will definitely be purchasing some of Dr. Teal's Peppermint Foot Soak tomorrow!  This stuff smells sooo good and makes your feet feel wonderful!  So, here we were, sitting on her screened porch, soaking our feet, overlooking her gorgeous pool and lake view and then...here she comes with one more thing for relaxing...like I'm not already on the verge of snoring....an Apricot Brandy Slush....sssslllllluuurrrrppp!  So delish, I wanted to just gulp that thing down but knew better!  You have got to make up a batch of these to keep in your freezer.  The perfect frozen drink for a hot summer day, especially here in South Carolina where it topped 100 today!  I'll share the recipe at the end of this post, but I just have to say my day was perfect.  Just what the doctor ordered...I was totally relaxed enjoying the time I got to spend with my special friend, catching up on our families, our lives, and just girl talk!  You know Patty and I can go for months without seeing one another and we live really close.  We'll shoot each other an  email here and there...maybe a quick phone call...but we are always connected in our hearts.  We were trying to figure out when we saw each other last and figured out .it was when we exchanged our Christmas presents sometime in January!  We had sooo much to catch up on, it was nice relaxing on her porch, soaking my feet, sipping an Apricot Brandy Slushy, chatting with my dear, dear friend.....thank you Patty, it was a perfect day!  xxoo

                                                                                      ~Becky

These Apricot Brandy Slushes are so good and refreshing!

A little southern watermelon to munch on!  Perfect for a hot summer day!

Aaaahhhhhh...not only does it feel good...it smells heavenly too!

What a gorgeous view!

Will definitely be purchasing this tomorrow...Patty said they have it at Walmart....of course Walmart has everything!

Here is the recipe for the Apricot Brandy Slush, and a note about preparing . . . it may take several days for it to freeze so plan ahead and make sure you've got it mixed up and in the freezer well in advance of consumption!

Apricot Brandy Slush

Stir until dissolved:

1 cup sugar

9 cups water

Add

1 - 12 oz. can orange juice concentrate

1 - 12 oz. can lemonade concentrate

2 cups Apricot Brandy

Mix and freeze.  Stir a few times during the freezing process.  Stir first time after the mixture has been in the freezer for 6 hours.  This may take several days to freeze.

To prepare drinks

Scoop slush into glass (you may need to scrape your spoon over the top to get mixture broken up).  Next, add enough seltzer to liquify while keeping the "slushy" consistency.  If you like your drink a little sweeter use Sprite instead of the seltzer.  This makes 4 quarts of the slush mix.  You can easily half the recipe and freeze in a 2 quart pitcher to keep in the freezer

ENJOY!!

Today was a good day!

Today was a good day!  Not because anything special happened, but because I got to do things that I love and I wasn't worried about the time.  My life seems to revolve around a calender and a clock.  There's always a deadline for something I'm working on, whether it's something for me or someone else, and the clock just seems to tick way too fast! Before you know it, my day has ended and I still have more to do.  Today was one of those days that I didn't have a deadline on anything!  Yay for me!  I got up early and enjoyed coffee on my  porch and believe it or not, I was cutting grass by 9:00!  You have to get an early start in South Carolina because summer days get hot really quick.  I love to cut grass so it wasn't a chore for me. My husband wanted to do it but I said no, I need the exercise!  I worked in my yard, weeding, trimming, planting more flowers and suddenly I realized I was about to die from a heat stroke.  No problem...I went straight to the pool with all my clothes on and just jumped in!  I'm sure my neighbors thought I was crazy but it cooled me off pretty quick...although I did check the water temperature while I was paddling around and it was 90 degrees!!!  Can you believe that?!  After I finished my yard work I decided a proper dip in the pool with a bathing suit was in order so with sweet tea in hand I floated and relaxed for a couple hours.  It was so nice knowing I could stay in there as long as I wanted to...no deadlines remember?  I finished off the afternoon reading and taking a quick nap....aaahhh...that was so nice!   Tonight my Gamecocks were playing the first game of the Super Regionals and as tradition has it...my dear husband made his famous smoked chicken wings.  He makes the best chicken wings in the world and of course...we had homemade blue cheese dressing to top it off.  I just have to share this recipe with ya'll!  Most people eat celery with their wings and dip the celery in the blue cheese...not us...we dip the wings in the blue cheese!

Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup Duke's mayonnaise (or Hellman's if you live up north, bless your heart!)

1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 T. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

garlic powder to taste

1 - 4 oz. pkg. crumbled blue cheese

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate for a couple hours before eating.  This is my favorite salad dressing too!

After munching on wings and cheering my Gamecocks to victory I decided to make up a batch of pesto.  Tomorrow I am going to Charleston to visit my daughter, Brooke, and she LOVES pesto!  Mama had given me a ton of her basil and I harvested my first crop today as well.  I made Brooke's batch tonight and will make mine tomorrow.  I love basil!  Of course my favorite way to eat it is on pasta but since I'm trying to be a little more health conscience it's delicious to mix a little with halved cherry tomatoes and cubed fresh mozzarella!  Light and refreshing!

Pesto

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts)

6 cloves of garlic

5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup good olive oil

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Note:  If you don't have walnuts you can just use pignolis.  Most pesto recipes only call for pignolis anyway.

Place nuts and garlic in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process for 30 seconds.  Add the basil and salt.  With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed.  Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute.  Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator with a thin film of olive oil on top.  This will keep the pesto from turning dark.  This freezes well too.  

I grow several pots of basil during the summer and freeze small cartons of pesto to have during the winter!  It's great on pasta, mixed with mayonnaise for a nice sandwich spread, or thin with a little more olive oil and use as a salad dressing!

Hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I have enjoyed my day....getting to do just what I wanted to do...and not watching the clock!  Happy weekend!

                                                                                         ~Becky

And the Winner of My Faith Giveaway is . . .

Patticake!

I am so excited that Patticake is the winner of my Faith Giveaway!  She has been a faithful

follower of my blog since I first started it back in the fall.  She is such a sweet person and deserves

to win this!  We have emailed each other over the past several months and found out 

we have so much in common...she has become not only one of my sweet followers

but also a great e-friend!  CONGRATULATIONS Patti!

Look for a package in the mail soon!

~Becky