The Best Valentine's Day Ever....

The delicious hand dipped berries that hubby had delivered were fabulous. It is also wonderful to think that this day commemorates the day 18 years ago that we officially began "going out". That being said, I must take a moment to gush about the one that I am most passionate about. He is truly amazing and he's been up to some really awesome stuff lately.

"Who?"

"What Stuff?"

Well,I thought you would never ask.

His name is Jesus and he has been creating quite a stir around here. As a matter of fact on this Valentine's Evening He made a way for us to bring a tub into the local prison and we

baptized 12 women in the name of Jesus

and one woman was so stirred, that she continued to pray until

she received the gift of the Holy Ghost!

Thank You Jesus For The Greatest Gift of All.

Ooooh La La....

 There is a local sweet shop that specializes in these lovely little pastries. They are common in France, but are a rare find on this side of the "Pond".  Locally they are only sold at a store called "Sucre" in New Orleans. Sucre caught the attention of a few celebrities and has been featured in magazines such as "O". These little morsels are as pleasing to the eye as they are to the taste buds, but not so appealing to the pocketbook. Being the curious chef that I am I tried to imagine what ingredients and methods would yield a treat so delicate, yet crisp to the tooth. I couldn't figure it out, so I pushed the thought of them out of my head.

 A couple of days ago I was browsing around T.J.Max, when all of a sudden this beautiful cook book screamed my name. So of course you know what's next.....

 You have probably noticed that what the French call a "Macarone" is not the same as the gooey coconut mounds that you will often find at Chinese Buffets.

 The pastries themselves usually only vary in color and are made of ground almonds and powdered sugar that has been sifted to remove any lumps and a meringue made of egg whites & super fine (caster) sugar.

 After stiff peaks had formed, we added a touch of blue coloring. Next we folded in the almond/sugar mix. Then we piped  1 1/4 inch circles onto parchment lined pans. The macaroons had to rest for 30 mins before baking. After we removed them from the oven we had to let them cool completely. There are dozens of ways to fill them, but we decided that the blue would work for the "Blueberry Cream Cheese" filling.

Genius I know!

 Here is Eloise with the finished product.

It must be all that French blood in her.

 I wish you could taste them.

~Someone needs to talk to Bill Gates or those guys over at Apple and tell them to get busy working on the "See-Smell-Taste" computers. ~

Bonus Pics:

Above are a few of our young ladies who attended our Valentines "Making a Treat for Someone Sweet" fellowship party.

 Above/Below: samples of our creations.

We had a fun evening of creativity & fellowship.

THERE....ARE YOU HAPPY BEPPI?....I FINALLY POSTED.

Love & Prayers,
~Me~



For TT & Gayle...

We're Singing a New Song in 2011

    Our pastor recently preached an awesome message about(you guessed it) "Singing a New Song". We are going to face the new year with a new attitude. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I'm charging ahead with a smile on my face. I hope all of my friends will join me.

   
    As for why I haven't posted in a while..... well I have been trying to focus inward and help my family to transition with all of the recent changes in our lives. "What changes?" you might ask. Well, I won't bore you with all the details, but here are a couple:

•  Husbands job has shifted(new position & schedule)
• I have recently become "Office Manager in training" for my father's/daughter's business.
• Eloise is now trying out a new on-line curriculum(more about that on our homeschooling blog)
• My parents just bought me a new cell phone/music/picture/e-mail/browser/ap/game thingy. I successfully graduated from the 2 hour "basics" course. No applause necessary.

Will post soon with pics and stuff you might actually be interested in....I promise!

Simply Beautiful.....

 Our Christmas program was truly special this year.

The christmas story was told by various characters in between songs.

After their parts the characters slipped quietly behind the unlit blank screens.

 For the last song the spot light was cut and the back lights were lit to show the actors & actress.

The side panels were frozen, while Mary and Joseph played with the baby (wias) in the center,

For some reason, when I widened my focus to capture all three screens at once, the color changed. The color and lighting were more like the first two photos. It really was touching, especially when the baby was kicking and waving his arms.

P.S. I loved -loved- loved Terra's violin solo.



Merry Christmas,

There Aren't Many.....

 There aren't many occasions to dress like this in the south.

(Me getting ready to take our puppy for his 5am winter walk)

 There aren't many men who will get up at 4am and work all day without complaint to provide for his family.

(Hubby & I recently celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary, so that makes a total of 18 years that we have been a "couple")

There aren't many women who can eat a cookie off of her forehead, without using her hands.

 There aren't many young people who would take the time to mess up their pretty hair do's to entertain a bunch of old people at a Christmas Banquet.

 There aren't many gals as sweet as these.

 There aren't many brave, intelligent, & charming young men any more.

(These guys are really more brave, intelligent, & charming than they appear)

There aren't many young people who know how to go out and have good clean fun.

I am so proud of our young adults (only a few shown here).

They love God,

they love each other,

&

they know how to enjoy the life God has given them.

Love & Prayers,

November Review.....

 This is a picture of Eloise sporting her new boots, groovy ear warmer(made by Plain Old Kristi), and her spiffy new sling. She is now the proud owner of a bright green cast. Pray for me Y'all. In her short little life she has managed to flip over the handle bars of her scooter and crack her front tooth(baby thank God), flip off the monkey bars and get a rock embedded in her forehead(3 stitches), skinned her face and broke her nose, and now that is all cleared up  and she has broken her arm. I guess now she will walk on the inside of the stair railings like a normal person! 

This is my most recent gift basket and probably one of my favorites. I had a lot of fun and flexibility with this one, because I actually knew the recipient. I must say, I was very tempted to keep the adorable sewing box and pin cushion message board, but I was a good girl.

This was Eloise's 1st real concert with GNOYO.

Our seats were all the way in the back, so the pic isn't too clear.  

Eloise & cousin Ting pose for a pic in their matching holiday outfits. 

This is our turkey, getting ready for his little procedure.

 I'm sure my vegan friends are horrified out there, but my hubby doesn't do stuffing, so our turkey is surrounded by shredded strips of ham.

A few of our holiday goodies.

This is the newest member of our family. His name is Boolee. His owner recently passed away and he didn't have a home. The S.P.C.A. was going to put him down , so.....you know the rest.

He is very mellow and sweet, but not nearly as handsome and photogenic as Oreo. I had to say that last part, because Oreo is not dealing well with the idea of sharing his house and people with this huge stranger.

 So far this month I have made:

turkey salad, turkey pasta Alfredo, and turkey noodle soup, but I think my latest turkey makeover was the most unique. I had 4 turkey wings wrapped in foil, so I broiled them in the toaster oven and poured buffalo wing sauce on them. Two wings and a couple of side items and I was stuffed like a ......

TURKEY!

I have a couple of quart sized bags of turkey in the freezer, but I don't think I will be thawing them any time soon.



Thank God For Dirty Dishes

Thank God for dirty dishes;

They have a tale to tell.

While others may go hungry,

We're eating very well

With home, health, and happiness,

I shouldn't want to fuss;

By this stack of evidence,

God's been very good to us.

~Author Unknown~

I hope that you are all enjoying the holidays.

Love & Prayers,