Treats of Spring

Everywhere the Bradford Pears speak Spring...

You must try these 'Smore Mini Bites from Giada ---  with or without the spring bonfires!

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quinoa flour
• 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 4 large graham crackers, finely crushed
• Special equipment: a 24-count mini-muffin pan, 24 mini-muffin cup liners, such as Betty Crocker mini-size baking cups

Directions

Cook's Note: Quinoa flour is available at health food stores.

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.

Using a small cookie scoop, fill each paper liner with about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter. Push 3 mini marshmallows halfway down into the center of the batter. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallows. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and light golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

I Saw his shadow.... and yeah, I'm a little intimidated

 So, today is a day off from school.  I woke up and took my son to the doctor, and we discovered nothing...  That is good news, of course, but we still wonder why he isn't feeling well at all...  Moms worry bunches, and we know it isn't productive..  We are just wired like that...  I came back to Mom's and decided to come downstairs and get some of my winter clothes packed away since it seems spring-like, for sure..  I have never known the Bradford Pears and the Magnolias to bloom this early, but they are gorgeous....  I glanced out the door to find this guy enjoying a quick salad inches from the door and my car...  He heard the camera on my telephone click through the glass and screen on the door...

 I thought, "Please don't run off before I get a good picture!"  I guess he decided the salad was too good, so he stook his ground and was just plain aggressive at moi, the paparazzi...

He doesn't look like he's running away too fast, does he?  Gosh.  I see him AND his shadow, and I AM afraid...  He isn't as cute in his "Grrrr!" position...  You know?  I don't think I'll be needing to venture out and get anything from the car.... in the dark..... in my bare feet and nightgown...  again...e.v.e.r.....

A surprise in the mail!

 Imagine my surprise when the school secretary brought me a box from a dear friend.

 Harper Lee, one of my favorite authors!

 What could it be inside?

 Just the coolest earrings ever!

 Thank you, Cindi

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...

 Saturday morning found me at the lake for three hours with the incredible azure skies, my dear geese, and my thought and prayers.  In this time I finally was given the by now belated Word for the year!  Better late than never!  It is "Listen."  Simply magical how much peace from really listening without running the mind in preparation to talk.  Not to be funny, but in one day I have learned that listening is exhausting!

 I covered the dining table with a pastel blue toile quilt and nested this ceramic goose Mom made in a garland from Valerie Par Hill.  She looks happy there...

Remember we have sprung ahead! Whew....  how tiring!

Five Years!

Somehow I let my fifth blogiversary slip by me... I can't imagine my life without blogging. Not only my own blog, which is indeed some mix of a journal, keepsake diary, communication with the world, and photo album.... But more important the friends I have made in other bloggers! I love the comments I have received, and I love keeping up with your lives! Sometimes I find a new blog, and I read all the way back to its inception... Sometimes a blogger stops writing a while... And we fret a little if she is okay... It's a journey of millions of pilgrims on a mission to chronicle our lives. If blogging passes from culture as other marvels have done, won't our words be a chronicle for the future?

To my dear friends, both those I have met and love in person and you whose lives and mine are entertained by words glowing on my screen, I give my finest thanks. You inspire me to greater positivity and to higher beauty in my daily round. My first blog ever was Brocante Home with dear Allison and Finley. Cindi from My Romantic Home gave the gift of my first comment.Tracy from Noyes from A Cottage Industry was the first blogger whose life I traced backwards through previous months... Becky at Hospitality Lane and Art at Home's dear author give me so much encouragement... I'm inspired and enchanted by Cielo at My House in the Roses. My dear friend Lisa writes posts that make me think, remember, and dream at Cranberry Flats.

To all my dear loved ones who read my blog and do not have one, you know who you are... and I love you! I now rotate my mugs and dream of organizational bliss and charm, thanks to Rita at May Days.... I am enchanted by Sugarwings at Karla's Cottage.  My jewelry from Cupid's Charm cheers me nearly every day---And so many more... Beth Moore at Living Proof, Susan Branch, and Ann Voskamp are my famous friends...bonded by blogging and love. My newest comments come from Lalane at her beautiful blog... I treasure all comments! I read and marvel at the financial world through the eyes of Ants and Grasshoppers... The blog My Country Sunrise from my dear cousin and the Facebook blog Beef Stew with a Twist created by another dear friend... The list is endless, really... Thanks for five beautiful years!

These bunnies are here for my blogiversary!

Bunny Hoppin' Kitchen!

The cabinet in the kitchen...  Let the cold wind whistle...  it's spring inside,

Setting the scene

Today was the day.... my college prep students met in another room... I lit these at each place because it was a special day...  My students have to earn the honor of reading this... They entered my room  to music, and I told them we were going on a journey

We began my favorite... The Little Prince.  And I brought them biscuits because everyone needs breakfast to start a journey!  I wrapped the book in rose colored paper...  I hope they love it, too.

Comfort Food

When the nights blow cold but the days are pretty, I love to use the slow cooker and spend time with other things...  This is a favorite....  reminds me of my mother's pressure cooker steaks from my childhood!

--------------------------------

Slow Cooker Round Steak

Ingredients

• 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 2 pounds boneless round steak
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. Place the potatoes, onion, and carrots in slow cooker. Cut steak into six pieces, then place the meat on top of vegetables. In a mixing bowl, combine the soup mix, soup, and water; pour over beef.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 7 to 10 hours.

Something says love... in the kitchen

 We have selected a few little bunnies for the kitchen cupboard...  These special little creatures have hopped over here with the flow blue, the blue stoneware, and my newer pieces from Temptations...

 Have a beautiful week....  I hope you all are well... and that spring will bring its magic. . . 

A preview... English at BHS

 All packed up and waiting for the bell....  I just added the row of author pictures around the periphery of my classroom for fourth quarter...  It takes something new and "improved" for this quarter to get out of the hangar!  Some of my kids asked me if all those "eerie eyes" didn't bother me...  I don't think so...  but possibly it's because I love authors...  What might I feel if those were mathematical wizards?   or scientists?

I have been reworking little quadrants of my room...  Yesterday it was my desk.  This "HEAVY" drawer has all my teacher materials...  It is weighty with its ponderous load of wisdom....  How often I have fixed it to be handy, but my systems almost always disintegrate...  Maintenance of organization...  Why don't things just stay PUT?

 Tucked into the whimsical flower/shamrock arrangement are tons of pencils I buy/find/beg/steal? for the students..  NO Excuses!  "NO prisoners."......  The snowflake tin has tissue (looks much classier than a roll of it on my desk like a corner outhouse...)

 I embellished one folder today...  I saw this tutorial on Cozy Little House blog.  It was so much fun...  Why did I  never think of this before?

 These are fuzzy pictures for that warm, fuzzy feeling...  and also due to the phone settings in fluorescent lighting...  Not a match...  Have a fun day..  I would heartily recommend making something pretty, fabulous, and YOURS today in your area...  It has worked miracles with my mood this week....