Kitchen hello...

First course is, of course, salad. Love to serve salads in my bread pan for some reason!

Next some beef short ribs, Pioneer Woman style...

Oh, what a surprise to wake up to this on Sunday morning! I wasn't expecting to see the room in the blue glow reserved for snowy, reflective lighting...  We had about three inches, but it melted in a day...

I wonder if any of you might enjoy sharing your traditions that you or your family have created. We might just share them and be filled with traditions that truly make each season more special. I have one that I created myself that brightens one of the coldest days each year at random and relaxes the hottest day each summer with its promise... It features little emerald peas! These came from my sister/cousin's garden, and oh, were they ever tender and delicious! The note on the package said, "For the first snow. Packed June 23rd, 2016." I have celebrated this tradition for at least 27 years! It all began when I had my own garden, and I had a tiny crop of peas with only two packages to freeze. I "accidentally" took them out of the freezer on our first snow that year, and it just brought back the hot day I had put them away... The next year I was harvesting in June, and I thought about the icy snowy day the past winter... and I had a light bulb moment to begin this tradition. I penned a little reminder to save these until the first snowfall... I no longer garden so I have bought the peas from the Amish several times and been blessed with peas from my friend's gardens... A very few times I have simply repackaged store-bought, frozen peas on a hot summer's day with a note to my winter self! The smallest of pleasures, but it makes me incredibly happy as I think of my mother and two grandmothers who used to sit with five gallon buckets snapping peas each summer... "These will taste so good when the snow flies,,," I can hear them say it...

Mmm...   Banana nut muffins! I freeze these and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds... or gnaw around the edges of them while they are stone cold hard!

Beautiful plan books from Planner Perfect...  I love her stuff!  Plannerperfect.com by Jenny Penton.



Whimsy and Hugs!