A sampling of some Foods I've made to Order

Chocolate Peanut Butter Lovers Double Decker

 Banana Sour Cream Loaves with and without nuts

Lemon Cream Cheese Braid

Buckeye Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

Strawberry Tuxedo Cake

Gooey Apple Cake

Orange Marmalade Rolls

Mocha Almond Rolls

Old Fashioned Cinnamon Rolls ready to bake

Cookie Pops

My latest venture - filling an order for a customer for bouquets of cookie pops. These were fun to make and satisfied my creative urge for the day! I had a lot of ideas to make them more elaborate and unusual but the budget held me down to this. I think that is the most frustrating thing about creativity for me - not having the budget to do what my imagination would like.

I'm in love with these plates!

Prayer Shawl

I hope it brings her comfort!

Business Cards

Yes I admit, my goodman is right - I am a bit obsessive! I have been working on these cards for quite some time. I won't say they are perfect but I CAN say they are finished! Having cards makes it seem official and that makes me nervous!  It has been 16 years since I tried my hand at crafting for profit and to be honest I never thought I'd be back in it. It got to be a chore rather than a pleasure but I'm hoping I can do a better job of keeping it fun this time.   Happy Crafting!

Ecru Giant Doily Rug

I finished the ecru version of this lovely doily and I love the way it turned out! 

I think it turned out even bigger than the white one!

This shows the color more accurately.

Hope the customer loves it too!

Crocheted Rug Doily Coverlet Afghan?

After a long while I have decided to get back on Etsy. It's a bit scary to "put yourself out there". Will anybody like my things, will they purchase them? It's personal! I was very excited to make my first sale this past week. A giant 60 inch crocheted doily. It's a rug or a coverlet or a blanket ... 

I had a lot of fun making it and got my "lace" fix for the week. 

(Basic) Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

This is one of my family's favorite side dishes. I love that the sauce is a very good and simple 'basic' sauce but is very versatile. I can add to and change the ingredients to suit the meal. My sunshine's favorite pasta is bowtie so I use it most often, but the sauce works well over any pasta.  I am not very good at following a recipe so I'll try to explain what I do. 

Basic Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 stick real butter (not margarine!)

4 cloves garlic, minced OR 1/2 tsp garlic powder w/parsley

Onion OR 1/2 tsp onion powder (my bunch doesn't like onion pieces so I use powder)

1/2 tsp lemon pepper

4 TBSP flour

3 Cups milk

1 tsp lemon juice

Shredded (not grated) Parmesan cheese

2 tsp chicken bouillon

Heat the stick of butter, garlic, onion, and lemon pepper in a saucepan over med. low heat until bubbly and aromatic. Add 4 TBSP flour and stir constantly to form a thick bubbly roux. (I love saying roux!) 

Stir in 3 cups of milk until all lumps are removed, add the tsp of lemon juice and the 2 tsp chicken bouillon. Continue to stir until the sauce becomes thick and creamy - the consistency you prefer. (This usually takes mine about 10 minutes.) 

Pour over cooked pasta, sprinkle with shredded cheese. 

Enjoy!

Tea Time

Some of my favorite things:

 - a yellow spatterware tea kettle purchased at Debo's in Houston, MO. I use it several times a day to make green tea, herbal teas, hot chocolate ...  It is one of the most used item in my kitchen.

 - my favorite china tea cup set. We purchased it in Chinatown (San Francisco) last summer. It came with a china strainer inside for holding teas and a lid/stand for steeping/holding the strainer. I use it everyday as well!

 - tea towels my mother embroidered for me.

Each of these has a special memory for me - visiting with brethren from other places, wonderful expeditions with my family and a treasured heirloom stitched with love.

Everyone in the house is now drinking teas. We enjoy mixing different herbal blends. I got up a little later than usual this morning to find my oldest had already made his father's green tea and herbal teas for the rest of us. What a blessing he is to me!

Love

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place, 
but have not love,
I am a housekeeper, not a homemaker. 
If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,
but have not love,
my children learn cleanliness, ­not godliness.
If I scream at my children for every infraction,
and fault them for every mess they make,
but have not love,
my children become people-pleasers, not obedient children.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child’s laugh.
Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.
Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.
Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.
Love accepts the fact that I am the ever-present "mommy,"
the taxi-driver to every childhood event,
the counselor when my children fail or are hurt.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, and runs with the child,
then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.
Now I glory in God’s perfection of my child.
All the projections I had for my house and my children have faded away into insignificance,
And what remain are the memories of my kids.
Now there abides in my home scratches on most of the furniture, 
dishes with missing place settings, and bedroom walls full of stickers, posters and markings,
But the greatest of all is the Love
that permeates my relationships with my children.
-Adapted by Jim Fowler