FRIDAY FAVORITES

I have read a few blogs recently that do a weekly list of their favorite things and things that they are thankful for....so I thought I would join in..

Some of my favorite things and things I am thankful for are....


my hubby and his Popeye arms :)

flip flops and french manicured toes

ghiradelli chocolate squares w/caramel center

my three legged dog....and my other three dogs

my granny’s bottle of Romance perfume that sits on my dresser

Listerine cool mint mouthwash

a fire in the woodburning stove on a cold day

a sharp pencil

crushed ice

sweet tea

clean sheets

rice krispie treats w/choc chips

getting a good haircut

the Godfather movies

my two sisters

my three bestest friends – all on opposite sides of the U.S. who I know I can call anytime and we will pick up right where we left off even though it’s been months since we last talked.

good pair of worn in holy jeans

spoon rings

warm towel fresh out of the dryer

precious time with family

having parents who are also my friends

Wheat Thins(a.k.a Wheat Fats because I want to eat the whole box)

eskimo kisses

PINK lotion/body spray

candles

early morning before anyone else is up

Thrift Store/second hand shopping

music on my ipod

tulips

houseplants

Homemade bread

SoftLips vanilla

flannel PJ pants

ponytails

homemade soft chewy choc chip cookies

a day with NO plans

the fact that my mom is healing well from her double mastectomy

Sunday Morning Berry Scones

This morning I had a taste for scones. Usually I use my  mother in law's recipe for Lemon Poppyseed Scones, but I wanted something a little different today so I started searching for a different variation. I ended up using her recipe and another recipe I had for Blueberry Scones and kind of combined them. I LOVE anything with black or raspberries in it so instead of blueberries and used 1/2 blackberries and 1/2 raspberries. Instead of buttermilk I used heavy whipping cream.

WOW - they really turned out great!!

Here's what the batter looked like.

All the berries added more color than I expected but there's nothing wrong with a little color!

Here's what they looked like scooped out onto the pan.

And here's how they looked after baking!

They were very tasty.

Tangy with a little touch of sweetness.

Perfect with a hot cup of coffee!

Our Crazy Dogs

For those of you who don't know my family well, you don't know that animals have always been a big part of our household. When I was growing up, at one point we had a dog, a cat, a parakeet, a rabbit, goldfish and hermit crab.

Now my husband, daughter and I have

FOUR CRAZY DOGS!!

This is our mini schnauzer Molly. She is very sweet and loves affection....but we call her our A.D.D. dog......she's got so much energy we can't get her to sit still. EVER. Unless the TV is on. Her favorite thing to do is watch TV as you can see here. Seriously!! She will sit for a looonnngg time and watch TV. We crack up at her!!

Here's a shot of our three stooges all together. Waiting for a treat. They think if they sit very still on this red rug, they will get a treat. They are usually right! :) Chewie is our oldest schnauzer. Tori got him for Christmas in '02. He's a good little guy and puts up with a lot from the other two pesky girls.

This is our beautiful Bala. She is another dog we "adopted". We happened to be  visiting a German Shepard breeder who my husband was helping out by doing obedience training for some of their dogs when someone showed up to get rid of her. They were moving and couldn't take her so she somehow ended up going home with us.

She is young and energetic.... and still learning to behave! 

Isn't she pretty? She has beautiful eyes!

This is Macy. She is the newest addition to our family. She showed up in our yard one day and wouldn't leave! We tried to run her off, but kids at the park near us were being mean to her, so..........you can guess the rest.  She is part weiner dog and part...??? Maybe schnauzer? We don't know. On this particular day we couldn't find her. We looked around for about a 1/2 hour, calling her name, searching under beds, etc.  Well, we finally found her....curled up asleep in the basket of warm sheets that had been taken out of the dryer!! Can you see she's still 1/2 asleep?  Since then, it seems to be her favorite place to sleep. She actually waits for clothes to come out of the dryer!! She's such a character. Her back is only about 7 inches off the ground but she can jump as high as my waist. As you can see her head is too big for her body so sometimes we call her Bobble Head :)

Sunday Dinner

Here is a picture of my new "necessary" kitchen appliance. :)
I LOVE this new crockpot. I'd been looking at it for months but just couldn't bring myself to spend $65 on it. The reason I wanted this specific crockpot is because it has 3 interchangable pots - in 2, 4 and 6 quart sizes. FINALLY it went on sale to over 50% off and I snatched it up!! I think Walmart got a damaged shipment and that's why it was on sale.

We also have a new favorite Sunday Dinner
 ...Crockpot Country Pork Ribs. We love them so much we've had them 3 out of the past 5 Sundays! They are so simple to make and taste so wonderful. I cover them with Apple Cider Vinegar, add salt, pepper and garlic and let cook on high for about 1 hour. Then I add a few tablespoons of worshestire sauce, approx 1/2 - 3/4 cup of ketchup and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Then I let it cook on high for a few more hours and switch it to the low setting cooking until the meat falls off the bones. It's so incredibly tender and has a great tangy taste!! I don't add barbeque sauce to the pot - I let each person add their own to their meat. My husband works the night shift and always brings the leftovers with him to work on Sunday night. He said the other guys drool while they watch him eat it.

I also used another wonderful timesaving appliance this weekend! My breadmaker! I actually seem to use it more just to make dough for rolls than I do to actually make the bread. I use the "dough" setting because it's so easy. You just dump in the ingredients and after an hour and a half the dough has done it's first rise and is ready to be formed into rolls. I dump it out onto my floured counter, tear off balls of dough  
and shape them into rolls.


Here is a picture of the rolls before the second rising....

And about 45 min later...after sitting covered on top of the warm oven.

Here's the finished product...after being brushed with honey butter.



Mmmmm....melt in your mouth good!!

Mum Season

Autumn is here!! And that means MUM Season!! I love getting new Mums in the fall and this year I found the best mums I've ever bought. In Jefferson City, the Kmart parking lot is home to the Farmers Market. An amish family was selling these mums at 3 for $20!! And these mums are HUGE! At our local greenhouse I would have had to pay $20 for ONE mum of this size. You'll also see our wood rack on the front porch - all ready and waiting for the wood to be stacked on it to be burned in our wood burning stove this winter!

Here are two of the mums - I put them on our deck in the back yard. They were almost too big for the pots that I have. The leaves are starting to fall, too. More proof that Autumn is here!

Cake in a Cup

A friend of mine sent me a recipe for a yummy QUICK chocolate fix. It's easy to make and tastes pretty good, too. You mix it all up in a coffee mug, pop it in the microwave for 5 min and tip it out onto a plate. You can top it with ice cream, strawberries and coolwhip for a quick dessert. I made mine using Dark chocolate cocoa and it was great, but really rich - I couldn't finish the whole thing!! My daughter loved hers, too. Here's the recipe:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash of vanilla extract

1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

My Craigslist Treasure

Craigslist is now my friend!! :) Here is my newest treasure from Craigslist. I bought a pair of these orange chairs for $45!! They were in excellent condition, but the cushions were UGLEEE!! Who wants 1970 orange cushions?? NOT me! Made a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and found this chocolate brown fabric on the clearance rack and I took the cushions to a local furniture reupholsterer. He did a great job and made my chairs look like new! I am so happy with the finished product! (BTW - the pictures are in the wrong order. Orange is Before, Brown is After)