Happy Tastebuds

If you ever have a chance, go to a "tasting" at Noodles and Co. Last night I was fortunate enough to be included in one, courtesy of some dear friends. It was marvelous! Our group of seven (my poor husband was home sick) sampled salads, pasta, breads and pot stickers. I had only tried two of the dishes previously, so everything was new to me and so wonderful! I am now inspired to break out some new recipes here at home and stretch the culinary boundaries of my family a bit! Thanks again for a wonderful evening, M. & M.! I so enjoyed it!

The Delights of Breakfast

I am a huge fan of breakfast. It is considered the most important meal of the day, I would have to agree. It would be difficult to find something that I don't like for breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, omelets, muffins, popovers, coffee cake, hashbrowns, yogurt, granola, they all satisfy! I consider one of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom is being able to decide what we eat for breakfast each day. For the most part my family is happy with whatever I put in front of them. There is a coffee cake with a maple glaze that tops their list. They love homemade bagels toasted with butter and jam. Pancakes and waffles usually fit the bill, and most of them like muffins.
There have been some real DUDS over the years. No one
cared for the pear-stuffed french toast that Martha
Stewart promised everyone would love. Popovers
are not a big hit, and the only way eggs go over is
scrambled, dry. So it stands to reason that
I am the only one who truly enjoys a shirred egg

in

the morning. Quick and easy, it gives me a
serving of dark green leafy vegetables almost
before the day has started. The serving of
protein helps me to not feel hungry before noon,
very important detail when trying to shed
some of those winter pounds. So here is the recipe.
I hope you will try it and let me know what you
think. The original recipe came from Mary Jane
Butters, the original "farmgirl". You can check
out her website at http://maryjanesfarm.org.

Shirred Egg
Roughly chop a handful of baby spinach
and place in a small buttered dish. (I use a
half pint canning jar). Make a slight dent in the
center of the spinach, crack an egg into the dent.
Season with salt and pepper, pour one tablespoon
of heavy cream over the egg, grate one tablespoon
of parmesan cheese over all. Microwave for
about 1 min. 15 sec. or till the egg is done the
way you like it. Let sit for a minute, it will be
very hot. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The girls and I have been busy making Valentine treats! Aren't they cute? (the cookies, I mean) And they taste really good, too. The sad thing about having six dozen frosted sugar cookies here, is that Glen and the boys are in Bemidji, so we girls will have to figure out how to consume all these cookies on our own! Any good ideas?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Tea with Bee

Bee Larson, another new friend, and half of her children came for tea today. Well, it turned out that they came for lunch, but I put the kettle on and we had tea anyway. What a lovely day! It was wonderful to have them over, show them around, and enjoy their company. This was my first tea party here in Eau Claire! I am looking forward to having many, many more!

The Glad Game!

Do you remember the movie Pollyanna? The star in the movie is a sweet, optimistic girl named Pollyanna who sweeps into a negative, pessimistic town and helps the residents there to see the good in life! In the movie she talks about playing the "Glad" game when you need to find something positive about a situation. I am playing the Glad game here this morning!
I am the proud owner of vintage 1950's appliances. They are chocolate brown and match the lovely vintage vinyl flooring that is brown, orange and beige. These appliances were made long before ovens had a self-cleaning feature. The electric burners sit over the old-fashioned drip pans. Earlier this winter I was cooking a very sticky substance that boiled over and filled not only the drip pan beneath the burner, but also part of the cavity beneath the drip pan! (This is a part of the stove-top that is not actually meant to be seen by the user!) Bless my dear mother!! She scraped and sopped most of this mess up for me, and then declared that a S.O.S. soap pad would work wonders on the black, sticky crud that was left in the drip pan and around the edge on the burner. Have I mentioned before that I don't like to clean?? The cleaning gene is one that skipped a generation in my family! My mother has it! Her house sparkles from top to bottom! My oldest daughter has it! Her room is always neat and organized, her clothes in tidy piles in their proper drawers, etc.. Not me! It takes determination and focus for me to have a clean-ish house! Clutter follows me everywhere and seems to multiply in dark corners overnight when I am not looking! There are so many wonderful things to do to fill the hours of my day, why oh why would I want to spend time cleaning?? Anyway, this morning the "bug" bit me! I grabbed my rubber gloves and S.O.S. pad and went to work. I worked and worked and worked!! (This is where the Glad game comes in!) By the time I was done scrubbing, my arm was aching and there were beads of perspiration on my upper lip!! So here it is...I am GLAD that I have older appliances!! My old stove has just knocked at least one year of age off of my flabby upper arm!! What can you be Glad about today??

Friends from Eau Claire

Six years ago, when the Farm first became available and we began to seek the Lord about moving here, I started praying for friends for all of us. I asked God to be in charge of the details of our possible move. I trust that he knows our family and our needs better than we do! I have to tell you that I praise him for being so faithful in every area of our lives. He has richly blessed us with many diverse friends in a fairly short amount of time.
One of these new families is the Lundquist family. They are related to our Norvold friends in Bemidji. I do not have a picture of them to post, so you will have to take me at my word when I tell you that they are a very attractive couple! We were able to have a meal with them this weekend also (two sets of friends in one weekend is really good for us!!). Thank you for hanging out with us here at our Farm, Marc and Marcia! We enjoyed our time together, laughter shared with friends is priceless! (Fantastic brownies and homemade hot fudge can't hurt either!)

Friends from Bemidji

Our good friends, the Oakes, came to visit us from Bemidji this weekend. Well, they really came to Eau Claire to see their oldest son, Landon, play guitar in the Bemidji showchoir's band for the competiton. We just got lucky and were able to see them while they were here! We had a great time (once they finally arrived...if you know Bill, ask him how long it takes to get from Eau Claire to our house!). It was so fun to be able to hang out, eat a couple meals, talk a lot, watch a movie and get caught up on each others lives. On my coffee table is a small book that Laurie gave me for my birthday three years ago called Happier in the Country. I love that little book and I re-read chapters of it often. It describes me so perfectly...happier in the country!! Laurie has also blessed us with hand-made Christmas ornaments over the years. As I unwrapped them and placed them on our tree this year I was thinking of their family and the fun we have had together! I could not complete this thought without commenting on how HUGE their children are now and how fast time flies! Bill and Laurie, Brian and Leanne...it was so good to see you all again! We are glad that life brought you to Eau Claire and that we were here to greet you! May God continue to bless you as you live your lives in his service!

Working hard

This is me working on the new covers for the wicker chair cushions. The fabric is a great linen-looking dark taupe that Mom bought up in Black Duck, MN. I can't wait to get them done! The book is one of Aidan's school books. He was working while I was sewing!

Pamper Me!

Gabi is not feeling well. So I thought it would be fun to give her a pedicure. It turned out to be three pedicures (Aidan's was a MAN-icure...no polish, thank you!). Those are our beautiful feet...yes, the ladies are in jammies! It's a "sick" day!

Additional Kitchen Comments

Some things I didn't mention. First, the microwave fits nicely above the stove and made space on the counter next to the sink for the coffee maker. Secondly, I mentioned before that the coffee maker didn't fit under the top cabinets...well, it does, but just barely!! To fill it and to brew coffee I have to pull it out from underneath the cabinet, but I like it there next to the sink...it seems to make more sense than on the opposite side of the room! I also love the extra storage that the new shelves provide! Now I have space in the cabinets for some of the larger serving pieces that just didn't have a spot before. My only question is will I like the open storage long-term? Only time will tell!
It is cold here again today. Gabrielle has been sick since last Friday. She is still on the sofa today. Aidan needs to get going on his school work. Chelsea and Lane went into town with Glen for the day because they have Bible Study and Youth Group tonight, so it saves the extra trip by taking them in now. We were going to have some friends over for tea today, but not with sick kiddos, so we rescheduled for next week. Hopefully everyone will be healthy by then! The sun is shining though! And tomorrow is supposed to be much warmer! Yeah!! I am looking forward to days in the mid-30's and higher! I think I will brew another pot of coffee, and get back to teaching!

Kitchen Update

Well, I am still learning how to do this, so the before pictures are actually the last two, and the after pictures are the first four?!?

Yesterday was a productive kitchen day! It started with Glen installing two shelves in the open space above the sink for me. Then he left for work, and guess what he left behind?? The circular saw!! Now, don't get too worried, I have been "checked off" on the circular saw. I was very careful and went through all the check points before I started! I removed the cabinet doors above the sink, and trimmed off the scalloped edge that hung under them. Then I removed the light, relocated it to under the lowest shelf that Glen had installed for me, and re-ran the wire for it through the cabinets and back to the outlet. Having the light so much closer to the outlet meant that there was an over-abundance of wire, so I removed the plug end of the cord, trimmed the wires, and re-installed the plug. It works like a charm, and the cord inside the cabinet is just the right length!! I was fairly proud of the work that was done! The inside of the top cabinet needed to be painted with one coat of primerThen I cleaned up (the circular saw threw sawdust EVERYWHERE!) and filled my new shelves! So far I like the results...we'll see how it goes!

Happy 18th Anniversary!!

Wow!! Can you believe it has been 18 years already?? Where have those years gone? It seems like just yesterday that Glen and I said "I Do". We were in love then, but we both agree that our love today is stronger and sweeter than we could have ever imagined!! God has been very good to us! Glen bought me these beautiful flowers for our special day. They make the whole house smell like spring, but I have been carrying them from room to room with me to enjoy them! Just think...last year at this time I was working with flowers every day...none of them were ever as special as these are to me! Thank you so much, my love! You are my delight! Happy Anniversary! I love you!