For My Mamma,

It's only been two years since we got married (slightly over). This past weekend I used, for the first time, the mixer my mother bought us for our wedding present. I have my reasons--like we had no room for it in our other apartment, and I've never been much of a baker, so why bother?

BUT...this weekend, I flew to the store, bought all necessary (and not on-hand) ingredients and, maybe for the second time in my life, made banana bread! You can bet that mixer was working overtime! :)

And since I'm one of those clean-as-you-go cooks, this is as messy as my kitchen ever got. :)

Last, as I was coming in from my Wal-Mart excursion with my ingredients ready to make HER some banana bread, our wonderful neighbor, Regina, was waiting at the base of the stairs for us with a home-made Apple Crisp! Now, just how did she know that Apple Crisp is my absolute favorite!? And it seems to be Kevin's, too, by the way we polished it off so quickly (2 days was all it took, folks!).

Recipe for the Perfect Evening

Start with a good, home-cooked meal--one you know will be a hit!

Add some outdoors, 

and a table for two!

Then, spice things up with the one (or ones) you love, and you're good to go!

Hang 'Em High!

We've all got hang ups. Admit it! There are those things that just get your goat like nothing else, regardless of the fact that you neighbor, spouse, or best friend could care less.

As a full-time interpreter, full-time home maker, and full-time wife, I'm learning that not everything that I hang up on needs to be hung. I'd like to share with you some things I'm learning are, at the end of the day, not worth sweating about, and then some things that I believe are worth making a priority.

Things to lay down, not hang up on:

1. A Perfect House. Neither one of us are slobs, but neither are we the most tidy of people all the time...and that's okay. I'm learning to not let a book off the shelf or a remote control on the couch bother me.

2. Kitchen/Bathroom Floors. I know--that sounds disgusting, doesn't it? But it's the truth, and it really doesn't bother us.

3. Dusted House. No, I'm not a fan of those bunnies either, but in the end, I'd rather live with them than kill myself daily trying to annihilate them. They reproduce like bunnies, anyway! I've settled on a good dusting about once a month.

4. A New Meal Every Day. It's very noble to never eat the same thing twice--it's just not very practical.

5. Time with Everyone! I would love to exist in a perpetual state of fellowship (It's what I like to imagine Heaven will be like!). In reality, it's just not possible. We try to make time for Sunday lunches after church with some people and then maybe one or two other get-togethers during the weekend.

Things to hang high:

1. Order, not perfection. Keeping the floor empty of stray items and the clothes hung up can only take a minute if not put off until later.

2. Clean Kitchen Counter Tops and Sinks. It doesn't take much time to wipe the counter and rinse the dishes (even if not wash them), and the lack of pesky pests flitting about will be thanks enough.

3. Clean Clothes. Wash, fold, and put away. There's nothing like having to wear old, dirty, wrinkled clothes. It colors the whole day.

4. Meals. No, we're not health nuts--far from it! But at the end of the day, the last thing I want is to have to scavenge for something to eat. It's helped a lot to plan out our meals week by week. Sometimes I can even prepare dinner the night before.

5. Time with family. There are two of us right now, but we love the idea of adding to our family. And should the Lord allow us children, we're excited about making time with family important and priority.

I hope these encourage, not discourage you. It's a learning process, and I'm excited to be learning alongside some of the best! :-)

Mm'mm Good!

As you know, if you've visited here before, I LOVE to experiment with food.  I'm not sure where it came from, but since getting married, it's just a hobby I've embraced with both hands.

The other day, I learned that you can cook fruit.  Since trying it once for myself and then serving it to Kevin to rave reviews, I'm inclined to share my new-found favorite sweet treat, super simple, super cheap, and super tasty!

1. Cut a nectarine in slices.

2. Coat each slice in honey (we prefer the organic, home-grown honey provided to us by our wonderful sister and brother from Nebraska--no joke, they own the bees it came from).

3.  Cook on low-med heat until tender.  

4.  Just before finished, or even after done cooking, sprinkle with cinnamon.  

5.  Enjoy!

kitchen (un)essentials!

So, it's the holiday season. We've passed Thanksgiving and now on to Christmas and New Year's. For most of us that means extra time in the kitchen. I've come to enjoy the kitchen, and I thought I'd pass on a few things that make my time there more productive and, well, just more fun! :)

I cannot take credit for this first one:

A dear friend of mine uses her olive oil jars (I'm not sure of the specific name) for liquid dish soap. It's easier, cleaner, and it just looks cuter!


This is my most recent purchase: A Salad Spinner (WalMart, $10)

I stopped buying bagged salad and began purchasing heads of lettuce, but wasn't sure how to get ALL that water off to store it without it becoming slimy. Presto! (Kevin even likes this one!)

Next up we have: My Food Processor!

It makes slicing and dicing a snap! It's not easy to clean, so sometimes it's easier to just do it by hand, but I used it recently to cut up a whole onion--fabulous!

And what's a kitchen without some mixing bowls!? But these aren't just any mixing bowls--these are colorful mixing bowls! They make me want to cook just so I can play with them! :)

And where there are mixing bowls, there are measuring spoons! But these aren't just any measuring spoons...these are MAGNETIC measuring spoons! There's a tiny magnet in the middle of them, so they stick, stack, and are easy to find in the drawer. There are also two sides to each, so no need to rinse of when measuring two ingredients any more.

Excessive, you say? For only $8 at Target, you can have some of your own! Go ahead--indulge yourself!

This last picture has a story with it...

Back in January, I helped my sister-in-law pack for her and her family's trek west. :'-( I got all of two whole boxes packed for them, BUT one box I packed contained her spices. The truck was heading out a little before them and as Kim pondered which ones to keep for their last few days in Tennessee and which ones to send ahead, she said, "I just don't know--they're like my friends."

I've thought of that comment many times since then, especially as my own cooking and spicing ventures have expanded, and I think I now know how she feels.

So here are my friends, in their cozy little home: