Valentine's Day

Chocolate and roses are synonymous with Valentine's Day. Roses are pretty to look at, but you can't eat them. My wonderful husband got me the BEST chocolates.. from ETIQUETTE of CHOCOLATE in Orange Park. The quality is phenomenal and the combinations of fruits with chocolate is scrumptious. The first picture shows their amazing creations. Very dainty looking. The second heart is filled with candied ginger dipped in chocolate. Naturally a good cup of coffee to go with the sweets! I really love a great cup of "Joe" and no one makes better coffee than Gary. We use Naviera Cuban style coffee. It's a dark roasted coffee with chicory. So enjoy some decadence today, Valentine's Day only comes once a year!

Birthdays

It's true, my brother just had a birthday this week and my dad's birthday is today. He's 82 years old. Dave threatened me if I published the picture of him with the sombrero (from the Mexican place) so instead I have one of him and his antique tractor. We have not celebrated dad's birthday yet, so his birthday picture will be coming soon.

Packing

The packing has begun!! I'm packing up the china today. It's possible it will stay packed for several months since there will be no place to put it. It seems with the slow economy that we are creating much work for everyone?! Once we sign the initial loan (for the start of construction) things will be happening VERY fast. They will take our current "home" to the dump, plus we're getting numerous trees removed. Many of them are large and old. Not the type you want next to your new home. Plus we have to make room for the new place. Then the foundation is poured and the new home is being built during this time frame. It is built in a factory in Lake City (I think). Our rep, Allen, says it should take 3 weeks to build. Not the 90 days I was anticipating. That's great that they have nothing but our house to build but what a whirlwind it will be! I was figuring on more time to save money to buy furniture. Oh well, that's the way it goes. We'll be putting this place together for several months.
Yes, the tourist room (aka spare bedroom) will be equipped with "visitor" beds. Any are welcome, just give me a month to move in. Actually, visitors are fun. That way we all get together and eat really good home made food and hang out. My family used to do that when we were all kids, sadly it rarely happens on such a grand scale anymore. I have such fond memories of hanging out with all of my cousins, eating, and just having fun being together. Where does the time go?
Enough musing, the packing must go on!

Colors Picked

More house fun this past weekend. Gary and I (mostly Gary) picked out the colors for the carpet, tile, paint and floor style. It was sort of fun and sort of tense. He's the one with the eye for color, my taste is very simple. Then we went shopping to look at furniture, house wares and what ever else looked interesting. We spent all day out and about and only spent money on food. We are collecting a lot of ideas!! We've found that we have very expensive taste in furniture. At least as we get furniture it will last forever. Kitchen cabinet and closet stuff is another area where I'm looking for inspiration. The kitchen cabinets are really tall and have no extra anything in them. We get to do all the additions on our own. Plus I'm trying to decide where I'll store all of my kitchen stuff.
I've already started cleaning. Several closets are much less crowded then they were before. My clothes closets are next! I wish I knew someone close besides the good will store that was my size! They could really make out.
Gary took a movie of the model home this weekend. I'll preview it and post it soon.

House Fun

Well, it has started! We've been looking at modular homes off and on for a year and seriously for a month now. Today we picked the model that we want and got things started. It's a Better Built Home, unfortunatly their web site I can not find the floor plan. We will have pictures coming of the model and the actual process.
Pray for us that we use our resources (ie money) wisely. It's really great how they do the houses. Everything is in it. Mini blinds and window treatments, tile, carpet, and cabinets. We pick the colors and they do the grout in the tiles on site. Nothing to redo when we move in, just the furniture. We'll finally get to see our dining room table! I remember that it has a really nice pattern inlaid on the top.
Stay tuned.....

Granola

Here's a really great granola recipe. The only down side, it's so good it will be eaten up too quickly!! We made this over the weekend and it was scruptious as usual. The original recipe was inspired by Emeril Lagasse, but I have changed and added numerous things.

Dry Ingredients:

3c old-fashioned rolled oats (or try Quaker Multi Grain)
1/2c slivered almonds
1/4c coconut flakes (natural is best, unsweetened)
1/4c pumpkin seeds, raw
1/4c raw sunflower seeds
1/2c chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt




Combine all of these together in a large bowl.



In a small sauce pan over low heat, stirring frequently melt:
1/2c unsalted butter, then add
1/2c real maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Stir together until combined.


Then pour butter mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

On a large cookie sheet, spread the granola evenly in a THIN layer. Place cookie sheet(s) in oven, in middle rack. Stir granola every 5 minutes to keep it from sticking. This is very important, to help it dry out and not burn. Cooks for a total of 20 minutes.


When granola is golden or lightly browned, remove from oven. Spread the granola on the counter top and add dried fruit.


1c total dried fruit try raisens, dried cranberries, blueberries, or dried cherries, chopped dates, any combination will do. (see #3)



Once cooled off, place in an airtight container and enjoy as a snack or with milk. Next time you'll have to double the recipe, it's that good.

Osceola Face

Did you find the Osceola Face? There are 2 possible or did you find any others?

Happy Dogs

Ever wonder what it would be like to truely live "in the moment"? To have no cares besides what is going on right now. Not worrying about what someone else thinks or might say. Just living in the now...If you have dogs, you just need to study them.

Our dogs really like it when we have company, because then we use the DISHWASHER!! That means they get to "pre clean" the dishes. For a dog, there is nothing better. OK, Jesse might differ, he really likes to play with his toys but I think the dishwasher ranks number 1 for both pups. After lunch today all you could hear was the dishes smacking together as both dogs worked as fast as their tongues could reach before the other one moved into their territory. Here they are doing the dishes!

Osceola

Wow! It's been a week since I've written and time has really flown by. I've been busy at work, then recuperating from work over the weekend. Now it's cold and all I want to do is sleep and read (in bed where it's toasty warm snuggled up with the dogs).

So, on our ghost tour last week we heard some weird legends about Osceola. It's said that when he died, an army physician removed his head and embalmed it. Then kept it as a family hierloom?? They say his face can be seen on the wall of the Castillo. I'm placing a picture here, can you see his face? That's Patricia our tour guide. Stay tuned and I'll show you where in a few days.

Ghost Tour St Augustine

This weekend we went to St Augustine and succumbed to the tourist trade! Thanks so much to my in laws for treating us to an evening of good food at the Florida Cracker Cafe where Gary had a really good blackened ahi tuna steak that was prepared perfectly. A side note, if you go to the Cracker Cafe's web site, Gary assisted in filming that commercial. We took a walking tour through St Augustine and captured these ethereal graveyard images. These photos are from Huguenot Cemetery which is located across from the Castillo de San Marcos (which you can make out in the background, just barely). It was a nice way to spend the evening and walk off some food and take some night time photos! Thanks again to Gary Sr and Maryellen.

Christmas in Savannah

Gary and I spent a nice and relaxing Christmas in Savannah this year. Lot's of napping, plus I had long walks with the pups. We were able to go for several days thanks to the hospitality of my niece (Thanks Aim!) and she let our pups come along. That makes staying longer so much easier on us. Getting someone to watch them is no easy task.

Here are several photos from my photo safari in the historic area. If you are going to Savannah and interested in photography at all, if it's wanting to take better pictures with your point and shoot digital camera or you are a photo enthusiast, check out this web site: Savannah Photo Outings. This is my second outing with Frank, I highly recommend him if you are in the area. He is a good teacher and very knowledgable. He knows the city and took our group to some good photo spots and helped us "get the shot". More photos to come as I sort through them.



Here's the fireplace all decked out for Santa's visit. This Christmas it was all about the kids! They got lots of toys and had a lot of fun opening them each of them. All in all I am glad that Christmas is done, and the New Year is upon us. Happy New Year!!

Reflections

Here's a reflection photo of my wonderful husband. As the year 2008 closes out, take some time and reflect on the happenings of the year. It's been a good year at our house! We are very blessed that we're all healthy, I have a great job, my mom's cancer is in remission, my animals are fun and thankfully getting older (that means calmer, somewhat)...I have so much to be thankful for. How about you? When is the last time that you took inventory of your blessings? It's easy to focus on the negative, it takes looking on the positive to make you realize how good we Americans have it. So take some time and enjoy your family and close friends and tell them how much you love and appreciate them.

Christmas in the Park

Here's some views from Spring Park, in Green Cove Springs. Can you find us in the bulb? Not the best self portrait but it was fun to make. Here's hoping that you all had a great time with family and friends over the holiday season. I sure did! I did lot's of laying around and reading, walking with the dogs plus a really cool photo tour in Savannah. More on that in another post.

Ponder This

Things that make you go "HMMM" ... An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.

Getting ready for Christmas....

Commando Chick

If you've ever been around chickens you wonder how they ever came to be. Meaning they are not the smartest creatures God made. But this mommy is a very wild one and is teaching her little ones to be the same. Check out the camouflage on this little baby. Here, they are 3 weeks old. If they hold still you do not see them in the leaves. Amazing.

Hot Breakfast Cereal

Ever wonder if there's an easy way to cook steel cut oats? Here's a wonderful hot breakfast cereal that is easy to make. You make it the night before in the crock pot so it's ready in the morning when you get up. This is adapted from "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two". Using a small crock pot that has been lightly oiled add:


1/3 cup hard red wheat
1/2 cup steel cut oats
3 cups water
1/8 tsp salt
several shakes of cinnamon
1/2 cup dried fruit


Place slow cooker on low for 7-9 hours.


In the morning add:

about 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk (depending on how creamy you like it)
1/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 T butter
2 T sucanat (or brown sugar)
several shakes of cinnamon
any fresh fruit such as banana slices, sliced strawberries, etc.


Stir all of this together and let simmer for 1/2 hour to 1 hour and then serve into bowls. Feel free to drizzle with honey just before serving. Serves 2 to 3 people.

Savannah

Here's some snap shots from one of my favorite cities, Savannah. It's a great town for walking and taking pictures. It's also very dog friendly and has a lot of great shops and coffee houses. The squares have such history and lovely statues.

Bread Time

Finally, here's a bread posting. For this recipe I used half hard red and half hard white wheat berries. That's for those of you that make your own flour. Currently, my favorite book on bread is "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. Check out their web site HERE to see the recipes and techniques or order the book. For this recipe I used the Challah bread. But of course I made my own variation. For the rolls I rolled them out flat and added some filling.

Filling: Inspired from Arabic Bites

1/4 cup raisens

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

1 tsp cooled tea (or rose water)

shake of cinnamon

1/8 tsp cardimom

1 Tablespoon sugar

Sprinkle filling over the dough and then roll up dough into a log. Then I cut the log into a 6 inch rope and twist into bun. This gets brushed with egg wash and then set aside to raise about 20-45 minutes. Then it gets another egg wash then sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds over the rolls and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Yummy! This is quickly becoming one of my husbands most requested breads.

Christmas Trees

Ever wonder where your Christmas tree comes from? These are some Christmas trees that are on my sister's property in Tennessee, or were. They were harvested the week after my picture. Can't you just smell the evergreens? Maybe your tree came from there?

Being from Florida, it was wonderful to see the bright red and yellow leaves up in the mountains. We just had "fall" here in Florida. Yes, the beginning of December and our trees where turning colors. It's amazing to me that 6 hours north and you actually get seasons and really cold weather. It's in the 70's here today and snow in the Carolina mountains. Go figure?!

Baby Chicks' First Outing

It's true, we have 2 baby chicks. The mommy hen took them out of the baby coop today for the first time. They are about 1 week old and tiny little things. She showed them how to dig in the leaves and eat grass and bugs. She is a VERY protective mom and I'm too scared to mess with the babies yet. I'll try later with gloves on so mom doesn't peck me. They were out several hours this morning and then she took them back "home".