Hodge Podge

Today I am going to write about a hodge podge of things, but this is what I have been up to since my last post.

Friday we (A and I) had our morning stamping of cards with my sons girlfriend (J) and her mom (K). It is always a great time of creating! Last week (K) and her sister (T) had come to stamp. T wasn't able to be with us this week, but sent a couple of card ideas. One was for a criss-cross card that she had found on a website that I have listed under my favorites in the left margin of the blog, Splitcoast Stampers. Here are a few that I tried my hand at:

Saturday night we went to a Bluegrass Festival in Fairview and got to listen to some really great groups! We got to hear our old favorites: Dara and The Noxie Ridge Boys, and Pastense. However, I had never heard the last group that played, Judy Coder and Pride of the Prairie. They were awesome! Check them out at the following website: ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EFqKVSJ19o

I also got to see the most wonderful sunset, wished I would have had my camera. There was a storm that was building all around us that evening, but never really developed where we were. However, the results were an awesome sunset.

Saturday, was my nieces 7th birthday! Grandma had seen the peacock watermelon that I had carved earlier in the month, and had said that J was going to have a lua birthday party (on Sunday), and wouldn't it be neat to have something carved out of a watermelon, for that event. So, I tried my hand at a whale!

I found the cool little water spray thing at Hobby Lobby. You can't really tell but it is glittery, blingy sequins, (J loves bling) thought it was the perfect touch to this whimsical little guy!
Monday, we really needed to get the cherries on our dwarf cherry tree picked. The kids did this while I and Catfishin weeded flower beds and planted some other flowers we had obtained from a friend. Last year we didn't have any cherries or pears. We had a late freeze last year that damaged a lot of fruit bearing trees in our area. However, I think this year, the little tree made up for what we lacked last year! They picked at least a half a bussel off the tree last night, and there were still more on there. The Bassmaster had picked about 3 quarts last week, and there is probably that much, if not more on the tree that we will need to pick by the weekend! I usually freeze 2 cups of pitted, cherries in little freezer bags. I try not to use them up in the summer time so that we can have a treat through the winter. Although, I think I only had one or two bags left at the start of this season. I usually make cherry crisp with them, and we serve it with ice cream. Yesterday, I found a Cherry Cheese Pizza recipe that I am anxious to try! The cheese as in cream cheese. It is like a fruit pizza type recipe. I'll try it tonight, and let you know!

Last night I also made Jambalaya. We had not had this since we had been at my mom's, almost two years ago this Christmas. We of course had fresh shrimp in that, which always tastes better than frozen. But, that's all I had for our recipe. I got this recipe off of the American Diabetes Association website. I altered it a little, and will alter it a little more when I make it again, but of course Catfishin and Bassmaster loved it. Musician and I weren't real crazy about it the first time we tried it, and still weren't this time, but we ate it. And usually, I like anything that is a little on the weird side. I think the shrimp I used were too big, and I used too many. I would have used maybe one more chicken breast and a little less shrimp. Mine turned out thick, the way the guys like it! So, here is my altered recipe of how I will make it the next time:

Jambalaya

1T. canalo or corn oil

1lg onion chopped

1 yellow or orange pepper, cored and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

20 oz. (2cans) - Rotel tomatoes, undrained

5c. low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth (don't use bouillon-too salty)

6 oz. Tomatoe paste

1 1/2 t. thyme

1/2t. black pepper

1/2t. cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

8 drops hot pepper sauce

1 1/2 c. uncooked long grain rice

1 c. polish sausage sliced into bite size pieces

1c. boneless, skinless chicken breast cooked (I cooked mine in Pampered Chef Cajun seasoning)

6 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, sprinkle with Cajun seasoning, cook until no longer pink in middle.

2. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic. Saute over medium heat until softened.

3. Add tomato paste, tomatoes and liquid, the chicken and the rest of your spices. Add the rice; cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Add polishs saugsage, continue cooking, covered, for 10-15 minutes, or until rice absorbs the liquid. Stir occassionally. Add the shrimp for the last 3 minutes or so of cooking. Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.

We had homegrown corn on the cob with this. Then for desert, Musician had made Amish Friendship Bread for the first time, by herself, no help from me, it was great!!!

A little update on the Prayer Journals. I have officially punched out 1,000 scalloped circles! We made 60 Prayer Journals for the Frazzled Female study, then Musician belongs to a discipleship group of Youth girls on Thursday nights and they saw their adult leaders Prayer Journals, so one of the leaders contacted me about doing this with the D-group of girls. There are about 20 in that group. They'll be making theirs this Thursday night. Then my stepmom has a group of ladies at her church that are getting together for a devotional, fellowship time this Saturday, so I put together 20 for her also! How fun to have a customized Prayer Journal of your own!!! Each one that the ladies have made used the same materials, but were made to the specifics of the indivdual.

As you can see, we are really enjoying our summer! This is also probably why I have just finished one book for my summer reading selection, to Musician almost being through with her 4th book, and one of those books being over 500 pages! Wow! I think she has finally become my reader!!!

I am going to leave you with this thought for the day:

When God becomes our total trust,

We humbly accept our portion and our cup.

We accept what He has allowed in the past.

We accept what He has allowed today.

And we give all our tomorrows to Him.

Finally, our contentment will become an act of worship.

Linda Dillow (Calm My Anxious Heart)