A look at my strawberry collection

 
Every June and July, I like to display my strawberry collection -- or actually, just part of it -- on the hutch in our dining area.  It's so much fun to get out the various items and remember who gave them to me or how I acquired them.  Here are a few pictures from this year's display:

A new piece this year is the hand-painted vintage china dish (from the 1950s) at the top right next to the strawberry cross stitch (by my friend Les).  My daughter bought the plate at a little antique store in Idaho and brought it with her when they visited last fall.  I love the colors!

This shows the bottom shelf with an embroidered hot mat by my friend Ruth toward the back left.  Kindly disregard the car keys and the stack of Father's Day cards...

Hope you have enjoyed this look at part of my strawberry collection.  It is "berry special" to me!

Barbecue Pork with Penne

Photo by Taste of Home

A couple of weeks ago I had made crockpot ribs and had quite a bit of the barbecue pork rib meat left over.  Often, I will make a sandwich filling with the leftovers -- I just chop the meat and add mayo, pickle relish and onion powder and pepper to taste -- or  I'll make Barbecue Pork Shepherd's Pie, a recipe my daughter devised.

This time I wanted something a bit different, so went looking in some of my books.  Here is the recipe I found: Barbecue Pork and Penne Skillet.  This was absolutely delicious and a great use for the leftover rib meat.  I didn't have gluten free penne on hand, so used gluten free rotini style pasta instead.  It wasn't the best choice as it broke up quite a bit.  But next time I will use gluten free elbow macaroni, which always works find for me in recipes.  I'll definitely make this again.  Your family might enjoy it too!

Garlic Lime Chicken

Photo by Taste of Home

Last week our local supermarket had bone-in chicken breasts for a good price.  I decided to make Garlic Lime Chicken, an old favorite recipe.  I didn't get the chicken into the marinade the night before -- in fact, it was only a few hours ahead of cooking -- but it still added great flavor. 


When the time came, I decided it was just too hot to turn on the oven, so we grilled it instead, for about the same amount of time.  The chicken turned out delicious.  We enjoyed it with homemade baked beans (reheated from last week), store-bought potato salad, and Vidalia onions cooked in the microwave with beef broth and butter.  A yummy meal without heating up the kitchen!

Goals for week beginning 6/24/2013

Blooming in my back yard

I'm a day late posting this ... and if I don't do it in the next few minutes, a second day will have flown by.  Today looks busy (and I guess it goes without saying that yesterday was, too).  So, herewith, my goals for the week:
*  Continue with Back on Track challenge
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study
*  Finish Sunday School lesson 4
 *  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook
*  Memorize Psalm 9:1-2
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs
*  Keep up a good water intake
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog
* Continue planning Christmas in July posts for my Christmas blog
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 5, the living room, including decluttering
*  Begin the large project of reorganizing the many piles, stacks, notebooks and containers full of recipes I've collected over time.
*  Make some no-bake cookies for my hubby
* Spend time with extended family this weekend
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do


And here's how last week went:
*  Continue with Back on Track challenge -- I've continued with it but it's not going very well
*  Spend time in 2 Samuel Bible study -- not done
*  Work on Sunday School lesson 4 --DONE!
 *  Make 2 pages for "What Do I Know About My God"?  notebook -- not done
*  Memorize Psalm 9:1-2 -- learned verse 1
*  Read 2 chapters in A Woman's Call to Prayer -- read only 1 chapter
*  Exercise or go for walks as often as time allows -- not done
*  Keep up with crafting goals for birthdays, Christmas, and finishing UFOs --DONE!
*  Keep up a good water intake --DONE!
*  Get to bed by 9:30 or 10 pm each night --DONE!
*  Post once or twice in my Christmas blog and at least five times in my regular blog --DONE!
* Plan Christmas in July posts for my Christmas blog -- got in some good work on this
*  Complete homemaking goals for Zone 4, the master bedroom, including decluttering -- not done
*  Begin the large project of reorganizing the many piles, stacks, notebooks and containers full of recipes I've collected over time -- not done
*  Bake some cookies for my hubby --DONE!
* Make some strawberry themed book page banners for the kitchen and dining room --DONE!
*  Make a daily time schedule for the things I need to do --DONE!

So there you have it.  This week looks sort of crazy so I'm not expecting much, but if I aim at nothing, I am sure to hit it! So I'm aiming.

Cranberry Lemonade ~ a refreshing summer treat

Photo by Taste of Home

In trying to decide what to share for Gooseberry Patch's Recipe Round-up this week, I got to thinking about refreshing icy summer beverages.  When I bring a fruity lemonade or iced tea to a get-together in a gallon glass jug with lots of ice, people always enjoy it.

This Cranberry Lemonade recipe is one that I used to make all the time.  I had forgotten how easy and refreshing it is.  Other than the cranberry juice, it takes simple ingredients most people would keep on hand and is so simple to put together.

Why not double or triple the recipe and put in a gallon jug with ice for your family and friends this weekend?  I predict they'll enjoy it as much as we do!

Back-on-track challenge, days 16~18

Graphic by The Cottage Market

Not much to report on the challenge, I'm afraid.  Life has been very, very busy.  But in the interests of following through, here's what's been happening the past few days in the four areas I'm concentrating on:
*  health and energy -- Walked a couple of times, got some aerobic exercise around the house,  didn't keep up with the BCI  at all.   Did okay with eating right, fairly well with limiting sugar and quite well at getting enough water.  Did okay with getting enough sleep.
  *  homemaking -- did some work in  Zones 3 and 4.  Kept up with basics like dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc.  Did a major (and much needed) decluttering of my sewing basket. 
*  spiritual life -- kept up with my regular Bible reading, journaling, and prayer times.  Read a chapter in A Woman's Call to Prayer.   Got in some good work on my Sunday School lesson.  Spent quite a few hours putting together some material to help someone in their pursuit of spiritual growth.
* creativity -- posted a few times in this blog.  Worked on the crocheted dishcloth but ran out of yarn so need to get more.  Did a bit of work on some felt food for an August birthday.  Spent time working on the strawberry themed bunting I want to make.  It may be finished today.

And that is about it.  Realistically, with a busy weekend coming up I'm not expecting too much success in staying on track, but I will continue aiming toward that.

Gluten free strawberry rhubarb crisp ~ a Pinterest project

Photo by The Baking Beauties

Following my fabulous success with the Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls from The Baking Beauties , I was so impressed with Jeanine's recipes that I signed up to follow her blog by email.  One of the first posts I received was about this recipe:Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp , so I promptly pinned it and saved the recipe to try later.
My dad had lots of rhubarb in his patch and I had lots of frozen strawberries to use up, so I made one of these for Father's Day.  It would have been better to use the fresh strawberries as called for, but I had so many strawberries frozen from last year and the year before, that I chose to use some of those.  This crisp has wonderful fresh fruity flavor!  I doubled the recipe to make a 13x9 pan and was glad that I did.  I don't think you'll be disappointed if you try this recipe.  We really enjoyed it.