Favorite Ingredients Friday for February 22

Favorite Ingredients Friday today is focusing on Side Dishes. I don't know about others, but for me it is difficult to come up with easy side dishes that are interesting and yet use common ingredients. The recipe I'm sharing today meets that criteria and is super with any Asian-style entree.

CHINA LAKE FRIED RICE

1 cup raw rice
2 cups water
4 to 5 slices of bacon, diced
4 eggs, slightly beaten
4 to 5 green onions, sliced
Soy sauce
Any leftover meat in tiny pieces (optional)

Bring the rice and water to a boil in a heavy saucepan; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15-20 minutes or until rice is cooked. In a large skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Add the green onions; cook until tender. Add the eggs to the skillet, stirring, and cook until eggs are scrambled. Add the cooked rice and the optional meat; mix well. Add the soy sauce until the fried rice is as brown as you like it. Cook all together over low heat for 15-20 minutes. Serve piping hot.
Yield: 4-6 servings.

I copied this recipe from a radio cooking show many years ago. The lady who shared the recipe was from China Lake, Maine. This fried rice is really delicious. For years, whenever we ordered Chinese takeout, I would whip this up while we waited for the food to arrive.

To see what others have shared for Favorite Ingredients Friday, head on over to Overwhelmed with Joy and check out the links.

Sew Crafty Friday for February 22

For Sew Crafty Friday today, I decided to do something a little different. I got very little crafting done this week. It has been a tough week for me emotionally and spiritually. I feel as if Satan is trying to render me ineffective. So as a result I have spent much more time in God's Word and in prayer this week. Crafting is important to me, but my spiritual condition is far more important.

So, for Sew Crafty Friday, I decided to share a craft I made quite some time ago. It's the tea towel wall hanging I posted here for Show & Tell last week. At the time I made this project, I also wrote up the directions and a little bit of why it was such a meaningful craft for me. So I'm going to share that here as well. Here's what I wrote:

"For me, one of the most comforting themes for decorating involves continuity. The two themes I find myself returning to again and again are seasonal decorating and decorating with family heirlooms or just 'old things' -- and both reflect continuity. "Decorating for the seasons is a reminder of the comforting Bible promise found in Genesis 8:22 -- 'While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.' No matter what else may be happening in our lives, it's a comfort to remember that the seasons will go on just as they always do. As an old poem puts it, 'a day is always coming/when the birds go north again.' Seasonal decorating is a wonderful reminder of this.

"Using old family things to decorate my home is also very comforting. It gives me a real sense of continuity to see and use these things that belonged to previous generations. We have many old things, including diaries, old furniture, partial sets of dishes, etc. But probably the most inspiring in terms of decorating would be some things I inherited from my grandmother -- many of her kitchen utensils and the contents of her sewing basket.

"Recently I came up with a way to combine both of my favorite decorating themes into one craft project: a set of seasonal wall hangings. For each, I used half of a homespun dish towel, narrow-hemming the cut edge so that each finished hanging measured about 11x16 inches. Using fusible web, I ironed an 8x12-inch pieced of old sheet or white muslin to the center of the hanging. Then, with a fine-point permanent marker, I lettered a seasonal recipe onto each one. For winter, I used the recipe for Snow Ice Cream; for spring, a strawberry pie; for summer, Sunflower Cake; and for fall, a pumpkin dessert.

"Then the fun of decorating each hanging really began as I trimmed them with colorful fabric shapes ironed on with fusible web. I used snowflakes, fir trees, snowmen and hearts for winter, strawberries for spring, sunflowers for summer, pumpkins and maple leaves for fall. Then came the family-heirloom touch as I added buttons I'd saved for years, sewed on with beautiful vintage threads.

"Of course, the variations on this theme could be endless [and one of mine was published in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook!] depending on the recipes and fabric cutouts one chooses. For me, these wall hangings will be a wonderful reminder of the continuity of the changing seasons, and of family ties. And my grandmother -- who loved the seasons and faithfully decorated for each one -- would be proud."


How about you? If you have managed to accomplish or even start any crafting this week, then head on over to Waiting for Him and share your projects. Shereen and others will be eager to see what you have to share.

Happy Crafting!

Show & Tell Friday for February 22

Today I am going to share a couple of items on the wall of my guest room. I need to share these while it is still February, as you will see in a moment. I took the pictures earlier this month.

So, first of all I would like to share this gorgeous Gooseberry Patch calendar with its fun illustrations for February. I simply love the artwork featured on Gooseberry calendars and book covers, and have even encouraged them to make some of them into cross-stitch patterns. What fun that would be if they ever did take my suggestion!

And then second of all is this painting of a Christmas cactus. It was painted by my daughter Joanna in her senior year of high school, and actually won a blue ribbon at a state fine arts competition. I hope eventually when Joanna gets fully settled in her new house, that she will take the painting back and display it in her own home. Until then, it remains on the guest room wall.

And I do apologize for the spotty look of these walls. It is white paint over wallpaper, which was quite successful when first done, but has been marred by so much sticky-tack over the years (before it became a guest room) that it is quite unlovely. Painting that room is high on my future house projects list.


To see what others have shared for Show & Tell this week, go visit visit There is No Place Like Home
and check out the links. It’s so much fun to see what others have to share!

Menu Plan Monday for February 18

Monday again! As usual, my plan for this week includes some repeat meals that didn't get used last week.

MONDAY: Macaroni & Cheese, Mixed Vegetables, Coleslaw

TUESDAY: Curried Chicken with Peaches (leftover from Sunday), Brown Rice, Broccoli/Cauliflower Blend

WEDNESDAY: Hearty Minestrone, Butter Dip Breadsticks

THURSDAY: Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Squash, Cranberry Jello Salad

FRIDAY: Vegetable Chili, Cornbread

SATURDAY: Shepherd's Pie, Green Beans, Applesauce

SUNDAY: Pepper Jack Chicken, Brown Rice, Coleslaw

If you would like to see menus which others have shared, head over to I'm an Organizing Junkie and check out the links. Usually well over 100 people share links to their weekly menus. You'll find some great ideas and often recipes too.

Sew Crafty Friday for February 15

Here are my crafting efforts for the week. There are also a couple of projects I've been working on -- the Country Baking sampler, and a crocheted scrap afghan -- that I didn't take photos of. These are the projects that actually got completed this week.

First, this Valentine banner. I am so pleased with how this came out. Everything in this banner is something I had on hand. It's so satisfying to be able to create something pretty without having to spend a penny!

I finally finished this set of scented coasters in a winter fabric. I wasn't pleased enough with these to give them as a gift which was my original intent. I'll keep these to use myself and make another set for my friend with my *new* sewing machine.

These barley hot packs are another project I finished this week. These have been on my list for a long time, so I'm very happy to get them done.

I wanted something red & white to go under some china displayed on my hutch. I came across this very small remnant in a red/cream toile. Someone gave this to me ages ago, and I found it in my stash while looking for flannel for the barley bags. I decided to make this toile into a small runner to use on the hutch or on my kitchen island. Here's a photo which shows the print -- very pretty, it really tells a story.

And this photo shows how the runner looks under the china on the hutch. Not a perfect sewing job -- I used my old machine -- but I'm still pleased with the results.

How about you? If you have managed to accomplish or even start any crafting this week, then head on over to Waiting for Him and share your projects. Shereen and others will be eager to see what you have to share.

Happy Crafting!

Cheeseburger Soup

Photo from Taste of Home

Today I am going to share a soup recipe that we greatly enjoy in our family. It's so cold and snowy up here in New England, that soup really seems like the best idea for supper these days. This one is really hearty, comforting, and warming. Hope your family enjoys this as much as we do!

CHEESEBURGER SOUP

1/2 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
4 T. butter or margarine, divided
3 c. chicken broth
4 c. diced peeled potatoes
1/4 c. flour
8 oz. velveeta, cubed (I have also substituted shredded cheddar)
1 1/2 c. milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 sour cream (I almost never add this)

In 3-qt. saucepan (I use a dutch oven), brown the beef; drain if necessary and set aside. In same saucepan, sauté onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 T. butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream if using.

Yield: 8 servings.

Show & Tell Friday for February 15

For Show & Tell this week -- and maybe for a few weeks -- I thought I would share some of the decorative items I have displayed on various walls in my home. I'm going to begin with the kitchen/dining area. I only have 2 items to share this week, although there are more things I could share from these rooms.

In the kitchen, here is a recipe wall hanging which I made quite a few years ago. I made one for summer (this one), one for fall, and one for winter. I really want to make more of these sometime. I ended up giving away the other two, so I only have this one. They would make great gifts. The basis is a dish towel. This one, with its recipe for Strawberry Cream Pie, looks nice in my kitchen/dining area which has a strawberry theme.

In the dining area, here is a lovely print of Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC. This was given us as a gift by some very dear friends after we visited Charleston. They know the artist personally. Her artwork captures the colors of Rainbow Row so perfectly. And I was thrilled to find the absolutely perfect frame for it at a Christmas Tree Shop for only $1.99!

That is all I have to share today, but I hope you have enjoyed seeing these things. They are special to me!

To see what others have shared for Show & Tell Friday, head on over to There is No Place Like Home

and check out the links. Happy Show & Tell Friday, everyone!