Pancakes in the Morning

Some morning you just have a taste for pancakes! So, today was on of these mornings!
I made plain pancakes and I put maple syrup, strawberries, and semi-sweet chocolate chips! Yum!!

 The pancakes cooking!

 The pancakes are done!! =]

Pancake Recipe

1 and 1/8th cup of flour

1 Tablespoon of suger

1/4 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of baking powder

3/4 cup of milk

2 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

In an mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another mixing bowl, combine egg, milk, and cooking oil. Add to flour mixture just til blended but still slightly lumpy.

Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot, lightly greased skillet for each pancake. Cook til pancakes are golden brown, turning to cook second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and slightly dry edges. Make 8-10 pancakes.

 

Joyfully in Him
    Diana<3

Rosemary-Lemon-Oatmeal Soap

This is my very first time making soap!! Just think about it, I am making soap!! The kind that is a bar!!! I can't believe it!! Mom, Kelle and I made soap on Tuesday. Mom was the stirrer, Kelle put the ingredients in, ( I helped a little with that!!), and I was the photographer!

Here are our supplies

 Mom has been making soap for years, but this time we tried a different recipe from the Homestead Blessing Soap Making Video.

As soon as we put the lye in, the bowl started to get hot, and I saw steam coming out of the bowl!

 At this point, we were almost done, as you can see, it started to thicken and oh, did our kitchen smell good! 

We put fresh rosemary, lemon extract and oatmeal. Mmmmm!! 

 Then we made it well insulated. Meaning we put a Tupperware cover and a quilt over our soap.

 The next day our soap was hard enough to cut!!  

 Mom did the cutting, I just took the pictures!!

 And now this morning, mom took them out of our box and put them in a basket to dry for 2 weeks!!!

 Only two things I don't like about soap making,

1. You have to be careful of the lye.

2.You have to wait two weeks to use your soap.

Other than that, I had a fun time making it and I'm sure I will have a fun time using it!!!

Joyfully in Him,

    Diana<3

Owl Key Chains

Ladies and Gentleman, Now introducing the brand new design of the Owl Dolls, it the.......Key Chain!!!! Tada!! What do you think? I don't know how I thought of this, it just came to me when I was in Aldi with Mom and my sister!! They are so much smaller than my other ones.

Joyfully in Him
    Diana<3

Dad's Garden

There is nothing so pleasant or sweet as picking your own vegetables from your own hard labor. Dad has been gardening for as long as I remember. It's just his thing. He has a green thumb. This year he did it different than last year. He used wood chips and black mushroom dirt.  Now, everything is so big and colorful, and fresh!!!

As, I walked through the tall tomato plant, I thought about how this year has been. I thought about the fist day of no school, my {DSP} project, the 300 recipes (I was supposed to bake =] ) I am so thankful for this summer. All the memories I have, I will never lose them. I realize that the little things in life are most valuable to me than any big thing. Being with my family, and laughing with them and doing fun things like making a simple ribbon into a flower are thing that I will treasure forever. The Lord has blessed me with a funny beautiful family, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. From taking a vacation with my whole family to just going to Joanns with my sister, are thing I am truly thankful for. That's what I think about every time I see Dad's garden. I reminds me that I should take everything I learned this summer, and use it for the glory of God. Thank you Lord!! =]

Joyfully in Him,

Diana<3

Verse for the Day

Sometimes I am so happy, I just want to Leap For Joy!! =]

Luke 6:23

23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Joyfully in Him,
     Diana<3

4. Energy Bars

These are really called granola bars, I don't know why the recipe said "energy". You must get a  lot of energy from all the seeds and nuts in the bars. I these were supposed to be easy. They were easy, until I put it in the oven! After 6 minutes, Mom said she smelled something burning. They couldn't possibly be burning because they have to bake for 30 minutes! After 26 minutes, Kelle came to me and told me "Your bars are burning!!!" I ran upstairs to the oven to see my once gooey granola bars now burned black from that oven. How awful!! Then, Mom came and told me a few things I did wrong. Soooo, I made them again, and they turned out WAY better than last time!! =] I even wrapped them in plastic for the full granola bar affect.

Joyfully in Him
  Diana<3

I Will Give Thanks to the Lord

Wow!! I did so many things this summer!! And now that summer is almost over, I got a few photos of our backyard and things that just make me happy!!! I am just so thankful for my family, and all the laughter we have together. My sister told me the other day, "It would be really boring if we loved with people who don't laugh!!" I am just so thankful to the Lord for EVERYTHING He has blessed me with!!!

Colossians 4:2 
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Chronicles 16:34 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,

Psalm 107:1 
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.






Psalm 100:1-5 
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

1 Chronicles 16:8 
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.






Colossians 2:6-8 
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Psalm 28:7 
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song

Joyfully in Him,

   Diana<3

Rainy Day Fun

The foundation in which every baking item relies on, butter. I could not think of any recipe that I have baked without butter. Butter is the sensation of creamy delight and/or the simple word, fatning. Every French cook has to know that every recipe is going to have some bit of butter!!

This is the 5th recipe in the series of 300. Yikes!! I made two other recipes but I forgot to take a picture of them. =] The 3rd was called Yoyo's. They were almost like the Monte Carlos but a little bit different. The 4th was Black Pepper Shortbread Cookies. They had black pepper in it!! You couldn't even taste it!
5. Coconut and Cherry Cookies.

These were sooooooo easy. They only took 10 minutes to make and 10 minutes to bake. And there wasn't very much ingredients.

And by the way, it's raining outside!

Crafting Day

 Today, was a craft day. When it's a craft day, I find so many goo ideas, I just have to do them all!
I made this button banner for my bedroom. I thought it was the cutest thing!!!

 And I made this Crayon board that I am selling on my Etsy shop. =]

2. Monte Carlo Cookies

For my dear Father's birthday, I made him Monte Carlo cookies! They are so easy and fun to make!! They are number 2 of 300 recipes that I am going to make! Rolling the dough and spreading on the jam, I just love doing it all!!! The filling has raspberry jam and custard filling!
One day I will go to Paris France and see all the fun food and desserts they make and get fun ideas!!