"Something Strewn"

Yesterday, my family hosts the leadership meeting for our church on Wednesday every month.  And my job is to make a treat for the men to eat during the meeting.

So this week I made Cinnamon Streusel Coffee cake.  The name means "something strewn" in Old German.  Also, when I make the dessert, I make a little extra for my two friends who come over during the meeting.  

It didn't take me too long to make this and was easier than I thought! 

 And here is the recipe for this amazing cake! 

Joyfully in Him,

   Diana<3 

Yummy Dinners

Yesterday we had a family dinner night.  (With my oldest sister, her husband, and my two nephews)  Mom and I made a Pinterest inspired dinner. Or well, that's what it looked like.
We had a veggie salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, lemon rosemary asparagus, and for dessert, I made gooey white chocolate blondes.

The Salad

~green leaf lettuce
~yellow and red peppers

~1 roma tomato 

Asparagus

~dried (or fresh) rosemary
~lemon juice (& lemon slices)

~salt & pepper
~ extra virgin olive oil

Potatoes

~rice milk

~salt & pepper 

~ cheddar cheese (optional)

Meatloaf

Gooey White Chocolate Blondes

recipe here

Joyfully in Him,

   Diana<3 

hello spring

In this house, we do second chances, We do grace, We do mistakes, We do real, We do loud really well, We do hugs, We do love, We do family.  

 Family

like branches on a tree,

we all grow in different directions,

yet out roots remain as one. 

 I made some M&M oatmeal cookies last week.  I got a lot of compliments on them! 

Here is the recipe. 

 Yesterday I finally got out my pencils and paints and just sketched and painted. It's been a long time since I've done that! 

Joyfully in Him,
    Diana<3

Preparing Food for the Winter

Autumn is the season for preparing and getting ready for Winter.  So, we have been canning so much lately.  First we did sweet and sour pickles.  They were so good that my family ate a whole jar in about two hours!!! My mom actually but them in the freezer instead of canning them.  But they were really good!!

 Then Mom and Kelle made peach jam with out sugar!! It took them all night to do it.  I was the photographer. =] 

Last Thursday, My brother-in-law and my Dad climbed our apple tree and they picked so many apples. They were lowering the baskets and I was emptying the apples and sending them right back up! They must have picked about 50 pounds of apples!  So I made apple crisp and then Mom and I canned apple sauce.  One of our batches of apple sauce was tinted pink because the skin was so red!!

 

 I made Chocolate Chip cookies for my Dad and I think this is my best recipe for cookies!! I will defenetly make these again! 

Joyfully in Him,

     Diana<3

My Summer of Pinterest Concluded!

Yay!! I am coming to an end of the Summer of Pinterest. I officially baked 20 desserts, cookies, and bread. I get this warm felling inside me when ever I accomplish something!

{number 20}  One Hour Pretzels 

My family thought that these were the BEST things I have ever made!! And they only took one hour. My advice to you, use the optional salt in the recipe. Even though they say optional, I would put it in.

I had the pleasure of having two very  lovely lady's come to our home for a tea party. I got to set up our dining room for a high tea.   I made my blueberry muffins for them.

 Here are some vegetables from our garden!

Joyfully in Him,

   Diana<3

Paint Brushes and a Kitchen Aid

I have been doing lots of painting and baking this past week. Using kitchen aids, paint brushes, and all kings of kitchen and artists tools!! How fun!

[number 19]  Banana Breakfast Coffee Cake.
This recipe was gluten free, but I just switched about a couple of this to regular baking items. So, instead of gluten free all-purpose flour, I just use regular flour.

 [number 20] Cinna-Mini Cinnamon Rolls
Theses were so much fun to make!! I actually baked these for my dear Aidan's birthday! (He is my nephew! =] )

And here are my two newest paintings!

 Do you see a resemblance? =]

Our garden has been producing so many tomatoes! I love it!!

Joyfully in Him,

    Diana<3

Interesting......but Good.

This recipe I used was very strange. It was very different than how I usually cook. The recipe said, and I quote "The cookies will appear undone and very soft."  I guess it cooks on the pans after you take it out.  They were really gooey cookies. (I probably won't make these again.) I also made mine a little bit bigger than the picture showed.

Number 18: Funfetti Sugar Cookies

Joyfully in Him,
   Diana<3

Two Yummy Desserts

Okay, I am back to baking! I took a little break (actually it was only one day but it was still a long time!)
I made Banana Bread. [number 16] The recipe called for shortening, and I just used regular butter. So it came out slightly different, but it still tasted good!

 Then I made Cakey Chocolate Cookies.  [number 17] Just the other day, Dad was asking me to make cookies, and I found a good recipe for some! They came out just like a cake/cookie!! =]

Joyfully in Him,
  Diana<3

A Victorian Low Tea

A Victorian Low Tea.  Also known as a really fancy tea party with food that Queen Victoria would eat sitting down. The reason I call it low tea is because you are sitting close to the ground or at a table or in someone's sitting room. On the other hand, there is something called a high tea that originated when farmer's would come and eat supper on really high tables and chairs. 
I thought that it was very interesting!  But we girls had the pleasure of putting on a low tea for some dear friends of ours; and we got to do it Victorian style! It always reminds me of the movie The Young Victoria. 

 The Menu. We had Earl Grey tea and lavender lemonade to drink. Then we had egg salad, chicken salad, and cucumber cress and chive butter sandwiches. And, for dessert, there was buttermilk scones with lemon curd and clotted cream, meringues,  and last of all Queen Victoria's favorite dessert-- Cherries Jubilee Sponge Cake.

 Mom even got out her china tea cups and dishes!

 

 After a lovely evening, I was happily surprised to see that my pink lilies finally bloomed!!

Joyfully in Him,
   Diana<3