give thanks always

On Thanksgiving this year we joined my folks at their house along with my younger brother, older sister & her new hubby, her two boys (part of the day), and a bunch of the church family who are here among us. Those included: a young sister from the Philippines, another from Chicago, and another from Nigeria, a couple that recently moved here from Russia (around the same time we moved back to Portland), their daughter (& my friend) with her son, a young brother from Korea, another brother from Canada... Together we had a wonderful feast of American Thanksgiving foods as well as Borsht. Yum yum yum! *happy tummy* There was plenty to be thankful for not just today, but everyday.

Earlier in the morning of the day we had two friends join us to bake cookies and prepare some mashed sweet potatoes. Here are some pics:

YongJun & Millicent.

Boy, were they good!

Pressure cooking the sweet potatoes.

(Thanks Rebecca for this wedding gift... it's definitely been put to use!)

Eventually I forsook the measuring cups and spoons and just began dumping & pouring in all the deliciousness into the steamed cooked sweet 'tatoes. This was just the first batch... o yum!

(Barbara, I LOVE my colorful mixing bowls. Thanks again!)

p.b.f.

Last night I made a batch of Peanut Butter Fudge because:

1) I had never made some before and because

2) a friend of mine was telling the world of FB that she was making some, and

3) I thought, Mmm that sounds delicious!

4) I also wanted to take something more to Thanksgiving at my parent's this year.

This photo was from allrecipes.com website.

But mine looks very much like it.

Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge II

Prep Time: 15 mins / Cook Time: 5 mins / Ready in: 1 hour 20 minutes

Servings: 15 / Original recipe Yields 1 8x8 inch pan

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Melt butter in medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into a 8x8 inch dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares.

Above recipe was taken from allrecipes.com

soup for the soul

The cool fall weather has inspired me to make an attempt to save money and to eat healthier. Step 1, I have begun to make us soups.

~ This one is a basic Chicken noodle, with carrots & peas. I used the pre-stir fry method for quick & easy soups that my friend Janine taught me. This cut the cook time in half and the hot nummy soup was ready to eat in no time. I have found that I need to buy a lot more chicken broth than I do, because it all seems to boil away and to get absorbed by the noodles.

Next time it'll be more brothy. But nevertheless, it was a nice fresh & hot delicious concoction. That warmed our body and souls with each spoonful.

prairie blossom boutique : holiday give away

There's just nothing like a GIVE AWAY! I'm writing to let you know that Prairie Blossom Boutique is hosting one right now and like me, YOU can enter >here< for a chance to win. *grin*

This is my favorite style, and the one that I'm going to receive if I win!!! Except I think I want Cream with Robin's Egg Blue for the flower -or- a Robin's Egg Blue hat with a Cream Button like this one --->

She sure makes the cutest hats! I sure hope that I win.

say 'cheese!'

This term I have met some really awesome people through my time on campus. Two of my new friends: Milli (a highly intelligent and fun-loving young woman from Nigeria) and Carrie (an impressively smart and newly saved young woman from China) ... both LOVE to learn to cook new things. So we decided to get together try some 'American' things. Milli was getting sick of her mainly rice diet, so by request, PIZZA was first on the list. Due to our shortage of time we opted to buy the crust pre-made instead of allowing the yeast to rise, etc... We bought a TON of grated cheeses, some pepperoni, and pizza sauce. Mostly we just had a lot of fun in the kitchen together. In fact, none of us left the kitchen during the entire process, and when the pizza had been baked we stood in the kitchen devouring our steaming hot pieces of pizza straight from cutting block. Delicious!

work in progress

I've had this poster since college. Love it, but it's getting ratty, since I never framed it. So I decided to paint it. Took a while to sketch in the proportions, but then I went to town throwing the paint up there. I'm not done yet, but it's the first painting that I've worked on in a long while so I wanted to set it up here to inspire me to finish it. I did this much in one day, now I just need to get back to it and finish it. Cheers to Jack Vettriano for his work on the Singing Butler.