I may start out with good intentions – but quickly begin second guessing the recipe or  making substitutions.

I’ve creating some really amazing flops that way.

But I’ve also manged to pull off some pretty yummy dishes.

This is one of the yummy ones! Years ago I started playing with an oatmeal muffin recipe and in one of my creative moods – it morphed into a coffee cake.

Later I added the apples and – in a moment of brilliance – actually remembered to write down what I had down!

It’s remained a family favorite every since!

Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake

1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cup oatmeal
4-1/2 tablespoon oil
2 eggs
1-1/2 cup milk
1 can apple pie filling

Crumb Topping:

2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons flour

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the oatmeal. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the oil, eggs, and milk. Stir into the oatmeal mixture until just moistened.

Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.Carefully spread with the apple pie filling.

Mix together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and melted butter to make a crumb topping. Sprinkle over the apples.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

I’ve always loved quilts. I’m amazed at how a quilter can take separate pieces of material and turn them into one beautiful creation.

The definition of a quilt is simple – a bed coverlet of two layers of cloth filled with padding held in place by ties or stitched designs.

I’ve found from experience that the more stitches or ties that are binding the pieces together – the longer the quilt lasts.

Several years ago I sewed a quilt for Matt’s bed. It looked nice at first – but since I made it very quickly, the few ties that I put in to hold it together soon broke in the strain of use.

I have another quilt that my Grandma made for me during my college years. She carefully tied it every few inches making a tight and warm covering that has stood the test of time and is still being used today.

One quilt lasted and one didn’t.

Marriage is like a quilt.

It begins as two separate lives that are bound together by a vow.

Then the process of “quilting” begins.

A good quilter knows that many small stitches hold better than a few big ones. The same is true of marriage. It’s the little things in daily life that will make a marriage strong.

Little things that say “I love you and you are important to me.”

Things like – getting up early to make your husband breakfast and packing his lunch before he leaves for work.

And getting the special “thank you – I appreciate this” look while he holds your hand and blesses  that breakfast.

It’s when your husband puts a CD in and immediately goes to your favorite song, or when he gives you all the M & M’s from his trail mix, or takes the dish towel from you and sends you to the couch to rest.

It’s letting your husband eat the last piece of apple pie, or choose what to watch on TV, or sleep undisturbed in the recliner on a Sunday afternoon.

It’s a kiss when they leave and a kiss when they return.

It’s a phone call at lunch break, a back rub, a shared joke.

It’s taking time to really listen.

It’s putting their needs ahead of your own.

It’s those little things.

Stitch by stitch. Everyday. Binding your hearts together.

Blow me a kiss from across the room
Say I look nice when I’m not
Touch my hair as you pass my chair
Little things mean a lot

Give me your arm as we cross the street
Call me at six on the dot
A line a day when you’re far away
Little things mean a lot

Don’t have to buy me diamonds and pearls
Champagne, sables or such
I never cared much for diamonds and pearls
’cause honestly, honey, they just cost money

Give me your hand when I’ve lost the way
Give me a shoulder to cry on
Whether the day is bright or gray
Give me your heart to rely on

Send me the warmth of a secret smile
To show me you haven’t forgot
For always and ever, now and forever
Little things mean a lot

]]> http://www.bluejeansandcottontees.com/the-little-things/feed/ 4 http://www.bluejeansandcottontees.com/the-little-things/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BlueJeansAndCottonTees/~3/w1XyqGiRcA8/ http://www.bluejeansandcottontees.com/its-all-free-today/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:40:14 +0000 Country Gal http://www.bluejeansandcottontees.com/?p=6104 Bib-lio-phile: noun a lover of books especially for qualities of format; also : a book collector

That’s me!

So when a home schooling friend offered me over 1000 home school books and resources for FREE – I was almost giddy!

So what does one do with boxes and boxes and boxes of books?

First you spend hours pouring through every box, touching each and every book and resource. This takes hours because you get distracting and start reading them.

Then you make big piles of the books that you cannot live without and try to fit them on your already full bookshelves.

Meanwhile – your children are also going through each and every box, touching each and every book  and also have large piles of books that they cannot live without – because you trained them from a young age to love books – especially when they are free.

Then you take the many, many, many boxes of books that still remain – and lay them all out neatly in the basement. All over the basement – as in – you must rearrange the basement to make room for them all.
Then you call your homeschooling friends and invite them over for a book party – an “everything is free so please fill as many boxes as you wish and take them to live at your house” book party.

Would you believe they went through each and every box and touched each and every resource and made big piles of books that they just could not live without?

And then their children did the same thing.

After a wonderful afternoon  they took their boxes of books and stuffed in the van with all the children and are probably – right at this very minute – trying to fit them on already full bookshelves.

How do I know this?

Because I’m a bibliophile. It’s what we do.

Our recent visit was no exception. My amazing nephew put together a to-die-for breakfast bread that is still making me drool.

I won’t even tell you how many pieces I ate – but let’s just say it’s a good thing he made three loaves so that everybody else got some, too!

He made it with bacon (yum!) but I think he should definitely make some with ham or sausage, or even pepperoni!  I’d be happy to taste test them!

I also don’t think this bread should just be for breakfast – I would eat it any time. Like right now.

I was quite impressed with the fact that he made it ahead, froze it, and baked it up fresh for us in the morning – making it a perfect meal for overnight guests!

And – the best news of all – he shared his recipe!

Breakfast Bread

1 batch of White Bread Dough
1 [0.7 oz. or 19 grams] packet of dry Italian dressing mix
2 cups of cheddar cheese
2/3 cup of real bacon bits

Mix the envelope of Italian dressing mix into the bread dough, put it into a greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise till doubled.

On a floured surface, roll out into a large rectangle. Evenly spread the cheese and bacon bits over the surface.

Starting on the longest side, roll up the dough as you would cinnamon rolls. Place the roll on a greased jelly roll pan to rise.

Once risen, bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Freezing directions:

Once the roll has been made, do not let it rise. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and freeze for one hour.

After one hour, remove the roll from the freezer ad completely wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze up to 1 month.

When you are ready to bake, remove from the freezer and unwrap it. Set it on a greased jelly roll sheet and cover with a clean dish towel. Let thaw and rise overnight.

Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Note: This makes one loaf, but would be very easy to double or triple!  You could use frozen bread dough, but could not freeze the unbaked roll.

Enjoy!

I came downstairs the other morning and heard one of my children exclaim, “Wow! Mom curled her hair!”

Okay – I wonder how bad I normally look that simply curling my hair would create such a sensation?

All eyes turned to me as they tried frantically to remember what big event was upcoming that would cause mom to actually curl her hair on a weekday?!

Then someone remembered that they would all be at a Youth Group activity that night – and Jan and I would be alone.

“Oh yeah! It’s for her big date with dad tonight!”

I’ve trained them well.

They know that we consider it a “date” anytime we are alone without children. We didn’t even have big plans. Actually – we didn’t even leave the house! We shared a frozen pizza and cuddled on the couch watching TV together.

But it wasn’t always that way.  My definition of a date has changed throughout the years. When we were first married it was easy and fun to plan special evenings out. Once the kids started coming things got harder. Our budget never allowed for babysitters and rarely for eating out, so we had to get creative.

When the kids were really little I’d put them to bed early and we’d enjoy a candlelight dinner at home. (This works best when you skip nap time!)

Or sometimes on Sunday afternoons we would take the kids to a state park and hike. Then we’d buckle them in their car seats and take the long way home. They would fall asleep exhausted and we’d have uninterrupted time to reconnect.  (To this day – car rides and long walks are my favorite times with Jan!)

In time I came to realize that the goal of a date was to be together. Period. The details really didn’t matter.  It didn’t have to be expensive – it didn’t even have to be planned.  I lowered my expectations to just one – we needed to be alone.

Then we learned to seize the moments whenever possible.

Watching a movie on the couch when the kids were in bed.

Sitting in the porch swing holding hands and watching the sunset.

Sharing a root beer float on the picnic table during nap time on a Saturday afternoon.

Occasionally Poppa and Nana would bless us by taking the kids for an evening allowing us some wonderful uninterrupted time together. Sometimes we would drive to the nearest large town and eat out before getting groceries and stopping at Wal-Mart. Other nights, we’d stay home and enjoy a frozen pizza and take a long walk.

Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive.  We were alone. We were together.

Now that the kids are older,  it’s easier to get away for the evening – even for an overnight every once in awhile.

But I still love the simple dates – sitting by the bonfire talking, holding hands as we walk out to check the cows, or a Saturday morning at garage sales.

It’s choosing to be together. Taking time to reconnect.  Showing my husband that spending time with him is still my favorite thing to do.

Which is why – even after 21 years – my heart sings when he says, “I’m running some errands in town – want to ride along?”

Yes! He still wants to be with me!

Would you believe there is – right at this very moment – a coffee maker, a French press, and a coffee grinder sitting on my counter?!

And two different kinds of coffee beans in the freezer, and an assortment of creamers and simple syrups in the fridge?

And I don’t even like the stuff! Honestly – how can something that smells so heavenly taste so nasty?!

I guess I better get used to it – with two highly-caffeinated, coffee-loving teens living in the house now.

I find it very humorous when they put coffee beans on the grocery list. What? You want me to aid in this addiction?

I stop laughing when I hit the coffee aisle.

Oh my! The choices! Whole bean or ground? Decaf or caffeinated? Flavored or plain? And how do want them roasted?  Light? Medium? Dark?  What’s the difference anyway? Then there’s all the brands to choose from!

So tell me – when did coffee drinking get so complicated? When I was growing up, coffee came in big tin cans and my mom brewed it in a peculator and would offer cream or sugar to guests.

Now you have the mocha, the latte, the frappe, the cappuccino, the macchiato, the expresso and even a half-breed frappuccino.

And they can come in almost any flavor you can imagine -  pumpkin, peppermint, gingerbread, vanilla, chocolate, caramel, almond, and the list goes on and on and on.

Do you want that hot or cold?

Steamed, pressed, brewed or dripped? Whatever that is.

How about some whipped cream on top? Sure. How about some sprinkles, too.

I’m sorry. It’s just all too confusing.

That’s why I drink tea.

A mug. Some leaves. Hot water. 6 minutes. Perfect.

Now – what kind of tea should I have? Black? Green? Herbal? Chai?  Earl Grey? Oolong? Darjeeling? Hot? Cold? Loose leaf or tea bag? With sugar or lemon or a touch of honey? Hot? Cold?

Photo courtesy of Julious Schorzman.

Our Sunday activities included a church potluck at lunch and a 4H Soup Supper Fundraiser in the evening – with exactly one hour between the two.

That meant that we needed to be totally ready for both on Saturday – which made for a pretty crazy kitchen on Saturday afternoon!

I had Angel Girl, her friend Bethany and Dagmar all assisting. When we ran out of dishes we’ll call Buddy and Pedro to wash a few so we could keep moving.

In one afternoon we made barbecue venison, Grandma’s Cherry Dessert (but with blackberries) a chocolate oatmeal cake, lasagna, bread sticks, homemade caramel sauce, potato soup for 100, and a new creation – some yummy Caramel Apple Bars.

At one point – when I was mentally multiplying potato soup recipes in my head and praying that it would all turn out okay (it did!) – I handed Dagmar 2 different apple bar recipes and told her to make something work.

She did! The end result was an oatmeal crust with a gooey caramel apple filling.

We used homemade caramel sauce – since I forgot to buy caramels when I was shopping that morning – and it worked great!

Caramel Apple Bars

Crust:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional – we didn’t use)

Filling:

4-1/2 cups peeled and chopped baking apples (we used a fat quart of our frozen apples)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 – 14 ounce package caramels
3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Mix well. Stir in pecans.

Set aside 2 cups.

Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 inch pan.

For filling, toss apples with flour and spoon over the crust.

In a saucepan melt the caramels and butter over low heat and drizzle over the apples.

Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cool before cutting into bars.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

It was all Martha’s idea.

It was brilliant – I wish I could take credit – but it was Martha’s brainchild. After spending an afternoon thrifting together in the fall, she suggested we make a day of it next time.

If we started early enough we could possibly get to two more towns. TWO! Think of the bargains we could find!

It would require lots of miles on the road – but if she was game for it – so was I. I mean really – a whole day with a good friend in thrift stores?! Sign me up!

Besides – she was driving!

It took us awhile to find a day that would work, but Angel Girl and I finally met Martha and her daughter Bethany on Monday morning for adventure.

Martha had a map and a plan. We were ready for a day of Extreme Thrifting.

Just look at those girls – already three stores in and still looking fresh!  Nothing like a big sale at your favorite thrift store to put a smile on your face!

Early on in the adventure the girls decided to find something matching at each store we went to. Believe it or not – they almost did!With two towns down, we stopped to refuel at Wendy’s. French fries dipped in chocolate frosty’s was just the high octane we needed!

We were on to new territory! Good thing Martha had a list and a GPS. Gypsy did us proud.

The weather was perfect – we had highs in the 60′s and sunshine all afternoon!

Still smiling in our fourth and final town. Yes – it’s after dark and yes – they are now wearing coats. The temperatures were starting to fall.

Note the stuffed duckies – they were still on the hunt for matching things this late in the day!

We did it! Time for stop at Chick-fil-a before heading back down the highway home.

The stats on our day of Extreme Thrifting are impressive!

We traveled to 4 different towns.

Stopped at 11 different thrift stores.

And drove over 173 miles.

But we’re not saying how much we spent!

Will our husbands ever let us do it again? I hope so – ’cause boy did we have fun!

PS – Hey Martha – I’m free next Thursday! <wink!>

We bring home stray bananas.

You know the kind – the overripe ones found in the little bags at the grocery store that are all spotted.

There have even been a few times when we brought home entire banana boxes full of them.

Our kids used to like bananas, but they have eaten so many really ripe ones that now they will only eat them when they are green. They won’t even touch a yellow banana, let alone one with black spots.

So I hide them in my cooking.  I’m always looking for a new banana recipe – like this one – the Banana Streusel Muffin.

Even though it took me four mixing bowls and a trip to the Amish store for eggs, it was worth it! The kids gave them a 2 thumbs-up! (Although that could be because they have almost enough sugar and butter to qualify as a cupcake?!)

At least a few more stray bananas have found a final resting place.

Banana Streusel Muffin

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream (I did lemon juice in milk)
1/4 butter or margarine (melted)
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium)

Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, butter and bananas.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill greased muffin cups 3/4 full.

To make the streusel, combine the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until small crumbs are formed.

Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Makes about 1 dozen.

Of course I had to double it since we had a lot of bananas!

Enjoy!

I guess you’ve decided to show up after all – and how!

After a very mild fall, and weeks of above normal temperatures, you finally arrive with below zero wind chills and snow flurries – overnight.

Really? Couldn’t you have broken us in gently?

One day I take a walk in jeans and a hoodie.

Just 24 hours later it takes me 15 minutes to don insulated coveralls, boots, a winter coat, ski gloves and a stocking cap just to get the mail. Talk about full battle gear!

All together that pile of winter wear weighs over 5 pounds.

You know there’s nothing like a pair of insulated coveralls and an extra 5 pounds of weight to make a gal feel ladylike and feminine!

And there is absolutely nothing very positive that one can say about “hat hair” – especially hat hair full of static from the dry cold.

Okay winter – I’ll admit that you hit us with hard left-hook, but you haven’t won this round!

Yes, I know that the electric fencer isn’t working, both the hydrant and the water in the cow tank are frozen, and the satellite internet is spotty.

But both cars started, the well is still running and the furnace is working just fine!

And the sun is out, the cows are staying in the fence, and I have running water in the house.

You may have knocked us for a loop – but you haven’t beaten us yet! You just make us tougher.

So there.

Anybody up for a winter walk?