Yesterday I visited the blog of one of my favorite photographers, David duChemin. He’s writing a series of posts entitled Objects of Beauty, summarized in this way:

A friend once commented that we (I think he meant me) mark our lives by the things we acquire. I think that’s less true than that we have an interesting relationship to those things. They help tell our story.

David is photographing meaningful objects and telling their story, or really his story as shaped and influenced by these special items. Here are links to numbers one, two, three, four, and five (I dare you not to cry over four; five got me, too).

I immediately knew that I wanted to borrow this idea! What would I include? What possessions do I consider precious enough to make the list?

The first thing that came to mind 99.9% of people would put straight in the garbage can and the other 0.1% would use in a craft project. It’s a popsicle stick. A popsicle stick.

Before you decide that I’ve lost it, let me tell you a story . . .

I grew up living close to my grandparents. Granddad, my mom’s father, was a minister and a businessman who co-owned a piano company with my dad through most of my childhood. Although Granddad retired from the piano business years before he and Daddy started this company, with rezoning they set up shop right on the property where my grandparents lived.

After school my sister, my first cousin, and I went to my grandparents’ house. Both of my parents were there because my mother handled the bookkeeping. My great aunts lived across the street.

Looking back, it couldn’t have been more idyllic: biscuits and sorghum with Granddad; playing H.O.R.S.E. or baseball in the yard; Partridge Family and Gilligan’s Island marathons on TV.

Granddad with our oldest son

But I promised you a story about the popsicle stick . . .

Granddad was a minister, remember? He sat in a big recliner with a desk on his left and bookshelves full of religious commentaries behind him.  His Bible was supple and worn, full of notes and verses underlined in red ink. These lines weren’t haphazard, they were drawn precisely, pen guided by a popsicle stick beneath each line of text.

Granddad passed away in 1991, days before the birth of our second child. Some of his books are mine now, and inside one I found one of those old popsicle sticks with red ink along the edges. I’ve kept it with my Bible ever since, forever connected to a precious time and a dear man.

What’s an unusual object of beauty that you cherish?

Today marks the sixth anniversary of My Home Sweet Home! Whether you’re a new visitor or we go way back, welcome!

Objects of Beauty & My 6th Bloggiversary is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

Have you seen the Fruit of the Spirit canvas collection in my shop? Here’s how it looks as a gallery wall in our dining room. This collection can be purchased individually or in specially priced sets of two, three, four, or the full nine canvases.

I’ve also added a couple of new photos with verses, including this months’s (in)courage desktop wallpaper (without the calendar, of course):

Please visit my shop, Dawn Camp Photography and Design, when you need a gift or want something pretty for your own walls!

Fruit of the Spirit Gallery Wall is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

When given the chance to makeover the lighting in any room of my house, the choice was easy. We’ve lived here almost seven years, seven years of bemoaning the sad state of lighting in our kitchen, which the builder only chose to give five little can lights.

So desperately dim is the lighting at night (thankfully there’s plenty of natural light during the day) that at one point I took matters into my own hands and replaced those indoor floodlights with the brightest bulbs I could find. When one of them shattered and smoked, I knew I was stuck with less light or else I’d catch the house on fire.

The bulbs on the right and over the kitchen sink are GE Reveal bulbs that I installed when other bulbs burned out. I’m glad that this project gave me an excuse to replace them all! I’ve been too frugal to take down bulbs that still work.

First I went to the Indoor & Outdoor Flood Light section at Walmart, where I bought two 65 watt indoor floodlights. (See the full shop here.)

I prefer Reveal because the light is so clean. It looks better in pictures, too. Most photos taken indoors at night have a yellow color cast that needs removed in editing. Annoying.

The photo above and the graphic on the right should explain why I love Reveal bulbs.

My husband and I brainstormed what else we should do in our kitchen. Although improving the quality of light was a good start, we still needed more lighting. Option #1 included installing four additional recessed can lights and a drop-down pendant light over the kitchen sink. Option #2 involved hanging a ceiling fan with lights.

I asked friends on Facebook and got favorable responses from those who have kitchen ceiling fans. Maybe I wouldn’t avoid using the oven in the summer (or bring in a fan from another room) with more air circulation. When my husband said that Option #2 required less work and we found a fan we liked for $60, the decision was easy.

Back to Walmart for 40 watt Reveal bulbs for the ceiling fan!

After he plotted the center point between the can lights, my husband cut a hole in the ceiling and climbed into the attic to mount and wire all the stuff involved in hanging and powering a ceiling fan. There’s a lot to be said for marrying a man who can operate power tools.

I think the brushed steel mesh light kit looks very kitchen-y, like mini colanders. The blades are 36″, fairly small for a ceiling fan. I want a breeze, but nothing too overpowering in this space. Our kitchen glows: it’s so much brighter now!

I know I’ll enjoy cooking more in the evenings with the extra light and the fan.

Participating in this project has revealed (pun intended) how much energy you can save with energy efficient light bulbs. I chose to use G.E. Reveal instead of G.E. Energy Smart bulbs, but the graphic above shows how much money we could save just from using Energy Smart for those five recessed lighting bulbs. Click the pic to determine your savings.

Saving energy is challenging with a house full of people. We constantly remind the kids to turn off lights when they leave a room, especially bathroom lights, which they tend to leave on all night.

What ways have you found to save energy?

Connect with G.E. online: Twitter | Facebook

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and GE. Opinions expressed are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric

Our Kitchen Lighting Makeover is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ~2 Chronicles 7:14

This photo remains one of my favorites from our county’s annual Veterans’ Day celebration. I hope it and the verse stir your heart and mind as they do mine to stop and pray for our country on this day especially set aside to honor those who fight to defend and protect the freedoms we hold dear. May we not take for them for granted.

We’ve planned a busy but hopefully restful day including time with family and friends at the lake and a home improvement project that I’ll blog later this week.

What are your Memorial Day plans?

Happy Memorial Day! is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

As it turns out, participating in the virtual BBQ recipe contest this week was about more than winning, it was about lessons learned, both for me and my family.

Honesty Counts

Like it or not, my kids learn from me every day. Usually I’m persistent and creative when I’ve got a goal in sight. The kids have seen this and anyone who’s spent much time with them knows just how creative children can be. Mine knew there was a cash prize involved and wanted to help.

I turned down children who offered to comment with more than one email address—“If we win it, we’ll win it fair”—and kids who didn’t already have an email address. They even saw me delete two comments from people who had accidentally commented twice, and I think if you check the time stamp (it wasn’t the total number of comments, but those left within the first 24 hours of the contest) that’s about the margin by which I lost.

So . . . my kids know that if I’d allowed those with more than one email address to vote twice, or let the three who didn’t already have email addresses vote, or didn’t delete duplicate comments, we’d probably have won. And it’s good that they know that, good to know that winning the prize isn’t more important than how you do it.

There are People You Can Count on in a Pinch

If honesty was the big lesson for my kids, then seeing that there are folks who’ve got my back was my lesson. I’ve held lots of reader giveaways where leaving a comment equals a chance to win something. If the giveaway is really special, I email friends and family so that they know about it. I’m always surprised when the prize is good and people don’t comment, but it doesn’t affect me—I can’t win—it’s a choice they make.

In this recipe contest, however, every comment equalled a vote for me and gave nothing to the commenter except a new recipe, if they chose to copy it. And yet, more friends commented than when I give something away. They spared a moment of their time just to help me.

I read all of the comments here, but admittedly giveaway comments sound a lot alike: “What a great _______! I could really use that! Pick me!” I’ve left that response on giveaway posts myself. Although many “Thanks for the recipe!” and “I can’t wait to try this!” comments were left for my Southwest Chicken Salad recipe, it was the names next to them that held my attention: friends who’ve probably never commented on a blog; my husband’s co-workers (I can just imagine him telling them to go check out his wife’s recipe); even my daddy. Every comment was a gift and brought a smile to my face.

Although I may not have won the actual prize, I can’t really say that I lost. Do you remember a time when you felt this way?

Things I Learned Trying to Win a Recipe Contest is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. Whale face paint, 2. Somewhere over the rainbow . . ., 3. Back painting, 4. Ant picnic

1. Look at what I’m growing, 2. Queso! with @Moes_HQ, 3. Hanging out eating after a photo shoot for Moe’s catering. Thanks @Moes_HQ

Wow! What an exciting week. A big virtual thank you hug to everyone who voted for me in the virtual BBQ (why is there a Q in BBQ, but not in barbecue?) recipe contest. When the timer stopped ticking I lost by a tiny margin, but I’ve chosen to look at what I gained: new readers (hello, you lovely new faces!); the knowledge that I am actually capable of creating an original recipe; and the chance to teach a valuable lesson about honesty to my kiddos (I’ll write a separate post about that).

Speaking of creating an original recipe, Moe’s just launched a Raise the Salsa Bar contest. Create the best original salsa recipe and you’ll win $1000 and your salsa will be featured in Moe’s salsa bars nationwide!

Speaking of Moe’s, some of our family went downtown Wednesday afternoon for a photo shoot for Moe’s catering. I took the last two photos in the bottom collage at the studio when we’d finished shooting and started eating. It’s crazy to think that some day we might appear Moe’s catering brochures. Holy guacamole, Batman!

I took the top collage of photos at our homeschool group’s year-end picnic. If you’re looking for tips for your own picnic for Memorial Day weekend or any other time this summer, check out Tips for an Old-Fashioned Picnic.

What did you do this week and what did your camera phone capture? Link it below!

Camera Phone Friday: What an Exciting Week! Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

When Jen asked me to be part of a virtual BBQ I thought it sounded like fun, however, the part about contributing an original recipe using Philadelphia Cooking Creme sounded a little scary. In some areas I’m as creative as the next girl, but in others I’m a rule follower, or a recipe follower in this case. I don’t wing it and I don’t invent my own recipes.

Until this Southwest Chicken Salad! 

I enjoyed the process of creating the recipe in my head and then pulling it together, juggling quantities and proportions until the reality equaled my imagination. At the bottom of this post you’ll find links to all nine participants in this virtual BBQ: visit them for more summer picnic ideas.

The post with the most comments TODAY ONLY wins $500 and a year’s worth of Philadelphia Cooking Creme. Voting is only open for 24 hours and I would truly appreciate your comment on this post!

Let’s begin:

My recipe evolved as it progressed, so the original ingredient picture needs editing. I’ll explain the changes as I go.

First, drizzle four boneless skinless chicken breasts with olive oil (spreading it on both sides) and bake them at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. While they’re cooking, prep the other ingredients.

It’s been a while since I’ve bought avocados and mine (the green ones in the ingredients picture) weren’t ripe. If you’re unsure about selecting avocados, look the chart above (click it for more info) or those perfectly ripe beauties in the picture below. (Yes, I went back to the store for more. They’re worth it!)

Cut the avocados in half vertically and scoop out the pit with a spoon. The peel of a ripe avocado comes off easily and the inside is slightly mushy, slightly firm. Chop it into chunks and put them in a small mixing bowl.

Slice the kernels off of three ears of fresh, uncooked corn and toss them in a medium bowl.

Usually I make chicken salad with celery and grapes: I love the crunch of the first and the sweetness of the second. Fresh corn provides both the crunch and the sweetness of those ingredients, which I omitted in this southwest version.

It’s my recipe and I can cry omit if I want to.

Slice and dice the chicken and a red onion and mix with the corn.

Snip fresh cilantro and add to the avocado for extra kick. I used about 2/3 of the little cup that you see in the ingredients photo on top.

Add one container of Philadelphia Cooking Creme Santa Fe Blend and half a cup of sour cream to the avocados and cilantro and gently stir. Don’t mash those lovely chunks of avocado!

Pour it over the chicken/corn/onion mixture and stir until coated. Spoon a generous portion over lettuce on a croissant, or however you like to eat your chicken salad.

Enjoy!

My 10-year-old son (not the one pictured) said, “It looks like throw up, but it tastes like something from heaven.” That’s about the best compliment I could hope for from a self-proclamed hater of chicken salad. He also said, “It’s very good. You could easily win.”

Help me prove him right?

The post with the most comments wins $500 and your comment on this post equals a vote for my recipe!

Southwest Chicken Salad

4.8 from 58 reviews

Print

Recipe type: Main

Author: Dawn Camp @ myhomesweethomeonline.net

Chicken salad with a southwest flair!

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 carton Philadelphia Cooking Creme Santa Fe Blend
• 3 ears fresh corn
• 1 red onion
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 avocados
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• cilantro, to taste

Instructions

1. Drizzle olive oil over chicken breasts (spreading it on both sides) and bake them at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
2. Cut avocados in half, remove pit, peel, and then chop into chunks and put in a small mixing bowl.
3. Slice the kernels off of fresh, uncooked corn and toss them in a medium bowl.
4. Slice and dice the chicken and red onion and mix with the corn.
5. Snip fresh cilantro and add to the avocado.
6. Add Philadelphia Cooking Creme Santa Fe Blend and sour cream to the avocados and cilantro and gently stir.
7. Pour it over the chicken/corn/onion mixture and stir until coated.
8. Spoon over lettuce on a croissant, or however you like to eat your chicken salad.
9. Enjoy!

2.2.6

 

Come join our Virtual Summer BBQ, hosted by Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

Enjoy browsing these great recipes.

Lemon Berry Cheesecake Bars – Saving Dollars and Sense
Creamy Potato Salad – Mommy Hates Cooking
Creamy Italian Pasta Salad – Life in Grace
Southwest Chicken Salad – My Home Sweet Home
Creamy Bacon and Tomato Potato Salad – Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures
Creamy BLT Pasta Salad with Pesto Sauce – 4Tunate
Shrimp Campanelle Salad – The Peaceful Mom
Creamy Jalapeno Ranch Dip – Saving with Shellie
Philly Creamy Deviled Eggs – Smockity Frocks

Southwest Chicken Salad {Please Comment and Help Me Win a Recipe Contest!} is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

With Memorial Day, Labor Day, and summer right around the corner, it’s time to think picnic! On Sunday afternoon our homeschool group held its annual year-end shindig with a homey, old-fashioned theme. I helped coordinated the event, and a lot of thought went into the details.

Hopefully this will help you plan an event this summer!

Decorations

Mason Jars with Daisies, Ribbon, and Dollar Store Pinwheels (see top photo)
You’ve probably got a few Mason jars floating around your house. We do. Our pretty centerpieces consisted of Mason jars filled with yellow daisies and red, white, and blue pinwheels from the dollar store (3 per package) and tied with red and white ribbon.

Dollar Store Disposable Checkered Tablecloths
Our tablecloths were colorful, inexpensive, and disposable—perfect for a picnic!

Red, White, and Blue Paper Chains
Did you know that building paper chains can entertain children for long periods of time? I purchased individual packages of red and blue construction paper at Staples for $1.99 each and used printer paper for the white. The strips were 1-1/2″ wide and I recommend stapling them together; we tried tape and some of it came apart later.

The Menu

Because our picnic served such a large number of people, there was a $5 per family fee. We provided fried chicken and dessert and everyone brought a side item. Watermelon wedges (see dessert table picture two above) provide a naturally sweet treat and can be eaten with your hands. Just keep a bottle of hand sanitizer on the table and plenty of napkins for the juice!

{Isn’t the cake glorious? One of the girls on the committee made it.}

If you need recipes for a more modest crowd, on Wednesday I’ll link you to a virtual barbecue on Jen’s blog. Jen invited me and a few other bloggers to participate; we’ll each create an original recipe using one of the new Philadelphia Cooking Cremes. The blogger who gets the most comments on her recipe wins $500 and a year’s supply of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, so if you think mine sounds fabulous, leave a comment on Wednesday and help me win!

Tomorrow I’ll prepare an original recipe that I’ve only made in my head and take lots of photos. Then I’ll write it up and post it here on Wednesday. I don’t concoct a lot of original recipes so I’m a little nervous, but excited, too. My kids are ready to taste test! I bought all the ingredients today, including the Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme.

Face Painting

A picnic isn’t a picnic without face painting! It’s fun whether you’re doing the painting or being painted on, ensures great photos, and just makes people happy.

Sometimes it branches out (no pun intended) beyond faces . . .

Get paints made especially for faces and don’t forget brushes. Print out a few sample designs to narrow the choices and give your artists something to follow.

Enjoy Yourself

Keep it simple: checkers, bubbles, frisbee, foursquare, face paint. Food and friends—that’s what it’s all about, right? Don’t bring stress to your picnic!

Do you picnic in the summer? What are your best tips for food, decorating, or activities?

Tips for an Old-Fashioned Picnic is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

I‘ll never forget the day my mother told me that she worried about me because “you’re only as happy as your least happy child.” I could have lived a lifetime without learning that phrase. As any mom knows, children aren’t always happy, and the chances of having eight contented children at the same time? Let’s just say the chances are slim unless maybe you’re all in a happy place in the middle of Disney World. Except we’ve never been to Disney World.

Parenting a pre-teen or teen can feel like mothering Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the same time, and goodness knows you’re never quite sure which one you’re going to get. If hormones could make me vomit, sleep all the time, and other behaviors associated with pregnancy, it’s no wonder they produce dramatic results in my kids at this age. Sometimes it’s this thought alone that has spared the life of a wayward child.

Kidding.

Maybe.

My pre-teen daughter and I head-butt a lot; from her point-of-view, everything I say or do is designed to persecute her. I know it’s the age, but that doesn’t make it any easier or less discouraging and I’m sure that how I’m feeling rarely enters her mind.

But on those rare occasions when it does . . . 

Last summer she wrote me a letter that I call the Sorry letter. It begins, “Dear Mom, i’m so sorry for allways being so rude and mean,” and ends with “all I’m saying is i’m sorry, and i hope you will forgive me!” followed by two checkboxes, one for yes and one for no. The two page letter contains the word sorry twelve times. Twelve. Sorry for being a bad sister, lazy in school, whining, being disrespectful; she even says she’s sorry for not always eating the food I put in front of her.

On those days when motherhood is rough, when I want to toss in the proverbial towel and quit, this letter makes a difference. I don’t have to open and read it anymore; just seeing it is enough because I know what’s in it: evidence of a contrite heart and a repentant spirit. 

Knowing it’s there—no matter how deeply buried—enables me to push through the muck. I’ve glimpsed what shines beneath, waiting to emerge someday on the other side of puberty and hormones and mother/daughter clashes.

And it’s worth the wait.

For Those Days When Parenting is Hard is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved

1. My big little girls, 2. My girls,
3. All 10 kids plus grandparents. Happy Mother’s Day!, 4. Sleeping ukulele player,
5. Family outing, 6. Hello summer toes!

I‘ve certainly enjoyed the slower pace this week with no more outside classes for the school year! The weather here in Atlanta cooled down enough to turn off the AC and open the windows again this week. I love saving the money, and also the breezes and sounds from the outdoors.

My oldest daughter and I started a book club this week with other mothers and daughters using the book Every Young Woman’s Battle: Guarding Your Mind, Heart, and Body in a Sex-Saturated World. Although it’s obviously a sensitive topic, we had an open and productive group discussion at our first meeting. It’s important to keep lines of communication open with your teens, and I think this study will also build a support system for the girls from among the other participants.

I’m on the committee for our homeschool group’s year-end picnic this weekend, so we’ll be making lots of red, white, and blue paper chains between now and then for decorations. Our theme is an old-fashioned picnic and I’ll be taking family photos when people arrive. I thought about vintage-style photo processing and and framing, like the following examples. Which do you prefer?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Realistically, I may only be able to use one with a landscape (horizontal) orientation, unless I have a smaller family and can use the square. Then again, I may be creating a whole lot of extra work . . . but, maybe I could create a Photoshop action that would automate most of the process. (Just ignore me. I’m thinking.)

What are your plans for the weekend, and what did your camera phone capture this week?

Camera Phone Friday: Pick a Frame Edition is a post from: My Home Sweet Home
© 2012 My Home Sweet Home | All rights reserved