What's Up Doc?

Oh me, oh my, lots of things are up here. We have been busy, busy, busy. My work has been crazy, but has now settled down a bit. Honey finished his trucking school, but then had a bit of a health issue, so now should be starting back this next week. Thought I would show you all a bit of what we have been up to! Sorry, sorry, sorry for the quality of the pictures, but a photographer I am not.

Kitchen cabinets have been painted - still green, just a darker shade. We do still need to enclose the dishwasher, just waiting until we can put in the countertops.




Roses have been blooming, blooming, blooming. I made a batch of rose petal jelly! So yummy!




Basement has been carpeted. Honey has been out of work while trying to get his health back on track, so he has been busy with some Honey do's! I thought I had another picture of this, sorry!



Stairs have been completed, carpeted and carved toe boards put in. II Peter 1:5-7. [5] And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
[6] And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
[7] And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Honey carved in the boards, stained them and then back lit them with LED multicolored Christmas lights, which he then backed with thin metallic-covered insulation so that it looks like a prism. Then he backed the whole thing with plywood. Looks fantastic! My pictures definitely do not do it justice!





Kitchen floor has been replaced with glazed hickory laminate. What was there before was those stick tiles, the ones that are like linoleum, but they are tiles. Many of the edges were coming up and so we got this laminate and put down. It looks a little redder in these pictures than in real life.




Now we just need to save up and get our new kitchen counters, faucet-sprayer and sink. And put up our new border - just have to get busy and do that.

Bookshelves - built in - downstairs in the "den". Our basement stays nice and cool in the summer. When we bought the house almost 3 years ago, Honey built in a bedroom. I think it measures like 11x13 or so, nice sized. Closet and everything. Back behind it is a storage area, probably 10x6 or so. Where the bookcase area is, we are going to put in a sleeper sofa. There is a twin bed downstairs in the bedroom and we are going to put in a queen or full in the spare bedroom upstairs. We like to have plenty of room for folks to come visit!





Downstairs bathroom. This is really a showpiece, I think. 48" shower, ceramic tile floor. Not very big, but quite functional. Still needs some trim work and touchups here and there.







I am happy to report that Honey's health is back on track, he has even been able to stop one medication.

We did make a flying trip down to Oklahoma when Honey's former pastor passed away. Despite the circumstances, we had a good time visiting with friends and family. Here are the grandkids.



Farmer's market has started again, fresh strawberries, rhubarb, spring onions - oh my! I planted tomatoes the other day, Mr. Stripey!

Our weather here has been rainy and quite cool, interspersed with thunderstorms, more rain and tornados!!! None have hit here, thank the good Lord! We are about 160 miles or so from Joplin, but we have had several on the ground near here and in Sedalia, about 60 miles away, they had one the other day that hit the south end of town and did quite a bit of damage.

They actually call the area right where we live the Golden Valley - because supposedly there is an Indian legend or something of the sort that a tornado will never hit here. We do have a lot of times storms will split and go around north and south of us. However, I know the Maker of the Rain and I know the Master of the Wind and he can who whatever he pleases, so we go to the basement whenever it storms.

I will leave you all with a recipe, quick and easy, a crowd-pleaser!

Pampered Chef Crab and Artichoke Dip
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayo
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
8 oz crabmeat
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/3 cup red bell pepper, minced
Extra green onions, chopped for topping.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all in bowl except for red bell pepper and extra green onions. Put in casserole dish - I used a 9x 9 pan and bake 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with red bell pepper and additional green onions. Serve with crackers.

Will be "seeing" you all again soon, as Honey is headed out on the road and I will have more time on my hands. Much love to everyone!

Beauty without virtue is like a rose without scent.

First of all, I would like to thank so many of you for inquiring about/commenting on my making rosewater. Actually it is quite easy to do, providing you have access to some fragrant roses that are not sprayed with pesticide. All of the rain we have gotten this year has been bad for somethings, such as the farmers not being able to get crops in, but for the flowers it has been a blessing. Never have our flowers been as pretty as they were this year. We have 3 big pink rosebushes, and they have went crazy this year. There are new shoots almost as high as the house! They had an abundance of blossoms, so to make good use of them, I made some things. Yes, we made some bouquets and such, but I also made some rose petal jam and made some rosewater.



True friendship is like a rose. We can't realize it's beauty until it fades.”

Roses are amazing flowers. I have an allergy to a lot of fresh flowers, but roses do not seem to bother me as much. I do not know if the tradition still exists, but I was born in Germany, and back then anyway, when a baby girl was born, you got pink rosebuds. Some neighbors brought my Mom some and we of course have pictures and I still have the vase. Now and then I will buy pink roses at Aldi's - they have beautiful roses there very cheap - and enjoy them for a bit. Maybe that has influenced me to the point that pink roses are my favorite flowers?? Hmmm . . . probably just a bit!



Rosewater

1 liter mineral water (I could not find this, so I used distilled water. I think the basic idea here is to not have any other tastes that would come thru)
3 large handfuls of fresh, organic rose petals - as for this I had the colander in the picture above FULL of roses - I probably used 1/2 to 3/4 of the roses. Just pluck the petals off

Place the petals in a large sauce pan. Pour the water over. You want your water steaming, but not boiling. Let cook until water is reduced by about half. Strain off petals. Place rosewater in a sterile jar and store in the refrigerator.

It is that easy, Angie!! You all were close when you were kids, just needed to cook it a bit!

Rosewater can be used as a flavoring for baklava, cookies, many different things.

Love in the Air

Romance. Giddy laughter. Soft whispers. Moonlight. Silk. A tiny bite of something special. Chocolate. Lace. Roses. Yes, especially roses.



As you can see, our rose bushes were absolutely loaded this year.

As many of you know, I belong to Recipezaar, the best recipe spot on the 'net. (Shamless plug!) Anyway, there is a fantastic lady who posts on there as French Tart. She has THE MOST GORGEOUS RECIPES. I don't know how she does it! So she posted this recipe and I just had to have a try.

It is absolutely without a doubt one of THE most sensual recipes a person could ever have the pleasure to make.

Picking roses under the warm spring sun, while being serenaded by a birdie orchestra with a background accompaniment of buzzing honeybees. All the while, the scent of the roses wafting on a light breeze that playfully ruffles your hair as it wends its lazy way past.

Then, as you pull the petals from the roses, their scent again envelops you, while their soft, silken petals slide softly over your fingers.

Then the smell of roses wafting through the house as you cook the jam, the smell lingers for hours, much better than any potpurri. The color! I used pink roses because that is what I had, but red would be gorgeous and even yellow would be pretty. Or the peachy colored ones!

Then, after putting it in jars, the satisfying sound of the little "schnick" when they seal - music to my ears! Then the sight of it in the jar, ruby red and glistening, calling out to you to open the jar and let the magic loose!



Anyway, this is just a fantastic recipe! A must try, just make sure that your roses are not sprayed with pesticides or anything.

My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose: Rose Petal Jam by French Tart
Mine made 3 1/2 pint jars

Ingredients
1 pint boiling water
1 lb strongly scented freshly picked red rose petal
1 lb caster sugar (for Americans, superfine sugar)
2 limes, juice of
2 lemon, juice of
2-3 drops rose water, 2-3 drops (optional)



Directions
Fill a large pan with the boiling water. Add half the rose petals, cover and leave to stand for two hours.

After two hours strain off the liquid and transfer to a clean pan. Discard the steeped rose petals.

Add the sugar to the rosewater and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Add the lime juice and remaining rose petals, reserving a handful for later.

Bring to boiling point, reduce the heat and simmer until setting point is reached. To test for this, pour a little onto a cold saucer. Push it gently with your finger. If it wrinkles, it is ready. If not continue to simmer for a little longer.

Add remaining rose petals and simmer gently for another three minutes then pour into a sterilised jar and seal. The rose petals should rise to the top leaving clear jelly underneath.

Pot and cover the jam.

Chef's tip.
You’ll need to sterilise the jars or your jam will go mouldy. Wash them thoroughly in warm, clean, soapy water, drain upside down on kitchen towel and place on a baking tray in a preheated oven at 140C/fan120C/gas 1 for 15 minutes. Turn the oven to its lowest setting and keep the jars inside while you make the jam.

This is her recipe, I made just as above, but used american canning jars and then hot-water bathed it for 5 minutes. They all sealed fine.



The picture does not do this justice at all, it is so lovely.

A big thank you to FT for allowing me to post this on here!

Go on, make some romance!

Until Monday!