It has been great this week to be back in the kitchen!  With three of my four fall craft fairs a thing of the past, I had some time to play in the kitchen.  We were recently gifted with two lovely butternut squashes from a friend’s garden.  They had graced the window sill [...]

Filed under: Freezer Friday, Recipes, Sides~Soups~Salads | No Comments »

We all have our favorite websites, and I have to admit, that AllRecipes is one of mine.  I especially make frequent use of their ingredients search option.  This week, I needed to take cookies or bars to a meeting on Monday evening.  I went to my usually adequately stocked pantry, to find that I was [...]

Filed under: Decadent Desserts, Recipes | No Comments »

So if you run into GBaby at home, she’s usually sporting her cloth diaper but we do use disposables when we’re out and about and travelling.  Since we’re saving tons with our cloth diapers, we’ve chosen to use the Seventh Generation diapers as our disposables of choice as they are a bit more environmentally conscious. [...]

Filed under: Frugal Finds | No Comments »

Well the Pretty Baby Crochet Sweater is finished and happily – it is a bit big for GBaby right now, which means by January, it should fit her just fine!  Here are a few pictures of the finished project!

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Filed under: Crochet | No Comments »

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week.
This afternoon GBaby and I both got naps and now we’re enjoying a relaxed afternoon at home.  We have had a full week and I’m not quite sure where all the time went.  I had another craft fair yesterday for which I’m thankful it’s over [...]

Filed under: Children & Family, Freezer Friday, Sunday's Sunshine | No Comments »

Where has this week gone?  It’s Thursday already!  How did that happen?  I’ve had on many hats this week and here’s a bit of what I’ve been up to:
Charity’s Candles – I’ve been getting ready for my craft fair this weekend at SUNY-Oneonta.
Web Design – I’ve been doing some updates on the web-pages I manage.  Have I [...]

Filed under: Charity's Candles, Children & Family | No Comments »

This is the first of a few coming posts about homemade holiday gifts.  When times are tight, creativity can help to reduce your gift-giving budget without losing the sincerity or style of the gift.  Here are a few links for gifts that are compiled with or stored in a jar as well as some of [...]

Filed under: Craft Projects, Frugal Finds, Recipes | No Comments »

Practicing contentment by remembering the graces of the week.
Today, I almost skipped this practice because I’m grumpy.  But I realized that now is the best time to redirect my focus and remember the graces of my week.  I love hearing Gbaby laughing downstairs playing with her dad while I’m getting some work done.  She [...]

Filed under: Children & Family, Sunday's Sunshine | No Comments »

I am a huge fan of hot chocolate, chocolate milk, and chocolate sauce on ice cream.  Over time though, I realized that a lot of the syrups and cocoa mixes tasted more sugary and less chocolaty.   I decided that I could change that!  So I started making my own chocolate syrup.  It’s really easy and [...]

Filed under: Sauces~Dips~Marinades | 1 Comment »

Tonight I have about 8 pounds of beef brisket in my crock-pot.  Tomorrow morning, I will have a crock-pot full of falling apart ready to  use shredded beef.  First a bit about brisket.  *This is NOT corned beef brisket.  This is just a plain beef brisket.  I have purchased briskets that were a wonderful cut [...]

Filed under: Crock-Pot, Main Meal | No Comments »