The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Fluff the Nest Friday: Until Spring…

My front porch always starts looking pretty drab about this time of year, so I like to change out the wreath, give it a good sweeping, and put out a new doormat and flowers to spruce it up and hold it over until spring. It's still very much winter here, and I’m enjoying it, so I don't want it looking like Easter yet, but a little freshness and a little color give it a nice boost. It rained all day yesterday except for about one hour in the whole day. During the break, I ran out and quickly worked on the porch, getting it all done in less than 30 minutes. I've had this wreath since my last house--over 9 years ago! Some years I display it inside the house and some years outside. I ... Read more

Raspberry Sweetheart Pie

Today I'm concluding my Valentine's menu with the prettiest pink pie! The original recipe is simply called "Raspberry Cheesecake", but for Valentine's Day I'm calling it "Raspberry Sweetheart Pie". We ended our special lunch last year with this sweet, creamy, fruity pie along with an individually wrapped chocolate placed at each place setting. This is a dessert that truly speaks the language of LOVE! Raspberry Sweetheart Pie Crust: 3 c. graham cracker crumbs ½ c. sugar ¾ c. butter Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together and blend with melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish (deep). Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. ... Read more

Valentine’s Day Pasta Dinner

Yesterday's post was all about my favorite love language: FOOD! As a follow up, I'm sharing some recipes from a Valentine's lunch we enjoyed last year with my mother-in-law and my daughter's boyfriend (now her fiancé! Talk about love!). This is a menu I've made for different occasions but found it to be perfect for Valentine's Day. I've not made these recipes in a year, and last night when I pulled the cookbook off the shelf to work on this post, I noticed something really special. The title of the cookbook is The Gathering of Friends, which I had remembered. But what I'd never noticed, was the very small subtitle which reads "Let's make food your love language"! This thrilled me since ... Read more

The Love Language of Food

Oh, my friends! My HEART is so happy it’s the first day of February! My girl and I will be putting out our few little Valentine's decorations today. Nothing over-the-top, just some kisses of red and pink around the house. And since this month is all about love, I'd like to share one of my favorite love languages. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Gary Chapman's five "Love Languages": words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, gift-giving, and acts of service. I can most certainly identify with more than one of those languages, however, I'd like to propose another love language: FOOD! And maybe it’s not really it’s own separate love language but rather it encompasses ... Read more

Sunday Lunch

Let’s talk Sundee lunch. No, that's not a typo. It's just how we say it around here, except it's sort of blended together into one word: "Sundeelunch". Say it to yourself and see if that doesn't have a happy sound to it! There's just something special about a meal that follows a time of worship. Feeding our bodies after being fed the Word is like a celebration, and most everyone I know has their own unique way of setting this meal apart from other meals of the week. For some, a homecooked meal with all the fixings is the way to go, while for others, eating out with no kitchen cleanup is the real treat. Occasionally, our family will brave the crowds and eat out (Asian and Mexican restaurants ... Read more

Day of Rest

In our home, Sundays are considered a day of rest. I don't mean that we sleep late and linger over brunch. On the contrary, we rise early enough to get a bit spiffy and have a little breakfast and coffee before heading to church for a morning of Bible study and worship. How is that restful? Getting up and out of the house so early? Well, it's more of a resting in the Lord. And it's pretty wonderful. Worship brings rest. The refreshment we receive while gathering with brothers and sisters to worship God and learn from His Word sets our hearts and minds in restful peace for the week ahead. Through the teachings from Bible class and sermon, we are assured of God's providence in our ... Read more

Cranberry Orange Rolls

Hello there! I have one last holiday goodie to share with you today. For the six months before Christmas, I'd mostly given up gluten and sugar. I felt great! The cravings pretty much went away but every now and then I would tell my husband that I was really wanting to sink my teeth into a warm fluffy cinnamon roll and that it would be one of the treats I was going to enjoy making and eating during the holidays. Then, by the time Christmas rolled around, I was in a very cranberry mood and decided it was a cranberry roll I wanted! So, one day between Christmas and New Year's when my husband was out and the kids were down at the creek, I went into the kitchen and started to experiment. I ... Read more

Christmas Memories 2021

Hello, friends! I got behind in my holiday posts due to illness in December, so today I'm going to try and quickly wrap up Christmas and New Year's in one clean swoop of a post. We began decorating the weekend following Thanksgiving, but it took me a few days to really get into it and finish it all. I don't like to get too themey with Christmas--I mean, Christmas is a theme in and of itself, right?--but the last couple of years I've gone with more of a natural, woodsy vibe. I adore the outdoors and the woods behind our house, so it just felt very natural to use evergreen garlands, pinecones, and starry twinkle lights. Last year I used blue for my main accent color; this year I went ... Read more