Good morning! I was working on a different post for today, but it’s not ready, so I’m going cheat a little and offer a quick recipe instead. But I think you’ll like it! Apple Cheesecake Dip! This recipe came from the Real House Moms blog several years ago (I need to check and see if they’re still around!), and I love serving it as a snack, appetizer, or dessert during the fall season. It’s sooo good! Country Girl and I whipped up a big ‘ole batch last week for our Bible study group, and because we doubled the recipe, we enjoyed snacking on it throughout the weekend. Apple Cheesecake Dip 10 ounce apple pie filling 8 ounce cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup plain yogurt 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp ... Read more
Fluff the Nest Friday: Company’s Coming!
Around here, Friday is the day to "fluff the nest", which is just a much cuter way of saying "clean the house". Am I right? So my Friday posts are all about tidying up and getting the house fresh and in order for the weekend. Some weeks my nest-fluffing comes more easily than others. I need motivation each Friday. I’m really excited today because this week I did the bulk of my Friday cleaning on Wednesday afternoon, so today’s cleaning will just be a lighter fluffing! It’s pretty easy to get motivated for the Friday fluff knowing it’s not the big one for the week! We’re hosting our Bible study group for the month of October, which meets weekly on Wednesday evenings. It’s been a crazy week ... Read more
Butterscotch Pie
Hello, friends! Earlier this week I attended my cooking club and the theme this month was “Family Favorites”. I took Cottage Pie and Butterscotch Pie. The Cottage Pie is a scrumptious meat and potatoes dish which I posted Tuesday. Butterscotch Pie is nothing less than a sweet dream on a plate! Butterscotch Pie has been a favorite at our house for more years than I can remember. In just a minute I’ll tell you where I got the recipe from. It’s kind of cute, so stick around. I already have a few pie plates in my cabinet, but none of them were ideal for pudding pies. I had been looking for a new one that was deep, but with a good slant to the sides so the crust would not sink down. I found ... Read more
Cottage Pie
I’m in a cooking club that meets every other month with a different meal theme each time. Our group is called The Mixing Bowls. Isn’t that cute! I told my kids I must be getting older now that I’m in social clubs that have cute names like that. Haha. And I’m totally embracing it! It’s so much fun getting together with the ladies to eat, talk, and laugh for an entire evening! I love these women and I always come home with a full tummy and lots of great new recipes! We met last night and our theme this month was “Family Favorites”. I took Cottage Pie because, not only is it a favorite meal at our house, but it represents a favorite destination of ours as well: Disney World! We’ve eaten this ... Read more
A Grandparents’ Day Tradition
Happy Grandparents’ Day to all the grandmamas and granddaddies out there! We have a tradition of inviting our grandparents over for a meal to honor them on Grandparents’ weekend, and so yesterday Joel’s parents and mine joined us for lunch at our house. Having our big extended family together is always wonderful, but for this meal we enjoy time with just the GRANDS! As we began setting the table yesterday morning, Country Girl and I had no idea what we’d end up with because the day before our special lunch, a certain very bad doggie, who shall remain nameless (ahem, Barney!), ate the zinnias we were planning to build our table around. So, I went rummaging through the cabinets and found ... Read more
Summer Supper Menu for the Ladies
A couple of weeks ago, my girls and I enjoyed a fun reason to get together with some moms and daughters and grandmothers in our home. A dear friend of mine is a Noonday ambassador, and so we hosted a trunk show with a light summer supper. Since it was just us girls for the evening, I decided on a menu of what we like to call lady food! You know, the salads, crackers, veggies, dips, and fruits kind of meal? I’ve learned to eliminate some fuss by making some of the foods and purchasing the rest premade. There were two supper recipes I really wanted to make—Tomato Pesto Tart and Pimiento Cheese—so I made those and purchased chicken salad and spinach artichoke dip from Costco. I also added a ... Read more
Independence Day 2019: Country, Community, and Church
Hello! I hope you all had a spectacular Independence Day last week! Our family enjoyed a day that offered blessings of country, community, and church. We were home throughout the morning, working on various housekeeping chores and projects, but stopped at lunch for our traditional 4th of July hamburgers. During our lunch, we got into a discussion about a podcast on Focus on the Family about our founding fathers, and the privilege of living in an America that was founded on Christian principles—principles that allow us freedom of worship, among many other wonderful freedoms! That afternoon, we had the honor of attending the 100th birthday celebration of a family farm! This farm is owned ... Read more
Colonial 4th of July Table
I’d like to wish everyone an early Happy Independence Day, and naturally I’m going to say it with a table setting! This is a table I quickly put together last 4th of July. We had some neighbor friends walking over for fireworks that evening, and since we were grilling hamburgers for ourselves, we asked them to come early and join us for dinner. The plan was to eat outside on the patio, but the heat and humidity were crazy high that day, so we decided to enjoy the meal inside and go out after sunset to watch the fireworks. With a change in plans, I started pulling anything from my cabinets that was red, white, or blue. Before I knew it, we had a very patriotic vibe going on in the dining ... Read more