The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Simple Summer Table

Happy Monday, friends! I promise the wedding posts are coming this week, but while I'm working on those, I thought I'd quickly share about our Father's Day meal. Our family hosted this year, and it was also my sweet sister-in-law's birthday so I wanted to put together some tables that would be pretty for my SIL but not too frilly for the dads being honored. Having just had the wedding the weekend before, I didn't even have a plan for the tables except that I would probably use some patriotic papers goods I had on hand and do an "All American Dad" theme. But then the day before Father's Day I noticed the 10 potted rosemary plants on my porch that were left over from the wedding (details ... Read more

Senior Recital Reception

My oldest just graduated from college with a major in music and a minor in Bible! As a requirement for her music degree, she performed her senior recital--the BIG one--a week before graduation and did a superb job! I love listening to her play piano and will always enjoy her playing for us when she comes to visit. For the senior recital, it's customary for the student's family to offer a reception after the performance. We've known throughout my daughter's four years as a music major that this was coming and we would mention ideas for food or tables here and there, but we didn't expect that she'd be engaged and planning a wedding during her last semester. It's a busy time! However, I ... Read more

Fun Treats for Your Easter Peeps

Good morning, peeps! I'm popping in here quickly to share some very simple ideas for cute Easter treats! I don't think there's anyone who doesn't get excited at the first sighting of Easter Peeps each spring. I'll tell you a secret though: I don't really love eating the peeps, but I do have a lot of fun using them in what I call "food crafts". First up, fruit skewers with peeps gets some healthy fruit in the kids' diets but with a small sugary treat that says "Easter"! My girls and I made these precious bunny peep cars one year with Twinkies for the car body, pretzels for the steering wheel, and jumbo marshmallows for the tires. These were a hit with all our little cousins. Aren't ... 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

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