The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Fluff the Nest Friday: Candlelight Looks Good on You!

My house really needs it's Friday fluff, y'all. It actually needs more than a fluff! Here's the rundown: The cold weather has meant the pets come inside at night and I feel like I'm cleaning a barn each morning. My husband has offered to buy me a pitchfork. Additionally, we have furniture being moved around, lots of laundry piles (both dirty and clean), and 3 curtain rods throughout the house that have been mysteriously ripped out of the walls. The latter was unsuccessfully blamed on the cat by the 11-year-old boy who is now no longer allowed to ride his hover board in the house (the wheels catch the bottom of the curtains and YANK!). Last night I got all the ingredients out to start ... Read more

Our Valentine Baby

Not only is today Valentine's Day, but it was 22 years ago this very day that my husband and I brought our baby girl home from the hospital, and we’ve called her our Valentine Baby ever since. And now she's getting married in four months! Four. months. people. Our daughter is not only planning a wedding, but she's finishing her last semester in college and is neck deep with her classes, music ensembles, an internship, senior thesis and defense work, and senior recital prep. When we asked what she'd like to do for her birthday, this tired girl said she just wanted to come home for the weekend and eat gumbo. She couldn't even think of anything past that, so we decided to keep it restful ... Read more

February Feels

Good Monday morning! I'm just jotting down a few simple blessings from my weekend. Just some sweet tidbits.On Friday, what started as "Mom, can you please look over my essay with me?" turned into the picture you see below! My girl and I often make tea when we go over her assignments for her composition course, so we decided to make some tea first, and since it was raspberry truffle tea, we thought chocolate raspberry chocolate chip scones would go perfectly with our tea. One thing led to another and viola! Friday afternoon tea party--delicious! Saturday night, my husband and I went on an early Valentine's date! It's really hard to work in date nights these days, but we've ... Read more

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