Happy Easter!

A beautiful Spring weekend! We are enjoying glorious weather! Hope you are too! I just finished preparing some special items for friends and family and thought I would take a break from the kitchen while I have a cake in the oven--two to be exact! Hot milk cake! The delicious sweet pound cake style  yummy delcious family recipe from my Grandma! My neighbors LOVE it so I made it for them. I also made some stuffed mushrooms to go to my brother's house tomorrow for Easter dinner.  I made a batch of meatballs to have with our spinach/mozzarella raviolis tonight.....what else is left...Mexican 7 layer dip :)  but I'll make that in the morning! The house is smelling great!

Caitlin is enjoying the park near our home with her girlfriend Grace, and Billy is bike riding with his friend Amber. So wonderful to be out and free and enjoying the sunshine! The kids are off from school this week and we'll be enjoying each day together.

Yesterday it was Easter egg coloring time! The kids colored eggs with Grandma and Caitlin's friend Stephanie. Tonight they will color some more with Daddy when he gets home. We always have our annual Easter Egg Coloring party but our little friends who live behind us couldn't make it this year. I told CAitlin we can still party! Grandma is coming!  So is Stephanie! and there will be cake, kettle corn, brownies, jelly beans, Easter cookies and strawberries ! and they'll be egg dye and stickers and sparkles...SOUNDS LIKE A PARTY TO ME!   We had fun!

Wishing you a lovely and blessed Easter!

A Rainy Saturday!

Good Morning! Well, it's going to be a rainy day today. All day. And I'm just fine with that! Do you ever find yourself waiting for a rainy day so that you stay in your home and do things you've been waiting to do? I have a list a mile long!
Now I know rain may make you want to stay in bed and pull the covers over your head but that ain't me! I rise at 5 am every morning to wake my  husband up for work and start my day. I am a happy morning person! So, today that the rain is falling I plan to get some good stuff done! I do love that picture of Holly Hobbie snuggling under her comforter with her cat on the bed :)  Snuggly and cozy!
I am still working on my Spring decorating . Dusting and tweaking and all that good stuff ~~transforming our home from Winter warmth to Spring joy! Such fulfillment I receive from taking care of my home and family. I'm preparing for our Palm Sunday service at Church tomorrow, ironing Caitlin's dress and I also have to prepare two dishes for Sunday evening for the Church potluck. Our Pastor suggested we make a favorite dish and a dish of our heritage. I'm making as a favorite my Pennsylvania Dutch baked corn and as my heritage dish I am making baked macaroni with ricotta, My house will be smelling wonderful with the scent of garlic sauteing in olive oil as I prepare my sauce (or gravy as some people call it). Simple ingredients make the lovely dish ---olive oil, garlic, crushed tomatoes, salt & pepper, fresh basil (and lots of it!) plus as my secret ingredient *a healthy dose of Italian grated cheese*  scooped into the sauce while it's cooking. DELICIOUS! I hope everyone enjoys what I bring. I can't wait to see what will be at the buffet!
Also on my agenda is to start creating my Easter baskets! I have the baskets hidden in an upstairs closet so that the kids don't find them and yesterday my  lovely friend/neighbor and I went out for breakfast and shopping. I bought some goodies for the baskets so I can start! I'll be filling it with all kinds of fun stuff and still have more shopping to do this week. I have several to make besides for my two kids, and I just love it. I put candy but more  goodies--bubbles, chalk, art supplies, books, stuffed animals, little games, cards, etc. So much fun! I'll try to get that sorted out so I see what I have for who!
Our plants are finally budding! I'm so happy. My little squirrel friends are nesting! Now along with the peanuts and treats I leave them everyday, I have put out pillow batting once again for them to make their nests. I put some near our bird feeders and I had some on our porch for them to take. AND THEY DO! Unfortunately, I didn't put it out fast enough as one of my little friends gnawed on one of our outdoor cushions :(   I would have been mad until I realized he or she was doing it for a good cause---to make a nest for a family. How could I be angry?
Lastly, as I wind down my chores this afternoon,  I am planning to get to my stack of Taste of Home magazines from years gone by and take notes of some nice Spring and Summer recipes. If I don't write down my ideas and recipes, POOF they are gone!
Before I go, I must mention that my Caitlin turned 7 on March 28th! My precious angel had a wonderful day!

Happy Saturday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & Spring Saturday Greetings!

Good Morning! I don't think I've ever gone this long without a post. I have been missing everyone and have only been able to do a little reading of your blogs so I have a lot to read and a lot to tell! Sometimes I have some issues with blogger and my photos may not appear in the order I would like them to :(  and correspond to the paragraph of words! Soooo that being said scroll through as you read if you need to!  Here is the lovely sky over Commack, Long Island this morning! Such a beauty! Spring is almost here and the Winter that never was for 2012 will be in the history books! Our trees and bushes are budding although I haven't seen flowers anywhere yet like many of you are.....SOON! Our garden centers are loading up, and I'm loving that! Love these little blooms called English Daisys though they don't look like daisys to me :) I still had to photograph them so I remember them at planting time! Our property has been Spring cleaned and is ready to receive some lovely plantings. We are hoping to do some new landscaping this year since so much of our yard was destroyed by Hurricane Irene. Grrrrr...Irene
Before I go any further, I want to welcome my new follower. I really appreciate your patronage ;) as they say! I also wish I could adopt the bantam rooster from Dog Trot Farm (check out her blog) since it reminds me of my dearly departed Jerry. Don't have the time to drive up to Maine although I would love to. I have  visited Maine (Ogunquit and Bar Harbor, to be precise) and I love it up there.
On the home front, what has been an ongoing problem now seems to have been solved. Our son Billy had been suffering very badly from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It had gotten progressively worse since 2008 and since Christmas he had been in a lot of pain. It reached its worst ever last Tuesday when my poor son could hardly stand and big Bill and I had to take him to the hospital. What a blessing that turned out to be as  they discovered a very bad and solid blockage, were able to remove it and then because we had all the attention of the pediatric gastro intestinal doctors :) they determined that if he stay on a very HIGH FIBER diet that he would feel much better. The IBS won't go away but he should be able to be treated without medication and feel much better. Of course we sprung into action changing a few things --high fiber, less sugar, more water and I am so happy to say that he has been feeling GREAT! He made it through a full week of school and is back to normal activity. I am reading labels and doing what needs to be done so he feels his best yet not miss out on things he likes to eat. You would be surprised how a few tiny adjustments can make a world of difference.  What a relief!
Caitlin and I are also busy with our Girl Scout Daisy troop. We went to see PINKALICIOUS with our troop at the John W. Engeman Theatre in Northport. I love that they are restoring old and long-closed movie theatres into lovely performing arts theatres! They have been a big hit around here. They did this in Smithtown and Riverhead as well. These are lovely period buildings that have been long forgotten about and left to ruin only to be restored to all their glory and visited once more! You can feel the theatre saying "Thank YOU! I'M HAPPY TO BE SERVING YOU" if their walls could talk! They are packed for all performances of their different show. They are featuring the Sunshine Boys and 42nd Street for adults in the evening and during the day they have theatre productions for kids. Caitlin and I loved this very girly show based on the books Pinkalicious and our troop enjoyed the day so much, we are going back to see Cinderella April 28th! Although the real Broadway is about 1 1/2 hours from me in NYC, I certainly can't afford nor would I want to spend the money on those tickets! Especially when I have my own little theatre right near my happy town.I rarely go to NYC. Actually I haven't been there since 2001 (before 9/11 occurred). Just not a city lover.I love NYC for all that it represents as a meltingpot or for culture and shopping and museums, etc. but I never look to go.  Northport  is one of my favorite spots. It's the town next to mine and we love to go at night and walk down Main Street to the water.I've done many posts about it. Lovely old homes and victorians.  So lovely. More me.
 Caitlin will be "bridging" to Brownies next year (2nd grade) so she and I  ( as the leader) are preparing for that. We have also been collecting Easter candy & decoration donations for St Anthony's Church --Easter baskets and lots of other fun stuff!
Last night I made a Holly Hobbie Tree! I love decorating trees though I am no near as good as Country Creations by Denise (check my sidebar for her blog). As you know I LOVE Holly Hobbie and I'm always trolling ebay for Holly items, and I came upon these lovely tags made by a woman named Judy. They are scented and sugared and aged! I had to buy the Holly Hobbie tags, and I also bought the St Patrick's Day ones! SO reasonably priced and sent to me promptly and packed beautifully. The photos don't do them justice. They are glistening and bright and so lovely.  I was so happy as I have wanted to do a Holly Hobbie tree for so long! I didn't want to do one with Holly Hobbie Christmas ornaments though as I want to keep it on a table all year 'round in my parlor! Judy made that possible. Please check out her Ebay  store! go to: www.stores.ebay.com/Judys-Jems-crafts . If you can't get it from that just go to ebay and look her up!I had so much fun decorating it with rusty stars, prim colored stars and I tied homespun into bows. I used seed or rice lights so they glow so subtly. My husband LOVED it.  I plan to purchase her Fall tags for Halloween and Thanksgiving and her Valentine ones. How cute would that be to have a Valentine tag tree also decorated with my vintage Valentines? I've got to write that down! I think I would us white and red tulle to make bows.....
I also took the recent stitching I did that said "Blessings" which I really liked and decided to fasten it to a wreath instead of framing it. I like how it looks! I would definitely do that with others I sew. It's a star wreath as barn stars are the theme of my house. We have at least one in every room and we have several attached to the exterior of our house! My homage to my Amish Pennsylvania!
Trying to also do a little Easter decorating. Billy is working on the siding of our house (we had one unfinished side) and he hasn't had the time to get my boxes out of the shed. He's also plotting out another small patio on the side of my house that will be hidden by trees. He's always thinking and designing. Bless his enthusiasm and energy!  Maybe tomorrow he will have time before he gets to the siding to get those boxes for me! We built our house in 2008 but still have some work to do. I have put away the last of the Winter decorations and taken out my Spring/Summer stuff. The rockers are back on the porch waiting for us to enjoy the evenings. Bye Bye  Winter. I love you and always look forward to seeing you but you didn't visit this year!

Last night the kids had movie night with our neighbors . We have wonderful neighbors here and what is so nice is I was pregnant with Billy, when Christina & David moved in and she was pregnant with her daughter Genevieve. We've been friends ever since and they have two more daughters-Julianna and Jackie and Jackie is Caitlin's age. What I love is that Billy and Genny are still good friends. The fact they are 13 hasn't changed anything. They know each other since infants and have always kept up the friendship. Billy says Genny is one of his best friends. They live directly behind us and way back when David put a gate in between the yard so the kids can go back and forth. It's so nice. Either my kids go there or they come by us. They came by us last night complete with blankets, pilows and jammies and we watched "Treasure Buddies", the Disney movie with the golden retriever puppies. Lots of snacks and goodies and even some Billy could enjoy. A fun night and I had to take a picture because as they are all getting older, these moments and times become even more valuable. AND of course, Robin, who also loves the girls had to be in the middle sitting on Genny's lap! He's part of their club too since they know him since he's born too....Robin LOVES kids and movie night too :)

Our morning sky

Garden Centers are getting ready!

Main Street in Northport Village

SO pretty! Glistening & Bright!

My bunnies from Terry's Village. Had these two for YEARS!!

Love these kids! and all the snacks too! :)

Have a wonderful St Patrick's Day! I am 100 % Italian but my husband is English, Irish, Scottish and Swedish. If you ask him his nationality he will just say IRISH! He's very proud and I support that! I feel EVERYONE is Irish on St. Paddy's Day!

Finished Project & Guests

Happy Birthday to George Washington & Abe Lincoln ! I just might have to eat cake today; you know to wish them birthday happiness and all not because I like icing or crave desserts :) I'm very patriotic! Even though I have been known to make brownies just so I can have the batter that's left in the bowl! Oh come on...you do that too!
I actually have some great desserts in my house right now and a fridge full of food. We had visitors yesterday evening and not only did we have all the food and desserts I made, but they brought a bunch of good stuff too! My husband's cousin and her husband came for a visit and we had such a wonderful time catching up! I know they like Mexican so I  made my chicken enchilada recipe that we all love and they did too! I made some Mexican Rice and Sweet Corn too! Sweet corn is so yummy! You bake it like corn bread and scoop it out with an ice cream scoop. And of course we had seven layer dip! Caitlin and Billy love seven layer dip so they were happy there was some of everything left over because since school is closed this week, they can pick on whatever they like all day long! We've got some pigs in a blanket and more! For dessert I made brownies but for some reason Ghiradelli brownies don't work well for me! I can never judge when they are done even though I check them and check them. They are so fudgy and good but such a mess. Upon further reading on the box, I realize I should make the cake -like recipe so that they are thicker. Thank goodness I put the reading glasses on and read that or my relationship with Ghiradelli brownies was to be short lived :(    Crisis averted. Upon consulting with my Caitlin, we decided not to serve the brownies since their presentation was less than attractive and instead we chose to just eat them with a spoon by ourselves.....
My other dessert was terrific! Christine and Jeff (the cousins) loved these little mini crumb cakes so much, I sent them home with some. This was a little recipe I got in the coupon pages a while back for chocolate chip coffee cakes. The easiest recipe EVER and so good. Hungry Jack had the recipe! I will put the recipe at the end of the post and believe me when I say you can make these in no time at all. I also had dutch apple pie and then our guests brought cheesecake and a delicious cake with whipped cream and chocolate shavings! Jeff said I made the best coffee he ever had too (just wanted to throw that in) and we had a great time!
I posted a picture of my Caitlin on Valentine's Day with a gift from Daddy. My thoughtful husband went to Walgreens on his own and filled a gift bag with valentine items just for her. I didn't even have to remind him!  She was excited for her Valentine party at school and the class made bags to collect all their valentines in!
I also posted some photos of  more little changes I have made with various shelves and knick knacks! Every time I dust, I think of something else to do!

Not quite 2" but that's okay!

I forgot to turn the picture the right way. Sorry!

Plate Rack

Now I'm just looking forward to this nice week with kids home. I love when they are home and we don't have alot planned but simple things. We plan to go to Sunshine Acres with our friends. That's a park we can walk to that they just recently redid! I love it because I can walk there (I'm a non driver, remember!) I pull Caitlin in the wagon and my son rides his bike. There are some trails behind the park too that are nice. We are also going to the mall one day. I literally go to the mall ONCE a year! I am not a mall type person but the kids and I have a tradition that we go on Winter Recess and spend the day and have lunch and I just go with them into whatever stores they like and don't rush them! My son loves Barnes & Noble for his books, he likes going into a store called FYE and some others. Caitlin loves the Disney store and we have a gift card for Build A Bear so that will be fun! ME?  Yankee Candle and Bath & Body Works! This is not a big giant mall so it's not too annoying. I like to be able to look up, see a sign above my head and navigate the three of us where we want to go! Then we have lunch, maybe walk around a little more and then back home! I plan on getting more projects done and new ones started too. Because the weather has been fairly mild in the high 40's I'm also getting the Easter bug but I plan on holding off decorating for Easter until March. We have been rewatching- some of our Disney favorites her too. Billy always liked Stitch from Lilo & Stitch so we already watched Lilo & Stitch 1 & 2. Caitin wants to watch Sleeping Beauty. I know my son would really love to work with my husband on his job site this week but unfortunately there isn't anything Billy could do to help his Dad right now. Maybe Easter Recess!
Remember the window box I had gotten from the old house my husband was working on? Well I redid it and hung it up in my parlor! The only thing that I added since this picture was taken is a small burgundy barn store and a battery votive to light it up! I hope you like it! Barn stars are the recurring theme of my house! They are in every room in one form or another whether it be a metal one, a candle holder, a light fixture or a fabric!
Below is that recipe! Try them! You'll Like Them! Oh, and before I go remember to have a piece of cake...for George & Abe!

CHOCOLATE CHIP COFFEE CAKE
2 1/2 cups of Hungry Jack Complete  Buttermilk Pancake & Waffle Mix
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup mini cocolate chips
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
TOPPING
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of finely chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 375 degrees
Coat 8 or 9 inch square pan with cooking spray.

Combine pancake mix, 1/3 cup sugar and chips in a bowl and add sour cream, vanilla and water. Blend well. With an ice cream scoop, shape dough into 2" dough balls. Sprinkle with topping ingredients. Bake 24-26 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with fresh coffee!

Sunday Snowflakes!

Looked outside my windows to see some snowflakes are falling! They almost look as though they are falling in slow motion! Did they slow up so that I could look at them closely? :)   It's funny cause a few minutes before this occurrence, my husband said to me "It looks so gray outside; it looks like snow!" and ten minutes later I saw the flakes!

Yesterday it snowed too but it did end up melting. I think Mother Nature is trying to fool us this Winter. She's getting us into a comfort zone and then LOOK OUT! BLIZZARD! I recall the March 1993 blizzard we had. Lets not put those snow shovels away too fast. My husband said it isn't going to snow this year because we bought three new snow shovels! hahahaha We seriously broke the wooden handles on three shovels last year with all the snow we had!

It was a cozy day yesterday to be in the house. I made a big pot of turkey soup! The house smelled delightful! I made a great big pot and sent some over to my neighbor. I use turkey thighs when I make turkey soup~~lotsa meat on those bones! It was so nice to see my family really enjoying it last night especially when my husband came home from work and had been outside all day! It warmed his bones, I'm sure!

I did some touch ups around the house~~I'm actually in the process of rephotographing some of the rooms to show you all. I have an album on the "Pages" section but I would like to update some changes I've made. I did some crafts and repainting this weekend. I had bought the little bucket with the spigot item in a store several years ago and it was ready for a paint job.In the past I had displayed it outside on a rear porch with some flowers but the weather hadn't been kind to it. So now I cleaned it up and gave it a repaint! I love freshening things up! You get excited about them all over again! I also posted a picture of the cabinet in my first floor bathroom. It hangs above the toilet. On top you will see a duck and next to the duck is a find my son brought home last Summer. While going through my closets I came across it and found a spot for it. He knows good stuff when he sees it! It has little ceramic pictures on the front of it.

I posted a picture as well of a hanging craft that some of you might find useful. It is branches carefully bent or folded , you might say. They are then secured with floral wire and it makes a cozy place for a nest or a little flower basket or something that would snugly fit.  I would like to do this with some of the thinner branches I find in my yard or on walks. I love the fact this is a simple craft that can be made with what you find in your yard. It doesn't even have to be this big! I bought this particular one in Lake George several years along with other twig wreaths and wall hanging. I will try to remember to post pictures of the others. They may influence alot of people!

The bunnies got a bath on  Friday! I thought it would be nice to let them play in some nice warm water and freshen their little hides up! They loved it. After I dried them off, they spent a half hour preening themselves! SO cute. That is little Bandit shown in a fluffy towel.

My son celebrated his 13th birthday on February 2nd! Can't believe it! I still remember bringing him home from the hospital. We celebrated with a family dinner at his pick of restaurants and he chose a local Commack one--The Spare Rib. I have to say with all the gifts he got, I think his favorite was what my good friend Mary gave him. Knowing my son loves vintage Halloween like I do, she gave him two orginal blow mold plastic light ups! Frankenstein and Dracula! They are about 3 feet tall. He was thrilled. They aren't ugly or scary. My son likes the Halloween I like--not gory or scary but traditional! Caitlin's birthday is coming up Mrch 28th and she will be 7! We made a bunch of Valentine crafts for Girl Scouts together at our last meeting, and she will be having a Valentine party at school on Tuesday. She's busy writing out all her Valentines right now!

The last thing I wanted to show you was the house I grew up in. I recently passed it and I saw that it is for sale. We sold it after my Dad passed away in 2005, and my Mom relocated to the town next to mine. The couple that bought it has since had three children and I'm guessing they are moving for more space or perhaps jobs are taking them elsewhere. That house is in Franklin Square, about 40 minutes from where I live now and it was such a lovely neighborhood to grow up in! My Parents lived there happily for 49 years! It was truly "The House That Built Me" as the song says. It made me a little sad to see it for sale again. I had hoped that the young couple who bought it from us would stay there themselves for 49 or 50 years! But that's just me and my thinking! Oh, and when I lived there there wasn't that wooden fence...just saying....

Bandit gets a bath!

I love Americana!

That's Betsy Ross & Ben Franklin on the table!

More changes!

Well, I guess I'll get going. I'm having company next Sunday night and I'm making a mexican menu of food. I want to take out my recipes to compose my shopping list! I'm a big time list maker! Good night friends!

Can you smell the turkey goodness???

Some New Projects & Fixins' !

Good Monday morning to you all! Hope this week starts off well for you!It's cold here today but supposed to get more mild tomorrow with a high in the 40's! Not like our typical January at all! I have to say that although I am a snow lover, I find just as much pleasure in 2" of snow as  I do 12"! And of course it doesn't interfere with my husband's work too :)  We'll see~~I heard on the news the other night that February and March are actually more snowy months for our part of the country than January is. Soooooo that being said, I'm sure I have jinxed myself ;)

I've been working around here creating a few things and changing some others! I'm so looking forward to hitting some flea markets this Spring. The Elephant's Trunk in New Milford, Connecticut opens in the beginning of Spring and I'm waiting for Stormville in upstate New York. Yesterday we were treated to a visit
from my husband's sister and her husband from Moscow, Pennsylvania. That's in the Poconos. They came down for a visit since we didn't get to see them for Christmas. We had a great brunch with them. I satisfied their appetite for bagels! Apparently you can't get a good bagel out of New York---it must be our water. Anyway, it was great to see them and they too are collectors who are going to Adamstown, PA (aka as the antiques capital of the country) in two weeks. They try to go every couple of months and have picked up great stuff! They collect vintage stoves, roosters, and advertising products especially. I was showing them some of my finds from Stormville and the various garage sales I went to this summer and all the stuff my son brings home. We had a really nice time and plan to meet them for a future trip to Adamstown.
 Incidentally, they gave us a 20 ft flag pole for Christmas! My husband will be cementing that into the ground this Spring! They always come up with unique gifts!
I've been doing some sewing and did a few pictures that I now have to frame. Some are done with some vintage appliques (flowers) and the others are vintage buttons. I just can't leave them in a can--they're too pretty! The cat buttons I had purchased at Michaels several years ago. Speaking of cats, checkout Mommy Cat and Red Cat snoozing on my couch....not a care in the world those lucky devils.
Did some rearranging in my hallway (the teddy bear shelf pictures) and finally put up my Holly Hobbie plates! Yahoo! I've had them for three years! Always tryng to expand my Holly Hobbie collection! I just love her so much and it brings back the happiest memories of my happy 70's childhood! I tookout the Holly Hobbie sewing machine. Not sure if she's working. I'll have topost that photo in the future! SAdly, I never got to the attic to take down Holly Hobbie stove before Christmas like I had wanted but you can be sure that I will be getting her down just as soon as I can get my husband to put the ladder in the loft of the garage! You see, we've filled our shed already and now we have the top floor of the garage filling up...oh, and I have a couple of huge storage closets upstairs that are not for clothes but for MY stuff...I'd rather fill my closets with goodies than a wardrobe!
The pictures that show the blue box that says CORN is filled with straw and I added my old vintage roosters. I have a bunch of these cute roosters and chickens. I got the box at Christmas Tree Shop. Always bargains there! You can go in with hardly any money and always come out with stuff!
I redid the flower arrangement in the americana milk can. I added the porcelain birds on the branches. Love how that looks. I've had a really creative week! Right next to the chair I refinsihed recently and what's that behind it...that white swirl...looks like a poltergeist to me....maybe I disturbed the ghost that was relaxing in the chair when I snapped the picture. Sorry ghosty!
I want to give a shout out to Carol of Old Glory Cottage! She left a comment on my last post and I have been a fan of her blog for ages!!! One of the first ones I read back in 2009. We all need to go to the estate sales and garage sales Carol goes to! AND what a talent she has for displaying crafting! Illinois is the place for vintage. Check out all the stuff she finds. It's slim pickings in our stores for good stuff like she finds!

Well, I did have a good week  finishing up some odds and ends! I hope to keep the flow going! Have a glorious day and as my little picture says, remember your many "BLESSINGS"!

Snowy Saturday!

Good Evening! As predicted we got some snow today! I was excited it came but also a little disappointed because we were supposed to go to a post Christmas family party at my sister-in-law's home and it had to be cancelled. My  husband is the oldest of five and two of his siblings live off of Long Island--his brother lives in upstate New York's Putnam County and his siter lives in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. The other two sisters live here and we usually all get together before Christmas but this year the plans were changed due to an illness and the party was rescheduled for today...and cancelled. I think we may wait till the Spring to get together as a group at this point as the Poconos and upstate New York are prone to get lots and lots of snow! Part of me was kind of happy to stay home though as I really didn't want to be driving in this weather! I was also looking forward to seeing everyone. It just would not have been safe to try and round everyone up though! AND if you remember I had mentioned about my blizzard list of foods so I got to work early this morning! Nothing makes me happier than cooking for my family.

By 6:30 am I had my slow cooker going-- cooking up a batch of pulled pork and on top of the stove I made a pot of turkey chilli. Turkey chilli is my Mom's recipe. It was originally a beef recipe,but she substituted the beef with turkey and we all liked it better! It's the only way I make my chilli now and it does save the fat calories.  I served the pulled pork on big, crusty rolls. Yummy!

I made a Mexican 7-layer dip too, and we enjoyed that downstairs in front of the fire. My son wanted me to post a photo of the fireplace because he built the fire! He's gotten quite good at it! We just have been having such a cozy day and now that evening is here, the feeling continues! Cupcakes (vanilla & chocolate) for dessert!

In my backyard...

back steps lantern

pulled pork is cooking!

cupcakes waiting to be iced!

7 Layer Dip!

fire is blazing!

They really sparkle & glisten in person!!!!

I pulled out a box of some unfinished craft projects I had and saw these candle holders I had bought a couple years back and had added little rub on transfers to.  Little cherries! SO cute! I did a few more and filled them with glitter snow and tea lights! so dainty and sparkly in person--my camera doesn't give this precious little project justice! How pretty to scatter a few out on a table for a luncheon just for a little light!

I'm gonna settle back now with my cocoa and the fire and enjoy some country decorating magazines from the past. I had gotten a load of oldies from the 90's! Country Samplers, Country Collectibles, Country Almanac and I have been enjoyed going through them! I remember when I got married in 1988 the decorating trend was country blue and everything was ducks! I had ducks everywhere! Funny how now, 23 happy years later, I'm still decorating with feathered friends---especially roosters! 

Have a great night!