Memaw's Rolls

For as long as I can remember my maternal grandmother ("Memaw") has made the BEST pies and rolls!  Her most requested pies are pecan and chocolate (with homemade crust and perfect meringue, of course). 

My mom actually discovered the roll recipe in her high school Home Economics class.  With her special touch and lots of experience Memaw became the pro!  Growing up the whole family looked forward to them at all holidays and gatherings.  Several aunts and cousins have attempted and I figured it was my turn!  I decided they would serve as one of my contributions to Easter lunch this year. 

Here is the recipe with ingredients listed in bold:

Dilute one pkg of yeast in1/2 cup of warm water.  Set aside. 

Mix in a separate bowl: 1 egg slightly beaten, 1/2 cup shortening or butter, 1/3 cup sugar.

To the egg mixture, add 1/2 cup very hot water.  Careful with hot water.  (Boil 1/2 c water in a pan, remove it, count to ten, then slowly add hot water to mixture while carefully stirring--be careful w sudden temperature change in glass bowls and avoid splashing).  Immediately after blending hot water, add 1/2 cup cold water and yeast mixture. Mix well.

To this mixture, add 4 1/2 cups of flour and 2 tsp of salt.  Here is where more flour may be needed depending on the weather.  Flour hands and kneading surface.  When mixture holds together, knead gently until it's not sticky, but too much additonal flour can make it heavy.  Experience makes perfect!!

Allow mixture to rise one hour before making into balls for baking at preheated 350 degrees until brown.  Mom and I have always made it ahead of time, placed it in refrigerator to rise overnight covered w plastic wrap.  Three hours before serving, flour hands and gently pull a piece of dough from risen ball, keeping flour handy if dough gets sticky.  Make balls a little larger than golf balls, place on greased baking sheet, cover, and allow to rise 3 hours on or around warm kitchen.  You may also make three smaller rolls and place in greased mufin tins for a Parker House type roll.  Also makes breakfast cinnamon rolls but need to rise 3 hours before baking.

29 and a half

Today is my half birthday.....I am officially 29 and a half.  It sort of makes me shiver. 

I owe all of you loyal blog readers an update on accomplishing my list.  Look here for my very first entry and see the updates in blue.  To date I am 23.33% done with my list and many of the remaining goals are in the works.  I hope to enjoy my last 6 months of being 20-something!

Prayer Journal

And my God will supply ALL your needs according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ. -Philippians 4:19

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and repeition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. -Philippians 4:6

During our time living in Oklahoma I kept a prayer journal (pictured in the middle above).  It had a space for me to reflect on 'a moment of thanks', 'a prayer' and 'an answer'.  This made it very simple for me to keep track of how God was working in my life.  The first entry was April 7, 2002 and the last entry was on January 29, 2006.  One of the last entries reads:

"Be with Jarrod and I as we discover what you have in store for our lives.  Please calm our concerns regardng moving and finances.  Please speak to us and let us know when the time is for a baby...."

We had just decided to move back home to Texas, but little did we know Emma would be born that year!

After that prayer journal had been filled I never started a new one.  I always had intentions but never got around to it.  That is, until last night!  My new one (pictured to the left) has its first entry.  To the right is the Women's Study Bible Jarrod got me for Christmas.  God knows our needs/wants/feelings, long before we do.  This is AMAZING!!  Even so, he desires for us to voice those to Him in prayer.  He desires an open line of communication. 

Grow garden, grow!!

Well, here it is.  Our very first veggie/fruit garden.  I am hoping and praying that it is very bountiful :)

 Little did I know that my husband is a professional gardener.  He says that his college horticulture class really came in handy :)  We had so many different types of seeds that he kept having to add rows alongside other rows! 

I did the easy part.  Emma enjoyed helping and I think it will be really neat for her to watch over the next few months.  We planted tomatoes, squash, onions, peppers, lettuce, corn, orange & white pumpkins, watermelon, strawberries and cantalope.  There could be more, I can't remember right now. 



I will definitely keep you all updated on our garden.  Hopefully we will have enough to share with all of you! 

Valentine party

A goal of mine was to plan and host a gathering at our house. 

Today we hosted a Valentine party for nine of E&O's little friends.  This has been my project since the new year began!  Although party planning can be quite time consuming, it is SO much fun...maybe even a dream job of mine!  I follow numerous creative mama blogs and only wish that the finished party layout was as easy as they make it look.  Over the past several weeks I have made more stops at Hobby Lobby than I wish to share!  I love to celebrate the most special days in life.  I love to have friends and family over for a great time.  Today I was able to do both and it was a joy!

There were two food tables.  The menu included marshmallows on a stick, cupcakes, rice krispy bars, strawberry trifle, chocolate covered strawberries, passion pops, a cheese ball (heart) with crackers, heart shped sandwiches, mini pizzas with pepperonis cut into hearts, chips and "pink" dip, veggies, fruit kabobs (with heart shaped watermelon) and love potion (Caprisuns & bottled water).

 These hanging pom poms are relatively easy to create and add lots of color to any party theme.  I made ten total.  I also made this fun banner with my amazing Cricut machine:

\

I finally assembled my own cupcake tower!  This will definitely come in handy for future celebrations of all knds.  Many thanks to my amazing husband for his help with this.  I am a huge cupcake fan.  Not only are they super yummy, but they are easy to serve and fun to decorate.

What a sweet bunch of friends! 

For storytime we read "Happy Valentine's Day, Little Critter" by Mercer Mayer:

Next, we decorated Valentine mailboxes for our exchange:

The kiddos enjoyed playing hot potato before lunch:

XOXO

OWEN - my funny Valentine

EMMA - sweet as sugar

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." ~1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

It's tutu cute!!

Tonight I tackled another goal on my list.  It's amazing what one can get done when it's too cold to go outside :)  This fun tutu is perfect for little ballerinas of all sizes! 

Materials:

Colorful tulle

No roll elastic

Scissors

Directions:

Measure ballerina's waist

Cut elastic accordingly & tie ends together

Cut tulle in 22" strips

Fold strip in half then loop around elastic
(Youtube video may make more sense!)

Push loop knots together very closely until full

Homemade applesauce

Our kiddos LOVE applesauce.  It ranks right up there with goldfish and fruit snacks!  I decided to flex my domestic muscle and try to make it myself.  It was super easy in the crock pot.  Not only was it yummy, but it made the house smell great too.  Owen especially loved it.  If you make it, I would recommend doubling the recipe.  Enjoy :)

Ingredients:

• 6 medium apples
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 tsp. – 1 tbsp. Cinnamon
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions:

• Peel and core apples.
• Chop up into chunky pieces.
• Place apples in crockpot.
• In separate bowl, combine water, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla.
• Pour mixture over apples in crockpot, and stir around, so apples are evenly coated.
• Cover crockpot, and cook on low for 4 hours, or until soft.