Saturday, February 22, 2014

When Pig's Fly....Pink Saturday

On Valentine's Day, we were invited to a friend's home for dinner. There were 3 couples and our sweet hostess, in addition to preparing a wonderful meal that included lobster tails, gave each one of us a cute bucket of chocolates. (Yeah, I should have thought to take that picture 6 days ago when there was still chocolate left!) In addition to the candy, the other female guest and I were given a beautifully wrapped flying pig...one of those cute solar generated figurines from, where else, the Dollar Store! She is on my kitchen window sill bobbing along in the sun. Makes me smile every time I see her!
I wanted to make a thank you card for our hosts, and this is what I came up with...



You can guess what it says inside the card, can't you?


Isn't she cute?

I love friends with a great sense of humor!

I'm linking up to

Pink Saturday

If you love Pink, you need to stop by. Many beautiful things today!
Thanks Beverly, for allowing me to share my new prized item today!

xoxo
Joyce

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Pinned It and Ate It



We had some friends over for dinner last evening...kind of an impromptu thing. I thought I would try some new recipes for our meal.
This was kind of the last Hurrah! for Valentine's Day before I pack up the decorations.

I decided on the menu and two dishes came from Pinterest.

For the main course I made
Meatball Stroganoff
(She writes very detailed recipes...with lots of photos, so helpful!)
Because I was busy finishing up the dinner prep, I failed to take a photo so I'm borrowing Julie's.
This recipe was quick, easy and delicious! When I wrote to Julie to ask if I could use her
photo of the dish, she told me that she is coming out with a cookbook in May or there-abouts.
 I will want to check that out. I need to spend time perusing her blog. I saw a recipe for Puff Pastry Breakfast Pizzas that looked real good....and easy. OK, on with the meal...
I used two bags of Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs..
You throw them into some hot oil  in the pan, still frozen, and they worked out great!
 She advises using the amount of herbs listed, even if they seem like a lot, and she's right, they give a fabulous flavor. 
The link for the recipe is right HERE.

I served the meatballs and noodles with

Steamed fresh green beans with butter and lemon

Spring mix salad with cranberries and pecans served with
homemade ranch dressing and blue cheese crumbles

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits...I cheated and used the mix,
they were awesome!


The table was set...



The decorations were up...sad isn't it..I was so late this year!

(current and past Valentines)


Valentines from Betty, Sandy, Elizabeth, Linda, Michele, Barb and Catherine.
My cute black truck filled with Vintage Valentines

The cutest Valentine mailbox from Pottery Barn Kids

The Lennon Sisters created by Elizabeth of Creative Breathing

My button heart from my niece, Wendi, of Enchanted Forest Crafts.

My heart from Mary Lou

My heart from Laurie

When dinner was finished, we were ready for dessert and coffee.

Dessert was
"The Best Apple Crisp"
from Melissa Klinker of
Another winning pin!
Find the recipe HERE.
The crumble part starts with a yellow cake mix
and she had me at "thick crumb layer"!
I made it yesterday morning and served it last night,
with Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. Yum!
I can tell you that it is even better the second day.
(I only had a little smidge for testing purposes...Ha!)

Two new recipes for my "Pinned It and Ate It" board.
Do you try recipes from Pinterest?

Thank you Julie May and Melissa Klinker 
for making me look pretty good last night :D



XOXO
Joyce

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day
to my lovely friends in Blogland!!
I wish I could give each of you a handmade greeting
 and lots of chocolate. 
What I can do, is share some Valentine cards I made and the images
I used. I have found some wonderful ones on
Pinterest (of course)
and tried to click through to give you the links, and the
posters credit for the image, but it didn't work out that way.
If you know where credit should be directed, please let me know.

This year, I chose an image that I love, and used it for several  bunches of cards I made.
This sweet little girl in red, holding a bouquet of poppies...


An older image of another sweet girl... 









Isn't she versatile?
I think this one is my favorite. It's a great way to use up small scraps.

Every year, I make the Valentine cards I give to David.
He always appreciates the time that goes into them, and,
they never leave the house!
 I use them every year as part of our Valentine decorations.
We both love images of little children used on cards...




Five rows of punched borders in varying shades of cream and white.
the You & Me tag is stamped
Inside....

There also has to be a humorous card.
I love the card images from the 50's, you know,
the hubby and the "Mrs".



I may be back later with something else I'm working on today...
but in the meantime,
I hope you have a loving day with those who are special to you!


ADDED: These cookies are the best peanut butter cookies I've found!



The recipe is at Arctic Garden Studio, here...I added the Dove chocolate hearts.

XOXO
Joyce

Monday, February 10, 2014

More Red!!

I just thought I'd share a bit more red today...
When my friend Michele and I had our all-too-brief shopping excursion to Leesburg, Virginia, we went to only two shops.


is one of my favorite, can't miss places to go.
Even if you don't buy anything, they have tons of inspiration there!
Click on the pictures to enlarge.



Look at this painted armoire!!!


I think they have some of the most interesting lamps...



and other cute things...






Michele also took me to 

I was so overwhelmed with what was inside I forgot to ask if I could take pictures.
(Yes, I always remember my manners and ask)
I just snapped a few of the window...

 Old Reader's Digest Condensed books cut in the shape of letters.

So, what was red?

I decided to start a small collection of red books for display...
At Weathered Elegance, I purchased one book,
The Five Little Peppers, published in 1948.
I loved the cover and the illustrations inside...


The other book, Journeys Through Bookland, was purchased at 
The Cottage, in addition to this...



A beautiful, almost perfect, tablecloth with dogwood blossoms. I saw it and fell in love!
If you click on the link to The Cottage, you can see more pretties...and my tablecloth, too!
I'm very pleased with my red purchases.


One more bit of red before I go...

Six new red polka dotted tumblers...
thanks to a tip-off from  the wonderful Mimi Sue at 
That's right, The Dollar Tree!!!

WooHoo...I love red!!
(and pink, and aqua, and light green...)

xoxo
Joyce

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