Mosaic Monday-The Garden

The heat is killing nearly everything in our garden.  A few hardy breeds are braving the heat well.  Here's a tribute to those plants who can shake a fist at the sun! And, look who came to visit! Go visit Little Red House for more mosaics!   Related articles Mosaic Monday-Kylene's Wedding! (bobandterristeffes.com) Gardening Against the Odds entries (telegraph.co.uk)

The Gobbler's Roost

My PEO sisters and I visited Cottey College in Nevada (Missouri). PEO does a lot of charitable work with Cottey College and we wanted to see where our money goes! We loved our tour and was very impressed with what Cottey offers young women in our state. If you have a daughter who is nearing college age, it is well worth a trip. Afterwards we treated ourselves to The Gobbler's Roost , a quaint restaurant in the countryside of Nevada. We had a private seating and was served beef tips, fingerling potatoes and asparagus. Dessert was a blueberry crepe. The food was well prepared and well plated. The dinner plate was garnished with lemon sage and the dessert plate was decorated with a marigold. Not only is the food great, the place was decorated to take advantage of the country atmosphere.  Wild flowers decorated each table.   The main dining room was filled with antiques.  The stained concrete floor was stamped with....turkey prints!

Baked Oatmeal

I confessed last week that I was a fast food breakfast junkie. That is not something I am proud of so this summer one of my things-to-do-in-my-nightgown was to find breakfast recipes I could make in advance, then carry with me to school to eat. I found a recipe for Baked Oatmeal that seemed like it would be a great breakfast I love oatmeal. I am not fond of the instant oatmeal packets, however, finding them too creamy or mushy or something. This recipe uses real oats which interested me right away. Plus, all the ingredients are just mixed together and baked in a pan... so simple! Baked Oatmeal 1 1/2 c quick or old fashioned oatmeal 1/4 c Eggbeaters (or 1 real egg) 1 t vanilla 1 t baking powder 1/2 t salt 3/4 c milk 3/4 c peanut butter (I used Chocolate Dream and Jeanne suggested Nutella) 1/4 packed brown sugar 3 T aguave nectar (or 1/4 c white sugar) Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray 9 by 13 pan with Pam. Mix all ingredients together well. Pour into prepared pan.

Mosaic Monday-Kylene's Wedding!

This weekend was the celebration of  the wedding of Kylene and Matt.  Kylene is the daughter of my good friend Marsha.  It was everything one would wish for in a wedding, chic, modern, glamorous and FUN! The wedding colors were a deep eggplant and silver.  The flowers were white and a part was that each of the six attendants carried a different bouquet of white flowers.  While each attendant wore matching gowns, they had individual crystal brooches on the scarf of the dress. The reception was so fun!  It made me think of what wedding receptions in the 1920s might have looked like...with passed hors d' ouerves and cocktails.   The mosaic below shows our Girls Night Out group enjoying the reception (we had a lot of fun in the photo booth!) and some highlights of the wedding. Each of the cake's layers was a different cake and filling.  Yum.  There was a mashed-tini station with various different mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, a sliders station and a salad station.  Ea

Ice Cream Social

I heard about this wonderful Ice Cream Social (blogger style) from my friends Vee and Pam that I really should have known about since I am a follower of the hostess, Suzy at Kitchen Bouquet . Thank goodness I have a few wonderful ice cream recipes ready to go! I was a participant last year, too, with this dessert I had in St. Louis. Did you know tomorrow is National Ice Cream Day, too?  According to Wikipedia, in 1984 Ronald Reagan declared July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday in July to be celebrated as National Ice Cream Day! I am sharing with you today a remarkably easy, tasty frozen concoction that is not only yummy but good for you! Frozen Banana "Ice Cream" 1 banana, ripe, sliced Yep, that's it.  Now freeze that sliced banana solid.  Maybe even overnight.  I didn't have to do anything to the slices.  Process the frozen slices until the mixture is creamy.  I scooped out the mixture with my Pampered Chef medium sized baller and

Egg "McMuffin" Revisited

I love fast food breakfast.  I am sure it is because I leave the house around 5:45 and I am not really interested in food that early, but once I have been in the car for 30 minutes I am ready for breakfast.  My favorites are Sonic's breakfast burrito, Mc Donald's egg mcmuffin and Burger King's ham, egg,  and cheese croissandwich.  I know all of these are not the healthiest and spending a couple of dollars is not the way I want to have breakfast each day.  So I have been experimenting with fast food breakfast at home. Why make one when you can make six in the same amount of time?  By baking the eggs in a muffin tin I get a nice round egg.  I spray my six cup muffin tin with butter flavored Pam.  I pour 1/4 c of Eggbeaters into each cup and bake them at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.  While the eggs are cooking, I split and toast my whole wheat English muffins, unwrap my no-fat American cheese,  and separate the canadian bacon (I buy the fully cooked v

Mexican Cruise 2011

Sometimes things just work out. I really wanted Bob to take a little vacation to celebrate his 32 years in public education.  He said that he'd be happy with the Ohio River Valley vacation.  I believe he would have, too, but I really wanted him to have this special opportunity.  It was looking really doubtful though, since we only had a few days between my summer school and Bob's first day at Columbia College. I was reading Facebook and saw Marsha's post about her cruise on the QMII.  It got me thinking about going on a cruise with Bob, something we haven't done for ages.  I started looking on the internet for a cruise that would fit into this very small window and then, I found it. A three day cruise to the wine country in Mexico.  How appropriate!  How perfect!  How timely! I was able to secure our passage on the cruise and snag some great fares on the airlines.  Bob booked us a hotel to stay at before the cruise left and to stay at the QMI ( Queen Mary I ) fo

The Ohio River Valley Vacation

Our family vacation to the Ohio River Valley was so incredibly relaxing and peaceful.  I don't know when the last time I had such a vacation, unless it was the Mexican cruise the day before!  (more about that one later!) We heard about these cabins from our good friends Pat and Emily who visit annually over New Year's Eve.  The Colucci Cabins are located in a tiny village in Indiana called Magnet.  It is situated right on the Ohio River with the Hoosier National Forest surrounding it.  Our cabin looked right across the river into Kentucky!  We stayed in Moondance.  Ash sang It's a Wonderful Night for a Moondance many times! We spent our days looking at the river, reading, looking at the river, taking pictures of wildlife, and eating.  There was a hot tub to enjoy as well, which we did. How did that picture of Huxley get into this wildlife mosaic?  Snicker.  He was an active participant in the vacation but you can see he likes his relaxation time as well!  I lo

Bloomington Blooming cinnamon rolls

Ash and I made this easy and delicious cinnamon pull apart bread this morning. I think you will really enjoy it if you give it a try! 1 unsliced round loaf sourdough bread 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup honey 1 tsp pure vanilla extract 1 cup sugar 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 cup powdered sugar 1-2 Tbsp milk Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make Vanilla Honey Butter: Whip butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar together until smooth; stir in honey and vanilla. Set aside. (You can use regular butter if desired) Cut the bread lengthwise into 1/2" slices, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread vanilla honey butter in between slices. Rotate the bread 90 degrees and slice the bread again into 1/2" pieces, without cutting through the bottom crust. Spread more vanilla honey butter in between new cuts. This doesn't need to be perfect - just make sure there is lots of butter in between all the cuts. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Generously sprinkle in between