A Pleasant Surprise

While browsing the shelves at our local library book sale I was surprised to find books on miniature doll houses.I must say I was pretty excited.

One of the books has detailed instructions on making furniture.

And the best part, all the books were half price!

Streusel Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake fresh from the oven....yummy, yummy, yummy....add to it a cup of hot chocolate and you have a perfect breakfast.This recipe comes from the "Betty Crocker's Cookbook" I received from my mom and dad more than 25 years ago. The front cover and back cover are off and the pages are stained and wrinkled but the recipes still taste good!

Streusel Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

1 cup milk

1 egg

Heat oven to 350-degrees. Mix ingredients well; pour into a greased baking dish. Top with streusel. Bake 35 to 40 minutes.

Streusel

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespooons firm margarine or butter

Mix well until crumbly.

I like to double the streusel when making this coffee cake.

Late Breakfast or Early Lunch

Yesterday I asked Elizabeth if she wanted to go to Denny's for their Free Grand Slam Breakfast...she said "no" because it was too cold to stand outside for an hour.

After a little encouragement, and listing all the items that would be on her plate, she agreed.

We left the house without eating anything and arrived at Denny's by 10:30...poor Elizabeth was "starving" when we were seated at our table...and she just may have been starving because she ate her food faster than I did!

Our total money spent was a 3-dollar tip...our waitress was so very nice and so very stressed out from her very hectic morning! Our total time waiting to be seated was around 30-minutes and thankfully we were able to wait indoors where it was warm.

Planning and Planting

After the nice garden success we had last year I am anxious to plan ahead and make sure to ask lots of questions so we can do even better this year. I visited the local county extension office and obtained a sheet that shows the dates for planting vegetables in my area and I also stopped by the farm store to talk and ask questions.

Last year, after the garden season was over, we purchased a small portable tiller that attaches to our weed eater. It worked wonderfully for a few hours and then sadly a bearing or gear broke. Before the tiller trouble we managed to prepare the ground for planting carrots, radishes and garlic. All the snow and rain we have had this winter has made the ground very moist and very easy to work!

This is my first time to plant garlic and I am anxious to see how it looks as it grows.

I purchased three varieties of potatoes for planting this year; red, white and yellow. After these dry out for a few day they will be planted next.

The only item I forgot to buy was onions and hopefully I will get them next week. It sure feels good to be thinking about the garden once again.

College Life Woes

Look what happens when your son opens the door to his Explorer and his backpack, filled with books and his laptop, falls out onto the ground.The accident occurred a few months ago and we thought all was well...until last week when his computer screen began changing.

A new laptop was needed in a hurry....it's a good thing Jonathan had money saved from his part time tutoring job!

From Cracker To Cookie

Several years ago my mom wrote a recipe book for us kids of dishes we grew up eating. This book is well loved and each of us kids treasure it greatly! Saltine Cracker Cookies

Line an 11 x 17 cookie sheet with foil and oil the foil.Place saltine crackers on foil; be sure to fill all open spaces with crackers.Bring to boil 1 cup butter; do not use margarine.
And 1 cup brown sugar.
Boil for 3 minutes.Pour onto crackers and spread well.Bake in a 350 oven for 5 minutes.As soon as you pull the pan from the oven sprinkle the top with a 12-ounce package of chocolate chips. I like using miniature chips because they melt faster.As the chocolate chips begin to soften spread out evenly.Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts.Allow to harden; if you are impatient, like I am , place in the fridge or freezer to quicken the process.Store in a covered container.

This recipe has been linked up to Balancing Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday Parade of Food.

Four Dollars Well Spent

One 4-dollar denim dress...Produced a cute denim skirt for Elizabeth...

And added variety to my button collection.

I have to say...the velvet buttons alone were worth the 4-dollars!