Limb?

Why not go out on a limb?
That's where all the fruit is.

Mark Twain

Yum!

Homemade Salsa!

Just made a huge bowl of homemade salsa! Yum! Have another "child" off to college and for this small moment I have the kitchen to myself. ( And the house!) This is so rare, so I am really enjoying it! I've got the Christian music on (loud!). Listening to the messages and making a big, fun. creative mess out of my kitchen. A craft project going on and I'm thinking of making that Irish Cream Cheesecake! I got the ingredients this week, but most of the Oreos are gone. So, shoot, I will just have to improvise and use brownies for a crust! LOVE changing things up, even when they already work really well, just can't help myself. ;) Hope you are having a good day too, feeling really blessed!

Don't use a recipe for the salsa, but here is how I do it:
 About 10 to 12 ripe Roma tomatoes
4 white, sweetish onions
2 jalapeno peppers
juice of one lime
salt to taste
1 Bunch of Cilantro

 I have one of those little hand-turned, chopping thingies. :) Can do it just on a chopping board also, have many times. Chop the tomatoes and onions to about the same size. I like mine pretty small, so would almost call it, minced. Seed the hot peppers(unless you like it really hot). Chop these very small. Would surely call these minced! Juice the lime, add and I put about 2 Tablespoons of salt. ( I said it was a BIG bowl, and thats a lot of veggies). Oh, don't forget the chopped cilantro, its the best part! I love that fresh, fragrant cilantro smell, it just "pops" !  Pull out your favorite salsa chips, we have about 5 favorites in this family, and ENJOY!

Henhouse Mystery!

So my chickens lay brown eggs. Brown ones. Always. They are New Hampshire Reds, and they lay BROWN eggs. Until the a few feeks ago when I had a great, big WHITE surprize! I was shocked, shell shocked, to be exact. Oh, how corny! :) The size and the shape were different as you can see here. I wasn't sure what was going on, still don't know, but it has happened several times since. What do you think?

These are what my eggs usually look like

"Fly Beauty"

Just thought I'd share this little golden-backed "fly beauty" with you and few "after a Summer rain" pics. Theres nothing spectacular about them. They don't have great composition, or anything really special, I just like the feeling they give me. Brilliant colors, sun spots, that just-after-its-rained-steamy Summer feel. Water droplets, sunshine, a quiet peace. Enjoy, and don't forget to look for beauty today, in the imperfect and the ordinary. It's all around you. Even in a fly!

I'm Baaaack! Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe, FINALLY!

Chocolate Irish Cream Cheesecake!
From: Simply Perfect CHOCOLATE
Decadent & Delicious (I'm copying all this :) From the 1998 Better Homes and Gardens Special Publications
I bought this magazine a LONG time ago obviously, for the cover alone, because this incredable cheesecake was on it. Funny thing is, that I made it and it was unbelibable, so unbelievable that I never made anything else out of the magazine! It is now a family favorite and a Holliday must. That I have keep it all these years and actually KNEW where it was is an ADD miracle. Tells you how good it is. If you try it, come back here and leave a comment. Its a must. If you dont do that , you can not use the recipe. Period. Just kidding, but I would love to know what you think. This is also one of recipes that you hate to share, you know those special kinds. So I am really trying to be good to you, (your taste buds and families', by the way). :) .... Drumroll.....
p.93
1 cup crushed chocolate waffers (about 18 cookies)
(I use Oreos and put tinfoil around the pan so the good stuff doesn't leak out)
1/4 cup butter ( no substitutes), melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 8-ounce carton dairy sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 8-ounce package semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
3 eggs
1/3 to 1/2 cup Irish cream liqueur
2 Tablespoons whipping cream or milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Chocolate Curls, optional (I don't bother with the decorations, just dig in when it is chilled)
# For crust, combind crushed waffers, butter and cinnamon in a med mixing bowl, toss gently to mix. Spread mixture evenly in bottom of springform pan; press to form a firm, even crust. Set pan aside.
# For filling, combind cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and the 8 ounces melted chocolate in a large mixing bowl; beat on medium to high speed till combined. Add eggs all at once. Beat on low speed till just combined. Stir in liqueur, whipping cream or milk and vanilla.
#Pour filling into the crust lined pan. Place pan in a shallow baking pan on the oven rack. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or till center appears nearly set when shaken. Cool on a wire till able to put in fridge, at least 4 hours. ( I chill mine overnight).
Makes 12 to 16 servings ( Unless you live with a Chocoholic!)
Enjoy and then come back and comment!!

Hair!

Had my hair done today by my favorite hairdresser. Not only is she brilliantly tallented and artictically creative, she just happens to also be my daughter! Thanks Steph! Love the results of "Hair Day". :)

Today I'm thankful for...

Today I'm thankful for; lunch outside with my sweet friend, the taste of basil and artichokes AND goat cheese on pizza! I'm thankful that I feel good and that just the smell alone of opening my new favorite tea gives me such pleasure. :) I love popping that tin open and taking a big whiff. I'm thankful for beautiful praise verses in the Psalms, creative writing exercises and my favorite, artistic blogging magazine. I'm thankful for a cool and quiet kitchen, chickens that follow behind me like I'm the Pied Pipper and coming back into my home that has been vacuumed by my youngest son. Go J! I'm also thankful for a job not only acccomplished, but uploaded and edited within the hour- Go Marianne! I'm thankful for an email I was waiting for that said I was off the waiting list and ON the list for a special trip this fall... Good day! Thank you LORD for so many blessings...

Check out my Blogs "New Look"

I think it looks like chocolate, personally ;)

Happy 4th of July!

CHOCOLATE IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE

This Weeks Future Posts

Don't pass out, I actually have planned ahead on my posts for this week! Chocolate cheesecake. KNEW that one would get your attention. There's one cooling on the counter now. Well, I don't know how much it's cooling because our air condictioner is broken, but at least it's not still baking.
A Tribute to my Father is also up for this week. A country farm visit with organic cows and chicken news is also forth coming. I know you are holding your breath now! Let's see, oh yes, my Mom-in-laws Pineapple Cake. Delicious and beautiful! And let's finish up with Liberty, part two. I think that's about as much excitement as you can handle in a week. Well, maybe one...or two more things: Cookbook review and, AND, saving the best for last! A delicious chocolate shop review! I'm really having to sacrifice for this one! Will probably need to get some more Sea Salt Dark Chocolate covered caramels just to refresh my memory! Oh well, I'm willing to go out on that limb for you... See you! I hope. Oh, yes, I always hope! :)

Penny For Your Thoughts!

IN GOD WE TRUST ...LIBERTY...Liberty, In God we trust, really? Do we really trust Him? Do we have His liberty? Ironic. I took this picture for a possible entry in a photographic exhibit. I just wanted to show the size and the delicacy of the Lily of the Valley. What struck me though when I downloaded the pictures, was not that fact, but the words that jumped out at me. I know that they, of course, had special meaning for our country so many years ago. But what struck me this time was their meaning for me in my life now, and their meaning for my loved one's lives. Do I trust in God? Yes. At all times? No, if I'm honest, and it is my purpose to be honest here. That doesn't mean that I will tell you everything! But, when and what I do say, I'm striving to be honest. Life is hard. In the words of an aquaintance I saw recently, "Life is Messy". Ain't that the truth!! Life is painful. Sometimes, it just plain stinks! I have been struggling lately, BIG time. Depression, anxiety, ect...As my sweet Sister-in-law says ( when she doesn't want to complain...) Blah...Blah,blah,blah!! And, not only that, but there have been some hugh things happening with loved ones of mine...struggles, troubles, hurts and injustices. So, I ask "Why?", and I know you do too! And I think its normal to ask, but do we ask in "trust"? Knowing that He wants the best for us? "For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future." Jere 29:11 More later, just wanted to get us thinking...theres a connection here... with the trusting and the letting go and the beleiving that I/we don't have to figure it all out...thats where the liberty comes in...IN GOD WE TRUST...LIBERTY !!! Oh, and a penny for your thoughts please!

Details Part 2 Gold Nosed Fly

Details...
Yesterday and today, I took pictures of a "grass flower", so tiny, I put it on top of an English penny just so you could get an idea of it's size. I spotted this little beauty in the grass, have no idea of it's name or if it even has one. Most people would simply call it a weed. But I don't believe in weeds! They are all so intricate and thought out, I prefer to call them, "Uncultivated, unappreciated, unnamed Beauties", or just flowers. Above, by the way, is my gorgeous fly!(The one I mentioned in Part 1) Also unappreciated... So where am I headed with all this rambling about flowers and details, size and unappreciated things? I am headed straight to God! He is Amazing! A Creator beyond our comprehension. But do you think if He took the time and the thought to take care of, and not just take care of, but to design with beauty all these details, that He did just that same thing in you? If details are important to Him, and I believe all of creation displays that they ARE, then how much more important are you to Him? How about the details in your life? One of my favorite verses says, The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He DELIGHTS in EVERY DETAIL of their lives. Psalm 37:23 (NLT) Jesus tells us not to worry and tells us how God clothes the "Lilies of the field" (grass flowers) :), how much more will He take care of us? ( This is in Luke 12) Then lastly, and most importantly, He calls us His "most treasured creation". Wow! Take a look around, go outside and be blown away about the wonder and majesty of creation. Smell a few flowers, bend down and look in the grass, look up at the incredible sky, mountains, clouds...then look for some very tiny details and remember what you mean to God, how He cares about the details of YOUR life, and how YOU ARE HIS MOST treasured creation...and be speechless...