Re-living my life....

I was watching a movie the other day called P.S. I Love You. It stars Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler and Jeffrey Dean Morgan—he played the gorgeous ‘Denny’ on Grey’s Anatomy some seasons ago. Anyway---the movie started out kinda ‘meh’ for me but it picked up after that pretty quickly. The plot eventually took ‘Holly’, Hilary Swanks’ character, to Ireland. The gorgeous scenic shots of Ireland brought my trip there last August right back to the forefront of my brain. I got all warm and gushy over that beautiful country all over again. So I went to my computer and started looking at my photos of my trip and the lightbulb went off that I need to scrapbook them.

I’ve fallen so far behind on all my scrapbooking. My daughter is in 5th grade and I’m only up to her 3rd grade pictures, there’s a ‘seasons’ scrapbook that Cass suggested that’s on the backburner, I now have this idea for a Twilight scrapbook being that it’s my latest obsession. Sometimes I get so many of these ideas floating in my brain that I get overwhelmed and don’t know where to start.

Well, because of that P.S. I Love You movie, I decided to start with my Ireland scrapbook. That’s what I was doing yesterday afternoon into last night. I was a little rusty to start with, but it didn’t take long for the creative juices to start flowing. As of today, I’m about halfway through my trip and it looks great. It has given me a chance to re-live that beautiful trip. In this instance looking back is a very good thing.

Peeps and Easter...

So this is Easter week. I am anticipating great, tasty things from the Easter Bunny this year, thank you. I can’t eat any of it, but it’s the thought that counts, right?! My daughter and I spent last Sunday putting out our Easter decorations. There are colored eggs, Easter bunny villages and flowers everywhere. It’s so cute….. I can’t let “Peep” season go by without you seeing this. Each year the Washington Post hosts a Peep Diorama Contest and here is a link to the top 37 winners. I consider myself a pretty crafty person---I can do amazing things with anything and a hot glue gun—but I am AMAZED at what people can do with a Peep! Click here to see the photos……

Now….as a Christian, Easter has a whole different meaning for me. I love the bunny and egg hunts, the Peeps and the chocolate, don’t get me wrong. But I do view this weekend with all the reverence it commands and deserves. The whole thought of Christ living his last days, knowing how he was going to die. Sitting at the Last Supper trying to explain to His disciples what was to come. The excruciating beating and humiliations he endured. Being nailed to a cross and hung there to die a slow death. All for me. I am sooo not worthy, but clearly He thinks I am and I thank God (daily!) for that sacrifice. And all He asks in return is that we love one another like He loved and continues to love us. So little for such a HUGE sacrifice. *sigh*

I hope you have a very blessed Easter weekend---Peeps and all. But give thanks for it all. I wish you, my friend, a very happy, happy Easter!!!!

Happy birthday, hubby!

Saturday was my husband, Sals birthday, so the whole weekend was his. Whatever he wanted to do…it was his call. Some of the weekend is already planned for him because it’s tax season so he had clients all day Friday and most of Saturday. We fired up the grill to cook steaks and had one delicious dinner. His dessert for the weekend was a sugarfree Blueberry Cheesecake. It’s a recipe I got from my mother-in-law who got it from a friend of hers, so it’s been passed around a little…..but man is it goooooood! It's rather guilt-free because of the loads of sugar you cut out. It does use Splenda, so if you have issues with it, you'll need to make some substitutions. Here’s the recipe if you wanna try it. You can substitute any fruit and preserves you want to. Sal liked the blueberry, but I kinda like the strawberry version better. You try ‘em and see which you like!

SUGAR FREE CHEESECAKE

2 cups finely crushed sugar-free butter or shortbread cookies (I use Murray’s)
1/3 cup of melted butter
1 cup blueberries
3 8oz pkgs of 1/3 less fat cream cheese-softened
1 cup Splenda
1 ½ tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 10oz jar sugar free blueberry preserves (I use Smuckers)
¼ cup plus 3 Tbls of juice from can of Lite Peach Halves (save peaches for something else)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine crushed butter or shortbread cookies and melted butter. Press mixture evenly into bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9” springform pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Set aside.

Filling: Drain peach halves reserving ¼ cup and 3 Tbls of Lite syrup. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, Splenda, 3 Tbls of reserved peach syrup and vanilla with electric mixer until combined. Add eggs all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in blueberries. Pour filling into crust-lined pan. Place on shallow baking pan in oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until center appears nearly set when cheesecake is gently shaken. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan and cool cheesecake 30 minutes more. Remove the sides of the pan and cool completely.

Glaze: In small saucepan, melt blueberry preserves over low heat. (about ¾ of a 12oz jar) Remove from heat; stir in the ¼ cup Lite juice from the peach halves. Spread over cheesecake. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving. Makes 16 servings.

Happy St. Patrick's Day....

Last summer I had the pleasure of spending several days in Ireland. What a gorgeous country filled with just beautiful, kind people. I can’t wait to go back again one day.

One of the many places I visited was the Hill of Tara. What is a beautiful field of the greenest grass I’ve ever seen with the most gorgeous 360 views, is in history of major significance to Irelands history. It’s also major in religious history too. This area is where the Kings of Ireland sat for many, many centuries, so politically it is of major significance to the country. But the religious significance impacted me the most. The Hill of Tara is where St. Patrick first used the clover to teach Irish pagans Christianity. He used the three leaves of the clover as a symbol of the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Legend has it that when you find a four-leaf clover, the fourth leaf represents God’s grace which is why it’s considered very lucky…..not every one is lucky enough to find God’s grace and hold it in their hand.

I had so many people tell me not to expect too much from the Irish cuisine. I thought it was delicious! It was very hearty and rustic--exactly the type of food I love. My first night there I went to a pub and had what was called a 'farmer's pie'....very similar to shepherd's pie....and a Guinness. Actually 2 or 3 pints before the night was over. There was a local soccer team there watching a major world soccer tournament on tv and they were alot of fun! Man, can they eat and drink!

There were a couple of food standouts while I was in Ireland. Their 'brown bread' or soda bread I guess, was out....of....this....world! So grainy and rustic and soft and chewy. And top it with Kerrygold butter--the best butter in the world---WOW! I ate waaaaaay too much of that bread, but enjoyed every single bite of it. I tried Irish mountain lamb for the first time too and wow, I just did not like it. I don't like lamb anyway, but this lamb feeds on lavender and mint fields up in the mountains of Ireland and are coddled and massaged and babied so that they are super, duper tender. I was told it was a once in a lifetime experience to eat it. I hated to admit it--I didn't like it. What I did love was Black Currant Jam. I've never had it before and it became a breakfast staple for me while I was there. A fresh scone, Kerrygold butter and Black Currant Jam.....mmmmmmmm.....it's making me drool just thinking about it now. I cannot wait to go back.

So Happy St. Patricks Day to you…..
……and thank you St. Patrick for everything you did……

Slainte mahath! (to your good health)

Snow....

We got snow again last night.....this is from my backyard at sunset.

Happy Hearts....

Cassie and I spent yesterday afternoon baking heart-shaped sugar cookies to bag up and give her classmates for valentines. I did the mixing and she did the rolling, the cutting, the baking and moving them to the cooling racks. She did an AWESOME job!! We made big heart cookies so each classmate would need only one. We placed each in a cellophane goodie bag and tied off with red ribbon. She then wrote her classmates names on the outside of the bags. They looked really cute!!! So off they go with her today to be enjoyed with the kids lunches, I guess.

I have friends over for a pre-Valentines’ dinner tonight. It took me forever to figure out what to make though. Some coming over don’t eat red meat or pork but will eat fish, the others don’t care for seafood and like red meat and pork but all of them want to eat light. So what did I decide on? CHICKEN! Actually, gumbo. I wanted to make a filling, comfort food that had a little spice to warm us from the inside out. So I made a Chicken and Shrimp gumbo. Gumbo is a New Orleans dish that kinda has a stew consistency that you serve with rice. I used chicken, chicken andouille sausage, shrimp, okra, onion, celery and bell pepper. A really, good gumbo can take all day to simmer on the stove, so I made it yesterday so all those spices and flavors have the proper time to blend together. I’m making a brown wild rice to serve with it and a big salad on the side. For dessert I made a Red Velvet Cake with a Cream Cheese Icing. For Valentines’ Day it is just the perfect cake. When you cut into it, it just screams Valentines, with that gorgeous red color and ever so subtle chocolate flavor.

Whatever you are doing for Valentines, I hope it's wonderful. If you are single treat yourself to a decadent day. If you are married with family, hopefully you are getting the Valentines love thrown laid on you by your spouse and kids. But either way....love yourself. Treat yourself to something special. The love has to start at 'home', so to speak. LOVE YOURSELF first 'cause you are special. God made you special, unique and beautiful and the fact that He made you in the first place is reason enough to celebrate! Make sure to show Him some love today too!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Healthy hearts....

I troll the internet alot. I wanted to share this link with you--- http://www.wholeliving.com/

It’s a sub-site of MarthaStewart.com and it’s all about super healthy living. Great articles about your body, your food, great recipes, workouts, etc. Just really good, quality info if you are re-working your life and body to live a more healthy lifestyle. Read through it!!