Thursday, May 12, 2016

Thoughts on Thursday


I had a lovely Mother's Day with both my children at home.  My daughter gave me a pretty gift basket filled with goodies including 3 of my favorite magazines and the beautiful tulips which opened the next day were from my son.  The bottom of the bulbs are in water and I will plant them when they are finished blooming. 


Our son also brought KC Strip steaks and grilled them to perfection.  I nearly fainted when I saw the price tag, but they were sooo good!  Daughter fixed the potatoes and I put together a salad and popped some crescent rolls in the oven.  Yum, yum!  


Dessert was a devil's food cake I made in honor of my mother who often made it when I was a youngster at home.  The recipe which was typed over 40 years ago is worn and faded and well used.  As you probably know, the soda in the recipe is baking soda.  You'll also see that my mother used lard for shortening.  Back then we raised our own meat, beef and pork, and when a hog was butchered there would be a lot of lard.  If I remember correctly, my dad would bring a 5 gallon can of it home from the butcher.   
 
I used Cool Whip Lite for the topping.  My dad almost always had a milk cow and my mother would save the cream which rose to the top of the milk cans stored in the refrigerator.  Then she would make the yummiest whipped cream.  Oh my goodness, it was sooo good!  Especially on devil's food cake, which my mother made so often that she didn't need to use a recipe.  I always wondered how a cake that was so good could have such an ugly name!

   
We have had lots of rain lately.  At least every other day, it seems.  I have been enjoying sitting on the patio in the late afternoon and watching the birds coming to the feeders.  The one pictured above is a House Finch.  

There is much to do inside the house but I love patio sitting and bird watching.  When inside, I'm afraid I'm a bit of a news junkie and I spend a lot of time reading various news sites.  This election year has me fascinated.  Love him or hate him, it's obvious that the presumptive Republican nominee has certainly shaken things up in the political world.  The state of the world has me worried.  You can't read the news without knowing we are in a downward spiral with all that is happening.  What used to be right is now wrong and vice versa.   


I had to go to the Big Town yesterday and while there stopped by my favorite resale shop.  I found some great books for a dollar apiece.  The first book that I saw on the top shelf was A Fine Romance by Susan Branch.  I had already read the book which I had checked out from the library, but I was excited to find a copy for my very own for just a dollar bill.  Score!!  It is just like new, too.   It is one of those books that I will enjoy reading again.  It has lots of wonderful photos and information about England, which I'd love to visit.

I was quite pleased with my finds.  Max Lucado is one of my favorite Christian authors.  And while I don't entertain much these days, I couldn't resist Martha Stewart's book.  The BH&G book, Garden Style, has lots of decorating ideas for inside and outside the home.  Anyone remember Lynette Jennings?  I loved her show when she was on HGTV years ago, so her book should be interesting.  Some things never go out of style in decorating, in my opinion.

Have a wonderful week...what's left of it.  I can't believe how fast it has flown by!

xo Cheryl

22 comments:

  1. Hi C?heryl~

    The tulips are so pretty, red tulips have always been my favorite, they remind me of, Holland for some reason. They will be so pretty in your flower garden. Truly, is there anything better than a grilled steak - yum! I love chocolate cake, and I'm going to use your recipe the next time I make it. I loved hearing your memories of your mother, making whipped cream from REAL CREAM, and using lard, such good memories, thank you for sharing!

    I love sitting on the patio as well. In fact, I just came in the house from sitting outside. We always have so much wind in Idaho, and today it's blowing! But, I did notice a pretty little house finch on my feeders this morning, they are so cute!

    I love finding good books at the used book store as well, what great finds you made some awesome finds - I love Susan Branch and who does not love looking at decorating ideas?! And I agree, I just think that whatever you love is in style . . . :0)

    Have a great week-end!

    Hugs,
    Barb

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  2. Glad to hear that you were treated royally on Mother's Day.I do remember Lynnette Jennings from TV. When I had TV hooked up,HGTV was my favourite channel.

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  3. Great finds on your books. I loved Lynette Jennings and have wondered what happened to her and also Kitty Bartholomew. I enjoyed them both so much.

    Glad you had a great Mother's Day.

    Judy

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  4. A yummy Mother's Day! What treats! That steak looks heavenly.

    Now that stack of books looks very intriguing!

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  5. Sounds like a lovely Mother's Day, indeed. Great food, being flowered with attention. Pretty tulips. The books were a GREAT find. I used to love HGTV. Lynette Jennings was one of my favorites.

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  6. PS) the word FLOWERED was intentional. SMILE.

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  7. Your Mother's Day sounds like it was perfect. Having dinner made for ME would be a dream come true! That steak is yummy looking.

    So miss bookstores but we do have a second hand store a few minutes away. And I have a stack to plow through so no complaints here.

    Happy Spring! :)

    Jane

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  8. Your Mother's Day sounds delightful in every aspect!! (Drooling over that steak...even at midnight...which it is now...) Devil's food is my favorite cake, despite the ugly name. :)

    What finds at the thrift store!!

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  9. What a lovely mothers day you had. Seeing the tulips so straight in the vase, I thought that they would still have the bulb attached. This is a Scandinavian style I see so often when I'm in Denmark visiting my son and his lovely Danish wife, They are often given as a gift, just one placed in a small glass container, such a pretty idea.

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  10. Hello, sounds like you had a wonderful Mother's Day with your family. The dinner sounds yummy. I love the tulips and the cute finch! Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend!

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  11. good food, good books, and time with family... nothing better. you had a really good week. mother used crisco... the food was so much better back then... i loved her homemade ice cream that we had to churn like crazy.. she never made butter, but we had it because the people in daddy's church gave it to us

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  12. A Finch just like yours visited me yesterday . . . I wonder if mine flew over to you!
    I doubt that, maybe mine was a cousin!
    I was sitting on the porch and caught him out of the corner of my eye.
    Beautiful tulips and a yummy looking steak!
    The cake sounds delightful . . . fresh whipped cream sounds delightful too!
    I am finding used book stores a fun visit for me!
    We have a resale store nearby in a local library called, Cheap Stacks . . .
    Some keeper books for 25-50 cents!
    Your one dollar finds look like keepers too!

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  13. Those tulips are amazing and those steaks have set my mouth watering. It has been a long time since I've had one that yummy looking.
    Sounds like you had a marvelous day.

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  14. I loved the thoughtful Mother's Day gifts from your children. How awesome that you had them both home for the celebration. The food all sounded so yummy. My Aunt used to make the best Chocolate cake and the one you made sounds similar to hers. She too took the cream from the top and made delicious whipped cream.
    I like the idea of sitting on our patio and just relaxing. We just got it all together today so maybe I can.
    Also, liked your $1.00 book finds. Happy you had a sweet Mother's Day! Sending loving thoughts your way and hugs too~

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  15. oh i missed you coming back to blogging, i recall you needing a break, i hope you had a resting time away. let's see we were at Crater Lake, Oregon ... in Sept 2015, i had to ask the hubby, i knew it was 2015 but wasn't sure if it was August or Sept. we are down to starter trips now, that was our last month long trip. the hubby has a stressful job and needs more vacations that are spread out more, so he can't save them up to one month like that, just weekends here and there now. it is cool. i love this cause we can go kayaking and such. i need the exercise and love being outdoors, etc. taking pics and so on. hope you are well. & did enjoy your Mother's Day. i was happy to spend time with my brother, & parents (& the hubby). always fun to have family time. my Dad makes the greatest hamburgers on the grill ever. see you around. big big hugs. ( :

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  16. It sounds like you had a wonderful day! The steaks...yum! Good finds at the store also.
    Hope you have a wonderful evening!

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  17. I think you had a really nice Mother's Day last Sunday Cheryl. :) The homemade chocolate cake sounds so delicious. I love chocolate and even if the cake is a boxed mix I alway make butter frosting - none of that canned stuff. lol The Susan Branch book sounds interesting and you definitely got some good buys on those books! We are watching your politics with interest and a bit of humour here in Canada. Wow. I don't know what is going to happen with it all in the end. Our world is really going downhill fast. I'm really glad that God is in control of it all and goes before us. Have a good week ahead.

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  18. Glad you had a wonderful Mother's Day.

    I have a recipe that must have used the same paper! It looks exactly like yours...not for cake though.

    I am copying yours down just to give it a try. Sometimes (most times) the old recipes are the best.

    Beautiful tulips and a great shot of the Finch. We have a lot of them this year.

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  19. Forgot to say I like the new header pictures.

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  20. Glad to hear you had a nice mother's day with your children. Love your photos and the devils food cake looks so YUMMY!

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  21. I just can't watch the news anymore. It's to depressing and I can't figure out which candidate I should vote for. Neither one impresses me. Your Mothers Day sounds like it was wonderful. I spent the day at church and taking my 94 year old mother out for lunch. It was nice!

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  22. Sounds like you had a wonderful Mother's Day spent with family and sharing delicious food, Cheryl. And those were great book finds too. I really enjoy when I also find book deals because even if i decide not to keep them, it was worth enjoying them awhile. And, yes the political news is of major concern these days.

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