♥ Tea, Marshmallow Cookies, and Memories ♥

Cold weather has come to the desert, so my morning glass of iced tea 

is now a cup of hot tea. 

You might notice the little tea bag that says "Good Earth" tea. 

I'm sure there are plenty of you that enjoy this sweet treat,

but it means a little more to me than just a delicious cup of tea.

You see, it was nearly 28 years ago that I first met my hubby 

at "The Good Earth", a health food restaurant, popular in the 80's.
Yes, he was a cook and I was a waitress.

We were meant to be together, don't you think?

This was the tea that we served there.

Most of these restaurants were later changed over to "The Olive Garden"
(a completely different type of restaurant, but also a tasty favorite of ours), 

however, the delicious "Good Earth" tea is still sold.
It's a sentimental favorite around here :)

The aroma is *heavenly*. It always reminds me of when we were dating.

It tastes delicious with Marshmallow Coconut Cookies too :)

Have a blessed weekend!

Marcia 

An Update on Jordan:
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments for Jordan in my last post. 

They discovered that he had some type of infection (perhaps a fungus) 

so he had another surgery on Nov. 5th to take tissue and bone samples 

and put in antibiotic beads.

He's going into surgery again tomorrow. They will put a rod
coated with antibiotics into his femur bone. Then, in about 
8 weeks they will be taking the rod out. Hopefully that
will be his last surgery. He's been in quite a bit of pain, 

so please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Veterans Day has a more personal meaning to our family this year.
Thank you to all of those who have made freedom possible,
and thank you especially, Jordan.
We love you ♥

Sprinkles :-)

 Asking 10 year old boys if they'd "like" to help me bake

is like asking them if they'd "like" to go to the dentist. 

They clear the room in no time flat.

However, when I mention the word *Sprinkles*

 (codeword for *Candy* in their minds) 

suddenly they're more than happy to help.

Since I love cupcakes, that's what we made.....
we'll I made, and they decorated :-)

 I think that more sprinkles may have gone in their tummies than on the cupcakes.

I can't get too mad when they do this though....

So sweet, and yes, their toys are never far away :-)

Oh, and did you know...the little Silver Dragees (beads) that are seen
on cupcakes and wedding cakes all over the world, are illegal here in California?
Only the metallic ones.
Seriously :-)

photo credit Fancy Flours, where you can order yours (if you don't live in California)

See more Friday Pretties here,
 more Photo Feature Friday posts here.
and more Sweet Shot Tuesday posts here.
Have a Wonderful Mother's Day :-)

Blessings,

Marcia 

For anyone who might not know, my nephew Jordan lost both of his legs
after stepping on an I.E.D. in Afghanistan in March.
I'm continuing updates from time to time here on my blog. This one is kind of long.
Jordan has had a rough couple of days.

*Jordan Update* taken from his facebook page, Wednesday.
Jordan is taking a couple of hits this week. First it was unbearable phantom pain. He was taken into the "pain clinic" where they more or less tortured him for 6 hours. They tried electric shock therapy, a Lidocaine (sp?) injection and acupuncture. He came back to his room in horrible pain and having trouble regaining control of it. In comes O.T. with this technique of tricking the brain into feeling someones else's leg and foot. It was incredible! This guy sits so his legs are along side where Jordan's would have been. Jordan then taps up and down this guys leg as if it were his own. The O.T. guy slowly moves his foot up and down, spreads his toes and swings his leg. After 15 minutes of this "treatment" Jordan was able to get on top of his pain. We can try this technique anytime with any leg available. Crazy!
However, on the heels of that success came disappointing news. Jordan will have surgery tomorrow on his elbow. His right elbow was basically shattered and had to be pieced together with screws and plates. It was originally thought that a skin graft would be done, however, the docs were able to pull the skin together and close the wound. The wound pulled a part and exposed an ever so small glimpse of the plate underneath. Tomorrow they will open the seam, pack the wound with antibiotic beads and close it up. Next week they will reopen the wound, flush out the beads and close the wound again. If everything goes well, that will be the end of it. The concern is that the plate has been exposed which compromises the integrity of the plate and wound. If this surgery does not work they will have to undo the whole elbow and replace the plates and screws and create a skin graft to close the wound. 

*Surgery update today*
The surgery on Jordan's elbow went well this A.M. They were able to scrub out the wound, pack it with the antibiotic beads and close it without a wound vac. He will undergo part II of this procedure in about 5-6 weeks. The next few weeks are crucial to how they proceed with permanent closure of the wound. Tomorrow Jordan goes in for another procedure for his pain. It's not technically a surgical procedure but it's handled as such. They would like to try an alternative nerve block procedure for his phantom pain until he can do the electric shock. We'll continue to do the mirror therapy in the mean time.
Thank  you so much for your continued prayers :-)

♥ Resistance is futile :-) ♥

 The free calendar I received in the mail a couple of months ago 

came from Betty Crocker. 

It's in my kitchen, on the refrigerator.

When we turned it to February a few weeks ago, 

there was a picture of the tastiest looking cupcakes. 

 They have beckoned me, tempted me, and even taunted me, for two weeks now.

I couldn't resist any longer :-) 

Mine don't look quite like Betty's...but they are yummy!

 I haven't even checked to see what's coming in March  :-)

I hope your Valentine's Day is wonderful 

and you're enjoying it with your loved ones!

Blessings,

Marcia

To RussMyHoney,
I Choose You ♥♥♥♥
Always and Forever,
Love,
Me

♥ Candy Hearts ♥

Did you know that blogger has new fonts to play with? They used to have only 

a few to select from, but they've added many more options.

I'm sure you'll have as much fun as I did playing around with them.

I'll probably change a few more things too.

In our house, we love these little candy ♥ hearts ♥. 

Have you got yours yet?

They taste a little different than they used to, but they're still good to eat.

And lots of fun to play with :-)

See more Friday Pretties here.

I ♥ you all :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies...Delicious!

My youngest daughter Micaela, enjoys baking. A couple of years ago she found this recipe in a Rachel Ray magazine and made them for us. They were absolutely delicious. We BEG her to make them for us now. If you like pumpkin or cream cheese, you will love these!

Here is Micaela taking them off of the cookie sheet. As you can see, we don't use the parchment paper, as advised in the recipe :-)

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

1 1/2 sticks butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 Tbs. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, if desired. In large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 tsp. vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and 3/4 tsp. salt. With a rubber spatula, fold in flour.

Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 tsp. vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 min.

Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Watch them disappear!
Blessings,
Marcia

Favorite Apple Crisp Recipe

I know there have been many versions of Apple Crisp floating around blogland and we have a favorite too. In fact I have a little story about mine. Years ago, when my oldest boys were little, I came across an Apple Crisp recipe that we all really loved. I made it alot, but as time went on and more children came along, somehow the recipe was misplaced. Well actually, I'd forgotten what cookbook it was in! I looked for it, and along the way, I made many versions of Apple Crisp trying to see if they were the one. They were all good, but still not the same as the original we'd come to love.

A few months ago, as apple season was coming upon us, I was thinking about it again, and just like that, I remembered where it was. After all those years! Silly me. It wasn't in an actual cookbook, but in a book called "Eat Well for $50 A Week" by Rhonda Barfield (okay, this book was written in 93, I know that it would be harder to do that now). It taught how to be more frugal in your grocery purchases and included recipes at the end of the book. I found my copy, and although the book was falling apart, there was the Apple Crisp recipe I remembered. It's a very simple recipe, but oh, so delicious!
If you don't have one of these, you really need to get one. I picked mine up at a yard sale.
It makes doing this so much easier. You can peel and core ten apples in a minute or two.You'll also need quite a few of these, the recipe calls for 5 lbs. I use about 9 or 10.

APPLE CRISP

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and dice:
5 lbs. apples

Grease a large cake pan. Place apples in pan and sprinkle with:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Set aside. In a bowl, combine:
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup melted margarine

Mix well, until crumbly. Spoon over apples. Bake for 35 minutes, or until apples are tender and bubbly. Serve hot or cold, with whipped topping or ice cream.


This is the apples with the sugar/cinnamon mixture on them. I think this is why we like this recipe so much!This is the final result... and it's also pictured at the top of the post with ice cream, delicious! Enjoy.
Blessings,
Marcia

Carrot Cake

I had my first garden this summer and it turned out better than I thought it would. I've grown tomatoes and peppers for a few years, but this year my husband and son put in a garden area in our backyard. Our soil is hard, so we had to add alot to it, and I wanted to grow carrots, so we had to dig deep and amend that part more than the rest. Well, it worked; I actually got quite a few carrots. So yesterday I was thinking I might make carrot cake with some of my carrots, and I started looking for recipes.

I'm not an originator of recipes. I don't create my own. So I collect cookbooks. I'll decide what I want to make, check out recipes for it in multiple cookbooks, figure out which ingredients I have, which I don't like, and choose the recipe that seems to fit us best. If it works, and most of us like it, then it becomes a keeper (unless I forget which cookbook I found it in...but that's another story).

Anyway, I found a carrot cake recipe in a little cookbook I use often. The lady who wrote this is the homeschooling mother of 14, and she has some wonderful (and not too complicated) recipes in this book. Everything I've made from it has been loved by my family, an important factor for all. Her name is Marilyn Boyer and her family also produces some wonderful homeschooling books and materials. They have a blog and website called The Learning Parent. You can access it here thelearningparent.blogspot.com



Here's the recipe. I omitted the nuts because I have a couple of kids that can't eat them, and it still turned out wonderful. Thanks Marilyn!



















Enjoy!
Blessings,
Marcia