Blackberry Cobbler

I made a wonderful cobbler a couple of weeks ago and wanted to let you in on it.  To see the original recipe, you can go to the Pioneer Woman's website Here.  I did double the amount of blackberries.  I was using frozen blackberries and 2 cups just looked skimpy so I used the whole bag from Wal-Mart.  It was just the right amount in my opinion.

For those of you that have been around our family for at least the last three years, you may remember the story of Whitney cooking her first meal for Matt when they had just started dating.  She made peach cobbler by a recipe almost identical (our family recipe doesn't use self rising flour - it uses regular flour and baking powder and salt).  When you read salt, surely you remember the salt story! haha  The recipe called for 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  She was doubling the recipe so that would have been 1 teaspoon to most people.  But to Whitney's inexperienced cooking self, that turned out to be 1 CUP of salt.  The logic behind that was that everything else was in cups so she was thinking cups instead of teaspoons.  Was she just a little nervous or what?!?!!?    Needless to say, the cobbler was thrown out and I made them another one while they went to the movies that night.  That wasn't the end of the story.  For one of their wedding showers, they had a stock the pantry shower.  Well, each hostess brought her salt as a gift (along with a lot of other wonderful things to cook with.)  She still, 3 years later, has salt in her pantry!

By the way, this recipe can be used with peaches and is absolutely wonderful too!  Nothing like Southern cooking.  Thanks Pioneer Woman!

Ingredients

1 stick Butter

1-¼ cup Sugar

1 cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Milk

2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees

Have a Blessed Day!

All About Reactions

Came across a very interesting way to handle obstinate husbands today! haha  Maybe you young gals don't have those, but we older women all agree that we do! ha  I was reading another great book.....I hope you don't get tired of me telling you lessons I learn from good novels....and I read something that I have to share with you. 

This book is by an author I have written about before in another blog, Debbie Macomber.  Her newest book is "Hannah's List". A great book and an easy read.  It wasn't until almost the end of the book that I really got enlightened on how to deal with conflict in marriages and relationships.  Two of the characters in the book really love each other, but they can't stand to be around each other because it always turns into an argument.  Now, I know this never happens in your marriage, but SHOULD it ever happen, I want you to think about using this technique to work through your problems.  :) 
Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle from top to bottom.  On the left side, list all the things that totally make you mad about your significant other.  The girl in the story listed when her boyfriend came home from a bad day at work, he was moody and took it out on her; when she cooked him a great meal, he always stood up to eat it - never sat down to savor the meal (he was a chef); he was an untidy person and then accuses her of hiding his things; and, he thought he was a better chef than she was.  You get the idea.  Be very honest with yourself about this.
Then you would think on the right hand side of the paper you would list the things about him that you love - WRONG!  There might not be many things you can think of after making that list! ha  So, on the right hand side of the paper, list how you respond or react to each thing on the left hand side of the paper.  When he comes in moody and gripes, she argues back at him and they fight because she doesn't deserve how he treats her; when he won't sit down to eat, she insists that he does, and they fight; etc, etc.
As the character reads the list and how she reacts, she realizes that she was a part of the problem as much as the boyfriend.  The one helping her to see this about herself tells of how her husband responded when she came home all upset and ranting and raving.  He would calmly listen to her problems and when she was done, he would wrap his arms around her, give her a big hug and tell her how much he loved her.  This only happened after the husband made his own list and they worked through the things that upset them about each other.  It is all about REACTION.  If your husband comes home tired and grouchy, remember he loves you and is needing your love right then.  He isn't needing someone to fight with.  Listen to his complaints, wrap your arms around him and tell him you love him and he is wonderful.  WOW!  That could change the whole evening.  Even if he doesn't want to make his own list, start with yours and change your reactions.  That might eliminate the length of his list one day! ha 
I wish I had someone to tell me stuff like this when I was younger - not that Gary would ever cause me any grief! LOL  Gary's favorite line is none of us are perfect - there was only One perfect person, and we crucified Him.  Truer words were never spoken.
Have a Blessed Day!

Masters and Paintings

Not a very good picture since I saved it from Facebook.....but it is a picture of a very good girl! ha  We are so proud of Whitney getting her master's degree in education.  Now she is a fully licensed teacher and will even be earning a better salary since she has her master's degree!  Dad and I and Matt are very happy about that! ha  But having a masters doesn't mean you are totally smart and always think clearly.

After graduation, Whitney and I went shopping.  I had decided that would be our gift to her for her accomplishment.  We had a full afternoon of shopping and got lots done.  Maybe she will post pictures of her two new dining chairs we got for their table and the neat vase and live bamboo for the centerpiece.  Then we had to buy groceries for the Mother's Day meal so we were pooped!  She called in pizzas for us to pick up on the way home in the next town over from Carlisle.  I asked her at the stop light should I take the service road and she said, "Oh no, just go straight."  Well, straight was the entrance to I-40 and she realized that there was no entrance to the pizza place the way we were going.  So I pulled over to the shoulder of the road and she had to hop out, run across the grass between the road we were on and the service road to get our pizza.  She was totally embarrassed!  That was a "duh" moment in life.  Had she not done this, it would have been 10 miles to Carlisle and then 10 miles back to Lonoke.  Not good for two tired women with two husbands at home waiting on dinner.  Thankfully, I remembered to get the old camera out so I could let you all know about it! :)

When Gary and I got back home Sunday evening, I had a package waiting for me.  A few weeks ago I ordered a painting from Trish Jones at Old Post Road.   I love her little paintings with the scriptures on them. 

I hung this just to the left of my computer.  How nice to look at it while I work and to be constantly reminded to "Be joyful always; Pray continually; Give thanks in all circumstances."  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.  That could change the world if we all would live those verses out daily in our lives and,  think how much brighter my days will be because this painting is there!  You can order off her Etsy site or do as I did and have her custom make you exactly what you want.  Thanks, Trish!  I absolutely love it!

Have a Blessed Day!

Something To Make You Smile

It seems like this past week or so, there are many of us going through some tough times in relationships, whether it is family, friends or business.  Seems like everyone I know has told me something that they are trying to "get through".  I read another good book that would put all of these things in perspective called "Safely Home" (I don't know how to underline on here - maybe someone can tell me) by Randy Alcorn, but this isn't going to be another post about a great book.  Instead, I have some pictures that would make most of those following this blog at least chuckle, if not laugh right out loud since most of you know my husband.  For those that do not, well what can I say, maybe that you are missing something (I won't say what) in your lives! ha  Love you darling and I was just kidding.  He is a wonderful man, (worries to much), and is about 6' tall to put these pictures into perspective, but does know how to have fun and let people laugh at him.  I think you will see from the following pictures why I say this.  Let me preface these pictures with a note that I know the quality is awful.  The blurriness comes because the parties in the pictures are moving and I was using my cell phone that was only a week old, so I did good to get these pictures at all.  I sooooo wish I had remembered I had video capabilities on the phone.  It would have been so much better.  Maybe this will take away some of the bad that seems to beset us lately.  Enjoy.  ( He is the passenger - not the driver)

Needless to say, they drew a large crowd of spectators at the car show!  They took this little three wheeled vehicle for about a 15 minute drive and there were even more people there to watch them get OUT of the car.  He said it really wasn't that uncomfortable but for $35,000 he really wouldn't want to take it around town to check on the houses he is building! ha  I think he prefers his King Ranch for that.

Have a Blessed Day!

Same Kind of Different As Me

I recently read a book that will make an impact on your life so I wanted to share it.  It is non-fiction, which I normally do not like.  It seems to me that a lot of non-fiction books get boring or have long sections that just don't seem to keep my interest, but this one is different.  This one renews your faith in man and your faith in God.  It shows you how short sited we are; how sheltered we tend to live our lives; and how we miss Blessings because we don't stay in tune to what the Lord would have us do in our lives.  It is a real eye opener and a simple read.  So step out of the box, purchase this book (Sams Wholesale Club had it) and change the way you look at the world.  If you are reading this post, then you are more Blessed than a lot of people because it means you have a computer and an internet provider - that is Blessed!  Thank the Lord for your Blessings and then share with someone else what the Lord has so graciously provided for you.  Being self centered is an awful state to be in.  You will never be good enough, have enough, look good enough, etc, etc.  Become a giving person that dwells on others needs rather than on your own and THEN you will be able to see the Blessings you have been given.  Start by doing something nice this week for someone you care about and maybe it will lead to you doing something nice for a complete stranger one day.

Enjoy reading and have a Blessed day!

Time for a Change

Spring always makes me want to change something in my house.  The sun has been shining in my eyes in my office for 7 years now and I decided it was time to do something about it.  That got the ball to rolling.  I wanted to use roman shades on the window since it is 7' wide and that would give me some fabric to add some style to the room.  Then that made me think it would be the time to paint if I am buying new fabric! ha  So I have had the office painted Superior Bronze from Sherwin Williams, a checked roman shade made, a new chair which required new cushions made for it, rematted the one large picture I use and then I changed all the open shelving decorations.  One roman shade sure made a lot of work!  Thought the pictures of the shelves might inspire you to do something new in your house.  Here is the new roman shade.

And the new chair with the cute orange pillow/cushions......

And then I had to have more orange.....don't you love the boxwood ball!

Birds are BIG this year!  What do you think about my lime green canary!  I love it!  The grain bin was one of the original ones Matt's grandfather built on the Kelly farm.  Whitney took the picture and I thought it went well in this grouping.

Another bird...from Pottery Barn.  The orange vases are from H&N Floral here in Texarkana.  You might want to check them out on Facebook too!  A wonderful place to shop if you haven't been!  I removed some of the shelves to give me taller spaces.  Note the picture hanging on the back of the shelf.  Gives a complete look to the area.

A larger view of the shelves directly over my computer center.  Sitting in front of the rectangle boxwood is a little embroidered picture I found this past week in Little Rock that reads, "It's never too late to be what you might have been."  How wonderful is that!  The brown box above that is special ordered along with the boxwoods from Park Street Market!  I hope that link works!

And last, but not least, I had to decorate on top of Gary's gun safe!  ha  Needed a little feminine added.

There is still one more custom painting I am having done as we speak.  I will blog about it all on it's own, whenever it comes in. 

I love the new office, but let me just say, I still really don't want to work.  Even when you love the surroundings you are in, work is still work.  We had a minister one time that told Gary and me, "that is why it is called work".  Truer words were never spoken.  I guess I really should be glad I have work to do and the health to do it!  Thank you God for giving us a Blessed day!

The New Nacho Club

Well as many of you know, I eat with a group of women every Thursday and we call it Nacho Club.  This excursion started for me 12 years ago and it had actually been going on a few years before I started.  When I first began, it was cheerleader moms (and Debbie).  We would discuss all kinds of important matters concerning cheerleading, pep rally's, hanging those darn sheet signs on the fence and blowing up all those balloons for the pep rally and then of course, what we would hear that our kids would  might be doing after the game or on weekends.  It was a great way to stay informed and let me tell you young mothers or those that will be one day - you MUST stay informed.  The kids called it gossiping, but I think it is a major way of protecting your child from all kinds of mischief.  Of course, none of us have had kids in public school for some time now so we have become a real support group for each other.  We can tell anything that is on our minds to this group of women and we know it won't go outside of that meeting - mainly because we can't remember it long enough to tell someone by the time we pay for our lunch ticket! :)  We have dealt with MIP's, stalkers, great train robberies, awful relationships our kids have had, wedding and baby showers, deaths of parents, etc, etc.  The list could go on forever.  We don't have to remember birthdays or anniversaries (which is a relief for those of us without memories.)  It is just a wonderful hour to sit and laugh and admit when we have done something really stupid cause we are all pretty much alike in that respect.

Well, today was the beginning of a new Nacho Club.  The name more than likely will need to be changed.  We haven't voted on it yet, but we did discuss how the name might need to be revised.  See if you can tell from this picture what has happened to the old Nacho Club.

The new Not-Sho I-Phone Club!

Today Teresa was sporting an i-phone!  She and I were the last two hold outs and she gave in!  Now I am the only one with a Motorola Razr.  All they do is discuss which APPS they like this week.  Today it was the BUMP.  Everyone of them downloaded this app and then proceeded to start bumping all their phones!  IN THE RESTAURANT!  At one point, I told them, "Don't look now, but there is a whole line of people on the other side of the 4' wall watching how funny you all are."  Dottie's face started getting red and said "Not really?"  I had to admit I had made that up, but I do believe the entire restaurant could hear them telling each other about their i-phones and how to work them.  No need to worry anymore kids!!!!  You are NOT being discussed - unless of course you have created your own APP - and THEN, they MIGHT talk about you! ha  I am really thinking when the old Razr goes out, I will still save it and carry it in to Nacho Club so they will never know I gave in.  Or maybe better than that, I will have to start carrying the I-Pad so mine will be bigger than theirs!  It is really kind of scarey - six women with such powerful little machines in their hands.  They could change the world!!  Everyone needs a support group and for that, we seven women are VERY BLESSED!  We have the best one ever.  It doesn't happen over night, so start yours now.  Between these women and the Lord, I can conquer anything!

Have a Blessed day!