A Southern Belle

  I have recently taken a sabbatical from working full-time and found joy and peace in being a full-time housekeeper for a short time. The desire to keep a consistent routine, budget, and menu is incredible. I have always struggled to plan meals and to be creative in the kitchen. Pinterest has been a great tool in helping me with great recipes.  I have been trying to prepare one dessert a week. This past week, I found the best Apple Crisp recipe and I just had to share!  APPLE CRISP

 As a Christian I am called to be a prayer warrior. This is much easier said then done. I have come to realize the importance of good friends that can come alongside you and keep you accountable and encourage you.  This past year the Lord has brought such a wonderful friend into my life. As we have been encouraging each other to use the powerful tool of prayer, we decided we could craft a prayer board in order to remind us and encourage us to pray daily. I highly recommend doing this as a family or church craft. What a wonderful way to lift up the requests of our brethren and ourselves!  I was able to introduce my friend to the wonderful store of Hobby Lobby! We may have spent a lot of money, however, it was for a good cause!  I do believe they turned out very nicely! I would encourage you to ask people for prayer requests. Prayer is such a powerful tool and we are called to use it.  Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay...

Since moving to the city, I have greatly missed having my hands in dirt. You don't realize just how much you love something until you cannot do it. I shared this with a very dear friend of mine and she surprised me with a gift. An indoor herb garden for our little apartment.  To say I was touched is an understatement. I may have shed a tear or two for joy. Gardening is very therapeutic for me. It is also such a wonderful way to see how creation works and how wonderful and amazing our God is! I began to read the instructions and decided I would record the process to share with you all. Shouldn't we share in one another's joy? I think so! The set came with a plant light. I have killed many a plant already due to the fact that our apartment gets no sunlight. This has been very discouraging, since, I love to have flowers and plants in the house to brighten and cheer up a room.  The set came with three packs of seeds, a tea strainer (which is adorable), dirt, four burlap bags, n...

"All of us carry in our hearts and minds the image of our ideal home, realized or not. It is a place where we feel we belong, a rightness, at-homeness, a knitting together of self and world...as Dear Mother used to say, "Home is the place where you can restore your mind, body, and soul." We often take our home for granted. But when we steep ourselves in our home, a deep sense of place begins to emerge...Our homes will only be generous and nurturing as the effort we invest in them.  All family members will carry the atmosphere we create in our homes for the rest of their lives." A RECIPE FOR A HAPPY HOME Half a cup of friendship, and a cup of thoughtfulness, creamed together with a pinch of powered tenderness, very lightly beaten in a bowl of loyalty with a cup of faith, one of hope, and one of charity. Be sure to add a spoonful of gaiety that sings, also the ability to laugh at the little things. Moisten with sudden tears of heartfelt sympathy, bake in good-natured ...

 Dear Readers, I have a pot of coffee brewing and the windows open to have fresh air in the house for when my husband gets home from work. The birds are beginning to return from their winter trip and it has been such a blessing to hear them praise the Lord throughout the day! I thought I would sit down for a few minuets to post the coffee cake recipe that I promised on the last post. SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE Ingredients: 3 C. Flour 1 C. Softened Butter 1 Tsp. Baking Powder 1 Tsp. Salt 1 C. Sour Cream 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda 1 1/2 C. Sugar 3 Eggs 2 Tsp. Vanilla Sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle between layers. Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a tube pan. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and baking soda. In a mixer, beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. ( You can never have to much vanilla! ;)) Add flour in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixtures in 2 additions, beginning and end...

 Dear Readers, Since moving to the city, I have greatly missed being able to plan my Spring garden and take care of my chickens. But I am learning to enjoy cooking, cleaning, and homemaking. I have been able to do some reading and researching on how a home was run in the 1940's and 1950's, and I was encouraged to begin to incorporate a few of the tips I found. I have a book, "Mrs. Dunwoody's Excellent Instructions for Home keeping", coming in the mail and I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from it.  I have also decided to try to grow some herbs indoors, even though our little apartment doesn't get much sun. I have made sure to have flowers in the house to brighten the rooms up and I enjoy diffusing essential oils and having the windows open to refresh the air.  I have begun a new tradition to serve hot coffee with a dessert or snack in the afternoons or evening, using my fine china. I strive to do this especially when my husband is home. I belie...