Guinea Pigs

     My daughter's teacher is on maternity leave. The class has a long-term substitute. The class recently completed a poetry unit in which the teacher told the students that she adored bacon and promised if they produced enough bacon poems, she would throw them a bacon party. The children came through. The teacher claimed they had run out of time. No party.

     This week my daughter was Star Student. Star Student is allowed to bring a treat. We decided to surprise the kids with bacon cupcakes. A mini-bacon party! I have never tasted a bacon cupcake but have read about them several times (internet of course). 

Fact #1 - Everyone loves bacon

Fact #2 - Sweet and salt are the best combination evah

Assumed Fact #3 - bacon cupcakes will be a hit with a group of children deprived of a promised bacon party.

     

     The cupcakes were painstakingly lovingly made from scratch with the finest ingredients (organic butter, grade A maple syrup, preservative free bacon, etc...). A full evening later, the cupcakes were done. I sampled. They were... interesting.

     Not being a cake eater myself, I served a cupcake to each family member to ask what they thought. Here are the results...

They're good!  X3

Interesting  X1

Don't care for  X1

     That's when it occurred to me. Yes, at 9pm the night before treat day, it occurred to me that a group of 24 third graders might not appreciate being guinea pigs for a new recipe. I asked Darling Daughter if I should run out and buy some pre-made cookies (just in case) and she insisted on the bacon cupcakes (which she adored). I left the decision up to her, suggesting she not take offense if no one took them or liked them!

     Thursday, Darling Daughter arrives to school with more than two dozen Bacon Cupcakes. They were a hit! Only one child declined the offer. Everyone who tried them liked them. One boy asked if he could have the extras (which were delivered around the school to teachers & staff).

     I will share the link to the recipe website but I would suggest adding some applesauce or honey to the batter as they turned out a bit dry. They are officially kid approved!

I am NOT nor do I claim to be a food/product photographer. Please excuse the distasteful picture!  ;)

Darling Daughter's Bacon Poem #1

Makin' some bacon

Sizzling, jumping bacon

Bacon up high

Bacon down low

Bacon everywhere

That's how to go

~Madelynn Retzlaff

Brain Food

I am constantly teaching my children and attempting to instill values in the hopes that something sticks. Sometimes I wonder if I'm getting through at all. Other times, I know I've hit the mark!

I taught them from a very young age that books are food for the brain. They nourish it and help it grow big and strong. A few days ago, at the library, Darling Daughter walked up to me with a mega stack of books.

Me: "Wow, Honey! That's a lot of books!"
DD: "Yeah, my brain is really hungry!"

Score!!!

Friday

I'm paying bills this morning.

How uninspiring!

I decided to head over to my photo files

to find something to play with.

Look what I found!

Yum!

Now I'm hungry.

Have a delicious weekend!

Yum!

Do these cinnamon rolls make my butt look big?

Now to get my mouth to care!

I made a batch yesterday.

They are unbelieveable!

Santa should definitely put them on the naughty list!

Want to make your own?

Check out The Girl Who Ate Everything

WARNING! You'll want to eat everything too!

LOVE this sight!

The Overachiever

I purchase my eggs from local farmers.

Yesterday I made scrambled eggs for the kids.

This is what I pulled from the carton.

The comedian in me started laughing and thought,

"Wow! Looks like we have an overachiever in the coop!"

The philosopher in me thought,

"Nature at its best is perfectly imperfect. We should accept ourselves the same."

Today I say to you, "Go live your life and live it loud. Don't try to be perfect,

just be. And if you push real hard, you just might achieve greatness!"

Egg humor wrapped in wisdom especially for you.

:)

Nourishment

I went to a little Amish style country store yesterday.

I was out of almond meal.

Waking kids in shifts so early in the morning makes for weary eaters.

Making breakfast cakes with almond and blueberry tempts their palette

and nourishes their bodies.

I also made homemade soup from a smoked turkey leg.

It turned out better than imagined.

Soup nourishes body and heart.

(the following definitions from my trusty Merriam Webster Dictionary© 1994)

nourish (vb): to promote the growth or development of

nourishing (adj.): giving nourishment

nourishment (n):the action or process of nourishing

The words themselves sound satisfying and fulfilling.

Some associated words might be love, care, wholesome, nurture.

All positive.

When we think of nourishment we most often think of food.

But what about other forms of nourishment?

What do you feed your heart?

Your soul?

In order to thrive we need proper nourishment.

The same goes for all parts of our "selves"

Do you nourish your creativity? your dreams?

Do you nourish your relationships?

What area in your life is suffering?

Perhaps you simply need to tend to it with proper nourishment.

Feed your hopes, dreams and desires.

Promote their growth.

Nourish them.

With love,

Lynn

Quick Pic

No time to blog today.

Dropping by with a quick pic.

Saw a picture of this online and thought it looked fun!

So I purchased some organic hotdogs and whole grain spaghetti

(to make it healthy fun)

and had at 'er!

What a hoot!

Kiddos were amused too.   ;0)

Reverb - Soul Food

Reverb prompt:

Soul Food - What did you eat this year that you will never forget? What went into your mouth & touched your soul?   So many foods to choose from! My birthday dinner, my special lunch date with fellow bloggers, the food my children and I grew in our garden or the dinner I lovingly prepared today out of fresh ingredients for our holiday gathering. All healthy, pure foods wonderfully prepared with special memories to accompany. I have consumed quite a bit of soul food this year nourishing body, mind and soul.

The kid's favorite produce to grow in the garden.

Mini melons.

They mature and ripen to a size small enough so they get their very own personal melons.

Down Day... or is it Up?

What a crazy, good, long weekend!
Work, work and more work.
We did yard work,
house work,
summer prep work
and
more work.
It was hot, tiring and muscle fatiguing.
We wrapped the long weekend up with some homemade focaccia bread
and homemade soup au du leftovers :)

All that hard work has my thighs so sore and tight
I can hardly walk.
My wrists are so weak and affected I'm wearing my brace.

Today I am having a down day. Or is it up?
Spending the day with a friend in a quaint little shop town.
Will have lunch at a coffee shop and take in all the beauty of the area.

Hoping to have some wonderful pics to share tomorrow.

Wishing you a happy Tuesday as well!

P.S. Planning a fairy garden to build with the little ones.
Check out these cute etsy finds!!!
Great inspiration, no?!!!!!

Gratitude Attitude - Day 22

(28 days to an attitude of gratitude - learn more here)

Today was rather exhausting for me. I had an early Thanksgiving dinner so my step-father could celebrate. He will be having a chemo treatment on Monday and knows he will be ill on Thanksgiving. We wanted to make sure he was able to enjoy the holiday so we gladly celebrated early.
Last night was another sleepless night in a long line of sleepless nights. The new kitten I adopted has been more than a handful. He has behavioral issues, digestive issues and we just finished with some health issues. I have not been getting much sleep due to dealing with him. I woke up this morning crabby, emotional and irritated. I cried my way through the morning and fought off the shakes.
I would like to take a moment to shout my gratitude today as hard days make the good all that much better! I AM GRATEFUL!!!!! for my loving family, for the progress of my step-father's chemo, for Thanksgiving dinner, and for SLEEP!!!! which I intend to get more than my share of this evening. Sleep. Don't cat's make it look so easy?

Gratitude Attitude - Day 14

(28 days to an attitude of gratitude - learn more here)

Oh how grateful I am for cottage industry and Mom & Pop shops. I love buying local. I love connecting with my community. I love having a relationship with the people I purchase food and goods from. I appreciate the care they put into all they do. I appreciate the quality. I appreciate their smiling faces. I love the little Amish style dry goods grocery that opened in my area. Sigh...

I love and acknowledge that I am half way through my 28 days to an attitude of gratitude!!!

Gratitude Attitude - Day 12

(28 days to an attitude of gratitude - learn more here)

The first major piece of furniture my husband and I invested a decent amount of money in was the dining room table. We both know the importance of eating at least one meal a day as a family. The quality of time spent sharing, discussing, and nourishing our bodies is irreplaceable in our book. We knew it was an investment in our family, not just as a piece of furniture.

How would we ever have guessed it was also an investment in entertainment. We have game night on the table, entertain family and friends over the table and enjoy the spontaneity and creativity of our children's imaginations at the table. The picture posted above was taken in the summer. My teen was making pancakes one weekend morning and the two little ones happily devoured them decked out in their pj's and swim goggles!

Last night over dinner, we discussed Purple People Eaters. We could not come to a solid conclusion on whether the People Eaters were Purple or if they were of a different color but ate Purple People! Ha! What a fun and silly conversation we found ourselves in without even realizing how silly it really was! I am grateful for my children, their creativity, spontaneity and imaginations. I am grateful they have opened up the magical world of make believe in our home.

Please feel free to share photos and/or stories of spontaneous family moments from your home.