With every ones busy schedules we celebrated Valentine's Day & birthday the following Saturday. My mom makes this wonderful dish that I request every year for my birthday dinner. I'm not sure where the recipe came from...she's been making it for years now, but we always look forward to having it.
I'd also had a hankering for pineapple upside-down cake, so instead of the usual red velvet cake with the cream cheese frosting she surprised me with a homemade one. It was sooooo yummy and hit the spot perfectly.

Beef Strips Oriental:

2 Lbs. Round Steak - cut into strips
3-4 carrots sliced ( into rounds)
3-4 celery ribs sliced
fresh mushrooms sliced
1 large can of water chestnuts
2-3 garlic cloves (grated or minced )
3 TBS soy sauce
( Note: you can add or take away from the above ingredients according to what you like)
* use a large pan/cooking pot

* Brown steak strips in small amount of oil ( do this step in two batches).
* Once steak strips are done, add 3 cups water to strips. Add 3 TBS soy sauce, and 3 garlic cloves grated.  * Cook covered for 45 minutes. ( check and stir contents during this step. You can eye it and if it starts cooking down to much so that it is drying out add more water.)
* Add carrots, celery, mushrooms, and water chestnuts to the pan and cook covered another 30 minutes.
* Thicken with cornstarch slurry ( a slurry is a mix of cornstarch and water. Take 2-3 TBS cornstarch and 1/4 cup water, mix together then add to the pot. This is just an approximation of the measurement since we usually eye it.)

Rice: use original white rice, following the instructions on the back of the box for servings and cook times.

Sorry it took so long to post the recipe...I had to find where I stuck it, but I can assure you it's worth the wait. My mom has made it so much she doesn't need to look at the recipe any more.
Thanks mom=)

Valentine String Art

Embroidered cards ~ I think this technique makes a very special and unique card. There are lots of different patterns out there, but so far my favorite is the heart. I always liked this embroidery stitch, and then I discovered it in string art. Perfect! A special heart for a special some one.

This is my messy generic pattern. I enlarged a free pattern I found on the net, but there is a printable version.
There were a couple of numbers that were messed up on the printable pattern (#'s 12 & 24) ,so that is why I posted the my generic one. It's pretty quick and easy as long as you have a good pattern.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

...Coffee

(Below: Yes, I have a brick fetish..I love the color and patterns of the old bricks. They just don't make them like they used too.)

Stopped by to check out a new local cafe today. Good coffee warms the heart, right? This new cafe is located in one of the beautiful historical buildings in our downtown area. We arrived a little early today, before the cafe opened, but they were kind enough to allow us to come in and look around. The staff was friendly and there is a small book store right off the cafe. It looked like a wonderful place to hang out with a cuppa joe.

While I was visiting our new local cafe, we got on the subject of coffee bean roasters....I don't think there are any in our area, but I saw this one at a cafe in Wisconsin some time ago. This was behind the counter in the cafe so you could watch how they roasted the beans. The smell was amazing!!

Its freezing outside...and is supposed to be some thing like -20 degrees tonight with wind chill. Perfect time to stay in and make a project. We dug out some of my scrapbooking stash and came up with another pretty page. Our theme was beauty. The picture matched the colors we wanted to work with & Kelsey had found a project on the net she wanted to use as an example. We got it pretty close to what she had in mind. It also doesn't hurt to have a pretty subject for the picture. ( I know she didn't inherit being photogenic from me!)

Sooooo, during this latest blast of freezing cold weather, stay in, stay creative, and stay warm!

Blog Makeover

Yeah, finally finished! It didn't take very long to get this done today...well, once I was done playing around taking pictures. My husband thinks I'm a nut! He still doesn't understand why I was taking pictures of a "bunch of stuff". Oh well, I like how it turned out, so we're all good =)

Nope, your in the right place...
I just got tired of all the dark colors on my blog, so I decided to brighten it up a bit. I thought with the new year I would try a new look. I've pretty much had the same design since I decided to start a blog or since my daughter decided I should start a blog.( I have enjoyed blogging in my spare time ever since.)
You'll have to forgive me ...I'm still working on the header. I'm not one that's very savvy with a computer. Its been a while since I've made the last one and I think, if I remember right, after messing with it for several hours I figured out how to size it by accident. I have no idea why I thought it would be easier for me this time around. Any way, it should be finished soon. I'm pretty sure I have it figured out, I just have to add a few more details and tah dah ....done!
Hoping you all will like the new look....its done in my favorite colors.

Whimsical Ceramic Tile Coasters

What would we ever do without Mod Podge? These are some ceramic tiles that my mom had left over from re-doing her bathroom. We chose some travel scrapbook papers and some stickers for decorating the tiles. Mod podged them on, and clear coated them after they had time to dry. I love these!! They turned out awesome. I love the bold colors and the whimsical theme. We had fun making these together & were thinking this would be great for a girls night party.

Earth Tones

We moved my daughter right before Christmas. There is still some unpacking to do and of course decorating is always an on-going project. Today we decorated with some natural branches that she went out and cut herself. She chose earth tone colors and other natural accents for her loft bedroom that over looks the living room. As you enter the loft we added three branches that are sprayed with a clear coat that has sparkly glitter dust...they turned out really cute. It keeps them looking natural but still added just a bit of sparkle when they catch the light. Carmen was lounging on her bed while we did all the work...the cats love that she has sheer curtains surrounding her bed, Its like a little hide-away.

Icy Morning

I went out to warm the car up to take my son to school and my car was frozen solid, totally encased in a clear sheet of ice. So who do you always call for a mini crisis, mom! Knowing my son had a way to school it was sorta funny. Im not sure why, but my car was frozen shut for three days. I thought for sure the afternoon sun would have melted the ice, but it was to thick from the rain and sleet the night before. What ever managed to melt during the day kept re-freezing at night. I seemed to be the only one having this problem...go figure. Every one else's cars seemed to do ok including my husbands. In spite of all the ice, it was a gorgeous chilly morning, the light reflected off every surface ...perfect for curling up with a warm cuppa coffee.

Happy New Year!!

https://www.facebook.com/KnittingFeverInc

Winter ....

 It's nice to have some down time to relax after Christmas and before the new year.  I've already started knitting on a new scarf. Its not for a special occasion, its just for some thing to knit up to keep my hands busy.  I started with using the left over yarn from my daughters eternity scarf project (thick & quick yarn), and so far I like it.

 I'm enjoying the cold evenings of late watching movies and staying warm by the fire place working up my projects with a nice cuppa.
I hope every one has a Happy & Safe New Year!

Merry Christmas every one, have safe and Happy Holidays!

Truth Is ...

Ok, I don't know about your kids, but this is what I get when I ask for a nice family picture....
they seem to go all goofy on me! I took about eight pictures before I got a good one, but that's alright, some day, they will be the ones asking their kids for "a nice family picture" and I will be the one sitting back laughing enjoying all the commotion. (No worries, it was all in good fun)

Lots Better!!

My son, getting coal for Christmas, from his sister.

Even though I got a lot of goofy pictures, they gave me new fun memories for the holidays and provided us all with a good laugh.
p.s. I know some day their kids will love this!!