~Cooking Is Not For Me! ~ HOWEVER~ There are exceptions ~

A couple of days ago my friend Dot asked,"when are we gonna get a good down home Southern recipe from you girl! " When I told her it wouldn't be happening because I hate to cook, she wrote back,

WHAT!!!! Say it ain't so Martha!!! lol lol You're a Southern Bell and don't like to cook????? You must have been born up in Northern Alabama! lol lol

Now don't get me wrong I *CAN* cook, I have to, my husband comes home from work and heads right for the kitchen. LOL!!!! But I hate it enough not to make a sport of IT!!! LOL!!!

I told Dot, that's why I rely on her quick and easy recipes, and I do. Above is her Chicken and Dumpling recipe. Mine is a little different though because hers was thicker but my husband has to have a little juice in his or he thinks it's dry. Go figure! Oh I forgot I did make my own dumplings, ( didn't feel like going to the store) but I did make it again with the bow ties but, forgot to take a picture.

Then I tried her Peach Cobbler, when she first posted it, she posted Blackberry cobbler but she said you can use any fruit you choose.

Boy! Was it good!

Then I tried Pat's Pumpkin recipe, it was very good too! Sorry Pat! I forgot to take a picture when it first came out of the oven.

But here's a picture after my club meeting, the ladies loved it!

So here I am today, and I'm cooking Beer Battered Green Beans for dinner.

Got my Beer! Ladies just pour up enough flour to make enough batter for how many green beans you have and add the Beer. Stir, I did add a little salt, a little garlic powder, and black pepper. Just enough for the amount of batter.

Dip

I dropped them right in the oil from which I'd just fried my pork steaks and.....

Lookie! Lookie! Lookie! They taste Wonderful!

I made a small pan of cornbread, you get no recipe here!

And here's the main deal, my Beer Battered Green Beans and Pork Steaks. I will also have, pinto bean, yams, and coleslaw. The coleslaw will be from Kentucky Fried Chicken, and I made the pinto beans and yams myself. So there you have it.

Donna Marie I will be making your Hot Wings soon, and ladies if I don't try your recipes it's not because I don't think it's a great recipe, it will be because it's too long. I need QUICK & EASY!
Deb

~Re-purposing For The Holidays ~

Do you ever need something and find a way to get it by using something that you already have?Well I found this little Joy sign, for 4.99 at Ole Time Pottery. It was so small I didn't know how I was going to use it. When I decided to do a table scape, I wanted to use it on my table.

So I removed this frame an tried it on this easel.

But this was u-g-l-y!

So on the back there were these hangers and I needed the sign to be larger.

So I found two little screws, if you look close you can see them, and screwed them in the frame and hung the tin on the frame.

The tin matched the easel perfectly.

And there you have it a re-purpose for the holidays. Now you may say, after the holidays you'll have to little holes in your frame. Well I love it so much I plan to keep it as it is, you don't just have joy for the holidays, you want to have joy year round.

Then, this is my chandelier in the foyer. I wanted this kind because I love the look when shades are added.

I found these shades at Kirkland's about eight years ago. Not on sale though, they cost 7.99 each and I needed ten because I needed six for the dining room. Still not bad they've lasted all this time.

But for the holidays I wanted something festive. So I took some of the ribbon that I use on my outside windows, ( I'll show it later) cut it to size and

wrapped it around the shade. I used a straight pin to fasten it, and it's also no problem to remove when putting things back the way they were.

You won't have to worry about the pin showing because you turn it to the inside of the lamp.

So now you have all new shades

Fit for the occasion. What will you re-purpose for the holidays? Deb

~Christmas In My Den~

I know I haven't been around lately but, I've been trying to get finished with my Christmas decorations and some other things. I finally got my giveaway items in the mail too. This is my den. This is where my husband and I spend most of our time so I wanted to make sure it felt like Christmas here. I used my Santas in here, I love all the colors.

I decorated my own garland and the stockings I've had for maybe ten years. I bought them at Marshall's, I really don't remember for how much but I'm thinking about ten dollars each.

I put a small tree in here because there's not a lot of room and I didn't want to live cramped until after Christmas.

Here's the close-up, I just added a few sprigs here and there and some of the ribbon I used in the garland. I found the ribbon at Lowes. One hundred feet for ten dollars.

My Santas, I found at Big Lots. Surprised? Yeah, a long time ago, when they really had something to offer and at discount prices. Sleigh, Marshall's! Big Lots and Marshall's were my favorite stores during that time. I used two of the candle holders that I got from Dot, and the mosaic globes I found at family dollar, 2.00 each.

I just love them! I remember when I posted a pic on RMS, they didn't like them. They thought they were scary. I couldn't win! LOL!!!

Too cute!

And don't forget this one, I posted him in my sneak preview, he's the one that sits on the mantle. All from Big Lots, and they all have wings. I call them my fairy Santas.

This Santa is over my computer desk, I found him at Marshall's about three years ago for 6.99. You would have thought I hit a million dollar jackpot when I got him and I just love him. I will be sharing my other decorations although I didn't put up as much as I usually do, I'm done with my outside decorations too. Wait until you see the tree in my living room it's even smaller than the one here. I really tried to cut back on some of the work.

This is my beautiful Christmas banner, it was made for me by a very lovely person here in blogland. It's Pearl of Pearl's Sentimental Journey. This is one of four that she made for me, one for each season. I had only been blogging for about a month when she surprised me with them. Isn't this lovely? Thanks Pearl, I've been waiting a long time it seems to use this one.

Then my friend Jan at Bold & Free gave me this beautiful award. Jan just had a beautiful new Granddaughter! Here you can read all about it. Congratulations Jan! What a blessing to your family! I wish much joy to you all.

Jan, this is such a beautiful award and I haven't gotten one in a long time. I first want to give this one right back to you, for you are Bold & Free and a Lovely Lady yourself.

I will be sharing this award with others soon. Deb

~In Home Shopping For A Lovely Tablescape Tuesday~

Today for Tablescape Tuesday I'm going to feature four plates that I have from the Currier & Ives collection. I bought them about 6 years ago and I always find a place to display them for the Christmas season. This year will be the first time they actually made it to the kitchen table due to Susan at Between Naps On The Porch, the hostess of Tablescape Tuesday, you must stop by her blog she has set the most beautiful table ever. Well I bought my plates at Big Lots, this is when Big Lots was really a discount store. Now I believe they're trying to compete with the big name retail stores with all the high price items they have now, but mind you, not a lot items that you would really want. Anyway I was pleased with this purchase back then, I paid 4 or 5.00 each. Everything else here are things I already had but never knew they could be used in a tablesetting until I met all of you Tablescape Tuesday participants. The above plate is called: The Road Winter, it and the others are paired with my same old chargers from last time, because I love them.

This plate is: American Homestead Winter

and this: American Winter Scene - Morning

Last but not least: Winter in the Country- A Cold Morning. Of course they're just for displaying you can't eat off of them, they're toxic if you do so, so what I really have here is two chargers. But, that's not a problem. I just pull out my trusty plastic ware in white, from the Dollar Store and there you go.

See, you still can enjoy a lovely table setting with dinner, in addition I could add a matching bowl or saucer if that's what's needed for my meal. You ask why not use real white plates for this small group? Because I don't have any. LOL!!! I'm really into large crowds and my paper and plastic is all I need.

Clean-up still a breeze! I must say I'm into fast clean-up the less house-work the better. Now if I plan to host a dinner for four and one of the quest is the Pope, I'll use the real thing. LOL!!! No puns intended for the Pope.

I went around the house and picked up items that would compliment the plates and I think it turned out okay but, I'll let you guys be the judge. This is the center view.

Right side

Left side

Centerpiece

Right angle

Left angle, the flatware was ordered from a catalog, I admit not one of my better purchases, but okay for everyday since at the time I ordered them they were to go with the everyday dishes that I ordered.

I know, it won't seat a crowd, but it's dinner for four, and cheap, cheap, cheap.

Gollum's Decorating/Writing Game

I saw this challenge at Donna's Story and thought it would be so much fun to join in. It was started at Designs By Gollum please go there to see how to play.

Here are the rules to her game.

1. Make up a decorating story that involves this setting:

2. Then watch the video and /or listen to the song. The song with this photo is Windmills Of Your Mind - by Sting

Write sketch about the photo and the song, and use the following words:

French blue
Daylight or (rain)
Cinnamon or (cloves)
Invitation
Smooth or (rough, crinkly,glassy)
Clock
Circle or (circles)
Apple
Keys
Summer
Lovers
You don't have to use all the words just use at least 5.


It was in the heat of summer, and vacationing in Switzerland with his family, was not as I had planned. We'd started a celibate relationship only two months earlier, but he was beginning to change. Intriguing at first, he appeared to be a man of self control. But now the pressure I feel by his wise cracks and his boasting of the number of women that would love to be with him is quite overwhelming. I can take no more of the love he feels for himself. His stroking of his own ego is more than I can stand and I can hardly wait to kiss his back-side goodbye. I will be leaving here tomorrow little does he know, but today I would host a pretend game with members of his family that are just as full of themselves as he.



The invitation was at the spur of the moment and not my idea at all, for if it was, I would have planned to poison them all. Yes, I would pour it right from that bottle of fine wine and into those pretty little rose stemmed glasses that I'd found in the cupboard.

Everything was so good in the beginning, we met at the Airport, he had come from Washington to New York on business and I had just flown in from Chicago. We both were checking our baggage with difficulty and in our wait had struck up a conversation. It wasn't long before our conversation turn into dinner and dinner into a night cap at my place. I had made it clear that that was all it would be and he agreed. I had had my fill of smooth talkers that only had one thing in mind and he'd assured me that he was not that kind.



It was daylight when he left and we made plans for that evening. He was due back in Washington in a couple of days but would return in two weeks. We spent endless hours on the phone together and when he returned endless hours in each others company. At the end of of his last business trip in New York he told me that he'd arranged a trip for us both to Switzerland. It was to visit with his family, and to last a month.



I was reluctant to give him an answer right away but I thought that maybe I could get ideas for the ending of my upcoming book by taking in the beautiful scenery's there. It proved to be the worst move I could have made. He thought that by my agreeing to take the trip I would be consenting to a lovers bout, but he was in for a big surprise. Needless to say that after the first week we had absolutely no interest in each other. I was planning to skip out on this liar and free him up to do what he thought he was put here on earth for, and that was, for his good looks and abililty to lie his way into the under garments of trusting women.



The invitation was to his mother and father, and of course, his brother and his lover. I found that he had also told them of the trouble that was between us because she thought she'd tell me about his little flock of fools that he could have anytime without a doubt. I told her if she thought that her little story would change my mind that she must be in a drunken stupor, I could tell she was a boozer by her glassy eyes and the dark circles that she tried to hide with her gobs of makeup.



All in all I tried to remain the gracious host, though his mother did all the cooking. She thought she should have her own cooking show but I think she ought not to bother. I served them poison-free wine and lit the candles on the impeccable table that I'd set with the lovely French Blue tablecloth. I watched the clock praying for the time that they would all leave. I sat there pretending to be apart of the group but I was really just admiring the countryside that I could see through the window glass. Tomorrow I will be going home.