Head on over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook to see the recipe for this cobbler. I like it because you can use frozen or fresh fruit and the cake topping doesn’t get soggy. I made a larger one with a mix of apples and blueberries, too. Serve it cake side up or cake side down.
They say we are finally going to get some relief from our dry days and heat and smoke filled skies soon. I hope so.
To get to this lovely setting and presentation it takes lots of planning ahead and sometimes it takes many hands.
All the Mennonite Girls from British Columbia and me, the U.S.A. cousin, hadn’t been together since December. It was high tea time for us to get together again and Lovella graciously offered her home knowing that it is easier for me to get there from the U.S.A.
Can you take enough photos to document all the planning, baking and creating of these beautiful delicacies?
Anneliese baked, mixed and put together this tiered platter of gluten free tea bites for Julie and all of us. They were so tasty and she’ll share the recipe sometime in the future on our blog.
There were eight of us around the table on this day and we sorely missed our two Mennonite Girls from Manitoba. Lovella made these beautiful cookies for each of us and they served as place cards letting us know where to sit.
Some close ups of what we enjoyed.
Kathy made this fruit salad with a nice dressing that she will share soon.
And here is a little glimpse in how it all came together just before we sat down at Lovella’s table.
Lovella worked ahead of time to make the tea come together making pastry puff cones to stuff with an egg salad mixture and other tea treats.
Judy put together a lovely Earl Grey punch that she’ll be sharing soon on the blog.
Bev made some wonderful tarts with basil and other yummy ingredients, bottom right. Lovella also made mini croissants from scratch, rhubarb scones, and plain scones. Lovella provided lemon curd, blackberry preserves and creme fraiche to go with the scones.
When we ate enough of the savory treats Lovella brought out these delicacies that she had also prepared ahead of time for us. Melt in your mouth pavlova goodness!
We had a great time of catching up and taking care of some business for some upcoming events.
I’m very thankful for my Mennonite Girl friends and all I’ve learned and enjoyed since God plopped me into this community. Thank you Lovella for such a lovely time that you thought out and brought together for all of us. Thanks to all the other girls for their contributions to our wonderful time of feasting and of fellowship. It was a sacred time.
Fourth of July with family, friends and neighbors.
Book launch for Bread for the Journey at Marg’s home in Chilliwack, B.C.
July 30th we received an announcement from Dan and Jamie that they were expecting our first grandchild!
August Book launch celebration at the Heritage Museum in Abbotsford, B.C.
Travels to Dan and Jamie’s to help with projects in August.
Memorial service for our dear friend Dave Dickinson late in August with all of our family.
August/September visits to Eastern Washington and visits here from cousins.
October Western Conference clinched and another trip to Eastern Washington where I was able to hear Baby Bayles’ heartbeat, attend a sign making class and see that beautiful rainbow above.
We found out we are having a little granddaughter!
November day trips and wonderful Thanksgiving gatherings with friends and family.
Early December trip to Canada for our annual MGCC Christmas dinner.
Our 42nd wedding anniversary meal in La Conner at the Oyster and Thistle a day late but just as good .
December 11th our Sounders beat Toronto to win their first ever MLS Cup!
Downtown Seattle for the MLS Championship parade and celebration with Josh and Laura. (December 14th)
Dan and Jamie moved into their new home in weather that ranged from 8 degrees to 22 degrees. Josh flew over to help them move the weekend before Christmas!
Christmas day with all of our kids and then a trip to La Conner with Katie and Andrew to celebrate Katie’s birthday.
We ended the year with a nice chilly walk and then a Raclette dinner at this old house with dear old friends. Sad to say I forgot to take a photo! Here’s the table set in Husky gold and purple even though our dear Huskies lost to the Crimson Tide after a great run in 2016!
Today on New Year’s day we managed to put away Christmas decorations and drag the tree out to the yard waste bin. Woohoo! Tomorrow I will enjoy sitting and watching the Rose Bowl Parade and maybe the Rose Bowl game.
Hope that 2017 is having a good start at your house!
Numbers 6: 24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Click on over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for the instructions to put together this Marinated Cheese Platter. It’s easy and great for a crowd.
Hope your last day of 2016 is filled with good things and here’s a prayer for 2017…
A New Year’s Prayer
May God make your year a happy one!
Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain,
But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;
Not by making your path easy,
But by making you sturdy to travel any path;
Not by taking hardships from you,
But by taking fear from your heart;
Not by granting you unbroken sunshine,
But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;
Not by making your life always pleasant,
But by showing you when people and their causes need you most,
and by making you anxious to be there to help.
God’s love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.
Anon.
Today over at Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’m sharing our Mystery Tree Tradition that we have embraced the last several years.
This antique postcard is a favorite one that we have from Dear’s Great great Aunt Emma. We still have snow on the ground but it has melted off the streets.
This afternoon we will celebrate the life of a friend who died suddenly a week ago Friday. He was only 69. We will see many old friends from our former church. I hope to hug his wife who was a faithful Sunday School teacher to our boys and several others and cherish the reunions. We are again thankful for the Hope we have in Jesus and the Hope Mick had in Jesus, our Redeemer.
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
Cherish those God has put in your life today. Don’t put off giving words of affirmation to those around you. Choose joy!
Sunday the 4th of December was the day set for our annual Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas dinner. This year Kathy and her hubby hosted us in their newly renovated home. The sad thing was that Dear was sicker than a dog so I grabbed my passport and drove myself up to Canada and back. I got to Scot and Kathy’s before the rest of the crew and was able to snap some photos .
As the rest of the girls and their hubbies arrived the platters of appetizers took over Kathy’s beautiful new island.
Not only did appetizers appear as the girls arrived but Lovella’s Showstopper dessert came through the door and all cameras were poised to capture it. Lovella made a single gluten free serving for Julie, too.
We all sat down at the table and started the meal with Bev’s Spinach Salad. Scot cooked an amazing pork tenderloin on his Green Egg, paired with Kathy’s delicious Blackberry Balsamic sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans. We all enjoyed this delicious meal. The recipe for Kathy’s Pork Tenderloin with Blackberry Balsamic Sauce can be found in our Celebrations Cookbook on page 222.
Judy and me enjoying being color coordinated and collar coordinated! Thanks Marg for sharing your photo.
We took a break from the table to do a gift exchange amongst the girls before we moved on to dessert. We each brought one tea towel wrapped or in a gift bag and then played a guessing game to determine the order of choosing the package to open and see what variety of tea towel we would take home. There were a few towels that changed owners over the course of this game.
We switched places with the guys to enjoy our dessert and some “business” together at the table.
Marg, Judy, Bev, and Kathy.
Lovella, Anneliese and Julie. We were all thrilled that Julie could join us for a few hours. She is spending many hours with her mother who is living her last days in Hospice. Thank you dear Kathy and Scot for your wonderful hospitality!
My drive home from British Columbia was a varied mix of driving conditions and hazards. My border crossings were both quick and as usual for me an enjoyable exchange with the Border agents. I had clear skies and great road conditions until I hit Burlington where a deluge of hail had hit the roadway with a thick layer of slush on the road. Things slowed way down and my car didn’t want to keep on track. After that steering wheel gripping experience (I did not dare to touch my brakes) it was clear sailing ahead for a few miles and then a warning of flashing lights so I slowed way down before I hit another very slushy icy part of the interstate. Hallelujah’s were exclaimed when I got through that stretch and things sailed along nicely for more miles before there was a freeway warning sign of a collision ahead with the southbound freeway stopped completely and suggestions to take alternate routes. Thankfully I was in the right lane and there was an exit that looked somewhat familiar in Everett. I took it and avoided sitting on the freeway until the collision was cleared. Once through Everett I was able to get back on the freeway and continue home on relatively empty interstates. I thanked the Lord as I took my exit off the freeway and then I thanked the Lord again as I drove into my garage, safe and sound.
Today I’m enjoying sitting in my robe doing nothing but relaxing and writing this post, remembering all the fun moments last night and watching some occasional snowflakes fall, melting as they hit the ground. (Hope I got my commas correct in that long sentence). I write all these details for myself to document what happened and to keep different events from getting mixed up in my head.
Linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life. Thank you Maggie!
1. For my Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice Friday post I’ll start with this Pumpkin Spice Cake that’s easy to make. I posted it on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog this week and you can click HERE to get the recipe.
In tandem with my cake above is this collage. Do you have a Jiffi-Sift? We’ve never given ours a name but everyone in the family knows what to grab when you want to lightly dust powdered sugar on anything like French Toast and Spice Cake. I have a post about my Tupperware Jiffi-Sift here. Some of you call powdered sugar icing sugar.
2. On a nice day it’s good to take a little drive to see something different from your regular views. This was taken from the car while we traveled on Highway 9 north past Snohomish. That’s Mount Baker covered with snow and just beyond are our Canadian neighbors.
3. Never stop singing! That’s my motto amongst a few others. This is our little girl (sweet and sassy) singing at her wedding. Photo credit to Jeremy Leffel.
4. Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice that’s what little girls are made of. Continuing on with my Friday theme this week I’m sharing this news again because it’s worthy of repeating. We are grandparents for the first time and our granddaughter should be born sometime in late March or early April if she decides to be late. We are praying for a healthy babe and uncomplicated delivery.
5. And here is this next photo my sister took of my dear old pop who is 93 and is carrying on. Still enjoying his recliner and making jigsaw puzzles. When I call him he says “I’m getting weaker, but I’m okay dochenka”. Dochenka is an endearing word for daughter in Russian. Then he always asks us to pray for him.
Thankful for these nice things in my life: Cake and other sweet treats, views to enjoy, daughters that delight, new life to anticipate with joy, old Pop to cherish.
What are some of your favorite things that you are thankful for?
Linking up to Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne and Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm.
…of a horse.
While driving the country roads in Amish Country Ohio with our friends Bev and Harv we stopped to take a closer look at these noble creatures.
They noticed us and came closer to see if we had a treat for them.
We chose roads less traveled and we were rewarded with these beautiful scenes.
All these photos were taken on Wednesday September 28th in Holmes County, Ohio.
Linking up to ABC Wednesday for N is for Neigh. Thank you Mrs. Nesbitt for starting ABC and Roger and company for your hand in keeping it going.
Head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for my Cucumber Salsa Recipe.
On Sunday the 25th of September we traveled along the Heritage Trail in Amish/Mennonite Country, Indiana. These shots are from one of our first stops just south of downtown Shipshewana. This reminded me of the Goldilocks story for some reason.
We have had a soggy weekend with some sun breaks here and there. We have been quite lazy here at this old house this weekend. We were in church early Sunday morning where we started a new series on the Holy Spirit. It was a good start with more to come. After church we had breakfast out and stopped at Fred Meyer to buy some ingredients for chicken chili for our second meal of the day and it was real good. These days we are happy with two meals a day.
How was your weekend? It wouldn’t be hard to accomplish more than we did at this old house.
Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada and I wish our good neighbors a very Happy Thanksgiving Day. May God bless Canada today and forever…
Linking to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life. Thank you Maggie for being a great hostess of this meme.
E & S Sales: Come enjoy their unique varieties and wide selection of bulk flour, candy, nuts, snacks, dried fruit, baking ingredients and spices. They have cheese, meat, produce, jams & jellies, salsa, noodles and many other products. You can sit in their deli and enjoy a sandwich, salad, soup, slice of pie and ice cream. Check out their antiques on display while you browse the store and remember they are not open on Sunday!
We just kept pointing and exclaiming to each other as we walked the aisles. This is not your Costco variety bulk.
Me and my fellow shoppers.
The parking lot.
This is my niece’s mother in law. She and her hubby traveled from Michigan for our cooking show and offered to take us around to some of their favorite spots in Shipshe. I’m sorry I didn’t get a photo of the 4 of us together. Besides E & S they took us to their favorite snack spot, JoJo’s Pretzels! JoJo’s is located in the Davis Mercantile, four levels of shops with a carousel on one of the levels.
They have a sense of humor, too.
We finished off our morning at Yoder’s Red Barn Shoppes not to be mistaken for Yoder’s Meat and Cheese. I’ll save that for another post. Thank you Arden and Mary Lou for your hospitality!
We are having a soggy stay inside Saturday here at this old house. The colors are changing nicely in our corner of the world. Our Canadian neighbors are celebrating Thanksgiving all through this weekend with Monday being their official Thanksgiving Day. Here’s a photo of the back of our home with some fall color. I took this photo yesterday morning.
Enjoy your weekend everyone…
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 