Tag Archives: Creamy Cheesecake

Greg’s Birthday Hodgepodge

This year Wednesday Hodgepodge has landed on Greg’s Birthday. We will be celebrating simply today and more grandly on Friday in Spokane.

Our lovely hostess, Joyce, has another batch of Wednesday Hodgepodge questions mixed up for us. Thank You, Joyce!

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I’m just here for the snacks). Who’s your team? If you’re playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

I like college football. We have 3 graduates of the University of Washington in our family so we are always ready to cheer the Huskies on. They beat their cross state rival on Sunday at the Apple Cup. My favorite sport is soccer/futbol. I keep up with English Premier league and of course I follow the Seattle Sounders. I’m a 10 for soccer and a 5 for football.

2. What’s something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

I am trying to clean up my blog, long story. I made great headway over Labor Day Weekend while I had the time. I don’t know how long it will take but I’m committed to getting the job done. Some of the posts on my blog from the past have disappeared and I’ll be reposting the ones that are more dear to me here and there under the heading of Blog Restoration.

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What’s a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn’t as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what’s a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

I do like chicken wings with moist towelettes handy. Hot dogs/brats and beans or mac and cheese sound like something good on a tailgate sturdy paper plate! For watching Fall or winter sporting events at home a big pot of chili, cornbread and chips and salsa is good and easy.

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your ‘life playbook’ you think everyone should know?

Just one? I wrote this quote down from J.C. Ryle this week and it serves this question well.

“We must not pretend we are wiser than God.”

And from a recent sermon by our Pastor; “We don’t practice sin, we fight it!”

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they’d like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

On 9-11-2001 We were living in Kenmore, Washington. We put this flag on the side of our home that faced the street. We really didn’t know what else to do.

It was so surreal, so shocking, so disturbing and it changed our world as we know it.

I have a full post set to publish on Friday in remembrance of this day 25 years ago.

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

Back to the birthday boy. Today he is 73. I like to think he’s catching up to me but come March I’ll still be a few years ahead of him.

Photo Above from a couple years ago and photo below several years ago with our middle son.

Today, on his birthday, he is with our middle son helping him to fell trees and loading those logs into the truck for firewood. They are in the Colville National Forest. Greg has the gift of service.

Yesterday I made this treat for him. It’s his favorite. It’s my recipe in the Mennonite Girls Can Cook, Celebrations Cookbook. We will enjoy that treat today at some point.

Looking forward to visiting and reading more answers to the questions or prompts.

Embracing the Days…

Catching up with some events from the last week. The super moon lit up the sky and our acres. So bright, it was almost as if we had street lights.

Addy’s last basketball game of the short season was on Saturday morning, the 6th of December.

As usual she played hard and well.

After the game all the ladies and JJ took in the Lady Lion’s craft fair in Kettle Falls. When we saw all we wanted to see we met up for lunch at TJ’s in Kettle Falls. Addy and JJ sat across the table from me and I took this shot of them.

Before the rains came and while the snow was still good enough for sledding, our Colville kids searched out their Christmas tree for 2025.

On Sunday while on greeting duty, I took this photo of the entry at our church. The Joy is real.

Our son planned a very special weekend in Nashville to celebrate Laura’s birthday. When they arrived an unexpected surprise for Laura was that cousins David and Kristin joined them for the celebration. It was an epic weekend for the four of them.

This is Nashville, not Iceland. Ice at Gaylord Opryland Resort.

All four of them described this weekend as unforgettable.

Monday was cheesecake baking day here at our country bungalow. I made two for our annual Staff/Deacon Christmas dinner which will be on Tuesday the 9th. While I mixed and baked our Christmas CDs were playing. While I was finishing up we got these two photos of our grands helping their Great Grandmother decorate her little corner tree.

This was our comp dessert at our anniversary getaway last week that I wanted to remember. It is a cotton candy sundae and it was delicious and unique.

In other news, I’m happy to report that our Christmas cards were mailed on Monday. This always comes with a sigh of relief and a smile of satisfaction.

Hopefully, I’ll remember to take photos at our dinner party tonight along with the finished cheesecakes.

A New Week…

…with a fresh start.

Trying something new today with the following prompts:

Sunday May 5th: We left home for our church services at the regular time. This Sunday we were having a Missionary Emphasis with a Missions Auction later in the afternoon and early evening. I baked a cheesecake for our contribution to the auction and the highest bid was over $80. Later this week we will find out the total amount our Auction fundraiser yielded.

Monday May 6th: Today will be laundry day. A good day to do indoor things since we are having rain since Sunday afternoon. I’ll be getting guestrooms ready. While I’m typing the rhythm of the falling rain is loud and clear.

New challenge: I’m responding to a prayer initiative that our Missionary speaker shared with us called PRAY938. Thirty days of prayer asking God to send gospel workers into His harvest. (Based on Matthew 9:38) The challenge includes a booklet with prompts to help you pray specifically.

Planning: Monday mornings are my time for making lists and looking over what is on the calendar for this new week. That reminds me, I forgot to sign up for the Mother/daughter Princess Pajama party on Friday evening at our church. oops. Addy is so excited for this event. I need to plan a menu for our Mother’s Day small gathering on Sunday evening.

Organizing: We are participating in a group garage sale the first weekend in June so I have been organizing and pricing items I’ve set aside for that event. I’m happy with my progress thus far.

Current Books I’m Reading: Besides my Day by Day with J.C. Ryle, I’m reading The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. I’ve learned a lot from both books but I’m missing my daily readings from Spurgeon and will add his works back into my daily regiment.

Quotable: 

From J.C. Ryle: “Conversion is an illumination, a change from darkness to light, from blindness to seeing the kingdom of God.”

From Bridges: “Remember, the grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law. That is why you must “preach the gospel to yourself every day.”

Thankful: I’m thankful that I see our grandchildren at church on Sundays and I get a special weekly hug from them.

Thomas Aquinas: “Give us, O, Lord thankful hearts which never forget Your goodness to us. Give us, O, Lord, grateful hearts, which do not waste time complaining.”

Hope you all have a thankful week ahead!

Sweet Hodgepodge

Sweet Southern livin Jo has come up with questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
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1. Let’s start things off right…Wednesday is National Dessert Day. What are we having? How often do you  make/serve dessert? Store bought or from scratch?
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We can have my signature Creamy Cheesecake, pictured above…
or a family favorite; Peanut Butter/Butterscotch Rice Krispy bars
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or in the cake realm; Another family favorite, Applesauce Spice Cake.
We added a new favorite in 2020, Strawberry Ice Cream Cake.
Lately I only make a dessert when we are having company. I made this Ice Cream Cake yesterday for dessert after our Raclette meal that we introduced to my brother’s family.
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I like scratch desserts but am not opposed to store bought. In fact see question #3 for something I always buy instead of bake.
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2. Slow as molasses, icing on the cake, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, have your cake and eat it too, half-baked idea, that takes the cake…which phrase might be applied to something in your life in recent days? Explain.
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I’m going with icing on the cake. Since my brother’s family (originally from Texas) landed in the Pacific Northwest on their RV journeys around the USA some other members of our family gathered here, too, and we were able to have a mini family reunion of sorts.

My sister Kathy sitting to my left is now our matriarch. Four out of 8 siblings plus two spouses and eleven cousins rounded out the group for a few days of food and fun.

3. Something that’s ‘easy as pie’ for you to do?

Sticking with the pie theme here I’m confessing that making pie is not in my wheelhouse. It is not something easy for me and I choose to avoid it by buying good quality pies in the frozen section of the grocery store and popping them in my oven! So ‘easy as pie’ is not a phrase that pertains to me.

4. Are you someone who likes to ‘sugarcoat’ news you think might not be well received, or are you more of a tell it like it is and let the chips fall where they may? Do you like to receive your news the same way you give it?

Please don’t sugar coat it. Get it out now and let me know what’s up! I’m a tell it like it is person. Don’t beat around the bush, either.

5. Something you did recently that made you feel like a ‘smart cookie’?

Driving for over 6 hours by myself from Bothell to Colville with stops at the Home Depot and Costco in Spokane. I was smart to bring a book on CD to listen to. That makes the hours go by quicker for me and keeps me awake. For this trip I listened to “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe read by Michael York, delightful.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

 

Looking forward to our Western Larches (Tamarack) to turn golden.

October is a busy busy month here at Our Country Bungalow. Still ahead is our annual family hunting weekend and this year we are throwing in our first professional family photo shoot. It’s been fun coming up with a clothing theme so we look a bit coordinated. For the majority of the days in October all of our guestrooms are full to the brim.