Happy Birthday El!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

 Friday was Eleanor's 12th birthday! Man am I getting OLD! But for her birthday, I told her that she could pick out a recipe and we would make it together. I had never done this before. But to my surprise, she was supper excited to make something with me. (Typically I'm in the kitchen making something and ask her if she wants to join me, to which she quickly and bluntly answers no. But not today!) She picked a super awesome recipe from Christy Jordan at Southern Plate. Easiest Red Velvet Cookies: found HERE



We had so much fun making these. You should try them for your next birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines day, or any other event.



Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Christmas Recipes {Part 2}

Today is the Christmas Cookie day! This is one of my Granny's recipes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Cream butter and sugar.

 Finished dough.

 El with her cookies...   : )

Finished cookies!

Christmas Cookies:
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup half-and-half cream
3 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
Combine:
1/4 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
maraschino cherries

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy, then add eggs one at a time. Then beat in the cream. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add to the creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate about 3 hours. After it has chilled, roll cookie dough in cinnamon/sugar mixture, make a dent in the cookie with your thumb, and place a cherry half in the center. Bake at 375 F until brown. Try not to over bake them. Enjoy!


Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Sashay Scarf

Merry Christmas Y'all! I can't believe that Christmas is only 6 days away. Don't panic if your shopping list is not finished yet. Mine isn't either. Anyway... onto the project!

This scarf turned out sooooooooooo CUTE! The yarn is like netting that you stretch out and then knit the top of the netting. It was so easy and fun to make! The instructions on the label were a little confusing to me so I attached a video that I found helpful. I hope you enjoy the pattern.

Merry Christmas!
Rachel : )

Red Velvet Cupcakes!

For her birthday Eleanor wanted red velvet cupcakes! They were so fun to make, and they tasted so good! We got the recipe from Christy Jordan at Southern Plate. They were a good ending to the Papa John's pizza that Eleanor wanted for supper.(Oh yeah! We now have a Papa John's! We are moving up in the world!) Enjoy the recipe!

 Aren't they RED!!!

 Eleanor's TEN! Her fingers are red from the food dye in the batter.

 Happy Birthday El!

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Orange Rolls!

Happy 10th Birthday Eleanor! (you make me feel so old)

Yes, the 14th was Eleanor's birthday.(I am really behind on these posts) One of my presents to her was homemade orange rolls. I got the recipe from Janet at Simply So Good except I made a few alterations. I used half whole ground flour and half unbleached white flour. I also made the rolls a little bit bigger and put them in a 9x13 glass baking pan like you would for cinnamon rolls.

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

I am such a Homeschooler...

Not the plant near our house

Everyone needs a break from schoolwork. Right? Well last week I did.

Eleanor and I went to pick some pokeberries from the plant growing near our house.(I do have to say that picking pokeberries is not normal for us, nor is what we did with them. But it's just plain fun!) We crushed and strained our berries, added salt and vinegar, and we got homemade ink! 

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with homeschoolers. You see homeschoolers (or at least some of the ones that I know) tend to do really neat projects for fun! (usually history related) Oh yeah! We are that cool! : ) Last week, for instance, we made berry ink. Other days we have made fresh butter, costumes, and sugar cube pyramids. Homeschoolers are also cool because they have cool supplies just hanging around the house.(Am I the only one who keeps quill pens and little jars?)

Here is the recipe for homemade berry ink: (This recipe can be doubled or cut in half. Because it is made with fresh berries it will go bad so don't forget to use it up!)
1 cup berries(any kind will do. Play around with different berries for different colors)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vinegar

Crush and strain the berries. Stir in the salt and vinegar until dissolved. That's all! It also works best to write on a heavy paper so the ink won't bleed. (Again, am I the only one who just happened to have calligraphy paper from a calligraphy set?)

Sorry, no pictures for this one. You will just have to imagine Eleanor and I crushing and straining pokeberries and then writing our names with the purple ink. ; )


Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Vacation Pics!...The Beach

Of course there is also St. Augustine Beach. The beach is always fun, need I say more?

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

Vacation Pics!...The Old Jail

Built in 1891, the old St. Johns County Jail is another cool sight to see. It had a total of 8 men who were hung during the jail's history. The jail also had an office and living quarters for the sheriff and his family. It served as the county jail until 1953. The people who built the old jail also built Alcatraz.

 El in the Birdcage.

 Dad and Stephen, doing their time.

 Sheriff Granny and Stephen the crook. She was very proud of herself.

 We knew this would happen.

A couple of jailbirds.

Fly with Christ!
Rachel : )

El's Braces

Eleanor got her braces on Thursday! They are light blue. They are along her top teeth and most of her bottom teeth. She said that it only hurt a little. (She's so brave!) She also came home with bags and bags of new blue clothes to match. (Mom felt bad for her.) I had trouble getting her to smile. Don't forget to comment and tell her what you think!

 (Stephen was not too happy) :(

 (Fun with photos)

God bless!
Rachel : )