Things I Love, February Edition

I love the fact that it's Friday!! We have dinner plans with friends from church, so I get to do some baking today. The fact that I've been watching what I eat means that not so much baking has been taking place. I apologize for the awkwardness of that last sentence; my editing skills have not been turned on this early.

Anyhoo.....butter and cream cheese are softening on the counter. No recipe is EVER complete without butter. The baking plans include a cream cheese pound cake with sour cream vanilla sauce and some mocha shortbread. My mouth is watering. Good thing I already put in a 30 minute workout this morning!

Big Fish's birthday is SUNDAY! I'm almost done with his knitted gift. Yesterday he received a fun gift card in the mail from his mom. I'm pretty sure it will be used to buy something related to fishing. Oh yes, we now have a hand-carved trout on the wall! Remember when we had that discussion about the mounted deer head? Well, a bit of a compromise has been reached. It's all about priorities, people.

Oh, oh! Another exciting little package came in the mail yesterday. I received my herb seeds. I have some soil left over, so I'm hoping to start my kitchen-garden-in-pots this weekend. We've decided to start small this year, so our garden will be in pots on the deck and a few plants in the yard. We have almost decided to purchase one motion activated sprinkler to help with the wildlife issue. Rhubarb plants, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes will probably make up our garden this year. Rhubarb plants take a couple years to establish, so we need to get them started!

Stay warm! This is the first day this week that I don't have to perform some sort of snow removal operation, so we will be cozy inside.

Things I Love - February

Valentine's Day has come and gone, and we had a special time. We were able to take a little weekend trip to my parents' house. We were able to spend time with them and also able to be part of a birthday celebration for my grandparents on my dad's side. My grandma turns 87 and my grandad turns 91 in February! We love them!

It was also fun to try some new recipes: oreo truffles and pink grapefruit gumdrops. I love candy; I have the most well-developed sweet tooth! Maybe this is also why I'm on a diet. Anyway, I also love baking; so making the candy was a fun way to spread a little Valentine happiness. I have no pictures of the candy, and the evidence has all been hidden away back at my parents' place. The only thing I can leave with is some additional info.

Here is the recipe for the oreo truffles. I doubled the recipe and dipped half in semi-sweet chocolate and the other half in white chocolate. I read a tip online that suggests freezing the shaped oreo candies before dipping to help them keep their shape. That seemed to really work! I never seem to have the melting discs on hand, so I just mixed a tablespoon of shortening with each package of chocolate/white chocolate chips before melting in the microwave. I did have to reheat the mixture about halfway through the dipping time.

The pink grapefruit candy recipe was from the February edition of Victoria magazine. Unfortunately there was a typo regarding the candy tempature, so I had to make a second batch after I realized what was happening! Let's just say the recipe should have read "213 degrees" instead of "113 degrees"! The second batch came out just fine; the flavor of honey with the pink grapefruit juice is a wonderful combination. Did I mention I love candy?

Things I Love - February Edition

My preference usually leans toward silver - especially sterling! I just love these hair clips (bobby pins). I was browsing this shop - http://juliethefish.etsy.com for necklaces (see below) when I fell for these hair pins. Love!!

Wow...first you will notice how horrible I am at taking a picture of something in the mirror. I'm certainly not doing justice to the cuteness of the necklace here. Just go to Julie's shop, ok? Anyway, this necklace has my kids' names stamped on the disks. I haven't taken it off for about a month; I obviously love this necklace!!

Deal alert - if you become a fan of Juliethefish on facebook, I think there is free shipping this month! She always has some kind of special going on.

Things I love

Continuing the love theme :) in February, my description is a simple one today. I love being up early, finishing my workout, and finding my girl sitting on the couch waiting for me. She's laying right now with her feet on my lap cuddled in a fleece blanket. Soon, she'll be bouncing around with enough energy for 10 people; but I'm going to go enjoy a few precious snuggles before baby brother wakes up!

xoxo

Things I Love

My friend is doing this fun series for the month of February. I have some things in mind, and I'll start with something I use almost daily.

I first discovered the designer of these and other great products through another friend. When we moved into our new house, it was finally time to have an official spot for my keys.

These keyfobs are wonderful because they slip over the wrist. I am especially appreciative of this feature in the grocery store parking lot dealing with below freezing wind chill, 2 kids, and a cart full of groceries!

A Few Recommendations

• My friend has recently launched her own website! I am very excited for and proud of her. She makes wonderful soap, so here's her link www.oilandspicebath.com I am using the Bees Knees soap these days and enjoying it so much. I also love the almond coffee bar.
• This book is wonderful - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Here's a link with some fun info: http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guernsey/
• I also have recently read this book: The Gentle Art of Domesticity. What beautiful pictures and information it shares! When I searched for a link to the book I came across Jane's (the author's) blog. Looks like I have some catching up to do! http://www.yarnstorm.blogs.com/