Pretty Pink Pillow

So I got this pink fabric from my mother-in-law, who got it from her mother-in-law.  So that would be my husbands grandmother.  Anyway, needless to say it's really old!  Maybe circa 1960's, you know it's really shiny and really sturdy!

When I saw it I thought, this would make a wonderful pillow for my neice.  Her room is all purple and pinks.  Wanted something for her to lounge on in her room.  I appologize for the crapy not so good pictures, but I couldn't figure out the lighting.  Really need to learn how to use my camera!

I sewed in between the fabrics some beaded trim, that was a pain! Bent the needle on the sewing machine doing that.  Then I used those o so sparkley jeweled letters to spell out her name.  That too was a major pain! I couldn't get the right temp on my iron to get those darn jewels to adhere!  Finally, after about an hour.......voila!  FYI -- This is the very 1st thing that I've ever sewn! I think it turned out pretty good, for a 1st timer!!!  ****Candie*****

P.S. I have more of this fabric left.... stay tuned to see what I make with the rest!

The best Creamy White Chili (ever!!)

So after months of anticipation my neighbor finally came through with the recipe I've been dying for, yeah!!!  She made it for my family back in December and I've been hungry for it ever since, so without further ado, here you all go, Enjoy!! oh, FIY-this recipe is tripled so you may want to adjust accordingly.

6 - 12.5 oz cans - Chunk Chicken breast
2 medium onions, chopped
4 1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 Tbsps canola oil
6 - 15.5 oz cans - Great Northern Beans, rinsed & drained
2 - 14.5 oz cans - chicken broth
6 - 4 oz cans - chopped green chiles
3 tsp salt
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
24 oz sour cream
1 1/2 cups whipping cream

In a large sauce pan, saute chicken, onion and garlic power in oil.  Add beans, broth, chiles, and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat; stir in sour cream & whipping cream & serve.  Serves approx 12-15 w/ leftovers.

I will be making this later in the week and will post pix then but just wanted to post the recipe now cuz I know there's ppl patiently waiting for it (Candie) = )

~Hugs~ Renee

Birthday Cakes

So I decided awhile back to make some of my boys birthday cakes.  We only have big parties on the big birthdays.....1, 5, 10 and so on.  Those birthdays are reserved for the big wonderful cakes, that my aunt makes.  I would should you a picture, but that would take away from my whimpy simple cakes.  So without further ado, here are a few of the cakes that I've made.  Mind you,  I used a design cake pan and just followed the directions.  So pretty sure anyone can do it, if you don't mind standing for 1 1/2 hours to frost!  ****Candie*****

Kaden turned 6, he's now going on 8 in May.

Kohen is 4, now almost 4 1/4

New Pillow

So I was super excited to sell one of these last week that it motivated me to make more. This the spring version. These are so much fun to make and the possibilities are endless. This will be on our Etsy account for sale soon.

~Lindsay

Pies on my mind

So I must have some weird craving for pies!  I made another one, and it turned out wonderful! My first ever Lemon Meringue Pie.  You can find the recipe here.  Anyway, it was super easy! It looked good, and I thought it tasted good.  However, my children were not so thrilled as I.  They thought it looked really yummy, but upon eating it they discovered they really didn't like it.  My oldest thought the meringue was whipped cream, one bite of that and he was finished.  Though my 4 yr old, well he at least ate the meringue.  Neither one liked the lemon filling, boo for me!  Oh well, ya win some.....you loose some!  *****Candie*****

Bread gone BAD!!!

So as many of you know I've been sick (sinus infection) and have not done much in the way of cooking, it's been a "fend for yourself" kind of week...but since the family still needs to eat something besides frozen waffles & toaster strudel, I decided to make them dinner and some homemade bread.  Sounded like a great idea & smelled fab at the time until I raised the lid of my bread machine and was faced with this catastrophy:

 Lucky for us some of the bread was still able to be salvaged, so it wasn't a total loss. But I guess thats what one gets for trying to be Super Mom when she should really be hooched out on the couch or better yet in bed. And the sad thing is, this recipe is a no fail recipe!!! Better luck next time I guess : )

~Renee~

pies...pies...oh my!

This week was my husband's birthday, so I thought I'd bake him some pies.  He loves hims some pies!  Well, he doesn't like cake.......I know, who doesn't like cake.... especially a nice big fat chocolate on chocolate cake.....Mmmmmm, my mouth is watering.  Ok, so I got a little side tracked off subject!  Sorry about that!

So back to the pies.  I decided to make a Banana Cream Pie and a Blueberry pie. Oh heaven!!!  They turned out fabulous!  O, and they taste pretty good too!  Here's the Banana Cream recipe and the Blueberry Pie recipe.  ******Candie******

Pruning Rose Bushes

So I guess it's that time of year again.......hacking pruning the rose bushes.  We bought our house last April and I really didn't get to do a good pruning.  So this was my first year.  So who did I turn to to learn more on how to prune roses? Only the place who has the best looking roses I've ever seen!  Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC! I found a video tutorial online to help me out. I also called my local nursery.  Anyway, I was advised that you can do a light pruning in late fall, just to bring the height down.  So my amazing husband and I cut our roses down to a 3' height.  Much better!

3' height

Next I was told to prune your roses so down to about 18" in height, leaving only about 4 or 5 branches coming out of the base.  They should be coming out like a vase shape, nothing in the middle and no crossing branches.  I have about 18 rose bushes that line my back yard fence, so I only managed to do about 6.  Will tackle the rest another day.  I also, have about 30 rose bushes that line the front perimeter of my house!  I thought to myself.....hmmmmm.....this is alot of work, I'm not sure I have it in me to do the whole front yard! Yikees!  So I posted "18 rose bushes for FREE" on craigslist......and within 1/2 hour I had 4 emails.  Of course the catch....Free if you dig!  Anyway, off track a little..... so here is what my rose bushes look like now.  So much, much better! I hope they look fan-tab-u-lous when they bloom.

Organized!

I have been completly inspired by all the other blogs in Blogland organizing for the new year so I decided I needed a little organizing as well. I kick myself for not taking Before pictures, but if you just imagine total chaos I'm sure you will recognize the difference. So far I have done my pantry and my Linen closet.

The pantry had its challenges because my 1 year old is obsessed with pulling everything out of there so I had to be careful of what I put at his level, but I also have an almost 4 year old that likes to get his own snacks. I also have quite a bit of food storage that I tend to forget about if I dont have everything visible and organized. I keep Rice, flour, bread flour and sugar in 5 gallon buckets at eh bottom of the pantry. We use those alot and it always good to keep a fair amount of those on hand. I still need to get a few crates for potatoes and onions that I also keep at the bottom, but it looks so much better.

This Linen closet was totally overflowing. I donated so many blankets and pillows. We narrowed it down to the ones we needed and the ones we loved too much to get rid of. I also use this closet for all the playdoh, bubbles etc.. so I needed an entire shelf for all that. I still think we have too many pillows, but my husband refused to part with them. I hope I have inspired some of you!

~Lindsay