A patchwork of flowers

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Main conservatory tree, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Sean and I braved the bitter cold so we could see the excellent Christmas display at Longwood Gardens today. It was worth wearing 3 layers of clothes (I should have worn long johns too) to see this. There were pale yellow poinsettia, red begonias, moss, maybe ivy on the sides and painted upside down pine cones. Gorgeous! We had also purchased tickets to see the ice show. They’ve had the show a few years and we’ve never seen it. It was only 20 minutes, but I don’t know how the two young ladies stood the cold. I have a photo of me with them that Sean took in a meet and greet. Will share when I upload it to Flickr.

America’s Best Lost Recipes

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I got the above book for Christmas and I started to read it this morning. Right away there were a few recipes that I have heard of- ‘Wacky’ Cake, Amish Pickled Beets and Eggs and 24 hour salad. The Wacky cake was made by a fellow church member a few years back for a church picnic. I heard her say to her son, ‘I made your favorite Wacky cake’. This was a joke between Bri, Sean and me every time we saw this lady. We even called her Mrs. Wacky Cake! This was popularized during WWII when many cake ingredients were short in supply and they made due with what they had. A few of the ingredients were white vinegar and vegetable oil. I remember making a cake with mayonnaise, must have been similar to Wacky cake and it was good too!
My husband’s mom made the Pickled Beets and Eggs several times a year. I think it was something her mom use to make too. I don’t recall making them myself. I like deviled eggs. A good hint from the book is to cook the eggs, drain the pot and then roll the eggs into each other until the shells start to crack. This makes it easier to peel them.
The 24-hour salad is a variation of ‘Ambrosia’. I’ve made this several times over the years. The book version calls for frozen sour cherries where I would used red cherries. They used cut up marshmallows where I used the mini ones. The cut ones are better as they don’t get as soggy. I’m just in the appetizer section (the cake was referred to in the intro), but I am having fun reading about the tried and true 121 recipes included here. I will be trying many of these and will let you know how tasty they are.
I like this part of the intro:

Some things are just crying out to be lost. Bad supermarket tomatoes. Sponge*Bob Square*pants Cereal. Breakfast at Mc*Donalds (I like it!).Halftime at the Super Bowl. Any recipe that starts with a can of cream of mushroom soup (they haven’t tried my tuna noodle casserole!). And don’t forget children’s books penned by celebrities and casseroles of overcooked broccoli.

This is by the editor of Cook’s Country magazine if you are interested.


Photo and recipe found here

2010 Mummers New Year’s Day Parade

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We don’t go to the parade and I can’t remember watching it on tv for a while. My one friend has been involved with one of the groups for several years. I have to admit they are a crafty group of people. The only thing-all string instruments-you have to really like this kind of music. They weren’t sure if the parade would go on, but it did. Check out this photographer’s other photos.

Polar Plunge on January 1st

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This event was just on the news. If you live near the beach, you seem to be drawn to the water in all kinds of weather. Who cares if it’s 30 degrees out? One of the local newswoman took the plunge in Atlantic City. Asbury Park is further up the coast on the way to New York. Luanne said it was ‘something she had to do’. I hate being cold, not sure if I could handle it. Though if I remember correctly, I was taking swim lessons in late April when I was a kid-now that was freezing!
HGtv’s Dreamhouse for 2010 is near Sante Fe, Mexico. It’s one of their coolest locations-you could win it and $500K. Just go to their website and enter.

For just one dollar

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Dollar store do over picture, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I did a ‘do over’ for one buck.
This came from the Dollar* Tree. It was the frame, a piece of silver foil and the butterfly sticker. Whoever assembled it got finger prints all over the foil. This is hanging in my bathroom.
I used some pretty shiny copper paper for the background. I didn’t want the green on ‘amour’ (my brush was dirty), but I guess it works. There is a bit of lace along the bottom and old paper from a novel along the left edge.

Majestic scenery

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10/22’09 The West Elks, originally uploaded by lchamberlain40.

My late father’s cousin and husband just moved out to Colorado from Oregon this year to build their retirement home on his son’s property. What a view! Ann provided a flickr acct address and I went and took a look at their unusual home-like a long half circle shape-that they are building with the help of their grandson. I was blown away by the beauty of Larry’s photo and wanted to share.