The Gift Of Friendship And A Doily

 When the Texas Troupe came to visit last weekend, my friend Linda brought me the most beautiful gift.  Her son owns a construction company in Dallas and one of the things he does is tear down old houses and buildings for the city.  Recently, he tore down a house and found an old trunk inside that had treasures in it.  Real live bonafide treasures.   At least Linda and I agree that they are treasures.  There were old handmade crocheted doilies in the trunk.  He brought them to Linda.  She saved the ones she could and she brought me one of the  beautiful white doilies as a gift.  

You see, we both crochet and have since we were quite young.  My grandmother lived with us when I was growing up and she would sit down with a ball of cotton string and a tiny little crochet hook and start making her own pattern as she went.  Her nimble hands seemed to fly as they created stitch after stitch.  In no time, she would have a beautiful doily with all kinds of intricate patterns in it.  No book.  No pattern.  Only her hands and her head created these beautiful pieces.  What a gift.

Linda said her mother taught her to crochet when she was about 7.  That is quite an accomplishment for a 7 year old.  I was starting to embroider at that age, not crochet.  But, I did watch grandma working away with her needle and thread creating, always fascinated with her skill.  I wanted to create too!  Always have, always will.

I started to crochet when I was in high school.  I used yarn and made scarves and hats mostly.  Then when I was expecting our first child, I crocheted a rippled afghan and made a white hair pin lace afghan that was so beautiful.  I made things for our children, for gifts, lots of afghans, and on and on through the years.  I truly admire and appreciate the skill it takes to make something as lovely as the doily in the picture above.  That is something I have never made.

I was so excited to receive this beautiful gift and told Linda I knew exactly what I would do with it.  It would be framed under glass and hung in my bedroom where I could admire it often.  That is what I did today.

My daughter Annie had given me an old frame she did not want any longer when they moved recently.  You see, I am kind of like that old commercial with Mikey - the kid who would eat anything.  I take anything and will turn it into something at some point.  I used that frame for my beautiful doily.

The frame was old and brown with kind of goldish highlights and that is not my style, but it is really lovely otherwise.   It has lots of detail and I knew I would paint it white.  Here it's laying on the ground ready to be painted.

Here is a closeup of the detail.  It's very intricate.

All I used was a can of white spray paint and gave it one light coat.  I didn't want it to be too finished or slick.  After it dried, I waxed it with Annie Sloan dark wax.  LOVE how it turned out.

I pressed the doily nice and flat, then cut a piece of acrylic I already had for the backing for the frame.  Using a piece of white burlap, I cut it a bit bigger than the acrylic and folded it over and taped it down to the acrylic.  Then, I laid the doily on the burlap, centered it, and placed it in the frame under the glass.  That's all it took.

I put in on the wall with my "dahlia" book page wreath and an old candelabra Annie had also given me that came from Anthropologie many moons ago.  It is what I have been needing to finish the vignette.  It's perfect and beautiful.

Thank  you  Linda for this wonderful gift.  I will cherish it always.

Life has such a funny way of bringing you full circle sometimes.  Linda and I were friends from high school long ago.  We reconnected when my daughter moved to Dallas where she lives.  She and her friends came to visit over the weekend.  We may have gray hair and grandchildren, but in our hearts we are still those same high school girls laughing and talking and having a great time together.  Thanks so much for coming to visit and introducing your long time friends to me who are now new found friends. Thanks for the beautiful gift.  I will look at it every day and be grateful for your visit and your gift.  Hopefully, we will see each other again soon.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.  Anais Nin

Cinnamon Bread, Picture Frame, Recipe, Gift

To welcome my friends from Texas, I wanted to make some gift bags with home made goodies they could enjoy in their hotel room.  You know what it's like to be hungry, or want a snack, and there is literally nothing to eat, or only expensive machines in the hall that have nothing you like and you have no change.

While "cruising" Pinterest recently, I had seen this idea which was so cool.  At least I think that's where I saw it.  Couldn't find it again.  Baked individual loaves of bread were tied to a picture frame containing the recipe for the attached bread.  Perfect for gift giving.  How great of an idea is that?  That was my starting point.  They would definitely be getting this awesome cinnamon bread that I had found at redflycreations.com.  This bread is amazing and so easy to make.

I found adorable picture frames to use for holding the recipe.  The recipe was all typed and ready to print.  The biggest problem was we were out of printer ink.  NOOOOOO.  So, I had to write out the recipes at the last minute.  

It may not be as neat as printed recipes, but it did the trick.  No one complained.

To their bags, I also added home made Mr. Goodbar Bites that you can find on my blog.  Basically, they are chocolate covered peanut mounds.  Yum.  There were some nice cups with lids and straws that could be used over and over that I filled with different flavors of Crystal Lite.  In addition, there was trail mix, peanut butter crackers and other assorted goodies.  Hopefully, all things they would enjoy.

The Texas Troupe arrived on Thursday evening.  We met them for dinner and I gave them their "welcome" bags.  They let me know they did enjoy them!  Linda had eaten her cinnamon bread before breakfast on Friday morning.  The others wanted to sample and she told them they would have to eat their own.  I don't think the Mr. Goodbar Bites lasted much longer.  They all came in drinking out of their cups, so all in all it was a rousing success.

To make the cinnamon bread, here is what you need:

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk  (add 2 tsps. vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk if you don't have buttermilk)
4 cups flour
2 tsps baking soda

Cinnamon/Sugar Mix

2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
mix together in a small bowl

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

This recipe makes 2 large loaves or 1 large loaf and 4 small loaves.  Grease and flour loaf pans and set aside.

Cream together butter, 2 cups sugar and eggs.  Add milk, flour, and baking soda.

Fill prepared pans 1/2 (or slightly less) full with batter.

Sprinkle 3/4 of the cinnamon mixture over the top of the batter in the pans.  Add remaining batter.  Sprinkle with last of the sugar.  Swirl with knife.  (I forgot to do that, but it didn't make any difference - other than how it looks.)

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 20 minutes.  Remove from pan.

Since I was giving these individual loaves as gifts, I left them in the disposable aluminum pans and wrapped them in a clear cellophane party bag and tied them to the picture frame with twine.

This.  Bread.  Is.  Beyond.  Delicious!  Oh my, it is so, so good.  We kept the big loaf and shared it during craft time on Saturday.  This is one I will make again and again.  Yummers.

When you need a gift, give a gift of home made love.  Bake your favorite bread and give the recipe with it.  Using the picture frame is such a great idea.  Then, they have a keepsake and something wonderful to eat.  Great idea for teachers, new mothers, neighbors, or anyone for that matter.

Also, you will definitely want to make this recipe for you and your family. They will LOVE it.  It won't last long and you will wish you had more.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.  For in the dew of little things, the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.     Khalil Gibran

Texas Friends And Some Stars!

 Howdy y'all.  How was your weekend?  Mine was spectacular.  Why, you ask?  Because I had friends visiting from Texas and we had an absolutely fabulous weekend.  There was so much food and laughter and creating that it makes me wish you all could have been here to share in the fun.

You have to remember I graduated from high school many, many moons ago - like 1966 - moons ago.  Linda has been my friend since high school, but she has lived in Texas for 35+ years.  I had not seen her except at one class reunion way back some time ago.  Then, my daughter moved to Dallas and we reconnected and would have lunch when we were in Dallas visiting.  It was so good to see her more often.  Then, our daughter and her family moved here to Nashville a year ago last December.  That meant no more trips to Dallas.  But, Linda and I stayed connected on Facebook and a year ago we began to plan for her to visit Nashville.  A YEAR ago.  Now, it has come and gone.  She brought three of her long time friends with her and now I have three new friends.  How fabulous is that?

We toured around town, ate, talked, laughed, ate, and laughed some more.  These women have traveled together for years and do they have some stories to tell.  My sides hurt from laughing.  I have lived such a quiet life in comparison.  They are adventurous to say the least.

On Saturday, we had craft/creating time.  Since Memorial Day and Fourth of July will be coming up, I thought something for those holidays would be nice.  I came up with the idea to make these stars from some of the lattice replacement strips that I used on my sign I posted about last week.  Also, Texas IS the lone star state.  There can never be too many stars in Texas (or my house).

Dan cut strips 18" long, 5 per person.  That is where we all started.  We worked at the kitchen table and everyone came up with their own creative idea.  I had paints and brushes, hot glue, decorations, scissors, needle nose pliers, and treats.  All settled down with cinnamon bread and coffee, it was time to begin.

Suzie offered to glue all the stars together while I got all the supplies ready.  Excellent.  She just laid the stars out by overlapping the sticks to make a pentagram and hot glued each point of the star.  Now, we were ready to decorate.  Here they are at the table.

From the left we have Diana, Cathy, Suzie, and Linda.  Everyone chose their paint, method of application and went to work.  There was never a quiet moment - and lots more laughter.

It's so interesting to see the creative ideas that everyone comes up with.  That's the part I really love and appreciate.  Diana decorated her star in honor of Texas.  Cathy made hers adorable with polka dots.  Suzie went for a very shabby chic look and even added some buttons and jute to hers.  Linda went more traditional with a red star, white stenciled stars and blue dots, and mine is red, white and blue.

I had some berries with rusty stars on them and burlap that we cut into strips for bows.  Look at the picture above.  Aren't they all fantastic?

For my star, I painted the front and back with an ivory color to cover the raw wood.  Then I painted the left side with a blue color, some red, and red stripes on the top.  I painted it with a paper towel to give it a rough look.  After stenciling some white stars on the blue field, I "antiqued" the whole thing with a paper towel using brown paint.

This shows you some of the detail.  To finish my star, I made some loops from burlap and tied them at the bottom with some cotton twine and jute.   After attaching the "bow" to the left side of the star, I glued some of the berries to the star and used one of the rusty stars.  LOVE it!

Ta da!  Finished.  Here is a close up of the finished product.

Such an easy project and everyone's looked great!  I would be happy to hang any or all of them in our home.  Great job ladies!!

We all discussed where we would hang them or how we would use them.  I think I might put mine on a wreath to give it more bulk so it shows up better on the front of the house.  I also know that I will be making a few more of these to use other places!!

Linda and my new friends left on Sunday morning, heading back to Texas.  I was sorry to see them go. They let me know they arrived home safely.  They are new found friends forever.  We are already talking about a return trip.  Can't wait.  And, I'm sure we will head to Texas at some point.  We definitely know how to get there.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Make new friends, but keep the old
Some are silver and the other's gold!

Thanks Linda, Diana, Cathy, and Suzie!

Make A Rustic Trellis From Fallen Tree Limbs

 So today, we are going to talk about making this rustic trellis.  My inspiration came from a picture that I saw on a Facebook page for Two Women and a Hoe.  Do you follow them?  They post beautiful pictures with lots of inspirational ideas.  Be sure and check them out.  They have a landscaping business and have a lovely web page by the same name.

If you have never been to middle Tennessee (Nashville), you may not realize how much foliage and how many trees there are here.  There are SO MANY trees and I am a big fan.  Trees are free for the looking.  They not only help us breathe by taking our carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen, but they add to the beauty of our lives.  They give us shade, and comfort.  Nothing like spending a summer day under a huge shade tree with your favorite book.   This is our view from our deck.  How beautiful to sit and watch the trees.

They rustle and blow in the gentle breeze or whip about and gnash in fury during storms, breaking and falling.  Trees provide homes for many animals on our planet.  Trees provide food, fruits and nuts, for us to enjoy.  Fall foliage is a delight to behold with the leaves blazing gold, red, orange, and rust.  Bare, solemn winter trees show us their skeletons and their inner beauty while we wait for spring to bring us beautiful blossoms and leaves once again.  Trees are a true representative of the cycle of life and nature.  As Joyce Kilmer wrote, "I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree."  I couldn't agree more.

Many of the trees in our yard are well established - actually, quite old.  Every time the wind blows hard, we get some big sticks dropped in the yard.  We also have a ton of small sticks that have to be picked up every time the yard is mowed - that's a minor price to pay for all our lovely trees.  As the limbs fall, Dan takes them to a pile at the back of our yard right at the edge of the woods behind our property.  Woods = more limbs.  : )

You know how you keep looking at something and wondering what you could do with it?  All those fallen limbs had to be good for something besides fire wood.  Well, here is the perfect solution.  A very rustic, hand made trellis.  It's easy to make and adds a lot of character to the yard.  I was so excited to get started on it.

First, we picked out a bunch of limbs that were close in size for the vertical pieces and the horizontal pieces.  (I can't tell you how many you will need, just choose quite a few.  It all depends on the size and look you want.)  Then, I laid them out in the grass to get the look I wanted.

I moved the horizontal limbs around a few times to get them in exactly the right place.  Next, I used zip ties that I got at Home Depot.  They are black and will not disintegrate in the weather.  The colored zip ties will, so be sure and get the black ones for doing this project.

I started with the outside limbs first, where the horizontal limbs intersected with the vertical limbs.  Using needle nosed pliers, I pulled the ties as tight as possible.  After securing the outside limbs, I went up the inside limbs and secured those the same way.  I used this method so the trellis would not get out of shape as I worked.  It is easier than trying to work straight across each limb as you go.

After all the limbs were secured, I cut the long tails off the zip ties.

 To hide the zip ties, I cut lengths of jute several yards long, folded each length in half and tied them around each zip tied intersection to give the trellis a more rustic look.  Plastic does not always lend itself to "rustic" if you know what I mean.

The trellis looks like it is tied together with twine instead of zip ties.  That is much better for a really rustic look.  My trellis is about 6.5 feet tall and 4 feet at the widest point.  You could make yours any size you want.  The inspiration trellis from Two Women and Hoe looked to be about 3.5 or 4 feet tall.  It was on a fence between upper and lower cross bars.  Mine sits on the ground.

I knew the trellis needed "something".  I had a grapevine wreath that I hung from one of the protruding limbs, but that didn't do the trick.  Birdhouses.  That's what it needed and I have a thing for birdhouses and birdcages.  Michael's has lots of unfinished birdhouses that are quite inexpensive.  I found two that I liked and painted them in bright colors to go with Mr. Drag N. Fly from yesterday's post.  Dan put a couple of screws in them and I made wire loops to hang them with.  Yes, that did the trick.

It was very exciting finding a bird house in the shape of a star (my other obsession).  Aren't they adorable on the trellis?  Our grandson wanted to know where the birds were for the houses.  He always asks the hard questions.  I told him we would have to wait and see if any of them could get a mortgage. He looked at me very strangely.

Today, we went to the Farmer's Market and I bought a vining plant called a candy corn plant that will vine up the trellis.  The tag said it is quick growing - I hope!  Most vining plants require full sun, but this one will work in partial sun.  Our yard is very shady.  We'll see what happens.  The plant is called candy corn because it produces orange blossoms with yellow tips.  I can't wait to see it bloom and  grow.

Now, we have another little "meditation" garden spot that is so inviting.  As the begonias grow, and everything fills it, it will be so lovely all the way to the first fall frost.

Take a look around your yard.  How many natural elements do you have that could be used to decorate your outdoor living space?  Don't throw away all those fallen limbs.  Put them to use.  Make a rustic trellis for your yard and decorate it to suit your tastes.  Have fun.  Be imaginative.  Let me know what you make.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

119.  Trees

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Joyce Kilmer  1886-1918

Mr. Drag N. Fly Made From Ceiling Fan Blades

 It's an absolutely fabulous day here in Nashville.  The sky is cerulean blue, the sun is shining, it's 80 degrees and all's right with the world.  Truly.  This was my view this morning.  Stunning.

We spent the entire morning out of doors planting all the flowers that have been patiently waiting for their new homes.  Finally.  Our 2.5 year old grandson helped Grandma with her planting.  Nothing makes that little guy happier than a "shuggle" and some dirt.

He had a good time getting his hands dirty and so did Grandma.

Last year about this time, we worked on creating a little secret garden.  The grandsons love to go in it and sit on the bench and look at the plants - NOT.  They like to go in and dig in the rocks that are the floor of  the garden.  That's what they like to do.  This week, I have been working on another little "meditation" garden space.  I don't know about you, but there is so much inspiration on the world wide web for things to do and make that I could spend every hour of every day working on something.  The list is never ending.

There are two items in the picture above that I am going to share with you.  Today, we are going to talk about Mr. Drag N. Fly on the fence. That's what I told Adrian his name was.   Adrian was totally disappointed that it could not fly or that the wings did not move.  Try explaining "it's just a decoration" to a 2.5 year old and good luck.

Ever done any research on dragonflies and damselflies?  If you get a chance, google images for them.  They are SO beautiful.  Their colors are absolutely electric with such delicate wings with beautiful designs on them.  Nature gives us such amazing things.  Wish I could make mine look like a real one.

This dragonfly is something I have seen on several web sites, at craft shows, and on Pinterest of course.  They are so cute and totally caught my eye.  I knew one would be perfect on the long expanse of plain wooden fence in the back yard.  So, I set out to make one.  We didn't have any old ceiling fan blades to recycle/reuse, so I headed to my home away from home, Home Depot, to buy some.  You can buy replacement ceiling fan blades in packages.  Thankfully.  A package of 5 fan blades 42 inches long were $15.95.  Not too bad.  Would have been better if I had some to recycle, but not this time.  Ceiling fan replacement blades come in 42 inch and 52 inch lengths.  Choose the size you would like to use.

For the body, I used a spindle that would go in a stair bannister or deck rail.  It was $4.95 at Home Depot.  You might have an old table leg or something you could use on hand.  Here is what you need.

4 fan blades
1 table leg or spindled post
several tubes of Super Glue gel (3 in a package for a dollar at The Dollar Tree)
2 wood screws
a drill
primer paint (like Zinsser)
paint (acrylic craft paint works fine)
paint brushes (I used 1 inch foam brushes, and a small brush for the narrow spaces)
Acrylic sealer or polyurethane

First, lay the fan blades on a flat surface and mark around the curved ends with a pencil so you will know exactly where to put the glue.  Spread the contents of 1 tube of the super glue gel on the bottom fan blade for each pair (2 tubes) and lay the upper blade where the markings are.  Marking is important so your "wings" will be at the same angle.  Put a weight on the blades until they dry.  FYI, this glue sets up really fast.  Only takes a couple of minutes.  Don't get it on  your hands.  Don't ask me how I know that.

Next, lay one pair of glued blades over the other pair of glued blades and mark with a pencil.  Put the contents of another tube of glue inside the pencil line all the way to the edge and place the set of blades on the glue.  Weight down with something heavy until the glue sets.

My weight was a jar of nails and screws that Dan brought to use for putting everything together.  Does your feller save every screw, bolt, and nail that comes his way?  Dan saves everything.  That's why they look all rusty.  They  may be prehistoric.  It's possible.  His motto is "never throw away a perfectly good ......".  I don't even want to talk about the balls of twine.

Anyway, time to attach the body to the wings.  Use another tube of Super Glue on one side of the spindle and place it on the wings.   Weight down until dry.

When the glue has set, flip the whole thing over and place two wood screws through the blades into the post to hold it all together.  Consider this overkill to keep it from all falling apart in the heat of summer.

The spindle is wood, but the fan blades are not.  They are plastic or some kind of composite and paint does not like to stick to them very well.  Therefore, it is important to prime before painting.

My primer was in a spray can (which goes really fast).  Just lay down something to protect the ground or whatever you will be spraying on and go to town.  Easy peasy.

Now, it's time to paint.   I used acrylic craft paint for my dragonfly and some 1 inch sponge brushes.  It's wise to have a small brush to get in the narrow spaces.  My research showed the beautiful, vibrant colors of dragon flies so I went with bright colors.  They also show up better against the wooden fence.  I used a turquoise color for the body, lime green for the wings with hot pink and electric blue decorations on the wings.  Choose whatever colors you would like.

 A round sponge stomp and the end of a paint brush worked great to make the dots.  I painted two eyes on the "head" and used some wire to make some antennae.  Dragonflies have small antennae.  Then, I sprayed the whole thing with clear acrylic spray to protect it from the weather.

I put a couple of wood screws in the back of the finished dragonfly and wrapped some wire around them, making loops for hangers.  Dan put a couple of wood screws in the fence to hang Mr. Drag N. Fly on.   Done.  Isn't he adorable?

Come back tomorrow and we will discuss the hand made trellis in the picture that is leaning against the fence.  I am in love with it.  It's easy and unique.  If you have any ideas what I could use that extra fan blade for, let me know.  It's gonna drive me crazy.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

All gardening is landscape painting.  William Kent

An Original Porch Sign For Under $20.00

 Happy Monday one and all.  Hope you had a great weekend.  It was rather soggy here in middle Tennessee and when I say soggy, I thought we were going to have to get out the gopher wood and start building an ark.  It rained and rained and rained some more.  I know we need rain, but it is not my favorite weather condition.  I prefer moderately warm, 70ish something and sunny.  But then, I guess we would all prefer that.  We are about to say goodbye to April (where has it gone).  It has been a real mixed bag weather wise.  It has been much cooler than the last two springs we experienced here and a whole lot wetter.  Guess we just have to live with it, although we live right across the street from the Cumberland River and mama, it is rising.  

Since we had such icky weather and no baseball games this weekend, I worked on some projects for our out of doors living space.  One of them was to make the sign above.  I have seen signs with "porch rules" on them, but I didn't want to make them rules.  There are enough rules in the world and no one wants rules for sitting on the porch.  Right?  I just thought of things we like to do on the porch and then put them on our sign.  This is for whomever wishes to join us on the porch, young and old alike.  Porch sitting is all about relaxation, putting your feet up, dreaming, napping, enjoying company, and making memories.  So, that is where my list came from.

Dan built the frame for me out of 1 x 2 wood.  The frame is 3 feet by 2 feet with a support in the middle.

Then, we used wood that is for replacing broken pieces on lattice.  It's thin and easy to work with and  comes in a bundle of about 12 pieces, 8 feet long and 1.25 inches wide.  It is available at Home Depot and Lowe's.  He cut the pieces the width of the frame and nailed them to the frame after I had spaced them where I wanted them to be.

Color was my next decision and I chose a green color because I thought it would look good against the yellow house and the white lettering would show up nicely.  I spray painted the front and the back with several layers to make sure there was good coverage.

Next, I hand lettered my "list" onto the boards because I didn't want it to look like a pre-made sign.  I used a small square shader brush to do the lettering.  No, it's not perfectly even nor does it look like a professional did it, but that's the look I wanted.  The final step was to spray the sign with a clear acrylic spray to help protect it from the weather.  The sign hangs under the eaves and will not get totally soaked when it rains, but the extra protection will help.

 The sign is rough and somewhat rustic - just the way I wanted it.  Have to say I am very happy with it.  Here are a couple of views.

The sign helps fill a big blank space on the deck wall and it adds a lot of color and "hominess."  Since we spend as much time as we can out of doors in the summer, I want our space to be comfortable and inviting.

You can see some of my concrete planters on the deck rail and they look really great there.  I have so many flowers to plant and hopefully it will dry up for the next few days so I can get that job done.  We are having company later in the week and I want everything to look spiffy for our guests.

This project was under $20.00 to make and it is colorful and original.  Hopefully, it will make all our porch/deck guests feel welcome and relaxed all summer long.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Making original art makes your spaces unique and inviting.  Pinterest and the "blogging" world have so many ideas to draw from.  Have fun.  Be creative.  Make art.  donna

Pecan Pie Muffins AKA Pieces Of Heaven

Do you say "pee-can" or "peh-cann"?  I am a "peh-cann" kind of girl.  Southerns tend to say "pee-can".  Either way, these pecan pie muffins are so good.  I mean really good.  Extra specially good.  Divine in fact.  The recipe was emailed to me by my sister.  I have no idea where she got the recipe, but am I ever so glad she did.  They are just like eating little pecan pies.  Seriously.  What could be better?

It was raining cats and dogs this morning and our two and a half year old grandson was spending some time with us while his mom worked on a writing deadline.  We couldn't go outside, so I asked him if he would like to help me make some muffins.  He is a "mini chef" and is ALWAYS up for baking.  I also love having him share the kitchen with me because we are baking memories.  (Did you catch that?  That's not a typo.)

If I took a survey among the male members in our extended family concerning their favorite pie, I know that the answer would be pecan.  How do I know that?  Because I make them for holidays and upon request.  Therefore, why wouldn't they love these delectable little pieces of heaven?  They are much easier to make than a pie and taste just like eating a piece of home made pecan pie and you don't have to fool with a crust.  Even better!   Here is what you need:

1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cups super softened butter
2 whole eggs beaten

Grease a muffin tin - and I mean REALLY grease the cups because these muffins are sticky and you don't want to lose one precious morsel.  Don't use paper cups.

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and pecans.

In a small bowl using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and add the super softened butter, continue beating until smooth.  Add the sugar mixture and thoroughly mix.

The batter looks kind of like chocolate chip cookie dough only not quite as stiff.

Fill the muffin tin cups 2/3 of the way full.   Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I used a muffin tin that is not real deep and I got a dozen muffins.  The recipe said  it makes 9 - just so you know to double the recipe because these won't last very long at all!!  They are a little crispy around the top edges and chewy and delicious in the center.  Aaaaaaaamazing.  I could see eating them with some whipped cream on top or a nice dollop of vanilla ice cream.  (Note to self.)  Mmm mmm mmm.

Dan ate one, and then insisted that he really needed another (who can blame him?).  Holly ate one when she came in and declared them fabulous.  Yes, I have had one (or two) myself.  They are sooooooooo good - especially with a nice hot cup of coffee (like now).  Yes, I ate one while typing this.  I just couldn't resist.  Now you want one don't you?

If you like pecan pie, or anyone in your family likes it, give these a try.  They are easy and delicious.  Two really good words in combination, don't you think?  Start preheating the oven.........

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember

Commander Charles Trip Tucker III:  (about pecan pie)  May not be good for the body, but it sure is good for the soul.    (from the movie Enterprise, 2001)