Afternoon Light

The weekend is upon us and we are looking forward to spending time with family.  Our boys will come for the weekend and then on Sunday the TLC's and their parents will join us for bbq.  Saturday hope to Skype with daughter and her precious family in Kentucky.  

October is birthday month for two sons, two son-in-loves and 1 daughter!

Hope you enjoy your weekend and make it special too.

Old Fashion Popcorn

We have for years used microwave popcorn and it was easy and pretty tasty.  Lately not so much though and when I saw this blogpost I had to try it.

MaryJane blogs at The Beehive Cottage and just the pictures alone will inspire you to try her popcorn. I definitely give it my thumbs up.  Fluffy, tasty and so much more healthy without all the additives of microwave popcorn.  Much cheaper too.  Making a big batch would give me a reason to bring out the yellow bowl more often too.

Give MaryJane's old fashion popcorn a try and see what you think.

Wordless Wednesday

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday - Hummingbird Cake

I have recently found a great blog for new recipes at The Southern Lady Cooks  and last week I made her Hummingbird Cake.  

The cake is moist and very good and easy to make in my yellow bowl!  All the ingredients I had on hand and as I said you basically make it in one bowl and don't even need the mixer.

We had the 4 TLC's for a few days so the cake was enjoyed.  Our new neighbors enjoyed a couple of pieces too.

Here is the recipe from her blog:

This hummingbird cake is so good. It never lasts long at my house. I read somewhere it is called hummingbird cake because it is so sweet the hummingbirds will eat it!

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups oil (I used Canola)

1 (8 ounce can) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 cups bananas, mashed or about 3 large bananas

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

 

Combine flour, sugar, soda, salt, cinnamon.  Mix together with whisk.  Add eggs, vanilla extract, oil, pineapple, bananas and pecans and mix with a spoon until all ingredients are wet.  Spray 3 (9 inch) round cake pans or a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Add batter and bake in preheated 350 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes until cake is done in center.  Frost with cream cheese frosting.  Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 stick butter or margarine or 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons

2 cups confectionery sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Whip all frosting ingredients together with mixer until smooth and of spreading consistency.

Click to follow The Southern Lady Cooks on Facebook.

The 4 TLC's that fill these shoes sure enjoyed the cake made in the yellow bowl.

Fruit of Friendship

Alyssum, it hangs over the side of the pot of mums that is promising flowers probably by Thanksgiving. This little branch of alyssum has been faithfully producing its' little white flowers for months.  It came up voluntarily from seed blown into the mum pot from another plant in the yard somewhere.

As I walked through the yard this morning and noticed the flowers I was reminded of the friend who gave me the original plants.  Barbara's front yard was a carpet of the tiny white flowers and she uprooted several plants and brought them to me when we lived in Mesa years ago.  Barbara's yard reminded me of my grandmother who also had alyssum in her yard.

When we moved to Maricopa I uprooted several plants and brought them with me and they have faithfully come up from the wind blown seed every year.

Just like this seed has produced its' little white flowers my friendship with Barbara has produced fruit too.  Although we don't talk often and she now lives hundreds of miles away we still have a faithful friendship producing fruit for both of us.  My friendships through the years have been few and yet the important thing to me is the durability and faithfulness of them.

So this Monday afternoon I am grateful for the little white flowers that surprise me by faithfully coming up year after year and for friends that can be found faithful and true.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, 

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23