How was your Halloween? It was a gorgeous day here in Virginia. I drove to Walnut Avenue today to visit with my mom, Susan, and Reese. Susan is a Halloween baby, so not only were we celebrating Halloween, we were celebrating a birthday, too. The drive to Walnut Avenue was incredibly beautiful. I had my…
Saturday we attended a chili cook-off. I love chili and had been looking forward to this event for a long time. The event was held in Sedalia, a tiny community in the mountains of Bedford County. The scenery here is spectacular. The leaves, still pretty, must have been at their peak last weekend. We tasted…
Yippee! It’s Friday! The SCA sponsored a pumpkin decorating contest at school and I thought I’d share my favorite. A 6th grade homeroom entered this pumpkin. The idea for it came from BHG magazine. We had a fall festival last night at school and the parents voted on their favorite pumpkin. We’ll find out this…
We had two pork tenderloins left over from our party on Saturday night. I used some of the pork to create Cuban Sandwiches with a modified recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine. All I can say about this recipe is, “Yum!” We’ve had these sandwiches for dinner two nights this week and neither of us is…
I hadn’t carved a pumpkin in a long, long time until Saturday night at our party. I had forgotten how much fun it can be! Some of our guests used patterns from books and some created their own designs. John made a Cyclops pumpkin. Mr. SP made a pirate pumpkin. (Freehand I must add.) Elsie…
Do you like Brussels Sprouts? I used to think that they weren’t good, but now I think that they are a real treat. I tested this recipe from the November 2010 issue of Southern Living for Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and declare it a keeper. I’ll definitely make this dish again!
We hosted a pumpkin carving party for our supper club on Saturday night. I am happy to say that it was a huge success. Everyone brought a dish to share and a pumpkin to carve. I made Richella’s bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and both my grandmother’s refrigerator rolls and her sugar cookies. I enjoy preparing…
Today during second period I had a funny conversation with two boys that made my day. Gregory: “Mrs. S, I can’t believe that you are 41. You don’t look that old.” Me: “Thank you. You get an A today! Chase: “Seriously, I thought you were 29.” Me: You get an A+ for the day! Gregory…
This floral arrangement was so pretty when I made it back in August.It actually looked really pretty until just recently when the Pineapple Lily took a turn for the worst. Last weekend I decided to spruce up this arrangement with dried material that I had on hand: Hydrangea, Garlic, and Sedum. I tried my best…
A big project has begun at our house. Can you guess what it is? Have you guessed what’s happening? Here is your final hint. We’re having an irrigation system installed. Even with regular watering all of the beautiful new grass that we had this spring died. Weeds took over and the most horrible weed of…
This weekend was a good one. We started out on Friday by heading to the lake for one last boat ride. The last time we went to the lake, about a month ago, we hit a wake and a swinging window shattered. We had to put the boat away full of glass as we had…
When I toured historical houses a few weeks ago, I snapped a few pictures of some additional houses in the tour area. I love that my town has such interesting architecture. This house is for sale. I was in it long ago on a historical house tour but I can’t remember much about it. It…