All that is good . . .

"When life gets hectic, we tend to neglect the little things that we enjoy most. How important it is to remember that simple pleasures refresh the spirit and nurture the soul."
~Unknown

I am a woman of simple tastes and desires and thankfully I am able to take great joy in the beauty and simplicity of small and simple things . . .



Things like being able to curl up with a blanket and Mitzie on a cold rainy day and just read a good book . . .

The smell of bacon frying in the skillet of a morning . . . and the smell of toast . . . toasting!




The sight of the sparrows peeking their little heads out through holes all along the hedge in the early morning, greeting the day.

Being able to reach out in the middle of the night and feel the warmth of my beloved laying next to me in bed . . .

The words of my Saviour and redeemer, which lay upon the pages of my favourite book . . . the scriptures . . . and the nourishment that they give to my soul.



How good my bed feels at the end of the day . . .

The happy greeting I get from Mitzie when I come into the room, after having been gone for only five minutes, and knowing I was missed.

The text tone on my mobile phone . . . I just know it's a friend saying hello, or Todd telling me he loves me.

The soundtrack to Little Woman . . . it warms the cockles of my heart.



The comfort of my favourite chair, and the way it hugs and gathers me in when I am weary and just want a place to lay my bones . . .

The smell of bread baking and apple crumble . . .

The sound of my mother's voice . . .

The leaves changing colours and falling from the trees in an aerial dance of colour . . . to silent music that speaks to my soul.

Just being able to hear the things I hear, and see the things I see, and to do it all with a thankful heart and the knowledge that as beautiful as everything can be here on the earth . . . there is a place even more beautiful that waits for me . . .



Knowing I am oh-so-very-much-loved, in an unchangeable, unconditional way, and forever and forever . . .

There are so many tiny things that bring me joy . . . and they don't cost a penny. They are free for the enjoying . . . the price of admission being only a grateful heart, and eyes to see . . .

Just my thoughts on this early Friday morning . . . tis good to pause and reflect on all that is good in life now and again . . . oh, I am a very lucky woman . . .

One of my favourite parts of any roast chicken or turkey dinner has got to be the stuffing! I just can't get enough of it. Here's my favourite recipe that I like to use. I can't remember where I got it, but I think it was a contest winner in Canadian Living magazine, eons ago! It's absolutely delicious! I keep some of this to hand and frozen in the freezer so that I can serve it whenever. It's also very good served with panfried pork chops!



*Bread and Potato Poultry Dressing*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

This does make a lot but you can freeze it, unbaked, in smaller portions to take out and cook another time. It truly is delicious and goes really well with all kinds of poultry and pork chops as well! It might seem strange to put sugar and molasses in a chicken dressing, but trust me, the end result is wonderful!

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
¼ cup butter
200g soft white bread crumbs
1 medium onion, minced
1 TBS granulated sugar
1 TBS soft light brown sugar
1 TBS molasses
1 TBS dried summer savoury (if you can’t get this
use a mixture of parsley and thyme)
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp white vinegar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Put the potatoes into a large saucepan of salted water and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well and return to the pot. Add the butter and mash well.

Stir in the chopped onion, bread crumbs and remaining ingredients, mixing in well with a wooden spoon.

Now you have two ways you can finish this, outlined as follows:

1). Pack into a greased 9 X 5 inch loaf pan and chill for several hours. When you are ready to serve this melt some butter in a skillet and slice the dressing into slices which you can then lightly brown on each side in the melted butter (about 5 minutes on each side).

2). Lightly butter a casserole dish and spread the dressing into it. Dot with butter, cover and bake in a 180*C/350*F oven for 30 to 45 minutes, uncovering the last 10 to 15 minutes.

It is equally delicious when done either way. You may also freeze this. I packed it into little shortening boxes that I have lined with baking parchment, folding and sealing the top over the stuffing, and then I wrap the whole box in some cling film and foil. When ready to use, just take out of the freezer and prepare as in either way. I slice and fry from frozen, and casserole from thawed.



Baking in The English Kitchen today, a delicious Glazed Apple, Carrot and Walnut loaf!

Saturday this and that . . .

The finest tonic in the world,
The cheapest and the best,
Put the pills and drugs aside
And put this to the test.
Take a walk and fill your lungs
With air that's fresh and clean.
Even in a city, you can find a patch of green.

When you feel run down
And out of tune with everyone,
Get out in the open
In the rain or in the sun.
Breathe the air that blows from heaven
Deeply, thankfully.
It is Nature's medicine.
It's wonderful. It's free.
~author unknown

There is nothing like a little bit of fresh air to blow the cobwebs out is there! We've not had very nice weather here lately . . . dull and showery, and downright cold . . . but one can't stay in the house for long. I really need to take myself out, no matter the weather . . . and just get some air into my lungs and feel it on my face. It's the best medicine in the world I think . . . helping Todd to put out the catalogues has been good for me this past couple of weeks. Although I have been in a lot of pain, it still has been good to feel the air on my cheeks. I think all of your happy thoughts and prayers help a lot as well. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Somehow when you know you are being buoyed up and bolstered with prayer . . . there is nothing that can keep you down!

I managed to get three dolls finished and now will begin work on a custom order. Because of the dull weather, it has been really hard to get any decent pictures of them. I tried using my lamps, but the colours don't come out naturally. One must do what one must do though and so here they are for you to have a look at. I think they turned out quite nice!!



This first doll is one that I made for my friend Laurie. She wanted one for her grand daughter. It had to be playable, without anything dangerous, so I made a puffy felt "button" for on the front of her dress and have glued it on with double sticky tacky glue.



I don't think it will be coming off. Just to be sure though, I also sewed it on a bit. I think she turned out quite cute. I haven't named her. That will be for Laurie and little Gloria to do!



I found this really pretty Mary Englebreit patterned fabric a few weeks back and immediately wanted to turn it into a doll's dress. Here's little Lulu!!

I think she turned out really sweet and I just love the way the dress turned out!!



Of course I had to make her some kind of accessory and so I came up with a little felt duck pull toy.



I think it's rather sweet. How about you?



Then there is Chloe. She's a sweet little girl, that trys hard to be good, but sometimes she needs a little help . . .



Like these cute little angel wings I fashioned out of gingham to match the pretty bows on her pigtails.



They are completely removeable, for when she feels a bit naughty, naturally!



Her sweet little dress is made of a lovely red floral print with a crocheted ecru lace trim and a button adornment of course!



I'll be posting them all in my Etsy Shop later today, so do pop on over and have a good gander.


I really love being creative. I always have done. When I was a girl I always had to make my own clothes for my paper dolls . . . drawing them, colouring them and cutting them out. The ones they came with were never good enough. I also used to fashion new clothes for my Barbies using scraps, although to be sure they were pretty basic . . . it was not the prettiness of them that counted really . . . it was the act of being able to create something new with my hands and mind . . .



It is the same with my cooking . . . it's like magic to me . . . taking all the raw ingredients and then putting them together into something that is delicious, and pleasing, and that brings joy to those who I feed, even if it's only little old me!

I guess it's the same with this blog every morning. I sit down before an empty screen and I create something for you to enjoy (hopefully!) with my words and pictures. Its kind of selfish in a way as I get probably even more enjoyment out of creating it than you do from reading it! It's an integral part of my day!



I wanted to make some stuffing to go with some chicken we were having the other night for supper. My mom always added potatoes to her stuffing. They make it really moist and delicious. Try as I might, my stuffing never quite tastes the same as my mom's. I don't know why that is. I do everything like her . . . it's probably just that the memory of the way her's tastes is so much better than anything real. Anyways, I had a sweet potato that I needed to use and so I grated it into the stuffing mix . . . I thought it would be a tasty addition and it was!! We both loved this!



*Sweet Potato Stuffing*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious stuffing that you can use to stuff your chicken with before roasting, or bake in a covered dish. Makes a wonderful side dish. The sweet potato gives it a wonderful richness and moistness.

1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup butter
1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
4 cups stale bread cubes
1 tsp pepper
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground sage
1/4 to 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
chicken broth to moisten



Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ Gas mark 3. Butter a casserole dish with a lid. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet, over medium heat. Once it begins to foam add the celery and onion. Cook and stir until they begin to soften.

Place the grated sweet potato and bread into a bowl. Pour the onion mixture over top and toss together. Add the pepper, salt, sage, poultry seasoning and beaten eggs, tossing to mix together well. Add just enough broth to moisten and then spoon the mixture into the prepared casserole. Cover and roast for 35 to 45 minutes, removing the cover during the last 5 minutes so that it browns a bit. Serve hot along side roasted and grilled meats and poultry. It is particularly good with pork.

Alternately allow to cool and then spoon into the cavity of a roasting chicken, and roast along with the chicken.



And for dessert?? How about a delicious Strawberry Bread and Butter Pudding. That's what is showing today, over on The English Kitchen.

Drink deep from the well . . .

I recently read of a little girl brought with her family into a relief camp, set up in a disaster area. The family was homeless and starving. For days, they'd barely had enough to sustain themselves, and every scrap and morsel they did have, had been shared amongst them all.

Gently, one of the nurses, knelt beside this little girl, just a scrap of a girl, all thin and ragged, she was . . . the nurse held out a glass of milk to her.

Wide-eyed, the little girl looked at it. Then she whispered to the nurse, "How deep may I drink?"

The nurse put her arms about the starving waif, and answered with tears in her eyes, "You can drink as deep as you like."



It occurs to me this morning, that we in this world, are a bit like that starving little girl . . . and the nurse is like our Saviour. We come to him and lay our heads and hearts upon his feet and ask . . . "How deep may we drink?" . . . and his reply . . . always . . . "As deep as you like." His love can, and will, sustain any and all who come to Him and lay their cares at his feet.

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
~Matthew 11:28 - 30

Just my two penneth this morn!



My goodness but it did rain yesterday morning! I looked out the window at one point and I have never in my lifetime seen it raining so hard as it was then! I was amazed. Thankfully it blew over and by afternoon we had sun, albeit with a bit of a cold wind, but it was good to see the rain end. Rumour has it that we are in for more . . . rain that is, today! Ahh . . . such is the late autumn and early winter over here in the UK. In the coming months we shall take every scrap of sunshine we are given and enjoy it to the fullest for it shall be a rare and wonderful thing!

I think one of my favourite meals has to be roast chicken with stuffing. I think it's one of Todd's as well. I often don't have time to cook a roast dinner on Sundays, what with our church responsabilities and all, but you will often see me doing one on a Saturday night, which we enjoy immensely and then we will have the leftovers on Sunday. This is one of our favourites!



*Lemon and Parsley Roasted Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Imagine chicken, roasted and full of flavour from a delicous Lemon and Parsley stuffing . . . the meat all juicy and tender with a delicate flavour. This really is a most delicious way to roast a chicken!

1 large roasting chicken
a large knob of softened butter
For the stuffing:
2 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
3 cups fresh soft white bread crumbs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a large handful of flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
the finely grated zest and juice of one lemon
1 large egg, beaten with a fork.
about 2 cups of hot chicken stock and flour for the gravy



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F.

Heat the oil in a large skillet. Once hot, add the onion and cook it for three to four minutes until it is quite soft, but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer until you can really smell the garlic, again without browning. Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and the zest. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Place the brad crumbs into a bowl. Tip in the onion mixture and mix it in well. Stir in the parsley and then season to taste with some salt and pepper. Stir in enough of the beaten egg to bind it all together. You may not need all of it, depending on the freshness of your breadcrumbs.

Stuff the chicken lightly with the stuffing, just piling it into the cavity lightly. Any extra can be put into a casserole dish and baked along side if you wish. Pull the legs across the opening and tie them together. Take the knob of butter and rub it generously all ove rthe outside and then dust it all over with salt and black pepper. Place it into a roasting dish with a lid. Cover and then pop it into the oven and roast for approximately one hour. Remove it from the oven, take off the lid, and baste it with any pan juices that have formed. Leave the cover off and pop it back into the oven and roast for another 30 to 45 minutes until it is nicely browned and the juices run clear whtn it is pricked with a fork. If it's not cooked through, return it to the oven and cook for another 15 minutes before testing again.

Remove to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes, loosely covered with foil.

Make a gravy with the pan juices as follows:

Spoon off all but 3 tBS of the fat and the pan juices. Discard. Sit the roasting pan over medium heat and pour in a small glass of chicken stock. Allow it to bubble up and deglaze the pan, scraping up any crusty bits from the tin. Stir in 1 TBS of flour, whisking it in well. Gradually whisk in about 1 3/4 cups hot chicken stock. Cook, whisking, until it begins to bubble and thicken. Season to taste and allow to simmer for an additional 3 to 4 minutes before straining into a gravy boat to serve.

Scoop the stuffing out of the chicken to a serving bowl and slice the meat to serve. Pass the gravy at the table. Delicious!



There's tasty Gingerbread Cupcakes with a lovely Lemon Icing over on The English Kitchen this morning!

Thursday Thoughts . . .

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won;t.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or the faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.
~Walter D Wintle


I found this poem and thought it quite profound and inspiring. Sometimes I get to feeling a bit low about my artwork, and I start to second guess myself. I look at it and I think to myself . . . that it's really not all that good. Rejection after rejection from card companies doesn't help. Seeing my prints sit in my etsy shop for month after month doesn't help either. And so, for a time I stop trying.



But there is this little desire in me that needs to get out, that needs to express itself . . . and so I pick up my brushes again and I paint. I guess the truth is, that I paint because I can't not paint . . . and my head and heart are filled with all these little pictures and thoughts that just have to get out.

I ask myself, do I paint for others? or do I paint for me? I guess it is a mixture of both . . . I paint first of all because it brings me joy and secondly, because I hope it will bring someone else some joy too . . .



It is easy to get disheartened in the fact of rejection and seeming lack of interest . . . but then you need to remind yourself that a person is only a failure when they stop trying at all . . . and so I keep moving forward, hoping that one day . . . one day . . .

Lots of artists become famous and their work much desired, after they die. I hope that I don't have to wait that long . . .



I cooked a roast chicken the other day and made my ex mother in law's potato stuffing to go along with it. Old fashioned and tasty, this is the only stuffing recipe I use for the most part, unless I am trying out something new. Made with nothing more than potatoes, bread, a bit of onion, celery and herbs, we happen to think it's pretty wonderful. It's quite similar to my mom's, except in hers the onion is left raw and the bread in larger chunks. It doesn't matter how many times I try to replicate my mother's . . . I can never get it to taste the same. Must be that extra touch of love she puts into it. This tasty recipe of my ex's mom is a close second though and we really enjoy it. I hope you will too. It's not much to look at, actually, but it sure tastes good. I call it Grammy R's coz, that's who she was to my kids . . . Grammy R.



*Grammy R's Potato Stuffing*
Makes enough to stuff one large roasting chicken
Printable Recipe

This was my ex mother in law's recipe for stuffing. I always doubled and tripled the recipe as the stuffing was always my family's favourite part of the meal. You can use it to stuff a chicken or a small turkey, or you can do as I normally did and bake it in a casserole dish.

2 cups fine bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes (use no butter or milk)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 small onion, peeled and chopped finely
1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp summer savoury
salt and black pepper to taste



Place the butter, onion and celery in a plastic container. Cover with cling film and then cook on high in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Place the mashed potatoes in a bowl. Stir in the onion/butter mixture and the bread crumbs, along with the poultry seasoning, summer savoury and some salt and pepper. Taste and adjust as necessary. You may need more of the herbs or seasoning according to your own individual taste. The dressing is now done and ready to cook as you wish.

If you wish to, you may use it to stuff a large chicken or a small turkey, cooking as per the instructions for cooking a chicken or turkey. If you wish to cook it separately then do as follows.

Butter a casserole dish well. Crumble the stuffing into the casserole. Spoon a little warm chicken broth over top and dot with butter. Cover and bake in a moderate oven (160*C/350*F) for 30 to 40 minutes. You can uncover the last 10 minutes of baking if you want some crunchy bits.



If you're looking for a dessert that's quick easy and built to impress, look no further. The English Kitchen has just the ticket! Frozen Lemon Souffles. Yummy Scrummy!