The Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY, August 17th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
All is calm and quiet. The sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon. My . . . but the days are drawing in quickly. It seems not all that long ago that I was waking up in complete daylight and now . . . well, the sun is not up much before I am and is already starting to wane well before we go to bed at night. I expect we will be noticing the days getting shorter and shorter from now on. Summer doesn't seem to last any time at all anymore . . .


I am thinking...
All our young people are heading off to EFY today. There will be over 400 youth there and it promises to be a fantastic week for them all. They were really excited about it in church yesterday. I am so thankful for the Especially For Youth program. It will be a great week filled with Gospel tuning and a wonderful opportunity for our young people to feel like they are a part of something that is huge. Because the church is not very large over here, only about £6000 members and we are spread out quite a lot, our youth group is not very large in our Ward. We only have about 9 of them, including both the boys and girls. Often they are the only members in their whole schools. It can be very difficult for them. It will be nice for them to see this week, that they are not alone in all of this.

I am thankful for...
I am thankful for my calling with the Young Women. (That is what we call a responsability in the church, we call it a calling, and it comes from the Lord) When I was first called I was, quite nervous about it. I wasn't sure at all whether I would like it or not. I was afraid that I would not be able to do a very good job of it. The Lord qualifies who He calls . . . I've been told that over and over again . . . and it's true. Over the past few years I've been able to develop a wonderful rapport with the young people in our Ward and I have come to really love them and respect them, even the ones I thought I never would. It's pretty amazing.

From the kitchen...
Ohh, I have my Tuesday's With Dorie challenge sitting there waiting for tommorrow, and I have the leftovers of a delicious plum tart that I will tell you about in a little bit. There are muffins and a HUGE pile of lemons I need to do something with, not to mention apples! It promises to be a very tasty week!

I am wearing...
A pale green nightie. Would you expect anything else this time of the day? I hope not!!

I am creating...
I have several commissions I am working on. They're really quite sweet. I hope that the people I am doing them for will be happy with them. I won't get much done on them now until tomorrow, but my fingers are just itching to get at them!

I am going...
Warning . . . lazy week ahead. I don't have much planned except for work. Even Todd has no meetings now until the end of August. It is the month that most people are away on holidays since most of the children are out of school now. It will be a few more weeks before everything gets started up again. Other than work, I don't really have a lot planned this week, although I am sure to be visiting Terri at some point.

I am reading...



"The Last Queen," by CW Gortner. It's a historical novel about Juana, the sister of Catherine of Aragon. As we know Catherine was the first wife of Henry VIII, and the widow of his elder brother. As with all royal marriages from that time, Juana had an arranged marriage with Philip, the archduke of Flanders. Like most Royal partnerings, this was a strategic decision to strengthen her parent’s political stand. Philip and Juana fall madly and passionately in love with each other and Juana is absolutely happy with her life in Flanders, her husband and her children. She had a couple of older siblings, but their unfortunate death eventually leaves her as the heir to the throne. When she inherits the Spanish crown, she is thrown into a battle against her own husband. But her personality is used against her and soon rumors are passed around about her mental health. She was soon imprisoned on accounts of insanity, and remained in prison for the rest of her life. I have only just started it, but it promises to be a wonderful read. I had never heard of Juana before and this and am finding it quite a fascinating read. If you would like to know more about Juana ( or Joanna in English) Wikepedia has a very good article that summarizes her life. I just love history and when it is combined with brilliant writing, so much the better!

I am hoping...
That I can get all my commission work done on time! I have to work it all into my free time and there doesn't seem to have been a whole lot of that lately! They say there's no rest for the wicked, don't they? I must be really bad!!

I am hearing...
It's all very quiet except for the humming of the fan down here in the kitchen. It was still quite warm in here when we went to bed last night and so we left it on for Jess. She really minds the heat. I haven't been able to listen to my playlist for several weeks now. It has a message on it about the tunes not being available for playback, due to liscensing restrictions in my country. I am kind of bummed about that. I loved the music on my playlist and I really miss it . . . sigh . . .

Around the house...
I am working on a family wall upstairs. We have a new framed print which says on it, "Family, forever and always, no matter what." We don't have a lot of walls in this house that you can hang pictures on, as we have slanted ceilings etc. I have one wall in the upstairs sitting area that I am devoting entirely to family pictures, pictures of the children, grandchildren, etc. The family print will be in the centre and all the framed photoes will be scattered around it. I think it will look quite nice when it is done!

One of my favorite things...
Is the Mormon Channel radio station. We listen to it on the computer. It is filled with uplifting music and words and we often have it on during the daytime when we are puttering around here. We had it on most of yesterday after we got home from church. The music was just beautiful and so inspiring. I can't think of a better thing to listen to, I really can't. I just love the commercials on it about family as well. Back home we have them on the television, but over here churches are not allowed to advertize on the telly. I have always really missed their adverts, so I am glad that I can at least listen to them!
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Work, painting and cooking. Nothing unusual or new there!
Here is picture thought I am sharing...



This is a picture of a seed pod that I took. More and more of the summer plants are now going to seed, can autumn be very far away? I love this picture. It makes me think of the crown of thorns which was placed on our Saviour's head and helps to remind me of all that He did and suffered through for each of us. I also like to think that it represents the promise of a thousand tomorrows. What an adventure lays in wait for each one of these little seeds . . . nature is pretty amazing to me.

And there you have it, my Simple Woman's Day Book for today. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

The other evening I made these delicious muffins. My but they smelled good when they were baking. I love muffins, both sweet as well as tasty savoury versions such as this one. How could anything with bacon, cheese and onions in it not taste completely wonderful!



*Crispy Bacon, Onion and Cheese Muffins*
Makes 12 muffins
Printable Recipe

I can't think of any tastier combination than smokey bacon, sweet onions and sharp cheddar cheese. These delicious muffins combine all three in a savoury little muffin. Why not bake some this morning to go with your scrambled eggs! (Why not go even further and make a delicious chive butter to go along with them!)

6 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled, and finely chopped
8 rashers of streaky bacon, snipped into small pieces
3 rashers of streaky bacon cut into fourths
2 cups plain flour
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
coarsely ground black pepper



Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Lightly grease a 12 cup medium size muffin tin, or line with paper wrappers. Set aside.

Heat 2 TBS of the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and gently fry for about 10 minutes over low heat until softened. Scoop out the onion to a bowl and set aside, reserving 1 TBS separately. Add the bacon pieces to the pan drippings and cook until crisp. Scoop out and add to the onion. Add the bacon that has been cut into fourths. Fry until limp, but cooked. Remove and set aside on kitchen paper.

Whisk the flour, baking pwder, sugar, salt and cheddar cheese together in a large bowl. Whisk in some black pepper. Beat together the milk, eggs and remaining 4 TBS olive oil. Stir in the onion mixture and the parsley. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Combine only until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Top each with a portion of the reserved cooked onion and a piece of the semi cooked bacon. Sprinkle a good grinding of black pepper over top of all.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the pan for a few minutes before transfering to a wire rack. Serve warm as is, or with the following Chive Butter.

*Chive Butter*

3 ounces of butter
2 1/2 TBS snipped chives
coarsely ground black pepper

Beat the butter until soft. Stir in the snipped chives and the black pepper. Chill until needed.

For a deliciously tasty Plum Tart, why not take a gander at The English Kitchen. Something else that is moreishly delicious!