I haven’t posted a Macro Monday for a while. This week’s challenge was “drips, drops and splashes.” Here are some shots I took for the theme.
I like the way the stream gradually turns into drops.
This one has drops in the middle, falling into a frothy splash.
My favorite shot is this water crown.
I don’t know what next week’s theme will be, but I’m looking forward to it. ~~Rhonda
As usual, we did not take nearly enough pictures. We were having too much fun visiting with our company. My son took many of these shots for me just as the party was getting underway.
Living room
A gaggle of great guys in the living room.
And time to catch up with friends.
Dining room, with the table pushed against the south wall.
Library / family room, with "It’s a Wonderful Life" on the TV. The stained glass windows were made by our dear friend Gary.
Used to be the “office,” now it’s sort of called the music room, for want of a better name. It’s where the piano lives.
Addition hall, looking toward the guest room.
Guest room, with a few extra chairs for chatty guests.
Upstairs hall…these are the last walls in the house that need to be repainted. Those dull vanilla walls don’t jibe will with all the color in the rest of the house.
Speaking of color…DD#3’s room…
My crafting/scrapbooking room
DD#1’s room
Looking from our bedroom door toward DD#2’s room.
DD#2’s room
The "glass" tree in our bedroom. All the ornaments are made of glass. The tree has more than 250 prisms and crystal bead chains from old chandeliers.
That’s a quick overview of the decorating, though we missed the kitchen. I need to take more pictures for a detailed tour. And I still wish we’d taken more pictures of the guests!
This morning we woke to a very light dusting of snow, but it didn’t last long. I had a long quiet day which was very nice after being so rushed the past week. Tomorrow will be a bit busier as I begin to get ready for the house concert Thursday night. So I’m off to bed.
~~Rhonda
This is such an easy recipe! And delicious. And so pretty when rolled in sparkly sanding sugar.
Sugarplums
1 c. almonds
3/4 c. walnuts
3/4 c. dried apricots
3/4 c. diced dates
3/4 c. raisins
zest and juice of 1 orange (may substitute a few tablespoons of bottled orange juice)
gold sanding sugar or white table sugar, optional [Sanding sugar is a larger crystal than table sugar and has a beautiful sparkle.]
Process the ingredients in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add orange juice (original recipe says 1/4 c. but I found that to be too much) and pulse until the mixture sticks together. Shape into balls and roll in gold sparkling sugar, if you like. Store in fridge. Makes 24-30. At least that is what the original recipes says. It came from the “Family Fun” magazine, p. 24, in the Dec./Jan. issue of 2002.
I don’t have a food processor, so I do it in a blender.
I mix the walnuts and almonds together in one bowl.
In another bowl, I mix the dried fruit and the zest of one orange.
I process about a fourth of the recipe at a time, and always put the nuts in the bottom so the mixture doesn’t gum up the blades.
It ends up looking like a coarse meal.
Add enough orange juice (I used the juice of one medium sized orange) to make the mixture hold together.
Form into one inch balls and roll in sparkling sugar. I used gold sugar which I purchased at The Baker’s Kitchen.
They can be made without the sugary coating, but it does add a pretty sparkle. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
We had a wonderful time at the open house yesterday. There were about 175 guests. The Putz display looked great on the cookie table. I think it will move to the corner of the kitchen counter after the house concert party this Thursday.
Monday
Cheesy Potato Sausage Soup
Tuesday
baked ziti
homemade rolls
green salad
Wednesday
hamburgers / homemade buns
garlicky oven fries
coleslaw
Thursday
We’re hosting a House Concert this evening, so supper will be a quick sandwich.
I haven’t finalized plans for the appetizers for the party/concert, but am thinking about these:
cranberry sauced meatballs in the crockpot
veggie tray and dip
cheese spread with bagel chips
pickles and olives
meat and cheese on picks
red and green grapes
Friday
oven baked BBQ pork steaks
accordion potatoes
green salad
corn
Saturday
fridge food
Sunday
spaghetti
garlic bread
corn
peas
green salad
You’ll find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.
~~Rhonda
Chocolate Creams
1 pound semi-sweet chocolate
1 pound unsweetened chocolate
1 c. heavy whipping cream
To make the cream centers, melt the chocolate. I use the microwave, heating the chocolate for two minutes at 40% power. Stir and reheat for 30 seconds at 40% power, repeating until almost melted. Stir until completely melted. Transfer the melted chocolate to a mixing bowl.
In a small saucepan, over low heat, using a candy thermometer, heat the cream to 130*. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, heat the cream just until little bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Add the hot cream to the chocolate. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, whip for 3-5 minutes, or until thickened. Cover and chill 1 hour, or until just set. If they chill too hard to scoop, just set them on the kitchen counter and let them come to room temperature.
Using a melon baller, scoop up the chocolate mixture and roll into 3/4-inch balls. I scoop the entire batch onto the cookie sheet before rolling them into smooth balls. Using plastic/vinyl gloves to roll the balls keeps your hands clean. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and refrigerate or freeze until ready to dip.
Make the dipping chocolate. I use melted choc. chips and 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate to each bag of chips for chocolate covered creams or almond bark for white covered creams.
To dip, using a fork, dip the centers into the dipping chocolate, coating them completely. I tap the fork against the side of the pan with the dipping chocolate to remove as much extra coating as possible. Place the coated centers on a foil-lined baking sheet. Top immediately with chocolate sprinkles, if desired.
Adapted from 1001 Chocolate Treats by Gregg R. Gillespie, recipe #320, p. 172. His recipe uses 2 pounds of milk chocolate and extra steps in preparation that I don’t find necessary.
~~Rhonda
After Thanksgiving dinner, we went to work on the living room tree.
Buttercup slept near the tinsel.
Julie decorated the box grand in the living room.
I replaced the lights on this little tree. All better!
We decorated the front porch.
And Buttercup slept on ornament storage boxes.
I made chocolate creams.
I wrapped my babies’ pictures.
Buttercup slept on the couch.
I received a package in the mail! The ornaments from the Christmas Notebook’s ornament exchange. This is just one of them.
My sister and friends from church cleaned my house! Thank you, thank you!
Buttercup slept on the vent.
I started a new house project.
I made sugarplums.
And DD had her hair cut.
And Zak slept with her.
~~Rhonda ::going back to work!:: 😀
Here’s one of my Putz houses nestled in the guest room Christmas tree. This one was too big for the display stand. I’d like to make more of the houses to put on the tree.
This is the busiest week of the year for us. So much to do to ready the house for our annual Christmas open house next Sunday. The menu for the week is quick and easy to accommodate our schedule.
Monday
lunch
sandwiches
chips
grapes
supper
pork loin sandwiches
fresh fruit
Tuesday
roast beef in the crock pot / sandwiches
Wednesday
tortellini with ham
green salad
rolls
corn
peas
Thursday
cheesy potato sausage soup
Friday
beef stew in the crock pot
Saturday
lunch
sandwiches
chips
fresh fruit
supper
pizza
Sunday
sandwiches
chips
grapes
You will find more menus and recipes at Menu Plan Monday.
More pictures later this week, as I have time! ~~Rhonda :)2
The Christmas tree in the guest room has a silver and blue theme, with a lean toward a vintage feel. The tree has white LED lights that have a bluish cast. The tree rotates. So much prettier in person, but you get the idea. 🙂 By the way, this is the tree I spray painted last year. Worked great!!
You can see more Christmas decorating ideas at The Inspired Room. Scroll down that page for links to other sites where homes are being readied for the holidays.
~~Rhonda ::busy decorating the living room tree today::
The bed in the guest room has been changed out more times than I can count. Several different frames, some in there more than once, and the bed has waffled between a full and a queen size. I couldn’t find pictures of the other frames that have been in there, but here’s the iron bed in November of 2006.
Last year, it looked like this…that’s a full size mattress.
We want to have a queen size bed in the guest room, though, so, for now, the queen mattress is sitting on a simple metal frame.
I do have a plan to have a bed made for the guest room. We had two large pine trees taken down last year and the wood was milled and saved. I want to use that and two old doors to make the new bed. But for now, we decided to hang an old door on the wall as a headboard.
The door came from the church my in-laws attended for years. This is what it looked like in our basement…not a promising start.
But DH cleaned it up, sanded it, and painted it.
Using the instructions on Martha’s site, DH modified the plans a bit and secured the door to the wall. Instead of a 2×4, he used a 2×6. The picture shows it after it has been cut on a 45 degree angle to make a cleat to hang the door on the wall. One piece is secured to the wall studs and the other piece is secured to the door.
The top cleat was made a bit shorter than the door to make it easy to adjust the headboard to the right or left without having the cleat show. He also added a small cleat to the bottom of the door to make it a bit more secure.
After hanging the headboard, DH put my angel pictures back up, centered over the headboard. The pictures are blown up copies of vintage Christmas postcards. By the way, the white spots on the pictures are reflections from the sun shining off the aluminum Christmas tree in the window.
The headboard made the whole room look more finished. I love it!
~~Rhonda
A quiet moment of contemplation. But just a *moment.* We’re too busy to stop for long!
Monday
chicken stir-fry over rice
Tuesday
spaghetti / meatballs
salad
peas
corn
garlic bread
Wednesday
hamburgers
homemade buns
chips
Thursday
turkey in the crock pot
stuffing
ham
mashed potatoes
homemade rolls
broccoli casserole
green beans with mushroom cream sauce
pear/walnut salad
corn
cranberry salad
pumpkin pie with whipped cream
marbled cheesecake
Friday
fridge food
Saturday
Lunch ~ sandwiches
Supper ~ pizza braid
Sunday
pork loin in the crock pot
accordion potatoes
corn
sugar snap peas
You can find more menus and ideas at Menu Plan Monday.
~~Rhonda