Another recipe

If you have read some of the entries in my blog, then you read where I mentioned "Vinegar Pie".    My cousin recently got together a small family cookbook.    Everyone who wanted a cookbook had to provide at least four recipes to go in it.    I gladly supplied four recipes, but I also asked my mom if she would put in Maw's Vinegar Pie recipe.    She did!!!   I could make these every day and they would not be as good as Maw's or my moms, but here is the recipe if you want to give it a whirl:

Susie's Vinegar Pie         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 c sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. butter (margarine)
1 c cold water
3 Tbsp. flour
4Tbsp. Vinegar

Mix sugar, egg yolks, salt, butter, and flour in a little of the water.  Add the rest of the water and vinegar.  Cook over hot water for about 25 minutes until thick.  Pour in an unbaked pie shell and bake in  350 degrees oven and bake until the pie crust is nice and browned.

Make a meringue from the egg whites and put on top of pie and brown meringue.

(My mother's note on this recipe: Mom(Maw) used to make this and my kids loved it when I made it.)

Truer words were never spoken.    I absolutely love this pie, and have never heard of anyone else making it.  Most people say, "eewww Vinegar Pie!"  I say, "try it, you'll like it!"    It is similar to a lemon pie, but, oh, so much better.

I pray that you have a safe, restful, and stress free holiday weekend.    And if you make a Vinegar Pie, eat a piece for me.  gggg

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!

hugs, Patty

Results from the Fair

Good morning to you all.    I pray you had a restful night leading up to this Labor Day weekend.    Do be careful when out and about.

Well, last night before I went to bed I checked on the Fair website to see if the winners had been posted, and they were!    YAY!!!!    OK, so, this is pretty stinking exciting for me.    I think, somewhere, I said how I do not like having my art judged by anyone.    I stand by that, even now.  But...of the 16 items I entered, 12 of them placed.    I really am taken aback by that.    I give my praises to God for that.

So, let me see if I can get them listed in order, from 1st. place to 3rd. place:

1st. place:   Rosette turkey;   Blue floral and butterfly box;   Quilled and stamped baby feet tag; Stamped Stocking card

2nd. place:   Flower Pot pincushion;   Dogwood bonsai sculpture;   Sachet crochet scarf

3rd. place:   Tulip crayon colored towel;   Set of three Christmas decorations(no pic);   Glass ball covered with seed beads;    Decorated tile(no pic);   Stepping Stone

That is the way it stands for now.  If I need to make any corrections, I will.  When I get them all home I will take pics of them with their ribbons and post them so you can see what they look like after winning and placing.

Yes, I am a little excited; well, uuuummmmm, a lot excited! ggg

That's it for now.   I may be back later with an update about my day, if not, enjoy your visit.    Come back often.    Anyway, I hope the rest of your day is filled with so much joy that is spills over to everyone you come in contact with today.    Be blessed!    This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it!!!

Hugs, Patty

A Great Recipe

Hello Friends,

I pray that you have had a blessed day today!   With the long Labor Day weekend coming up, I thought I would share a favorite recipe I found two or three years ago.   I wish I could remember where it came from, but I don't.   If you know where it originated, please let me know and I will add that info.  My sweet husband calls it "chick food".   So, I don't have to threaten to break his fingers if he doesn't stay out of it. gggg

Mango Salsa

2 mangoes
2 tomatoes, remove seeds
1 apple
1 peach
1/3 of a bunch of cilantro, finely minced
(2 T. minced onion, optional)
(2 T. minced jalapeno pepper, optional)

Finely dice all fruits and veggies.  Toss all fruits and veggies in  bowl.   Squeeze the juice from 1 lemon, 1 lime, and 1 orange over the fruit and veggies.  Mix really well and refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

If it is too tart, you can put a couple packets of your favorite non-sugar sweetener.

This is so delicious.  If I had to describe to you what sunshine taste like, I would say it tastes like this salsa.  It is one of the healthiest salsas you could ever make or eat. 

I hope you give it a try and that it becomes a favorite of yours, too.

I hope and pray as your day winds down, that as you reflect back over it, you can see the hand print of God all over your day.   I pray that before you close your eyes in sleep tonight that you will talk to the Master.  Thank Him for His hand print on your life.  Thank Him for the security that you have in Him.  Praise Him!!

hugs and good night to all, Patty

Above all else...

Proverbs 4:23     Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Look at that Scripture again.   "Above all else", tells me that this is of most importance.   When someone tells you "Above all else", you perk up and listen to what they are saying, because it is very important.

"Guard your heart".   Have you ever seen movies depicting warriors who had on suits of metal or wielded those big shields to protect their fronts from any attacks, diverting any blows that may come to their chests.   This is kinda the image that the writer is trying to give you.  The importance of guarding your heart, so the fiery darts and arrows from the enemy can't penetrate and injure you.

Have you ever seen anyone you would consider hard hearted?  More than likely, that person had not heeded the warning to "guard your heart".   A hard heart, or unguarded heart does not happen over night.  It happens from repeated exposure to letting ourselves be exposed to the lies of the enemy.

My heart is the seat of all things that make up who I am.  I'm not speaking of the blood-pumping organ.  I am speaking of that place in me that is God-shaped.   You and I should guard that God shaped place in us from the crude, rude, callous, hurtful, hateful things that the world has to offer.  If it is not Godly, the heart of a seeker should know; my head my be in conflict, but my heart, or the God-shaped place in me should know and should be able to discern.  Apart from God, there is no good to be found in me.  Anything good that comes from me, comes from my heart, and ultimately comes from God. I need to keep my heart pure, so nothing impure comes from it. (written by:pjg)

I hope you enjoyed this short devotional.    I have had a blessed day today and I pray that you have also.   I pray when you lay your head on your pillow tonight that you will have at least five things that you can thank God for today.   I pray that God will bless you with peaceful rest and pleasant dreams of heavenly proportions.  Thank God for who you are and Who's you are!!!  If you've accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of you life, you're "A Child of the King"!    

Good night and warm hugs to you, Patty

A short story I wrote for a Creative Writing Contest

This was entered in a Creative Writing Contest in 2012 and it went to State level, which was actually as high as it could go. So, I was really proud of that. I just recently found out, so that is why I'm sharing it. It is truly a story right from my heart. My style of writing is, more or less, as the Lord gives it, I write it, only checking for spelling errors, and missing a lot, not proper grammar.

The Best Day of My Life

This day started off like the life of any new day. Just getting up and getting the day started was the first goal of the day. For any thirteen year old, that was easy enough. The hard part was containing the excitement that was building within. This day had been marked in red on my calendar since the beginning of the year. As each and every day came and went, it was marked off with a black marker.

I had first marked off days, then with the days came weeks which led into months. The first five months of the year had come and gone with great anticipation for the month of June. Then the days started being marked off, then very soon two whole weeks was gone. There was one day left to mark off, and then all of the sudden, what do you know, June 16th was here. That BIG red-letter day! It was my birthday! Along with that event came the pleasure of doing absolutely anything I wanted to do, within reason, of course. The first day of the year I had said I wanted to spend the day with Maw. She was my mother's mother. If you was a child and knew her, she made you feel like the icing on her cake. Just imagine how she made me feel, her own granddaughter!

The time came for me to go to my grandmothers house. I do not even remember how I got there, I just got there. She had been cooking all morning for my special lunch with her. Just the two of us. You don't even know how hard that is to accomplish. Because everyone wants to be with Maw! But, today was my day! A day with Maw!

Well, she made the biggest fuss over me you ever did see, and guess what, I loved every second of it. She treated me like a little princess, and actually, she even said I was her little princess! How about that! Maw knew I loved her meat loaf, so that was the main course, yummy! We also had butter beans, mashed potatoes, and homemade yeast rolls. She could make the best bread of all time! My favorite dessert is "Vinegar Pie", so she made that with a candle on the side for me to blow out and make my wish. I told her my wish was being lived out as we spoke. I told her also that today was already marked in my diary titled "The Best Day of MY Life". She asked me how I knew it would be that. I told her that simply spending the day with her made it so!

After we ate lunch and got the kitchen cleaned up, we went to the bedroom where she had her special trunk. She said she had not gone thru it in a while and asked me if I wanted to see what all was in it. That had been a dream of mine for as long as I could remember, just to get to take a peek inside that trunk. Now I was getting, not only to see what was in it, I was getting to touch some of it also! Another goal accomplished! As she took out bits and pieces of materials, laces, buttons, photos, and pieces of paper you could see the sentimental value of all these little treasures all over her face. Each and every item had a wonderful story behind it. As she sat telling me story after story, I kept wanting more. Some of the stories were sad and you could see the sadness in her beautiful face. But some of the stories were just down right funny, and those were the best! Anything that made Maw laugh was what I wanted to hear. But even if I could see a tear rise to the corner of her eye, I still wanted to hear her voice, simply because I knew my time with her would be short, even if it was a whole day, it just would not be enough! She told me how I reminded her of my mom when she was my age. Always wanting more stories and to see the treasures in the treasure chest. She said my mom couldn't get enough of that, and I can't either.

She told me stories of her brothers and sisters, back in the "olden days", that was what I called it, anyway. They had a really hard life, she said, but "I wouldn't take nothing for it. Those days made me the person I am today. Just knowing that God was the sustaining factor in our lives, made every day worth living to the fullest, even if it was hard." She told of her love of cooking, and sewing, and reading, and working in the garden, of rearing her children to the best of her ability. She also threw in that she loved Paw a whole bushel and a peck, and laughed one of those laughs that I loved to hear. I was laughing right along with her, just as loud as she was laughing, and suddenly, in the distance came an oh so familiar sound, the sound of an alarm clock!

NO! I don't want to say good bye! The alarm clock was unrelenting and it was time to get up. That awful clock ruined everything. It brought me back to reality and awaken me from the sweetest dream of a lifetime! But, one thing for sure, that dream put a smile on my heart that had not been there in such a long time. As a matter of fact, my heart had not smiled since she went home to be with the Lord five years earlier. I look so forward to having more of those sweet dreams of being with my grandmother and hearing that wonderful laugh and having another day with her that I can call "The Best Day of MY Life!" (written by:pjg-2012)

I hope you enjoyed this story and maybe, just maybe, it helped you remember your grandmother, or another loved one, who has since left this life and gone home to be with the Lord. Sometimes remembering is painful, other times, it is just the thing that can cheer ones heart. Go ahead, let yourself explore some of those memories and dreams of days gone by. Ask God to be a part of all of it and, more than likely, it will end up being a blessing to you and those you share it with.

God bless you as you lay your head on your pillow tonight. Thank Him for seeing you through this day, ask Him to carry you through the night and hit the floor in the morning with joy and praise to the Lord God Almighty for giving you another day to serve Him!!

Hugs, Patty

Fair week

Well, this week is fair week.  I worked on a lot of different projects last week to get them finished and ready to enter in our fair.  I really don't expect anything to win any ribbons, but everything entered earns points for my FCE club.  so I had sixteen items to enter.  It was fun getting everything entered at the fairgrounds on Sunday after church.  The judging was to be today, but I haven't seen or heard if I actually won on anything or not, keep your fingers crossed for me.

This is my rosette turkey.  I did not get a good shot of him.

 This is a flower pot pincushion.  The top part lifts up so you can store thread, etc. in it.

 This is my stocking card, again, not a very good shot.

 This is a close up of the top of the stocking.

 This is my earrings.

 Bracelet to match.  Did not have time to get the necklace made, but I will.

 This is a flour sack towel with the image drawn onto it with permanent marker.  Colored with crayons, then heat set with iron.  I stamped a bumblebee in several places.

 This is a free hand water color pansy.  I done this one night at a make and take craft party.   I have never done water colors before, but i really enjoyed doing that.  I know, I know, it is really not good!!

This is a scarf I crocheted with the sachet thread, it is purple ombre in color.

 This is a stepping stone that I made at another make and take.  The mixture was made up and poured into cake pans and before it set up we placed colored glass fragments in it.  I really enjoyed making that also.  Again, its not really great at all, but none of my stuff is.

 This is my little bonsai dogwood sculpture tree.

 This is a little quilled baby feet tag.  I love this.

 This is the sentiment I put on it.  so... the story goes with 10 tiny toes.

This was a glass ball ornament from another make and take.  Coat the ball quickly with mod podge and quickly spoon colored seed beads all over it.  Carefully let it dry and then decorate as desired.

This is my God's Promises box.  I absolutely love making these boxes.  The butterflies are fussy cut from a sheet of butterfly paper.  Then I hand rolled each flower and colored and decorated them up.  I used a spellbinder die to make a small mat for the butterflies and flowers to sit on.

 A close up of flowers.

 A little better shot of the box.

I just realized that I did not get pics of everything I entered.  Hopefully, when I get my stuff back next Sunday, I will remember to take shots of what I forgot.  Anyway, like I said , really nothing spectacular at all, but it is fun.  I really need to start planning ahead of time, instead of waiting till the last minute.  Oh, well, I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the stuff I entered.  Will update when I can on if anything won anything.  I'll not hold my breath, counting on a win!!! gggg

This morning was a really big blessing for me at the grocery store.  H. G. Hill had their frozen 1 lb. bag of beans on sale for .99 cents a bag. WOW!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! That was 1.30 off each bag.  Even at Wal mart they are 1.58 a bag every day.  So this was still .59 cents cheaper than WM.  So, I ended up getting 30 bags of beans.  With the money I saved on the beans, I bought 2 big pkgs. of boneless pork spare ribs, 2 big pkgs of ground beef, a huge beef roast, and a pkg of country ham.

So, what I love to fix is this: a pkg of frozen beans in the bottom of my electric pressure cooker, a cup and a half of water over them, a teaspoon or more of ham base seasoning, put my rack down on the beans, put a pkg of spare ribs, or pork chops, or ham, on the rack, then put in a couple or more of frozen ears of corn, and then a couple of Idaho potatoes.  Process that for twenty to twenty five minutes after it comes to full heat.  While all that is cooking, whip up a batch of cornbread wedges and we have a couple of meals on that.  It is absolutely fantastic!!!!!  One pot to clean up!!!!  Love, Love Love it!!!!

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed your visit.  Maybe you seen something that you want to try .  Maybe you even got a little bit hungry for some good ole comfort food.   What ever you take away from today's visit, please make plans to visit again.  Who knows what you'll find on here.  Thanks for stopping by and may God bless you today in a mighty way!!!

hugs, Patty

Who likes a little bling?

Isaiah 61:10 " HE has clothed me with the garments of salvation."

Sometimes the clothes that we choose for ourselves might not be exactly what God would chose for us.  I know that for myself, my clothes have not always been something that was glorifying to God.  But after years of spiritual growth, God has finally gotten me where He wants me as far as my garments.  I wear clothes that are age appropriate, plus I bling it up a little now.  In the past, bling was not me at all.  A few small pieces here and there.  I am a whole lot bolder and out there with my bling now, because who knows more about bling than God?!?  Have you read the descriptions of heaven in the Bible?  God has it all "blinged up" because He loves bling too.  Just don't love your bling more than God, and "bling it up", for God's sake.  Put you on some "Jesus bling" and live and love and serve the Lord in your beautiful garments of salvation!(written by:pjg)

I pray that you all have a blessed week in the name of Lord!
Hugs, Patty

What do you see in the clouds?

Isaiah 44:22 "I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

What happens to the dew that fell in the wee hours of darkness when morning comes and the sun starts stirring and rising to its rightful place in the sky for another day? The sun starts burning the dew away, evaporating all tell tale signs of it. That's what God has done with our sin!

Have you ever laid on your back as a child and watched the clouds floating in the sky, shape shifting, if you will. If you look closely, you can see all kinds of things; animals, silhouettes of people, trees, flowers, and yes even our sins. One of the things about God, is that where there is sin, there is also a sin covering. He provided that sin covering thru Christ. Go ahead, look again, do you see the cross coming into focus in the clouds, Redemption just showed up. Thank You God for my redemption in Christ! (written by: pjg)

I pray for you all to have a blessed and restful night.

hugs, Patty

Meatballs...

Yesterday, I had an FCE club meeting.  That stands for Family Community Education.  It was my time to be hostess.  Which means that I bring tea, bread, a meat, plates, napkins, and plastic glasses to drink from.  I haven't been up to par this week and did not get to do much shopping.  So, I finally decided to go freezer shopping in my garage. ggg

 I had some Sister Schubert rolls, those are always great.  I also found a bag of frozen meat balls.  We all know spaghetti and meatballs are good, but I did not want to make spaghetti.  Now what do I do with them?  Back in the house, I found a jar of mushroom spaghetti sauce.  I have a small quart and a half crock pot.  Do I, or don't I?  I was afraid it would be too simple.  Well, I did!!  I loaded the crock pot up and turned it to high for a couple of hours before I left.  When I got to the meeting place, I plugged it back up and set it on warm.

It was fantastic!!  Those meatballs were perfect.  Everyone was commenting on how good it was.  So, get a bag or two of meatballs and have a jar of pasta sauce on hand and you are ready for anything.  Today, for lunch, my husband and I enjoyed the left overs with spaghetti.  Made a perfect meal.

Sometimes less is more, and that certainly was true for my meatballs.  I love simple, two ingredient ideas.  This one was a keeper.

Over this next week, I will be getting together some of the crafts I have done over the past year to enter in the fair at the end of the month.  As I take pics, I will try to post them.  I don't have a lot of stuff enter.  I am new to entering my crafts and art work in the fair.  I am also new to having strangers judge my talent.  So, we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, at the close of another day, it is time to reflect back on the ways God has blessed us today!  I know He has blessed me today!!!  I praise Him for who He is and what He has done for me!!  Thank you Yahweh!

To God be the glory, great things He has done!!

hugs, Patty

"Moth-ra" on my door

I'm so excited!!!  I have my first item to blog about.  I was going to the garage to get an item from a freezer and when I opened the back door, there was something really large on it , down at the bottom.  I eased the door open, stepped out and eased it shut.  This is what was there:

I hurried to the garage and eased myself back in and got my cell phone, eased myself back out and he was still there.  I managed to get this pic and a couple of others.

Mothra really made my day.  I hope it brightens your day.

Hugs, Patty

Something new for me

Welcome one and all to my "Crafts, a Camera and Jesus" place.  I hope to be able to make this a fun little spot on the web. 

I plan on showing some of the crafts I do.  Don't expect anything really extravagant because I am more of an instant gratification crafter.  Who knows, I may even get into videos, but I really think you need equipment for that and I have none.  So that will be later on.  I may also feature a favorite recipe from time to time.

I write a little, so I may share some of my stories and memoirs.  I have also written a few short devotions that I may share.  And this just may be the vehicle for me to write even more.

So, I hope you find yourself at home here.  Check back from time to time.  I may be here or I may be playing, but you are always welcome.

hugs, Patty