Roasted Pepper and Anchovy Appetizer

My husband loves anchovies, and my mom makes an appetizer with peppers and anchovies.  When we were in California last week, she very kindly made it for him, so today, I am giving all of you the recipe.  I don't like anchovies, but apparently if you do this is a great appetizer.

Roasted Pepper and Anchovies

Ingredients

1 16 oz jar of roasted red peppers
1 can flat anchovies
1 can rolled anchovies with capers
3 cloves garlic crushed
olive oil
pepper
1 tsp parsley chopped

Directions

Drain peppers and then lay them in a single layer on a plate.   Next, you will lay the flat anchovies on top of the peppers in a window pane pattern.  Then put the rolled anchovies in the center of each window pane.  You are just trying to make it look pretty.

Then sprinkle the crushed garlic over the top of the anchovies and peppers. Then sprinkle the pepper and chopped parsley.  Next drizzle olive oil over the anchovies and peppers.

Cover the plate and refrigerate for about 2 hours, so that the flavors come together.

Serve with a fresh sliced baguette.

I would love to hear what your favorite appetizers are.  Send me your comments.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

Favorite Friday Blog links Week 8

Can you believe how this year is flying by? I can't believe it is already mid July. Well we are now on week 8 of my Favorite Friday blog links.

I can't wait to share this weeks creative people with you. I love showcasing all of these great blogs. All of these bloggers are so amazing. I hope that you love them all as much as I do.

So here they are, this weeks Friday Favorite Blog Links of the week.

Mint Lemonade Cookies from Audra at Once a Mom Always a Cook 

Spray Painted Mason Jars by Sarah at Alderberry Hill 

How to Enhance Your SEO by Kim at Seven Thirty Three 

DIY: Flavor Your Own Vodka by Jessi at Practically Functional 

I am a Featured Blogger at Adorned From Above's Fridays Favorite Blogs Links

Tell me who your favorite bloggers are.  I would love to hear from you.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

Peach Lemonade

So I decided to make a special drink for Father's Day. I keep seeing all of the different posts for flavored lemonades. Since my wonderful husband does not like berries, I decided to make peach lemonade. Also, since I try not to use much sugar I did use two kinds of stevia.

Peach Lemonade

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Stevia in the Raw
1/4 cup Stevia in the Raw Sweet Leaf
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
8 cups cold water
2 cups peaches
1/2 cup Stevia in the Raw

Put the two kinds of Stevia in the Raw in a bowl, add the hot water and stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In a separate bowl use a potato masher and mash the peaches along with the 1/2 cup of Stevia in the raw. Set aside.

To get the most juice from the lemons, roll the lemons against the counter until sift, this will get you the maximum amount of juice from your lemons. Squeeze the lemons, about 6 will give you 1 cup of juice.

Next, put the peaches in the in a pitcher, then add the stevia water mixture, stir. Then add the lemon juice, then the 8 cups of water. Stir well.

To serve add ice to glass, then add peach lemonade. Put a peach or lemon slice on the side of the glass for a garnish.


Let me know if you like this recipe, and what your favorite flavor of lemonade is.  I would love to hear from you

Enjoy!!!
Debi

Lemon Loaves

I love the tangy taste of lemon, and I especially love a moist, tangy lemon cake.  This is my basic cake recipe with a twist.  These little loaves have a great lemon glaze on top that is simple and delicious.

Ingredients:

1 box lemon cake mix
1 box instant lemon pudding
1 16 oz container sour cream
4 eggs
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I used a pan that has 4 small 3 x 5 inch pans, but you could also use 2 regular loaf pans or even a bundt pan.  Spray with non stick spray.

Mix lemon cake mix and pudding in a bowl, and then add the sour cream, eggs, water, and oil.  Mix well.

Pour the cake batter into the  loaf pans and place in oven.  Cook for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cooking time for loaf pan are approximately 50 minutes and the bundt pan is approximately 55 minutes.

Cool on a rack for 15 minutes and then turn loaves out on rack to finish cooling.


Glaze Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lemon
3 TB powdered sugar

While the loaves are cooling squeeze the lemon and pour the juice into a measuring cup.  Add the powdered sugar and mix well with a whisk.

Once mixed well, gently spoon over the top of the loaves and let soak in.

I hope that you enjoy these lemon loaves.  Please tell me what you think and if you have experimented in different ways with cake mixes.  I love to hear from all of you.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

3 Face Masks from Your Kitchen and Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop 6

Happy 4th of July Everyone

I'm sorry that the Blog Hop had not been open before.  I made a mistake on the time for it to start.  It is open now.  Thanks everyone for your patience. 

Welcome to my Wednesday Adorned from Above Blog Hop 6. This blog hop will run for 2 weeks.  I will be in Mexico, and the internet is spotty and I am afraid that I will not be able to blog for the next two week.  I hope that all of you have fun, and I can't wait to see all that you have done over the last 2 weeks.  I was really organized though, and did get my posts done ahead of time, so check back everyday to see my new recipes and other fun things.

This week I am featuring the three top blog that had the most visits. Make sure that you click on the like button for the blogs that you like the most for next weeks featured links.
 
I am thrilled to feature the following posts this week.  So without further ado, I would like to present these beautiful and informative bloggers.  To those of you that I featured I would love for you to feature this link to the blog showing that you are featured blogger at the Wednesday Adorned from Above Blog Hop.

I am a featured blogger at Wednesday Adorned From Above Blog Hop

Breakfast To Go from Gina at My Chocolate Pieces

Junk Stalker from Liz at Imageremix

Creme Caramel from Myric at Petites Passions

I want to thank everyone who linked with my Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop.  All of your projects are wonderful and I would post all of them if I could, but I think that the blog would probably be a little too long.  I hope that all of you link more posts today.  Let's Party!!!

Your posts can include:

• anything DIY
• Recipes
• Arts and Crafts
• Sewing
• Knitting and Crochet Ideas and Patterns
• DIY Cleaning Solutions
• Natural Beauty Product Recipes
• Decorating Ideas
• Thrifting
• Book Reviews, Movie Reviews, Christian Music
• Inspirational Articles, Poetry, Life Stories, or Short Stories
• Bible Studies 

1. Bloggers, use the linky tool on the bottom of this post to share your best post. Non-bloggers, feel free to add a comment here with any ideas or thoughts you have. 
2. I would love for you to add the blog hop link posted below to the post that you are linking also.  It will give us additional opportunities for more people to see our blogs. This is not a requirement just a request.
3. Please take a look at what other people have posted and vote on the ones that you like.
4. I would also love for you to post a comment in my comments section telling me a little about yourself and your post.  This also is not a requirement just a request.  I would love getting to know you and your blog.
5. Please link your posts back to my blog hop. Linking back here helps build our little community by sending your readers to all of the other posts shared.  Just create a text link somewhere in your post back to this blog. (Especially since I do not have any buttons yet.)
6. Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop Link
7. I would love to have you follow me in some way, either through RSS feeds, email, or Google.

Today I decided to talk about easy facial ideas that you can do at home.  You do not have to go out and buy anything special, you probably have most of this stuff right in your kitchen.  I have found that there is so much you can do at home with food from your refrigerator and pantry.  I no longer go out and buy expensive products, because I access to things that are great for my skin, and better for me also.  By better, I mean chemical free.  So take a look below and see what you think.  I think that you are going to find these really easy, and will make you feel really pampered.

Before doing any of these masks you should put hot tap water in a pan or a sink and put your face over it with a towel over your head for approximately 5 minutes.  This will open your pours to get the most out of the masks.

Baking Soda -  Baking Soda is a huge multi-tasker.  There are several things that you can do with it as a facial.

• The first is to use it as a face scrub.  It is a gentle exfoliant, and works great at getting the dead skin off of your face.  Use about 1 tablespoon mixes with about 2 tablespoons of water, and gently massage on your face for about 1 minute, then rinse, and are good to go.  
• The second is that baking soda makes a great face mask.  It helps to unclog your pores and also shrinks their appearance, which is a good thing.  To do this, mix 1/2 cup baking soda with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water.  You want the mixture wet enough to put on your face, but not too runny.  Use your fingers to spread on your face and neck, keeping away from eye area.  Let dry on your face, about 20 minutes.  Then rinse your face, it's that simple.

Homemade Crock Pot Greek Yogurt

Yogurt - It's next on the list of great food for your face, especially unsweetened greek yogurt.

• The lactic acid in yogurt are great for your face.  It soothes irritation, cleans pores and softens skins. Finally, greek yogurt has probiotics (live, active cultures), which are helpful in treating  acne and eczema.
•  To use, wash face, and then use fingers to put a thin layer over skin.  Leave on for 20 minutes, use a wet washcloth to wipe yogurt off of your face, and then rinse face.

Honey - Makes a great mask, and does several things to help your skin.

• It is a natural humectant, so it moisturizes your skin.  It also has antibacterial properties, which will help can help with acne
• Honey also has anti oxidant properties, so it also helps protects your skin from sun damage.
• To use, wash face and then spread a layer of honey over your skin and lie down with a towel under your head.  Leave on for 15 to 20 minutes,  use a wet washcloth to wipe honey off of your face, and then rinse face well.

After all of these masks apply your regular moisturizer as usual.

Next week I will post more face masks that come from your kitchen.

Tell me about your favorite at homemade masks.  I would love to hear what your favorite ingredients are.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

Red, White, and Blue Kugel (Noodle Pudding)

 
Since our son was recently discharged from the marines, and will be with us for the 4th of July, the first time in 4 years, so I am going to cook a patriotic looking side dish. One of his favorite sides is a noodle kugel. I got this recipe from my mother in law, and it is out of this world. My aunt once made a kugel with a 4th of July theme, so I thought that I would use my kugel recipe with the red white, and blue colors.

For those of you out there who do not know what a kugel is, it is a noodle pudding. It is sweet, but not too sweet. This recipe will get its color from pie filling on top. I will use cherry, apple, and blueberry pie filling from the can. It is a simple and delicious recipe and it looks beautiful.

Red, White, and Blue Kugel

Ingredients:

1 16 oz. bag extra wide egg noodles
2 8 oz container cream cheese room temperature
1 16 oz container sour cream
6 eggs beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can apple pie filling
1 can blueberry pie filling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish

While the oven is preheating cook the noodles according to the directions on the package.  

With an electric mixer whip the cream cheese, then start adding the eggs one at a time.  Once all of the eggs have been added the sour cream and brown sugar.

Drain the noodles, put them back in the pan and add the cream cheese mixture to the noodles.  Mix well.  Pour the noodles into the 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

Next you will put the cherry pie filling over 1/3 of the kugel,  then the apple pie filling, and last the blueberry pie filling.

Then put the casserole dish in the oven, and cook for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  I would put it on a cookie sheet, because the pie filling can drip over the sides of the casserole dish.

This makes approximately 18 to 21 servings

Tell me what some of your family favorite 4th of July recipes are.  I love hearing what you have to say.

Enjoy!!!
Debi

Psalm 23 - Bible Study

I’m not doing a Bible study on the book Sharper then a Two-Edged Sword over the next few weeks, but I would still like to talk about God and what he does in our lives.

Today, I would like to talk about faith.  I believe that there are times in our lives when we forget to rely on God, instead we think that we can get through difficulties through our own strength.  We forget that once we invite God into our hearts we are never alone again.

So today I am going to put Psalm 23 in here, because I believe that it truly shows that God is with us in good times and in bad.  He is our protector from all evil, here in this world, and once we accept him he will be with us forever.

A Psalm of David

Psalm 23

1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Does this speak to your heart, the way it does to mine?  God is so good and faithful, and I am so grateful for what he has done in my life.

I would love to hear how you feel about Psalm 23.  How is it relevant in your life?  Send me your comments, I love hearing from you.

God Bless your week!!!

Debi

Denver Botanic Gardens - Photography Series 3

Denver Botanic Gardens

I took these pictures several years ago with my oldest son Vince. It was a great day. My one request for gifts from my children is to spend time with them. I like us to plan a day with an activity that they like to do. My son Vince likes spending time outside. So a day at the Botanic Gardens was my Mother's Day gift a couple of years ago.


It was a great day. We had so much fun, and I got great pictures, how great is that. It is such a pretty place for pictures, and I love taking pictures of flowers. I hope that you enjoy these pictures as much as I do. It is Sunday, and I am thankful that I have an opportunity to bring some of God's beauty and peace to you life.

This is a picture of Vince shooting pictures.  He is a great photographer.  He will become a sponsor sometime during the next week.  You will be able to find a link to his site soon.  His pictures are amazing.  I am very proud of him.  I can't wait for you to see his work.

I loved these orchids, they are so beautiful.

 

These flowers were all in the greenhouse, and the sun was shining through the glass ceiling onto them.  It was magnificent the  way the light played on the petals.

I just thought this was interesting looking.

This first picture are what the blooms look like up close on the bush to the right.

I loved that I found these two flowers that are so different, but they still look similar, in different colors.

 This is a walkway that I fell in love with.  I love the shade and light, and the way all of the shadows work with the walkway and the flowers.  I also really liked the linear look of  shadows on the walkway.

I really loved the pink color in the roses.

I liked the way the same pink was in the lily.

 














These last two pictures I liked for the stalks.  I just liked the top to bottom play in the two pictures.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my pictures.  What do you like to take pictures of?  Send me your comments.

Enjoy!!!
Debi