We had lunch at church yesterday, so I decided to take a couple tried and true recipes, and one new salad. I made a cold Italian macaroni salad since it was going to be a hot day. I then decided on homemade French Bread (that I’ve shared before) to go with it. This bread is so easy and is a perfect accompaniment to a salad. It can be on your cooling rack in a matter of less than two hours and it makes two loaves!

A friend had served us a piece of pound cake recently and it created a hunger for more! I pulled out my Cooking Light recipe and made the Blueberry Pound Cake. We were rewarded with a beautiful cake, but with less fat than an old-fashioned recipe! You can’t beat that! You would never know it’s light! This is a great recipe!

Here’s the Italian Salad I made. It looks like whole wheat pasta, but it’s not -it’s the balsamic dressing that goes over the salad that darkens the pasta. I love cold pasta salads in the summertime! This was good! You could add or delete ingredients to suit your family’s taste.

Italian Salad
8 oz. elbow macaroni
12 oz. cherry tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 red onion, chopped
7 oz. Mozzarella cheese, cubed
12 black olives, pitted
1 oz. fresh basil leaves
shavings of fresh Parmesan cheese, to garnish
Crusty bread, to serve

For the dressing:
5 tbl exra virgin olive oil
2 tbl balsamic vinegar
1 tbl chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to directions. It should be tender, but firm. Drain. Rinse under cool running water.

While pasta is cooking, make the dressing by mixing all ingredients in a small jar. Cover and set aside.

Mix salad ingredients in a bowl. Pour dressing over and mix. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Scatter over the basil leaves. Garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese shavings and serve with crusty bread (like the French Bread on today’s post!).

What do you like to make for dinner on a hot summer day?

From my parsonage kitchen,

As I looked at it and saw that white stool, it dawned on me that I have a red stool just like that sitting in my kitchen.  I went and got it and put it in my living room.

Be refreshed,
 
P.S. Stay posted about the mirror at the end of the hallway! I just had a thought about one in the guest room, or the old window that’s downstairs! And I think it needs something tall instead of those roses… Gotta go! Those creative juices are still flowing!

Here’s the link for the activities for young children.  She has some great ideas!

With love,

I’m cutting off a hunk of my heart and holding it out to you, my blog readers today.

I took a BUNCH of pictures last weekend on our anniversary get-away, but the one posted here is my favorite. This picture is personal, private and so very dear to me; that’s why I say I’m giving you a piece of my heart. This is a picture into my very personal world. I really can’t look at this photo without choking up. Let me set it up for you.

It was our anniversary day – last Thursday, June 20th. My husband took me to Whitestone Inn in Kingston, TN. It is a beautiful place owned by Christians who want to provide a safe haven for couples to come and renew and rest together. On their property are many buildings – one of them being a beautiful chapel.

After checking in, we took a walk around the property and found ourselves outside the front doors of the chapel. “Let’s see if it’s open,” my husband suggested. It was! We slipped inside, all the while “ooing” and “ahhhing” over its beauty and the scenery from its windows. My husband walked up the aisle to the front and called me to meet him. When I did, he held his hands out to me and began to sing the song that we sang to each other at our wedding – “Whither thou goest, I will go, wherever thou lodgest, I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, my Love; whither thou goest I will go.” I tried to join him, while wiping the tears that were pouring down my face.

As we looked into one another’s eyes as we sang, I thought about all the “places” our love has taken us. Oh, yes, it’s taken us to many cities, states,and countries, but even more than that, it’s taken us through valleys of discouragement, mountains of triumph, through tunnels of hard trials, and rain forests of wonder. We could have never imagined it all on the day we said, “I do.” But the wonderful thing is that, while we were singing it, we were acknowledging that it’s been worth it all, and that we’d each do it all over again.

When our song was finished, my husband took my hand and proceeded to kneel down at the altar. He began to pray. In his prayer, he detailed our married lives, the happenings – both good and bad, and thanked the Lord for the passage of each decade, and for His grace and blessings that have led the way. There were moments of laughter in his prayer as he recounted funny things the girls had done, or an event that we’ll never forget. There were tears as he prayed about the difficulties and how they made us depend on our Savior more. While he was praying, I knew I’d never forget this time at the altar, but then, realizing that I had my camera in my hand, I set it on the timer, set the camera on the floor in front of us, and snapped a picture, so I’d always have this moment captured on film.

The verse on the picture is

From my parsonage windows,

This is an exciting time – my husband and I are in the process of looking at homes so that we can purchase one! As I’ve walked through kitchens I’ve been amazed at the DIRTY OVENS! I’m beginning to think this saying I read is true:

Are you up to doing something that takes bravery? I thought so. Today, go to your oven, turn the light on, then open the door. Stick your head in there and take a look. If you want to scream instead of sigh or blush instead of bake, why not do something about it today?

I’m amazed at how many people have a self-cleaning feature on their oven, but don’t use it! Really? Why not? Okay, it gets really hot, but it’s an oven; it was made to get hot. I don’t leave the house when mine is cleaning, but nothing has ever happened as a result of the heat, except turn my splattered, messy oven into a shiny, clean cooking place! I like to turn mine on at night during the summer months so it won’t make the kitchen too hot on an already warm day. So, if you have a self-cleaning oven, turn it on, dust off your hands, and go do something fun!

If you don’t have that feature on your oven, (and I have another small oven in my kitchen that does not), here’s my favorite way to clean it out.