Blueberry cobbler

I was in a baking mood tonight so I dug through the freezer looking for some blueberries and whipped them up into individual portions of warm blueberry cobbler. Yum! I found these little baking dishes at an estate sale this summer and as it turns out they work wonderfully for little desserts. You probably can't see but the outside of them is a beautiful pale blue. I had mine with whipped cream. By candle light. It doesn't get any better than that:>)
Here is the receipe if you want to make your own:
Heat oven to 400. Blend 1/2 cup sugar, 1 TBSP cornstarch, 4 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) and 1 tsp lemon juice. Cook , stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil & stir 1 minute. Pour into ungreased 2 quart casserole. Keep fruit mixture hot in oven while preparing biscuit topping.
Measure 1 cup flour, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 1/2 teasp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt into bowl. Add 3 Tbsp. shortening and cut in, add 1/2 cup milk and mix until dough forms a ball. Drop dough by spoonsful onto hot fruit.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until biscuit topping is golden brown. Serve warm and, if desired, with cream.:>)

Candle light

One of the things that I do not love about autumn? The shorter days. I am a person who needs light! So when the days get shorter and colder, out come the candles! My favorite tea light holders are these glass block star shaped ones. Earl got them for me years ago and I have been on the lookout for more ever since with no luck. I love the star shape with the glow of candles for the holidays. It is a symbol of the star that guided the wise men to Jesus. I also have these hanging star tea light holders that I use in the dining room. It is often dark when Earl gets home from work and I like the warmth of the candles in the windows welcoming him home to a warm dinner and the love of his family. I light these almost every night in the winter, and whoever is out at night enjoys coming home to a cozy looking house. I use candles all through the house and buy the tea lights in bulk. We don't have a fireplace so the warmth and glow of candles fills that need nicely. What are some of your ideas for using candles during the holidays?

Hope your Saturday was better than mine...

I had an interesting Saturday! Earl and I spent most of the day cleaning the basement,or rather, I cleaned the basement while he cleaned the duct work. Yikes! You see, we got an estimate for having someone else clean the duct work and they wanted $500, so being the frugal do-it-yourself types we decided we could do it ourselves. Sometimes I hate being a do-it-yourself kind of person, it means a lot of dirty work and blowing perfectly lovely Saturdays in the bowels of your home! Anyway, we got that done and Earl wanted to bake a couple cheesecakes as pastor appreciation gifts so I ran to the shopping center with my youngest daughter, Victoria, to get some cake boxes. As we are leaving, with Vicky driving, some lady comes out of a side drive and T-bones the van! Poor Victoria, who is on her level one permit was very upset, because as a student driver I am sure she thought it was her fault and that she would get in trouble. I told her it wasn't her fault in any way but with the police coming I think she was still nervous about what they would say! Well we got the nicest female officer who walked her through the whole process, assured her it was not her fault and that these things happen and people make mistakes. Everyone involved was fine but the woman who hit us hit the front passenger side tire and axle on the van so it was undrivable and had to be towed. We have full coverage and I think the other drivers insurance might pick up our deductible. I was able to keep my cool through the whole thing and didn't even get angry with the woman who hit us. Earl came and got us, and the funny thing was, he had already picked up some cake boxes a couple days before and hadn't mentioned it to me so we really didn't even need to have gone on that errand! A friend will lend us his car until ours is fixed (he works at a dealership so he can use one of their vehicles) so it wasn't the end of the world or anything. I am looking forward to doing absolutely nothing today after church though! And how was your weekend?

An Appetizer for the Blissful party

Melissa at The Inspired Room is having a satellite party today for the Blissful. She has asked us to bring our favorite appetizer and this looks like just the ticket. Crab dip in little phyllo dough shells. I love little finger foods like this for the holidays. Easy to eat and yummy! Here is the recipe (and don't forget to join Melissa for the party!)

Crab DIp in Phyllo Shells:>)

(PHOTO: BHG.COM)

1 cup cooked crabmeat or one 6-ounce can crabmeat, drained, flaked, and cartilage removed
1/2 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion or green onion
1 tablespoon snipped fresh dillweed or 1 teaspoon dried dillweed
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel or lime peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice or lime juice
Several dashes bottled hot pepper sauce
Dash cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and black pepper
Finely chopped red or green onion (optional)
Assorted crackers and/or vegetable dippers
Directions
1. In a small bowl stir together crab, mayonnaise, sour cream, the 2 tablespoons onion, the 1 tablespoon dill, the 1 teaspoon lemon peel, lemon juice, hot pepper sauce, and, if desired, cayenne pepper. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
2. Transfer dip to a serving dish. Cover and chill for 2 to 24 hours. If desired, garnish wtih finely chopped red or green onion. Serve with crackers or vegetable dippers.
3. Makes about 1-1/3 cups
4. Crab Tartlets: Prepare dip as above through step 1. Spoon dip into 30 miniature phyllo dough shells (two, 2.1-ounce packages). For a hot appetizer, place the 30 miniature phyllo dough shells on a large baking sheet. Spoon dip into phyllo shells. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until heated through. If desired, garnish with finely shredded lemon peel and fresh dill sprigs.Per tartlet: 62 cal., 5 g total fat (1 g sat. fat), 8 mg chol., 52 mg sodium, 3 g carbo., 0 g dietary fiber, 2 g protein. Daily Values: 1% vit. C, 1% calcium, 1% iron. Exchanges: 1 Fat

Happy November 1st!

I'll tell you the truth, I'm glad Halloween is over. Never been a favorite holiday and now we get down to the good stuff! Penny at Lavender Hill is asking about our favorite Thanksgiving traditions so I thought I would share mine. Some of my favorite Thanksgiving memories are from when the girls were little. We still host the holiday at our house every year but when they were little EVERYONE was there, sometimes right down to aunts uncles & cousins and sometimes their guests! Now heres the thing, our dining room is 12x14, not huge. We have had up to 23 people around our humble table on these occasions and it was easier when the children were little because you could squeeze them here and there and at the childrens table. Not so easy now that they are adult size! We are fortunate to have a beautiful antique table that stretches to 104" long, and we put it corner to corner in the room. We always have everyone bring their favorite dish but Earl does the turkey & stuffing (cornbread with pecans and dried cranberries) and his specialty pumpkin/ chocolate swirl cheesecake. We have pumpkin and pecan pie too and his sister Karen brings home baked rolls and we always have too much to eat and tons left over. When the kids were little we did Christmas crafts with them after dinner and then all sat around talking and trying not to fall asleep. it is always a fun family day and we dont care if we are all a little crowded because we love each other and we love our kids:>) Can you see why I love it? It is a great time to be thankful for all we have and our wonderful families and a great kick-off to the best season of all!
On another note, tomorrow Melissa at the Inspired Room is hosting a satellite party for The Blissful and hosting a great surprise give-away! Run over there and check it out because it promises to be a fun and beautiful start to the holidays! I know I'm going:>)