Tomato Soup

This girl has her father's cooking skills.  Ok, I'm no slouch in the kitchen either.

She dug around and found Pioneer Woman's tomato soup recipe and made it to warm up this cold winter day.

I think it is very close to Panera's soup, maybe even better. I didn't have a bread bowl for it, (I'm low carbing) but she made a batch of her soup the other day and on this cold snowy day it was just the thing to have for lunch.  Warm and delicious, and easy.

 Want the recipe?

 

Tomato Soup

 

3-4 large cans of drained, diced tomatoes (or if you have fresh tomatoes, a 9 x 13 pan of tomatoes, roasted and blended)

1 clove of garlic roasted

1 med onion, diced and sauteed

2 chicken bouillon cubes

3 tsp sugar

a little salt

ground pepper to taste

a good handful of chopped fresh basil (or toss in a little dried)

1/2 to 3/4 cup white wine.

 

Saute onions and roasted garlic, add everything else, let it simmer for a while and then, a little at a time, puree in blender. Careful! It's hot!  Sprinkle a little Parmesan on top to serve, or how about a little dollop of sour cream and some croutons?

 

Bread bowl optional:>)

 

 

Winner!

 

 

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Well I've been bad! I told you I would choose a winner on Friday the 25th and then forgot all about it!  My apologies. Using random.org the winner of the heart banner is LindaSonia! Shoot me an email with your address and I'll pop the banner in the mail toot sweet:>)

Congratulations!

It's my day off, I have a load of lovely things to do on this warmish rainy day.  I'll be back later to show you the fun:>)

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Love and Cake and Kenya

I have to tell you about a girl. Our Pastors daughter, Ashley. Freshly graduated with a degree in teaching, Ashley headed to Kenya  for a few months. She followed her heart there, to the slums, to teach the kids English.  Ashley is writing about her experiences on her blog,  Love from Kenya,  and something she wrote stuck a chord with me last week.  Let me share what she wrote.

Yesterday one of my 6th graders, Jeff, said, "I really want to try cake. I've never had cake."

He said it with such sincerity and with a smile on his face, as if he could actually taste the cake and just knew it would be delicious.

It was so humbling to hear his words and to know that the desire of his heart was just to try a piece of cake. 

It made me think that, for most Americans, we have so much "cake" (extra possessions, money, time, resources, etc) in our lives that sometimes we forget to appreciate it...or we hoard it away...or we spend it all on ourselves...

Instead of keeping your cake to yourself, how can you use what God has given you and give it away to someone else? 

 Some people dream of cake.

 Something so simple and abundant for us...

is something some people may never have.

Now let me tell you about another group of women.

The "Mom squad" from our church is a group of young mothers who are raising funds to 

go to the slums of Kenya to help finish a building project for the school, teach and help in any way they can.

They are putting their faith in action.

These same women have gone to Africa in the past to drill wells for villages without water.

So the question hit me, how can I use what God has given me and give it away to someone else?

That has been a question that has hounded me for a long time.

I love to sew and design but how can God use that? It seems so....

useless.

But of course it's not. None of our talents are useless. We just need to figure out how to use them.

So from now on I am going to donate 50% of my etsy sales to missions.

To the women brave enough to step out and give of themselves in such a selfless way.

They inspire me, and I hope they inspire you. 

How can you use what God has given you to help someone else?

A Heartfelt Giveaway

Or should I say a felt heart giveaway? lol 

Thank you so much for your orders and your kind support.  I'm having so much fun putting together different fabrics and kits. It really is true, if you do what you love it doesn't seem like work. 

I have been so blessed to have great friends who have encouraged me at every turn.  

That encouragement and support has been priceless to me. It has literally changed me, and the direction of my life. A simple "you can do it" can mean the world to someone who wants to try something new.

As a thank you, I would like to give this little Valentine banner to one of you. Leave a comment, tell your friends, pin it, whatever you want to do.  I'll draw a name next Friday and it will be on it's way.

In the meantime, I've restocked the shop and even put together a pattern and directions if you would rather use your own materials and colors to make one of these. It will be in the shop this afternoon as a PDF that will be emailed so you don't have to wait for the snail mail.

You have no idea how much you rock my world.
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Valentine Banners

Goodness, how did we get 13 days into January?! Half gone already, I can hardly believe it. And what have I been up to? Well, I decided to put some banner kits together for the etsy shop. I spent the early afternoon

catching up on Downton Abbey, (Oh how I love that show!) while I cut out hearts and leaves and yo-yos at the dining room table and sipped tea from a cute new mug I picked up at Homegoods.

 I'm a sucker for polka dots and roses.

I am just getting ready to list the kits and they will be in the shop in plenty of time to decorate for Valentines day. They are so simple to put together and I am including everything you need.  Some bits of  my vintage feed sack stash make up the smaller colored hearts in some of the kits. I know they will go to good homes:>)

I have decided that I need to make stocking the shop a priority in hopes that I can quit my job and come home. It's where my heart is.  It's time to follow my dreams. I've always been such a chicken about dream following. It usually means taking some risks, and I have never been a risk taker. I like to know exactly what is coming down the pike but that's a bit of an illusion isn't it? We never really know.

In other news, I spent my day off  Friday running errands, working on the kits and then Victoria and I went to see Les Miserable at the movies.  Loved it.  Sure, it has some pretty sad and heavy stuff in it, but the performances were wonderful and the story was beautiful. I highly recommend it. It's a good thing I didn't cry, Victoria needed all my tissues.

Seen any good movies lately?