Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day! And you know me, I love to bake. So there has been lots of baking going on :)
Clara made a berry pie yesterday, this morning I made an apple pie, Mom made Mema’s cranberry jello, I also made rolls, and I made a pumpkin cheesecake pie. (Graham cracker crust pies, by the way, are the very easiest to make.)
Oh, and this apron. I made it in Mom’s sewing class!
*Photo credit to my sister Clara
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Right now I’m reading through my journals from when I was in India. These verses and thoughts from one of my quiet times, written down July 18, 2010 (on the flight from Frankfurt to Delhi), challenged me once more.
Psalm 48:9-10,14 – Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the end of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness. For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
What not to do:
Proverbs 18:1 – An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends and against all sound judgements starts quarrels.
Proverbs 18:13 – To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.
Promise:
Proverbs 18:10 – The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
Thankful things:
God’s grace, Sleep on airplanes, We can go to India, People praying for us, Good friends.
While we were camping! My family and I spent our weekend at Cooper Lake State Park, and had a lovely lake view from our campsite. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed the fall colors, the stars, and time as a family.
Armadillos are so cute. When they’re not roadkill.
We forgot to bring a broom, so Clara made one.
Family photo
Photoshoot with Clara – waking up in the woods
The lake view from our campsite
Potatoes for breakfast burritos
Delicious hot chocolate and marshmallows
We can never see this many stars in the city. God is amazing.
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A dear friend gave Melissa and I henna tattoos this afternoon. Perhaps soon I’ll be able to do it myself; we shall see.
I got just my left hand done.
Right now my hand is sticky with lime juice. Just so you know.
Melissa had her fingers done, on both hands.
Melissa took this picture. I love it.
And she also got this awesome design on her foot.
Tomorrow the henna paste will come off and it will just be the reddish-brown design left on our skin.
Gotta love me some sister!
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Summur and I went to the Historic Downtown square in McKinney this afternoon. And had a lovely time! On the drive, trying to figure out where we are (121 really does just turn into 399 which really does just turn into McDonald) and blasting the 80s music and rocking the vintage shades. Walking around the square, eating delicious food, spending long amounts of time wandering around antique stores, taking photos.
We had lunch at Spoons Cafe. It was fabulous. Pink lemonade, black pepper fries, and a bacon-lettuce-avocado sandwich. Summur had Pumpkin Soup and a Mandarin Orange Salad.
We enjoyed perusing the shops, even though some of them were closed…
Just off the square and down a little side street was this staircase.
I got this skirt at the Denton Square antique store last week. Wool + plaid + pleats + 70s!
I definitely enjoyed my afternoon! Thank you dear : )
And when I got home, Mom reminded me that it’s my half birthday. So, I can convince myself that the Fiestaware teapot I got at the Antique Mall was a birthday present. And that Mantovani record. And… that’s all.
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I was just experimental-editing; trying out an overlay of a picture of bokeh lights onto one of my favorite photos of the lovely Darlene! Do you like it? I think there is huge potential in this; seems like it’ll be fun to do more in the future.
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This is now my favorite kind of pie. Ever. If you haven’t had it, you’ve missed out. But really, you’ve got to make it yourself. A store-bought pie could never compete with the flavor, the texture, the just-right-sweetness of homemade.
I got my 10 peaches at Rosemeade Market, where I work. Local Texas peaches are above all others. And I used this recipe from Bon Appetit, with some adaptions.
First step: blanching them in boiling water (directions here – except I did longer than 40 seconds – more like a minute), and peeling them, which is easy; they’re just slippery.
Second step: cutting them up. (I’m not sure why I didn’t think to eat any at this point.) You combine these with sugar, I also added some lemon juice.
Third and fourth and fifth steps?: pie crust, which you put in your pan, and spoon in the fruit, and put on the top crust, and crimp the edges, and cut slits in the top, and bake. To make this:
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BLT. No tomato for me, I use cheese instead. A BLC? Maybe.
What really makes this more than just good is… the pesto sauce. Spread on the bread next to the bacon, and… there are no words to describe how good this is.
I guess there might be some. Like best sandwich EVER.
[homemade whole wheat bread, bacon, sharp cheddar, spinach, and homemade (from homegrown basil!) pesto sauce.]
This lovely plate is Clara’s, thrifted recently.
I’ll go make myself another one.
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This was actually the Fourth of July. And, we didn’t do a lot. Most of our celebrating was done earlier that weekend.
I played around with that new lens, the 24mm macro, taking pictures of our mailbox-garden zinnias.
This (below) is currently my favorite photo. I think.
I worked in the morning, so I took these pictures in the afternoon. The sidewalk was super hot. I didn’t go put shoes on, so my feet were burning off.
That evening we went to see more fireworks, the Castle Hills ones. This time we were much farther away, but some other friends ended up being there too.
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Elicia Wetstein 