I enjoy Pesto

I enjoy pesto...in pasta sauce, with roasted vegetables, on crusty bread, with sautéed onions and peppers, in all our soups, on sandwiches, and with my morning eggs!! Each year we get an abundance of basil to make tremendous supply of pesto to freeze.  This is a simple project.  Basil, garlic, Parmesan, pine nuts, olive oil all go into the food processor....a bit of whizzing about and presto...we have scrumptious pesto!! Then we pour this into our 3 oz Dixie cups and cover with a coating of olive oil and then freeze this.  All winter long we enjoy fresh pesto...lots of fresh pesto!!

Oh, I left one step out...the basil must be picked first!    

We have been making pesto every week or so...today  it rained.  This was Moriah's task for the day...making pesto.  But mom, it is raining, I can't pick it today....Be creative!

Where there is a will (mine of course) there is a way!!
Big sister to the rescue!!  Umbrella in hand!  Hmmm the fragrant scent of basil...being turned into PESTO!

What dear girls I have!!


   She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.  Proverbs 31:27 

Summer Squash Enchiladas

This looks so very yummy...come to think of it, this dish was fabulous!  If you want to see more great recipes like this one, take a look at  My Kitchen Joys  created by my daughter Lydia.  You'll want to follow her as she creates more delicious recipes.

Keeping Memories

 Bright Autumn Days

CROPTOBERFEST

Creative Memories

GOOD FRIENDS, GOOD STORIES, AND LOTS OF GOODIES

October 30, 2010

8:30am - 4:00 om

Bright Autumn Breakfast, Classic Autumn Lunch, and a Gourmet Dessert will be served from the Pena Girl's Kitchen !!

Don't miss this memory making event.

It does not take a majority to prevail...

but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men. 

Samuel Adams

It seems to me that when one has so much today to prepare for something....real life seems to jump in.
So we are planning a trip...everything is focused on the trip(or so it seems)...but everyday real life still is going on!
We are preparing to travel 2000  miles to South Dakota to Nathanael's wedding.  Actually we are only going 1400 miles to the wedding and then another 600 miles to the Badlands and the Black Hills of South Dakota.   There's lots of planning for the actual trip: hotels, routes, sites, etc. There's the planning and making of clothes for both the wedding and the adventure in the Hills. The van care...making sure all  mechanical things are working properly on this 12 year old vehicle...before it embarks on this journey.  Then there is all the things to be done at home...the garden cleaned up and prepared for winter.  All the canning and freezing completed.  A house sitter.  A cat sitter---oh... 2 adult cats and now 5 little kittens!!
Mind you real life is still happening...business work, school work, cleaning, laundry and cooking, doctor appointments, appointments, appointments....
But I do have a schedule and plan to accomplish it all!  Even leaving room for those unexpected things that aways do happen at the last moment ---or have I left room...Please don't mess with my plan!

Thursday my husband says:  "Would you like to go to the seminar with me this weekend?"(interpret-- Go with me to the seminar.) What?  That is not in my schedule...  The phone rings and the neighbor says "Do you want the tomatoes left in my (large) garden and how about a bushel or so of apples that need to be taken care of now."  I am done with tomatoes--but we could always use more and they are free!!  We really like apple butter....but this won't even fit my schedule.

  So the girls say "Oh Mom, go you'll enjoy yourself!"  So I go to bed and think on this...this is everyday real life.  So I go! The seminar was really great!  The time with my husband was the best part...on the trip over we listened to Bible on tape, John MacArthur about Apostasy, the local news to hear that we had an earthquake on Friday night at 11:28.  Yes this time was good for me, for us--just time together.

And when we arrived home:  the house was clean and tidy, laundry was done, burritos were made and frozen, all the tomatoes were canned and the older girls were teaching the younger girls to crochet!!  All went well.  Everyone enjoyed their days.

And this week is going just fine!!  Eight days till we leave...and we will be all ready!

My girls are really terrific!

I 

When the American spirit was in its youth, the language of America was different: 

Liberty, sir, was the primary object. Patrick Henry

Four Generations

God designed families!

Our girls at home

What a gift that God has given to us.  I enjoy the times we have together as they continue to grow in the Lord and step...heavenward!

Psalms 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Mr. Christopher Spencer

A weekend visitor!

We always enjoy his visits...because we enjoy him!

Apple Picking

What wonderful times we have we our dear friends from Ottawa, ON.  There is so much to catch up with from our previous visit.  They are such a godly couple and the light of the Lord just shines forth in them.  My girls say one can see how much they love each other and the Lord.  It is really a delight to have 

Clive and Michelle Hodson with us.

We enjoyed visiting an apple orchard on opening day.

Then we made a trip to the top of a mountain to hand pick a few.

My God is so Great

Greg, Arielle, and Jonathan Moore joined us (and my parents) on our trip up Mt. Equinox last month.  

What a beautiful time we had enjoying God's creation! Thanks for spending this time with us.

I have always enjoyed mountains...the majesty but yet peacefulness experienced in them. But I do not worship this creation...because I worship Him who created it.

My God is so great,
So strong and so mighty,
There's nothing my God cannot do.

The mountains are His,
The valleys are His,
The stars are His handiwork too.


My God is so great,
So strong and so mighty,
There's nothing my God cannot do.

For more than 50 years these special people have been a large part of my life.  Their influence have shaped my ideas, thoughts, and desires.
I thank the Lord God for them and for the love they have given me.


Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)  Ephesians 6:2  

Walpole, A Scenic Town for Foliage

In this months issue of Yankee,  Walpole, NH  was list in The Top 25 Towns for Foliage in New England. Listen to what they say about our little village. 
 "When filmmaker Ken Burns went looking for a home, he landed here, a beautiful village with a town green bordered by 18th and 19th century homes and churches, with farms, orchards, and the Connecticut River for close company! Alyson's Orchards is simply one of the best orchards in the country, with a heart-stopping view.  Leave room for a stop at Burdicks for world-famous chocolate and exceptional dining."  page 58
  Sounds like a place I would like to visit...oops...I live here!!  
The leaves are beginning to change---It looks a lot like Autumn!!!

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