Until next year...and a GBP Cookbook Winner!

Hello there Ladies!

Happy Belated New Year (wow-that has a weird ring to it)!   
I hope you all had a Wonderful CHRISTmas!  We had such a nice Christmas Day, spent with family, I just wish it all didn't fly by so quickly!


I know this post has taken way to long to get up but if you could see my one handed typing right now you may understand why, lol.   Long story short...New camera for Dee....and no pictures to show for it!

I am now in the process of reading the manual for new (long awaited) camera Santa brought me After shooting 1,235 pictures on Christmas and accidentally deleting them.....mmmmhmmmm.  Hence the lack of pictures for this post.....:(


Yes,
I received a lovely (and high tech) camera this year.  I have ooohhed and ahhhhed over this camera for a VERY long time...and sure did a LOT of saving for said camera...for a long time....just to explain what a treat it was to receive it.  So funny, I don't think a diamond ring would have gotten the same reaction that this camera received....but then again, I'm not a a Fancy Schmancy jewelry person anyway.

I was definitely moving up in the world of photography....sheer excitement...oh the possibilities!  Then poof...all gone....just like that.

I was snapping Christmas pictures up left and right...no one could move without me chasing them with the new camera. 

See the tree?....SNAP!   Opening gifts?.....SNAP!  Playing with new toys?.....SNAP!    Oh, Christmas Ham done?....SNAP?  Eating?.....SNAP!       Sneezing?.....SNAP!    OOOOH, WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON DO?  wait...one more picture pleease!

Oh, wait, Eating again?.....SNAP!    
Blowing your nose?......SNAP!   Napping?......SNAP!
SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP, SNAP!!!

 Hehe.....

Oh, Whats that?  You're trying to eat?  

Okay, great honey, now can you retake that bite so I can capture that picture would ya?...SNAP!!!

They were good sports for a while but I SNAPPED until they almost SNAPPED, lol......

then I got a hold of myself.

I now know that what I should have been doing instead of chasing family members for photos was taking the time to read the owners manual....BECAUSE.....

If I had.......
I would have known that the top button deleted ALL of the pictures not just the one bad one....
Oh, boy!

I would still have all of those awesome pictures to show all of you

LOL,

sniffle, sniffle.....

So if your still following me here you now know that all of my photos are gone....

poof.....

that's right, all gone! 

My baby opening his gifts...gone.

The look of surprise on their faces.....gone.

The excitement that was captured...now gone. 

It's so sad it's almost funny ...almost.

So my New Year's Resolutions for 2012 are:

PATIENCE........
Taking it slower...not rushing into everything just to get it done.
Enjoying the process more.
Even if it means waiting and reading the manual.

Also to start taking time for myself to do more of what I would like.
Is it terrible to tell you that I would like to say No more in 2012?
 

Saying No more and Yes only to the things with the greatest payoff?Things that will really matter to others, and things that are truly important to me or my family.
That should help with Patience right?
It won't be easy...I used to say YES a lot!

I also want to make the time to

learn a few new things too, like how to really use this camera and all of the functions.

So, what are your 2012 Resolutions?

Have you been able to keep them up thus far?

Now onto better things.....

The GBP Rush Hour Recipes Cookbook Giveaway!

I have to say that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed each and every Christmas memory shared.....THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DO THAT it truly was a treat!

So many memories you all have with your families, matching homemade flannel night gowns, holiday candy making, families decorating trees and baking cookies....many spent with loving Grandparents, cousins, and other special people in your lives, many of you who now hold their precious memory in your hearts.

Favorite childhood gifts...(I too LOVED my Easybake oven and baked many cakes for my daddy that Christmas).  Daughters coming home unexpectedly (that must have been the best Christmas gift, Joni).  Hiking in the snow, homemade gifts and cookies.  Patty Hart what a neat tradition...the Surprise you must have had when finally seeing that tree!  Stringing popcorn on your family tree...so precious!

Thank you for sharing your stories...it was such a gift for me to read all of them!  I couldn't choose any one story that was better than the others, in my opinion each and everyone of your stories was very special and so I let my daughter choose a number from the hat, foolproof and fair.   

Here is our winner.....Judy, please contact me with a comment, as to the best way to get your shipping information and congratulations on your win, you will really like this cookbook, I'm sure! 

Judy@cutest-little-things.blogspot.com              Dec 29, 2011 09:54 AM

There are so many special Christmas memories to choose from since many of my family are no longer here, but the most magical was the Christmas that I became pregnant with my now 5-yr. old son. Oh it wasn't official - I hadn't taken a test...but I'll never forget Christmas Eve church services, standing before the altar, listening to the heavenly choir and a little feeling...something that just told me to lay a hand on my belly and I knew!!! Just a week later I took a test that confirmed the good news! I'll never forget that moment of feeling a magical secret within - and feeling more connected than ever to the Christmas story of Jesus' birth :)

If you haven't had the chance yet, try to read through the giveaway comments...they are all so heart warming!  I'll be back soon....Stay warm and Take care!

~Dee~

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!!

 Let me waste no more time in announcing the winner of the two

GOOSEBERRY PATCH

Cookbook Giveaways

Quick and Easy Christmas

won by

Ocean Breezes and Country Sneezes

The second giveaway from the
Farmhouse Country Style Facebook Page

101 Easy Everyday Recipes

won by

Lori Peterson

Let me know where to send your books....you can send me a message on Facebook and I'll get them out to you.

If any of you would like to purchase either of these wonderful cookbooks you can do so here.

Okay...I won't go into the details of the overdue...Quick and Easy giveaway....cause I really like all of you and it's boring and repetitive.  I will politely say that we had some more technical difficulties this week....and now I'm fed up!

Now, a new computer purchase is being plotted....yes, this 'puter will be getting the boot sometime soon...it's days are officially numbered!!  Muwahahahahah! 

I'll be back soon folks!

Take Care,  Dee

A May Day Winner

Hello Dear Ladies,

Happy May Day!  Spring has arrived and the trees are unfolding, the flowers a bloomin' and green color is sprouting up everywhere!  I just love the fresh start of spring, when everything is new and reborn.  I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  I have some photos to share now that I have my computer back, I'll post them in a few days, (better late then never right?). 

I was searching online for a few simple ideas to celebrate May Day and came across these pretty and easy door knob bouquets from Martha Stewart.com and thought I would share....  Click this link if you're interested in making them. 

Thank you to all of you who took the time to comment and enter this giveaway, and especially those of you who posted about it on your blogs!  My computer has been sick for the past two weeks so I've been working from my lil' notebook.  They are small and compact and get the job done...but I nearly go blind trying to read from those tiny lil' puters, lol. 

Last night, I mosied on over to Random.org to find out who would be the winner of the Quick and Easy Autumn Cookbook giveaway and so I am told the winner was comment number 90. 

Geesh, it sure would be so much easier if we could automatically number our comments wouldn't it?  If there already is a way to do this, please fill me in folks.  It is a little time consuming to count out 90 comments and then recount to make sure you are absolutely correct!  After doing this twice it finally occurred to me (in all my chaos) that it would be quicker to count backwards from 105 to 90, ummm, hello~lightbulb~! 

Well I want to congratulate Joy on winning, I am sure she will be so pleased with this cookbook!    Thank you for commenting and posting about the giveaway on your blog Joy.  Stop on by Joy's blog, Books and Life , and say hello. 

For those of you who entered here and love GPB.....don't get discouraged!  I just received two more cookbooks for review from Gooseberry Patch the other day.  So I will be posting two more giveaways for brand spankin' new cookbooks not yet released!  So stop back in a few days, you are really going to love them.   

I'm so happy so many of  you liked the FHCS Facebook page.  I plan on having some fun with that in the near future (surprise)!  It will be so much easier to keep in touch between blog posts and see what a lot of you are up to in the meantime! 

I'll be back in a few days, we have some catchin' up to do! But before I go...tell me....what spring plans do you have?  A vegetable garden, a new flower bed, maybe building a potting shed, or finishing up a your spring cleaning?  Anything interesting?  Leave a comment and please share!  Happy Spring!

Take care gals,

Dee

GBP Cookbook Review and Giveaway

.

You can just imagine how excited I am to be a part of Gooseberry Patch's Early Bird Reviews.  The opportunity to review recipes from one of my Favorite companies before the book hits the market and give away a free copy to one of my followers....I'm thrilled!  I have always loved their cookbooks and have been collecting them for years.  My family has eaten many meals cooked from the recipes on their pages and they are always a hit.


Well here is my first review...
Quick and Easy Autumn by Gooseberry Patch.  Autumn...my FAVORITE season of all.  I know it is almost spring, but once you see these recipes in this book it really doesn't matter all that much, yes they are that good girls!  Asking their customers to review their books is brave and brilliant, how many companies do you know that chooses to go right to the source for an honest opion?  It could only be the ones that stand confidently behind their products, right? I so love that about them. I also love the whole concept behind Gooseberry Patch-they are so wholesome, sharing great family recipes with each other like women in communities have done for generations.  

How neat is it that they also understand the quick and easy part of todays wives and mothers?  So many of us are juggling families, homekeeping, jobs, businesses and extra curricular activites that we sometimes fall short on time.  Well I know that I don't want to compromise the food I prepare for my family in spite of all that and this book has so many recipes in it that make it possible to prepare great meals that are quick, easy and taste great!   

As far as my family goes, on the days that I work, it's a challenge to find the time to prepare and put a decent dinner on the table let alone add a homemade desert to it.  So for my first review from their brand new cookbook, I have chosen a cobbler prepared on one of those very busy nights.  Now, I don't want to sound like I have to pitch their book for them, because I don't, they do well all on their own, I'm only here for a review. All of the GPB fans out there already know what I'm talkin' about, but I want it on the record, that I am honored to have been asked to do these reviews! 

Let's get down to business now..... shall we?

Quick & Easy Autumn 

Cherry Cobbler

by Carol Van Rooy

This recipe was sooo easy and quick.  Exactly like the title says.  I am a busy momma these days and it was so nice to find a delicious recipe that took no time at all to make and one that my family really enjoyed. 

 

Lets make it together now.  First, you should go put on a cute lil' apron, it makes it more fun cookin' and makes ya good lookin'!  

Here's the list of ingredients......

~ 21 oz. can of Cherry pie filling, ~ 1T. lemon juice,  ~ 1T. cinnamon,  ~ 1/2 C. melted butter,  ~ 1 1/4 C. flour,  ~  1/2 C. sugar,  ~ 2T. baking powder,  ~ 1 C. milk ~ 

Mmhhm, Seriously that is all you need.

~You probably already have these ingredients in your pantry like I did!~

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar and baking soda.

Add the milk and melted butter to the flour mixture and combine.  It will be the consistency of pancake batter when mixed. 

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Spread out evenly.

In another bowl, mix the cherry pie filling with

the ground cinnamon.  {I LOVE McCormick's Grinders.  If you haven't tried them yet, do so.  The flavor of the freshly ground cinnamon is

sooo much better, all you do is twist the top}

Add the lemon juice to the cherry mixture and mix well.

Pour the cherry mixture as evenly as possible over top of the batter mixture.

Now, put the pan into a preheated 325 degree oven bake for 25 minutes.  Yes, stand there lookin' pretty, patiently waiting while your homemade cobbler bakes...     

{or not}

now, turn the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 10 mintues or until golden and batter has risen over the top of the pie filling.

Now, go enjoy it with your loved ones!

Serves 8-10

We served our Cherry Cobbler with a scoop of good vanilla bean ice cream while it was still warm. The ice cream starts to melt and Oh My Word is this sooooo yummy!  Now run over to your pantry and gather these ingredients because your missin' out darlin! 

There are so many great recipes in this cookbook, I can't wait to review more recipes like... 

Peachy~Keen Sweet Taters

Applie Spice Country Ribs

Sticky Bun Toast Toppers

Gingersnap Baked Beans

Janet's Farmer's Pie

Rosemary Pork Loin

Grandma's Apple Nut Dessert

Autumn Cranberry Chicken

and lots more

My family and I discussed some of the recipes over dinner oohhhhing and ahhhing over the titles.  So you will be hearing a few more reviews on this cookbook for sure. 

Now, if you liked this recipe and want to try to win a copy of your own Quick and Easy Autumn of your very own then here's the criteria to enter:

FHCS Gooseberry Patch

Quick and Easy Autumn Cookbook Giveaway:

**Anyone who enters must be a FHCS follower.**

You do not have to have a blog to enter but please leave an email contact in your comment.

*1 Entry:  If you leave a comment for this post

**2nd Entry: If you blog about this on your blog and link it up to mine (be sure to link it up to this post)

***3rd Entry:  If you link to this giveaway on your sidebar

****4th Entry:  If you LIKE the new FHCS Facebook Fan Page

Leave the same comment for each entry adding to each one which you qualify for.  The winner will be chosen by random number generator on April 30th.  Announced The first week of May.  This giveaway is open to US residents and Canada only.


If you absolutely cannot wait for the giveaway to end you can pre-purchase your very own copy HERE.  It won't be available until May but you can pre-order on Amazon now.

Good luck to you all, I will post another recipe from this book very soon.  Happy Spring Gals!

Take good care

xo,

Dee