Dinner Anyone???

Before I begin today's blog post, I thought that I would point out that in my previous post, that one generation was missing in the "3 Generations" picture, and YES the pic was taken right in the middle of Mardi Gras in good old New Orleans last year!! Love the adventurous spirit that my Mother has!!

Ok on to today's post...about last night's dinner...hmmmm, here in the midwest, we tend to call supper "dinner" as lunch is the noon time meal. How does fresh marinara sauce, homemade cheese filled fried "ravioli", fresh from the field sweet corn and blackend flounder sound? Yep! Sounded wonderful to me too!!

I began with fresh organic ricotta, freshly grated pecorino romano cheese, mozzarella, grated garlic, spices and an egg. This is the filling for the fried ravioli.

The sauce begins with fresh garlic, tomatoes......

a little spice from some crushed red pepper flakes.....

a sprinkle of kosher salt.....

a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper....leave to simmer for about 20 minutes......

At the end, add in the fresh herbs from the herb garden...here I have fresh basil and fresh thyme leaves.

Get out the all natural egg roll wrappers......

make an egg wash with a farm fresh egg beaten with a bit of milk......and fill! Roll and seal tightly!!


This is what they will look like before frying.

if all your filling ingredients are fresh, and not previously frozen, you can freeze the leftover filling to use another night!! I love those quick fix evenings!!

and we are frying!! Notice the corn...yum! And just for some green, there is a bowl of steamed broccoli finished simply with a bit of real butter, salt & pepper.

The finish....This, crazy enough, is the last picture I took last night!!! Did not even show you the fish! I was quite the hungry girl!!!

Have an amazing weekend all!!!!

6 Things That Make Me Happy Today.....

Believe me, this was not an easy task! Choosing only 6! But, for today, I have (in random order) chosen these 6.

Sillyness!!!

Mother / Daughter Moments!

Father / Son Moments

3 Generations of Lovely Ladies!!

My Sweet Husband, who works harder than any man, and does not complain about it!

And Friends!!! Good friends that love at all times, laugh together and cry together.

Life is good.

Thursday, July 14th

We were without internet for a few days, so not posting...but I did write a post, on a special day that Iwill now share with you.

Anniversary, a day that brings floods of memories, joyous of course, back to our minds. My Husband’s and my anniversary is today, July 14th. The anniversary of the day that I (and he) vowed to Love, Honor and Cherish until death only will part us. We have stayed true to those vows we made before our Lord and Savior, and intend to continue until death does part us…….BUT, the cool thing is, that even though there may be a temporary parting (assuming we do not pass into eternity together) we can see each other even after death!
Having both entered into a love relationship with Jesus, surrendering our lives to HIS will, we are assured an eternity in heaven, not as husband and wife, but as beloved children of God. You too, can have that, if you surrender to God’s call on your life. Admitting your need of salvation from this life that is here, admitting you’re a sinner, confessing your need of God and surrendering to Him. A gift. Free for the taking. A gift, the greatest of all…..another anniversary to celebrate, the date of your second birth….and adoption into the family of God.

Over the years that my husband and I have been married, so many things have happened in our lives, beyond my salvation experience. I was told by five different Dr.’s that I would never have children birthed from my body. God saw fit to allow us to give birth to 2 of my 3 pregnancies….and He also brought another child into our family (not by birth) after that!!!

We have had sorrowful times also, the death of my Father when I was 29 yrs of age….the leaving of children from our home, to live in far off places, like the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the far south of New Orleans LA. Although, the leaving of our children (we do have one child still in the area, yea!), be it painful, also is a marvelous event, in that we have taken part in the raising of some pretty incredible children, who serve the Lord in said far off lands, and love us as parents. They are amazing, the three of them and their spouses, and they do a wonderful job of keeping us a part of their busy lives, we are blessed.

I love my husband. I like my husband. I laugh at his crazy antics. I stand in awe of his accomplishments and talents. I cannot imagine my life any differently. He is an amazing, Godly man that insists we pray together each night before we go to sleep, no matter how tired we are. He shows me, all the time that he loves me, unwaveringly. He is the perfect man for me. I am blessed and love that we have shared these years together. I pray for many more, but always know that whatever time we have left together here on earth, God has been so very, very good to me. Very Good to me.

A "Wall Of Fame".....of course!!!!

That is the answer to yesterday's post! A little place that I call the Payne "Wall of Fame". Still a work in progress, but looking pretty stellar thus far.

The frame from yesterday's post is one that we found while perusing through an antique shop while in Door County last month. The oval frame, small blue frame, the antique white frame with our U.P. three in it are all also from our travel up north.

Now, the large frame had a piece of old glass added to it which I sprayed with Looking Glass Paint which gives it that old, antique mirrored finish.

The picture of my husband and I is a canvas print that I made by using medium gel and a simple copy from a copy machine....easy technique, but it does take an overnight time line.

Hope that this inspires you to dig out those old, collecting dust, frames that we all have hiding in our basements and make something amazing with them!!!!

What Will This Become......

I wonder?????

Find out tomorrow!!!

A New Project.....Pretty, Pretty!!

I had my Grandmother's small buffet sitting in my garage for some time (5 years!) and thought it time to make it into something that would be of great use to our home.
My Grandmother sadly passed away when I was 8 months pregnant with our son. She had seen me pregnant and was quite excited at the prospect of another great-grandchild, but sadly for us, but pleasantly for her, she went home to be with her Lord and Savior.
I packed this treasure away, and used it in our family room as a couch table for a long time, then it was moved to the garage, for what reason, I have no idea!
Well, I cleaned it off, took off the awkward scalloped back and off to the basement it went again!!!!

My husband and I tag-teamed the sanding process (I am so thankful for the helping person that my sweet husband is!!) I stained the top (after filling in the screw holes that were left from removing the said scalloped back) and polyurethaned it....3 coat please!!!

The base was primed and painted in a bit of leftover wall paint then antiqued with a bit of the before mentioned stain......and............

viola'!!!!! A pretty buffet table to be used for many years to come!!!!

Have an amazing Thursday!!!