Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino Dip; An Easy Holiday Treat

 

When we travel back east, we like to take advantage of the bulk foods that are sold there. On our last trip, we found this charming little store called

The Pantry Door whose shelves were packed with big variety. The

decorations were all fallish with browns, yellows and ambers.

So inviting.

It was plain to see that this was a place to savor.

 

Hot drinks are a staple in our home. Pumpin is the favorite so the

drink mixes really caught my eye! As I gathered up several different flavors and moved on

I came aross a sample of this DELICIOUS dip.

We sampled it and knew it would make a great gift as well as

a tasty treat for our home gatherings.

 

What fun!

 

 We prefer to use Heavy Whipping Cream.

 

 

 



Whipping the cream to stiff peaks.

Fluffy whiteness.

 

A sprinkling of Nutmeg.

 

 Doesn't it look so festive and creamy?

 

This is SO easy and with all the different flavors of drink mixes,
you can pick the flavor to suit the holiday or occasion. I must warn
you, however. It is VERY sweet and a very small amount can satisfy your
sweet cravings.

Do you have a favorite dip recipe for gatherings or holidays that you would
like to share?

 

 

 

 

Our Friendship Tea

Plant a seed of friendship;
 reap a bouquet of happiness.
 Lois L. Kaufman





When you have wonderful friends, you want to give of yourself to serve,

 bless and encourage them. The Bible teaches us to practice hospitality.

This isn't difficult for our family; we feel it is our privilege and

honor to share what God has so graciously given to us.

And we just love people. Serving others brings us so much joy.

So to honor some of our friends and rejoice in the relationship

that God has given us, my girls and I hosted a friendship tea.

It was a blessing to see them apply some of their gifts to create

beautiful designs for the decorations. They were excited to use their baking

skills to make something special

for their friends. Combining the work and the fun of preparation is

part of the blessing. There is a golden thread that is

 woven into our relationships

 as we put our hearts and hands together to

work for a common purpose.

We'd like to share some photos of the wonderful time we had.

A banner that speaks of love, friendship and family.

Such a joyful little flower!

                                                      

A table ready to receive our guests.

 A beautiful spring tulip.

The accompanist.

                                                                                        

                                                   Sweet voices singing                                                 

 How Deep the Father's Love For Us

Cucumber and chicken salad sandwiches with pecans, apple and thyme.

The fruit kabobs were graciously contributed by a friend.

Aren't they lovely?

They were delicious!

Heart shaped scones~

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good.

His love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1

Everyone is served.

My girls and I~

My sweet girls~

Enjoying one another around the table.

 We wanted to share a craft. It was decided that felt bags

with appliques would be fun, fairly quick and useful. Each one chose

two colors of felt. Cookie cutters were used to create the appliques.

There were several themes to choose from. 

The running stitch, blanket stitch and whip stitch

were demonstrated to allow each one to choose the finished look

 that they wanted to creat for their bag. It was a lot of fun while

 learning a new skill as well!

********************

The time that we spent with our friends that afternoon

will always be cherished.  It was a delight and blessing

 to be in such special company and to share encouraging words.

 We enjoyed this quiet afternoon of sweet fellowship

around worship, simple foods and working with our hands.

Presenting Your Home

Our Welcome Wreath

It is spring. The change of any season  inspires me. (Do you feel that way?) All throughout
the year, I try to create an interesting, inviting entrance to our home. Greeting friends and
family at the door with something that speaks of the season is special, fun and fulfilling.


Make it personal. We all have different tastes and that is ok; Your family is unique, so let it
show! One of the wonderful things about visiting another's home is that it is fresh and
inspiring. Be creative in reflecting the heart of your family. I love seeing the talents and gifts;
If someone offers me a tour inside or out, I eagerly accept.

                                                 ***************

If this is something new to you, here are some suggestions to help you get started.


1) Ask your family if they'd like to get involved. (This is a great opportunity for training
young homemakers and training young men to have an eye for details.)


2) Decide on  the theme of your (we'll call it) presentation.


3) Establish a budget (cash and time) if needed. (This does NOT need to be costly or
 elaborate. You may not want to invest a lot of cash or time.)


4) Work on your plan. (If you get stuck, your local library most likely has
 books/magazines that can help get your creativity flowing. You will be amazed
at how many ideas you have once you get started.)


5) Consider the tools you will need from start to finish.


6) Make a few lists:
             A. Materials needed
             B. What you may already have on hand
             C. Possible resources for making your purchases


7) Plan an outing to gather your materials.


8) Before you begin, you will want to clean the area thoroughly.(see list below)


9) Agree on a time to begin and have fun! (Remember, a project ususally takes
 more time to complete than one anticipates.)


10) Clean-up. (It took me awhile to learn to allow time for  this.)


11) Stand back and ENJOY your handiwork!



If you already have the presentation of your home established, you may want to take
a close look at it. As I get involved with other projects, I tend to overlook
things that need attention.


Here are a few details to consider when assessing your clean-up needs.

1) Sweep up (or rake) all that the wind has blown in.


2) Have there been neighborhood animals visiting? (The neighborhood tomcat
visits our house on a regular basis...and he marks HIS territory.{ SORRY}
If you have greasy looking dirt marks running up your siding, that's what it's from. 
{I know.. disgusting!}
It wipes away with any household cleaner or soapy water. We also have DOGS that
stop by. We keep kitty litter scoopers in various places around the flower beds to
SCOOP when necessary. {SORRY again...}


3) Clean up anything else that you can with cleaners. (Wiping muddy pawprints
off of doors or washing storm window doors, spider webs etc..(Jeff and I have always felt that a home with a neat, clean appearance was a good testimony to the Lord.)


4) Put away any items left over from the previous season. (We still have sleds
under our mudroom porch that need to be stored away.)


5) Touch up any paint that's showing wear.


6)Replace broken items.


7) Consider freshening the presentation with one new item.




         A simple going over about once a week will help keep this area ready to receive
 guests (in season and out of season) and welcome your family back home after an outing.
  

I am sure that you all have many of your own ideas of what and how to clean up
and add charm to the presentation of your home. Comments are welcome or even
drop us an e-mail. If you are so inclined, we would be pleased to see pictures of your
presentation. Thank you for stopping by. We hope this has been helpful~