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St. Michael’s Bannock – Recipe

September 30, 2009 By Laura 12 Comments

If you’re looking for the perfect, traditional St. Michael’s Bannock recipe, you just found it!
We enjoy this recipe so much, and we are sure you and your family will as well.

St. Michael’s Bannock

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix together:

2 cups of flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cut in 2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt
handful of raisins or currants

On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, then pat into an 8 inch round loaf, and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes.

For a more festive look, score the dough with crosses.

Cool on a cookie rack.

May be served with butter or jam. But honestly….we ate it plain, and it was so delicious!

It also makes awesome toast in the morning. I had some this morning, with my very necessary cup of coffee, in my House of Joyful Noise mug, that I still love so much!

Now, just because it is called St. Michael’s Bannock, doesn’t mean you have to wait until next Michaelmas to make and eat it. Because if you think we’ll be doing that, you’re crazy!! We’ll just re-name it if we have to! Thanksgiving Bannock, Christmas Bannock, St. Patrick’s Day….., Easter…….

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Weeds for ME?

September 30, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Whenever the kids have been playing outdoors while I work, I am always eventually bound to hear this:
<door open>,<door slam>, <little footsteps> and “Ma-maaaaa, I have something for youuuuuu.” And into my work cubby pops a fistful of….weeds. “I picked these flowers for you, ” they say.

And I always say:

“Awwwww! For MEEEE? How sweet! Thank you so much! <kiss, kiss, kiss>. “Can you do me a favor, Honey, and put them on the deck for me?”. And they say, “Sure!“. And they run off to do it.

(And then I say, “Don’t run in the house please!“)

Because the truth is, if I just took them, I would have vases of weeds all over my house. And secretly, I’m a little concerned there are bug eggs on them, that will hatch a mother-load of insects into my house. Still, they mean a lot to me, because of the place/little person they came from, and the sentiment they came with. So I when I go outside and find them on the deck, I do look at them and hold them again. And which ever little ‘giver of the weeds’ will say, “Mama, remember I gave those to you the other day?” And I’ll tell them I remember, and they’ll smile.

But yesterday, I wanted to do more with them. And I felt the need to get away from the overwhelming load of work at my computer, anyway. So I went searching for a big jug or suitable container to put my ‘flowers in’. I filled it with water, arranged my beloved weeds just so, and placed the whole thing on my deck by my front door.

I once had an art teacher who always gave the advice of, or commented on a design, by saying, “Simple…yet effective!“

That phrase has really stuck with me. There are so many little touches we can add to our homes, that cost nothing, but work. Or at least work for US.

So yes….someone MAY come up to our door, and think, “Why in the world is this vase of weeds by the door like this?”

But that’s not what I see.

I see LOVE.

Simple Love.

And it Effects me.

My kids tell me they love me every day, and they show me in many ways, too.

But it’s the little signs of love from the kids, that I find here and there about the house, but wasn’t expecting, that put the warmth in our home, our family, and my heart, that I love the most.

Simple…..yet effective.

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Performance Automotive – Truck Lettering

September 30, 2009 By Laura 2 Comments

I know some of you have been waiting to see how the truck lettering is prepared, before it goes on the trucks, but that’s not this post yet. lol. He will do that at some point. But this is Laura, actually, blogging for Michael : ) I took photos of this job for Michael, not only because I like the layout, because I think this tow truck is adorable! Isn’t it just CUTE?! It belongs to Performance Automotive, out of Plymouth. I love the red, and the tinted windows, too.

Also, I didn’t think we posted a 2 color job yet. It’s a sharp looking job.

Michael has been taking care of Performance Automotive for 10 years now.

So here’s the door before lettering, obviously.

Lettering with outlines are done in 2 layers. What ends up being the ‘outline’ of the letter, is actually a bigger, solid letter under neath the top cut letters.

In the 3 photos above, he is positioning the first layer, which will be the lettering outline.

There it is, applied.

Now here, he is applying the lettering over the outline layer.

Nice, huh?

The blue is outlined in metallic silver. It’s hard to see in a photo, but there is a bit of shimmer to metallic silver.

The kids got their rides in the cute tow truck, and the owner picked it up the next day, and was very happy with the job done, as always.
Need some business vehicles lettered as well? You can reach Michael at the following email address:
Alphbtman@aol.com

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The Last Birthday HOORAH for the Triplets 7th! – Mini-Golfing and Milkshakes

September 27, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

The one thing the triplets {J, O & S} did ask to do for their birthday, was go to the ‘Awful-Awful Milkshake place’, (that’s ‘awfully thick and awfully good) and mini-golfing, next door to that. It’s down on the Cape, where we love to go in the warmer seasons anyway.

So that’s what we did.

One of our favorite parts of this course, is the rock cave.

I always wonder if we’ll run into the Flintstone Family when we pass through. lol More than that, I fear Dino is going to come out of nowhere, jump on me, knock me down, and lick my face, like he does to Fred. I wouldn’t like that at all. Trust me.

There’s also a simulated plane crash, : (, and a waterfall. There’s no bodies to be seen, so we happily assume everyone walked away, without a scratch. That works for us.

Some nice man offered to take our photo together, as a family. I am NEVER in the photos, as you know. So I immediately agreed. I had my big SLR with me (I just can’t deal with point & shoots yet), and he chuckled at me a little when he took the camera, and I put the strap around his neck. ; ) In other words, ‘You seem to me be an awfully nice man. But that doesn’t mean that I trust you not to drop this.’. I think he understood what I wasn’t saying. I set the camera (in his hands) for him, and took my place.

Of course, he didn’t realize I had the camera set to take multiple exposures, if you hold the shutter down, and I didn’t think to tell him. So….he kept holding down the shudder (being used to a point and shoot, probably), and so we got 5 or 6 photos that look exactly like this one. lol

When we finished our game, we returned our clubs and ordered our milkshakes.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US CHEERS!!”

A BIG BIRTHDAY HUG.

Now, if I was going to boast, I’d probably tell you how I got 4 (FOUR!) hole-in-ones, while playing this game with my family. But, you know, bragging has just never been my style. I’m a humble girl. ; )

That should wrap up our birthday celebrations for these three! Can’t believe it took so long. It’s Autumn now! (And almost time for mine!) Hope you enjoyed the posts!

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Hot Cheesy Spinach Dip – Recipe

September 24, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

Recently I made a cheesy spinach dip that was delicious, and it would make a nice appetizer or snack. The kids enjoyed it, of course. But my father, who was visiting at the time, also enjoyed it, and he is the family food critic. lol. So I thought I would share the recipe here, since this is a nice warm dish for the cold season that is about to come stay with some of us, for awhile.

Ingredients:

2 TBS butter
1/4 C. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic; minced (1 tsp.)
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1-3/4 C. half-and-half
2 Lg. Pkgs. fresh baby spinach
(or 2 9oz. frozen pkgs, thawed & chopped)
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese
1 Pkg. dry vegetable soup mix
1/4 C. shredded Parmesan cheese

1) Rinse spinach is strainer, if desired, and drain. On a chopping board, chop up spinach with large knife into smaller pieces. In a large saucepan, add a little water to the bottom of pan, and add spinach. Cook down spinach over medium heat, until leaves are barely wilted down, because it’ll cook more later through the rest of the process.

2) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On stove top, melt butter in separate large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is crisp-tender and garlic is fragrant, usually about 2-3 minutes.

3) Stir in flour: cook and stir for additional minute. Add half-and-half, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens; about 2 minutes.

4) Remove saucepan from heat. Stir in chopped fresh spinach, cheddar cheese, and dry vegetable soup mix. Mix well.

5) Spoon mixture into a 1 quart casserole or gratin dish. Sprinkle top with Parmesan.

6) Bake until it is bubbly and cheese is melted; 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with dipping chips or hard crackers.

As you may recall, I received a large gift basket not too long ago, that had all kinds of goodies in it. 2 of those items were some little Italian Toasts, and Pita Chips. So we dipped and scooped with the chips, and spooned onto the hard toasts.

If you try this recipe, come back and tell us if you enjoyed it as well!

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Simple…..yet effective.

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