Aaron Update

This morning as I was scrolling through this blog to find something. I stopped on the posts about Aaron's battle this past winter with Stevens/Johnson Syndrome and read through them and was again filled with appreciation for all of you pray warriors out there. The good Lord, for reasons we will never understand, blessed Aaron with the strength to overcome. I thank you all again from the bottom of my heart.

Aaron is doing well. I love this picture because is shows clearly his hand that was spared the ravages of the terrible syndrome and that was one of the signs from God that I put my faith into. Thank you God for your great mercy on my son. I am definitely not boasting about my great faith because, like all of us, at times it is as weak as can be. Our family has been through many trials like everybody else and sometimes our prayers seemed to go unanswered and we just don't know the reasons why. But today, this very minute, this mother is grateful beyond words for the miracle that saved Aaron. All glory and honor are yours our heavenly Father.

Aaron is working full time in his very stressful job that is impacted greatly by the ever rising fuel costs, again, like many of you are dealing with. His past trial though has seemed to have given him a new perspective that is allowing him to deal with the situation more peacefully and for that I am also grateful. He is taking time to play a little golf but the stiffness in his joints that remains from SJ's keeps him from hitting the ball as far as he used to but he enjoys the camaraderie with his team mates. He has to wear a ton of sun screen to protect his fresh skin from the sun and always will have to, but he has absolutely no scares what so ever from the burns that covered his whole body except his hands and feet, praise God.

In the picture above you can see that Aaron's hair has grown back in and he looks so good. What you can't see is the new found peace that the Lord has blessed him with and I pray that he continue to bless Aaron and his little family for ever more.

Love and God bless,
Sue

Phyllis Hoffman's Fried Chicken Recipe

Sweet Penny from Lavender Hill Studio, who makes the most beautiful Mosaic pieces, said that she would love to have Mrs. Hoffman's Fried chicken recipe, so here you go Penny:

FRIED CHICKEN
yield: 4-6 servings

2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup white Worcestershire sauce
1 (3 1/2 to 4-pound) chicken cut into 8 or 9 pieces or 3 pounds chicken pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup or more canola oil or other vegetable oil (for frying)

1. In a large bowl, combine broth and Worcestershire sauce. Add chicken and marinate for 1 hour, covered, in refrigerator. Drain chicken and -pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, combine flour, salt, and pepper.
3. In a medium bowl, place buttermilk.
4. Dredge each chicken piece in flour mixture, dip in buttermilk, and dredge in flour mixture again. Set aside.
5. In a large heavy skillet (preferably cast iron), pour 1/2 inch oil and heat to 325 over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, beginning with dark meat pieces. keeping oil temperature between 325 and 350, fry chicken on each side for 5 to 6 minutes covered, and then 5 to 6 minutes uncovered, turning twice. Total cooking time should be 20 to 24 minutes. (Chicken is done when a thermometer inserted in thickest part registers 165). Drain chicken on a wire rack.

Tip: If you have the time, marinate chicken pieces overnight in buttermilk rather than chicken broth and Worcestershire. Buttermilk, which has acidic properties, tenderizes the chicken and improves the flavor.

To make this chicken I did the soak overnight in buttermilk option that Mrs. Hoffman recommended in her Tip and I recommend it to. The soaking overnight in the buttermilk is what I think made this chicken so delicious.

The picture above is page 161 from the book ~ Southern Lady ~ Gracious Tables by Phyllis Hoffman and is available on Amazon.

Tina at Cherry Hill Cottage, who has an adorable cottage herself, is featuring photos of her sister's Texas home that are amazing. If you like looking at cottage style homes you might enjoying seeing Kathy's beautiful home.

~ Phyllis Hoffman Fan ~

This is my current favorite book. Have you seen it yet? Not only does it contain gorgeous pictures of table settings, it has delicious recipes in it too. A couple of weeks ago I made the fried chicken that was soaked overnight in buttermilk. John is not a fan of chicken but he even loved it.
Phyllis Hoffman is the lady that brought back Victoria magazine last year. She also has introduced several new magazines that have become my favorites too. The picture above shows her holding a copy of Paula Deen's magazine that is such a treat to read. My other favorite is Southern Lady.

Most of you are probably familiar with Mrs. Hoffman's work but if you haven't read any of her magazines or books you might want to pick up a copy at the store. I'm a big fan of hers these days. Any other fans out there?

The top photo above is from Amazon the second one is from the National Alumni Society.

Vintage Travel Trailers

Did you know that there is a whole group out there that is into Vintage Travel Trailers? I didn't until I stumbled upon Pink Icing On The Cake's blog. In her side bar she has several of these little beauties posted. They intrigued me to no end. After reading her entire blog I found Kelly's blog Rose Vine Cottage who's 18' Bendix Corsair camper was featured as Cottage of the Month on Jennifer's site The Old Painted Cottage. I think it was June '08.

Kelly's family completely renovated her Camper and turned it into the cutest little Shabby Chic cottage on wheels. It is just precious. Go take a look if you haven't been to her site and see how creative she and her boys are.

The little trailer above is on E-bay where you can see others that are for sale too.

Seasonal Fluff Up

We have a really nice Marshall's not far from here that I like to visit occasionally to freshen things up each season. Last week they had some pretty blue and white flower arrangements that were on sale. On the kitchen table is a really big footed glass container lined with the leaves of Hydrangeas on the bottom and big fluffy blue and white Hydrangeas spilling over the top of it. The two blue bean pots and the Tracey Porter candle sticks give some width to the vertical arrangement.
After redoing the centerpiece on the table the old centerpiece got moved over to the cabinet on the other side of the kitchen eating area. The three plates behind it fill in the blank space at the top and the tall pitchers add some width. The lavender on top of the cupboard was in a pink pot but the blue one seems to work better with this new arrangement.
These blue and white dishes with the roses on them fit into the spaces of the cupboard. These were our dishes at the cottage but now get used when we have extra mouths to fee. After figuring out how to move the shelves around in the cupboards there was room to display the huge blue wine glasses that Sarah got us a couple of years ago for Christmas.
We needed something to keep all the lemons and limes that we use in, so at Marshall's we picked up these two tall footed containers. They had some with lids that were nice too, but the open topped ones seemed like they would be easier to access the fruit with out the possibility of breaking the top.
This smaller vase of blue and white flowers is one of two that we thought would work in the dining room on the buffet but they were to big so this one ended up here and the other one is in the living room.

Marshall's was loaded with goodies last Thursday. It seems like I read somewhere that Thursdays are a good day to go to the discount stores like Marshall's and TJMaxx because they restocked for the weekend. It sure was true last week.

Are y'all having a good summer? We sure are around here with lots of family fun. Wednesday Mom and Dad are coming down for a couple of days and then it will be time to get ready for our 4th of July vacation up north.

Take care and God bless,
Sue

Good Morning

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Thanks every one for sharing your favorite makeup goodies. Seems like there are a few other MAC fans. One of these days I'll share my MAC stash on here. Hope those of you that checked out Makeup Alley enjoyed it. Some of the conversations on the boards get weird but the product reviews have some value and can save you some money.

We have had lots of company with little ones so the accessories around here tend to get shuffled around when they play with them, which I love that they do but after awhile it comes time to put my own arrangements back into play which means rearranging things a bit.

We have had this old table for years but it is still one of our favorites with its ruffled edge around the top, fret work and the gracefully curved legs. A lot of you are painting your old furniture and I love the look but with all the boy's we have around here and all the flowers and chintz fabrics the patina of the old wood pieces seems to bring the sweetness down a few notches just enough to keep it looking family friendly. Even though the English Country look is out of style right now it works for us.
The builders carpet that was here when we moved in is not holding up to all the wear and tear around here. Old oriental rugs work well to hide any spills or stains that creep into any active house hold and we have several in storage in the basement from previous houses that are waiting to be put back into the rotation when we resurface the living room and great room with nice dark hardwood floors.

Oh, for those of you who have not met RuthAnn yet you might want to stop by her blog Warm Pie Happy Home. The pie picture that I posted for Father's Day was made from her recipe and it was so good. RuthAnn is a Southern Belle Wanna Be just like me except that she now actually lives closer to the south than we probably ever will. She doesn't post often but when she does her posts are loaded with humor, the most amazing kitchen and grace filled inspiration. Stop by and tell her I sent you. She probably thinks I have been stalking her because I've spent so much time enjoying all her yummie stories.

~Happy Father's Day~

~Makeup Alley~

~ Anna from the lovely Villa Anna has tagged me ~

The rules for this game are to link back to the person who tagged you, include rules in your post, write six unimportant things about yourself then tag six other people at the end of your entry.

Here are six unimportant things about me:

1) Beauty products give me pleasure

2) Since 2003 I have visited the web site Makeup Alley for product reviews before buying any beauty products. This helps you avoid wasting money because you can find reviews from people that have your same coloring and skin type, your same hair texture, and are in your age range. They will share their experience with a product and you can use their experience to make your choice before you decide to try it or not. There is a section on the site that allows you to swap your products if you want to. I have never done it but apparently it works because hundreds of people do it.

3) MAC makeup brushes are my favorite and I try to take good care of them because they are a bit of an investment. At least every two weeks I clean them with warm soapy water and rinse them and dry them really well so the glue that attaches the top of the brush to the handle does not separate.

4) Doing makeup for other people is one of my hobbies.

5) Listerine Bright White mouth wash, Crest Vivid White Day and Crest Vivid White Nite toothpaste are working pretty well to brighten up my poor old teeth.

6) MAC Teddy eyeliner pencil is my favorite beauty product.

Now I'm supposed to tag six other blogger's but instead I would LOVE to know what ALL of you amazing women consider your favorite beauty product.

Book Box

Thank you Rhoda, from Southern Hospitality, for the book box and chandelier shades. She had a give away a while back and I was the winner. This is the first prize that I have won in blog land and now that I know how it works I plan to have one here soon.

Not much time for blogging lately. We have had a lot of company and last night my niece Michele and her little daughter came to stay with us until the power that was knocked out by the recent storms comes back on. They are forecasting that it may take 5 days to restore it. I had a hard time sleeping last night amidst the thunder and lightning thinking about all the people that are suffering so as a result of these storms. May God have mercy on us all.

Carrie is coming down later this afternoon so I hope this weather clears up a bit so that she can enjoy some pool time. She has been taking a class this summer on Beaver Island that lasted for three weeks and now has three weeks off before going back for another three week session.

Stay Safe and God Bless,

Sue

Just A Quick Check In

Just a quick post to check in and say hi! Hope you all had a good week. We finally got the pots planted around here. This year we did them with mixed flowers so we wouldn't have so many geraniums to dead head.

We are hoping that the window boxes fill in. One of these years we will replace these with deeper and wider ones that you can plant more things in
Dana and the boy's just left and Aaron, Angie and the kid's are on their way down. Please excuse the dirty dish towels on the stairs. Laundry seems to pile up there. This is definitely one of my Hot Spots, like FlyLady calls them.

Well, I better go get busy.

Hugs and God bless,
Sue

Welcome

Hope every one had a good weekend. Things were pretty quiet around here. Nice to have you stop by. For the past four years we have had a wreath on the front door every summer made by a local artist. Her pieces hold up really well but this year it was time to replace our old one that had gotten pretty faded. When I went to the shop this wreath was on the front door, the colors and material just called my name the minute I got out of the car and spotted it. If you click on the photo you can see the detail better.
This monogram hedge also will greet you when you come by for a visit. The shrubs in the bottom part of the 'S' with the branches sticking out of them are Hydrangeas that will bloom later in the season. The first year we had them we cut off the branches before we learned that the flowers bloom on old wood and it took a couple of years for them to flower again. The top part of the 'S' is filled with Lilies that will be a pretty soft peachy pink. At the top left you can see the creeping Lemon Thyme that smells heavenly when you walk up to the door. The little tree is a pink flowering something that bloomed earlier.
On the other side of the walk there is a bigger 'S' that holds more of the same things as the one on the right but the front tree is a Lilac and the bigger one closer to the house is a Bradford Pear tree. Up against the house under the bay windows on either side of the porch are little Holly hedge rows that are great for picking stems from at Christmas time. They are hard to grow up north here but because of their protected placement these have done fairly well.