Thursday, April 30, 2020

Friday Favorites Linky Party - May 1, 2020

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:
Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst
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Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - April 30, 2020

Hello there!  Welcome to Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  This is my second week being back to work and things are slowly starting to feel normal again.  We are still sheltering in place outside of work and I'm still meeting with my friends on Zoom frequently.  As a matter of fact, Zoom meetings is what I'm thinking out loud about today.


So before the pandemic, I had not been on a single Zoom meeting.  Now my calendar is full of them and it's so fun to see my friends' faces.  We've even Zoomed with my parents!

I have a standing weekly date with several of my sorority sisters.  After the first week of catching up, we realized that our social calendars had pretty much come to a stop and we weren't going to have a lot to "catch up" on.  So each week I send out a fun question to ponder and it sparks the conversation.  The time flies by and I love hearing the answers from each of my friends.

Are you in the same boat where a conversation starter would add value to your calls?  Here are some of the questions we have tackled ~

You've heard of four truths and a lie?  We've done this one twice.  The first time the topic was to name four concerts you had been to and one on your bucket list.  Everyone typed their answers in the chat feature and then we took turns guessing for each person the concert they had not been to.  It was so fun hearing about the concerts my friends had been to and learning the one on their bucket list!

The next week we once again did the four truths and a lie concept but with vacation spots.  After hearing about a few of the places on my friend's lists, I've added some destinations I want to travel to!

One week we talked about five books on our nightstand.  They could be books you wanted to read or had already finished.  Two of us had just finished City of Girls and another one highly recommended was American Dirt.

This week our topic is to name five celebrities you would like to have dinner with.  They can be dead or alive.  I'm still pondering my five guests.  Who would yours be?

These weekly chats have become one of the highlights of my week!  It's been wonderful to reconnect with my friends and learn a little something new about them.  I hope we never have to live through another pandemic time in our lives, but doing these calls is definitely something positive that has come out of this!

Now it's your turn - what are you thinking out loud about this week?  Link up and share.  I love hearing from you!



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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - April 29, 2020

Welcome!

Come and join the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop! #linkyparty #wwbloghop

Our hosts just want to say THANK YOU to all those who contributed to last week's party and WELCOME to all the new bloggers who have joined our weekly blog hop. Please invite your blog friends and social network to join us.
Don't forget to use this hashtag #wwbloghop when sharing our party!
Let's get this party started!!

Top Viewed


Very Popular





Editors Choice with a touch of spring





Thanks to our co-hosts who share our party on their blogs every week ♥ Please follow them and share our party, too?
Be sure to grab our Specially Featured button if your post was featured this week to show off on your blog or sidebar!
Featured Button
Please TWEET our party ♥
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please.
  • Visit others. Let them know you stopped by!
  • If you are NEW to Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us the title.
  • NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a really good chance to be seen no matter when they arrive.
  • Thanks! ♥
So, now, let’s get this party started!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter

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Let's Make Lemon Bars

My friend Leslie over at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After put out a call a few weeks ago to see if anyone would be interested in joining her for a spring recipe swap.  Well, of course, I wanted to join the fun!  So today all of us who jumped on the bandwagon are sharing our recipes.  A special thanks to those of you coming over from Carrie's blog Curly Crafty Mom.

Nothing says spring to me more than the taste of lemon.  And I just happen to have a fabulous lemon bar recipe my friend Linda shared with me.  This recipe also happens to be one of my daughter-in-law's favorites, so I knew she'd be happy to take a few of them off my hands.


Here's What You Need
Crust
1 cup softened butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar 


Filling
4 well-beaten eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons flour


Here's What You Do
First, make the crust.  Cream the butter.  Mix together the flour and sugar and add it to the creamed butter.  Press the dough into an ungreased jelly roll pan.


Pop the dough into a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes.  Do not brown.  Here's what mine looked like when it came out of the oven.


While your dough is in the oven, make the filling.  Combine eggs, sugar, salt, and lemon juice.  In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.  Add this to the egg mixture.  Pour onto the hot, cooked crust.



Put it back in your 350-degree oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool and then sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into bars and enjoy!

These bars have a mild lemon flavor.  If you want to pump up that flavor, splash a bit of lemon extract into the filling.  I also put a little lemon zest on top of the bars.  They are so delicious and easy to make!  My bet is they will become one of your family favorites too!


Be sure to check out what Dani Doman's Black Bottom Cupcakes over at Faster than Forever.  And here's a list of all the participants in the Spring Recipe Swap.  Have fun trying all their spring recipes!
  1. Deb Keyworth Deb’s Wordl  http://debs14.blogspot.com/
  2. Lauren Kim Mom Home Guide  https://momhomeguide.com/
  3. Laura Bambrick I do deClaire http://www.idodeclaire.com/
  4. Joanne Rawson My Slices of Life https://www.myslicesoflife.com/
  5. Carrie Albrecht Curly Crafty Mom https://www.curlycraftymom.com/
  6. Penny Struebig Penny’s Passion   http://pennyspassion.blogspot.com/
  7. Dani Doman Faster than Forever http://lildesiqua.blogspot.com/
  8. Dani Park Family.Love.Inspiration  https://familyloveinspirationeducation.wordpress.com/
  9. Leslie Clingan Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After  http://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/
  10. Cindy Handy  Seasonal and Holiday Recipe Exchange   https://www.facebook.com/TX2Step

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Monday, April 27, 2020

Weekending - April 24, 2020

Welcome to Monday!  We got back to normal a bit last week as I returned to working from my workplace.  Friday was a welcome sight!  Here's how we spent the weekend ~

Friday night I rushed out of work to get home in time for our now weekly Zoom happy hour.  Eric had brought home a jug of premade Jose Cuervo margaritas and they were just what was needed after a long week!


Saturday morning Eric had to go to work and I was awake early, but decided to make it a slow, relaxing morning.  The rain was coming down outside and I sat at the kitchen table watching it while I worked on our current puzzle.  I decided to make myself toast in the oven for breakfast and remembered I had a jar of pear and cinnamon preserves.  The toast paired with a cup of my favorite tea was a perfect way to start the day!  You might remember, I used the pear and cinnamon preserves to make tartlets.  You can find that recipe HERE.  This stuff is so good!


Saturday night we met with our Connect Group from church on a Zoom chat.  It was nice seeing everyone's face!  We had just started attending the group right before the social distancing went into place, so we really don't know many of the people in the group well.  It will be great to start meeting in person again and get to know this group a bit better.

The clouds moved out and Sunday was at least sunny.  The temperature was still on the cool side, but at least it wasn't cloudy.  Since we are adults and can do whatever we want, we had a piece of the chocolate cake I made on Saturday for breakfast while watching church online.  

Our kitchen was filled with the scent of lilac this weekend.  I cut a few blooms off our lilac bush to bring inside.  Man - I sure wish those things bloomed all year round!


I'm back at work this week for at least a few days.  I had been strictly sheltering in place up until returning to work last week.  It was an odd feeling to be out and around other people.  There are not many people working at our office right now and I wonder how it's going to be when more and more people start coming back.  Such a different world than just a few months ago!

If your reading list is getting caught up and you're looking for a new book, Danielle Steel has a book coming out tomorrow - The Wedding Dress.   Here's the summary from Amazon:
From the glamorous San Francisco social scene of the 1920s, through war and the social changes of the ’60s, to the rise of Silicon Valley today, this extraordinary novel takes us on a family odyssey that is both heartbreaking and inspiring, as each generation faces the challenges of their day.
The Parisian design houses in 1928, the crash of 1929, the losses of war, the drug culture of the 1960s—history holds many surprises, and lives are changed forever. For richer or for poorer, in cramped apartments and grand mansions, the treasured wedding dress made in Paris in 1928 follows each generation into their new lives, and represents different hopes for each of them, as they marry very different men.
From inherited fortunes at the outset to self-made men and women, the wedding dress remains a cherished constant for the women who wear it in each generation and forge a destiny of their own. It is a symbol of their remaining traditions and the bond of family they share in an ever-changing world.
The Wedding Dress: A Novel by [Danielle Steel]

Hope you have a wonderful week!  I'm joining a group of blogger friends tomorrow to do a spring recipe swap.  Pop back in and see the recipe I'm sharing!
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Friday, April 24, 2020

Five on Friday - April 24, 2020

It's Friday again!  And you know what that means - it's time for Five on Friday ~

1.  PlayOn Fest
This was going to be an epic spring of concerts for us.  I had tickets for Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi - all are either canceled or postponed.  But this weekend the music will be flowing for 72 straight hours!  The three-day festival will live stream previous performances from all kinds of fantastic artists.  The performances are from festivals and concerts like Coachella, Lollapalooza, Sydney Opera House and Apollo Theater.  I'm particularly pumped to see Ed Sheeran from his stadium show at Austin City Limits!  All this kicks off Friday at noon Eastern time on YouTube.com/Songkick.


2.  Sips by Tea Boxes
Know a tea lover who could use a little pick me up about now?  Check out the Sips by tea boxes.  For $15 you can send a box of tea to a friend (or yourself!).  They have several different themes such as Immune-Boosting, Sleep, Mood-Boosting, Energizing, PositiviTEA, Rainy Day or I Love You More.  Each box is packed with enough tea to make 15 cups and comes with disposable tea filters.  If you're looking for a birthday or Mother's Day gift, you can also get subscriptions for boxes to arrive every month.  Click HERE to check it out!


3.  L'Oreal Magic Root Precision Pen
Before Pandemic 2020 started, I picked up one of these Magic Root Precision Pens to help with my grays between getting my hair colored.  I'm so thankful I have it now!  It temporarily covers your gray and you apply it to the precise area you need it.  It's available at Amazon HERE.  It will come in handy even after the salons reopen!



4.  Cayman Jack Margarita
Eric brought home a 6-pack of Cayman Jack Margaritas and I'm not sure they will make it through the weekend.  We each had one and they are delicious!  It tastes just like the ones you would order up at a restaurant.  Here's how they are described, "Cayman Jack Margarita is a refreshing, pre-made margarita that delivers a unique, sophisticated and hand-crafted experience. Made with 100% blue agave nectar, natural lime juice, and real cane sugar, Cayman Jack makes it easy to discover something unexpectedly great.".  Yum!

5.  What day is it.....

Image may contain: one or more people, people sitting and text

Hope you have a great weekend.  I'm hoping to get the garden ready for planting and maybe even put on my mask and go get some plants.  I'll be back next week to let you know what we ended up doing.

Linking up with:
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Thursday, April 23, 2020

Friday Favorites Linky Party - April 24, 2020

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:
Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst
Jennifer at Busy Being Jennifer - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst
If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!
You can show your love for this week's favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!
And if you love all of this week's favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week's linky party!
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Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Let's Make Cranberry Chicken

Does it seem like you are doing a lot more cooking these days?  That is precisely what I'm thinking out loud about today!

I dug out some of my old recipes recently and ran across this quick, easy and delicious Cranberry Chicken recipe.  It's so good, I just have to share it with you!


Here's What You Need
4-6 Chicken Breast
1 can Whole Cranberry Sauce
3/4 cup French Dressing
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix


Here's What You Do
In a gallon-size plastic bag, dump the can of whole cranberry sauce.  Pour in the French dressing and add the envelope of onion soup mix.  


Close the bag and squish it around to combine all the ingredients.  If you have the time and patience, this could be a great task for a kiddo to help with.  

Add in the chicken and squish some more.  At this point, I usually like to let this set in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.  If you're in a hurry, you can skip this waiting.  


When you're ready to bake, place the contents of the bag in a baking dish and place in a preheated 400-degree oven.  Let it bake for 30-40 minutes.  The chicken should be 165 degrees when finished.


That's it!  I told you it was easy!  If you want to make a pack or two ahead of time, it freezes great.  You can just pop the bag with all the ingredients in the freezer for a future dinner.  Then when you want to have it for dinner you just have to defrost and bake.  This is also one of those recipes I like to freeze and give to a friend who just had a baby or is recuperating.


Enjoy!

Now it's your turn.  What are you thinking out loud about today?  Link up and share!


You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop - April 22, 2020

Welcome!

Come and join the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop! #linkyparty #wwbloghop

Our hosts just want to say THANK YOU to all those who contributed to last week's party and WELCOME to all the new bloggers who have joined our weekly blog hop. Please invite your blog friends and social network to join us.
Don't forget to use this hashtag #wwbloghop when sharing our party!
Let's get this party started!!

Top Viewed


Very Popular






Editors Choice with a touch of spring





Comfort Spring


Thanks to our co-hosts who share our party on their blogs every week ♥ Please follow them and share our party, too?
Be sure to grab our Specially Featured button if your post was featured this week to show off on your blog or sidebar!
Featured Button
Please TWEET our party ♥
  • Add as many of your family-friendly posts as you would like to. No Etsy shops, adult sites or blog parties, please.
  • Visit others. Let them know you stopped by!
  • If you are NEW to Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, let us know in the comments so that we can follow you back. ♥ Help us find your posts – tell us the title.
  • NOTE: party entries appear in REVERSE. i.e. the most recent entry goes to the top! That way all of our guests will have a really good chance to be seen no matter when they arrive.
  • Thanks! ♥
So, now, let’s get this party started!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter
at 3 comments: