Baking Bread

Fellow bloggers are responsible
for the pictures you are about to see --

Here's how it went down ----
I was mindin' my own doggone business,
just browsing through some blogs I love
when what did I see???
Not once,
but TWICE on the very same day?

Gorgeous pictures of homemade bread.
So fresh and lovely.
I could almost smell it.
Twice it happened.

Once - I could've shaken it off and
thought how good it would taste and
*click*
been on my merry way.

But twice?
That was what pushed me over the edge.

THEN --

I'm flipping through a magazine
in Wal-mart yesterday and
there it was ---
a beautiful loaf of
French bread and
a super simple recipe.
Right there!

In My Face

I knew what I had to do, of course....
I whipped out a scrap of paper and pen
from my purse and
copied down that recipe,
marched myself over to the baking aisle
and came home and
made bread.

And yes! It tastes soooo good.

With a good amount of real butter.
And a big dollop of peach preserves.

Oh. Did you hear that?
I think I just heard angels singing............

Start to finish
was
3 hrs.
and most of that was "rise time".

So - here ya go........

2 packages yeast
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups very warm water

Place in a bowl, give it a stir.
Wait 5 minutes.
It will get kind of foamy and you know
your yeast is alive and working.

Then -
Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon salt
and
gradually add
5 1/2 cups flour
until a soft dough forms

On a lightly floured surface
(to keep the dough from sticking)
knead the dough 5 mins.

Place in a clean oiled bowl,
set away from drafts,
and let it rise until double in size
or 45 minutes.

Spray a large jelly roll pan with oil
Sprinkle with cornmeal (just 3-4 Tablespoons)
and
place formed loaves on the pan.
I did 2 loaves, next time I'll try 4 smaller ones.

Put loaves on pan and set out of draft.
Let rise another 45 minutes
or until double in size.

IMPORTANT --
brush top with 2 egg whites
that have been slightly beaten
and cut slits on top of the bread
at intervals of every 3 inches.

Preheat oven to 400
Bake 20-25 minutes

Let cool
IF you can
Slice and ENJOY !!!

Go on now.
Try it!

You'll thank me!

Yum -

Gwynie Pie

My Colorful Crafting Corner

I am still making my way through
the house-

drawer by drawer,
closet by closet,
room by room

Craft room
paint color is Jalapeno.
I thought I'd be tired of it by now.
No.
Still lovin' it.

This cabinet
was borrowed
(stolen)
from my daughter.
She can have it back anytime she wants it.

But until she does, want it, it stores
fabrics.

And this wall is a great place to
display
Lily Kate's very colorful
creations -
the Jalapeno wall is the perfect
backdrop.

Just wanted to show you my progress.
Still cleaning and painting on
Bedroom #2.

Our goal to be completely finished by
Thursday.
Good thing.
Since company's comin'
on Friday, I'd say
that's a really good goal.

Gotta run...............

Gwynie Pie

WEEKEND FUN

Having a great time here in Ft. Worth with our kids.

Literally, we have 24 hours here with them

so we have to cram in lots of

visiting,

eating,

playing

into a very short few hours.

We ate ribs at Cousins BBQ for dinner

I intended to take a "before"......

uhhhhh

but we had made happy plates

before I even thought

about a picture

so

how about an "after"?

Not the same huh?

Then we went to the community pool for their subdivision
and had the best time
swimming and playing.

It was somewhere around 105 today
and the water felt great.

Lily Kate is quite the swimmer but
the most fun was going down the big slide.
I was amazed that she is so fearless.
Just 2 months ago, at the beginning
of summer, while taking
swim lessons,
she was NOT going to go off the
lowest diving board !!!
NO! NOT happening!

Now she is climbing the stairs
of this very high water chute
and coming down all by herself.
She looks so tiny.
Then she swims to the side,
climbs out,
does it all over again.

Over and over and over again.
Until................

They weren't very far into "Babe"
when she absolutely crashed.
Just worn out.

What a very, very fun day we have had.

Tomorrow we are visiting a church for early service

and then going to

Blue Mesa Grill for

brunch.

I'm certain I will have more to say about it all.

Hope your weekend is a time to just

breathe,

relax,

reflect

and

laugh.

Gwynie Pie

Bedroom #2 ReDo

Well, after living here
for the past 8 and 1/2 years we are
finally
finally
painting Bedroom #2.

Don't know what has taken so long.

I mean, some rooms in this house have
actually been painted 3 times already.

This was my Mother and Daddy's room.
Maybe there is some weird psychological
strangeness going on here.
?
?
?

He has been gone 9 years later this month.
In some ways it seems like forever.
And then again, sometimes it feels like
it was just last week.
Time is a funny thing, huh.

Anyway....
it is definitely time to give this room
a fresh coat of paint.

Uh, correction.....a FIRST coat of paint.

I'm painting the trim Milk Sugar white
like throughout the rest of the house.
And the walls are just the very
lightest, coolest hint of green.

Let me also say,
KILZ paint --
I love you !!!!

No, I do.
Really I do.

I so vividly remember the painting fiasco
of last year ---
the Vanilla Cream
over
the
Red Lobster ---
ai yi yi !!!

Then I discovered paint
made out of KILZ base
and really --
it could make painting kind of fun.

I'll be back with some pictures
next week of the finished room.

I have company coming next weekend
so I can't put this off.
Gotta do it.

Gwynie Pie

Hey, Hey, Hey....It's Friday !!!

And you KNOW what that means?

That's right !!!!

It's "clean out your purse"
and
"clean out your car"
Day

Huh?

Okay, it's also FRIDAY !!!!!!
There is that
(and not a moment too soon I say)

For real though
here is just a simple, quick tip to help you stay
organized and it will
quickly de-stress your life.
Well, it will de-stress at least one little part of your life.

I have done this for a long time now.
It's a habit.
Every Friday, I dump the contents of my purse
--pitch the trash
--remove the unnecessary
--keep and file or throw away
receipts
--gather loose change and
deposit in our change jar
You'd be surprised how much change can
accumulate before you know it.

I once heard a renowned money expert
say that she could tell you MUCH about a woman
and the state of her life
just by checking out two things --
her purse
and
her car.
Hmmmmm----now THAT'S something to
think about, huh?

I realized how true this was back then
and wanting to take charge of at least
one little piece of my life
AND
to get control over what I could control,
I began my Friday "habit".

Oh and this is muy importante --
take the folding money out of your wallet,
arrange it smallest to largest
and face it all the same direction.
That way, all the bills are
looking the same direction --
outward, watching for other money
and saying "hey, it's fun and very orderly
in here -- won't you come join us"

HA! Silly, I know.
But, I do believe
order attracts order
and money attracts money.
Try it and see what happens.
Couldn't hurt.

In the car, I just take that
empty Wal-mart sack....over there.....
stuck to the side of the Sonic cup....
yep, that one.
AndI load it up
with all the bits and pieces and scraps
and such that have accumulated
during the week.

Do it every Friday and
it is never a huge mess.

It really feels good to end the week
on a clean note.

Small steps.
It's just a purse and a car.
But keeping them in control
gives you GREAT POWER !!!

Now let's get out and sack up that trash.

Good Friday !

Gwynie Pie

One. Two. Three.

After we moved to this house,
the house where I grew up,
and in an effort to distinguish between
the three bedrooms
down the hall,
we referred to the rooms
by who lived there last.

There was
Mother and Daddy's room,
my old bedroom,
and
the sewing room.

You see the problem, I'm sure........
we had many visitors here who had
NO idea which room was which.

So, then we tried calling them by their
color.

But----if you know me AT ALL,
you know that didn't work for long either.
Lobster room
became
Boston Brown room
became
Jalapeno Green room.

Sooooo, after living here
for several years, we started referring
to the rooms by number.
That proved confusing too, since
"is the 1st room on the right #1 or is it #3?"

Well, NOW we have fixed it.
Just like a motel.

We just put up numbers.

Should you come to visit,
you'll be given your Room #
and sent down the hall to settle in.

Don't worry.
It's a very short hall.

Oh please!!

Do come visit.

We looooooove company !!

Gwynie Pie

MMM MMMM Good

Last night I whipped up this meal --

It was so quick and easy
but tasted
like an expensive
restaurant meal.

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

1 pkg. -12 oz. fettucini
1 jar Bertolli brand alfredo sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan
a little pepper

Cook fettucini in heavily salted water
according to package instructions.
Drain completely and while still hot
add sauce, cream, parmesan and
pepper.

Stir to coat the fettucini.

Serve with -----

a green salad with all the good stuff
and
a good crusty bread.

We are loving the Texas Toast brand
of Cheese Ciabatta.

It is fantastic!!
I sure hope you have it wherever you live -
soooooo goooooood

Notice the oh, so fine
white pasta serving bowl? It is from Celebrating Home collection.
My friend, Elaine, is a designer with Celebrating Home
and you can see more of their fun stuff over
at her blog.
Just look over to the left in my favorite blogs
and click on

Mamie's Hospitalitea Cottage
and give Elaine a visit.
You can view the catalog there.

I also used the new salad servers
I got at World Market a few months ago. Aren't they cute?

It's Wednesday.

Half way through another week -

I'm so amazed at how the individual days just creep by

but the weeks and months

are whipping past.

I'm still working along on those

cleaning/de-cluttering projects

around the house.

Gwynie Pie

Happy Monday to you all !
I'm still at it.
Such great progress has been made
-------
just over the past 7 days

The pictures of the "results" of some of the
outward cleaning is
oh, so much more FUN
than
pictures of
the
"clean-up efforts"

Lemony, layered centerpiece
on the dining table.

Does anyone else L-O-V-E buttons like I do?

Especially various shades of white.


I'll be back with my next
de-cluttering update
in just a couple......

Bedroom #2 has been checked off the list of "to-do"

even (especially) the closet is orderly
and functional again.

NEXT-------------------
I'm gathering up every
blanket,
quilt,
sheet,
and
pillowcase.......

dumping them in the floor of the living room ---

and

stay or go????
THAT
is the
question.....

Later,

Gwynie Pie

Just a few pictures from around
the house.

I've been re-arranging and decorating
as I go.

When last I blogged (which would have been sooner,
but my internet has been down about as often as it's been up lately) --
I was saying how it is my goal to be
"crisply organized".

Since I made up the phrase, I'll give you my definition.

Crisply organized --
To be so organized and in control of my household
that 1). I could direct anyone else to easily find soap, scissors,
bandaids or blankets;
and 2). My husband could, in my absence, locate a pay stub,
car registration notice or a receipt.....AND be able
to tell what bill has or has not been taken of.

To be crisply organized is to be
deliberate and thoughtful about how we live
INside our home,
SO THAT
we can be free to live deliberately
and thoughtfully OUTside our home.

THIS is my goal.

Getting off work at 2:15 each day really has been
a wonderful thing.

I've been working each afternoon for

about 3hrs. and then he helps

me with the bigger stuff for anothe 2 hrs.

and

we still have time to work on our joint projects

like floating in the pool

and

catching up on Memphis Beat.

Now, I don't want you to have a false impression about
the level of upheaval in our home.
Company could walk in right this very moment
and they would be quite comfortable without me doing
very much at all.

Living room is tidy, vacuumed, smells good.
Dining table is clean with a nice centerpiece.
Kitchen has cleared surfaces and even the fridge isn't too bad.

The disorganized parts are all very well hidden --
in drawers,
behind doors,
under beds.

So this clean-up effort involves digging down deep --
cleaning,
purging,
pitching.

I've been dragging around here
for months now -- really taking this "working" thing hard.
I have truly been exhausted physically.

But spiritually -- I've been draggin' as well.

When you are draggin' spiritually - you just need a revival.
Nothing else will do.

Other things may jazz you up for a while,
but unless the changes are deep in my soul,
it ends up being just a flurry of activity
producing short-term results,
not the
TRUE
change
I
so
crave.

Two things have happened to me spiritually
over the past 3 weeks
that have been so impactful
and so from the LORD
that I am
motivated
to
get it together.
STOP whining.
and grumbling.
and
L-I-V-E

I know none of the above
tells you anything about my "battle with the paper".

Suffice it to say ---

I WON!!!!!!!!!

Really though, here's what I did -----

I gathered up ALL the paper in our house.
Yes, ALL.

It was quite a pile.

Then, I started going through it piece by piece.
Everything unnecessary was
either shredded or burned.

Everything else
I organized in folders
which were labeled
and are now stored in 2 plastic files
and several bankers boxes.

You can get really pretty bankers boxes
now at Wal-mart
and I bought 4 of those for
my office shelves where I want "pretty".

The not so pretty ones are under the
desk behind the cute black and white gingham
curtain.

The desktop is organized with
pretty black and white
folders --
Bills,
Tax info
House projects
Ranch work list

I also have implemented a little system
involving notebooks,
but this post is too, too long already
soooooooo...............

later.

I have to say here -- every day after work, William has
pitched in and helped.
He knows what a spiritual battle
this is for me and
has been so supportive.

I am in NO WAY finished......

I have much more to tackle.
Stay tuned ...................


Gwynie Pie

Help! Blub, blub, blub..............

Okay. This is it.
I'm declaring war.
Clutter and disorganization
are the enemies.

I've just let things slip lately.
And I've used the excuse that it's because I've gone to work.

This weekend though, I felt something
shift in my thinking.
Honestly, I'm just tired of feeling
swept under by things I can very well control.

See I have long believed the enemy would just as soon
see us consumed and shut down by our clutter and inefficiency
as he would to see us shut down by sexual sin,
gossip, hatred or any other sin.
One is just as effective as another
IF it takes us out of living our lives to the fullest.

I am a "cleanie" by nature. And also by nurture.
My mother and her mother were both cleanies.
Or at least, they were very, very good at cleaning, organizing and
taking care of a home.
And, thank you Lord, they passed it on to me.

I fully realize not everyone is born a "cleanie" and not
every girl grows up with a mom who can or will
teach her how to clean.

So, if you are one who did not have a "cleanie" for a mom,

I would be honored if you'd come along with me

on this little adventure.

Okay, so ---- back to conquering clutter.
I have begun the fight.
It is much easier and a lot more "fun" to begin
cleaning house by clearing off the tabletop
and straightening up the coffeetable in the living room.

Those things are immediately visible
and it is definitely instant gratification.
However, I spend my energies doing that
and STILL there are those things hidden in a drawer
or behind a closet or even "oh sweet Nellie,
what is that under the bed?"

It is so very easy to just walk on by, leave it alone
and have a don't wake up the sleeping bear
kind of attitude.

It has been said, and rightly so
Freedom is NOT free.

And personal individual freedoms are important
just as other freedoms we may pursue on a larger, even national scale.
Difference is --
Personal freedom is going to cost you
Personally !!!

So, I am embarking on a little journey
to get
FREE
in all areas of my life.

And I'm beginning with the inmost part of
my home....the guts of the house,
so to speak.

And-------
I'm beginning with the biggest area of
disorganization
and
clutter
that I have to deal with ---

PAPER !

Dealing with the paper --

That's an area where I can quite literally just cram
everything in a big ol box,
put a lid on it
and call it good.

Oh the bills get paid --
just not with any kind of ease.

So, here is my goal --

I am endeavoring to "set my house RIGHT side up"
over the next few days/weeks/however long it takes.

I desire to become
"crisply organized"
in every area --
EVEN under the beds.

I will be back later this week with an update on my own
journey and I'll have some ideas and "how-tos" as well.

Oh by the way,
the pictures are NOT of how we live on a daily basis.

I ask William to help me last night and we dragged
out every piece of paper in this house.

It's all spread out in the bedroom floor
and is a work in progress.
I'll be letting you know how this goes.

Until then ---
as William Wallace would say

"FREEEEEEEEDOM!!!!!"

Gwynie Pie

The Eagles

I've really been slacking when it comes to
blogging. I find I'm too busy taking care of the necessary things and
don't ever get around to doing the fun things.

One of those FUN things
I DID get around to was this ---

Last Saturday daughter Dana and I went to see

THE Eagles !!!!

Not the "bald" Eagles as Lily Kate has been calling them for a long time now.
We think maybe she got a trip to the zoo where she saw bald eagles
a bit mixed up with the Eagles her Pops and Pie listen to
and so -- for us, they will forever be
The Bald Eagles ------------
She asked for us to put The Bald Eagles in the cd
player when we are on the road.
And you can't fool her either.
We've tried to branch out and play someone
else. Nope. That girl knows her bald Eagles.

This concert was.....well.....I've been looking
for the right words ever since. And I'm not finding
words to tell you just how much fun this was.
Or how great the concert was.

I just kept saying "This is so fun!"

Inside I was squealing. A Lot. And often.
But a mature woman of my age
shouldn't squeal. Out loud. So I kept that to myself.

We travelled from downtown Fort Worth to downtown
Dallas
on the train, which was a great and fun experience
in and of itself.
We will definitely be doing that again.

It was smooth, fairly cool, very crowded
and very cosmospolitan. Now there's a word
we folks in west Texas don't use often -
cosmopolitan.

Our stop was literally across the street
from American Airlines Center.
Our seats were great !!! As you can see by
the picture.

Such FUN!!!!

The Eagles played from almost 8 until almost midnight
with only a short intermission which Glenn Frey said was so that
we could all rest.

He started off the concert, after they thrilled me by
singing Seven Bridges Road,
by welcoming us to
"the Assisted Living Tour".

Those guys are all my age or older and
the tight harmony they are known
for is just as it's always been --
phenonmenal !

This may have been my first Eagles concert,
but it will not be my last.
I'm going again next time they are
close and taking people with me.

Just get ready friends!

Gwynie Pie