Daily Inspiration Filled With Love

 Having a sweet tooth makes it very difficult to choose what to make.  Featured is a Gingerbread Cheesecake made for Christmas Day dessert.

Different sweet treats will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include cookies, cakes, pies, cheesecakes, candy, streusel, cobblers, crisps, dessert rolls and bars, brownies, puddings, and much more.

Any combination is delicious and there are so many.  Featured is a Cuban sandwich with kettle chips and coleslaw made for a weekend dinner.

Different, soups, salads, and sandwiches will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include soups, chilis, stews, warm and cold salads, various sandwiches, and much more.

Either option, breakfast and brunch, is a win win, and has many endless possibilities.  Featured is a crustless spinach, feta, and bacon quiche made for Christmas Day Brunch.  

Different breakfast and brunch items will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include casseroles, quiches, pancakes, crepes, waffles, french toast, omelettes, grits, biscuits and gravy, scones, biscottis, muffins, bundt and coffee cakes, burritos, and much more.

Baking is both sinful and heavenly, with so many delicious options to choose from and make.  Featured breads are small cranberry and pumpkin loafs.  Both great for freezing, if not eating right away, giving as gifts, or selling at a market or garage sale.

Different sweet treats will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include baked sweet breads, muffins, cornbread, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, hot rolls, garlic and cheese bread, and much more.

 Either as a main course or heavy appetizer, the possibilities are endless, and can be cooked many different ways.  Featured are beer broiled and baked brats and onions, with bun or not, for a weekday or weekend meal, and paired with chips, dip, pickles, and beans.  

Different grilled, smoked, seared, pan fried, and baked meats and seafood will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include brats, hotdogs, steaks, hamburgers, pork, fish, veal, brisket, ribs, turkey, duck, lamb, ham, chicken, and much more. 

 Snack possibilities are endless, easy, and hard to quit eating.  Featured is a seven layered dip, with tortilla chips, from On The Border, and paired with a lager, in this case, Grayton Beach 30A, a light one.

 Different dips, cheeseballs, appetizers, parfaits, granola, oats, and protein balls will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include an array of dips and appetizers, both hot and cold, healthy snacks, and much more.

There are so many delicious sides to choose from and pair other dishes with.  Featured is a baked vegetable dish with sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, squash, and dried cranberries.

Different side dishes will be featured each month.

Featured recipes will include hot and cold potatoes, mac & cheese, various vegetables, slaws, beans, rice, casseroles, and much more.

The best way to find which liquid libation you enjoy is to sample them all.  Featured is an Apple Pie Whiskey, from a Tulsa area Distillery, Red Fork.  It is a warm, smooth, and flavorful sipper great for fall and cooler weather, and around a toasty fire.

Different Spirits, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, will be featured each month.

Featured libations will include Whiskeys, Bourbons, Beers, Wines, Champagnes, Mixed Drinks, Irish Cream, Vodka, Tequila, Gin, Rum, Egg Nog, Lemonade, Cider, Smoothies, Punch, and much more.

Italian food, especially pizza & pasta, is delizioso, and good most anytime, especially pizza.  Featured is a homemade Hamburger pizza.

Different Italian food will be featured each month.

Featured Italian food recipes will include various styles of pizza, calzones, crusts, sides, desserts, Italian dishes, and much more.

The best way to grow your palate is to try different dishes, even if it is only a bite.  Featured here are the guts for making green chili enchiladas.

Different cuisines will be featured each month.

Featured cuisines will include Mexican, Chinese, German, Asian, and much more.

Holiday entertaining can be a lot of work, but also easy and a lot of fun; and the key to being able to do so is planning.  Featured are finger foods, olives,  meat and cheese, and crackers, on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Different foods will be featured dependent upon the holiday or occasion.

Featured entertainment will include New Year's, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day,

Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other in-between.

Special celebrations are fun and exciting, as each are unique to the occasion and who and what they are for.  Featured is a fruit birthday cake for my son's birthday, and complimented with a few Nothing Bundt Cakes Bundlets.

Different foods will be featured dependent upon the celebration.

Featured occasions will include Anniversaries,

Birthdays, Weddings, Wedding and Baby Showers, and many others.

Begin the New Year with a decoration or  decorations that help celebrate and get you excited to welcome a new year.  For this decoration, I took unused holiday crackers, "Sparkle", "Cheers" & "Celebrate", along with used gold and silver streamers, and filled them up a glass flower vase that I had.  I, also, used this decoration for my sons’ high school and college graduation party.  This decoration is displayed on my entry way table in my home.  So, whenever you want to create a themed decoration or any decoration, might you first look at what party leftovers and/or containers that you may have before you go out and buy anything new.

Have some fun in the cold winter months, especially when it snows.  Built in my backyard is a Connors State Baseball Snowman wearing worn out work gloves, son's old batting gloves, pine tree arm twigs, fallen from pine trees in my backyard, baseball eyes and buttons, free from a promo in a liquor store, a cowboy hat, sons' old costume cowboy hat, a black nose, a helmet cushion from my son's old batting helmet, and a black cotton baclava, from my winter accessories.  

Behind the Cowboy are apple bird feeders hanging on the pine trees made from old apples.  I  sliced up the apples, smothered them with peanut butter and birdseed, and hung them with remnant twine; and the birds love them.

Decorate and display your love for those you care about.  Here, I have made pillows using my sons' old jeans, corduroy pants, and work window treatments/file cabinet runners, and a burlap coffee bag, given to me by Nordaggio's Coffee, a Tulsa coffee shop, and old washcloths and towels and socks as pillow filler.  These pillows are adorned in the corner of my work office.  So, might you first look at any clothing or material that you may have and do not use anymore and create some meaningful accents to display in your home or office.

Adding a little green to any room is a fun way to spruce up a room.  Before you buy anything new, look at what you already have in your house, and repurpose it to another room.  Here, I used an area rug, from my home office, and turned it in to a square pouf.  The corners are tied with twine and stuffed with old material.  This pouf sits in my home office with magazines displayed on top of it.  So, if you happen to want a change in decor or a different look to a room, might you first look at what you have and see what you can rearrange, recreate, or swap.

Pillows are a fun and easy way to spruce up any room in the house.  Here, on my living room couch, are a variety of pillows I used to decorate for the season and couch itself.  Before you go and buy any new pillows, look at what other pillows, old blankets, or tablecloths that you may have and reupholster or turn them in to new pillows.  The striped pillows are made from an old linen table cloth and accent my existing suede, burlap, and velvet pillows.  With each season, I mix and match all of them with other pillows, too, and create a totally different look.

So much can be used to decorate a kitchen; and before you go and buy anything, first, look and see what you have in your kitchen drawers and cabinets.  Here, I took some crocheted potholders, made by my Aunt Toni, and a pastel pink coffee, creamer, and sugar stoneware set, given to me by my mom, and turned them in to flower pots that sit on top of a handmade butcher block, with two pink glass flowered candles, adorned on each side, and displayed on my kitchen island, for springtime.

When decorating your home, you can also commemorate and incorporate your vacations.  Here, I used both our beach vacation, Destin, Florida, and home decor to create this summer centerpiece for my kitchen island.  The beer cans, pens, and sunglasses are from the beach, and the butcher block, candle, and vintage jello mold are from my kitchen.  So, the next time you go on a vacation, a day trip, or short getaway, might you bring back something special and incorporate it in to your decorating.

Much can be used to create and decorate for any holiday.  Here, on the corner of my kitchen island, I have used a vintage glass coke bottle to hold skewered homemade flags tied with twine, along with red, white, and blue toothpicks; a flag stoneware plate set with recipes surrounded by saltwater taffy; and an old frame adorning a red, white, and blue flowered design with remnant material and vintage buttons.  So, might you, first, look through what you already have and go from there.

Bring the outside in, this fall.  Here, in my entry way, I have created my own pumpkin patch by using my sons' old sweaters, vests, jeans, and robes for the pumpkins, and their socks for stems and pumpkin guts.  So, if you would like to use up any old or unused clothing, here is your chance to give it new life and display it anywhere in your home.

Inside or out, add to the home decor, and/or a fall party, by carving pumpkins.  Here, I used my son's baseballs, sunflower seeds, and Double Bubble gum and their wrappers to create these baseball pumpkins.  So, if you enjoy carving pumpkins and want to create unique ones, first, look at what you have around the house and pantry and go from there.

Adding natural accents creates warmth and simplicity to any setting or holiday.  Here, these natural wood pumpkins, nesting in my dining room, were made with varied remnant building materials, and the only thing that I added was an unused green ribbon that I had.  So, if you decide to decorate or redecorate something, might you keep in mind that less can be more.  

Adding coziness to any area of the home or holiday season is comforting and special.  Here, hanging in front of a cutting board on my kitchen wall is a candy cane, made from my old red sweater, tied with twine, and accented with a denim heart.  So, if you want to add any decorations to any area of your home, might you consider the season and see what treasures that you may have and give them a new life.    

                               Mind(ful) tips

• Stretch it.
• Fill and filter it.
• Rest it.
• Simplify it.
• Heal it.
• Protect it.
• Respect it.
• Be kind to it.
• Give it grace.
• Ponder it.
• Pause it.
• Calm it.
• Love it.

                                    Body(ful) tips

• Strengthen, lengthen, tighten & tone it.
• Let it breathe slowly & and deeply.
• Listen to it.
• Heal it.
• Respect it.
• Stretch it.
• Protect it.
• Rest it.
• Love it.
• Nurture it.

                              Soul(ful) tips

• Feed it.
• Fill it.
• Heal it.
• Protect it.
• Respect it.
• Nurture it.
• Listen to it.
• Strengthen it.
• Trust it.
• Honor it.
• Own it.
• Love it.
• Share it.