Hop Into My Life (Beatrix Potter)

What do Squirrel Nutkin, Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Johnny Townmouse, Tom Thumb and Hunka Munka have in common? 

They were all created by the wonderful children's author Beatrix Potter! 

I love the stories and illustrations by Beatrix Potter...I mean who 

could not like a little mouse named Hunka Munka or silly duck named 
Jemima-Puddle-Duck?

When I was home visiting my parents this past fall, I sat down and re-read some of these stories and it reminded me  of when my Mom would sit down before we went to bed and she would read these stories to us, and at the end my younger brother would say, 
"Read again, Mommy."

(Photos courtesy of: google image)

Apple Crisp Cups

• Ingredients
• 4 apples-peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 dash ground cinnamon
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup pecans 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, diced
• 1 pinch salt
• 
  
• Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Place apples in bowl, stir in cinnamon and nutmeg. Place apples in a casserole dish or in cupcake cups.
2. In a food processor (or blender) chop nuts with a few short pulses. Pour in sugar and flour and process to combine. Add butter and salt and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle topping over apples.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's snowy outside and call me crazy but I like it...
no really I do, nobody paid me to say that. 

I like being cozy inside, I like watching the fluffy snowflakes falling (which they

are doing right now), and I like how it makes me think of Christmas (I am allowed to 

talk about Christmas now that Thanksgiving has past). I like putting on this song"Baby, It's Cold Outside" originally written by Frank Loesser who wrote the duet in 1944 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their housewarming party

I really can't stay (but baby it's cold outside)

I've got to go away (but baby it's cold outside)

This evening has been (been hoping that you'd drop in)

So very nice (i'll hold your hands, they're just like ice)

My mother will start worry (beautiful whats your hurry)

My father will be pacing the floor (listen to the fireplace roar)

So really i'd better scurry (beautiful please don't hurry)

but maybe just a half a drink more (put some records on while i pour)

the neighbors might faint (baby it's bad out there)

say what's in this drink (no cabs to be had out there)

i wish i knew how (your eyes are like starlight now)

to break this spell (i'll take your hat, your hair looks swell)

i ought to say "no, no, no sir" (mind if i move in closer)

at least i'm gonna say that i tried (what's the sense in hurtin' my pride)

i really can't stay (oh baby don't hold out)

both:baby it's cold out side

i simply must go (but baby it's cold outside)

the answer is no (but baby it's cold outside)

your welcome has been (how lucky that you droped in)

so nice and warm (look out the window at that storm)

my sister will be suspicious (gosh your lips look delcious)

my brother will be there at the door (waves upon the tropical shore)

my maiden aunts mind is vicious (gosh your lips are delicous)

but maybe just a cigarette more (never such a blizzard before)

i've gotta get home (but baby you'd freeze out there)

say lend me a coat (it's up to your knees out there)

you've really been grand (i thrill when you touch my hand)

but don't you see? (how can you do this thing to me?)

there's bound to be talk tomorrow (think of my lifelong sorrow)

at least there will be plenty implied (if you got namonia and died)

i really can't stay (get over that old out)

baby it's cold outside!

(Photos courtesy of: google image)

A Little Elf in Your Life

I just watched  Elf last night and just so you now, as I was reading the quotes below I was

laughing so hard! I couldn't help myself, I really want you to watch this movie...

right now...I might even watch it again tonight; hee, hee! 

Buddy: Who the heck are you?

 Gimbel's Santa: What are you talkin' about? I'm Santa Claus. 

Buddy: No, you're not. 

Gimbel's Santa: Uh, why of course I am! Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. 

Buddy: Well, if you're Santa, what song did I sing for you on your birthday this year? 

Gimbel's Santa: Um, Happy Birthday of course. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. How old are you son? 

Kid with Santa: Four. 

Gimbel's Santa: You're a big boy. What's your name? 

Kid with Santa: Paul. 

Gimbel's Santa: Now what can I get you for Christmas? 

Buddy: Don't tell him what you want, he's a liar. 

Gimbel's Santa: Let the kid talk. 

Buddy: You disgust me! How can you live with yourself? 

Gimbel's Santa: Just cool it, Zippy. 

Buddy: You sit on a throne of lies. 

Gimbel's Santa: Look, I'm not kiddin'. 

Buddy: You're a fake. 

Gimbel's Santa: I'm a fake? 

Buddy: Yes! 

Gimbel's Santa: How'd you like to be dead, huh? Ho, ho, just kidding. 

Buddy: You stink. 

Gimbel's Santa: I think you're gonna have a good Christmas, all right. 

Buddy: You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa. 

Thanksgiving

I know yesterday was actually Thanksgiving day, but if it's alright with you
I would like to share tonight what I'm thankful for. 

I am thankful for:
Family

Friends

Books

Laughter

Food

Work

Church

Dreams 

Music 

Health

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving~

Did You Know (I did not)?

The cranberry is a symbol and a modern diet staple of thanksgiving. Originally called crane berry, it derived its name from its pink blossoms and drooping head, which reminded the Pilgrims of a crane. 

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the United States. But it was Thomas Jefferson who opposed him. It is believed that Franklin then named the male turkey as 'tom' to spite Jefferson.

Lobster, seal and swans were on the Pilgrims' menu.

Giving Thanks

Gratitude goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift.

Henri J. M. Nouwen: 

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.  ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.

~William Shakespeare

None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.  Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.  ~Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Cooking with Dad

One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving was when I would make

 the stuffing with my Dad. He had a special meat stuffing that he liked to 

make. He would pull out this huge, black, cooking pot, set it on a chair so I 

could actually reach into it (this might have been due to my limited stature:). 

Sausage, celery, onions, bread, eggs, pepper, salt, sage (and ingredients that I am 

forgetting).  Dad and I would put each ingredient into this pot and then would 

start mixing it all together with our hands. I loved that time spent with my Dad; 

it was as if the stuffing tasted better because we had done it together.

(Photos courtesy of: google image)

The Origins of America's Thanksgiving

In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers  seeking a new home  in the New World. After a treacherous crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. 

Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast . The Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

(Article courtesy of: history.com)

May the Giving of Thanks Begin

One week from today will be Thanksgiving. 

I love Thanksgiving, so for the week leading up to Thanksgiving 

I will be sharing stories, recipes, and memories. 

I hope this year that you, and I will be able to celebrate 

what we are thankful for with the ones we love.

(Photos courtesy of: google image)

Find Me at the Bookstore Pt. 2

Yesterday I shared I had spent part of my morning at the bookstore.

These are the books I had the pleasure of looking through.
This adorable book caught my attention because when I was

little I use to play with paper dolls.

In the Paper Doll Primer there are little girls with 

different outfits you can cut out. 

I only read the first two stories of

 The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe 

The first one is about a murder and what I found so fascinating about this story is the way he wrote it; almost as if it should be read out-loud, in a dimly lit room, where you are sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the climix of the story! 

The title of  The Art of the Handwritten Note is what made me want to pick this book up. In this book the author writes how writing a letter, a thank you note, a sympathy card, can be extremely meaningful and that letter writing is not a lost art.

(Photos courtesy of: Barnes & Noble)

Find Me at the Bookstore

This morning I went to the bookstore. I will share more at a later time on the books I 

looked through, but for today I just wanted to say how much I love books. 

I think going to the bookstore has become one of my favorite things to do.

"A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face.  It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy."

  ~Edward P. Morgan

"The time to read is any time: no apparatus, no appointment of time and place, is necessary.  It is the only art which can be practised at any hour of the day or night, whenever the time and inclination comes, that is your time for reading; in joy or sorrow, health or illness." 

 ~Holbrook Jackson

(Photos courtesy of: google image, flickr)

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty & the Beast)

Beauty and the Beast is one of my most favorite fairy tales.

Once upon a time

There lived a girl named Belle, for she was lovely and pure of heart...

In that land there also lived a hideous Beast...

For several months Belle lived at the Beast's palace...

...By the time Belle found the Beast he was almost dead. She weeped over him, whispering that she loved him. When her tears struck him, the Beast was transformed.

(Photos courtesy of: weheartit.com, google image)

Lady Day

Last night I had Billie Holiday's music on. The more I listened to her the more I wanted to find out about this voice that was filling the room with such a beautiful and soulful sound.

"Billie Holiday was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. 

Holiday's poignant voice is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz voices of all time.

Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan) grew up in jazz talent-rich Baltimore in the 1920s. As a young teenager, Holiday served the beginning part of her so-called "apprenticeship" by singing along with records by Bessie Smith or Louis Armstrong in after-hours jazz clubs. 

Holiday began working with Lester Young in 1936, who pegged her with her now-famous nickname of "Lady Day." When Holiday joined Count Basie in 1937 and then Artie Shaw in 1938, she became one of the very first black women to work with a white orchestra, an impressive accomplishment of her time.  White gardenias, worn in her hair, became her trademark.  Her emotive voice, innovative techniques and touching songs will forever be remembered and enjoyed."

(http://www.cmgww.com/music/holiday/about/biography.htm)