God Gives Such Beauty To Everything That Grows In The Fields

Chocolate Bark - Toffee and Peppermint

Peppermint Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

24 oz  Organic White Chocolate

24 oz Organic Dark Chocolate 70 % Caco

1 Container Of Peppermint Candy Canes

Stevia Liquid to taste

Directions:

Pound the Candy Canes until they are broken up. (we used a rolling pen. Just remember to put the Candy Canes in a bag before breaking them up or you will get a very large mess) Melt the dark chocolate and lay it on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and allow to cool and harden. Melt the white chocolate and sprinkle candy cane pieces over the top of the chocolate. Allow to cool and harden then break it up.

Toffee Chocolate Bark

Ingredients:

24 oz White Chocolate 

24 oz Dark Chocolate 

1 Bag of Toffee 

Directions:

Break up Toffee. Melt the dark chocolate and lay it on a wax paper covered cookie sheet and allow to cool and harden. Melt the white chocolate and sprinkle Toffee pieces over the top of the chocolate. Allow to cool and harden then break it up. 

Christmas Memories

 

When I was a little girl we didn't go to the store and buy Christmas Stocking we would use our stockings that we wore everyday, you know the tan ones that came way up so on your thigh and hang them on the mantel.  If we didn't have a fireplace one particular year mom would give us pins and we would pin our stockings on a chair or the back of the couch that year.

We could expect a cookie with sugar sprinkles, a bright orange an apple and some nuts.  If we were very good we would get a piece of home made taffy that our mother made.  She had a pretty bowl and she would cut up fruit and fill that bowl with it.  It was only used during very special times. She would cook up a big fat chicken and save its feathers for our pillows.  There were sweet potatoes from our garden and green beans canned from that year with our own sweet onions.

There were pies on the sideboard waiting for little girls to taste them and relish in the beauty of their sweetness. It was such a good time.  We would laugh and sing and talk.  We girls were always together for Christmas.  It was not like it is now, it was not about going into the poor house for Christmas.  No, we didn't have much, but mom made sure we all got something for Christmas and we never felt like we did without.  Mom would crochet and she made us beautiful dresses, and when we grew out of them she would add pieces and make it fit us or a younger sister would get the dress.

 I remember my shoes had a hole in them in the sole and it was cold and I had to walk to school so my sister put a piece of cardboard in the shoe to help me make them last a while longer until one of my sisters grew out of their shoes.  One year I remember I got a beautiful Shirley Temple doll.  It was more than I could ever imagine getting for Christmas.  I loved that doll and took her everywhere with me until a neighborhood dog chased me and when I jumped up to get away from it I broke her. It broke my heart.

   
Our grandparents lived on farms and so did my aunt and uncle.  Someone would bring a big car or one of the farm wagons over and pick us up and the grownups would be gathered at our aunt and uncles house.  They had beautifully decorated the barn and there were tables of wood set end to end with such wonderful foods.  There was mulled cider, and pies, there were cakes with white icing and sugar sprinkled on top, there was chicken and ham and fresh baked bread and rolls... oh the food!  The adults would come and bring wooden planks and lay them on the barn floor side by side until there was a great wooden floor.

We children would have so much fun playing in the hay and playing.  But we were good children, we didn't run around or get into trouble because our mother's told us to behave when they left us to work.  So we would make lovely dolls with the straw and we would play so sweetly with the other children.  Soon people came with musical instruments and they would begin to play and the grown ups would smile and laugh.
The men would swing the women round and round the floor and they had so much fun!  We would sit and clap in time and watch the fun for hours waiting for that fine food.  Too soon our eyes would get heavy and we would lay back in that sweet hay for just a little rest, only to wake up in our own home the next morning and none of those lovely treats were enjoyed by us little ones.

Momma died though when I was 8 just before Christmas.  She got pneumonia that winter and never recovered. My sweet momma. My sister worked so hard to make Christmas the same for us.  She worked so hard to keep us together and to do fun things.  Even after my sisters grew up and moved away she was the glue that held us together.  She promised momma you know, that she would keep us together and keep us safe.  She did.  That is the most beautiful gift of all.  The gift of family and love and putting one another first.

DIY Feed Bag Christmas Stockings

So I have all these feed bags laying around with nothing to do with them and well I decided to play around with them. I had seen a photo on Facebook where someone had taken theirs and cut them into stockings to use to decorate there coops. So I grabbed a stocking from the mantel and used it for a pattern cutting around it and leaving enough room for a seam allowance. 

I zig-zaged around the edges. 

flipped it right side out so the seams are on the inside and flipped part of the top over to make a cuff. The weave of the bag was really loose and it kept raveling so I put a seam at the edge of the raveling part letting it make a fringe. 

Then I decide to add some embroidery to the cuff. 

This is the whole stocking.

This is the embroidery. 

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Here is the soup that I made today as we wait for the ice storm to approach.  We are praying that it misses us but are preparing for the cold.  This soup is really flavorful and rich.  I think you will like it, I know we did.  I use organic ingredients, you use what you have.  Organic milk, butter, flour it is measure for measure normal ingredients.  Make this your own and do not be afraid to tinker with it.  Please write us back and let us know if you enjoyed it.  We love to hear from all of you. 

Ingredients:

5 cups organic milk

4 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese

1 Cup Cream

9 cups of bone broth (can use any broth or stock, we just happen to keep bone broth in crock pot handy for our daily drinking delight).

2 1/2 or so pounds baby red potatoes, sliced into small bite sized pieces

3 - 4 slices of nitrate / nitrite free bacon, finely diced and cooked until crispy

1 medium organic sweet onion minced and sauteed

2 teaspoons of Celtic Sea Salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/3 cup salted organic butter

2 cups (+ add to this if you have trouble getting it thick enough. I did...) organic flour

Bunch freshly chopped parsley. I had this in my herb garden, if you don't, do not let this stop you. Use dried or what you have.

1 cup organic cream

Garnish: Grated cheddar and Parmesan cheese

Bacon pieces

Directions: 

Boil your red potatoes for ten minutes. When they are done, drain and then cool until they are able to handle.

Cut your bacon and cook it in your skillet until crispy. Spoon out and place on a plate. Next, chop up your onion finely, I use a food processor for this. Place the onion in your skillet with the bacon drippings and cook until they are transparent and sweet. In a large stock pot place your broth or stock, milk and cream. Let that warm (not boil) then make your thickener. Place your flour in a bowl or large mug and add 1 cup of milk or water that is cold. Stir well until no longer clumpy and pour into your soup. Pour your onions into the soup and I put the drippings in there too. Stir and let it begin to thicken stirring regularly. Cut your red potatoes into chunks of similar size and when finished add to your soup with most of the bacon bits.

Stir until thick and yummy. Ladle out into your favorite cup or bowl and top with shredded cheddar cheese and a bit of the bacon and a bit of the parsley.

Mr Cottage's Nature Tree

This is Mr. Cottage's tree. Every year you can be sure to find something new handmade or store bought on this giant tree. This tree always stand in the entry way to greet anyone who enters.

The Bethlehem Star that sits atop this tree is made of twigs and nuts.

Bear ornament 

Cross ornament 

Bear ornament

Owl ornament 

An old fisherman lives here with the catch of his life!

Bird and nest 

Boating anyone? This was a gift we made for our dad for his first father's day.  He kept it on his wall but it is hung on the Christmas Tree every year too.  It reminds us all that we need to be a fisher of men.

Home made ornament that we made for the tree one year.

This is the back of another homemade ornament that my dear friends and I did and then all signed.  They now live in Freetown Africa serving as full time missionaries. 

Gold Bird

I think this was actually on a gift basket some one gave us.

Who can have a nature tree in the Rosevine Cottage without a chicken? 

Moose ornament 

Turkey Sub

What you need:

Balsamic Vinegar

Olive Oil 

Mayonnaise

1 long French baguette or Italian Roll 

Lettuce 

Turkey Nitrate Free

Provolone Cheese

Pickles 

Pepperoncini

Celtic Sea Salt 

Pepper

Directions:  

Slice your roll down the center, slather both sides of the bread with mayonnaise. Pour Vinegar and oil over both sides generously. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the oil vinegar and mayonnaise. Place cheese down the length with cheese, follow with turkey and lettuce. Pour more oil and vinegar. Follow with more salt and pepper. Add pickles and Pepperoncini. Cut into four pieces and serve.