It's Amanda's party and I'm going.......are YOU?

I'm also linking this one to Blessed Moon's party, because she's not at Blissdom, either....and she rocks, by the way, with her mad photography skilz.....go check her out here.........

So HEY, two parties in ONE from girls who missed out on Blissdom this year!  At least it's fun not being there!!!! :D

Amanda, over at Serenity Now, is hosting a super fun party!  She was feeling a little like she was missing out on Blissdom, so she decided to throw a party!  Isn't that fun for all of  us who aren't going to Blissdom either?
So we get to find some new friends, some new resources and encourage one another even if we aren't participating in Blissdom.  For those who don't know, Blissdom is a blogging convention, of sorts, with speakers, fun, and lots of partying and networking amongst bloggers.  Hey we can do that too, right?  So even though Amanda's party seems just a little bit like tooting my own horn, I decided to join in....and this is why.  Yesterday I blogged about my "why" and my purpose in blogging.  I don't really feel like a particular "niche" blog, just one that does exactly what the title implies.  I love to inspire.  I love to encourage, motivate, befriend, and share what life brings along.  I love to share recipes, helpful hints, some decorating ideas, and whatever else pops into my head, like Friday Fives...(y'all loved  those recently)...that's just the way I roll.

And the first reason that my blog rocks is YOU!!!!!!!!!!! My friends!    I was so encouraged and uplifted by each of you who left comments encouraging me to keep doing what I've been doing.  I don't fit into a particular niche, but you don't care......you keep coming back no matter how many ellipses I use or the number of exclamation marks or parentheses I incorrectly insert!  You guys are what keep me motivated and inspired to keep blogging!  I love that we all are different and yet feel a common thread that keeps us all interested in one another.

A second reason my blog rocks is that I try to use interesting pictures.  They are not necessarily my original pics, because y'all know I LOVE Google Images.  I try to give credit where credit is due, but I feel like pictures, used creatively, hold interest.  I am a very visual person, so I try to make my blog posts visually interesting.  Too much type and no pictures, and I tend to skim, and I miss things.  So, you will find fun pictures on my blog.

A third reason my blog rocks is that I speak of God, my salvation and the hope that I believe in by believing in God. I am motivated by that hope, by my faith, and I share it here.

A fourth reason my blog rocks is that I share some really good recipes here!  I will offer from time to time, tried and true recipes that work for me.  I don't like to work TOO hard when I cook, so when I find a recipe that is delicious AND easy, I am going to share it here!
And the fifth reason my blog rocks is that it is unpredictable...you never know what you might find. I don't really fit into a niche, so I don't particularly fall into any particular themes. Sometimes I join in parties, like this one, but often I just blog about whatever interesting thing that pops into my brain.  It may be a Southern Living at HOME idea, it may be a decorating idea, or a great recipe, or a helpful hint, or something I find in a magazine.......or about Lucie, or the quintuplets, or a friend.  So come back, because you'll never know what you'll find, except it is my hope that you leave inspired!!!!

 And a fifth reason that my blog rocks is that I occasionally do giveaways....I think it's really fun to make others happy!  I love great mail days, and I bet you do, too! So you never know when there might be a good giveaway!!!
So the party continues, over at Amanda's....go check it out. You'll be wanting to network and see just who rocks!!

It's Amanda's party and I'm going.......are YOU?

I'm also linking this one to Blessed Moon's party, because she's not at Blissdom, either....and she rocks, by the way, with her mad photography skilz.....go check her out here.........

So HEY, two parties in ONE from girls who missed out on Blissdom this year!  At least it's fun not being there!!!! :D

Amanda, over at Serenity Now, is hosting a super fun party!  She was feeling a little like she was missing out on Blissdom, so she decided to throw a party!  Isn't that fun for all of  us who aren't going to Blissdom either?
So we get to find some new friends, some new resources and encourage one another even if we aren't participating in Blissdom.  For those who don't know, Blissdom is a blogging convention, of sorts, with speakers, fun, and lots of partying and networking amongst bloggers.  Hey we can do that too, right?  So even though Amanda's party seems just a little bit like tooting my own horn, I decided to join in....and this is why.  Yesterday I blogged about my "why" and my purpose in blogging.  I don't really feel like a particular "niche" blog, just one that does exactly what the title implies.  I love to inspire.  I love to encourage, motivate, befriend, and share what life brings along.  I love to share recipes, helpful hints, some decorating ideas, and whatever else pops into my head, like Friday Fives...(y'all loved  those recently)...that's just the way I roll.

And the first reason that my blog rocks is YOU!!!!!!!!!!! My friends!    I was so encouraged and uplifted by each of you who left comments encouraging me to keep doing what I've been doing.  I don't fit into a particular niche, but you don't care......you keep coming back no matter how many ellipses I use or the number of exclamation marks or parentheses I incorrectly insert!  You guys are what keep me motivated and inspired to keep blogging!  I love that we all are different and yet feel a common thread that keeps us all interested in one another.

A second reason my blog rocks is that I try to use interesting pictures.  They are not necessarily my original pics, because y'all know I LOVE Google Images.  I try to give credit where credit is due, but I feel like pictures, used creatively, hold interest.  I am a very visual person, so I try to make my blog posts visually interesting.  Too much type and no pictures, and I tend to skim, and I miss things.  So, you will find fun pictures on my blog.

A third reason my blog rocks is that I speak of God, my salvation and the hope that I believe in by believing in God. I am motivated by that hope, by my faith, and I share it here.

A fourth reason my blog rocks is that I share some really good recipes here!  I will offer from time to time, tried and true recipes that work for me.  I don't like to work TOO hard when I cook, so when I find a recipe that is delicious AND easy, I am going to share it here!
And the fifth reason my blog rocks is that it is unpredictable...you never know what you might find. I don't really fit into a niche, so I don't particularly fall into any particular themes. Sometimes I join in parties, like this one, but often I just blog about whatever interesting thing that pops into my brain.  It may be a Southern Living at HOME idea, it may be a decorating idea, or a great recipe, or a helpful hint, or something I find in a magazine.......or about Lucie, or the quintuplets, or a friend.  So come back, because you'll never know what you'll find, except it is my hope that you leave inspired!!!!

 And a fifth reason that my blog rocks is that I occasionally do giveaways....I think it's really fun to make others happy!  I love great mail days, and I bet you do, too! So you never know when there might be a good giveaway!!!
So the party continues, over at Amanda's....go check it out. You'll be wanting to network and see just who rocks!!

What is this blog all about anyway, dot, dot, dot?

Well,  yesterday, I reached 200 friends/followers.  I like to think of you as friends, because frankly, I am not a leader to follow.   I have always been a follower, whether it be because of the insecurity to just step out and lead, or because sometimes I can be a titch lazy, and would rather have someone else lead the way....until I decide I don't want to follow.  As my husband often reminds me, I can be a little on the stubborn side, a little too independent for my britches.......thanks, honey.  So does that make me a rebel, if I follow when I want and take my own path when I want?  Makes my brain hurt to be too analytical...and my husband the engineer, does it so well!  Maybe I should ask him to analyze and figure it out, but I suspect he already has.
Today is a whole bunch of RANDOM.....

Anyway, like I said, I reached 200 friends....golly gee, thanks!  I never thought blogging would lead to so many great friendships with people I've never met.......oh, but isn't it just so fun!  I never thought that many people would want to READ what I blog about...which leads me to the question in the title...what IS THIS BLOG all about?  I'm not sure I have a niche for my blog.  I write about recipes, about homemaking....I love crafts, but rarely do I find time for them, do them or even post about them.  I DO, however find myself using a lot of ellipses....you know the dot, dot, dot.  Oh, and I use GOOGLE a whole lot for looking up things like "what do you call the dot, dot, dot?"!!! and for images that just might coincide with what I am blogging about for the day. 
But a niche.......a signature, a defining, overarching purpose for this blog?  I am afraid I don't know....maybe you should tell me.  What do you think this blog is really all about?  (brings to mind the song, Alfie...what's it all about, Alfie????)
I do indeed love encouraging others toward something....like getting things done ,like not living in fear,  like being the best you can be, like being a true friend or encourager or being there when someone hurts.  But does that give me a purpose?  I enjoy spurring others onto having the right priorities or perspective, but does that make me a motivational blogger???? 

So whether or not it's really important to figure out what kind of blogger I am, I have been putting some time into thinking about it, and any direction this little blog o'mine will take........so what would you like to see more of at Southern Inspiration?  What could I do that would make you leave feeling like your visit here was inspiring........give me some of YOUR random thoughts today.......dot, dot, dot!

What is this blog all about anyway, dot, dot, dot?

Well,  yesterday, I reached 200 friends/followers.  I like to think of you as friends, because frankly, I am not a leader to follow.   I have always been a follower, whether it be because of the insecurity to just step out and lead, or because sometimes I can be a titch lazy, and would rather have someone else lead the way....until I decide I don't want to follow.  As my husband often reminds me, I can be a little on the stubborn side, a little too independent for my britches.......thanks, honey.  So does that make me a rebel, if I follow when I want and take my own path when I want?  Makes my brain hurt to be too analytical...and my husband the engineer, does it so well!  Maybe I should ask him to analyze and figure it out, but I suspect he already has.
Today is a whole bunch of RANDOM.....

Anyway, like I said, I reached 200 friends....golly gee, thanks!  I never thought blogging would lead to so many great friendships with people I've never met.......oh, but isn't it just so fun!  I never thought that many people would want to READ what I blog about...which leads me to the question in the title...what IS THIS BLOG all about?  I'm not sure I have a niche for my blog.  I write about recipes, about homemaking....I love crafts, but rarely do I find time for them, do them or even post about them.  I DO, however find myself using a lot of ellipses....you know the dot, dot, dot.  Oh, and I use GOOGLE a whole lot for looking up things like "what do you call the dot, dot, dot?"!!! and for images that just might coincide with what I am blogging about for the day. 
But a niche.......a signature, a defining, overarching purpose for this blog?  I am afraid I don't know....maybe you should tell me.  What do you think this blog is really all about?  (brings to mind the song, Alfie...what's it all about, Alfie????)
I do indeed love encouraging others toward something....like getting things done ,like not living in fear,  like being the best you can be, like being a true friend or encourager or being there when someone hurts.  But does that give me a purpose?  I enjoy spurring others onto having the right priorities or perspective, but does that make me a motivational blogger???? 

So whether or not it's really important to figure out what kind of blogger I am, I have been putting some time into thinking about it, and any direction this little blog o'mine will take........so what would you like to see more of at Southern Inspiration?  What could I do that would make you leave feeling like your visit here was inspiring........give me some of YOUR random thoughts today.......dot, dot, dot!

A Sugar Cookie recipe for Valentine's Day.....

Today I am recovering.....from a solid week of non-stop activity.  We had our church Ladies Retreat this past weekend.  I had been in charge of organizing it and it was such a blessing, but I am feeling like I need a few days of twiddling my thumbs and doing nothing.  It is gray and dreary today, and I am still in my jammies.  Doing absolutely. nothing. except visiting blogs and reading all that I missed out on.  I read a few blogs last week, very few, and made less comments.  I blogged a couple of times, but sure felt like I was unconnected.  I was busy....busy, busy.  I had the Retreat as well as an end of the month SLaHOME party that was also LOTS of fun! Thanks, Sharon!
My daughter wants to make sugar cookies when she comes home......I have a Wilton cookie recipe with icing that is SO easy.  If you've read my blog a while,  you may have heard me talk about it before.  I like it for two reasons: a)you don't have to chill the dough and wait for 2 hours before you can cut out the cookies, and b) the icing dries hard and shiny and will store easily, even if you have to stack them.  For these reasons, these have been my "go-to" sugar cut-out cookies for some time now.  I thought I'd share it with you.  Obviously you can decorate them using any method you like, from just simply iced, to adorned with sprinkles, dragees, piped icing, etc.  It's your cookie and you can decide! ;)
Here's the recipe:

Easy Roll Out cookies

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 t. baking powder

2 3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. (may add butter extract here if using margarine) Add baking powder and flour (mixed together first) one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff; blend in the last flour by hand. Do not chill. Dough may be tinted with paste icing color for colored cookies. For chocolate cookies, stir in 3 oz. melted unsweetened cocoa. If dough is too stiff, add water a teaspoon at a time.

Divide dough into two balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball in a circle about 12" in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters in flour before each use. Bake cookies on ungreased sheet on top rack of oven for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. If you like cookies that are more like tea cakes, make the cookies a little thicker.

Cookie Icing Recipe (dries to a glossy, hard finish and tastes good, too!

1 c. sifted confectioner's sugar

2 t. milk

2 t. light corn syrup

Place sugar and milk in a small bowl. Stir until mixed. Add corn syrup and mix well. For filling in areas, use thinned icing (add small amount of corn syrup until desired consistency). Tint with paste icing color or very small amount of food coloring.

This is a Wilton recipe and I've used it for years.  The picture above is not a picture of OUR cookies....but it is an inspirational pic to go by.  I'll ask my daughter if she wants hers to look like that!  Have a good day, and stay warm!!!!

A Sugar Cookie recipe for Valentine's Day.....

Today I am recovering.....from a solid week of non-stop activity.  We had our church Ladies Retreat this past weekend.  I had been in charge of organizing it and it was such a blessing, but I am feeling like I need a few days of twiddling my thumbs and doing nothing.  It is gray and dreary today, and I am still in my jammies.  Doing absolutely. nothing. except visiting blogs and reading all that I missed out on.  I read a few blogs last week, very few, and made less comments.  I blogged a couple of times, but sure felt like I was unconnected.  I was busy....busy, busy.  I had the Retreat as well as an end of the month SLaHOME party that was also LOTS of fun! Thanks, Sharon!
My daughter wants to make sugar cookies when she comes home......I have a Wilton cookie recipe with icing that is SO easy.  If you've read my blog a while,  you may have heard me talk about it before.  I like it for two reasons: a)you don't have to chill the dough and wait for 2 hours before you can cut out the cookies, and b) the icing dries hard and shiny and will store easily, even if you have to stack them.  For these reasons, these have been my "go-to" sugar cut-out cookies for some time now.  I thought I'd share it with you.  Obviously you can decorate them using any method you like, from just simply iced, to adorned with sprinkles, dragees, piped icing, etc.  It's your cookie and you can decide! ;)
Here's the recipe:

Easy Roll Out cookies

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 t. vanilla

2 t. baking powder

2 3/4 cup flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. (may add butter extract here if using margarine) Add baking powder and flour (mixed together first) one cup at a time, mixing after each addition. The dough will be very stiff; blend in the last flour by hand. Do not chill. Dough may be tinted with paste icing color for colored cookies. For chocolate cookies, stir in 3 oz. melted unsweetened cocoa. If dough is too stiff, add water a teaspoon at a time.

Divide dough into two balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball in a circle about 12" in diameter and 1/8 inch thick. Dip cookie cutters in flour before each use. Bake cookies on ungreased sheet on top rack of oven for 6-7 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. If you like cookies that are more like tea cakes, make the cookies a little thicker.

Cookie Icing Recipe (dries to a glossy, hard finish and tastes good, too!

1 c. sifted confectioner's sugar

2 t. milk

2 t. light corn syrup

Place sugar and milk in a small bowl. Stir until mixed. Add corn syrup and mix well. For filling in areas, use thinned icing (add small amount of corn syrup until desired consistency). Tint with paste icing color or very small amount of food coloring.

This is a Wilton recipe and I've used it for years.  The picture above is not a picture of OUR cookies....but it is an inspirational pic to go by.  I'll ask my daughter if she wants hers to look like that!  Have a good day, and stay warm!!!!

Anyone at your house excited about the Super Bowl????

I do know a few around here that might be.....I can take it or leave it actually.....so I'll be in charge of snacks.  I'll probably be checking/catching up with blogs while everyone else watches the game.
I thought I'd brain storm about some snacks my family likes and share a few recipes.
I know my husband would love some crab dip!  It has cream cheese, though, and he's been trying to avoid cheese/dairy.  I did get some garlic hummus he can have with crackers, and since he loves garlic, he will enjoy this!  I will also make a platter of ham sandwiches for everyone to nosh on....or maybe some sliders. 
I am toying with making the Symphony Brownies.....anyone had these before??  I just don't know if having a pan full of those would be a good idea, ya know?  I wish I could send each of you one so you could try them and I would have much fewer here!! LOL.
So I really need to give you that recipe, I suppose.......well, you can find one version of this recipe here ....you will want to thank me, but then you won't be sure you should thank me......;D

So what are some snacks your family likes for game night????/