READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR - 1st Samuel Chapters 30 & 31

The Witch of Endor - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Spend 5-Minutes in the Bible Today - Reading the Bible

5-Minutes in the Bible - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

KING DAVID escapes Saul

5-Minutes in the Bible

Jonathan Saves David - 1st Samuel Chapter 20

SAUL TRIES TO KILL DAVID (AGAIN) - READING THE BIBLE

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: 1st Samuel 18

A Story About a Giant Battling a Boy - David & Goliath

Spend 5 minutes in the Bible today

TO OBEY...Reading the Bible this Year

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines-1st Samuel-READING THE BIBLE

Jesus and Beelzebub - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Mark Chapter 2 - Jesus Heals

John the Baptist Prepares the Way for Jesus

Christ's Resurrection - READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

The Death of Jesus and Judas Hangs Himself

THE LAST SUPPER - Matthew 26 - Reading the Bible

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-1st Samuel Chptr. 13

READING THE BIBLE - 1st Samuel Chapter 12

5-Minute Bible Study

Reading the Bible this Year: Samuel Anoints Saul as King

The 7 Woes - Parable with Warnings from Jesus

The Wedding Parable-READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR

Jesus Enters the City on a Donkey - READING THE BIBLE

DIVORCE-What does the Bible Say

The Supernatural Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

The Ark of the Covenant-READING THE BIBLE

READING THE BIBLE-1st Samuel 3-The Lord Calls Samuel

Hannah's Prayer-READING THE BIBLE-1st Sam. Ch. 2

Reading the Bible This Year: 1st Samuel Chapter 1

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-Matthew 15-Jesus Heals

Jesus Walks on Water-Matthew 14

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Matthew 13

READING RUTH CHAPTER 4

Reading the Bible this Year: Ruth Chapter 3

5-Minutes in the Bible-Ruth Chapter 1

Curious about Demons? Join us as we Read the Bible

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 20

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Judges 19

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Judges Chapter 18

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Matthew 10 - Jesus Sends Out the 12

What does the Bible Say About Judging Others?

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Micah's Idols

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Samson & Delilah

Read the Bible with Us-Matthew 5-The Beatitudes

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR-John the Baptist Prepares the Way

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR-The 3 Kings

Reading the Bible this Year: Judges 14-Samson's Marriage

READING THE BIBLE THIS YEAR: Judges 8

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Revelation Chapter 22

Forgiveness in the Bible

READING THE BIBLE - REV. 20 - SATAN'S DOOM

Hallelujah! - READING REVELATION 19

Curious What the Bible Says about Prophesy?

Reading the Bible - Revelation 17 - The Woman on the Beast

7 Angels & 7 Plagues - The Tribulation in the Bible

The Angel of the Lord at Bokim - Reading the Bible

666 - The Number of the Beast - READING THE BIBLE

Joshua's Farewell-Reading the Bible this Year

The Woman and The Dragon - READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR

The Two Witnesses for God - Revelation 11

The Angel & The Little Scroll - Revelation 10

Misunderstandings Can Start Wars - Joshua Chapter 22

Cities of Refuge: Joshua Chapter 20

END of DAYS: DEMONS & DESTRUCTION

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 5

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua Chapter 21

Revelation Chapter 2 - Angels, Stars, & the Future

HAVE A PEACEFUL WEEKEND - Read the Bible With Us

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Joshua 18

Revelations Chapter 1 - Hope in Crisis

Reading the Bible-The Division of land of the Children of Israel

Our Daily Reading of the Bible

CHAOTIC TIMES - READ the Bible with Us for Peace

Join Us As We Read Through the Bible This Year

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Lies, Trickery & Deception

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: Ai Destroyed

READING THE BIBLE IN 1 YEAR: Joshua 7 - Greed, Theft & Punishment

Reading the Bible- Talking about Atlantis, Math & More

Angels...? We're Reading the Bible Today: Joshua 5

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: The Death of Moses

Generosity and Divorce are themes as we Read the Bible this year

Reading the Bible in 1 Year: History of the Children of Israel

The Nation of Israel - Reading the Bible in 1 Year

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Do You Remember Door Dashing?

Kids used to knock on the doors of their neighbors and then dash away. It was called Door-Dashing or Ding Dong Ditch - do you remember it?

Well, our family did it, like most things, only differently - especially on May 1st.

We'd make May Baskets and hang them on the  neighbors' doors. Then we'd knock on the door and dash away. We'd  usually hide somewhere and watch what happened when they found a basket - or cone - filled with flowers hanging on their doorknobs. That was they way Mom taught us to celebrate the  beginning of spring. 

May Day has been celebrated for centuries as the time of festivals to herald the beginning of spring and what better way to celebrate spring than with a basket (or cone) of flowers?

Here's how I used to make these little gifts to give to friends and neighbors.

I hope you have a bloom-filled May Day!

And, if you make any of these May Day baskets,  or if you remember the tradition of  hanging them on the doorknobs or neighbors,  please share in the comments below.


Monday, April 27, 2020

DIY Victory Garden

Victory Gardens were a common sight during World War I and World War II. They were started to help supplement rations and keep up morale. 

And, gardening can be more than useful. It can be fun.  Plus, you can have your kids help you create this garden and even start it inside the house using old plastic pop bottles, as makeshift greenhouses.


Homemade Greenhouses
Seeing herbs, vegetables and fruits, you've planted from cuttings and seeds, sprout and bloom is thrilling to watch.



Victory Gardens were also called Food Gardens or War Gardens. And since this historical pandemic is a World Wide War against the Coronavirus or Covid-19,  I think it can’t hurt to have some extra food in our own yards. 

Most of us who live in a big city, have already experienced some shortages at local grocery stores,  such as flour, sugar, yeast, and  toilet paper. So, although we  might not be able to do much to stop the toilet paper shortages, we can try to limit some of our own food shortages—at least during the spring, summer and fall by being a little proactive and starting our own small Victory Gardens and by preparing our own jellies, jams, and preserves.

So, I thought I’d share some tricks, tips and ideas I’ve been using to create my own personal Victory Garden. I live in a big city, on a small city lot, but I've found ways to grow-up rather than to grow-across a wide area. And, if you live in an apartment, you can grow plants in pots and out on balconies, or in shared spaces. Some cities even have community gardens, where you can share a plot of land to garden on.

I’m hoping these ideas might help other people build their own Victory Gardens.

Here is a small list of
recommendations:


  •  Don't waste food.
  • When you have food that starts to spoil, such as potatoes, onions, beets, etc. think about whether or not you can take a cutting from the vegetable and plant it out in your garden. 
  • You can use old wood to make stakes, trellises and tomato cages to grow your plants up toward the sky.


This is the top of a  potato I cut off, while I was preparing a pot of potatoes for dinner. I simply stuck some bamboo skewers in the cutting and placed it in a cup of water. The raw edge of the potato barely touched the water (using a type of hydroponic gardening) or gardening without having the plant in soil. Usually people amend the water (or enrich it with nutrient mineral solutions), when they hydroponically garden. But, I simply placed my potato cutting in a little water inside a coffee mug. Then I watched it grow.

Some people have simply planted rotting potatoes and had a lot of success that way.

I'm hoping you'll try this because it's one way to help stretch your food budget and keep your food supply within reach.

And, if you try your hand at a Victory Garden, please let me know. I'd love to hear how you do.

I’m also planning to share some of my successes and failures growing my own sour dough starters. Sour Dough starters can help you always have access to bread, even if the store is out of yeast or bags of bread. :D

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Fears, Flops and Total Fails

Barely a Bear
I usually only post my best work. I mean who wants to post their worst failures--but, believe me, I've had my share of flops and failures. See, the little bear (above) who literally collapsed before I could even frost him? Or, the sad turkey below that shouldn't have been so afraid of Thanksgiving because he looked so sorry, no one would want to eat him.

Super Sad Turkey
 Or what about the time I'd seen one too many episodes of Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes , so I thought I could carve a cake into the shape of my brother-in-law Bo?
Bo Knows but this time Bo Blows
Or the time I decided to make cupcakes when it was about 100 degrees outside and my frosting kept melting?
Dragonfly Frosting Fail
Or the time my homemade marshmallow fondant was a complete flop?

Fondant Failure
I could go on and on, but the one thing I'm proud of is the fact that I haven't let my previous failures stop me. Instead, I push the fear of my next failure to the back of my brain and simply try to learn something from each of my (admittedly) horrible flops and failures and move on.

And, by letting go of my disasters, I've had some really happy moments. Such as:

Fatina's Graduation Barbie Cake - Because You're Never Too Old for Barbie
The graduation cake I made for my daughter-in-law, Fatina.

And, the Hello Kitty cake I made for a friend's daughter's birthday.

Hello Kitty
Or the wedding cake I made for my friend (with my daughter-in-law's help).

I Do Instead of iDud

My point is, sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves and pick up our wounded pride and simply strive to be the best we can be. And--of course don't be so silly as to compare yourself to the Cake Boss or the Ace of Cakes. Instead, simply have fun with your friends and family and learn to laugh with them when things go wrong because that's the best way to make it through to another day.

Family Laughing at my Flops


Monday, April 13, 2020

Bunny Cake

Easter 2020 Bunny Cake


I've always loved to bake but I've had more than my share of baking fails. In fact, I had a near disaster with this bunny at the very beginning - but more about that in a minute. 

First, I wanted to see if there might be other people out there that like to bake, make and create. If so,  please share links to your blogs in the comments so I can pop over there and see what you're making.

Anyway, I thought I'd share how I made this bunny cake.

First I baked the cakes (3 of them) in 6 inch baking tins. And, right away I had problems. I was trimming one of the tops of the cakes to make them all level and I got distracted because I was boiling eggs at the same time. I was checking on the eggs as I was leveling the cakes and...I trimmed the top off the cake horribly. 

You can see how it broke apart. But I just wedged it back together and used a little butter cream (I've added a link to my butter cream frosting recipe) to "glue" it together. My point is, don't give up because of one set back.



Then I crumb coated the cake in homemade butter cream (which is simply powdered sugar mixed with butter and maybe a tablespoon of milk or cream). I always crumb coat on a silpat so I can easily slip the cake off and onto a cutting board. (Crumb Coating - is simply covering the cake in a thin layer of frosting and then putting it in the fridge to set).


Then I rolled out my fondant on  a little cornstarch - to keep the fondant from sticking to the table. TIP: don't do this on a hot day because cooking is like picnicking. The weather plays a big part in your success. And I've had some fondant fails due to weather.


Then I put the fondant over the crumb-coated cakes and trimmed it around the edge. Adding a ribbon around the bottom makes it looked finished and almost professional.



Then I began decorating.

I used Fondant to make the facial features and "glued" them on using buttercream and  meringue paste. 

The finishing touch was the ears but I had another problem there. I thought I had gum paste but I didn't. So, I took some left over fondant and made ears. I stuck them on bamboo skewers and put the in the freezer to harden up until after dinner. Then I pulled them out off the freezer and stuck them in place. But even then, I'd forgotten about the whiskers until my son pointed it out. Luckily, I had some toothpicks in the kitchen. I sprinkled some jelly bean eggs around the edge and Voila the cake was finished.


The family said the cake tasted good … and I believed them but no one wanted to eat the poor bunny's face. And, probably because the fondant was pretty thick there, just look at the nose and cheeks ;D


So this cake was a fun family dessert that everyone enjoyed - including me ;D I had a piece too but I'm always a little biased so  I like to see what  the family thinks.

But, this wasn't my first bunny cake. Over the years I've made a few other Easter cakes.


These bunny cupcakes are a fun, easy project. This bunny is diving down into the hole. So, he was super simple to make

I was looking back  over the years and I guess I've made more than my share of cakes. If you've made some fun cakes too, please share a link to your blog or send a picture, I'd love to see them.

I hope you all stay well and enjoy some creative days, making, baking and creating :D