May Basket Day

     The tradition of May Basket Day goes back as far as the late 1800s early 1900s. They most often were filled with flowers because the saying of, "April Shower's Bring May Flowers" , but were also filled with candies and other little gifts that could fit in a small basket to be given out on May 1st. They were left anonymously on the doors of friends and neighbors but were also left sometimes by secret admirers. It is a sweet gestures of love and friendship: a way to let someone know you are thinking of them. It is a tradition that has sadly faded, but I think of it every year on the first of May and this year I finally made them and we passed them out to our neighbors. They were so fun and easy to make. The children enjoyed it as much as I did. It was so fun to see them running up and down the sidewalks and eager to ring neighbors doorbells to give them flowers. We spent time visiting with the neighbors. It was a great way to interact with neighbors and visit.  I had most of the supplies needed to make the baskets on hand already.  

To make May Day Baskets you need:

    Flowers

    Scissors

    Ruler

    Hot Glue Gun/Glue sticks

    Printed Scrapbook paper

    Ribbion

 Cut scrapbook paper into a 7 or 9 inch square and the cut in half to make a triangle.  Roll the paper triangle into a cone and glue along one side. Cut ribbon in 12 inch strands. Hot glue ribbon inside the top of the paper cones on the sides. Cut flowers to fit the cones and fill with arranged flowers. 

            

                                                                                                              

May Basket Supplies

Flowers

Completed Baskets

More Baskets

Ready to pass out their May Day baskets.

Orange Poppy Seed Tea Cake

We needed a Sunday Dinner dessert last week and this recipe came to mind. It is such an easy recipe to throw together and goes perfect with so many meals. Such a throw back to 50's housewife baking days; when dessert was on the menu all the time. A cake to serve the family when you are all sitting on the porch and drinking coffee. We paired our with chai the other night and it was a delicious treat. With the business of our lives and craziness of the world around us it the little things that bring simple pleasures and connect us as a family. We love to talk about our week over our Sunday dinners. Even our children look forward to our Sunday night dinners, connecting and dessert.


Cake:
1/4 cup poppy seeds
3/4 cup milk (whole is best!)
14 tbsp. butter
1 orange, zested
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup orange juice
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 cups flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Icing:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. orange zest

Preheat the oven to 325* and prepare a 9 inch cake pan. I greased and floured mine. Place your poppy seeds in the milk and set aside. To your bowl add butter, sugar, orange rind and vanilla extract. Beat until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time beating thoroughly after each one and scraping the sides of the bowl. Next add the sifted flour, baking powder, salt, poppyseed mixture, and orange juice; mix just until combined. Over mixing leads to a tough cake. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake on a wire rack; while it cooling make the frosting. In a mixing bowl add cream cheese, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth; add powdered sugar and orange peel and beat until fluffy. Once cake is cooled for 10 minutes remove from pan and let it finish cooling. Pick out your favorite cake plate and place your cake on it and frost. 

Notes:

*Cake taste better if you make it the day before. 

*Cut your cake in half and make a layer cake.

Frosting ingredients

I have made the cake multiple times and it is always a hit.

Just Like Mama

    We have had sick children for over a week now and I wanted to give them the comforts of my childhood to boost their spirits. I remember when I was a little girl laying sick on the couch my Mom would make homemade chicken noodle soup and it was just the most soothing and comforting thing too me. Now that I am a Mom and have children of my own I want to bring this little bit of comfort to their sick day. Even now as an adult when I am sick all I want is my Mom to come over with a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

My prepped veggies from my soup.

Bread dough rising on the counter.

Austin shaping his loaf of Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread and White Bread

Homemade White Bread and Chicken Noodle Soup

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup!

    

Arizona

I wrote this post so long ago but I thought it was just too wonderful not to post. We have since gotten to go to Arizona again and loved it just as much as the last time. So thankful for such sweet and loving Grandparents.

We had so much fun getting to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma. The kids did not want to go and can't wait to go again.

Austin has so much fun sitting on the couch and visiting with Grandma Arlys 

Haley with a Route 66 sign.

We were so sad that this little shop on Historic 66 was closed. 

Mr. D's Route 66 Diner

Kingman AZ Historic Powerhouse

We love Diners, Drive-in and Dives!

Bucket list wish! Thanks Noah.

   This is only a few of the wonderful pictures we got on our trip to Arizona in 2017. We flew with the three kids out to Arizona and stayed for 7 days. It was a crazy time with the three children but we all had a blast. We stayed with Noah's grandparents Bruce and Arlys Bjorke. The kids and I had such a wonderful tome getting to know them and fall in love with them. Noah had fun talking about old times and making memories with his kids at the grandparents. They took us to the Sabino Canyon and we got to go on a tram tour and the  Phoenix Zoo. The zoo was definitely the kids favorite. We went swimming in their outdoor community pool and hot tub several times in the February! We also got to spend the day with Noah's cousin Andrea and husband Mike and have dinner with his Aunt Gina and kids. What a wonderful time of visiting and memory making. One afternoon to give Grandpa and Grandma a break we drove up Mt. Lemmon. The view was spectacular. There is a beautiful little ski town and resort at the top.
   After the first half of the week with Grandpa and Grandma we set off for historic Route 66 and the Grand Canyon. Just site seeing as we went along and enjoying one another's company. We hiked the Grand Canyon and did some site seeing. I got to meet up with a childhood friend that lives out there. It was such a blessing to catch up.We finished in Sedona, AZ with window shopping and a big hike up beautiful red rocks in Sedona.
   It was a family vacation I will always treasure and hope we can go again. Haley asks all the time if we can go to Arizona again. She want to see Grandpa and Grandma and cactus again.

So beautiful!

The kids and I just loved getting to see all the cactus.

Haley on the plane.

Food Again!

   Cooking and baking are two of my passions in life and I love sharing that with my kids.  We are always making something in our house. I have two of the best helpers ever! They always like to be right in on the action. It makes for a messy kitchen but a lot of fun. Although I can't say to much as I am pretty messy when working in the kitchen myself. Here is some of our creations from this last year.                                                

Noah with the raspberry cheesecake I made for our 4th wedding anniversary

Pasta with kale, mushrooms and  béchamel sauce 

     

Spring rolls with soy ginger dipping sauce



Crab Rangoon ready to be fried

Austin's rainbow of chopped peppers for salsa

Our finished salsa

Blackberries that the kids and I picked this last summer

Thick spiced Italian Hot Chocolate

December

   It was so fun getting ready for Christmas this year. The kids were so excited and we had lot of fun things we wanted to do. We started listening to Christmas music well before December but I waited for the first of December to start the decorating and baking. The kids and I spent a day with a friend and did our Christmas shopping. Noah took us around town a couple times in the evenings to look for lights. I set a goal to make a homemade gift for each of the kids this Christmas and I did it! I finished them early and was not up till the middle of the night the night before trying to finish them in typical Mary fashion. We went and spent Christmas day at my brothers house with my parents and family. We had an authentic Italian fest with all the trimmings. My Mom planned some fun games and activities and we did our annual White Elephant gift exchange. We were able to see my grandparents and introduce Carson to them. We had a busy and wonderful month. 

   While all these things are fun I pray that my children will remember the birth of Jesus and why He came to earth. To save man from his sins. He died on a cross to bring salvation  to man kind.

 Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

 1 John 4:14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 

   The Lord has been so good to us and brought my family safely through another year. We are all healthy and had the wonderful addition of a new little one, Carson James on November 13th. The Lord has provided us with everything we could possible need and then some. We made lots of wonderful memories and got to spend time with lots of different friends and family over the course of the year. We look forward to what this New Year holds and pray we keep trusting the Lord and looking to him to led us.

Austin making chocolate dipped pretzels

His finished product

Rolo pretzels with M&Ms

Austin with the Italian honey clusters (Struffoli) we made for our authentic Christmas meal for Christmas day

Holiday Bacon Appetizers
Austin's favorite appetizer to make. We made them three times during the Christmas season. 

The center piece I made with Christina 

Austin having fun while we were at the mall Christmas shopping