Oma's Cucumber Salad

While on vacation recently at the Hobbie Farm, my sister-in-law Becca showed me her large garden and served some fruits and veggies from it at lunch.  Everything tasted so good!  It almost made me want to start a garden of my own until I remembered the water restrictions that we have and the adorable bunnies that like to eat our grass.  They'd have a feast on a garden.  Whew!  Talked myself out of that just in time.

My grandparents also used to have a beautiful garden.  Here's a simple and delicious salad that Oma made that we still enjoy today.  Here are the ingredients that I use...

1 large peeled cucumber

1/2 of a medium onion

1 c. sour cream

milk

salt and pepper

Slice the cucumber and onion as thin as possible.  Transfer the vegetables to a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, mix sour cream and enough milk to make it thick yet pourable.

Add the sour cream to the veggies and stirl  

Salt and pepper to taste.  Stir

So simple but delicious!  Serve this with grilled chicken and a fresh fruit salad for a light summer meal.

A Scrapbook Page for Dad

One of our monthly projects at stamping club is to make a simple 6x6 scrapbook page for each month of the year.  Each clubber then adds a picture to her page and places the page in a small scrapbook.  At the end of 2012, it will be a nice recap of the year.

For June, we made a Father's Day page.

I had the opportunity to spend several days lately with my dad on a camping trip in Minnesota.  As soon as I get my pictures developed, I'll add one to this page.  It will be a great reminder of the fun time that we shared together on vacation.

Materials Used: (mostly Stampin Up)

Designer Series Paper: Summer Smooches

Cardstock:  Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White

Stamps:  Delightful Dozen

Ink:  Early Espresso

Embellishments: Brads

Tools: Punches-stars, oval scallop, oval punch, corner rounder, crop-a-dile

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Make it a great day!

Father's Day Pocket Card

Last night at club, we made this fun Father's Day card.  Want to give Dad some money or a gift card for his special day?  There is a place for that, as well as, a pull out card where you can jot down a note.  The project was easy to put together.  Here are the materials that I used:

Stamp Set:  Lovely as a Tree
Inkpad:  espresso
Markers:  real red, espresso, pumpkin pie, so saffron, and olive green (all SU)
Cardstock:  espresso, pumpkin pie, so saffron, white,
Embellishments: grommet, large button, ribbon, and twine
Tools Used:  Crop a Dile, Big Shot, embossing folder, Labels Collection Framelits

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Let me know if you have any questions about how to make this card.

Great Summer Reads

Needing something great to read over the summer?  Here is a list of title suggestions from the wonderful librarians in Frisco ISD.  I believe the book Divergent will be one of the first that I tackle.  It was a favorite series of many!

Have any great book suggestions to share?  You can never have too many on the list.  Happy Reading, Everyone!



Mother's Day Page

Each month at our stamping club, we are making a 6x6 scrapbook page to put into an album.  This is the one that we made for this month.  It was a very simple project.  All materials used were Stampin Up.  The little purse was made from a 1 3/4 punch that was trimmed at the bottom.  For the flap of the purse, I used a 1 inch punch and trimmed it at the top.  The handle was also made from two punches...the oval and scallop oval.  A decorative brad was then used to complete it.  I got the idea for it from Inking Idaho. The dress and letters were cut from my Sizzix Eclips machine.  The cartridges used were Boy and Girl and Rockin Janie.  What fun projects are you making for Mother's Day?

Hash Brown Sausage Bake

I don't know about you, but I am a SUCKER for cookbooks!  My son is a picky eater, so when I saw this  title for sale at our school book fair, I grabbed it right away.  Plus, it's a Taste of Home publication, so I knew I couldn't go wrong.

I made several things from it that my ds really liked.  Then, I tried a casserole.  He pretty much gave his stamp of DISapproval before he took the first bite.  LOL!  Arlin and I, however, really liked it!  I bet you would, too.  I'll show you how to make Hash Brown Sausage Bake.  You'll need the following ingredients:

1 package (20 oz.) refrigerated hash brown potatoes

1/3 c. butter, melted

1 t. beef bouillon granules

1 pd. bulk pork sausage

1/3 c. chopped onion

1 c. cottage cheese

3 eggs, lightly beaten

4 slices proces American cheese (I used Velveeta slices)

In a large bowl, mix the hash browns, butter, and bouillon granules.  

Press into the bottom of a greased medium sized baking dish to make a crust.  I used my oval Pampered Chef pan to give you an idea of the size.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.  

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the sausage and onion over medium heat.  Drain.  

In a large bowl, combine the sausage mixture, cottage cheese, eggs and American cheese.

Pour into the pan that contains the hash browns.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Let it stand for 5 minutes before cutting.  

Enjoy!

I have many recipes marked in this book with small post-it notes and look forward to trying them all.  Do you have a favorite cookbook that you use often?

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Gift for a Great Guy

My mom recently asked me to help her with a scrapbook page for her pastor who will be retiring soon.  The families in their church are each making a page for an album that will represent his time there.  Awesome keepsake idea, isn't it?  I hopped at the chance to help her, because I'm usually the one doing the favor asking.  The pictures used were a hodge podge of this and that:  one black and white, most of them color, no central theme, etc., so it was a little bit of a challenge to put the pages together.  This was for my mom, and I wanted it to look great!

Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick out the paper for me to use.  The font used was from my new Sizzix Eclips.  (I'll tell you about my new machine in another post.)  It's called Rockin Janie and the stars from the Basic Shapes cartridge.  My favorite part of the page is the cluster of large buttons from Stampin Up that I used.  Sure hope they offer more of these in the future.

I hope Pastor Foxworthy likes his memory book.  He will certainly be missed!