Sunny sunday

Red Velvet undressed cupcakes!! OH NO THEY R NEKKED!

Pistachio muffins topped with just sanding sugar

HEY YALL!!

Whew.................. market yesterday was a great success!! A dear friend and great baker at that helped me this week!! she came to market yesterday and we laughed and laughed and had a ton of fun!! It got pretty busy with a line up in the farm booth!! The hens were a cacklin too!!LOL anyway we sold out of quite a few goodies so this week will be busy testing out new recipes and baking. I am tryin hard to make new things and have a few of the tried and true ones everyone loves ex: my glazed pistachio bread, lemon poppy seed bread, my loaded old fashioned carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting and of cource my cowgirl and cowboy cookies!!

Some of my chunky sof-n-chewy peanut peanut butter cookies OH NOW how about a chunky monkey cookie?? I just got an idea for a new recipe to try!!! Will take pics of that one this week! gotta write it in my little light bulb idea book!! LOL

I have to tell you I tried a new recipe I found for banana cake!! YUMMO!! I tweeked it a bit around to serve this chick better and it was a big hit! had some small cakes and some mini bundt cakes topped with powdered sugar and they sold quick. I am really into nanner things lately did naner muffins with and without nuts, the naner cakes, nanner nut bread loaves and also blueberry nanner bread!!

A batch above of my chocolate chip choc chunk cookie dough.

SO today hubby and I are planting some of my heirloom tomato plants that are outgrowing their little homes, we have more taters goin in, and beans!~ yummy purple, yellow and green beans~So off to get my bibs on and braid my hair and get in the garden~~ Oh and I just thought of another fun idea for a mixed granola~!~ will post all about it when it is done!!

Have a blessed afternoon all my puter friends out there!~~

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Happy Happy weekend!!

Well had a longggggggggggggggg day yesterday, I baked pretty much all day. It was a crazy week with the holiday and then I kind of lost a day being at work (nope not the kitchen I worked from 8 30 to 5 30 at the hospital) so really only had 2 days or my time. BUT I made up for it yesterday!! LOL The top photo is of some of my glazed pistachio bread, below is some frosted chocolate mocha cupcakes (which by the way may just be a new favo of mine!! COFFEE AND CHOCOLATE!~!~ YEAH!!

some little apricot almond scone cookies I tried.
Here are the UNDRESSED pistachio loaves!!
OH and this is a must have every week!! Cheddar pepper bread!! yummo!! JUST YUMMY!! I used some aged sharp cheddar cheese, add some chopped onion, sweet red orange and yellow peppers and a bit of green pepper. I made this last year and it was a big hit!! So am making them babies again and I love em toasted or on the grill with a dab of butter. They are big un's too. Some of my customers have said it reminds them of pizza bread. Workin on a few other combinations to try out on this recipe too.

Peach dumplings~!~

So I havent work too much on any new crafty or scrappy things but will have to make some time for that. I did mange to make another batch of hot pepper jelly and also did up some strawberry apricot jam. A local store had apricots on sale and they looked so good just had to buy some up. I did make some little mini bite size pies with a cream cheese filling and topped them with a slice of apricot. Did a few with a dab of strawberry jam and then a chunk of a fresh straw on top. These will be finished with a dustin of powdered sugar and will go to market today with me. SO all in all I think I have a pretty good selection for today. Thurs in Allegan went really well considering it was cold windy and rainy all day. Well as you can see I am still here too didnt melt too much LOL!!

It has been really cool round here too, a couple of nights ago we went to bed and it was hot and muggy, had the ceiling fan on but woke up in the middle of the night shiverin, had to close all the windows and off went that fan. and it has been chilly ever since, the days are only in the 60s to 70 and at night it has been in the 50s which isnt too awful bad. I love summer but not all that hot humidity. SO these days are really nice!!!

Well gotta get my butt ready to leave for market will try to get on here more lately sorry I have been neglicting my little blog here. Hope yall have a super fun weekend!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene
~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Happy Memorial Day

HEY YALL!! wow what a week!! Ok so this week went where?? LOL it just flew by and I dont remember too much of it!! I am working long hours but lovin it all!! We are in planting season so the taters, corn and maters are in the ground the first of many anwyays..., the markets are in full swing and went great last week!! and get this my canned hot pepper jelly sold out sat!! Just made those 3 batches and people loved it! So early this am I went to the kitchen and made up some strawberry apricot jam, did a few jars of pickeled asparagus and then made up some pumpkin spice pancake mix and apple cinnamon pancake mix, and also some shortcake mix. Seein how strawberry season is almost here!! YEAH! love michigan fresh strawberries.
So this has been a busy busy memorial day for me!! But please no matter what you do today and most days say a big thank you to all the men and women serving this great country we live in, and not just now but all those that already served and are home or resting in peace we wouldnt be here without them making these great sacrifies!!
And THANK YOU to all who have posted and signed the petition for BOSS!! as yall know we are big dog lovers here, well animal lovers in general but our dogs are our furry KIDS and we LOVE EM!! Well hubby is hollarin for me to come outside, we are planting the sugar snap peas and pea pods today!! SO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

TAKE CARE and have a lovely monday!!
!!HUGS~

Darlene
~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION~

JUSTICE FOR BOSS THE PIT BULL
Target:
TO HELP THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION!
Sponsored by:
Friday, May 1, 2009
Jeremy Belk Staff Writer
An Athens man accused of dragging and seriously injuring Boss, the pit bulldog, now has a date in McMinn County General Sessions Court.
William Jacobs, 23, of 511 County Road 213, Athens, was served a criminal summons on animal cruelty at the McMinn County Justice Center on Tuesday. He was released after being given a Thursday, May 7, date to appear in General Sessions Court.
Jacobs is accused of dragging the dog that had been tied to the bumper of his vehicle. Jacobs had adopted the dog earlier from Break the Chains Pit Bull Rescue of Lenoir City. Jacobs has said it was accident that the dog was injured. He has said he had forgotten he had tied the bulldog to the back of his pickup truck when he drove away. The dog allegedly was dragged behind the truck for almost a mile.
When Jacobs allegedly missed follow-up appointments after the adoption, James Woody, from the rescue group, tried to contact him.
When the Woodys went to Jacobs' house to check on the dog, they learned about the dragging incident that had allegedly occurred 18 days earlier and that Boss had not been given proper veterinary care. Woody then filed an animal cruelty report with the McMinn County Sheriff's Department.
Jacobs was served with papers last week, giving him 10 days to turn himself in at the Justice Center on the criminal summons.
Normally with a criminal summons, the person is served papers, giving them a day in court and then allowed to leave.
Last week, it was reported that Boss was healing well from his wounds. He has had several surgeries since being taken back in by the rescue group.
Woody said the dog's demeanor has changed since they have brought him back. He said Boss is now aggressive toward other animals, which is different than how he was prior to being adopted.
The news of Boss got another animal rescuer worried. Joyce Price, of Athens, adopted out a Jack Russell Terrier named Eddie to Jacobs in December. After hearing about Boss, she called Jacobs to ask about Eddie. She said she was told he had given the dog away. Price said she had allegedly told Jacobs to give Eddie back if something changed and he could no longer care for the dog. She said since first inquiring about Eddie's condition, she has heard several conflicting stories. Price said she has contacted the McMinn County Humane Society about Eddie.
Humane Society President Stacy Low said they are looking into the incident and trying to determine what has happened to Eddie. She said she is also working with the McMinn County Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's office to find out if there are any other animals at Jacob's residence that could be at risk.
Price said she just wants to know if Eddie is dead or alive.
She said if anyone in the County Road 213 area has seen a long-haired brown and white Jack Russell to call her, or if you are in possession of Eddie to call her so she knows he is safe. Price can be contacted at 507-4619.
Lowe said you can also contact the McMinn County Humane Society at 744-9548.
Jacobs said he did not wish to comment. He said he has hired attorney Matt Rogers to represent him in court.



**PLEASE SIGN THIS IS IT SO IMPORTANT WE BE AN ANIMAL ADVOCATE THEY DONT HAVE A VOICE AND NEED US TO BE THERE FOR THEM!!** THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
MY HEART GOES OUT TO BOSS AND ALL THE OTHERS WE DONT HEAR ABOUT THAT SUFFER FROM A HUMANS HAND!!!
DARLENE





~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

VOTE FOR BUSTER!!

Ok one of my babies is in a contest BUSTER the clown he is contestant number 5 so go and vote!! LOL not that you have to vote for him but he would be much abliged if yall do!! LOL
There are some ADORABLE fur babies on there too~~

Here is the site : so now run on over and vote vote and vote!!

http://petsjubilee-furbabies.blogspot.com/
GREAT SITE ! check out all the great fur baby goodies they offer!!

So i am gonna go to the kitchen again and finish up frosting the cupcakes, wrappin the bread, and packaging some of the cookies for market tomorrow!! DONT FORGET if yall are in and around ALLEGAN MICHIGAN the market is open from 8 am to 2 pm. Here are a few of my offerings this week:
I made a batch of hot pepper jelly and some packages of my apple crisp mix
some double/triple dipped pretzels
cream cheese frosted loaded carrot cake muffins
grandmas old fashioned chunky peanut butter cookies
some yummy chunky fruity granola cereal
cream cheese frosted red velvet cupcakes
banana nut bread, cheddar pepper bread (my favo), applesauce bread
chocolate chunk cookies
banana muffins
and today am making some scones and more cookies!! And I will have more at market on Sat in South Haven Michigan!! STOP ON BY!!

They are calling for 80 degrees today!! YEAH YIPPEE YEE HAW! love this weather and hopefully will get some much needed rain too!!! SO hope yall have a truly glorious day!! Enjoy!!
~HUGS~
Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

First market sat!!

Here are some of my goodies and some pics of my first market day in South Haven, MI!!
IT was WINDY AND BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR COLD!! but it was fun and nice to see all my customers come out!! I did finish some more things yesterday to take so here is a list of what i had for the week::
Lemon poppyseed, banana nut, loaded carrot cake, zucchini pineapple, my recipe of cinnamon applesauce and lemon muffins. Cherry Turnovers, loated oatmeal cookies, cookie pops, dipped rice krispy pops, cream cheese topped carrot cake muffins, mini loaves of quick breads, some triple dipped pretzels, mini lemon bundt cakes topped with raspberry flavored cream cheese frosting, butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting and some pieces of strawberry rhubarb pie. Oh and a few loaves of glazed pistachio bread.......... i think that was it for this market!! Now next week we are doing 2 markets so my mom and I are making hot pepper jelly and strawberry preserves tomorrow and I would like to start making some pickeled asparagus too. WHEW!!!!!!!!!!!! I quit my job to do this!! LOL and I LOVE IT!! TOO MUCH FUN AND NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! STRESS!!! LOL


The greenhouse folks on the south side of me have absolutely amazing potted big plants!!

It was cold but quite a few customers did come out to buy things.

Love my red and white gingham!!! I even found red checkered pattered scrapbook paper that I am making all my price tags out of!! LOL

Here are my friends all natural TOTALLY ORGANIC body products!! and they smell sooooo yummy!!

So hope yall have a great super duper sat night!~ will try to remember to take the cam with me to take some pics at the kitchen tomorrow!! Now we gotta catch up on some shows we recorded thru the week and didnt see yet!!

GOOD LUCK CHRIS AND ADAM on AMERICAN IDOL!! AND I MISS YA DANNY!!

~~HUGS!~

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Bakin away thursday

LOOK AT MR BOOOPIE WOOPIE BOO!! HE is layin ontop of his little sister Chevy!! He was not hurting her at all and she laid there without makin a peep!! or a meow!! He is so cute whenever she is layin on a chair he does this for some reason!! CRAZY pup!!! He is such a mommy's boy too!! LOVE YA BABY!!! LOL


DARNIT DANGIT OH DANG!!! I left my camera at home when I went to the kitchen today to bake!! so already put it in the truck to take with tomorrow. So here is the list of things I baked today!! after my mom and I went to an early breakfast!!LOL


Banana Nut muffins


Loaded carrot cake muffins


Zucchini Pineapple muffins


Lemon Poppyseed muffins


Cream cheese frosted mini carrot cake loaves


Zucchini, cheddar biscuits with ground up carrots, dried tomato flakes, onions and a bit of seasoning


Chocolate Dipped rice krispy pops


Mini glazed lemon bundt cakes


Butter cake muffins with a raspberry cream cheese frosting


OH and the cutest little ice cream cup cakes with frosting and will have some foodie embellishments to them!! LOL this country gal loves the embellishments whether it be on paper, in a scrapbook or on CUPCAKES!! LOL


so that is all I made today and it felt so good to bake!!! LOVE IT!! truly beautiful day!! This weekend my mom and I are gonna can some strawberry jam and maybe some hot pepper jelly!! so be on the lookout for lots of pics coming to your puter screen soon!!LOL


Have a blessed evening yall!!


~~HUGS~~





~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

BL and Danny Gokey idol

BIGGEST LOSER!! OK I really want to just say I SO WANTED MIKE to win!! Did yall watch last night!! Those transformations are just truly inspiring!! Hubby and I love that show and have watched almost every season!! BOB and JILIAN we love you guys and how much you give of yourself for others!! I could not believe how terrific TARA looked too!! what a pretty pretty gal!! she could be a model again!!
Being a michigander we were rooting for the father son team MIKE AND RON!! and you guys look truly amazing!! We are very proud of you both and how you represented our great state!!
WOW~! now did yall watch Idol tonight??? I have to say i am so so disappointed that DANNY GOKEY is leaving!! WHAT WHAT WHAT???????? CAN U BELIEVE IT??? I cant!! I gotta go wipe the tears off my face, my mascara is running now!! REALLY now I have voted every time for him. What a soulful guy with an amazing voice!! Good luck to Adam and Chris!!! even though i am really quite upset by this vote!! WE LOVE YA DANNY!! cant wait to buy your cd's youll be makin!!

So have a blessed evening!! i am off to bed as it will be an early am i have to get more bakin done for market!!
DONT FORGET IF YALL ARE IN OR NEAR SOUTH HAVEN MICHIGAN stop on by our market for some great finds from everyone!!!

~HUGS~~
Darlene
~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Muffins and Cookies

Well I spent a few hours at the bakery today!! LOVE IT!! it feels good to be able to do more and baking is my about my favorist thing, well besides farming, painting, making primitives, cutting out my own wood patterns, and spending time at the flower shop with my mom!!! OK well I love to bake!! So I made some of my own recipe of applesauce cinnamon muffins with a little drizzle over top, some of my monster cookies, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanuts, peanut butter and m and m's, and did some on sticks for all the kiddos to enjoy, also made some banana nut muffins, banana bread mini loaves, and some oh I think that was it!! and that was enough I was beat when I got done. I did go to the doc to have my post op follow up but they had an emergency so instead of waiting an hour or so I decided to go back tomorrow am.
What a lovely lovely day out side again and OH the lilacs are opening and all the fruit trees and flowering trees are all open and so BEAUTIFUL!! truly amazing time of year plus most of the leaves on the trees are open and so green!!! YEAH!! Love this time of year!!
Well I will take my cam with me to the kitchen tomorrow to take pics of all the goodies for market which is thurs!! YIKES!!! not enough days left for me!! LOL
SO have a lovely evening and will talk with ya soon!!

~HUGS~
Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Asparagus and plants

THIS IS MY FIRST MARKET WEEK!! SOUTH HAVEN MICHIGAN FARMERS MARKET DOWNTOWN SAT 8 am to 2 pm~~stop on by~~ there are alot of great booths and yummy goodies for ya!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this bluish purple lobelia plant!! This has to be one of my favo colors of flowers!!

One of the gardens that goes along our front bean garden. A dear friend gave me this old bike and I found the back double basket at an estate sale last summer and it was made for this bike!! so this year all the wire baskets will be planted. I have to be patient in planting as last spring we lost several flats of flowers and veggies I planted too early in may and BAM!! DoubLE BAMO!! we got snow in may!!! lost em all ,so I promised myself NO early planting this year!! LOL at least I can plant in the greenhouse though!! LOL

Hubby found this old horse drawn plow at an estate sale too and so here she is in my little garden next to my greenhouse.

One of the first cosmos flats to bloom!! LOVE these guys and they grow and spread each summer!! Last summer my plants were huge at almost 5 feet tall and bushy!!

Some of the tomatoes coming along nicely. Purple cherokee heirlooms, orange sunburst heirlooms.

2 of the blue lobelia plants!! GORGEOUS!!

a few of the girls came out to visit a customer this afternoon. You just have to say "COME HERE GIRLS or OH GIRLS" and they come a runnin on over!!

A few goodies for sale in the farmstand. The stones are made by a very dear friend and are all natural HYPERTOOFA spelling may not be right?? anyway there are pondscapes with a hole in them for a fountain and also deep ones for butterfly or bird baths. The best thing is they were out all winter and they do not freeze and crack on you. They expand with the weather.

Front of farmstand gettin ready for another season!!

Ok that is it for pics today!! I do hope yall had a very very happy MOTHERS DAY!! I sure did spent the first part of the day with my mom at the flower shop and then went to my great mother in laws and then to Grandmas house, my hubbys grandma Jan so we had a fun filled blessed day!! and then came home to spend the rest of it relaxin with my "boys" Buster, Bubba and Barney. My dear precious kids and Hubby of cource!!

OH AND BY THE WAY WE ARE PICKING ASPARAGUS TO SELL!!! IT is in the farmstand and I will bring it to market on sat in south haven. WHICH by the way will be my first market day!! We will have a great selection of our baked goods too!! STOP ON BY!!

Downtown South Haven MI 8am to 2pm

Have a great night!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

Cupcakes and Flowers Friday

Ok so been busy workin some at the shop this week gettin ready for Mothers Day!! This is such a fun holiday since most folks like deliveries any time of the week not just on sunday. We will be delivering on Mothers Day though!! So here are some pics for you to enjoy!!
Some of the carnation corsages for a local church above.

Here is one cooler filled for walk in customers

I love how this basket turned out and I love the colors!! A special order for mothers day.

One of the whip cream cakes we make, this one features a white chocolate cream filling and a cluster of pink sweet peas.

Another whip cream cake we made with pink sweet peas around one edge. I love the whip cream frosting, it is not as sweet or sugary as buttercream.

Some quick cupcakes. These are the jumbo size and look so darn yummy!! Plain yellow butter cake with whip cream frosting and a couple little embellishments!! LOL

This was a special order called to the shop, they were looking for something to give a friend that loves gardening so it had to have a garden tool with it. SOOOOO we found this great little tote bag, added a pair of gloves, a shovel inside bag and then tied a little garden fork to the handle with ribbon. TOO STINKIN CUTE I THINK!!

Well hope yall have a great friday!! and will talk to ya tomorrow with a special mothers day post!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene

TGIF!!!

Counter redo, Flowers and a sign!!

Ok so here is a sign that will hang from the top part of my canopy at one of the markets I am attending this season. This is the same green color that my old cabinet at the shop is and I love it. I did paint a couple of cute cupcakes and some treats. I think it will get attention. Hopefully the right kind of attention I want!! LOL

Gosh what a perfectly beautiful monday!~!! It was 72 degrees and just lovely outside!! Ok so lots to share with yall today!!


Here is a pic of the before front counter at the flowershop. Well we already took the trim pieces off but you get the idea. White and White!! NOW so far this is what we did to the top. We did buy some fancy trim to go along the edges just havent gotten that finished yet. We are making the counter into one long one instead of 2 so I have to get a top piece cut for the smaller one and then add it on to make one. I love this black marble tile, we did our kitchen pantry and shelves with it and I want to buy enough to redo our floor when we have time!!LOL right!! and can find some!! We went to 7 different stores and finally at the last one hubby found the marble on burried under other boxes and they only had 2 boxes!! MINE MINE MINE! we grabbed them both up!! Will share pics of the cabinet done up as soon as i get the shelves done.

Also I thought I would share some pics of some of our flower order that came in for mothers day!! They are all so pretty and so fresh cant wait to start making arrangements with them!! Well that is about it for today hope yall had a glorious monday and will talk to yall soon!!

Have a great week now!!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene