Fun Stuff to Show and Tell!

I just thought I'd post a few of my favorite things today! I love old fashioned things so I thought I'd share these things with you, this will be some good old fashioned fun for me to post. I'm in a playful mood, I've had a challenging week and even have a twitch in my eye to show for it...how do you like them apples?

How to Make a Smart Dusting Cap, this is too cute. Reminds me of I Love Lucy or better yet, the old movie, Penny Serenade. (1941)

You can see Penny Serenade here in entirety as well I love this movie...so sweet, but sad too. Do you know that once when Irene Dunne was at a church in movie land, someone tapped her on the shoulder and asked her..."Isn't seeing the movie stars here exciting!?" The person didn't even recognize Irene Dunne.


Here is something else I thought was so very cute, this is a nice old fashioned retro-look for longer hair:


And another...We got a kick out of Hoagy Carmichael here from the movie,Night Song (1947) :


Night Song (1947) We enjoyed the movie, about a classical music genius who has gone blind played by handsome Dana Andrews, his friend here played by adorable Hoagy Carmichael helps save the day. A nice movie.

So that is my quick show n' tell blog for today... I hope you enjoyed it!

~Amelia

Come see me also at MyForestCathedral for home happenings. I just brewed some iced country-peach tea! Come on over and we can visit! : )

Great Italian Lentil Balls!

Our oldest daughter Lea made these last night for sup and they were marvelous dahlings! Mahvelous! (Don't you just love the way the glamorous young woman engaged to the Jewish runner in the movie, 'Chariots of Fire' says the word, Marvelous - Mahvelous...

Our family is moving Vegetarian these days, if you see this video on my other blog you will see one of the number one reasons for me, it's a mercy issue and a humanitarian one, a justice issue about factory farming. My husband enjoys the health benefits too. I can't see Jesus approving of this abuse. No way, no how. Even on dairy, we are being far more particular, buying cheese only from farm owned happy cows (Bordens brand has a shredded cheese with the 'Family Owned' cow emblem on the front, yay!) and happy roaming chicken eggs. It pays to shop on these things. And there are so many vegan choices too on many cheeses etc.

Okay here is this most wonderful recipe, I hope you all enjoy it too. It was so good and tasty too.

The above photo is of Lea the other evening by the pond reading...Our pond is getting lower and lower and this drought is getting down right scary. Please pray for Texas!

Please pray for Texas and special thanks to Governor Perry for calling 'The Response' for prayers and repentance for our country, praying to stop abortion as well as for the silent pulpits. We were there and it was not fun and games, this was a serious prayerful and worshipful event. Many wonderful people of God were there praying and no man was lifted up, this was not an emergent church event. People like Aveda King, Dr. Dobson and his wife Shirley Dobson, Tony Evans, David Barton, the widow of Bill Bright, Vonette Bright were there along with John Hagee etc. Also, a beautiful young woman who survived her mother's abortion and a Holocaust survivor's son were there to pray. The list of prayer warriors goes on and on. We had several pastors in our immediate seating vicinity. People of all colors were there. My husband was praying over one precious black pastor and tears rolled down his face...The pastors who are preaching truth must be receiving tremendous persecution. I have sensed that lately. Who wouldn't? Our family has not had an easy time of it lately ourselves...

That's the wrap and now for that recipe! : )


Lea's Italian Lentil Balls, the Best in the West!

4 cups cooked lentils
2 cups bread crumbs
3 - 4 happy free roaming chicken eggs
3 -4 garlic cloves crushed
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
dried parsley
dried Italian seasoning
fennel seeds if desired
olive oil

Mix lentils, bread crumbs, eggs, garlic and cheese well until most lentils are smashed and ingredients are blended. Generously add seasonings to taste.

Roll into meatballs. Place in pan with thin layer of olive oil. Leave in 400 degree oven or broil til crisp and browned.

Lea served these delicious lentil balls with a light Italian gravy over cous cous. I'll share her light gravy with you as well:

Lea's Light Gravy for Pasta or Cous Cous

8 Roma tomatoes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 box vegetable broth
1 - 2 tsp. vinegar
crushed dried red pepper and salt to taste
handful of fresh basil

Saute' tomatoes in hot oil over medium high heat 2 minutes or until soft. Add broth and vinegar. cook 2 to 3 minutes or until tomateoes begin to wit. Stir in dried crushed red pepper,salt, and remaining basil.


Now gals, we can't put these Lentil Balls in the gravy because they will deteriate so make sure and serve them up separately.

Let me tell you, I had some today for lunch and they were just as good and crispy as they were last night.


I hope you enjoy this tasty and healthful recipe. I'm going to bring a dish right on over to Mz. Helen's Blueplate Thursday to share today.

This is also linked to Frugal Friday at Life with Mom. 9.16.11

I'll close with a selected poem from my devotions from yesterday from Streams in the Desert:

Loved! then the way will not be drear;
For One we know is ever near,
Proving it to our hearts so clear
That we are loved.

Loved when our sky is clouded o'er,
And days of sorrow press us sore;
Still we will trust Him evermore,
For we are loved.

Time, that affects all things below,
Can never change the love He'll show;
The heart of Christ with love will flow,
And we are loved.

You are loved! And remember, the same moon that shines over me shines over you too! So when you think about it and see that ol' moon, say a prayer for this gal here in Texas and I'll say one for you too. God knows who you are.... You are loved!

~Amelia

Easy Top for You to Make

Hi De Ho!

Just stopping by to share what I made yesterday. It was just the doglets, kitten and I here listening to Nat King Cole, what more could inspire?

Please allow me to share this pattern with you that was 99 cents on sale at Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago. For 99 cents you really can't go wrong right? I can afford to mess those up and not cry over spilled milk so to speak.

This is the pattern: McCall's M5357

I put the v-necked short sleeved top together in a navy cotton lawn cloth. I had been looking for a navy top, a simple cap sleeved top and could find none to go with this skirt from Coldwater Creek: Pretty Blue Skirt

I ordered this skirt last month when they were offering free shipping with a good percentage off of the already marked down price. That's the way to do it if you ask me. : )

For my top, I made the sleeves a bit shorter cutting off the little slit doodle-dandy on the sleeves. I really like the way this top came out, no setting sleeves either. Yippee! I will wear the top with the pretty blue skirt with a wide belt thrown around the top. Now how's that for easy-breezy fashionable sweetness?

Here's a pic I think you all might enjoy, it's something I randomly took one evening last week. Hubs and I had taken a nice walk on our property, see my shoes? I bought them from the animal rescue site, not too shabby. In the pic you'll see some P.J. clad daughters and a paper plate on the floor. This photo just speaks life at our house on many an eve. The plate is from our doglets, I feed them on paper plates, that is one of my mini-maids. I don't have a real maid so I treat myself to little things like feeding our dogs on paper plates to avoid a rather yucky clean up from canned dog food. After supper who needs more stuff to clean? Hubs had been helping me load pics from my camera on our pc on his lap there...

Here is the living room shot:


Gregory Peck in an old 1957 movie on our screen:


Thanks for coming over y'all! Blessings to All! ~Amelia

My Easy Breezy Down Home Italian Cooking

My Easy-Breezy Gourmet Pasta Dish

It was getting late and I had to get something together quick and I mean quick for sup! Yes indeedie...I whipped this up and it turned out good. And I mean good. Hubs wants me to make this again. : )

I had 5 half frozen boneless chicken breasts to work with. One was gigantic I will say... We have 6 in our family. I do not like standing over the stove so I use my oven as much as possible. I put the half frozen chicken breasts in a 13 x 9 pan. In fact my Italian grandma's stainless steel pan, no aluminum for Grandma. She lived humbly but had the best in pots and pans...She knew what was important! : )

I drizzled olive oil liberally in the pan before putting the chicken. I grabbed my garlic powder and Tony Chachere's seasoning and sprinkled away.

Baked the chicken til it started to brown at 400. As it browned (around 30 - 45 minutes) I split the breasts in halves and fourths. Brown a bit more.

Then I start artfully to do what I love to do... I dump-dump-dump!

I go into my handy dandy pantry and grab a regular size stewed tomatoes and dump with juice!

I also found the treasure of a can of artichoke hearts. I dump with juice!

Then to top off my delicious pasta gravy I found a regular jar of store-bought pasta sauce.

On that store-bought pasta gravy...(Please don't tell my Grandma...or my Grandpa) They are in Heaven now but they would look at me like I was crazy.) My grandpa would say "ick". ; ) Grandpa had a thick Italian accent and was a sweetheart, he could say "ick" like only Grandpa could...Grandma would say Grandpa is going to throw that store-bought out the winda! (window). Grandpa would never do that but you get the picture... Grandpa was from Sicily and Grandma was from Naples. Grandpa came here when he was 15 in 1915 and Grandma came here as an infant several years before. Grandma grew up in the South and her accent was somewhere between New Orleans and a Southern Belle.

Last but not least, I sprinkle Italian seasonings over it all and pop that masterpiece back in the oven til it bubbles delightfully and the chicken is tender.

In the meantime I simmer up spaghetti.

I saved the day with this, and the pasta gravy in the pan with chicken was ladled over the pasta with Italian cheese on top to everyone's fancy.

Here's your list:

5-6 chicken breasts (frozen is fine)
1 reg. can of stewed tomatoes
1 reg. can of artichoke hearts
1 regular size jar of store-bought (oh how it pains me to type that) pasta gravy, Americani folks say "sauce".

olive oil
garlic powder
Tony Chachere's seasoning
Italian seasoning
Italian cheese, Romano or Parmesan to sprinkle on top
Spaghetti


And yes, you read that correctly...It is Pasta GRAVY. That is what the real Italians call it here. : )
"Yes, I confess it was from a jar!"
The end.


If you think you may like to try this dish I think that's great. If you post this recipe please give credit where credit is due, it's hurtful finding your recipe on another's blog with no credit. As my old pastor once said: It's nice to be nice. : )
6.30.11 Linked to Full Plate Thursday.

Feel free to visit VisionForaGodlyHome for encouragements in your walk with the Lord and everyday happenings at My Forest Cathedral

The Stranger (1946)

The Stranger is an old suspense thriller. Edward G. Robinson is amazing as usual...The movie is about a Nazi war criminal, played by Orson Wellles marrying a young lady played by Loretta Young. I warned my girls as we watched the movie...

Do you see why you need to know someone very well before agreeing to marry them?

I wanted to just jump up and down and scream at the young lady to be careful, look out with both eyes wide open!

I would not recommend this for small children, it has some disturbing things in it that may frighten and disturb children such as scenes from the holocaust and evil done to the family dog. The ending is not pleasant for the Nazi. Hubs and I are very careful on what we allow in our home, our daughters are ages 17 to 28, plenty mature of course. Evil is portrayed as evil in this movie, not glorified.

You can see it in entirety here: The Stranger (1946) Your local library should also have copies as well as other resources.

A very interesting, suspenseful movie. Edward G. Robinson is a gem! I love his character in the movie. Great character lessons here as well as warnings!


"Charles Rankin is a professor in a respectable Connecticut town about to marry the daughter of a U.S. Supreme Court justice. But his name is fake and his past is filthy. An earnest convert to Christianity, who once ran a Nazi concentration camp, is capable of exposing him. So "Rankin" kills this little old man and buries his body in the forest. But he isn't safe because an investigator from the War Crimes Commission is on his tail. Rankin will need his own wife to help him elude capture. But his fascination with the local clock tower may prove his undoing." Written by J. Spurlin

May we as Christians remember we have an enemy that is just as sneaky and worse then the Nazi character in this movie...May we keep our eyes wide open! May we spend daily time with the Lord and know His Word for ourselves so we will not be deceived.

James 1:16 says Brethren, be not deceived.


Our little poodle, Esther and I on our front porch. I didn't cut my hair, it's simply back in a clip.

Here is a nice quote I've recently come across:

"The best reason to pray is that God is really there. In praying, our unbelief gradually starts to melt. God moves smack into the middle of even an ordinary day.... Prayer is a matter of keeping at it.... Thunderclaps and lightning flashes are very unlikely. It is well to start small and quietly."
~Emilie Griffin

Great Movie, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Our family thoroughly enjoyed this movie this past week, we've watched it in parts for several evenings since Mothers Day.

This is one of those wonderful movies worthy of a purchase indeed, as it has been in our collection for years now. Winner of 7 Academy Awards. I recently purchased the soundtrack for our family as a treat, I can't wait to receive it, so poignant...

One fact you may be interested in is that the actor who played Homer, Harold Russell had actually lost his hands in war...No one else could have played the part with the true life experience as he did...

Each time we watch this film we are so very moved by it. These movies are gems, nothing like what they are putting out today. There is nothing like them!

See the Trailer Enjoy the beautiful theme music too....

One of my favorite parts HERE ...A tender, poignant testimony of a faithful marriage, this middle aged couple, the husband returning from war... They with their young adult daughter having a heartfelt discussion on the disappointments in life...This scene never fails to either bring tears to my eyes or a sobering silence in our living room because it is so true. We have four daughters ages 17 to 28 and I can so understand both sides and have sometimes seen similar thoughts and outcomes... We have been married for almost 31 years...We were young once and still are in many ways. This most remembered part is wonderful...Just as relevant for today.

This film paints a picture of the struggles of World War II servicemen that they faced AFTER the war was over. It was a more personal struggle of men returning home after being away for many years, and after experiencing horrors that their loved ones could never fully understand. They return home as changed people, and come home to changed lives.

The story of such a homecoming experienced by thousands of men after World War II is told from the perspective of three fictional characters: Captain Fred Derry, a bombadier in the Army Air Corps (Dana Andrews), Sergeant Al Stevenson, an Army infantryman (Frederich March), and Seamen Homer Parrish(Harold Russell). They happen to meet on the plane to their hometown, having never met before, and immediately form a bond built upon mutual understanding of the experiences of war and the anxieties of returning home again...

Captain Derry came from a poor background before the war, and married a blond bombshell (Virgnia Mayo) while in the Air Corps. He hopes to return home to a better life, a nice home with his wife, and a better job. This was not to be, as Derry struggles to try and deal with bad job prospects (no one in the civilian world needs a bombadier) and a cheating wife. In a poignant moment in the film, Derry (at his lowest) tells his Father to throw away the citations for his medals, because "they don't mean anything". His Father reads the one for the Distinguished Flying Cross, signed by General Jimmy Doolittle, and a look of pride comes over the old man's face for his son's heroism that makes you want to cry and cheer all at the same time. It also makes the viewer see how criminal it was for such a man to be made to feel worthless...

(My note: Captain Derry's parents are gems...I loved the character of these precious parents. They were truly rich in what counted, sweet hearts, they remind me of my Italian grandparents years ago. I wish more people would value such sweet hearts.)

Seamen Parrish's problems are the most obvious. He lost his hands during the war, and now must come home to his family and fiancee with hooks for hands. The actor who potrayed Parrish, Harold Russell, was a real disable veteran, and lends credibility to the role that no one else could have due to real life experience.

This may seem like a depressing film, but it is actually uplifting in its entirety because it does show that hope doesn't die, and that you really can come home again after all. It is also a film of historical importance due to the insights it provides into post-World War II America, and the struggles of veterans in the post-war years. Captain Derry, Sergeant Stevenson, and Seamen Parrish, and their individual struggles to reclaim their lives can provide the student of history an important perspective on the many real life veterans who returned home, and the country of the time they returned home to.

The film has certainly earned accolades over the years. It won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1946. It was named by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 Best Movies ever made, and was also named as one of the most important films of all time by the National Archives for the National Film Registry.

"The Best Years of Our Lives" is not to be missed for both its dramatic poignancy and its insight into an important period of American History. And its a beautiful sight to behold in DVD quality. ~Captain Hornblower


I hope you all enjoy the movie as you see fit for your families... Mothers, grandmothers you may enjoy the Bible Study link on my Vision for a Godly Home.blogspot too....Be encouraged. : )

If you are an old fashioned family or person who values the old fashioned values and ways of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, please be encouraged and may we encourage one another. Until the next time... ~Amelia

Lookie What I'm Makin'!

I love to sew simple, yes indeedie.

Right now I'm working on a very simple pattern, it's for a blouse...
It's Simplicity pattern #8523

I made the one in v-neck and short sleeves in a black and lime green mini modern print and belted it with a wide black belt. Looked very cute with a black skirt.

I'm now working on the same blouse in solid black. I love to wear black, and my favorite black dressier simple knit top seems to be stretching out a bit and the other black top is faded. I prefer non-tshirt material on blouses if possible and this is perfect!

Sewing is so liberating. If you can find some simple patterns and some great material to have on hand as it is put on sale you can have a wardrobe at your fingertips!

I use the Brothers machines, bottom line at Walmart. These are inexpensive for new sewing machines and work like a charm. We own two. My last purchase was no more than $50. and bought online at Walmart.com.

Do you or someone in your family like to sew simple?

Have a good day everyone, don't forget to check out the tribute to dear Brother Wilkerson on Vision For a Godly Home, one of my other blogs. Also new thoughts on time being our currency, and being still, enjoying true life.

Take care All! A hug. ~Amelia