~FALL GIFT GIVING...LOVE FROM THE KITCHEN~

~FESTIVE HOMEMADE CROUTONS~

Welcoming Fall brings with it an air of excitement to my La Chaumière de Briarwood.  With this being our twentieth Thanksgiving living in our Oklahoma home it's hard to believe how fast the years have passed by.

~TOASTED BUTTERY CHUNKS~

Our neighborhood has changed a lot since 1992.  Back then many of the residents were the original owners of our block's 1970's era homes and sadly some of them have now passed on.  I remember how my children and I would bake treats for them during the holidays and how fun it was to deliver them door to door.  Now that my babes are grown and on their own my Mr. AGPMan continue with our little gift-giving tradition without them (sniff).  Many things have changed over the years, but never the smiling faces of those being remembered.

 

~CUSTOM TAGS ADD CHARM~

Today I'm showing you a simple little treat gifted to friends and neighbors in honor of Thanksgiving!  Simple to prepare and pleasing to the eye, too!  Perfect for friends and family who can't have sugary sweets is a plus!

 ~VINTAGE GLASS JARS~

You start with a loaf of plain white bread (like Sunbeam) and working with six slices at a time you first remove the crust.  Begin by cutting the bread into 1/2" pieces or tear them into small chunks.  Melt 3 Tablespoons of butter into a skillet and add bread pieces.  Coat all sides of the bread with butter and stir on medium heat until golden brown and toasty.  Remove from stove top and salt and flavor as desired.  I use Himalayan Pink Salt and TONE'S Garlic/Herb Seasoning (about 1/4 TSP each).  Drain on paper towel.  Once the croutons are cool place them in small vintage jars (I find mine at thrift stores all year long) and wrap them up with cello and tie with natural ribbon and hand crafted tags!  Simple and easy.

Here's a tip:  Don't season the bread while cooking as seasonings have a tendency to burn before the bread is fully toasted.   Also work in small batches to ensure even coating of the bread with butter!  ENJOY!

~~*~~

Looking forward to an awesome week creating!  Go make something wonderful and then tell me about it!  I'd LOVE to share your family traditions in the future!

Love to you...

 

~~~~~~~SWEET HOLIDAY CONFECTIONS~~~~~~~ A Chocolate Candy Recipe From Me to You

~HOLIDAY BALLS~

In two days my La Chaumière de Briarwood is going to be filled with great food and ALMOST every person I love most in the world (except for my ailing father).  I'm more excited than I can say about gathering together with friends and family celebrating once again the goodness of God and his gracious bounty.  I am amazed at the blessings God the Father has bestowed upon my little family and I am truly in awe of His love for us.

~SIMPLE TO MAKE~

Now...I'm a planner.  I am!  I love coming up with new twists for our traditional Thanksgiving meal and the entire process from shopping for the food to actually preparing the dinner...

~CHOCOLATE SPRINKLES~

This year I remembered a sweet treat my Momma-In-Love use to make for my Mr. AGPMan when he was growing up.  I have no idea where the recipe originated from I can only tell you she fashioned these candy confections for years and years and years.  I've changed up the original recipe just a tad to make it more to my family's liking, but it still has much of the same flavor as those my hubby gobbled down as a young boy.

~GROUND CHOCOLATE COOKIES~

 ~COOKIES AND CREAM TOPPER~

~FROM OUR COLLEGE RECIPE BOOK~

I typed out the original recipe you see above and noted the changes made to the one I use today.  I hope you'll try it out!  ENJOY!

~~*~~

Blessings as you celebrate and give thanks with a grateful heart.

Love to you...

~~~~~~~~PLANNING THANKSGIVING~~~~~~~~ and Some Cleaning and Scrubbing

~ROSY APPLE PIE~

(A Sweet Treat from Last Year)

Thanksgiving is only a few days away...can you believe it?

Last year my family and I had such a wonderful time celebrating Turkey Day and truthfully I'm hoping this year's gathering is equally as wonderful!  A friend from our college days drove out to spend a few days with us in 2010 and it was exciting to see him again after 30 plus years.  We eagerly extended "Mr. D" (as we've come to call him) an open invitation to join our family for the holidays anytime he felt he could make the long drive from Arizona.  Well...we found out last night our old friend will be with us again this year for Thanksgiving!

~MISS K and her UNCLE D~

(Friends for Life)

So now...can you imagine what I'm doing????

Having guests for dinner is one thing...but having a guest who is SLEEPING AT YOUR HOME is another! :)  That means along with the studio work and the packing and shipping of product I'm TRYING to clean my home.  I've decided to take one room a day and clean it from top to bottom.  I've never been so thankful I'm a closet-clean-freak in all my life.  Except for my studio (which is an absolute disaster!) I don't have too terribly much to do and that makes me soooo happy! 

I'll be in and out over the next couple of days!  I hope you are enjoying the planning and the shopping and all the other things that go along with celebrating Thanksgiving...

~~*~~

On another note...

This morning I heard on the news Oklahoma State University's Head Volleyball Coach, Kurt Budke and his assistant, Miranda Serna, were killed in a plane crash early today...  Losing people we love is never easy but less than a week before Thanksgiving I'm sure makes this loss more than heartbreaking for their families.

I'm sure your prayers are appreciated!

~~*~~

Thanking God today for this amazing life and for His mercies and goodness...

Praising God from whom all blessings flow...

Love to you...

~Oops...HAPPY THANKSGIVING from Miss K~

~HAPPY THANKSGIVING~

From Sweet Miss K

Sometimes I really think I'm losing it...

I PROMISED my Miss K that I would show you pictures of her dressed up in her Pilgrim Costume...

The one above is my favorite! Soooo Angelic...

:)

And just in CASE you think she is PERFECT all of the time and allows me do whatever I want with her...

Just look at the one below...

HYSTERICAL!

Be Blessed...I am!

Love Again~ Rebecca

~GATHERING TOGETHER - Giving Thanksgiving It's Due~

~WELCOME THANKSGIVING~

Along with you, my Blogger Peeps, I'm excited about the upcoming Holidays! I'm especially thankful at the prospect of having a somewhat 'normal' Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, given that fact that both of them in 2008 were less than wonderful. Last year found me in my native state of California watching and praying over my only brother who was facing an unexpected, radical surgery and was very ill. Just a week after his major operation my beloved Gramma passed away after being in excellent health for many years. Two trips to the West Coast in three weeks was just about more than I could handle. By the time we returned from the Memorial Service, my Mr. AGPMan was sick with the Flu and for the first time in 17 years our outside Christmas lights and decor were dimmed. I didn't want to celebrate anything much less decorate. If not for my daughter I wouldn't have hung a single ornament.

With her help I did manage to assemble a presentable Thanksgiving Dinner and somehow got one of our three Christmas Trees up and decorated. I eeked out a few sales on eBay to help cover our unplanned traveling expenses, but if the truth be told I wanted the entire Holiday Season OVER. I was exhausted and wanted to crawl into a hole. On the outside one would have thought I had nothing at all to be thankful or grateful for at all...

So, as Thanksgiving draws near this year, I plan to honor the day and celebrate it in style. Even though my oldest child and his family will be with our daughter-in-love's family, those of us who can Gather Together, will. I will hold fast to our family tradition of decorating for Christmas after the day of Thankfulness comes to a close.

Blessings to you as the day draws near, when we gather together and hold hands, gobble up the Turkey and say prayers of thanksgiving for everything we've been given...Rebecca

~FEASTING on His Daily Blessings...Some Food for Thought~

~ THE LITTLEST PILGRIMS~

November 1963

Rebecca, Linda, Cindy, Kathy

and Miss Stibby

I awoke early today to an extra warm November morning. The birds were singing such beautiful little songs and didn't seem to mind at all the leaves around them had turned a deep amber-gold and were quickly falling to the ground. I will miss their sweet music when they fly away for the Winter. The day proved to be extra wonderful with temperatures reaching all the way up to 79 degrees. Odd for Fall, even for Oklahoma! My hubby and I raked leaves (a gazillion!) and worked together all afternoon to ready our home for the cold, frigid months ahead. This work, though necessary, can be truly exhausting! I know our efforts will pay off for the work we did today will make possible the new growth to push it's way up from the earth in the Spring.

Far more than usual I found myself welcoming November with great anticipation and joy. I love the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving. My best childhood memories surround this time of the year and I will always be grateful to my mother for her creativity and talent for stretching a dollar on a Preacher-Man's salary (which was almost zero!). She was nothing less than magical. I don't recall a childhood Thanksgiving when our table wasn't beautifully set or when we weren't surrounded by family both near and far...

Beautiful days. Lovely memories. Forever preserved inside my heart.

The photo you see above was taken around 1963 when I was about 4 years old ( I'm on the left). It was snapped in the courtyard of Cedarlane Junior High in Hacienda Heights, California, a school I would go on to attend about six or seven years later. My Mother and her sister loved to dress their little girls up in costumes for the Season in hopes of sharing our cultural heritage with anyone who was willing to listen! :) That same year the four of us even landed in the L.A. County Tribune! This was an amazing feat...(I'll share the newspaper clipping with you later this month!).

As we begin counting down the days until Thanksgiving, it is my prayer that you will continue to recognize God's goodness and grace in your life. I've learned over the years that it isn't about the DAY or the wonderful FOOD, instead it's about being grateful and thankful for all we have, the good and the not-so-good, all of the time.

Don't forget~He won't allow what you can't bear!

Blessings to you as we feast upon His daily blessings...Rebecca