Bragging Rights

This gorgeous couple has absolutely NOTHING to do with the post 
He's just too handsome to ignore

Well... my shoulders are squared and I stand a little taller these days. A friend joined me at a Jane Austen Tea and Trivia event at Fanshawe Pioneer Village near London, Ontario. After enjoying cucumber sandwiches, many delightful sweets, and tea, the competition began.

At first, I worried I would be embarrassed at how little I knew of Miss Austen's novels, most specifically Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, and a significant portion of Persuasion. However, to my delight, my friend and I garnered second place. Three measly correct answers separated us from the champions, but I was quite satisfied with holding our own. While no prizes were awarded, other than bragging rights, which I have fully employed, I plan on brushing up on my trivia knowledge for next year.

Thank you, Paula, for indulging me in my JAFF obsession. I had fun.

Tuesday Tidbit ~ Entails

Luckington Estate - fondly known as Longbourn to 1995 P&P fans

I do believe I heard your eye roll, dear reader when you saw the title of my post. What a dreadfully boring subject, but one that is vital to the story of Pride & Prejudice and the beleaguered Bennet family with five unmarried daughters. Miss Austen also saw fit to add entails to Sir Walter Elliot's property in Persuasion as well as the Dashwood's estate in Sense & Sensibility. 

Mr. Dashwood was upset because he could not cut down the woods on his estate and sell them to add to his daughter's dowries - it would take away / lessen the value of the estate.

Mr. Bennet's property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his.

"You allude, perhaps, to the entail of this estate."

"Ah! sir, I do indeed. It is a grievous affair to my poor girls, you must confess. Not that I mean to find fault with you, for such things, I know, are all chance in this world. There is no knowing how estates will go when once they come to be entailed."

When first Mr. Bennet had married, economy was held to be perfectly useless; for, of course, they were to have a son. This son was to join in cutting off the entail, as soon as he should be of age, and the widow and younger children would by that means be provided for. Five daughters successively entered the world, but yet the son was to come; and Mrs. Bennet, for many years after Lydia's birth, had been certain that he would. This event had at last been despaired of, but it was then too late to be saving. Mrs. Bennet had no turn for economy, and her husband's love of independence had alone prevented their exceeding their income.

Five thousand pounds was settled by marriage articles on Mrs. Bennet and the children. But in what proportions it should be divided amongst the latter depended on the will of the parents.

They lived in the house/estate and enjoyed the income. They did not truly own it. They couldn't sell it or do anything that would lower its value. They could not mortgage it and they definitely could not determine who would inherit it.

If there had been no entail, Longbourn would have been divided, upon Mr. Bennet's death, five ways between his daughters. When Mr. Collins inherits Longbourn, he becomes what is called a tenant in tail, or the 'real inheritor', which means that there were limitations on the entail. After so many generations, the entail would be broken. At the time, the real inheritor, if he wished to reestablish the entail for x many generations, kept Longbourn under the name of Collins, rather than Bennet.

The time limit on a tenant for life entails was usually a generation for life. Translated, this means the grandfather would establish the entail for the generation living. The estate would pass to his son and then his son's son and the final inheritor, his grandson's son, would become the 'real inheritor' and legally own Longbourn. The real inheritor could do what he liked with Longbourn. He could mortgage it, split it up, sell it - whatever he desired. Usually, the real inheritor would establish another entail to keep the property whole and within the family.

Mr. Bennet had very often wished, before this period of his life, that, instead of spending his whole income, he had laid by an annual sum for the better provision of his children, and of his wife, if she survived him.

"Indeed, Mr. Bennet," said she, "it is very hard to think that Charlotte Lucas should ever be mistress of this house, that I should be forced to make way for her, and live to see her take my place in it!"

"My dear, do not give way to such gloomy thoughts. Let us hope for better things. Let us flatter ourselves that I may be the survivor."

The reality of the entail helps us understand some of Mrs. Bennet's famous 'nerves' and 'flutterings'. She had cause to worry about where she and her daughters would lay their heads at night if Mr. Bennet died before ANY of her daughters were married, and married well. I think we can all agree she set about promoting her daughters in a stupid manner, but she was not given a gentlewoman's education and relied on base instinct.

Happy Canada Day

Today is July 1 and we, in Canada, celebrate the 'birth' of our country. Hamburgers will be cooked. Potatoe salad will be eaten, and I'm fairly certain a glass of wine might find its way into my hand. What are your plans?

 

And of this place, I might have been Mistress

"And of this place," thought she, "I might have been mistress."

This was the musing of one Miss Elizabeth Bennet as she toured the grand house of Pemberley. Words in italics are direct quotes from Pride and Prejudice.

Pemberley is the ancestral home of the Darcy Family and includes a great house and large estate in Derbyshire. Based on Darcy’s and Mrs. Gardiner’s recollections, Pemberley’s closest town is Lambton. However, it must also be close to Bakewell as that’s where Lizzy and the Gardiners vacationed immediately prior.

Not really Pemberley, but we can pretend

 Architecture and Decor

There is a great hall, where the tour begins and has at least one door that leads to the river. As Elizabeth tours the house, we’re told of the dining room “It was a large, well-proportioned room, handsomely fitted up. Elizabeth, after slightly surveying it, went to a window to enjoy its prospect"

Somewhere on the first floor is a room with miniatures over the mantle, one of which features a young George Wickham. In the next room is Georgiana’s new instrument. 

 When Elizabeth returns with her aunt as a caller to Pemberley, they are shown into the “saloon, whose northern aspect rendered it delightful for summer. Its windows opening to the ground, admitted a most refreshing view of the high woody hills behind the house, and of the beautiful oaks and Spanish chestnuts which were scattered over the intermediate lawn.”

 During the tour, the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, takes Elizabeth and the Gardiners up the "great staircase" which leads to a "spacious lobby" above. From that area, they proceed into "a very pretty sitting room, lately fitted up with greater elegance and lightness than the apartments below; and were informed that it was but just done to give pleasure to Miss Darcy, who had taken a liking to the room when last at Pemberley."

Of importance to the novel is the Pemberley portrait gallery, where we are told there were many family portraits, but they could have little to fix the attention of a stranger. Elizabeth walked in quest of the only face whose features would be known to her. At last, it arrested her—and she beheld a striking resemblance to Mr. Darcy, with such a smile over the face as she remembered to have sometimes seen when he looked at her.

 Mrs. Reynolds goes on to explain that the portrait was taken during his father's lifetime, telling us that sitting for one’s portrait is likely a rite of passage for young people in the Darcy household.

 The narrator does tell us that "two or three of the principal bedrooms" are a part of the public tour, and seen by Elizabeth and the Gardiners. Given the period, it's likely that these rooms are guest bedrooms, noteworthy for visits by royalty or similar.

 In a more general sense, the narrator, speaking from Elizabeth's point-of-view, says "The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of its proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine; with less of splendor, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.”

 

Park, Gardens, and Land

Coming from Lambton and on approach to the house, travelers drive through Pemberley Woods and turn at the lodge. We’re told that as Elizabeth and the Gardiners approached, they gradually ascended for half a mile and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road with some abruptness wound. It was a large, handsome stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste.

 We know the road to the stables wraps behind the house. 

They entered the woods, and bidding adieu to the river for a while, ascended some of the higher grounds; when, in spots where the opening of the trees gave the eye power to wander, were many charming views of the valley, the opposite hills, with the long range of woods overspreading many, and occasionally part of the stream. Mr. Gardiner wished to go around the whole park but feared it might be beyond a walk. With a triumphant smile, they were told that it was ten miles around. It settled the matter, and they pursued the accustomed circuit; which brought them again, after some time, in a descent among hanging woods, to the edge of the water, and one of its narrowest parts. They crossed it by a simple bridge, in character with the general air of the scene; it was a spot less adorned than any they had yet visited; and the valley, here contracted into a glen, allowed room only for the stream, and a narrow walk amidst the rough coppice-wood which bordered it. Elizabeth longed to explore its windings; but when they had crossed the bridge, and perceived their distance from the house, Mrs. Gardiner, who was not a great walker, could go no farther, and thought only of returning to the carriage as quickly as possible. Her niece was, therefore, obliged to submit, and they took their way towards the house on the opposite side of the river, in the nearest direction. Still, their progress was slow, for Mr. Gardiner, though seldom able to indulge the taste, was very fond of fishing. He was so much engaged in watching the occasional appearance of some trout in the water and talking to the man about them, that he advanced but little.

 Elizabeth spends quite a bit of time admiring the estate from the inside of the house, suggesting that it is beautiful and that the windows are ample.

~~~ooo0ooo~~~

Well... Pemberley was quite the manor. Too bad it is a fictional house. I would love to tour Pemberley, which I can, if only in my dreams and through the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice...

Funday Monday

#fundaymonday, courtesy of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

"It is a rule with me, that a person who can write a long letter, with ease, cannot write ill."

"That will not do for a compliment to Darcy, Caroline," cried her brother -- "because he does not write with ease. He studies too much for words of four syllables. --Do not you, Darcy?"

 

Farewell 2022

 

As the title suggests, this is my farewell message to 2022. In some ways, it has been a very good year, in others, not so much.

January started with us facing an unknown future as Mr. Barr had been diagnosed with cancer back in November. The 'Big C' still strikes fear into the hearts of many and while we were confident the disease was caught at its early stages, we had lots of long talks about what do we do now. This led to us purchasing a condo so Mr. B. didn't have so much yard work to take care of.

February had Mr. B's treatments start. I don't know what hurt the most, the biopsy he had in November which determined he had cancer, or the doctors injecting him with the nanobeads the radiation needed to stick (in order to kill those nasty C cells all around). The radiation treatment itself, ten in total, was quick and painless. My poor boy... :(

March stormed in and not only did Mr. B have cancer treatments, but also a hernia operation. During all this, we put our house up for sale and were constantly on the go while it was active on the market, and people viewed the house. BTW - you can check out this YouTube video if you'd like to see where we lived.

House sold!

April, May, June. -- I hate packing and going through things to determine 'what will we keep', 'what will we give away'? Ugh.

July - we are in the new condo, without my wall unit oven and microwave. Delays due to Covid. I think I hate that phrase, don't you? Fortunately, we have our cooktop, slow cooker, and BBQ. Sounds good, right. Live like that for months on end. It begins to wear on you. Subway has become my friend.

September - heave a heartfelt sigh - my oven unit arrived and I can bake! Cook! Microwave! Wait. What? What do you mean the oven door latch is broken and I cannot use my shiny new oven?

October - the oven is fixed in time for Canadian Thanksgiving, which is ironic because I have a countertop roasting pan I use for the big bird. Still, I can go back to baking bread, cakes, and cookies, and have meatloaf whenever I want. Oh, in case you are wondering, during this month we discover the cancer is gone, but Mr. B. has to see his doctor every six months for the next two years, and then if still not there, every three. His hernia operation was also successful, so we truly were thankful this year.

November is a special month for us. Not only is it Mr. B's birthday month but also our anniversary month. This year we celebrated 39 years of wedded bliss. We often joke, when asked how many years we've been happily married, either one of us will reply with, "Happily? I'd say about five." Humour is what has kept us close, along with our love and friendship. 

Last, but not least, December. Looking back over this year there were struggles, but that's life. What struck me more than once was how the hand of God was on our lives. In ways, we could not even imagine until we looked back and saw how it could have been worse, yet wasn't. How things 'fell' into place for us to find a condo, sell our home, beat cancer, and be content and happy.

We are blessed.

I wish you and yours a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2023.

Ringing in the New Year

As I write this post I find myself gazing out the window onto our front yard, covered by the lightest dusting of snow. You may think this strange that I notice this, but I live in Canada. I should have a few feet of snow on the ground by now. I will not complain. This means we do not have to shovel (the royal we - hubby does the job) out the drive. We had a green Christmas as well.

Our family remains untouched by the dreaded virus, although I am not surprised. My husband and I are virtual hermits. We love our home. We enjoy each other's company (after 40+ years I think that is quite the accomplishment), and we plot and plan what we will do when we win the lottery. Yup - still dreaming.

And so, Happy New Year my friends. May 2022 be a safe and blessed year and I wish you nothing but joy.

December 30, 2020

 

Our Persian - Beau (aka Kitchen Helper)

Words of Wisdom

Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle

My last Healthier Lifestyle post was September 13, 2018 and looking back it seems as though my body was telling me something is not right. A few short weeks after this, during a routine Pap Test, my gynecologist discovered a mass near/on my uterus. This resulted in a flurry of tests and ultrasounds, ending up with a visit to a specialist. I had, at that time, an ovarian cyst that was 11cm x 14cm x 9cm. For my American friends that translates into 4.5 inches x 5.5 inches x 3.5 inches. Just think of a really big grapefruit.

Surgery was successful although I was in surgery longer than anticipated because they found some hardened masses behind the uterus. All tests have come back and there was no cancer in anything. Praise the Lord! My recovery was swift and I didn't have to take any painkillers. I must confess, I have an extremely high pain tolerance and I also knew God had me in the palm of His hands. I trust Him for everything.

So, this healthy eating is still on the go. I've lost close to twenty pounds since I started. My pants were falling off me and I had to break down and buy some clothes. Part of this lifestyle is making as much as I can in my own kitchen and my latest craze is home made bread.

I baked the loaf shown above this morning. The recipe is super easy and I'm using my Kitchen Aid mixer/dough hook to do the kneading. Believe it or not, that was hard for me to do because I've always made my bread by hand. Once I took the plunge I slapped my own wrist for waiting so long.

Here is the recipe with some brief instructions. As always, check your flour to water ratio as the dough is kneaded. Everybody has different temperatures/humidity and other factors in their kitchen that change how the dough comes together.

1.5 cups	warm water (almost hot to the touch) 110F
2 tsp	active dry yeast
2 Tbsp	sugar
4 cups	flour
2 Tbsp	softened butter
2 Tbsp	dried milk powder
1 tsp	salt

Blend (Level 1 on your mixer) all of the above.  You really want to watch how this dough comes together.  If the sides of the bowl start coming clean, you know you have the right amount of flour.  If it's sticky or wet, or sticking to the bottom center, you have to add a bit more flour

Stop the mixer.

The dough should be slightly sticky but you don't want it to stick to your fingers

Set mixer to Level 2 and set your timer for five minutes.

Take dough out of bowl and shape into a ball.

Coat the bowl with olive oil. Place the dough ball inside, making sure the dough ball is covered lightly with some of the olive oil.

Cover. Let rise for one hour in a warm protected place (I put mine in the microwave).

Dough should double in size. Gently punch down to release any air bubbles.

DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH!!!

Roll it out of bowl.  Shape and fit into bread pan and let rise for about a half hour (2" above bread pan)  While the dough rises in the bread pan, preheat oven to 350F

Bake 25 - 35 minutes (depending on your oven - I baked mine for 30 minutes)

For a soft top - spread butter on the crust while fresh (hot) from the oven.

Enjoy!

1950's Housewife Challenge

Have you heard of this? Now, before you raise your suffragette bra in the air as a rallying cry, I'm not here to say women belong only in the kitchen and has no place in the boardroom. Women should go/do what makes them feel fulfilled.

The list below was taken from a 1950's Home Economics textbook intended for High School girls in preparation for married life. Apparently Snopes has discredited this claim, but I've read this in a few places and watched some YouTube programs (circa 1950's) which spout the same ideals. So... I think it's quite authentic.

Here is the list:

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal — on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.
2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.
3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.
4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.
5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.
6. Some Don’ts: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.
7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.
8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.
9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.
10. The goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

No. 6 was my bug-a-boo early in our marriage. 

My husband was with the Air Force, now retired and flying commercial aircraft.  When the boys were little and he'd call home, I'd launch into a diatribe of what they'd done, how tired I was, etc., etc.. His frustration levels grew along with mine because, as a guy, he wanted to 'fix' my problems and couldn't. He was not physically there. He finally asked me to NOT tell him my issues. Not that he didn't care, but that he couldn't help. I learned early to bite my tongue and take care of things and keep things pleasant. He didn't need to worry about the family back home. Keep in mind, when in the military he was gone for weeks/months at a time.

Even now, with commercial aviation, he's away / out of country for days. When he arrives home, I greet him at the door with a smile and kiss (not because of the list above but because I want him to know I'm glad he's finally home). I DO offer him a drink. Sometimes it's just a coffee as he's flown all night and it's 0600 in the morning, and sometimes it's a nice cool glass of wine, and we enjoy it on the front porch together.

Do I HAVE to do all this? Short answer: No

Do I WANT to do all this? Short answer: Yes

I truly want my husband to know that I treasure him. He is my best friend, lover and loved one. He was with me before we had children and he is by my side now that they are married and gone. And the one thing I've noticed, after 37+ years of marriage.... The more I show him how much I love him, the more he shows me how much he loves me. It's a mutual admiration society in the Barr household.

There just might be something about those 1950's housewives and their quaint ways that strike a chord during these turbulent times.

Happy Valentine's Day

Hubby and I don't "celebrate" Valentine's Day. It's just not what we do. I think it's because we say 'I love you' every day. The only exception being when he's away on a trip, and even then he usually FaceTime's me, or sends a text.

With hubby having served in the military and being away (anywhere from three weeks to months at at time, AND losing many, many friends during that time) we make sure to always say I love you. You truly do not know from one minute to the next if you will still walk this earth.

The biggest tragedy we faced was in 1985 when two Hercules crashed mid-air. We lost ten friends in a split second. The part that sent shivers running up and down my spine was the fact hubby was invited to join them. It was a three plane formation (rare for Herc's), but he'd just returned from a search and rescue mission and was bagged. All he wanted to do was go home and catch some zzzzz's. Other friends and family were not so lucky.

This is why every day is Valentine's day in our house and why I urge you to always hug someone you love. You just don't know...

P.S.: Hug someone you love today....

QUESTION OF THE DAY

What famous person in history would you like to meet?

What a conundrum - my list is too long for this post. The biblical characters alone would fill this page and look like the chapter where so-and-so begat so-and-so. The major ones being Christ Himself, Esther, and Adam and Eve (I mean, they WALKED WITH GOD!!). I guess that would have to also include Moses and Enoch as they also walked/conversed with God. Then there's David, Daniel, Paul, John (the Revelator), and on, and on, and on... See what I mean? My only comfort is that, as a Christian, I believe when I finally ascend to Heaven, I'll see them all there. So, I guess I'll get my wish someday.

My other choices are varied. They include Jane Austen, Smith Wigglesworth, Katherine Kuhlman, Billy Graham, and finally a woman I always admired - Corrie ten Boom. Her faith, which had been honed by the very fires of hell at Auschwitz, serves as a template for all of us. Years after her release, at a meeting where she was the guest speaker, one of the attendees came up to shake her hand and she recognized that person as one of her guards from Auschwitz. Can you imagine the fear? The flash of anger, maybe even a shimmer of hatred? Corrie wrote that she prayed for God to lift her hand as she couldn't do it on her own accord and He granted her prayer. Through this simple act of faith, she was able to forgive. How I would have loved to meet her and learn from this wise woman. 

Who would you love to meet, if given the chance?

Merry Christmas

READING & DREAMING

Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle

A week has gone by since DH and I embarked on this journey. Neither of us have ever monitored what we eat and there's a bit of a learning curve in this adventure. Not that we eat 'unhealthy', only that we've never consciously thought about WHAT we are consuming.

Having said that, the week was interesting. I'm not sure I like the fact that I'm obsessed with food. I'm sure as we settle into this 'thing' I won't spend almost every waking moment worrying about how I can reduce fat/salt/bad cholesterol - it will all become second nature - but right now I'm poring over articles and blog posts trying to learn something new.

We're kind of a funny pair. DH has to adjust to no snacking and I have to add snacks. He has to reduce his consumption and I have to increase mine. We definitely are two sides of the same coin, and I know this will all work out.

As of yesterday, I've lot 6.2 pounds. My first goal is ten and the final goal is thirty. I've heard/read the first few weeks you shed weight quite quickly with a plateau of sorts to follow, but ten is my first goal and this makes me happy. I truly don't care if the rest comes off more slowly as long as it doesn't come back on.... DH says he has lost some pounds, but he mumbled his number so I think he's a bit discouraged.

Don't worry, honey. I'm going to hide the ketchup and see if that makes a difference next week....

I'm going to post something I borrowed from the Herbal One (TM) website about mindful eating. For the full article, click the embedded link to their site.

PUT THE WEIGH SCALE AWAY

This doesn't mean to totally avoid weighing yourself. But the weight scale can be one of your worst enemies. Regardless of how you try to lose weight, you will have good days and bad days.

When you hop on the scale and the numbers don't deliver the news you're looking for, it can be devastating. So  much so that you fail to see your real progress. The progress that you make everyday, regardless of what the scale tells you.

Remember, you're on a journey toward a more mindful eating, better health and weight loss. The scale only measures one, and it's not really the best way to do even that.

By putting away the weigh scale deep in a closet, instead of leaving it temptingly on the bathroom floor, you'll need to be more mindful in using it, and better prepared for whatever news it brings.

Wordless Wednesday

When you find someone who makes you laugh.

 

This and That

And the scribes and the Pharisees led a woman who was taken in adultery and standing her in their midst saying to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery: and in the Torah of Moses it is commanded for us to stone such as those. Therefore what do You Yourself say?" And they were saying this testing Him, so they could accuse Him. But Y'shua, bending down, wrote with His finger in the dirt. And as they were continuing to ask Him, He straightened up and said to them, "The one of you who is without sin must cast the first stone." Then bending down again, He wrote in the dirt. And those listening were leaving one by one, beginning with the elders. Then only He and the woman in the middle were left. And straightening up Y'shua said to her, "Woman, where are they? Does no one accuse you?" And she said, "No one Lord." Then Y'shua said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, from now on you must no longer sin."

John 8: 1-11

This is a beautiful parable of not only the woman who sinned, but of us. Each of us has sinned and the devil loves nothing better than to throw our past mistakes in our face and taunt us that we deserve to die. But Christ writes in the sand and the devil has to flee. Do you want to know what He would write in the sand for us?

IT IS FINISHED

Christ died on the cross so that if we believe on Him, our sins are forgiven, never to be remembered. Never let anyone tell you that you are a worthless person, for you are so precious that even if you were the only person on this planet - Christ would still take on all your sin so that you can stand before God forgiven. How awesome is that?

Tuesdays with Tupperware ~ Strawberry Ice Cream

What is better on a hot summer's day than homemade ice cream? I have a wonderful Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, which I use regularly and store all my ice cream in my medium deep Freeze It, but sometimes I want something different and I've now found it.

I made Strawberry Ice Cream using my Tupperware Power Chef Premium System. Most videographers that I watched used the Tupperware Quick Chef Pro, but I don't have one (yet) so I improvised and it worked out quite well.

I started making the ice cream around 2:00 pm and by 2:20 I was finished. All that was left was for the ice cream to harden a bit so it could be scooped out, however if you love soft ice cream, then you can eat it right away. It did scoop out, but was a little slushy in the bowl.

Once supper was complete, I scooped out some ice cream and hubby enjoyed a refreshing taste of strawberries on a hot summer's eve.

Tuesdays with Tupperware ~ One Pot Beef Casserole

First,  let me state - I AM NOT A TUPPERWARE CONSULTANT. I don't sell Tupperware (although I did in the early '80's) but I use it and I'm kinda in love with a few of their gadgets. I thought I start posting pictures/ recipes / tips for how to use Tupperware for good... lol

Today, I'm posting pictures and a recipe of something I made today using my new Tupperware Microwave Pressure Cooker. This is only the second time using it - the first was a chicken teriyaki meal (YUM).