Swiss Steak and Cornbread

Hi everyone!
First off, Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom, and to all of you Moms out there.  I hope you all have had a wonderful day.

This morning, I decided to shop my pantry/cupboards/fridge for this week's new-to-me recipe.  And since I wanted to get caught up on my resolution, I decided to make two recipes again.

The past few days have been rainy and gloomy, so I decided this morning to take the slow cooker out of the cupboard and put it to use.  I've had this Swiss Steak recipe from allrecipes.com bookmarked for a while now, and as I was shopping my pantry, I found steak in the freezer, and everything else was already in my cupboards.  Yay!  Here is the link to the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmas-Slow-Cooker-Swiss-Steak/Detail.aspx

It was ok, I guess.  Kind of bland.  I won't make it again.

The second recipe of the day comes from my friend Lynn (the owner of A Pile of Scrap!).  In January at a scrapbooking crop at the store, we had chili for supper and Lynn made cornbread.  I loved it!  And of course asked for the recipe.  Today is the first time I've made it myself.

 It was delish!  Here is Lynn's recipe:

1 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2-4 tbs sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/3 cup veg. oil
2/3 cup milk
Mix together just until all ingredients are combined. Pour in a greased 8x8 square or round pan.
Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Thanks for the recipe, Lynn - it's a keeper as far as I'm concerned!

National Scrapbooking Day!

Yesterday was National Scrapbooking Day - and even though I'm still fighting a nasty cold, I was NOT going to miss the crop put on by my local scrapbooking store, A Pile of Scrap!  I haven't worked on anything scrappy since my LOAD project back in February, so it was really nice to get back at it.

I was at the crop from 10am to about 7pm or so (with some time in the afternoon where I went back home to let the dog out).  My plan for the day was to get 2 layouts done, 2 cards, and work on a special project.  And I brought a few more pictures with me, just in case.

Well, the special project didn't turn out the way I was hoping for, so I stopped working on it after an hour or so.  I ended up creating 5 layouts, and the two cards.  I could have done another layout, but I didn't bring any other photos with me.  Oh well!

Here are the layouts:
This is a photo of my grandparents on my Dad's side; and my brother, sister and I with three of our cousins (the other cousins weren't born yet, LOL) at our grandparents' house on Stout Court in Bathurst, New Brunswick.  I think this picture was taken at Christmas of 1979 or 1980, I'm not quite sure.  See that cabinet on the right-hand side?  My Grampy made that for my aunt (she had porcelain dolls).  I have that cabinet now, and it holds my collection of pottery.

This layout is of my niece Chelsea.  She's 16 now, so looking at this old photo of her really brings back memories.  She might have been 2 or 3 here? 

This layout is for my friend Jackie, the manager of Paw & Order, where Rudy goes to daycare.  Her little Sierra passed away last fall, so this layout will be framed and given to Jackie.

The layout below is another memorial layout.  This is Winnie, and her Mom Stephanie owns Paw & Order.  I told a story on this blog back in February about how Stephanie and her family went to a medium, and Winnie came through, asking why she didn't have a "plaque" on the wall like her brother Calvin did (I made a layout of Calvin for Stephanie a few years ago, and it's been hanging on the doggy daycare wall ever since).  Winnie passed away around Christmas time, and I had plans to make a layout, but Steph was going through a lot at the time, so I waited to ask for photos.  It will be framed and given to Stephanie this week, and I'm sure will be on the daycare wall by next Monday.  I've got you covered, Winnie girl!

And finally, this layout is of me, my high school graduation photo.  Yep, that was in the 80's.  Although my hair wasn't nearly as high as other girls.  But I do have the "wings", LOL.  Good times!



So those are the layouts!  I can't share the cards just yet - they need to be given to their intended people before I post them. 

I had a great time at the crop yesterday - Lynn always does her best to make sure we scrappers are comfortable, fed, and have a good time.  This time was no exception.   Thanks Lynn!

Until next time,

Dana