This 'n That

Ashton was busy last week. She went "up north" for the weekend and as always had a great time. She even had partridge stew! My daughter has turned into an outdoor gal, through and through. Anyone who knows her is surely chuckling now. She was a little lady, very demure and shy and hated to get dirty in "the old days". The last couple of years she has broadened her horizons-alot! She loves to go canoeing, to fish, swim in brooks, chop and lug wood and took a Hunters Safety Course on her own initiative, just "because it would be good to learn". This year she got her first fishing license and hunting license. She has grown up in a family that doesn't hunt but loves to fish and canoe, kayak and hike. But the little lady who loved pink now is into the hunters orange color! Wow. I am proud of her for wanting to learn more, to broaden her horizons and to take the initiative to do so. However, I am very pleased that her hunting is limited to shooting with her camera.

The photos were taken Wednesday. Ashton's Senior class undertook the task of putting on several skits Wednesday night for the public. Ashton's part was to design the brochures and be a greeter at the door. These photos are of a very busy gal folding 101 programs (she counted!) for the show. Later Ashton showed Mark and I the show on the internet (how did they do that??)-a most fascinating experience. The class did an absolutely fantastic job and should be very proud of themselves. We are so fortunate to have great teachers in our school system.

I couldn't resist sharing these photos of my Christmas cactus. However, I call it my Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus. The biggest cactus blossomed once around Easter as well as the fourth of July. The plants started blossoming just before Halloween this year. There are three separate plants in the stand, the top one (the biggest) is an offspring from my dear Grammy Dunphy's plant. She had a gorgeous plant and I was fortunate to have received a slip from it many years ago. The plant to the right (red)is a few years old and the littlest one on the left (pale pink)is just a couple of years old. I do not have a green thumb (not even a slight tinge!) as my mom and her sisters do.

Here is a great receipe that I got from my cousin Heather. It is quick and simple to make and tastes the best when the muffins are warm!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar,baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk, oil, banana, and applesauce in a separate bowl. Stir this into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill greased standard-size muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degree for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tin to a wire rack.

* This receipe makes one dozen regular size muffins and one dozen mini-muffins. I have used milk chocolate chips and the muffins are decadent!

I also make a double-batch and freeze half. Great to have on hand when company comes!

UPDATE on Operation Christmas Child blog-according to the school email today, 30 shoeboxes were collected at the high school for the project-great job everyone!