Monday, October 29, 2012

Blessed...

...in so many ways!

But the blessing I write about today is one
that brings emotion to my eyes and
a smile to my heart.

A friendship that has stood the test of time. 
Actually, the TESTS of time.

She has been a HUGE blessing in my life.
There were times when I thought
I couldn't go on, she sat beside me and listened,
handed me another tissue,
encouraged me with cards and verses from the Bible,
didn't pretend to know the answer to my "WHY?"
prayed for me because I couldn't pray,
she loved me, she gave so much.

She also shares my love for Mexican food
and Julia Roberts movies.  And shopping,
well not really, we shop sometimes but usually we end up
talking in aisles and catching up on each others lives.

Over two decades have passed,
and still she remains my best friend.

This year we celebrate our 40th birthdays,
something we have talked about.
How are we going to celebrate?

We will decide but there is no hurry
because we can enjoy going for dinner and
dreaming until we have another plan.

I say another
because we had a plan...
her dear husband had
bought her a ticket to come visit me
in Costa Rica...
...but
then everything changed.
Her dear husband of 17 years
died suddenly and unexpectedly
and every day became a
painful reminder that he was gone.

So celebrating birthdays,
even 40th birthdays,
have been a little hard
and a little emotional.

but we did celebrate and I was
honored to make her not 1 but 2 cakes.






This was the "decoy" cake.
 Just so maybe we could surprise her with a party.

And so a week later we celebrated again.
And surprised her a little, but she was
putting the pieces together all along.
Her kids did an amazing job of
making sure the details were taken
care of.

And so another cake was on order.






I love you , my dear friend!
You are a picture of beauty
from the inside out.
I am extremely proud of you
and blessed beyond words
to call you friend!



Tuesday, October 2, 2012

A beautiful rainy day!

I don't know if I have ever said that before and certianly not when I was living in Costa Rica without a car.  But today it is beautiful because today is a day where I can stay home where it is warm and dry and don't have to go anywhere...yup, beautiful and rainy can be used to desribe today.

So I mixed up some cookies and I'm thinking a batch of brownies would be an inviting smell for my kids as they jump across the puddle as they get off the bus. 



On the other hand if you stopped by and begged for coffee and a brownie, warm out of the oven,  I would certianly give you one, but you would then also notice that my house is not as beautiful as the rain.  A thick layer of dust has settled as the carpenters work on making my windows air tight and rain proof.  So cleaning right now is like shoveling snow while it is stilling snowing.

But I'm happy, happy to be loved and apprieciated by my family and happy that I have a kitchen aid mixer and happy that I am blessed with so much. 



Enjoy your day, I'm off to find a good brownie recipe. 

Monday, July 9, 2012

Sweet Meet

Over the last school year we have had a Sweet Meet each tri for the students and teachers to get to know each other better.



Chatting over coffee and sweets...its a good thing!

For me it was just an excuse to bake something,
 and apparently we Northerners are known to make good pastries.

So last Friday we had our final Sweet Meet and the theme was brownies.

I made 6 different kinds of brownies with the help of my daughter.

5 of which were new recipes for me.
Other students help bake some yummy bars.

When you have a day that you are going to
make lots of brownies
this is you friend...
Foil on one side and parchment paper on the other.
It made cutting the brownies a snap
and clean up so easy.





These snickers brownies were a huge hit,
you can find the recipe on Unique Sweets FB page.

We also made some
Snickerdoodle bars
Mango Bars
Pretzel Crusted Peanut Butter Bownies
and Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Brownies. 




The countdown is on for our return to the States
after spending a year in Costa Rica
in Language school.

We are so excited and for so many different reasons,
but one thing I am looking forward to is
baking with "normal" ingredients and using my
shiny, red, Kitchen Aid mixer again!



Head on over to my UNIQUE SWEETS
facebook page
and hit the LIKE button in the top
right hand corner
below the picture.

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