The Cottage Around the Corner

Have you ever felt like this? i am feeling so very restless today. If I had a bucket of paint today, I would feel so much better. Alas, it is not to be. I have the paint, but it is too humid to paint. With 5 kids, you have to really watch the humidity. If it takes too long to dry, well... you pretty much just set yourself up. My kids love to help decorate the cabinets. Crayons, markers, pens.... nothing is too creative for them. In the next coupla weeks we will be painting the cabinets. The only problem is we plan on moving in the next year or two. Should I go for the red anyway? It might hurt resale. I love the idea of black, but it might make the kitchen too dark. I just need to remember that it is only paint. If I need to repaint it before the selling of the house, then I do. No biggie there.It would probably be better to do it white for resale anyway. White, for me, is not really a color choice. At least not for now. Not with them as artistically inclined as they are. Maybe I should give in and paint them with chalkboard paint. Haha!! Boy would that be a great selling point!! :) We have lots of plans for this weekend, so I will be posting a lot more this weekend. Until then, my dears....;) 

I love Easter. It is such a relaxed holiday, with some of the deepest meaning. Without it, there would be no point to living at all. In fact, when you think about it.... Easter in every way means life. Without the death of Jesus, there would be no life. Yet, we would have no life had he not come back again. Not a snowballs chance in, well... you know. I know in this country, we tend to casually refer to the crucifixion, death and burial. When you stop to concentrate on what he truly must have felt, it becomes consumingly overwhelming. The first time I had even an inkling of the suffering of Christ was when I watched the movie, "The Passion of the Christ". I had never really thought about all the pain Jesus must have felt those last days of his life. Going through all the torture and then hearing one of his own disciples disown Him must have been so devastatingly painful. I have heard it said that when you are emotionally upset, it magnifies the pain. The intense emotional pain He was suffering would have been far more than I know I could ever bear. I thank Him every day for doing that for me. I know had it been left to me, well... we would all be up a creek of... you know... without a paddle. Thank you God for being perfect!! And thank you for loving me and accepting me even though I am so imperfect and worthless. Your worth gives me mine.

I won this the other day from Debra at the Bunny's Bungalow!! It is stunningly adorable!! I would never have come up with this idea in a million years.... and it is wonderful!! We decided it would be fun to put over one of the bunnies, and then my three year old pretended he was in jail for being a bad bunny. Too funny!

I wasn't sure what to title today's post. So I asked my daughter, Chloe, what to call it. She said:"polka dots". So I went with it.

I am joining a grill party over at Poofing the Pillows. I love to grill. I think anything can be grilled. Even pizza. One of the ideas I really want to start making more of is grilled dessert. I found this recipe a while ago and plan on trying it out on Sunday. I try to make Sundays relaxed, so if I could manage to cook everything outdoors... well... that's a good thing.

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark rum
4 fresh pears, cored and quartered
Powdered sugar
4 slices pound cake, cut 2 inches thick
Whipped cream (optional)
Fresh mint (optional)

Place the sugar in a non-reactive pan and caramelise over medium heat. When it liquefies and is dark brown in colour, add the cream and reduce heat. Add the butter and rum. Stir until butter is melted; set mixture aside.

Dust pears with powdered sugar and place in centre of cooking grate. Grill pears 10 to 15 minutes, until tender, turning once halfway through grilling time.

Sprinkle each slice of pound cake with powdered sugar; tap off any excess. Place cake slices in centre of cooking grate. Grill 2 minutes, turning once halfway through grilling time. Transfer to warming rack and continue grilling for about 2 minutes to warm through.

Cut cake slices in half on an angle. To serve, cross each half piece with the other half on a serving plate. Arrange pears around cake and drizzle with caramel sauce. Garnish with whipped cream and mint, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Thanks to www.weber.com

Camping also gave me several ideas for grilling or cooking over an open fire. I really enjoy the flavor of vegetables, any, wrapped in foil and slow cooked over the fire. Add a little butter and it is delicious. There is just such a nice, smoky flavor with dishes cooked over the fire.

I am really looking forward to reading everyone else's recipes. Grilling season is a comin'!! Yippee!! :)