treasures

I saw this photo and absolutely fell in love.
Mostly with the table! love, love, love. LOVE!
Since then, I have been on a mission: Find one. Doesn't have to be identical, just drop-leaf and old.








So recently I was wandering through my favorite (local) antique store and spotted this beauty. $80.
I am too cheap. It's worth $80 to me. My hubby, however, would sigh, make a face, and say something along the lines of "you would spend money on that?"
I also found an old kitchen table that was white, no drop leafs, for $45. Closer to my price, but no beloved drop leafs! What to do?

I walked away.





I am not crazy, thank goodness. A friend of my hubby's said he had gone to a little antique store south of town with his mom and grandma once and pointed me in that direction. So GLAD he did. I scored.
A little drop leaf table in the corner, wonderfully accompanied by 2 HIDEOUS chairs for $40.
I asked the little lady up front about it, telling her I was not even interested in the chairs. But how much did she want for just the table?
She looked it over. "$20."
I picked my jaw up off the floor and said, "I'll take it."
And then wrangled it into the truck. 
I wasn't going to tell her that those chairs weren't worth $20. maybe they are to somebody, but $20 is $20.
Next will be a coat of paint, but that's for another day!

Meredith Andrew's Vegetable soup

This is singer/songwriter Meredith Andrew's Vegetable Soup recipe. watch her recipe here She had a "dump this can and that can" sort of recipe and forgot a few things, so I thought I would help it out a bit and provide a little more instruction.

3 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 lb of country sausage (i think she used beef, but this sounded better)
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1/4 cup of onion
2 cans of "fire-roasted" diced tomatoes
1 box of chicken broth
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of celery, chopped
1/4- 1 cup of carrots (i grated mine and only did 1/4 cup)
1/4-1/2 tsp of salt, pepper, and garlic powder each
1 tbsp of McCormick's Montreal chicken seasoning
3 (definite) potatoes, cut in chunks
1 can of corn, drained
1 cup of green beans (fresh or frozen)

In a large pot, cook the country sausage on medium heat, using the oil to keep it from sticking. Use a spatula to break them into small pieces and cook thoroughly, add onion and garlic.
When the onion start to brown, add diced tomatoes, broth and sauce.  Stir in celery and carrots.
Add seasonings. Add more to taste. Simmer for a few hours.
3-4 hours before serving - add potato chunks.
1-2 hours before serving - add corn and green beans.
Enjoy. It's yummy for your tummy!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

This blueberry coffee cake rocked my world a few moths ago... and I got the recipe!! It's so good! We've been nibbling on it all day! 2 cups whole blueberries
1/2 cup water
1 T lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 T baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground mace
1 cup butter
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In a saucepan combine fruit and the water.  Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes or till fruit is tender.  Stir in lemon juice.  Mix the 1 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir into fruit mixture.  Cook and stir till thickened and bubbly. Cool.
In a mixing bowl stir together the 3 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and mace.  Cut in the 1 cup butter till mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Add to flour mixture, mixing till blended.  Spread half of the batter in a greased 13x9 pan.
Spread the cooled fruit mixture over the batter.  Spoon the remaining batter in small mounds over the fruit mixture, spreading out as much as possible. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour; cut in the 1/4 cup butter till mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in nuts.(optional) Sprinkle nut mixture over batter in pan.  Bake in a 350 F oven 45-50 minutes.  Cool.