High Tea at the Empress

Our whole family and friend had High Tea at the Empress Hotel on Victoria Island. The food and tea were sooo delicious and the atmosphere was sooo English. Our father bought us the same tea cups that were used at the tea. (We also got their recipe book! Yummy)


Even though the food was great, we still ended up eating dinner an hour afterward. Tea sandwiches and scones weren't our dad's idea of a dinner!

~Sisters

Meet Laura

These are a few of my favorite things...

She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
Proverbs 31:17

I will give thanks to the Lord
with all my heart;
I will tell of all Your wonders.
I will be glad and exult in You;
I will sing praise to Your name,
O Most High.

Psalm 9:1-2

~Laura

Nest Transfer Successful!

The transfer of the nest into the old boot was successful!  Not only did they find their "new home", but look what we found when we came home from vacation.  Can't wait to see the new babies when they hatch.  We will keep you posted. 

~Sisters

We're Back!

We just finished a trip that took us through~New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Canada, back to Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico again, and finally home. We would like to share some of the highlights for those who have never been to these places, but would like to. We'll try not to bore you or ramble on. We know how interesting home movies are to other people. ~~  Giggles ~~ We'll try to follow our original purpose for this blogsite pertaining to homemaking and the Proverbs 31 woman. (With a little bit of this and a little bit of that added in for extra flavor.)

We'll start with one of our favorites~~

THE SANTA FE FARMER'S MARKET!!!!

We're Almost Home!

We've been on an exciting trip for the last two weeks. We'll share some of our adventures with you when we get back home (we're on the last leg of the trip and on our way home). We've had limited access to computers, so there haven't been many posts lately. Hope we don't swamp you with too many when we get back. :-)
~Sisters

Mystery Project Clue #4

She makes linen garments and sells them...
Proverbs 31:24
~~Laura

Part 3 of Precious Things

Marvellous and very precious is the Corner Stone Elect;

Though rejected by the builders, chosen by the Architect;

All-supporting, all-uniting, and all-crowning, tried and sure;

True Foundation, yet true Headstone of His temple bright and pure.

~Sisters

Blueberry Smoothie

I have had some ladies ask about the blueberry smoothie.

Tahini is ground seseme seeds. (just like peanut butter) We use it in salad dressings, desserts, and smoothies. It is one of our staples in our pantry because of the great taste and high calcium level. Just remember to keep it in the fridge after opening.

We are currently on vacation and do not have the recipe with us, but we will tell you how we make it. (we don't really mesure anything)
We make this in a vita-mix and it REALLY needs to be made in a high-speed blender, otherwise it is VERY grainy and not-too-pleasant for a "smoothie".

This recipe makes 2 servings~
2 Frozen Bananas
1 1/2 C. Frozen blueberries
1 Large handful of almonds
1 Tablespoon Tahini
1 Tablespoon Pure Maple Syrup or Honey
As much water to your liking. We normally put in up to a half of a cup because we like ours VERY thick. We like adding 'bee pollen' to ours when allergy season is here. (But we normally end up using it year round)



To give you a clue as to where we are tonight, we are at a friend's home overlooking Puget Sound. Were are RIGHT on the water, and the view is just breathtaking. More adventures to come later.

Birds Nests

Look at what we found inside Elizabeth's pair of rollerblades. Yes inside BOTH of them!

We had been seeing some birds flying in and out of our garage this past week. Little did we know that they were making nests in her rollerblades. The thing that gave away their hiding-place was one day I saw one of them flying out of the rollerblade. WOW this is SOOO neat! We had to gently transfer the nests into an old hiking boot so that she could go skating again. Have any of you had something similar happen? ~Sisters

My Favorite Puzzle

We fell in love with this puzzle and I am going to try to frame it. It is an older sister playing the piano, the younger sister playing with her doll, and their Bichon Frise. This couldn't match Elizabeth and I (and Bingley our Bichon) more closely.
Nancy Leigh DeMoss spoke at our Bible Study this spring and mentioned how she loves putting puzzles together. Afterward she told me how to frame them. I have a couple completed and couldn't bare to take them apart. Now I have the perfect solution! ~Laura

The Best Blueberry Smoothie in the World

Here is a picture of our favorite smoothie. It has blueberries, almonds, bananas, tahini, maple syrup, water, and bee pollen. We got the recipe out of the 'non' cook book REJUVENATE YOUR LIFE by Serene Allison. It truly is the "BEST SMOOTHIE IN THE WORLD". ~Sisters

P.S. You can order her book at www.aboverubies.org

Strawberries

If you think that the cake below is a bit too rich and/or fattening, here's an excellent salad that would lighten things up!  We made it with baby lettuces from our garden.  Add organic strawberries, red onion strips and chopped walnuts.  We made the dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and salt.  VERY refreshing.  ~Sisters

Happy Birthday Daddy

I made a Genoise cake for Daddy's birthday. One layer was plain and the other was chocolate.  In the middle was a layer of chocolate ganache.  The icing was a rich chocolate buttercream.  It was the first time I made this recipe (which was a combination of 5 recipes) and it took most of the afternoon.  There was a lot of work with the double boiler and A WHOLE BUNCH of chocolate, butter, and heavy cream involved. Daddy loved it and is still eating it.  He said it was even better the second day after it was refrigerated.  I used recipes out of the WILLIAM SONOMA BAKING BOOK for this cake.  I had a few bloopers, but the result was delicious.  ~Laura

Part 2 of Precious Things

"Christ is precious, O most precious, gift by God the Father sealed;

Pearl of greatest price and treasure, hidden, yet to us revealed;

His own people's crown of glory, and resplendent diadem;

More than thousand worlds, and dearer than all life and love to them."

Frances Ridley Havergal 

~Laura

Mock Tuna Salad

Here is our version of several raw mock tuna recipes~

4 Large Carrots

2 Celery Stalks

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

1 C. Walnuts

2 T. Dulse and/or Kelp Flakes

2 T. Organic Soy Sauce

1 t. Onion Powder

1 T. Flat Leaf Parsley 

Vegan Mayo to Taste

Finely chop the carrots, celery, red bell pepper, and walnuts.  Mix in the next 4 ingredients.  Add in as much mayo as you like.

We ate this Thursday with avocado, and we stuffed it into whole wheat pita pockets for a picnic lunch after bible study Friday. 

In bible study, we have been studying the book of Joshua and have been putting Joshua 1:6-9 to memory.  The verses are all about being strong and of a good courage.  My favorite version to memorize these verses in is the KING JAMES VERSION because of the word "withersoever". The sound of all the neat words is alot of fun to memorize. :-)

~Laura

Meet Elizabeth

Elizabeth does not know that I have decided to introduce her to everybody! Muddy and I put together 2 slide-shows of her when she was practicing her violin.
~Laura

Mystery Project Clue #3

Aiguille et Fil

~~Laura

Sewing Machine Poll

Do you have a favorite sewing machine? Please post a comment and tell us your favorite and what features you like best. I love sewing sew........ much and Elizabeth is starting to learn also. Sharing one machine isn't easy. I'm currently using my mother's machine and am starting to look around for one of my own. Thanks for your opinions.

~Laura

Tomatoes

WOW! We are SOOOO excited that the tomatoes are on the way to producing! Elizabeth has already started to draw them. We will post another of her paintings in a couple of months when they actually have tomatoes on them!
~Sisters

Weekly Verses

During piano lessons 1 1/2 years ago, while working on the hymn "LIKE A RIVER GLORIOUS", our teacher introduced the book LIFE CHORDS by Frances Ridley Havergal. I do not think that it is in print anymore. We bought ours used over the internet. This verse is part 1 of "Precious Things". I will share the rest of the verses periodically.
~Laura

"O WHAT shining revelation of His treasures God hath given!

Precious things of grace and glory, precious things of earth and heaven.
Holy Spirit, now unlock them with Thy might golden key,
Royal jewels of the kingdom let us now adoring see!"

Salad Time

Here is another salad idea ~
Organic baby greens, organic romaine hearts, organic spinach, red bell pepper, grated organic carrots, grated organic beet, chopped organic red onion, artichoke hearts and capers. We topped this salad off with a dressing that has organic fresh lemon juice, dijon mustard, organic olive oil, and celtic sea salt.
Deee-licious!!

We normally won't post on a Sunday but this was too beautiful and the whole family got in on taking the photos! ~~Sisters

Banana Muffins

We are so sorry that we have not posted in so long. Our computer crashed the day that we had planned to post! We changed from a PC to an iMac and are still trying to figure it out!

Here is our favorite recipe for whole wheat banana bread (or muffins). We wait until the bananas have brown spots before we make them. We freeze the muffins for our father and he eats them for breakfast every morning. We even make our own brown sugar! We have made this recipe with both pecans and walnuts, and we make bread, muffins, mini bread loaves, and mini muffins!
~~ Sisters

Banana Muffins~

3/4 c. BROWN SUGAR
1/2 c. COCNUT OIL
2 FARM FRESH EGGS
1/2 tsp. SALT
1 tsp. BAKING SODA
1/4 c. BUTTERMILK
2 c. WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR
3 SMALL MASHED BANANAS
1 tsp. VANILLA
1 c. PECANS OR WALNUTS


CREAM TOGETHER THE BROWN SUGAR AND COCONUT OIL.
ADD THE EGGS 1 AT A TIME, THEN THE SALT.
DISSOLVE THE BAKING SODA IN THE BUTTERMILK.
STIR THE FLOUR AND BUTTERMILK INTO THE ABOVE MIXTURE
STARTING AND ENDING WITH THE FLOUR.
ADD THE BANANAS, THEN THE VANILLA, THEN THE NUTS.
BAKE IN A PREHEATED 350 DEGREE OVEN.
MUFFINS ~ ABOUT 15-20 MINUTES
BREAD ~ ABOUT 1 HOUR

Mystery Project Clue #2

... And her hands grasp the spindle.

Proverbs 31:19

~~Laura

Spring is Here

While outside in our backyard we could not resist

capturing these flowers on camera!

They grow on our fence right by our garden.

~~Sisters

Mystery Project

I am currently working on a new project. This picture is the first of several clues leading to my mystery project. The final clue will lead you to the answer. I am planning a final unveiling around mid to late May God willing.

~~ Laura