Skip The Cake, Eat The Peach Frosting

     Happy 4th of July, my precious readers....wait, there are people reading this, right? For those who are taking a break from the fireworks, pull up your chair and a glass of nice, cold ice tea. We had coffee last time we chatted, but it's too dang hot for coffee tonight. And I gave up diet soda. One week off of it tomorrow! That's something. I was ADDicted. No kidding.

     Did you get your tea? Sitting down? Okay, here we go. So, have you ever had one of those days when NOTHING seemed to go right? I mean nothing. Your hair doesn't do what you want it to, your vacuum cleaner stops working, you drop your ice cream bowl, people get on your nerves, etc. I had a day like that today. Hey, I never said this blog would be all sugar and spice and everything nice all the time. I'm gonna' be real with you. So, I can sense y'all nodding your head that you've had such a day before. Boy, it's those kinds of days when I want to pull the covers over my head and wait it out till the next day. Our little minions wouldn't hear of it, though.

     Ever baked a cake and mixed and blended all the ingredients so perfectly? You even cleaned up as you went. Kitchen looks marvelous and cake's in the oven. Someone walks through the kitchen about mid-bake and says, "What's the oven?" As you run in what seems to be slow motion to keep them from opening the oven door and disturbing your baking masterpiece in the making, you are too late. They look, the drool and then...you guessed it. They let the oven door slam shut. What does this do? Everyone say it with me..."Kills the cake". Oh yes. The cake you so carefully created has now sunk the middle due to the "noise" of the oven door slamming. All bakers know you're supposed to be quiet when you're baking a cake or something of the sort.

     Life is like that, isn't it? You get up and get ready for the day, making plans (getting your ingredients out). You rearrange your day for little hiccups that alter the "schedule" (cleaning up as you go) and then the day still seems to go South (cake dead). But then, like a superhero with his/her cape, you look over to the counter where you prepared your almost delicious cake and see the bowl of frosting looking back at you like a superstar. This, my dear readers, is the light at the end of the tunnel.

     You see, although my day today didn't go like I had planned it to go, sweet things happened that made my day brighter. I was able to talk to our two older kids that are in MS visiting some family - that equals at least 1/4 of the bowl of frosting. Then, our two little boys gave me kisses and shared lots of giggles with me today (a couple of more spoons of frosting). Texts and comments on social media from my family and friends, were just as sweet (scraped bowl clean). Days like today aren't what we ask for. Aren't what we hope for, but if we look over to the counter (special people and moments around us), we'll see the big bowl of peach frosting, just waiting for us to enjoy.

     So, when the plans for your day don't work out as you planned (cake dead again), skip the cake and eat the peach frosting. It'll help turn your day around.

     Thanks for reading.

Peace, love and peaches.

Karen E. Hall

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http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/georgia-peach-buttercream-frosting

Georgia Peach Buttercream Frosting

• Yield: Makes 4 1/3 cups

            Ingredients

• 1 large fresh peach, peeled and chopped (about 8 oz.)
• 3/4 cup butter, softened

• 1 (32-oz.) package powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Process peach in a blender or food processor until pureed. (Puree should measure about 1/2 cup.)
2. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add powdered sugar alternately with pureed peach, beating until well blended after each addition.

Peach Jelly

    

     Hello, my dear readers. Can y'all believe it's June? We are more than half way through 2015!  So many big things have happened so far for our family this year. Laine turned 11 and entered the tween years and finished the 4th grade. Riley turned 5 and finished Pre-K. Taylor turned 2 and is talking so great. And Alex turned one and learned to walk. James and I will soon celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary! AND I'll start back to college soon.

     Now that you're all caught up on our family, getcha a cup o' joe and pull your chair up. I'll wait...Back? Okay. Today, I want to talk to you about good ole peach jelly. Most any kind of jelly tastes purely delish on a fluffy biscuit or a just popped up piece of buttered toast. But, if you spread it too thin on your biscuit or toast, it just won't taste as good. You have to make sure to spread it all over, am I right?

     Life. Love. Family. Such powerful words. Add in words like schedule, sports, homework, errands and boy does that first word become hectic. Life becomes so full of schedules, and to-do's that it can become overwhelming at times. By time homework's done, you sling supper on the table and go through the "Sit up and eat", "Eat your veggies", "It's not nice to make faces", "Stop pestering your brother/sister", and any conversation with your spouse is met with confused looks because they can really only hear every other word of what you're saying. Clean everyone up, clear dishes, baths/showers, play time and bed for everyone. You walk, zombie-like to the couch and sit down, both exhausted and feeling accomplished that you made it through another day and that everyone went to bed happy.

      Doesn't sound familiar? Ha! I bet you have some ocean front property in Arizona you've been trying to sell, too. Meaning? You're kidding yourself. Maybe not every day, but some days you feel tired and wonder how you managed everything through out the day that you did. Through all the hustle and bustle of every day, if you don't take a breather, you can spread yourself too thin. Life just isn't as sweet that way. It leaves either you or one of your precious family people feeling neglected. You need to recharge. You need to take time to have a bubble bath (lock the door or you'll undoubtedly have little people coming to the door :) ), read a book, sit down and read a fabulously written blog --I know a good one--, call a friend, write a letter or card to someone (Please Google if you've forgotten what those are), have a date with your spouse.

     I'm the world's worst at recharging or taking a break. And truly, I find myself totally exhausted by the end of the day. I feel like my family is happy at the end of the day, but it's important for me to be, also. The saying "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"? Well, how can you set the tone for a happy home if you're running yourself too ragged to be happy yourself? Case in point, my sweet parents offered to keep our two little boys for a little while to allow me and Hubba Hubba some time alone. Our two oldest, Laine and Ri are visiting their father in Mississippi for the summer. At first, I was really having a tough time at the thought of the little boys being gone because we already miss our two oldest so much while they're gone. My mom, ever so lovingly said, "You're letting them come spend time with their grandparents and aunt, not selling them off to gypsies." My beautiful mother always has a way of snapping me back to my senses with her pearls of wisdom (May I be half the mother she is...I will have accomplished something phenomenal). So, here we are, enjoying time together and I'm, gasp....recharging. Sleeping late, taking naps, catching up on laundry, posting on my blog, chatting with friends and family, going to lunch with my sweet friend, Myra, redecorating (Boy, is Hubba Hubba happy about THAT...insert sarcasm), just having me and us time.

     Does it mean I'm a bad mama? Heck no! Does it mean I don't love our children? Heck heck  (two "hecks" intentional) no! It means I love them enough to want to be the best me possible and to make sure to keep the flame going with the person that loves me more than I could have ever imagined I could be loved. When kids see Daddy and Mama happy and in love, it evokes the feeling of security and gives them a sense of peace. We are missing all four of our little rays of sunshine like cray-zay, but when they all come back home, we'll be even more in love and we'll be even more ready to tackle our parental tasks better because we've had a little recharge.

     We are like the peach jelly and our family/life is the warm biscuit or toast. If we spread the jelly (ourselves) too thin, our biscuit or toast (family/life) the jelly won't be a sufficient amount. When this happens to our family and our life, everyone suffers. Your family and friends are very important, but don't forget about that other very important person ---YOU. Recharge without feeling guilty or without worrying about if it fits into the busy schedule. You and your precious family will be happier because of it.

Thanks for reading.

Peace, Love and Peaches,

Karen E. Hall

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PEACH JELLY
To make juice, cook peelings, seeds and peaches in water. Strain to make 3 1/2 cups peach juice. Pour into a large saucepan and add 1 box Sure-Jel. Bring to a hard boil and pour in 4 1/2 cups sugar. Boil about 2 minutes or until 2 drops slide together to make a big drop. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.   http://www.cooks.com/recipe/2k2nc7vh/peach-jelly.html

Peach Sweet Tea

     Love. So much power in that one little word.

     I used to work as a Customer Support Rep for a high-end manufacturer of commercial appliances for the home. I worked with a Regional Service Manager who drove me insane by answering my long, drawn out Customer Support email with very cut and dry responses. "I need to get so and so a new <insert appliance here> because theirs is not working and service is unable to repair it and they have 6 kids and 3 dogs and need a working unit." His reply? "No, we will repair it.". "I need to give a service company extra money to hop  on a ferry to go and repair this customer's <insert appliance here> on top of their regular repair fee." His response? You guessed it..."No." I look back on those emails and similar phone calls now and laugh because those things are just a few of the things that made me fall madly in love with that man that I now happily call my husband.

     Love isn't meant to be perfect. But the perfect love for us is us waking up and James looking at me with my make-up smeared (because I fell into bed the night before from taking care of munchkins all day instead of washing it off) and my hair being disheveled and him still telling me I'm beautiful. Or sending me a random text throughout the day to see how my day is or to say he loves me. Or bringing home my favorite candy. Small things that remind me of how much he loves me. Reaching out to take each other's hand while driving the family to the store, fixing each other's favorite meal, watching a movie that makes us cringe - just because we know it's the other's favorite, helping to pick up around the house - these are a few of the things that we do to constantly remind each other that we mean it when we say "I love you".

     Words are empty without actions to follow them up. You can say "I appreciate what you do" all day long, but if you don't show that appreciation by giving your spouse or significant other a chill out time where they get to catch up on their DVR recordings while you wash the dishes in the sink or take the kids for an ice cream cone while she has some "me" time, the words don't mean anything. You can say "I love you" till the cows come home, but if you don't do special things - no matter how large or small - the words can become a habit instead of actually having meaning.

     I know what you're thinking...things take money and sometimes money is tighter than a pair of pants after visiting an ice cream sundae all-you-can eat bar. Lean forward and read closely. Closer, closer, there ya go. Now read on...You don't have to spend money to do something sweet for each other. I'm serious! You don't! My husband and I leave notes for each other all around the house. Doesn't cost a penny, but boy does it brighten my day when I find a note from him. He knows I can not stand touching bread once it's soggy, so if a piece of bread falls from the plate into the sink, he is my hero by coming to scoop the sogginess out of the sink to throw it away. I know he likes chocolate chip cookies so I make him a batch from time to time. We watch TV together after we put the kids to bed, we laugh, we talk - we enjoy time together. Doesn't cost a penny.

     I've read so many articles that remind us to nurture your relationship because, one day when the kids are grown and you have an empty nest, you don't want to be sitting across from a stranger - having not given any of your time to the one who made your family possible to begin with.

     Believe me, we are not a perfect couple. I have my many imperfections and James has his, but we're perfect for each other. Did ya get that? We aren't perfect, but we're perfect for each other. Our imperfections, our displays of love, our willingness to never give up on each other or our family, our willingness to pick the other one up when the stress or daily to-do's seem to knock us down, make us the couple that we are. One that may have good days and bad but that love each other even more fiercely than the day before and that will never question or wonder if the other still does because we make sure that not a day goes by without the other one knowing 120% how we feel.

     No matter how busy we get with the kids, with work, with life, at the end of the day, when I lay my head on his shoulder to go to sleep, I'm safe in his arms and safe in knowing that I'm truly married to my lifetime love.

     That is refreshing to me like a tall glass of peach sweet tea. You put all the ingredients of peach sweet tea into a big pitcher and then pour it into a glass of ice. Same thing with a marriage and each day. A good pitcher of peach sweet tea takes water, tea bags, peaches and sugar. A good marriage takes the same...Love (water) to mix the other components and have a foundation, loyalty (tea bags) to give it strength, displays of love (peaches) to give it that extra kick, and acceptance (sugar) that lets your spouse know that -good days or bad- you're just as in love with them if not more so whether the days or sunny or gloomy. You can't love someone just when things are going right or smoothly; when everything is seemingly perfect. You have to love each other even on the days that seem like the whole world is against you.

     I think I've mentioned this in another post previously, but when James and I started dating, we both said we wanted someone that we felt like we could conquer the world with and we truly have that in each other. One day, a while back, I asked him, "Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to wake up every day, realizing I'm married to my best friend?" His answer still warms my heart. He said, "Yes, because I do it every day." Be each other's biggest fan, each other's strength, each other's best friend. Be the one they can't wait to come home to every day. Make time for each other no matter what else is going on. If you've not been making time for each other, set aside a day or night to have an at-home date night. We usually have ours on Saturday nights. We feed the kids early and then have our separate meal. Make the time. Enjoy each other. Don't be perfect, just be perfect for each other. You'll find it to be refreshing...just like peach sweet tea.

Happy Loving....

Karen
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Sweet Peach Tea

Rated: Submitted By: Michaela.K9 Photo By: sueb Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes Ready In: 20 Minutes Servings: 10

"This is a very light tea with fresh peaches, great for a summer day."

Ingredients:

3 cups water 3 family size tea bags 2 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted, and

sliced 1 cup water 1 1/2 teaspoons stevia powder

Directions:

1.	Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the tea bags, and steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags.
2.	Meanwhile, place peaches with 1 cup water into the jar of a blender, and blend until very smooth. Pour the peach mixture, tea, and stevia powder into a 1 gallon pitcher. Fill the pitcher to the top with water, and stir until blended.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 3/19/2015