Evabeth's Feast...
This is DD Evabeth. She's 6. She had her feast and she fixed breakfast for everyone. That girl can really multi-task! She was baking cakes in her and her sister's Easy-bake ovens- we all got 2 each, she was making waffles in the toaster and quartering oranges all at the same time. Oh, and she was reminding me to set the timer. In case you ever need this vital peice of information, it takes 8 minutes to bake a cake in an Easy-bake oven. She made 22 cakes! She had scrambled eggs, bacon, polish sausage, and sausage gravy and biscuits. The cakes she just sprinkled powdered sugar on top. But the funniest thing about her feast, was her gift. She gave each of the kids their own can of whipped cream! They are always wanting to squirt it into their mouths, but I won't let them. It was so funny when she was handing them out. The boys laughed their heads off! They were sitting in the TV room later in the evening, watching a movie, with their cans of Reddi-whip. Looked like a bunch of depressed women on a binge! Evabeth is such a sweetheart and she insisted we put "fluffy-stuff" on the seats in the kitchen- "...so it'll be more comfy for them." We used old batting scraps. She also wanted to decorate the table with a baby Jesus. I have a thing for nativity sets... but there is one vital rule I never break when acquiring a new one. The baby Jesus must be swaddled. No hands or feet outside the covers. Have you ever noticed how he looks like he's flailing when his poor little hands and feet are all sticking out? What kind of mother would Mary be if she left a little new-born baby all hanging out like that?

The little quilted peice is the wallhanging I am working on for Eva for Xmas. She drew me this beautiful picture- "Mom, I have quilts in my head." She asked if I could tell that she "...did it like a quilt?" Maybe you can see part of her drawing over on the left. This is a little out of my realm, but I just loved her drawing so much and thought that she would enjoy having it hanging in her room. I did my best to keep true to her art- figuring that even if I am not the artistic type, her natural flair will come through. I am finishing up the binding and then I am going to embellish it. I'm not much of an embellisher. I bought some pretty glass beads- like the ones on her headband. And then a fringe of beads for the bottom. I also wanted to embellish her dress with some little seed beads. I bubble-jetted (is that a word?)some fabric and plan on making a fabric color-copy of her drawing to stitch onto the back of the one I made. That way she'll always have it. Evabeth was diagnosed, yesterday, with epilepsy. She isn't scary or anything. She just takes little trips. She says her brain is talking to her and she has be be very still and quiet so she hears and then, can "snap out of it." But you know what? All of that doesn't matter a bit, because she is beautiful- inside and out- just the way she is.

Recipe for Sausage Gravy

• Brown 1 lb of sausage- get a good quality sausage
• 1/4 cup butter- don't drain the sausage- I never said this was lowfat. But if the sausage is quality, then there shouldn't be more than a tablespoon of fat from it.
• 1/2 cup of flour- stir the flour into sausage and melted butter. This should look pretty dry. Cook for a minute or two.
• Now is the tricky part of knowing how much liquid to add. This is how I do it on my stove, in my pot. Pour milk over sausage mixture until sausage is just covered. Stir and cook until very thick.
• Now, again, pour milk over sausage mixture until covered again. I'm guessing about 5 cups, total. Stir until smooth. Cook on low until thick. If it is still too thick, just add a cup of water. Simmer until the desired consistency- this is just a matter of preference. It'll get thicker as it cooks. So if it is thicker than you like, just keep adding milk or water. If you add too much, just cook longer and it will recover.
• salt and pepper to taste- lots and lots of pepper and the salt depends on the sausage. We also like the hot sausage, but pick the kind you like. Serve hot over hot biscuits.

Hope everyone is healthy and happy! Blessings on you!