Favorite Things

Favorite Things: Halloween Candy

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Orange, maize, brown background. Image of cup full of lollipops. Text "Favorite Things: Halloween Candy. Petticoats & Pistols"

For the past month, I’ve been at war with myself. Every time I walk into the grocery store, I’m weaving through towers of displays with every kind of Halloween candy imaginable. I push the cart around bags of Reese’s, only to be confronted with “fun-size” peanut M&Ms. *gulp*

I’m not buying it. Come on, Jill, stay strong!

Beads of sweat line my forehead. The cart slows. Maybe I slow. Who knows? But a sharp right turn leads me down the first row of delicious candy. Then the next one. And the next.

I’m pretty sure I clipped a digital coupon for 30% off. And, wait, is that a buy one get one free deal?

Before I know it, five bags of candy are in my cart.

I have no regrets.

Jill Kemerer at fall festival pretending to stir a steaming cauldron
I’m getting into the spooky season spirit at a local fall festival!

Candy, candy, candy! I love it all! (Well, not candy corn, although I will eat it occasionally.)

All this candy brings me back to my days trick-or-treating. We lived out in the country in mid-Michigan. My mom would usually drive my sister and I to trick or treat. We always stopped at Grandma and Grandpa B.’s house first. Good call on my mom’s part. Grandma would take a bag of mini Milky Ways and start dumping them into our bags. I loved her!

Then we’d head to various aunts and uncles and stop at Grandma and Grandpa D.’s house. Grandma usually made up little treat bags. She was a fabulous cook, so when I saw a popcorn ball, I got excited. Occasionally she’d throw in an apple or shelled peanuts, too. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t into the healthy stuff. The apple and peanuts were probably the last thing I ate!

Another highlight was stopping at our babysitter’s house. Margaret would line a cookie sheet with full-size candy bars, and we could choose any one we wanted. Exciting times!

After we’d made all the stops, we’d head home and dump out our bags. Then came the negotiations. My sister and I had fun trading for favorite candy. My mom and dad always got my Mounds and Almond Joy bars. Coconut wasn’t my thing back then. I don’t mind it now.

I still love Tootsie Rolls. I’m sure it’s from my Halloween days. Oh, and Smarties–the little sugar candies. And Laffy Taffy, and M&Ms, and Twix, and Reese’s, and Snickers, and…

Oh, boy.

I have a problem.

What can I say? I love Halloween candy!

What’s your favorite candy? Were you allowed to trick or treat when you were young?

Have the best day!

One of Cathy’s Most Favorite Things!

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Kind of a funny story. The other day I was wondering what to write about for my favorite things post as I was getting ready to walk my 14-year-old hairless terrier dog Nacho. Walks are something I do most days, barring inclement weather or an illness. I mean, really, there is nothing better for your physical and mental health. Walks relieve stress. Boost your mood. Lower your blood pressure. Elevate your feel good hormone dopamine and your endorphins. The exercise is good for your heart, your joint health, and your muscle tone. Sunshine innaturally infuses you with vitimin D. Socializing on your walk, either going with someone or chatting with people you meet, is one of the best ways to fight off dementia. For me, walks are a short mental vacation. They’re also great for working through a book plotting problem or listening to a writer’s workshop on my phone. Frankly, walks are just what the doctor ordered.

Which brings me back to putting on my shoes and getting ready to go out. I thought, why not write about walking Nacho? Not only is it something I do almost every day, it really is a favorite activity of mine. But I can’t just write about walking. That would be boring, right? Agreed. So, come join me in a typical walk with Nacho.  Oh, and yes, he’s wearing Haloween pajamas.

As you can see from this picture of Nacho, walks are one of his favorite things, too. All the physical and mental benefits that are good for people are also good for your canine friend.

One of our favorite places is the park by our house. There’s lots of green all year long and cool places to explore like this wash.

Sometimes we have to take a break. Both Nacho and I have arthritis and and get tired 🙂

 

 

My Favorite Things by Jo-Ann Roberts

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You probably know from many of my blog posts, my books, and author takeovers I’ve done, that quilts are my favorite things…and they are, most definitely!

However, there is a very close runner-up…I love making Italian cookies! Baked and decorated mainly for the holidays, I have wonderfully fond memories of helping my mother, grandmothers, and aunts baking cookies for weddings, bridal and baby showers, and significant anniversaries.

About two weeks prior to the occasion, my mother and my aunts would gather in the evenings at Aunt Cel’s or Aunt Bonnie’s or Aunt Bea’s (that’s my mom!) home to begin the marathon. Soon the house would be filled with the sweet smells of sugar, lemon, orange, and vanilla extracts. Bowls of raisins, dates, and nuts waited to be added to the doughs. Bags of confectioner’s sugar mixed with water or milk were turned into frostings and glazes and waited to be topped with colored sprinkles.

Of course, a tasting  ‘just to make sure they tasted right” was a highlight. And as luck would have it, there always seemed to be a handful of “oops” that somehow never quite made it into the trays.

Recently, I had the chance to indulge in this favorite activity when my grandson and his lovely fiancé got married in early August. Despite the downpours and the humidity, it was a lovely, intimate wedding with their immediate families and college friends.

In mid-July, I made several varieties of dough and froze them. Because I was on a deadline for “Olivia’s Odyssey” (Westward Homes and Hearts), I made one different cookie a night…I even drafted Papa Bob into helping! The morning before we left for the trip to Virginia, I made up the trays and found a cooler large enough to transport them.

It’s already the end of August. I’ve got two more books to write before the holiday baking season begins…wish me luck!!

                   

Neapolitan Cookies                                                          Cherry Ricotta Cookies

 

                     

Chocolate Mexican Wedding Bells                      Thumbprint Cookies (courtesy of Papa Bob)

 

                       

Lemon Poppy Seed & Orange Cranberry Biscotti                               Russian Teacakes

Italian Cookies (Taralle)                         Fig Cookies                             Scandinavian Almond Cookies

     

Before the wrapping…In a traditional Italian Wedding Tray they would have used Jordan Almonds symbolizing how the newlyweds will share everything equally and remain undivided, and Jordan almonds are often given five at a time. Each almond represents a quality guests wish for the couple getting married: health, fertility, wealth, longevity and happiness. I had to substitute Hershey Kisses as my grandson doesn’t like almonds… I sure hope Hershey Kisses have the same effect!

Final Products!

My Favorite Things – Dragonflies

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Hi everyone, Winnie here.

When I sat down to think about writing this post I had trouble figuring out what my subject would be. I have lots of favorite things-family, friends, a good seafood boil, chocolate chip cookies right from the oven, road trips with friends, and so much more.

But I decided to simplify and go with something whimsical – my love of dragonflies. I’ve always been entranced by them – I can remember when I was a little girl playing in the backyard and watching them dart here and there.  They were so colorful and so fast I just thought they were wonderfully magical.

Back then we called them mosquito hawks, mainly because that seemed to be what they fed on. I don’t know if that’s a regional thing, because when I moved away from the small South Louisiana town where I grew up and said mosquito hawk, nobody knew and I was talking about.

 

Over the years I’ve collected many items with a dragonfly theme, from teacups to trinket boxes to jewelry and everything in between. I thought I’d show you a bit of my collection today, so here are a some photographs.

Here are some teapots, tea cups and saucers – these marry my love of all things tea with dragonflies 🙂

 

Here are some pitchers, both big and small!

 

I also have some platters, tidbit tray and a decorative spoon

 

Here are a few of my trinket boxes and candles

 

And of course I couldn’t resist adding some dragonfly bling to my jewelry box

 

Here is a miscellaneous collection of dragonfly collectibles, a wall hook and some items from my crafting days

 

Some tote bags and coin purses

 

I’ve managed to slip dragonfly images on some of the logoed giveaways I’ve purchased in the past…

 

And also some bookmarks I’ve saved in my ‘giveaway closet’ to put in reader baskets

 

I have other items but I think I’ll stop there 🙂

So tell me about something whimsical that you have a fondness for.  I’ll draw a name from all of my commenters and that person will win their choice of one of my books and any item from the last two pictures – my logoed giveaways or one of the dragonfly bookmarks

 

A Small Town Parade – by Pam Crooks

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I love me a parade. Always have, always will. From when I was a little girl, to the years when my daughters were small, and now more recently, attending with my granddarlings, I’m entranced with the marching bands, floats, noisy go-carts with overgrown men stuffed in the driver’s seat, the tossed candy . . . The whole thing is just full of good, old-fashioned fun.

Parades have been around for centuries. Perhaps the earliest depiction is one found from drawings in a Spanish cave, evidently celebrating a successful hunt. George Washington threw numerous parades to boost morale during the Revolutionary War. Imagine the euphoria from the impromptu parades all over the country in 1945–to celebrate the end of World War 2!

With the advent of television and time, the parades got bigger and more elaborate. Who hasn’t heard of the Mardi Gras Parade, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, the Rose Bowl Parade, 4th of July Parades, and on and on?

I’m not alone in my love for parades.

Recently, we attended the annual parade in the small town near our cabin at the lake. No need to arrive 60-90 minutes early to save a spot, but we did mark our claim with chairs about a half hour beforehand. Parking isn’t a problem at all. Shade, a bit more so. The parade is over before we can barely think of it – only 45 minutes long.

The granddarlings bring a blanket and games and wait excitedly for that first police car escort to appear, signaling the parade is going to begin. Of course, each of the kids bring sacks to keep their candy haul. The treats have been upgraded lately–popsicles, water bottles, t-shirts, swag, and of course, more candy than a kid could (or should!) eat.

Here’s a few pictures to show what I mean:

Remember those overgrown men stuffed into little go-carts?  They were having a ball doing figure-eights in the street.

Who doesn’t love getting their picture taken with a couple of parade clowns?

 

A colorful (and patriotic!) train locomotive.

Best-laid plans sometimes go awry.  This old-time trolley broke down and needed a little manpower to get it off the parade route.

He’s ready to make his move for the next round of candy-tossing.  Note the loot already in his bag! 🙂

Afterward, we played bingo at the local park, had some free watermelon, came out to the cabin to roast hot dogs and s’mores, and then headed home.

It was a lovely day, one that fills my heart with happy memories.

Do you love a parade as much as I do?

Have you watched a parade recently from the comfort of your lawn chair?

Or do you prefer to watch on TV?

Let’s chat – and you can win a bag of parade candy!

My Favorite Thing – Our Cabin at the Lake!

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Living in a land-locked state like Nebraska, big bodies of water are scarce.  We do have rivers and smaller lakes, though, so as you can imagine, water-front property is a high commodity.  There is very little turn-over since families hang onto their land for generations.  If someone does want to sell, the properties are snatched up so fast by word-of-mouth, a realtor isn’t even needed.

Hence, my dream of finding a cabin on a lake was no easy venture.  I looked for 15 years before I found one that I wanted to buy.  Either the property was too far away, too expensive, too junky-looking, on a river (which I didn’t want – too prone to flooding and fast current), or was a permanent home (which I also didn’t want because I, well, already had a permanent home.)

Then, one day, on Craigslist, I found a listing with an affordable price only 45 minutes from our home.  It had a few decorating issues, but when my husband (who tends to be a nay-sayer) checked the construction and muttered the place “had good bones,” I knew we’d found the cabin I’d long wanted.

As coincidence would have it, we were retiring in a matter of weeks.  The timing couldn’t have been better.  My husband had all the time he needed to do some remodeling, and I had a blast decorating.  It wasn’t long until our little cabin and beach became firmly entrenched in our hearts.

Our family treasure.

Here are a few pictures:

The wildlife is fun to see, most of which, of course, I don’t get photos of.

But here’s a couple of big fish right off our dock.

And the granddarlings fishing with their Grandpa:

                                                               

Of course, the fun in the water:

Four grandsons canoeing in their great-grandfather’s canoe.

And doing flips off the dock.

The paddleboard is a kid favorite.  They have more balance than I do, let me tell you!

Afterward, supper set out on long tables under the trees.

With bellies full, my son-in-law and our Golden Retriever lounging after supper.

Good times and precious memories, for sure!

Do you have a special place that your family holds dear in their hearts? 

What does your family do – or where do they go – to make fun memories together?

Favorite Things: End of April

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Pale blue background with apple blossoms. Tag "End of April Favorite Things" Petticoats & Pistols

The end of April brings oodles of my favorite things! Today is my mom’s birthday (Happy birthday, Mom!)–a favorite thing, for sure.

Winter always seems to last forever here (I live in NW Ohio), and by the end of April, we’re almost finished with the cold weather. There still might be a day or two where I’ll need a winter coat, but for the most part, I can pack away the cold-weather clothing. That’s another of my favorite things–replacing my winter clothes with my summer wardrobe.

We’re big football fans in my house, and while the end of April doesn’t seem like it would be related to football, it is. My husband, son and I went to the University of Michigan spring football game on April 20 to check out the new team. It was COLD! Snowflakes came down twice–not cool, Michigan. We still had a great time! (See pics below)

 

Photo of Jill Kemerer in winter hat at University of Michigan Spring game

Block M sign outside of the Big House, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The end of April also brings the NFL Draft, and I watched it last Thursday and Friday night. I loved seeing where all my favorite players landed. This year the draft was held in Detroit. It looked like a good time!

What else? Since I’m a nature gal, flowers, blooming trees, birds and bunnies and squirrels all make my list. The view outside my windows shouts spring, and I couldn’t be happier about it! In another month, I’ll be hitting up the local farmer’s markets, the botanical gardens, and all the summer fun I’ve been missing. Until then, I’ll enjoy the moment.

Do you have any favorite things for the end of April?

Enjoy your day!

Linda Broday: A Few of My Favorite Things

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Most writers do a lot of other things that bring fulfillment and satisfaction. Some love to cook, sew, or travel. The favorite things in my post last year were my rock collection. I just love collecting rocks. But on this one I want to talk about another love of mine that’s dear to my heart–Genealogy and researching my family history.

I’m very drawn to everything on the subject. PBS public broadcasting has a program on Tuesday nights here called Finding Your Roots and I watch it every week if I’m home. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. researches and delves deep into each his guests’ history. Sometimes the results will blow your mind and often the stories his team unearths are sad. It certainly beats fiction.

In my  family, I’ve uncovered a lot of surprising things that often leave me with more questions than answers. Ancestry.com has billions of records of births, deaths, census records, and newspaper articles. Through them, I discovered that the man I was led to believe was my grandfather isn’t. When he was twenty-three years old, he ran off with my grandmother who was almost forty and she was seven months pregnant with my mother. She already had five children, the oldest of which was married herself. She looked old, tired and used up, not some gorgeous woman. I’ve asked myself why? What would tempt a young man with his life ahead of him to do something like that? She never divorced her husband John Ellis and there are no records where she ever married this young man who lived on a neighboring farm in Arkansas. My mother said Ben used to get drunk and yell to her that she wasn’t his kid.

So fast forward thirty-seven years and Ben is dying of Black Lung Disease. He’s fathered another daughter and buried my grandmother. Who does he ask to take care of him? My mom. And she does. Not sure why, but I’d like to think he begged her forgiveness. So many questions I wish I had asked Mom.

Another story was about Ben’s brother, my uncle. Or at least I was told he was. William Henry died when he was twenty-six and I had a difficult time trying to find what happened to him. Then I ran across a newspaper article published in 1917 that told how was killed in a construction accident. He fell off a roof into a large vat of fresh cement and was buried in it. He died before they could get him out.

There are so many stories that grab your heart. I love knowing about these people and finding out that I have some of the same strength as my ancestors did. I come from a long line of immigrants. A few years ago, I did my DNA and 80% was English and Scottish. I had small percentages of Norwegians, Swedes, and Irish. That surprised me because I’d always thought I was mostly Irish. But no. I love knowing that I might’ve descended from Vikings. They regularly invaded England and Scotland and must’ve married one.

Have you ever done your DNA? Or have you researched your ancestors? Or tell me about one of your favorite things. Leave a comment to get in a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card.

One of my Favorite Things? Halloween! – by Pam Crooks

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When I saw that my day for Favorite Things fell on Halloween, I instantly knew what to write about.

A no-brainer, right?

Except Halloween wasn’t always as much fun for me as it is now.  Oh, I did the mom-thing and made all my girls’ costumes.  Some of them were very creative.  The planning and prep was fun through the eyes of my daughters, and I truly miss that part of Halloween even now.

But of course, the time came when they quit dressing up.  They grew up, married, and had kids of their own to make costumes for.  Halloween fell a little flat for me in those years, and the fact that we live in a quiet neighborhood comprised of empty-nesters, too, didn’t help.  If we get 15 trick-or-treaters, it’s a big night.

So the more grandkids I had, the more I began to live vicariously through their celebrating.  Having a family Halloween celebration before the 31st allowed me to see them in costume without intruding on their trick-or-treating.  And a celebration couldn’t happen without a meal.  Since all four of my daughters are great cooks, we all got into the spirit of fun spookiness.

I can’t share all of the pictures I’ve taken over the years, but here are a few of my favorites.

Monster burgers – my favorite Halloween entree ever.

Puking Pumpkin

Jalapeno Mummies

Pumpkin Relish Tray

Hard-boiled Egg Eyes

Bloody Guts

(Don’t worry – it’s only cinnamon rolls with red frosting.   Ha!)

New this year – my Skeleton-in-a-Casket Charcuterie Board!

This was a fun and easy treat – oatmeal cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter cups made into spiders.

 

Graveyard Poke Cake

We cut into this dessert before I could snap a picture, but my daughter made it just like this.  So cute!

And last but not least, my husband as a Playfully Scary Clown!

How do you celebrate Halloween?

Home Sweet Home

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For a lot of years, I didn’t go anywhere. With five kids and homeschooling, a ton of dogs and other animals to care for, a husband who was seldom home and loads of gardening and farm work to do and not much money, we didn’t even take vacations.

But I love seeing new places and traveling, so now that the kids are older, I was able to go to three different writing things this year, flying out to each of them.
This past weekend I was in south Texas visiting a writing friend, Alexa Verde. I love Texas – big and hot and so much history. I love the other places I was at this year – Minnesota and Lake Superior and South Dakota, the Black Hills and the hardy people who live there. But there is something so sweet about pulling into my driveway, seeing the pasture we cleared and planted and fenced, seeing the cows under the shadow of the Blue Ridge and driving under the sugar maples that line the last one hundred yards of our drive and pulling into our house.
Sunday night when I got home, my family had waited up for me, and in the darkness, figures materialized as I parked. My daughter was hugging me before I even got out of my car and my dog was trying to climb into my lap (she’s a 60 pound German Shepherd, but she thinks she’s my lap dog). A warm, late summer breeze blew softly, stirring the leaves in the apple tree, and a half moon shone, giving the mountains in the distance just an outline of the grandeur I knew was there.
There’s something about the mountains that I love and that feels like home, even though these mountains are different than the ones I grew up in up in PA. I suppose they’re like sentinels, in a very real way, because they interrupt the air currents and keep us safe from tornadoes. I love thunderstorms and do not fear them, mostly because I know the mountains literally have my back.
When I drive to PA, I cross the Potomac River and drive a few miles through Maryland before I hit the PA line. Those mountains are the familiar bench shape, they look older, but smaller. Nestled on this side of Town Hill Mountain, is the little town of Amaranth. Just a post office and one or two houses, plus a church, of course. (What is a town without a church?)
It’s about two hours from where I grew up in PA and my Aunt Ruth used to live there. I visited her farm for a week or so each summer before I was old enough to work full time on the farm at home. It’s where I learned what an electric fence was. (And if you know, you know, right? ) It’s where I first smelled that clean, slightly farm scent of dozens of fresh eggs, just laid. (They owned a chicken house, such as it was back then, along with their beef cattle and hogs.)
We baked peach cobbler, peeled a million apples (and threw the peels to the hogs), stepped on thistles, learned to quilt and play cut-throat games of checkers. My aunt was paralyzed from the chest down, but I never heard her complain. She was not depressed and she didn’t mope. She got up every morning and worked just as hard as anyone I knew, and hard work was a given in my family. I learned a lot from her, and I loved my time on her farm, but I’d sit at the window in the spare room after everyone else had gone to bed and watch the headlights on I70 go up Town Hill and over the other side and wish I was home, because as much fun as I was having, home was always where I wanted to be.
I guess to me, home is where people love you. Where they run out to your car and hug you before you can get out of it, even if you were only gone three days. Where you laugh and cry and work together. Where the mountains remind you that God is your strength and help, where you sing and play instruments and the halls ring with God’s music and praise to him. Where you step outside, and yeah, there’s a lot of work to do, but many hands make light work and home is where the work is light and there’s good food, fun and fellowship with people who love you, and who like you, too. Because there’s a difference, right?
But, maybe the older I get, the more real the idea has become to me that this world is not my home. Aunt Ruth isn’t here anymore, nor any of her sisters, my beloved aunts, whom I used to visit as well. My mom resides in Heaven and it feels like more and more of the people who love me have moved there. Maybe that’s one of the lessons of life, since, I love my earthly home, but I am more and more eager to get to my Heavenly one.
Home is one of my favorite things. What makes your home feel like home to you?