grandma's cookbook - Today is National Banana Bread Day!

My family enjoys banana bread . . . for good reason; banana  bread tends to be moist, soft, and flavorful . . . in short, it is a tasty treat for sure! So, when I discovered it is "National Banana Bread Day", I had to share this bit of news with you! Days of the Year (dot) com says, "Banana bread first started to become popular back in the 1930′s, during the Great Depression. Cultural historians suggest resourceful and creative housewives of the era created the recipe as a way of not wasting over-ripe bananas. In fact, the riper the bananas, the better the taste of the banana bread, so it ended up being a very clever creation! It is traditionally known as a 'quick bread', but is actually more like a cake in both texture and flavor."

Yes! VBS Does Make Solid Dollars & Cents for Your Ministry!

Please share this post with the Children's Ministry Leaders in your church . . .

There was a time, not too long ago, when nearly all churches budgeted for VBS. Most considered it (and rightly so) a part of their evangelism budget as VBS was one of their biggest evangelism outreaches of the year. In many churches it was their biggest outreach of the year. Then in the years leading up to COVID more and more churches stopped using VBS - far, far too many stopped any ministry opportunities to children in the Summertime. Then COVID hit and pretty much all churches stopped offering VBS - and everything in person for two years. Last year some churches were starting to plan for VBS again, and this year even more churches are taking a serious look at VBS. I am very happy to see this as VBS is a fantastic way to reach into your community - it is one of the best and most effective ways you are able to make use of the money you budget for evangelism. Why is this? Consider the following . . . 

Today is National California Day

Today is National California Day - my husband is from California, we met on an active volcano in California - yes, there is an active volcano in California . . . Mount Lassen - and we lived there a few years when our children were young, so I personally find the silly laws and interesting information about California to be, well, interesting! Whether you live in, or have lived in California or not, I hope you find this post interesting, too. Let's start with the silly laws, did you know . . . 

VBS 2024 - SCUBA from Group Publishing

Yesterday I wrote about how it is the time of year where I post my VBS reviews on my other blog - today I posted my review of SCUBA from Group - it is, in my opinion, the best VBS of 2024. Please share this post with the Children's Ministry leaders in your church.

crafting with grandma - Purple Minions

Several years ago when my grandsons were younger I crocheted purple minions for them - the previous year I crocheted Perry the Platypus' for each of them. I thought I'd show you a photo and give you a link to the pattern in case you want to make one . . . maybe for a birthday, Easter, or even Children's Day - which is a real holiday and is the second Sunday in June; you have plenty of time to make them by then if you want to!

grandma's cookbook . . . Strawberries & Cream Pie!

February is the Great American Pie Month, so if you are looking for a tasty pie to try this month, consider making a strawberries & cream pie - this is a family favorite so I'm sharing the recipe for the pie with you today!

It is Time for VBS 2024

It is the time of year where I share my VBS reviews. I used to write my reviews for this blog and for  Christianity Today's Your Church Magazine  - I'd typically review about 16 kits each year. Now, especially after COVID, there are not 16 publishers still producing VBS, but there are some. I no longer review them all - I choose the VBS kits which I believe are the best based on my years of reviewing curriculum and then share my reviews with you. This year I am reviewing VBS from Group Publishing. You will find my full post at this link - please share it with the Children's Ministry leaders in your church.

Today is National Cherry Pie Day

Today is National Cherry Pie Day - if you are like many people, when you think of cherry pie, you picture a baked crust filled with tasty cherries - and topped with a scoop of ice cream, of course! At my house cherry pie looks a little different . . . I take a half block of cream cheese and let it soften to room temperature, whip 1/4 cup sugar with the softened cream cheese so it is fluffy, set aside, and whip heavy cream to a nice, creamy whipped cream, mix with the cream cheese, fill a graham cracker crust, and top with cherries. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve and then, of course, enjoy!

Now for some fun facts about pie - did you know . . .

just for fun . . . Today is Love Your Pet Day!

Yesterday I wrote about how today is Love Your Pet Day . . . and wrote about my cat, Candy - and shared her photo, today I want to share photos about a very sweet Basset Hound my daughter rescued named Rosie and our son/daughter-in-law/grandsons' two terriers named Gimli and Roxi.

Tomorrow - February 20th - is National Love Your Pet Day!

Certainly all of us who have four-legged family members, love them on all days, but tomorrow is a day to especially take time to be thankful for and to love these wonderful members of our family. In my home we have a cat - Candy. She is quite the cat. I thought she would be "aloof" but she is not at all! She greets us when we come home, she snuggles a LOT, and she is a pretty wonderful addition to our family.

grandma's cookbook . . . Easy Chocolate Mousse

We are celebrating a birthday at my house on Saturday - my daughter-in-law's birthday! I always let the birthday person choose the menu and she chose beef stew, biscuits, salad, and chocolate mousse . . . and what could be more delicious than chocolate mousse?!!! :^) It can be complicated and a bit tricky to make chocolate mousse, so I found an easy recipe from Betty Crocker - I have made this before and it is easy and tasty - a great way to end the meal!

grandma's cookbook - Lemonade Ice Cream Pie

February is moving by quickly - for me, so I thought I'd share another pie recipe since it is the Great American Pie Month . . . Lemonade Ice Cream Pie! This pie is so tasty - and simple to make . . . your grandchildren will be happy to help you make it for sure!

You just need four ingredients . . . 

Simple, Fun & Memorable - Make Your Own Erupting Snow!

While there is snow covering my yard, I found a cool project where you make your own "snow" . . . it looks like so much fun, I have to share it with you, too! I was browsing on  Pinterest and saw this link for making Erupting Snow - just follow this  link and you'll find the ingredients and directions for making "snow" and for having it "erupt"! Simple and fun, this is a project children will love, remember and want to show to others!

There are so many possibilities for connecting this cool project with Scripture as you enjoy it with your grandchildren, consider the following:

Next Week is Real Bread Week!

One of my most treasured childhood memories is one which happened in the house in which I live. My grandparents had this house built and when I was a child I visited them for sleep-overs. I loved it when my grandma baked bread and then gave me a slice of bread, warm and fresh from the oven with Peter Pan Peanut butter on it! What could be better!