Upside Down Peach Muffins!

I really should have called this post "A Peach of a Sister-in-Law"! This is my Sister-in-Law, Chandi. We recently went to Minnesota to visit my hubby's side of the family and got to stay with one of my favorite friends - Chandi. She and her hubby, Joel, just bought their dream home and are refurbishing it. Joel is an artist with his woodworking tools and you can just tell the house is so happy that someone who loves her so much bought her! One morning we got to wake up to these yummy muffins baking in the oven. After one bite - I knew I had to share them with the "Klique". Thanks Chandi for the great week, the yummy muffins and letting us love on that sweet family of yours!




Upside Down Peach Muffins

First prepare the custard cups (approx.18 small size)

6 T butter
1 c brown sugar
3 cups chunked peaches, canned or fresh

Distribute these ingredients amongst the custard cups. For me, the amounts are approximate. I just put a little dab of butter and a spoonful of brown sugar in each cup, I don't actually measure it.

For the batter:

2 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt

Mix dry ingred. then add:

1/4 c butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 c milk

Top the cups with batter, place cups on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or till browned on top.

Remembering Woodstock!

The 40 Year Anniversary of " Woodstock' is being celebrated this month in Bethel, New York and,no doubt, many other places. As people reflect back on the year 1969, some remember that as the year that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, that Sesame Street was broadcasted for the first time. That was the year that Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 troops from Vietnam. However, the people in Bethel, New York always recall 1969 with the memories of 'Woodstock". My parent's cabin is in Bethel, N.Y. and just last week 17,000 people attended a Dave Mathews Concert on the grounds that was once Woodstock.



Peace out!
PEACE - LOVE- AND MUSIC still exist and people still flock to the original site. However, there is now a beautiful museum on the grounds which is called Bethel Woods Center for the Arts. This Museum was made possible by local businessman Alan Gerry, who purchased the property along with 1,700 surrounding acres, to build the beautiful arts center and return music to the "hallowed" ground of Yasgur's farm.



Last week, I took my girls to show them what this "Woodstock event" was all about. All of us got an education as we sat in the theater and witnessed Woodstock like we were actually there. If you are in the area I highly recommend stopping by and reliving this life-changing event. Visit their website at BethelWoodsCenter.org.



Peace, Love and Happiness!

Carrier Street Cookies!

My mother grew up very near this house on Carrier Street, in Liberty, N.Y. The home was owned by the Cooper family and the welcome mat was always out. It was purchased by Allan Berube and run as a bed and breakfast, until his untimely death.



The bed and breakfast, when in operation, was a welcoming sight and maintained so nicely by Mr. Berube. He inquired of my mother some of the history from the home and my mom was all too happy to share her fond memories as well as the cookie recipe Mrs. Cooper often made for the children in the neighborhood.



Once Mr. Berube learned of this lovely cookie, he made bags for his guests and attached a copy of the history for his guest to enjoy. The page states: Carrier house is near the site of the old Liberty railway depot. Hoboes, who used to hang around the train yard, came up Cooper Ave. to Carrier and New Street, offering to sharpen scissors and do other work for food. These cookies are from a recipe Bobi Benton ( Ruth Wheeler's Sister) gave me. These were her favorite childhood cookies that Mrs. Cooper shared with neighbors and the hoboes who knocked on her door in the 1940's.



Hobo Fortune Cookies (because they had the good fortune of eating them!)

Sift: 1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup light molasses
1 cup sugar
1 egg

In mixer, mix wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to batter. Stir in 1 cup rolled oats. Shape into balls and dip in extra bowl of sugar. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. Makes 36 cookies.



P.S. If you are wondering about the huge chicken in the yard of the guest house....it was purchased by Mr. Berube from the local dairy queen when it went out of business. I bet it made anyones stay "Sunny Side Up"!

Door Stops and Doll Heads!

My mother came to my house last week. Can I tell you how much I love my mother? I told her this trip, that no matter how old I get - when she dies - I will feel like an orphan. She is simply amazing. I think it might have to do with growing up in the 40's and 50's. There is simply nothing she can't do - even if that is a double negative!



This trip we labeled: Operation Bedroom Curtains! She came with a purpose - and as my dad says "I was cracking the whip". He calls it "Cracking the Whip" I call it bribing with chocolate, movies and dinner. I keep a steady stream of sweets in the house and it keeps her sewing machine moving! This is a picture of my bedroom prior to the new curtains.



We had a plan for what we wanted them to look like - but after we took a little shopping adventure to look for finials we knew our budget had different plans. We needed 28 "Finials" and they were running about 15 dollars for 2. That would be $210 - and that wasn't happening. We decided to put our thinking caps on and head to Home Depot for some improvisation!



We literally went up and down every isle. Could this plumbing fixture be used to hang a curtain? Could this rubber chair bottom boot be used to make a finial? In the end we settled on these door stoppers. They ran $1.50 each and we knew that after one stop at Michael's craft store we would have the complete package.



We bought a bag of 12 wooden "Doll Heads" for the finial part. The "Doll Heads" were $3.00 for 12 - which brought our total to $51.00 for all 28 finials! My hubby drilled the "Doll Heads" to fit snuggly on the door stops. Score! A quick coat of black paint and we were good as gold!



Here is the finished product. You can see we hung the first curtain and the next curtain is ready to be hung on the hooks.



Walla - Finshed bedroom!



Walla - Finished sitting room!



I love you mom! Thank you for spending your time with me! (I'm putting the whip away - till next time!)

Bean Dip and Babies!

The other night our friends, Brian and Chrissy, invited some couples over for game night. While I was there, I not only fell in love with her mother-in-laws recipe for bean dip - I also got my baby fix. Brian and Chrissy, have 4 children, who I have no choice but to believe they are all Cabbage Patch children come to life. They have the perfect dimples, button noses, and curls and just when you think they can't get any cuter - they smile and their dimples get even bigger! Thanks Chrissy for letting me inhale grossly inappropriate amounts of bean dip and letting me get my baby fix!



Chrissy's Bean Dip
1 can (9 oz) Fritos Bean Dip
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/2 package taco seasoning mix
8 to 10 drops Tabasco

Beat above ingredients. Fold in 1/4 cup green onions. Layer half of the mixture in pie plate. Spread 1 cup of jack/cheddar cheese over mixture. Repeat layer and add 1 cup of jack/cheddar cheese to top.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Leaving your Mark!

We are home now and reflecting on our wonderful time at my folks cabin. I don't know what is better - the fresh air and sunshine - or my moms basically letting me veg while she prepares amazing meals and does my laundry. (OK - the later is much better - who am I kiddding?)

One thing my girls always do before we leave the cabin each year is "Leave their Mark"! My mom started this tradition the first year they built their addition. We ink up their hands and press their precious little - and now not so little - hands onto the garage walls.



It's not only hard to believe it has been eight years since they added on to their "getaway in the woods" - but I can't seem to wrap my brain around how big my girls hands are getting. The proof is right in front of me!



Look at those cute little prints at the bottom - compared to the huge hands at the top! Could my sweet little girls be growing up behind my back?

How do you leave your mark on the world?

Benton's Boot Camp!

I'm here in the Catskills with my girls for the July 4th holiday. It feels like coming home. I have come to this lake since I was a little girl. I played with the kids in the cabin next door - and my kids play with the kids in the cabin next door. I love having a front row seat to their childhood memories. One of those memories is Gumma's Boot Garden. It started with those industrial looking little black boots second from the right in the picture above. My oldest, Logan, needed some boots to go find worms with Gumpa for fishing. We found those at the local Walmart - and an addiction was born!
Each year we bought, and left, a new pair of "Worm Boots" to the cabin for Logan. Since she is the oldest of the cousins, all the kids now have a pair of worm boots waiting for them to grow into.



A year ago today, I put my blogging boots on - and Kitchen Klique was born! Times flies - for children and blogs!