"Quiet" ~ Five Minute Friday 1/29/16

  Hushed.

 Swirls of dancing snow.

Frigid air,  charcoal grey sky......

twinkling, glittering,  aglow with winter.

Heaving wind, eerily soundless.

A cotton - softness is silence...... enveloping .... wrapping......

shushing....comforting in its own uniqueness...

It is its own transparent self, this Quiet that comes with the chill, with the wintertide.

So different is it  from the world's usual chaos.

So distinct, so separate is the quiet, so disarming.

It begs to be noticed, greeted...

 And to remain unbroken.

And now?

Gone is the softness......

replaced by the swoosh of traffic, the disturbance of engines, 

even the honking of stray geese, awry in the now - blue heavens, 

bright with sun and awash with our comforting daily clamor.

In our loud world, the soft, soothing balm to our souls is quiet.

Thank you for spending some of your precious time today

here at my home on the web! 

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Until next time,

~Chris

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A Snow Day Guide to Games, Books, Movies, TV and Comfort Food { Pepperoni Cheese Rolls & Pizza Dip}

Well. many of us in the eastern US received quite the 
visit from Jack Frost over the weekend!
In our corner of the northeast, we didn't get quite as much as other folks who
aren't used to or equipped for such heavy snowfall  and all the hazards it brings.....
Luckily for my family, no one had to be anywhere necessary and so we thoroughly

 enjoyed "forced" togetherness, hunkering down, settling in and sort of forgetting about the
to=do lists while Old Man Winter wreaked havoc outside.

     

We could have dismantled the tree.....
 yes, the tree as well as stockings and manger are still
up and it looks as though they're not going anywhere...
at least not while Mother Nature is providing a wintry backdrop,
giving us a reason to keep Christmas, even this late in January.
So what did we do while snowbound?
 Spent a good amount of time consumed by print......
  I'm knee deep into
this engrossing author's
 latest and  my 13 yo is enjoying 
 #1  in this YA series.
While my oldest found 
this book a page turner
as a reprieve here and there from studying for midterms.) 
We caught a  few movies......
  Second Hand Lions and  Mrs Doubtfire during the snowed-in weekend 
and took special delight in  a semi binge-watch of season 1 of 
everyone's favorite girl next door 
whocanturntheworldonwithhersmile...Mary Tyler Moore.
Hey, it seems always to be snowing in Minneapolis; so why not?
And how great is it no to watch ep  after ep of a show that we had to wait a
 whoooooooole week to see decades ago,  back
when we'd count our age on your hands and have fingers left over?
Ah, technology!

......And what else.........we also played one solid round of a  favorite
Santa gift...... fellow Whovians, you will love this!
As  well as enjoying some wordplay with this classic.And what would a snowstorm be without time spent in the kitchen baking ....... 
 yummy...and necessary after all that shoveling ( ! )  
 rich, warm, gooey  brownies  .....as well as good old winter comfort food 
I'm eager to share with you all a couple of easy and delicious snack/appetizers!

Pictured below is our version of a recipe I bookmarked quite some time ago
from one of my favorite cooking blogs.
The uncooked pic~~

For Crystal's creation, a bundt cake pan is used and since at one time
in the not too distance past,  I did have a bundt pan, but Lord knows where it is now,
 out of necessity, my spin on the goodies is a bit different.

And here's the finished product of the yummy treats
 we call Pepperoni Cheese Rolls ~~

You'll need:

Pizza dough

pepperoni slices

cubes of mozzarella cheese

olive oil

grated parmigiana cheese

garlic and other spices to your liking

The how- to

Pull off  portions of dough and place cheese, pepperoni 

and spices in each, pinching dough together  to "close."

Place all dough "rolls" pinched side down in an olive oil coated pan.

Sprinkle more olive oil and some  parmigiana cheese on rolls.

Bake at 350 degrees for approx 20 minutes or until "done."

Enjoy dipped in your fave sauce OR with the following..............pizza dip! 

and here you go.....some awesome dip for you~~

My son enrolled in  a cooking class last week at our library and  enjoyed an hour of ingredient-talk and other foodie delights with a wonderful local teacher, Chef Rob.....
all the kids love him and feel he should have his own cooking show!
One of the appetizers rated for just such a snowy day...and for Super Bowl parties:
Pizza Dip!

Here's a shot of the dip, uncooked:

And here it is, right out of the oven~~

A close-up:

The how to, distributed by Chef Rob after the class:

Looks easy enough, right?

Let me tell you....it was amazing!!! 

I hope, friends, where ever you are, 

that you're enjoying and staying safe in winter's beauty!

Thank you for spending some of your precious time today

here at my home on the web! 

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

   If not, just click here to 

subscribe to Campfires and Cleats by email 

quickly and easily  so we can be in touch regularly!

You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

If you are shopping at  amazon and Target. 

why not consider clicking through my link? 

In this way, I will receive a small commission on the purchase.....

at no cost to you.

THANK YOU!

Until next time,

~Chris

BTW, I'm offering photo services and customized

photo packages for your blog or business!
< Subscribers receive a deep discount! >

Easy, Frugal, Candy - Decorated 13th Birthday Cake!

In my last post, a scrapbook of our holiday season,

I received a couple of questions about the featured birthday cake 

for my son's 13th.

Soooooo, I thought I'd put together a quick post to share how easy --- 

and fun---it is to make! 

I'm no superstar in the kitchen, but I do love to bake cakes for 

my favorite people. So here goes!

Pictured here, the super simple steps are below:

Simply bake your favorite cake recipe in two 8 inch round pans and then find

the number stencil for your birthday girl or boy's age.

My son asked for a chocolate on chocolate cake; so that's what we went with!

Then, carefully cut around the paper.........

...to reveal the age-in-cake ( ! ) 

The birthday boy awoke way before I finished and 

wanted a hand in decorating his own cake .....

on his gorgeous, sunny, uncharacteristically balmy December birthday.

Once cut, frost and decorate with the preferred candy of the birthday boy ( girl) .

My son loves him some skittles.

Frankly, I'm an m and m person.......!

 But, either way, it looked quite festive and colorful!

By the way, here's last year's candy shop cake a-n-d-

if you are indeed on a search for the perfect birthday cake, no need to go to pinterest.

Just check out my friend Tracy's blog for all her cake favorites.

You know a blog titled a Slice of Smith Life will feature remarkable desserts

for all occasions, don't you?!!

Thanks for topping by friends...

I'll be back shortly with the full scoop on our Avatar the Last Airbender

 birthday party  held a few weeks ago for my new teen.

Here are our Pirates of the Caribbean party and our  Hunger Games themed fete 

though if you're party searching and want to stop over! 

I'm delighted to share this post at the 

Frugal Friday link up!

Please click over and peruse some wonderfully creative and

inexpensive lifestyle and faith links!

 Friends, as always,  

thank you for stopping over and 

spending some of your precious time 

here at my home on the web!

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

   If not, just enter your email address here

so we can be in touch regularly!

Enter your email address:

  

You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris

Just a Gorgeous January Sunrise~~ WW

.................had to share the beauty outside my window this morn!

So pretty, no?
Those clouds. That sky. These possibilities.

And a balmy 25 degrees! Not bad for the dead of winter.....

I'll take it!

 Friends, as always,  

thank you for stopping over and 

spending some of your precious time 

here at my home on the web!

Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?

   If not, just enter your email address here

so we can be in touch regularly!

Enter your email address:

  

You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....

Until next time,

~Chris