Monday, October 11, 2010

October Newsletter and Business Directory

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you enjoyed the beautiful weekend.  We hit the fair Friday evening, which turned out to be perfect in terms of the weather and temperature.

The October MOPS newsletter is posted on our WR MOPS website under the Newsletter tab.  Also, I am updating our business directory this week as I have received a few business cards from ladies in our group.  If you have a home business or a recommendation for a good place of business, please email me with your information.

I'll blog again when I've made the updates.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

An Apple a Day

This past weekend I had the pleasure to visit Ellijay with my family. For those of you who do not know, Ellijay is in North Georgia and known as the apple capital of Georgia. Hillcrest Orchards was our first stop.

They had several different varieties of apples I had never heard of like Arkansas Black, Mutsu, and Winesap. I must confess, after they got in the bag, I could not tell one from the other!!!



While the scenery was beautiful, the most glorious sight of all was the apple fritter! ** que heavenly angel voices singing ** I do not know that I have ever had something as scrumptious as this! It was crispy on the outside but the apples were juicy on the inside...DELICIOUS!!!



Next, we were off to Burt's Farm and there sea of beautifully colored pumpkins.



If you are in the market for a wonderful Autumn Georgia day trip and do not mind a drive, try North Georgia!

P.S. they have a great outlet mall on the way, North Georgia Premium Outlets

So, I thought it would be fun and since I have about 20 pounds of apples in my kitchen that I would do an apple recipe a day for the next week. Be on the look out tomorrow for the first.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fall 2010 Consignment Sale

What an amazing Fall Consignment Sale! Everything exceeded our expectations. The facility and there staff were amazing and we cannot say thank you enough to our awesome volunteers. For those of you who went above and beyond your work shift, your commitment and enthusiasm to help were remarkable! We look forward to an even more amazing Spring Sale. Stay tuned for the date!!!


Friday, October 1, 2010

DIY Tiered Tray

Well ladies, the consignment sale was a HUGE success and as promised here is the tiered tray tutorial I had promised.




I took inspiration from the Tiered Cupcake Stand tutorial here at Givers Loft.



I did not like the idea of having to buy allthread or lamp parts, however this idea is great because you can disassemble the tray for easy storing. I chose a more perminent construction with much less expensive materials.



Supplies:

2 unfinished wood candlesticks from Hobby Lobby

3 plates varied in size

epoxy

paint


The first thing you will need to do is paint your candlesticks, I chose a cream color that would match the background of the plates.



Next I marked the center of the plates, i generally do not have a great eye for making things even, so I took a little insurance.



Mix the epoxy according to the package directions, apply to the candlestick and center on the plates. I know it looks crazy here, but i found it easier to glue the candlesticks to the right side of the plates and then assemble the whole thing upside down so I could see the marks I had made on the underside of the plates. Allow to dry for about 1 hour.




Voila! Here is the finished product. You can also add knobs to make them a little fancier, it will give you the look of the inspiration tray.





An adorable tiered tray for under $10.00. What I especially love about this idea is that for very inexpensive you can make trays for just about every season.

Taco Soup Recipe

So, I plan to post a recipe for you here and there. Who am I? I am Joy, one of the hospitality coordinators. I have my own blog, but have stopped posting on it because I wanted to focus on some other priorities. However, I do love to help others find frugal, tasty, easy recipes and that is what you will find in my contributions on our MOPS blog.

What kind of cook am I? I like easy and frugal recipes. I am also a picky eater, so I like to think the recipes I choose are kid friendly. But God gave me two kids who are more picky than I am. :) I also like to try new recipes. My husband and I like to cook "fancier" recipes on our "date night at home" nights. And how could I forget....I love dessert!

Fall is just about here, which to me says comfort foods, soups, pumpkins, apples, need I say more? Its tough to choose just one recipe, but here is a favorite of ours. This recipe is super easy and freezes well. It makes a large pot, so you could always freeze half. I serve it with Jiffy corn muffins.

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef

1 can whole/diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans w/juice

1 can garbanzo beans w/juice

1 can black beans w/juice

1 can corn

2 small cans tomato sauce

1 pkg. taco seasoning


-Brown hamburger in a large pot, then add all the canned ingredients.

-Cook until boiling, then add the taco seasoning and simmer for 10-15 minutes (or until beans are soft).

-Add the corn during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

-Serve with grated cheese on top.

Enjoy!