marie-madeline studio

recipe try-outs

As of late, we've been having fun trying out some new recipes.  It seems like they've just been popping out of the woodwork and calling our name.  It probably helps that we have several men in this house who are always up for a new food-related-item.  Ahem.

So, enter our try at Friday Cookies {above}.  Most of you probably have no idea what a Friday cookie is.  That's okay!  Most of the time they fall under the heading of "Soft Lofthouse cookies" or "Those cute cookies with sprinkles that you get at the store, with lots of icing".  Well, we've taken up calling them Friday cookies, as we used to get them every single Friday. (We've completely grown out of that.  Healthy reasons helped too.)  When we found this recipe, we knew it was a must try.  And, what do you know??  They were ready to eat with Friday night movies.  Ahh....  Now, a word on the taste.  They aren't exactly like the store-bought variety, but real close (and very yummy).  Oh!  The recipe calls for letting them sit for at least 3 hours for the flavors to blend together.  We'd definitely second that.  In fact, they taste even better after a couple of days.

Another new try-out was this Peanut Butter Chocolate dessert.  It's really yummy too.  The recipe calls for a 9x9 pan, and I made it in a 6x11, or something like that.  Let's just say, it's a nice hearty, tall dessert.  Sorry we didn't get a picture of it almost running over the sides of the pan.  My personal opinion was that there was a little too much cream cheese in one of the layers, so I may try and tweak it a little.  Truthfully, we aren't big cream cheese in dessert eaters around here.  (Except for some of the boys that hardly know what cream cheese is, let alone what is exactly tastes like...)

Oh, and we did try these Olive Garden style breadsticks, and they were really really good! Next up to try might be this, or this, or this, or this.  Oh, and these are so cute too!  We'll probably never get around to trying these, though they are so terribly lovely we might just make them for decoration... what do you think?  We better stop right now.  We must have food on the brain!

xxx Kristie, Apphia, Achaia, Abigail, & Abiah.... who are trying to be adventuresome cooks

About the house....

 
 .... you'll find some of these tangerine cuties.  Now, according to one of our friends, food cannot be labeled "adorable".  However, if any food could be, it would be these.  (Oh, and they are good too.) 
                               Then in the kitchen, you will see these speckly salt & pepper shakers.  We got them on our trip, and have had so much fun using them.  You see, one of our Fiesta shakers had broken, and we were stuck with using the pepper straight out of the "box".  Somehow that just didn't seem right.  So, these happy shakers fixed all that.  Besides the fact, we got some red speckly bowls to go with them (you can kinda see them in the background). 

Also, we have some sunburned faces around the house.  It's our first sunburns of the year--- summer is coming!
                  Rainbow sherbert.  Yummy.  Need we say more?
                               And, finally, a happy new skirt that Achaia scored in a Fredericksburg store for $10.  It's light and airy, and has tucks and velvet ribbon.  Unbeatable combination!

Happy Thursday to everyone! xxx

the story of the primrose dishes (as told by Achaia)....

The dishes were so beautiful.  And I couldn't say no.

It all started on Monday.  I was out flea marketing with my sweet mom and sisters, along with two good friends.  We were in a store I'd never been in before.  I turned around to walk in one of the booths, and guess what caught my eye?  These lovely dishes!  I had to get down close to them, pick them up, run my fingers over the pretty floral design.  Sigh.  Perfection.  It took some refraining on my part, but I didn't come home with all the dishes the store had.

After getting home and looking in one of our Fire King books from our dearest Nanny, I found the pattern is called Primrose.  It was made in the late 50s to the early 60s.  What could make me happier except the fact that they match with some of my all-time favorite fabric? 

spring cleaning (in the summertime)

We never did quite make it around to our official spring cleaning this year.  Too busy.  But this week we've started taking it one room at a time, scrubbing and reorganizing as we go.  Are we the only family that has dust elephants (not bunnies, mind you) underneath our furniture?

Don't forget, our free shipping offer ends at midnight on July 4th!  Use code SUNNYDAYS at the checkout.

XX us

laundry day.

 

We like simple things.  Like using an old teacup instead of the not-so-cute plastic thingy to scoop out our powdered laundry detergent.  Just because we can.  It makes laundry days more fun, don't you think?

love, the Long ladies

an apron giveaway!

Good morning, all!  We wanted to let you know that our new friend Mary Jo is giving away a marie-madeline apron over at her blog, Covenant Homemaking.  The best thing about it is, you get to choose your favorite style and fabrics.  Plus, reading Mary Jo's blog is a real treat!

Be back soon...

xo, the Long ladies 

Nana's dishcloths!

 

We are so very blessed to have two of our great-grandmothers still with us.  Grandma Conwell (Mom's grandmother) is 93 years old.  Her name is June Madeline-- we named our business after her!  She's a beautiful lady with snow-white hair... and as the Lord would have it, we inherited our creativity and artistic ability from her (and her daughter-- our grandmother Nanny, of course). 

And Nana, well, she's quite a lady too.  She's a fiesty little thing at 94 years!  She says that you're only as old as you feel... and she feels about 35.  Lately, Nana's had to keep to her chair a little bit more, but that hasn't stopped her from getting a lot done.  When she isn't reading or talking on the phone, we've started her on crochet.  Nana crocheted when she was younger, so it all came back quickly.  Then she got this great idea.  Why couldn't she help us with our business?  And why couldn't she make beautiful things for other people, while she sits at home?

So.  Would you like to make Nana's day by purchasing some of her lovely dishcloths?  They come in groupings of three cloths, in a wide assortment of colors-- Nana likes to make them bright.  Or, you can choose a dishcloth and potholder set!  All of the profits go to Nana (for more yarn, you see), and we'll ship them to you for free.  Get 'em while they last! 

(Just so you know, these dishcloths are the best.  They're the only things we ever use.  Nana says she uses them for everything from wiping baby faces to scrubbing floors.  They're that good.)

100% cotton handmade dishcloths by Nana~ $8

1. Fiesta   SOLD                                         2. Spring   SOLD  

 

3. Vintage   SOLD                                       4. Sunset   SOLD

  

5. Sea    SOLD                                           6. Lilacs  

   

7. Earth   SOLD

 

100% cotton handmade dishcloth & potholder set by Nana~ $6

1. Lemonade   SOLD                                  2. Christmas

  

3. Birthday (2 in stock!)                             4. Candy

   

Buy them for yourself.  Get some for a friend.  Add them to your hopechest.  They make great gifts!  And, they make Nana happy. 

Send us an email with your order!

xo~ the Long ladies

 

Nana and the girls, spring 2009~

  

A giveaway-- because you really do need a new apron.

Guess what?  That's right... we said giveaway.  Our friend Brianna has graciously offered to give away one of our custom aprons!  All you need to do is mosey on over to her blog to sign up.  You get to choose the style of apron and fabrics if you win.  So get after it!

And to top it all off, Brianna is one of the sweetest people you could ever hope to meet.  Take time to read her blog-- we love it! 

xo~ the Long ladies 

doing the dishes...

Dishes are one of those things with us Long ladies.  We all collect them!  Oh the days, spent scouring flea markets for the perfect dish.  We each have a favorite pattern, a favorite color(s), and a favorite style.  Here are our recent (gorgeous) findings... now tucked safely away, until we have the pleasure of using them in our own homes, Lord willing!

for Achaia~ a fabulous floral 70s-style pitcher--

 

     

for Apphia~ perfectly elegant turquoise (!) "bubble" cups and saucers--

  

   

fabrics: farmers market and pop garden  

"I'm hungry, Mom!"

I'm sure that everyone who's reading this likes to eat regularly... we all have that same habit... but one thing I find hard to do is think about what exactly I should make for this big family of mine.  Before I started menu planning, I would get out of bed and be hit with the realization that it was entirely up to me to see that we were all fed.... what a chore!  I must ashamedly admit, that it wasn't a job that I really enjoyed.  So, after I could no longer think of anything to eat, I started planning a menu for a month at a time.  What freedom!!!  In this already-too-full brain of mine, I have one less thing to think about!  All I have to do is look at the menu and say, "Girls, we're making cheeseburgers and fries tonight".  Not to say that we don't ever change the menu, and not to say that everyone likes all that we eat.  But, everyone eats all that we serve without complaining.  Here is a sample of our December menu.

If I change my mind and we eat something unplanned, I'll circle what we DIDN'T eat and write in what we ate instead.  This way I'll know what we have on hand to eat at another time. I also try to keep a balanced menu to make sure that we're eating healthily.

One thing that we've been doing lately is making plenty of extra to freeze.  For instance, I've found that making two meatloaves is not much more work than one, so we make two and freeze one for another night.  Then all we need is some green beans and potatoes and bread and we are good to go.  As life seems to move by more quickly and we seem to always be busy, I think planning ahead is a great way to help take the stress out of feeling-hungry-and-not-knowing-what-to-eat days.

posted by Kristie