Welcome To My World!

I am so happy that you have stopped by for a visit!

It is here that I will try to share with you my creations, a bit of my home, my gardens and what inspires me.

Periodically, I will feature those dolls and creations that are available for purchase on my other blog:

EVI'S COUNTRY SNIPPETS SHOP ... click HERE

Thank you for visiting!
I hope you enjoy your stay here!


Saturday, February 26, 2011

OH DEAR, DEER ME !



This Winter has been brutal !!!!!
It has been snowing and snowing...
it has been icing....



the temperatures are mostly in the "deep-freeze",
and the winds are often howling.




Even though some snow has melted in a brief thaw,
there are still deep piles everywhere.......




here the heights of the fence by the walk-up to our entrance.

It is no wonder, that the deer are starving and eating
everything in sight, even things they normally
don't eat.


We often have at least ten or more deer feeding at the
bird station.
This mom and her one year old little girl have chosen
to make our property their "main base".



This is the mom...we call her Dopey.
She got over all the netting and is laying on the
door mat, keeping warm.
Her baby is always close by, but on the outside
of the netting.
I think Dopey ate something not to her liking!



She really does not scare easily and stood
there looking at me for the longest time.
She also was not budging from the mat.
I think it was cozy there for her.


And because some of you have asked.....
this was our girls get-together Valentines table.
We were missing three friends,
Laura @52 Flea, Carole @ maynardgreenhouse,
and Deanna from Gather in CT.

The weather played with our plans,
and the date was changed three times.
We had a wonderful day, but missed
the rest of the girls !!!!!!
Plus, Laura and Carole are our photographers.
With them missing, and I as the hostess
being busy, not many pictures were taken.


Paula made these lovely cones for all of us.


She tied little metal hearts to each bag..
( they came from an antique floor mat ),
and each cone held hand-made buttery toffees.
Yum !!!!



After a meal of cream of wild mushroom soup....
( Ina Garten's recipe),
spinach quiche, quiche Loraine, a nice salad and rolls......
we indulged in dessert....
and what would Valentines day be without heart-shaped
chocolate cakes.
I sliced and filled these with seedless raspberry jam
mixed with Chambord, chocolate ganache,
whipped cream and raspberries.



Kathleen's nails matched the strawberries......



and if that was not enough,
an apple cake from a baking book, that my nice
send to me from Germany.

It is called ...German Baking Today..
and is by Dr. Oetker.
It is written in English.
The women in my family are great cooks and bakers.
Stephanie, thank you my love, for this great book
and always sharing recipes.
And so, I want to share this recipe with all
my blogger friends.
APPLE CAKE, VERY DELICATE
For the topping 2 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 lb apples..I used firm Golden Delicious
For the cake...
4 1/2 oz ( 5/8 cup) soft butter
4 1/2 oz (5/8 cup) sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar, 1 pinch of salt
freshly squeezed lemon (from 1 small lemon)
or a few drops of Natural Lemon Extract
3 medium eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 level tsp baking powder
1 - 2 tbsp milk
For the glaze:
2 tbsp apricot jam ( I used more )
1 tbsp water
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease the bottom of a 10 " springform pan....(removable sides)
Whisk butter until soft. Add sugar, vanilla sugar, salt,
lemon juice or extract little by little, whisking all the
time until you obtain a smooth mixture.
Whisk in the eggs, one after the other, for about 1/2 minute
each at the highest setting on your mixer.
Mix together the flour and baking powder and whisk briefly
in 2 instalments on medium setting, alternating with the milk
into the batter.
Transfer to springform and smooth to make even.
Melt butter, peel apples, cut into quarters, remove cores
and make several length ways incisions.
I use the tines of a fork.
Arrange the apple quarters in two concentric circles
on the cake and pour melted butter over apples.
Put cake in the bottom third of the oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes.
Heat apricot jam till warm and strain through a sieve.
Put back on stove and bring to boil with a little water,
stirring all the time.
Pour or brush on the cake immediately
after taking cake out of the oven.
Release, then remove the ring of the springform.
Loosen the cake away from the bottom of the springform,
then leave to cool on cake rack.
Enjoy.....this cake is great!
Blessing,
Evi

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

MAKE-DOS ON MY SELLING BLOG



Go ahead and have a look.

To everyone who has left me
such nice comments and e-mails,
I apologize for not getting back to
you all in a timely manner.
I am dealing with some ongoing
health problems.
Hopefully the doctors are getting
to the bottom of this soon and I can
resume my normal life.
For everyone who has asked about my
health and wished me well,
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

God bless,
Evi

Thursday, February 3, 2011

CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT



I love rabbits......
although I am not too happy when they
nibble in my garden!



Since it is the Chinese year of the rabbit,
I thought I share some pictures of these sweet
little animals.
These beautiful watercolor pictures are
by the artist Anne Dixon, bought by my hubby for me
at a show we all did together.
She has a wonderful way of capturing the beauty and
spirit of animals in all her paintings.




These oil paintings are in our dining room.
I just love them.
Notice the little rabbit in the flower pot.




Another watercolor.




And a girl can dream!
Of Spring !!!!!
We are all living a horrible Winter with tons of snow
and ice, roofs ready to collapse and bitter cold temperatures.
I am so glad that I took pictures last Summer of all
the rabbits residing in our garden.
They are buried under tons of snow now.
I can't wait to see them again.



Porch rabbits.


Finding shelter.


Bearing gifts.



This little one projects such joy.
Did you ever see a rabbit leap for pure fun?
It makes your heart melt!



A hand crafted stone rabbit I bought
while visiting my friend Paula in CT.



And now some of my beloved rabbits
that have found new wonderful homes.
They are living with people that treasure
these little creatures as much as I do.









Hope there are some of you out there,
that love rabbits too.

It's settled....we are celebrating the
Chinese Lunar New Year with a wonderful
lunch from our favorite restaurant.

I wish you all prosperity and
happiness in this new year.

God bless,
Evi