Amish Friendship bread overload!

I love Amish Friendship bead. It's great for breakfast, company, gifts, etc. Most of us who have delt with that famous 1 gallon ziplock bag, however, will admit that we cringe a little when our starter bag is "gifted" to us. I immediately think "Can I find four people who really don't mind doing all the work and will I just get a bag back in 10 days?" So...I got creative.
On Day 10, the first step of instructions tell us to add another helping of sugar, milk and flour. I did this and discovered that in doing so, I now have 6 cups of batter. If I have to give four cups away, then I now know that each batch begins with 2 cups (aren't you proud of my math skills!!) So...instead of giving away the four bags, I filled containers with 2 cups of batter and put them in the freezer. When I'm in the mood for more friendship bread, I simply take out my frozen batter, let it thaw and add the ingredients from day 10! No more never ending cycles of batter to pass around and no more counting days to make sure I don't miss a day. The best part is that I can make another "starter" batch and do the same thing again if I need to! I've come to the conclusion that I would rather keep my friends and bring the BAKED loaf of bread to their door and have a great cup of coffe rather than create more work for them.

Celebrating the Little Things

Skylar loves using our China dishes. She loves being "fancy" and having her own goblet to drink from. She loves eating by the glow of our hurricane lanterns and feeling grown up enough to be able to use the "good" dishes. This summer, she was given a set of her own China dishes from a kind lady who just felt that God was telling her to do this. A small set of tableware for 4 - in a blue flower pattern rimed with silver. She was soooo excited!
We used to have a tradition of using the china when Kenton finished planting his last field and when he finished harvesting his last field. We try to demonstrate that we celebrate the importance of Kenton's work and how much it means to us. Of course we use our fancy dishes for holidays and (now) even birthdays. Tonight, Skylar added a new reason to celebrate...The End of Summer Special Meal! We broke out her small set of dishes for...grilled hamburgers, mac-n-cheese, iced tea and brownies from a box! She prances around the kitchen, talking to herself about how to set the dishes in the right order and what is going to go in each one. She proudly collects the "good" silverware from it's box and asks in eager tone if she's set the table correctly. We love to hear her giggle when Kenton walks in for supper and she swings her arms with granduretoward the table and says, "Look at our fancy table, Dad!" We gush and ooooh and aahhh and she giggles even more.
So...what do you break out the china for? What small things are you celebrating? Do you eat on China dishes when your kids get 100% on the spelling test? How about using them when mom or dad comes home from a long trip? Skyar reminds me that life holds lots of reasons to celebrate them, but we push them aside because it's too much work and we're too busy. Take the time to celebrate and break out the China dishes!