Quotable Quotes, My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, Pioneer Woman's Fish Sticks, Pinterest Stuff (Gratitude Pumpkin), Hoots and Howls, Fall Festival, Melia's Birthday Celebration AND Maine - Part One

Good Wednesday morn!

Quotable Quotes - “Hospitality seeks to minister. It says, ‘This home is not mine. It is truly a gift from my Master. I am His servant, and I use it as He desires.’ Hospitality does not try to impress, but to serve.” Karen Mains, Open Heart, Open Home

My Favorite Things RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE - If you go to wherever it is you watch YouTube and search for Amy Hannon (author of the Love Welcome Serve cookbook), you will find a lot of Cooking Today videos...

But that's not what you're looking for right now.

Scroll through until you see her YouTube Video entitled Love Welcome Serve, Dinner and Fellowship with Amy Hannon. You will notice it is a Bellevue Women's Ministry video.

She is an excellent speaker, and this is a wonderful, inspiring lesson on "authentic Biblical hospitality." I think this will be one of my favorite things for much longer than a minute!

Pioneer Woman's Parmesan Fish Sticks

You will need the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds cod or haddock fillets
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
3 large eggs
Ketchup, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a sheet pan with the olive oil.

2. Cut the fish fillets into 2 1/2-inch-long and 1-inch-wide strips.

3. Combine the flour, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Set aside.

4. Combine the breadcrumbs, parsley and butter with a fork in a separate shallow bowl. Add the Parmesan and stir to combine.

5. Beat the eggs in a third bowl.

6. Bread the fish by giving the strips a good coating of the seasoned flour. Tap off any excess. Dip in the beaten eggs until coated. Roll the egg-coated fish in the crumb mixture. If need be, press the breadcrumbs into the fish. Place on the oiled sheet pan.

7. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip the fish sticks and continue cooking until the breading is deep golden and the fish is cooked through, about another 8 minutes.

8. Serve with ketchup.

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - This was SO good. A grown-up fish stick!

Pinterest Stuff

Gratitude Pumpkin

This isn't a new idea...

Or a difficult idea...

Or a time-consuming idea.

But it is a perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece idea!

(Picture from Pinterest)

RANDOMNESS #1 - Hoots and Howls - Our first trip to Hoots and Howls at the Birmingham Zoo was cancelled due to rain...

And when the second opportunity came around, Melia, RT, ME and I were the only ones able to attend.

It was a fun afternoon, and while we skipped the VERY LONG candy line and the VERY, VERY LONG train ride line, I am happy to report the NONEXISTENT LUNCH LINE (thanks to a handy, dandy APP) and the NOT SHORT, BUT NOT EXTRA LONG carousel line suited us just fine.

Just fine, indeed.

Allow me to introduce you to Rosie the Riveter...

And Lightning McQueen!

RANDOMNESS #2 - Fall Festival - Later that same afternoon, Mike and I met Josh, Courtney, Judith and Eden (also known as "Hunter and Cute Herd of Deer") at their church's outdoor Candy Trail.

Again, not the original plan, but very much fun!

Eden wasn't too sure about the two graham crackers and marshmallow who came up to talk to her.

I believe she was trying to figure out where the Hershey bar was hiding.

RANDOMNESS #3 - Melia's Birthday Celebration - Melia had a birthday the first of November, and with hot dogs, chicken strips, unicorn plates, unicorn hats and a fire...

We celebrated her milestone with birthday smore's.

RANDOMNESS #4 - Maine - Part One - Mike and I went to Bangor, Maine for a week in October. It is my 22nd state to visit thus far, and just between you and me (and every Mainer I talked to the entire week of our visit), it is my favorite.

We flew to Charlotte, North Carolina for a short layover, and then flew straight to tiny Bangor International Airport. The flight time was less than three and a half hours total, and we arrived a little after noon on a Friday.

It was a dreary, gray day (my most favorite kind of day God ever created), and as we walked out of the airport to catch our shuttle to the car rental place, a very brisk, one might even say "blustery," wind hit me square in the face...

And I knew I was home.

I won't go on and on, but I will say I didn't experience one drop of neck sweat the entire time I was in Maine.

NOT ONE!

And it was beyond lovely.

A few weeks earlier, I found a newly-renovated loft on Airbnb located on Main Street in Downtown Bangor, and I booked it for our stay.

I've always wanted to stay in a loft, and it wasn't until we arrived in MAINE that it hit me...

Maybe we should have stayed in a CABIN...

In the WOODS...

Since Maine is known far and wide as an OUTDOORSY/WOODSY kinda state.

But as soon as we walked into our super chic, super modern, super urban loft, I was very happy with the decision.

Mike was a trooper, and if we ever go back (and we will GO BACK), we're staying in a log cabin WAY BACK in the woods.

This is the view of the back of our building. Our loft was on the second floor.

And this was by far my favorite room in the loft.

That bench covering was made out of some kind of wild animal fur.

Maybe fox.

Maybe albino moose.

We may never know. One of life's great mysteries.

This is the view from our wall of windows in the living room. We were directly across from an attorney's office and some more lofts.

I could post 25 more pics of houses in Bangor neighborhoods, but this is a good go-by.

There are a lot of two story, white homes in the neighborhoods. You will see other colors, but by and large, white is the most popular.

Also, there are not many brick homes. Mike and I were surprised because of the harsh winters, but wood houses and a lot of firewood make up the norm.

DAY ONE - We explored Bangor in our car (it had started raining), ate a lovely dinner and went back to the loft to get ready for DAY TWO!

We awoke to sunshine and cool, crisp autumnal temps on our second day, and we drove 42 minutes (more or less) to Acadia National Park. Once in the Park, we drove directly to Jordan's Pond House which overlooks Jordan's Pond and a three-mile trail (divided into three different trail types).

We started on the raised platform trail which, as you can see, was not a hard hike at all.

However, the raised platform trail ended and the giant boulder trail began.

It was a little more "challenging," but still enjoyable.

And just when we thought we never wanted to see another boulder again, we reached the perfectly smooth and lovely EASY TRAIL.

Guess which one was our fav?

Yeah.

No competition!

DAY TWO - After our little hike around the pond, we leisurely drove back to Bangor (stopping at an epic roadside antique store), ate dinner and called it a wonderful day.

It would have been easy to stay two or three hours in this one store and still not see everything.

I'll hit the highlights of Days Three and Four in the next post.

In other news, Roxie and I were able to go on a quick, but exciting, 2020 Mother/Daughter Trip...

And it might be my favorite one to date!

We kinda took a two-hour sailing lesson into a smallish storm.

I'll talk about that a little more in the next post, too.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

"I don't understand why people 'get ready' for bed. I am ALWAYS ready for bed!"

Quotable Quotes, The Babies, Pumpkin Happenings, Pumpkin Shopping at Reeves Farm AND Pumpkin Shopping at Witt's Market

Good Saturday morning!

Guess where Mike and I found FALL hiding last week?

MAINE!

I'm going to post a few little October things here today, but I'm working on a two- or three-part blog about our trip to one of the loveliest states I have ever had the privilege to meet.

Please stay tuned!

Quotable Quotes - "When you're ministering to someone in pain, you must remember this: The deeper the pain, the fewer words you use." Pastor Rick Warren

RANDOMNESS #1 - The Babies - Nothing "October" about these pics...

They are just plain cute.

RANDOMNESS #2 - Pumpkin Happenings - I am a huge advocate of the Dollar Tree Pumpkin Craft Kits.

Whether you like stickers...

Or painting...

Or hot gluing...

Or all three...

They usually have a fun, inexpensive option.

Semi-funny story about the red pumpkin...

I let RT and Judith pick out of four animal kits (sloth, llama, panda or shark) which one they wanted to decorate for Nana's Front Porch.

Without any fuss, Judith picked the gray panda and RT picked the pink llama.

I know.

I was surprised, too.

However, RT had a plan.

RT always has a plan.

His favorite color is red, so he never intended to use anything pink except the felt ears.

I also believe if he had chosen the panda, sloth or shark, they would have ended up being red, too...

And that would have been just fine with Nana.

If you're wondering how Nana's Front Porch Pumpkins looked on Nana's "grown-up" front porch...

Wonder no more!

NOTE FROM ENCHANTING BELINDA - Always remember to check out Target's Dollar Bin for their seasonal ceramics. (I bought 18 paint cups for all the ceramic stuff we paint during the different holidays because they only come with three colors, and sometimes we want to use 12 colors.)

Everyone knows that!

RANDOMNESS #3 - Pumpkin Shopping at Reeves Farm - Take a right off of the Hartselle Exit on I-65 (Exit 328)...

And notice a little bit past Cracker Barrel...

On your left...

A VERY OLD white farmstand for Reeves Farm.

Last year, the original farmstand was up and running, but this year (the INFAMOUS 2020) the family opened their lovely, new farmstand on the hill directly behind the old.

It is a wonderful new-to-me place to purchase pumpkins, food items and a little bit more if you're traveling in that general direction.

RANDOMNESS #4 - Pumpkin Shopping at Witt's Market - And one of my favorite pumpkin-buying places in The Dale will always, always be Witt's.

And if you haven't tried it yet, their peanut brittle is fantastic.

I hope you and yours have a very beautiful Fall weekend. The plan at this moment is to see both sets of the Grandtots in their Halloween attire sometime tomorrow. I cannot wait!

Take care, and I'll talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda

"I'm naturally irritated when I first wake up. You have to give me a few days to adjust!"