Edie Wadsworth

Daily Grace

April 25, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 283 Comments

We’ve been in a string of busy weeks the likes of which we haven’t seen for a long time. The weekends, which for us are often retreats of reading and writing and food making, have been full to the brim. So, we decided to claim this one for rest. We are headed up to the mountain cabin for some much needed fresh country air.

Going to the cabin is like going camping, only with an indoor bed and indoor plumbing. Packing is fun, but there’s plenty to gather. You need stuff for s’mores, easy camp-ish food, books, yarn, the bow and arrows, ammo, fishing gear, and so the list goes. It helps if you take the slow country mindset and a heart full of gratitude with you.

Really, I guess those are things I wish I carried with me all the time.

That’s where Daily Grace comes in.

I thought I’d share with you these beautiful pieces from Dayspring, from their Daily Grace Collection. I LOVE them and have used them nearly everyday since they arrived.

These would make perfect gifts for Mother’s Day or for just any old day when you decided to have friends over and make homemade pizza.

Also? Apparently, I love cupcakes. More on that very soon!

There’s so much to love in this collection. Every piece is beautiful.

I especially love these salad plates and this salad serving bowl!

Dayspring is so generous to giveaway a wonderful bundle for one of you lucky peeps.

Just leave a comment on the piece you love the most in the collection and you will be entered to win the candy bowl, the memo chalkboard, and the 16 inch platter.

I’ll close it down Sunday night and then pick a winner on Monday.

Happy Weekend, friends!

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

April 23, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 48 Comments

Dear kind and spicy friends, I took 817 pictures of this soup and I COULD NOT capture the deliciousness of this creamy chicken tortilla soup. Whatsoever. Please believe me when I say that this soup is the mother of all tor-tilla soups. (We say tortilla like gorilla, for special effects.) This is but a warm up post for puffy tacos, but it’s a gem in its own right. Like I’ve said before #foodieismyname #texmexismygame. This is THE perfect recipe for when you need to phone dinner in but still want it to taste liked you’ve slaved all day. Also? If you use my easy crock pot method for cooking turkey breast (cook a turkey breast overnight in the crock pot on low and it will be ready by noon), you could eat the turkey breast one day with sides and then use the leftovers for the soup. If beef stew is flirting with your husband 101 then this is the short summer version of that course, except with chicken. Flirt away my flavorful friends!

What you’ll need:

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
3 cups cooked chicken (I actually used leftover turkey from Easter)
6 cups chicken stock
1 can black beans
1 can of corn
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can of green chiles
2 T. cumin powder
2 T. honey
1/2 cup cream
1 8oz package of Mexican melting cheese (queso or queso with jalapeño for the spicy lovers among us).
jalapeños, chopped (as much as you like, we use about 2 T.)
fresh cilantro for garnish
grated cheddar cheese for garnish
fried corn tortillas for garnish and general deliciousness

What you’ll do:

Saute the onion and green pepper in 2-3 T olive oil.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple minutes and then add the cumin.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and cook for 15-20 over medium heat until the cheese is mostly melted.
Add the cream, turn off the heat and cover and the rest of the cheese should melt.
Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil after the cream is added.
Serve with avocado, cheese, cilantro, and tortillas!
Now we’ll be jolly friends forever more, more more more.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients

1 large onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1 green pepper chopped
3 cups cooked chicken I actually used leftover turkey from Easter
6 cups chicken stock
1 can black beans
1 can of corn
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1 can of green chiles
2 T. cumin powder
2 T. honey
1/2 cup cream
1 8 oz package of Mexican melting cheese queso or queso with jalapeño for the spicy lovers among us.
jalapeños chopped (as much as you like, we use about 2 T.)
fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

Saute the onion and green pepper in 2-3 T olive oil.
Add the minced garlic and cook for a couple minutes and then add the cumin.
Add the rest of the ingredients except the cream and cook for 15-20 over medium heat until the
cheese is mostly melted.
Add the cream, turn off the heat and cover and the rest of the cheese should melt.
Be careful not to let the soup come to a boil after the cream is added.
Serve with avocado, cheese, cilantro, and tortillas!

Now, do tell. Do you make a version of this already? Would you be willing to add a hint of cream? Because my current philosophy is this: Life is short. Add cream. Amen.

MY NEWEST BLOG SPONSOR:

This post is generously sponsored by my YL to help me keep doing what I do! Thank you in advance for your support! I am into natural choices for my family, and this is the main way I help boost our immune systems and alleviate lots of minor aches, pains, and injuries. Read more about how we are using them everyday! My Young Living essential oils are also my newest business venture, and the oils are so well loved that they sponsor my blog!!! Thank you, friends! Enroll by clicking here.

How We Do Holidays Around Here

April 21, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 44 Comments

Good morning, Gorgeous! I hope your Easter weekend was beautiful and restful.

I have a holiday weekend strategy that you might find helpful. It comes from years of trial and error where I needed a vacation from my post holiday/over-stressed blues. Besides my weekend strategy, you also might want to adopt my Easter basket philosophy, which is— if you can’t get it at the grocery store, you’re not trying hard enough.

Also? It helps if the baskets are small, which the grocery store can most certainly help you with. Amen and amen. #easterbasketslackersunite

What I lack in Easter basket finesse, I make up for in food.

(Please see exhibit A.)

And after years of Pinterest-like Easter basket prowess, I’ve given it up for greener pastures. Gift cards and grocery store sundries are where it’s at.

Trust me on this.)

I do make a pretty serious commitment to keep the schedule light and the food over-the-top. And not the other way around.

I celebrate spring victories, like tulips……

and dogwoods

and perfect (unedited) sunsets.

I try to savor this…….

and this…….

and this…..

I give myself the gift of a good book and some poetry and some much needed perspective.

I try to remember the magic that every single day holds if I care enough to stop and notice.

The world IS charged with the grandeur of God. And morning comes again.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

    It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

    And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

    And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

    Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

    World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Are you working toward holidays that really reflect your hope for your family? What is one thing you would change if you could?

Me? I’d hire The Avett Brothers to play music on our porch all day.

Our Broken Hallelujah

April 18, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 15 Comments

“Standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother…..”

1393894954_c962d4da3e_o

As a mother, it’s hard not to see Good Friday from the broken heart of the mother of God, watching with horror as her son was mocked and beaten and crucified.

The sin of Adam, which ushered in our suffering and death would be answered by Christ, the suffering Savior, whose kingdom is born in you, through the obedience and the quiet yes of a young girl from Nazareth. It must have seemed like no time to her that the linens she wrapped her baby in became his grave clothes. And just like Mary, the shroud that covered you in your dying with Him will become the swaddling clothes with which you offer your love, incarnate, to the world.

The yes cry of the mother of God would break her heart into a thousand pieces. [Read more…] about Our Broken Hallelujah

For My Beloved

April 17, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 51 Comments

For those who fear their sin has been too great and their pride too blinding,

For those crushed under doubt and shame and unbelief,

For those whose hearts are broken with loneliness, abandonment, and mind-numbing grief,

For those who’ve spent years in a dark and dreary wilderness, without the tiniest shimmer of hope,

For those whose souls ache for the joy of homecoming,

For those who are ravaged by addiction and longing and worry,

For those who don’t remember a day when love didn’t threaten to leave,

For those who’ve been battered and bruised by the Church, by the religious ones who said you didn’t measure up, [Read more…] about For My Beloved

The 3 Secrets to Radical Hospitality

April 15, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 53 Comments

My love for hospitality began when I was ten years old and a giant ornate bar was delivered to our dining room complete with a crystal whiskey decanter and a set of brandy sniffers. I don’t think we had ever owned anything quite so nice and I was completely awestruck at the possibilities. My sister and I bartended for hours on end, with the likes of chocolate milk, apple juice, sweet tea, and some fancy swizzle sticks. Sometimes we would dress up in our snazziest clothes and pretend to be the patrons, holding our pinkies out just so while we sipped on beverages from dainty glasses. Apparently, this was an eat-in bar establishment because my favorite part was to set the tables and take the faux orders of a host of make believe (and very demanding) restaurant goers. I hustled. I was in it to win it. I took CARE of my customers. I hired my sister off and on but I didn’t hesitate to fire her if her enthusiasm waned. Now I’d give anything to work beside her everyday. She’d keep me organized and she’d make me laugh all day. Alas, I didn’t know how good I had it.

(Go ahead and take a minute with this photo. There’s a lot to study here.)

I perfected the art of running the home restaurant over the next few years until it all came crumbling down in 1983. [Read more…] about The 3 Secrets to Radical Hospitality