by Julie Kohl

I love fresh, warm, just out of the oven bread. I always lamented the fact that we didn’t have a local bakery and for years went without fresh bread mostly, because I thought it was really hard to make. Turns out that it doesn’t have to be. I came across this recipe for delicious artisan bread a few years ago. It is EASY to prepare and tastes so good. I still wish we had a local bakery but this will do when I am craving warm bread. And the best part is, you can make this in UNDER an hour!

by Lacie Ring, Miss December 2016

I hope y’all have had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thank you so much for letting me share the month of December with you. It has been a true pleasure. I’m honored to have the chance to show you some of my favorite blog posts from Easy Peasy Pleasy.

At first, I thought I should share my most popular posts, but then I thought those aren’t necessarily my favorites. Let me tell you, this is not an easy task. It’s extremely hard to narrow down my favorites because each one holds its own place in my heart. They may not be my best photography, but they are still projects I love.

One of my all-time favorite DIY projects turned out to be not so easy. My hope was by providing the how-to, it could make a similar project easier for readers. This Wicker Bench Redo was a labor of love for a friend and has a wonderful little back story.

I can’t go without mentioning a post that was inspired by my husband’s cooking. This recipe resonates especially since we live in Arkansas and duck hunting is a favorite pastime. My husband’s secret ingredient is what makes these Jalapeno Duck Poppers soooo good.

If I show off my hubby’s skills then I must spotlight my kiddo. Dr. Seuss week is one of my favorite PTO events. I made Garrett a costume every year. Doesn’t he look great in this DIY Green Eggs and Ham Costume? You can make it too. Just follow my directions and give me a shout if you get stuck.

Another favorite PTO event revolves around the Teachers. I say, go big or go home! To this day, I still love this All American Camping theme we hosted for Teacher Appreciation Week from a few years back. This week long event was so much fun to plan and decorate.

After sharing my favorites, I thought it’s only right to share my most popular post. This recipe is an Easy Peasy Pleasy original. I made up these Cheese Steak Quesadillas and took the pictures on a weeknight after the sun had gone down. I really had no idea what I was doing photography wise. I guess that’s why I’m so surprised that it has been viewed over 220,000 times this year. I figure it’s because the recipe speaks for itself. It really is delicious.

I have so many more favorite recipes and DIY projects on the blog. If you get a chance, take a scroll through Easy Peasy Pleasy. You might find something delicious to try or an easy DIY project to tackle.

The success in my short blogging career couldn’t be what it is without this wonderful group. Thank you all so much for your support. I can’t wait to see what all we do in the new year!

By Darla Haas of Third Season

A few years ago I was honored to join a group of women who made a trip to India where we held conferences in three different cities. Their receptivity to what we had to say, their eagerness to show up early and stay late and their continual honoring of us were almost overwhelming. But perhaps the thing which astounded me most was their culture of giving.
In Hyderabad, several hundred women had gathered at a hotel conference room which we had rented for the few days we were there. Those attending were definitely impoverished by Western standards. They had come from the surrounding villages, bringing food to last them and their children for the next three days, cooked over an open fire, bathed in a primitive shower and slept with their children on the floor of the lower level of the conference center.
In spite of their poverty, they had managed to pool resources and on the last night of the conference presented each of us with an elaborate fresh flower lei as a way of showing their thanks. The aroma of the exotic floral display was intoxicating. As a lovely young girl raised her brown arms to place the lei around my neck I felt emotions rising and warm tears spilling from my eyes.

Later in Calcutta we experienced the same generosity of spirit when we were all given beautiful, colorful saris which we wore on our last day there. I can’t imagine the sacrifice those women made to present us with such an elaborate and beautiful gift.
I learned from the leader of our group who had visited India many times how important gift giving was to their culture. The presenting of our gifts was almost ceremonial in fashion and watching the faces of the women in the crowd I could see intense pride and joy in being able to give us such fine gifts.
There are other cultures I have observed for whom gift giving is an extremely important part of their social customs. One of the most interesting aspects of visiting the Clinton Presidential Library here in Little Rock is the display of gifts given to President Clinton from other world leaders while he was in office. There is an impressive and eclectic variety of items which chronicle a period of time in our nation’s history.
Studying other cultures’ ideas of what is appropriate conduct in gift giving is a fascinating study in anthropology for me. I’ve found a website called “Giftypedia” which lists over 40 countries and as you click on each one, helps you navigate that particular country’s social norms of giving. Ultimately, however, it is not the goods or exchanged gift that bring people together as much as the process of giving itself.

I still have the very first gift my husband ever gave me. It’s a small, gold signet ring he surprised me with for my 20th birthday. I treasure that gift even now, 46 years later, because when I look at it I am immediately reminded of two young college students experiencing the beginnings of love.
December is a month of giving. Personal and charitable gifts take much of our focus and financial reserves the last month of the year. Even corporate giving is usually higher during this month, sometimes due to a company’s need of a tax write off at year’s end. In general, people are more sensitive and aware of those in need at Christmas and therefore more generous in their giving.
My challenge to each of us as we approach this new year is to consider spending an entire year GIVING. Not the monetary, tangible gifts we may be paying off on our credit cards for the next several months, but the intangible ones and those that cost you nothing. Consider the gift of a smile to the clerk who’s having a hard day, the gift of an encouraging word to the mother of three small children who is struggling with the chaos, the gift of believing the best of someone who has made poor choices, the gift of time and attention to an elderly person who is perhaps lonely and forgotten and the gift of listening – really listening – to someone who is hurting.
I am personally committed to giving thanks more in this new year, expressing gratitude to the ones I love and the ones who make my world a better and happier place to be. William Arthur Ward said “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” Expressions of gratitude are such a simple thing and yet can change the atmosphere and the direction of someone’s day.

These are the gifts that simply require our time and attention. And these are the gifts that reflect a generosity of spirit. A smile. A touch. A listening ear. A faithful heart. All are gifts we can easily give if we NOTICE those around us and choose to live with purpose and intentionality.
If we do, my guess is we will feel much like my Indian friends whose faces radiated happiness because of the joy they saw on ours. Living with generosity of spirit creates a better life for us all.

Darla publishes weekly on her blog, Third Season, and loves it when her words inspire or encourage her readers in any way. She is a speaker, mentor, mother to three grown children and grandmother to five little ones. She lives with her husband, Dr. David Haas, in Maumelle, AR, and says her suitcase is usually out in the floor waiting to be either packed or unpacked. Besides travel, she enjoys adventures in the kitchen and spending weekends with her husband on their farm.