Today is.......

.......besides being Sunday, December 4, 2016, today is:

1.  a day the Lord has made!  I will rejoice and be glad!
2.  another day I am free to worship the Lord to the dictates of my heart, which I did in church!
3.  a day of MORE rain!  Praise the Lord!
4.  another day I was able to get out of bed!
5.  a day of REST!
6.  a good day to bake some banana bread, and.......
7.  a good day to enjoy the banana bread with a cup of coffee!
8.  a good day to try another crockpot recipe for Tim to enjoy during football!
9.  a good day to do some more knitting.
10. Last, but not least, it's as good a day as any to wish our daughter, Elisabeth and her husband, Brad, a wonderful 14th anniversary!!  My, how time flies!!

Rain our our front door.  It drizzled off and on all day!  Still drizzling, too!  Thank You, Lord, for the rain!

Banana Bread and coffee are wonderful together!

Chile-Cheese Refried Bean Dip (see recipe below).

The "paper clip" is holding stitches for the thumb.  I think I could use a few more needles in this project!

Well, this pattern was for a toddler mitten.  The gauge is correct, too, so someone has an awfully BIG toddler!  I'm thinking this glove would probably fit Abby.  I really like the pattern, however!  I'm going to make the other glove and we will see who can wear them!  :D

So, here's the recipe for the crockpot dip.  I'm not crazy about refried beans or black olives, but the dip was actually pretty good!  My changes or deletions are in parenthesis:

Chile-Cheese Refried Bean Dip
Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) can fat-free refried beans (I don't know that mine were fat-free)
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cut into cubes, softened
3/4 cup chopped scallions (I used red onion)
1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles (I didn't use)
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I didn't use)
1 (2.25 oz) can sliced ripe olives, rinsed and drained
Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions:
1.  In a 1-quart mini electric slow cooker, mix together the refried beans and cream cheese.  Stir in the scallions and chiles. (I also added the olives in this step)
2.  Cover, plug in the cooker, and cook 2 hours, stirring once or twice, until very hot.  (I cooked on low)
3.  Mix in 1/2 cup cheese and the olives.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese on top.  Serve immediately with tortilla chips for dipping.

That's it for me today!  Enjoy your week!