This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

     On my side of the family, Scrabble is the family game.  I was raised on it, as were the rest of my siblings.  My mom, who recently turned 95, is always up for a game. I would venture to say that playing Scrabble all of these years has contributed to keeping her mind as sharp as it is at her age.  She is kind of a Scrabble snob, I am sorry to say.  She gets disgusted if you only use 3 letter words or if you don't get loads of points from two directions with your "S". She doesn't like it when someone always refers to a dictionary to find their words. But, even so, we have a blast when we play together!  When we play without her, the defining rule is that if my mom has used the word, it is legal in Scrabble. 
     Often, when we travel to California to visit my side of the family, the Boltons, we will gather at my brother's house and have a Scrabble Tournament, with 2 or 3 games going at once and winners playing each other in a round robin type competition.  It is always so much fun. One year, Alicia and I made everyone t-shirts that had Scrabble tile holders on them with letters like this one:

    I have noticed that Scrabble Tiles are popular things to make crafts and decorator items with.  That leads me to believe that there are many of you out there who love to play Scrabble as much as my family does.  Since today is officially Scrabble Day, our Friday Fave question is this: 

     What is a favorite item you have seen or made with Scrabble Tiles?
​

     I have seen some adorable Christmas ideas using Scrabble Tiles! Look at these Christmas trees! 

     By the way, in order to make any of these crafts, there are a couple of ways to get the tiles without raiding your Scrabble game.  

• Go to a thrift store and find old, used games that have, for some crazy reason, been donated.  
• Purchase the tiles at a craft store. (Can be pricey!)
• Order a set of 100 online from Amazon! 

    Now, when you order these, no fair slipping an extra "O" or an "E" up your sleeve for the times that you have a set of letters like the one in the game above!

     We also found some really adorable Scrabble themed items on Etsy! 
​     Look at these sweet pillows for only 4.99 a piece! 

     Who knew that these simple little tiles could enrich our homes so much! I know that Scrabble has helped me to be a better speller and problem solver! Now it helps me decorate my home as well, LOL! I love it! 
     So, maybe you can craft a thing or two with some Scrabble tiles, or if nothing else, be sure to enjoy a game of Scrabble to celebrate the day! Let us know if you have any great ideas using these letters. 

This post contains affiliate links.  If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you.  All opinions expressed are our own.  Thank you for your support

So today, in our French ancestors honor we made Gratin Dauphinois (French scalloped potatoes) and roasted chicken.

Usually when I think of scalloped potatoes I think of cheese and potatoes. But to make true Gratin Dauphinois, you DON'T USE CHEESE! I know! I was skeptical at first, but really this turned out so delicious! You still get a crispy brown top from the starch in the potatoes. 

Some tips for make Gratin Dauphinois

• The nutmeg in this recipe was divine. I really loved it. It complimented the subtle flavors of the cream and potatoes so well. I did not miss the cheese at all. So don't skimp on the nutmeg. I added it to the top of my potatoes in the saucepan and gave it a good dusting. I then mixed it in. 
• Some recipes that I saw used leeks or chives. I decided chives were good enough for me.
• I used myfood processor to slice my potatoes. It made it so fast and easy. A mandoline slicer would be useful here as well.

Just look at that beauty. Gratin Dauphinois was so wonderful! And the leftovers are great too. And it was really easy to make. If you con't have cream on hand, I saw some recipes where it could be made with just milk. So if you're craving scalloped potatoes, try Gratin Dauphinois, you won't regret it.

Gratin Dauphinois

To go with the Gratin Dauphinois, I thought a roasted chicken would be delicious. I was just going to buy a rotisserie chicken from the store but then thought it would be fun to try my hand at roasting a chicken. It was so good too!

I did look up how the French roast chickens but I didn't have time nor ingredients for Julia Child's recipe. So I'll just say the flavors are French inspired though not classically French at all.

I don't have a recipe for you, but I rubbed my chicken with butter, and sprinkled it with thyme, salt, and pepper. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice and some extra pats of butter finished up the outside of the bird. I rubbed up under the breast skin with butter and stuck some cloves of garlic up there. Inside I stuffed it with lemon, garlic, and bay leaves. I meant to grab some rosemary from the plant outside but I forgot. I tied the legs together with some baker's twine. Then roasted it at 400F for 20 minutes. After that I reduced the temperature to 375F for another 90 minutes. I had a 5 pound bird that came out with nice crispy skin and beautifully moist meat. It was so delicious.

With the leftovers we made chicken tacos the next night.That's the great thing about this chicken the flavors are subtle enough that the leftovers can easily be transformed.

So I hope you give those Gratin Dauphinois a try. They're so delicious! Best scalloped potatoes I've ever had. If you do let us know in the comments how you liked it!

     When kids are on Spring Break, it is nice to have some activities handy to keep them engaged in life.  Since our Spring Break was this last week, I was ready and armed with simple activities for my grandchildren to do together.  They were thrilled! While these all have an Easter flair to them, I think that bunnies and cupcake baskets can actually be enjoyed all Spring, even after the Easter holiday. 

     This is one of those ideas that evolved because of 3 things.  First, I had some leftover almond bark in my double boiler. Then, I went to the store and found 2 things, store brand peanut butter sandwich cookies, (much cheaper than the name brand), and Annie's Organic Friends, which are little rabbit shaped grahams, on sale right now on Target. Finally, all I needed were some little jelly beans to make a bunny sitting on a nest.  I thought of this idea before all of the Easter candy was available, so we used Mike & Ikes. I just dipped half of the peanut butter cookie in the almond bark, stuck on the jelly beans and bunny before it hardened.  The kids loved them!  They enjoyed helping to stick on the jelly beans and bunnies.

     When I found these White Ding Dongs,  I thought, these will make cute baskets! So my grandkids and I picked up some coconut for the grass and Twizzlers for the handles and Robin's Eggs for the basket filling.  Here is how we did it:

     These may look like regular washcloth bunnies to you, but they have a little something extra.  

There is a little treat in the back! I thought that these would be a great little gift from the kids to their friends, or if you are the grandmother to nearly 10 grandchildren like I am, this is a fun way to give them each a little something without breaking the bank!  And, they are quick and easy to make. I found all of my supplies at Dollar Tree! 

I also used colorful wiggly eyes (here is a link to black ones),  and little plastic containers. 

     Here is how we put them together:
​

I used little butterfly stickers on the lid of the container to look like a butterfly landed on the rabbits back. Dollar Tree has a wide assortment of stickers to choose from.

     I love making memories with my grandchildren.  We just had a scare in our family where we could have lost one of my sweet granddaughters.  It has brought home to me very clearly how precious every moment with these sweet kids are.  I hope that we can capitalize on these moments and have quality time together as often as possible.