Project update

Yesterday, while Martin napped I quilted three of my runners. I now have five runners that need the binding sewn on, which makes me very happy because that is my favorite part. I can watch Martin play while hand sewing them and since they have no intended receiver yet, I can take my time. I was going to start quilting my quilt today, however Martin woke up with a fever of 103 degrees F. 

He had his one-year vaccinations last week and the doctor said one in four usually get a high fever for one or two days, a week after the shots. He was a little whiney this morning, but otherwise acting normal. He wanted to be held a bit more than normal.  I picked him up and started rocking him about five minutes ago and now he asleep. I can't complain since he almost never falls asleep on me. What a sweet cuddly baby. He also woke up at midnight last night and I got to rock him for a while. I am thankful for those times since he is not normally a cuddler. I love when he actually wants to be held and when he falls asleep in my arms. 

 Here are my three runners. I hadn't trimmed the middle one when I took this picture.  The two blue ones are made from scraps from the wedding flags I made a few weeks ago. I practiced different styles of quilting on them , which you can see if you zoom in.  I like the feathers in the far right one. I am going to bind all of them in a blue. I will post pictures when they are finished. 

Are you working on any projects? As I mentioned I have a long cleaning  list that I have been slowly working through. I like lists. I should have posted pictures of my lists during college. It is rewarding to check things off.  

Are there any other artistic talents you would like to have? I would love to be able to paint like my sister Sarah or take pictures like my other sister Anna or draw like my brother or dance like my baby sister Hope. Maybe someday I will practice one of those things. Right now I am just enjoying holding my sleeping baby and dreaming up some new quilt designs. 

Blogs >> Facebook

I was reading through some of my old posts and I am so glad that I blogged a lot of the stuff that I did. I am also glad that my friends and family all provided comments for my blogs. This blog I have linked below is a discussion on my childhood and some of the crazy things we did. It made me smile and laugh out loud.

Best post of all time

Prince Edward Island Fashion. Don't I have the best haircut ever? I had a giant ponytail of hair down my back that was just as poofy as the top. 

I also wanted to mention a few other memories before I forget them. I might explain these in more details later.
English country dancing (especially the 4th of July party)
Williamsburg (especially the shunned homeschool trip and the bachelor pad)
Chalk lines on the bed (how did Sarah always get her own bed and Hayley and I had to share?)
Phantom of the Opera
midnight snacks
The car track and our car races (remember junky car who never made it down the track?)
The prince of Egypt soundtrack
3-D puzzles
Anne of Green Gables (that Sarah and I had to watch alone with Uncle Bill because Hayley went to bed)
The women's gymnastic team winning gold (we got to stay up late to watch the finals)
2468 girls girls girls
Watching that scary movie with Hayley, Greg, and Uncle Bill We were all on the same futon by the end huddled together.
Doll Awana
Camping at Niagra (what a beautiful Canadian basket, the speed walker)
The camping trip to Maine and PEI. Lobster claws and Green Gables.
Williamsburg another time, I forgot my coat and it was thirty degrees outside
Williamsburg again, for our birthdays (even though they were in november, march, and June we still celebrated them together with our moms, what a great trip)
Raking rocks under the porch
Aunt Suzanne used to give us fake checks and her old purses and make us pay for our dinner. I remember that in the old kitchen before the addition.
Bop-it

Thanks for all the great memories!! 

Louisiana Beef Stew

It was supposed to snow 4-9 inches today. I love snow. I have had the curtains open all day watching the snowflakes fall. What a perfect day for a cozy, warm bowl of stew or soup. I buy beef when it is on sale and I chop it up into cubes and freeze them in bags that are portioned for one batch of beef stew. I just had to run quickly to the store this morning, around seven, before it was snowing a lot, and pick up a green pepper. 

I decided to make a beef stew from  my best friend's husband, who is from New Orleans. When we went visit them he made this for dinner one night. Jared and I both like it better than regular gravy based beef stew.  We serve this over mashed potatoes or rice. I love this recipe because you throw it in the crockpot and four to six hours later dinner is ready.  So easy. 

Today I have also spent putting the finishing steps on a few runner tops and a quilt back. In a bit, i am going to pin them all together and maybe even start quilting them. 

Sneak peak of some of the projects I am trying to finish up. More pictures to come once I finish them. 

Beef stew (in crockpot) 

1 pack brown gravy

3 beef bouillon cubes

6 c. Water

1/2 lb. beef stew browned in creole seasonings

1 onion

1/2 green pepper

3-5 carrots

2 c. Green beans

Roll meat in creole seasoning. Brown meat in vegetable oil. Transfer meat to crockpot with all other ingredients.  Cook four to six hours on medium or high heat. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice. 

Did you do anything fun this snow day? I had planned on cleaning off my pantry shelves, but I saved that for another day. It felt like a sewing and cooking kind of day. :) 

Peanut Butter Cookies

I watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen that featured these cookies a few weeks ago. I have really been wanting to try them, but just had so many other things to do. I finally made them yesterday to take to a friends house. They invited us over spur of the moment (which makes me happy that they feel like they can just call us and invite us over whenever). My Dad talks about when he was little how people would just stop in for dinner or coffee.  I love that. I wish I could invite people to stop by anytime and sit on my from porch and eat these cookies with a tall glass of milk.  Alas, I have no front porch... Maybe someday.  But you can stop in for tea and coffee and probably some sort of bread or cookies. 

Anyhow, I love these cookies.  They would be even more amazing dipped in chocolate! Ha ha.  Peanut butter chocolate is maybe my favorite flavor combination. It is probably tied with mini chocolate chip. I made mine much bigger than the recipe calls for, but they still turned out well. 

ATK Peanut Butter Cookies

Makes 48 cookies (24 sandwiches)

Ingredients

1-1/4 c. Peanuts toasted, cooled, ground

3/4 c. Flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2c peanut butter

1/2 c. Sugar

1/2 c. Brown sugar

3 T. Melted butter

3 T. Milk

1 egg

3/4 c. Peanu butter

3 T. Butter

1 c. Powdered sugar

1. Roast peanuts in oven for 8 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Grind to corse crumbs in food processed or blender. 

2. Whisk dry ingredients together : flour, salt, baking soda. 

3. Mix wet ingredients together: peanut butter, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. 

4. Add dry to wet. Fold in peanuts. 

5. Scoop out 1 T. Of dough onto tray. Press into 2 inch rounds with wet fingers. 

6. Bake 15-18 minutes to golden and crunchy. Since these are sandwich cookies they need to be more firm than regular cookies. 

7. While they are baking melt the peanut butter and butter in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Whisk in the powdered sugar. 

8. Once cookies are cool, scoop about a tablespoon of the icing on one cookie and top it with another cookie. Pres down gently.  I found twisting it back and forth worked well to even out the icing in the middle. 

9. Set aside for an hour. Enjoy. I thought these were better the second day. 

I also made our favorite oatmeal cinnamon raisin bread. I took a picture and will add it to the recipe. 

http://gthfaith.blogspot.com/2012/09/favorite-oatmeal-cinnamon-whole-wheat.html?m=1

My two favorite people

Does life get much better than this?

I love them both so much!!

Two New Recipes

I tried two new recipes this morning, Green Chili Cheeseburgers and Swabian Pockets. I have included a picture of the Swabian pockets drying on a cookie sheet. After they dry for two hours, I have to boil them and then serve them in chicken broth(if they turn out, I might bring them to church for the Sundsy dinner). They are from my German cookbook. They are stuffed with chicken, spinach, bread, onion, and egg. If either recipe is good, I will post the recipe later. 

This dough was kneaded by hand for 10-15 minutes. It was quite a workout.  I often marvel at the way people used to cook on the past. We have it so easy: dishwashers, mixers, blenders, ovens, etc. 

Have you tried any new recipes lately? 

Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread

This is for dinner tonight. I just took it out of the oven and it smells amazing!!! Thank you to Sarah for the recipe. It was so easy.

I made mine half whole wheat and half bread flour. I definitely recommend bread flour; it has a higher glutton mixture and thus, produces a more crewy texture.

Bread recipe

Kitchen Chair Mats

My goal is to someday make my own braided wool rugs (or several) from recycled wool sweaters.  However, since I don't have a thrift store that sells wool sweaters for cheap, I will have to wait on that goal. Instead, I have made cotton braided chair covers for my kitchen chairs. I made one the first year I was married and then the scraps just sat in my closet. I pulled them out shortly after Martin was horned and made two more.  And finally, in January, I finished the fourth one. Yay.  I now have a semi-matching set. They make the seats more comfortable and I like the way they brighten up my kitchen.  

Do you know of anywhere that sells cheap wool sweaters (as in here is a bag of old wool sweaters that have holes in them and we were going to throw them away but you can have this whole garbage bag for a dollar)? 

Have you ever made braided rugs before? I thought it was relaxing, but it took much longer than i expected.  A lot more braided cloth goes into one mat than I thought.  

Cousins

Guess who we saw last night!?! Ivy and Hazel! Martin was so excited to see little people his size. They crawled around he Taylor's porch last night (before they had to leave to go to the rehearsal). Martin was laughing the whole time. They were both so sweet to him. He was very excited. 

We got them to sit still long enough for one picture. Ha ha. Then they were off and running and crawling and laughing again. We wish we could spend more time with these cuties and their parents. 

Short Repair

I have had these shorts forever, they were hand-me-downs from Greg to Luke. I stole them from Luke a few times and he graciously gave them to me. The elastic in the waistband was completely deteriorated and they looked like this: 

 

I took out the drawstring, seam ripped the waistband, added new elastic, sewed it all back in place, and replaced the drawstring. So now for less than an hours work, I have almost new shorts. I watched the first half of Amazing Grace while I seam ripped so the time passed quickly. 

Hopefully, they will last me another ten years. Ha. I am surprised that the fabric has held up so well. 

German Potato Soup

If you make yourself some tasty homemade chicken stock and don't know what to do with all of it, here is a recipe. It is based on a recipe from a cookbook called, More With Less.  The original recipe calls for water instead of stock. That would be an even more frugal recipe. 

The cookbook was given to me by one of my favorite people and possibly the sweetest person I know, Lindy Hall. She taught a writing club for home schoolers for many years. She forced me to write at least one paper a week for many years. It did wonders for my writing. I almost went into journalism because of how much I enjoyed writing, near the end of my time in her class. However, math had the strong pull and an advisor at SU told me that I would never be an engineer or a physisist  because my SAT scores weren't high enough... That pretty much settled my path. Ha ha. I double majored and went on to get my masters in one year. I thank my parents for telling me that I could achieve anything that I put my mind to. :) 

German Potato Soup

(Serves 4)

I usually make a hearty whole wheat and oatmeal bread, also from the same cookbook, to go with this, but any hearty bread would be awesome. 

1 T. Butter

2 T. Flour

4 c. Stock or water

4 potatoes, peeled and diced

1 onion

1/2 tsp. salt

Dash pepper

1. Melt butter in pan with flour over medium heat.  Cook 2 to 3 minutes until flour loses its flour smell. 

2. Whisk in liquid slowly until smooth. 

3. Add potatoes, onions, salt, and pepper. Cook 2-4 hours. The longer you cook it, the more the potatoes will fall apart and the soup will become thicker. 

4. Serve plain or with green onions and cheese. You could add ham or bacon if you wanted it to have more protein.  

I haven't posted pictured if Martin in a while. We went to the zoo today, dressed as a fox. Aren't you jealous that you don't have a fox suit? My sister gave it to me for Christmas. 

Do you have any ways you use up chicken stock? 

Krispie Kremes

My Dad and brother were traveling near a Krispie Kreme shop today. On their way home tonight, they stopped by and dropped off a half dozen plus one (which you might notice is already missing).

Krispie Kremes are a tradition in my family. My sister used to have to go up to AI DuPont's children's hospital in Willmington several times a year. My parents would always bring us back doughnuts. On the rare occasion that we tagged along for the appointment, we would hope that the sign was turned on so that we could get a hot free doughnut.  My parents would also bring them back from vacations in Richmond and we have stopped on the way back from several concerts to pick up several dozen. 

There is nothing like a fresh doughnut. Do yourself a favor and stop into a Krispie Kreme next time you pass one and the sign is on. I love watching the machine that makes all the doughnuts. It reminds me of Willy Wonka (the old movie). 

Do you have any fun childhood memories that involve food? I have many more because we took so many tours of food plants when I was little. They were all very interesting and I still think of them when I see their products. 

Homemade chicken stock

I am a big fan of homemade chicken stock (because it tastes better, is easy to make, and is free - free stuff always makes me happy). I started buying the bone in chicken breasts and thighs. If I need them boneless for a recipe, I debone them myself and throw the bones and skin in a pot to make stock. Most of the time though I simply boil my chicken and then pull the meat off.  

Stock recipe: Just throw in some onion, celery, pepper, salt, garlic, and carrots (or some combination of those - I throw in the tops of my celery bunch and onion skins that I have saved sometimes).  Boil all of that for one to three hours depending on how much chicken you are cooking. Sometimes I throw a whole chicken in the pot. Pour the stock into containers (I use mason jars) and refrigerate. Once they have cooled completely the fat will gather at the top. You can scrape this off and throw it away or use it for dumplings or biscuits or chicken pot pie crust. Yum!! 

I included a picture of some homemade stock, yogurt, and granola that I made last week. Mr. B. loves yogurt. It costs less than half the price to make your own yogurt. Homemade granola is also less than half the cost of store bought granola and so much healthier without the extra oils and sugar and additives.  

So there are some frugal tips for the week. :) Do you have any simple ways you cut costs in your grocery bill? Does anyone use vinegar and baking soda to clean? I am thinking about starting and would love some tips. 

P.s. Happy birthday to my mother!! We love you and are so blessed to have you as a mom and grandma. Thanks for loving us so much. 

Flags

As I also mention, i helped with a baby shower and a wedding. The baby shower (a tea party which allowed me the chance to make French macaroons and petits fours) was for a dear friend who is having a girl. I can't wait to have a girl some day. I want to sew dresses and doll clothes and hair bows ... I found my American doll dress patterns the other day (for felicity and Kirsten) and almost started making a dress, which is funny since I never had one of their dolls, but my sister did and I made her doll clothes.  That is an aside. Anyhow, I look forward to having a daughter someday, yet in the meantime I will have to enjoy my friends' daughters. 

All of that to say that I made little flags for the baby shower. They were pink and purple and I failed to take a picture of them. I also made another set for another friend out of seersucker. I was asked to make some more for the wedding. So I went out and bought eight different blue fabrics and set about to making eight different little flag banners. I really like the way they turned out. The "theme" of the wedding was vintage and the bride loves shades of blue. 

She picked cornflower blue, which is the blue of my KitchenAid mixer and makes me extraordinarily happy. It brightens up my already cheery kitchen. I use it almost daily. I even have an extra mixing bowl which i use during times of heavy baking and cooking.  I highly suggest it if you plan on making a cake while your bread rises or don't feel like washing out the bowl and need to make icing for your cake. Oh, and I love that the bowls can go in the dishwasher. 

Do you have a KitchAid mixer? What color is it? Is there any kitchen tool you use or value more? Dishwasher and ovens don't count. :) 

P.S. Have you seen the glass bowls that they now sell for the stand KitchenAid? If I didn't already have two bowls, I would have to save for one of those. Also, if you have see the mixing paddle with the spatula attached, skip it. I have it and it spreads a thin coat of the wet ingredients along the bowl and you end up having to scrape down the sides. 

I am back.

I am back to blogging for a while. I have even set up posts for the next few weeks. They are of my crafting and cooking adventures of late. This year, since I have the semester off, I challenged myself to finish a bunch of unfinished projects and also to try some new recipes. As you will soon see, I have made a dent in my projects list, tried a few new recipes, have played with Mr. Baby tons, and have even helped with a baby shower and wedding. The wedding planning and projects distracted me from some deep cleaning projects, but I have managed to clean out under the bathroom sink and organize Mr. Baby's clothing. So, all is not lost and plus, making things for weddings is more fun than organizing your linen closet or rotating your pantry shelves. 

Happy readings. I hope to be more consistent in the future.  

And because my sister tells me that everything is better with a photo, here is a picture of a puppet that I made for my nephew'a birthday.

P.s. Any requests for recipes? 

I really want to make these chocolate caramel pretzels.  They look fabulous. 

1. Behold me here, in grief draw near,
Pleading at Thy throne oh King.
To Thee each tear, each trembling fear,
Jesus Son of Man I bring.
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee.
Let me find Thee,
Lord of mercy King of grace.

2. Look down in love, and from above,
With Thy Spirit satisfy.
Thou hast sought me, Thou hast bought me,
And thy purchase Lord am I.
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee.
Let me find Thee,
Here on earth and then on high. 

3. Hear the broken, scarcely spoken, 
Longings of my heart to thee 
All the crying, all the sighing, 
Of Thy child accepted be. 
Let me find Thee, Let me find Thee. 
Let me find Thee, 
Wounded healer, suffering Lord

Upon A Life I Did Not Live

So,I this is one of my new favorite songs from igrace.  Okay, so end up having between 50 - 75% of each cd as my favorite songs. ha ha. I really like the simplicity of this song.  I am grateful to igrace for highlighting old hymns that are rarely sung.  


Upon A Life I Did Not Live 
Horatius Bonar 

1. Upon a Life I have not lived, 
 Upon a Death I did not die, 
 Another’s Life; Another’s Death, 
 I stake my whole eternity. 

2. Not on the tears which I have shed, 
Not on the sorrows I have known, 
 Another’s tears; Another’s griefs, 
 On these I rest, on these alone. 

 Chorus: O Jesus, Son of God, I build on what Thy cross has done for me; There both my death and life I read, my guilt, and pardon there I see. 

3. Lord, I believe; O deal with me, 
 As one who has Thy Word believed! 
 I take the gift, Lord, look on me, 
 As one who has Thy gift received. 

©2012 Kevin Twit Music (ASCAP)

~This recipe is based on several recipes that I have combined and tweaked over the years to create a simple, easy, but delicious cornbread recipe.  The real revelation came when I started making my own corn totillas (and bought corn masa – which is simply corn flour). I thought, why not replace the flour with corn flour? I guess this is also gluten free...

Ingredients:

¾ c. cornmeal
¾ c. corn masa
2-1/2 tsp. Baking powder
½ tsp NaCl
1 14oz can of creamed corn
2 eggs
3 T grease

Directions

1.                  Preheat over to 400 degrees F.
2.                  Place either a cast iron skillet or a square glass baking dish in the oven with the grease. Let the grease melt and become hot.
3.                  Mix together dry ingredients.
4.                  Pour in creamed corn and eggs. Mix gently until just combined. Pour about half the hot grease in the batter and mix a 10 – 15 times (batter should make a sizzling sound if the grease is hot enough, it will still turn out even if it doesn't sizzle – I usually have it hot enough 50% of the time).
5.                  Pour into hot skillet or pan.  Bake for 10 – 15 minutes. Outer edges should be brown and the middle should not jiggle when the pan is slide back and forth.
6.                  Turn out on plate and serve immediately.

I like the cornbread plain, however, if you would like it to be sweeter, try eating a piece with honey or molassas poured over the top.  Yum!!!

I journey forth rejoicing

From this dark vale of tears,
To heavenly joy and freedom,
From earthly bonds and fears;
Where Christ our Lord shall gather
All His redeemed again,
His kingdom to inherit.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

Why thus so sadly weeping,
Beloved ones of my heart?
The Lord is good and gracious,
Though now He bids us part.
Oft have we met in gladness.
And we shall meet again,
All sorrow left behind us.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

I go to see His glory,
Whom we have loved below:
I go, the blessed angels,
The holy saints to know.
Our lovely ones departed,
I go to find again,
And wait for you to join us.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

I hear the Savior calling,
The joyful hour has come:
The angel guards are ready
To guide me to our home,
Where Christ our Lord shall gather
All His redeemed again,
His kingdom to inherit.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

Written by Matthew Smith (based on an old German hymn). 

Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding

(A really quick and delicious) dessert

 

I always keep vanilla wafers and bananas around for this simple recipe (and because I enjoy snaking on both of them).  Sometimes, when I am craving pudding, I whip the pudding part of this recipe together and eat it.

 

Ingredients:

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

dash salt

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

6 to 8 ripe bananas

3 dozen vanilla wafers

 

4 egg whites

6 T sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

 

In a saucepan, mix sugar, flour, salt, egg yolks, and milk.  Mix well.  Cook until mixture thickens.  Stir frequently (if you are not going to stir frequently, I suggest using a double boiler, I find it takes longer and is more work to clean).  Once the mixture thickens, remove from heat and add vanilla.

 

In a loaf pan, make layers of cooked custard, sliced bananas, and finally vanilla wafers.  Create three layers of each or more if your pan and ingredients permit (I have done 2 layers before when I was low on vanilla wafers).

 

Beat egg whites until frothy and then add the cream of tartar.  Beat until the whites stand in soft peaks that fall over when the beater is removed.  Continue to beat the egg whites, added one T of sugar at a time (I just measure each tablespoon and throw it in, I don't wait between scoops). Lastly, add the vanilla.

Spread the meringue over the pudding.  Make sure to cover the edges of the pan.  Bake for 15 minute or until meringue is slightly brown.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Blessed be wisdom and the power

the justice and the grace
that joined in cousel to restore
and save our ruined race

Our father Adam ate the fruit

and from his glory fell
and we his children then were brought
to death and near to hell

praise be to God that sent his son

to take on flesh and blood
he gave his life a sacrifice
to make our peace with God

He honored all his father's laws

which we had disobeyed
he bore our sins apon the cross
for us the randsom paid

He rose victorious from the grave

and now he lives on high
he plead his merits there to save
transgressors doomed to die

There on a glorious throne he pleads

and by his power divine
redeems us from the slavish chains
of satan and of sin

Some day the Lord will come to judge

and with a soverign voice
shall call the dead from every grave
while living saints rejoice

Oh then may I with joy appear

before the judge's face
and with the saints forever know
sing his redeeming grace

If you have children, listen to Judy Rogers.  If you do not have children yet, listen to Judy Rogers.  If you never plan to have children, list to Judy Rogers.  Her songs are so rich and they stick in your head. My Mom gave me two Judy Rogers cds while I was pregnant (Why Can't I See God & Go To The Ant).  Martin and I listen to them quite often now.

Here are some of our favorites music:

Judy Rogers
G.T. And the Halo Express
Seeds (I actually do not own any of these yet, but I want to)
Indelible Grace (I own all but the lastest one)

Caramel Corn

Note: The original recipe called for 16 cups of popped popcorn. I used 30 or 32 cups because the popcorn looked way too sugary when I started to make it. If you like your popcorn super drenched in syrup, then cut the popcorn back to the original 16 cups. It will be amazing either way.

Other note: Fisher's popcorn has the corn syrup listed higher in the ingredient list than the butter. I am guessing they use more corn syrup and bring the sugar mixture to a hard ball stage. This would eliminate the need to bake it. However, I like how the baking step of this recipe dries the popcorn out further and gives it an extra crunch.

Ingredients:

30 cups popped popcorn (1-1/2 cups unpopped corn)

1 c. butter (2 sticks)

1-2/3 cups brown sugar, packed (is there ever a recipe that calls for unpacked brown sugar?)

½ cup corn syrup

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Vanilla

peanuts (optional)

* Pop popcorn. I have an old air popper that my parents were going to throw away that I saved for my children to enjoy someday (I remember being so amazed as a child watching the popcorn pop). Martin wasn't quite as excited as I had hoped, but he still has some time to appreciate how cool it is.

* Grease two rimmed baking sheets (13x9 baking pans would work in a pinch and might be easier to stir). I used fake PAM, but you could easily use butter or fake crisco.

* Melt butter in pan. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Bring to boil over medium-high heat (this is for an electric over, for gas I would cook at a lower temperature). Stop stirring when it comes to a boil and let it boil for 5 minutes. I boiled mine a bit longer because I was testing to see what stage the sugar was. It seemed to be about soft ball or a bit before.

* Take off the heat and add in the baking soda and vanilla.

* I had a super large bowl that held all the popped popcorn and a regular large bowl that I stirred small batches of the popcorn around in. I poured in about 5 cups of popcorn and 1/6^th of the sugary mixture into the bowl. I stired it until it was well coated and then dumped it onto the cookie sheets.

* Bake at 250 degrees F for 60 minutes. Stir at the 30, 45, and 60 minute marks. I left my batches on the trays to cool on wire racks. The original recipe says to pour on parchment paper and let cool. As my brother says, “whatever is clever”.

Last note: If you want to add peanuts, I found that dumping the sugary mixture directly on top of them helped stick them to the popcorn a little bit better. However, still most of the peanuts fell to the bottom. I haven't solved this problem yet. If any of you have suggestions or find a way to make them stick better, let me know!!

Hebrews 12

Esther and Mary's Bible Study starts in a few weeks; this year we are studying Hebrews.  I am so happy and blessed to be a part of their study again this year. I have been reading Hebrews to get ahead on my studying (in case Martin starts crawling around soon and I have to chase him instead of reading as many books).  I have learned to read the verses in several versions. Pastor Shelton recommended The Message as a paraphase (not a literal translation). I enjoy the different perspective that it gives.  I usually read the ESV, NKJV, and The Message. 

Once in a while, The Message says that makes me think differently about a passage that I have read many times. I have always loved Hebrews 12: 1 – 2.  It might have something to do with listening to G.T. And the Halo Express and singing the first 2 verses over and over and over again. Below I have listed how the Message phrases these verses.

Hebrews 12: 1 – 4 (From the Message)

This passage follows the chapter about faith and how Abraham, Joseph, Issac, Jacob, Moses, Rahab, and many more acted in faith and believed the promises of God and were able to do great things.

“Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we'd better get on with it.  Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parastic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in.  Study how he did it.  Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever.  And now he's there, in the place of honor, right along side God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over the story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”

What sections of the Bible are you studying right now? Has any passage stuck out even though you have read it many times?   

Whole Wheat Oatmeal (Banana and/or Peach) Pancakes

I do not remember where I first found the recipes that I based this recipe on.  The orignial recipe calls for oil and white flour and is a plain and boring recipe for oatmeal pancakes.  I use the original recipe as a base for much goodness for Jared and my (and someday Mr. Baby's) breakfasts. 

I started by replacing the oil with applesauce. One day my bananas were going bad (anything past yellow is bad for me) and so I mashed them up and added them instead of the applesauce.  A warning, the first time I added way too many bananas and the dough never really cooked and stayed slimy in the middle. Also, the banana needed another egg (or two) to stabilize the dough and support the banana chunks.

Often I sprinkle on chocolate chips or blueberries once I have poured on the batter (chocolate chips find their way into way more pancakes than blueberries). Last week I didn't have enough bananas for a full recipe, but I had some peaches that needed to be used up, so I smashed the peaches up and added them with the 1 banana I had to the recipe.  That was Jared and my favorite so far.  I have also added vanilla, cinnamon, and pecans sometimes to the recipe.  There are all sorts of wonderful combinations and I would love to hear about any improvements or new flavor combinations you try. It might become my new favorite.

For now, I just give you my sort-of-recipe for the banana pancakes.      

Ingredients

Group 1
* 1-1/2 c. old fashion or quick oats (blended to a corse flour)
* 1-1/2 c. flour (I use whole wheat)
* 2 tsp. Baking soda
* 1 tsp. Baking powder
* ½ tsp. Salt
* 1/3 c. sugar (I use 1 – 2 T. sometimes... I put syrup on them, so they don't need to be super sweet and the bananas make them more sweet).

Group 2

* 1-1/2 c. buttermilk (confession, I have never made this recipe with buttermilk.  I always use milk and add lemon juice (see note below) and let it sit on my counter while I mix the dry ingredients. I bet buttermilk would make these pancakes even more incredible).
* 1 c. milk
* ¼ c. applesauce (or 2 – 3 bananas – I use 2.5 or 3)
* 1 egg (or 2 – 3 if using bananas – I use 2 or 3 depending on the size of the bananas)
 

1. Mix group one together in a medium bowl. Wisk to combine.

2. Mash banana. Mix until the chunks of banana are the size you want. Add the eggs, milk, and buttermilk.

3. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix to combine.

4. Sometimes I butter the pan. Most of the time they don't stick without butter. It depends on the pan I use.  Cook 2 – 4 minutes per side.  Make sure to spread the batter out after you have poured it in the pan!!

Notes:

* Always spread the batter out in the pan.  If the batter is especially thick, spread the batter out a lot.  Otherwise, the middle will puff up and not cook and the middle of you pancake will be soupy.  It is gross. Avoid this problem and spread the batter out with a spoon or the edge of your measuring cup, when you dump the batter in the pan. The batter will thicken as it sits because the oatmeal absorbs some of the liquid.

** Jared and I make the entire recipe (or a double batch) and refrigerate or freeze the extras.  I try to undercook slightly the ones that I freeze.  That way they don't brown too much when I warm them up.  I put my pancakes in the toaster for a few minutes. While I was pregnant, I would warm up four pancakes and put them and syrup in a tupperware container and eat them on my way to work.  They were delicious.

*** I normally sprinkle the chocolate chips on after I have poured the batter in the pan.  That way I have all my chocolate chips evenly spread out and well balanced between pancakes. 

**** I buy a large container of quick oats (or old fashion oats – I have used both) and grind the entire container in my blender.  I have a plastic container with a lid that I store my oatmeal flour in.  When it is almost gone, I grind up another container.  I find it is easier to do it all at once and have it around.  It makes me make pancakes more often because the hardest step is finished.  :)

***** I sometimes throw my bananas in the kitchen-aid, with the wisk attachment, and let it mash up the bananas for me.  Often I buy bananas on sale at Harris Market and freeze them already mashed in quantities for pancakes and banana bread.

****** Don't just use milk.  You have to use buttermilk or the buttermilk substitution.  The acidity in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to help the batter rise.

******* 1 c. buttermilk = 1.c milk + 1 T. lemon juice

Let the mixture sit on the counter for a few minutes until it is sort of lumpy

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

When I had to give up dairy, because Martin is allergic to the protien in it, I started drinking Almond Milk.  I buy the unsweetened kind because the ingredient list is much shorter.  Sometimes they are out of the plain almond milk and instead I purchase almond & coconut milk.  It is great on my homemade granola (LINK TO RECIPE). However, every once in a while, usually when I come home from the gym, I want a glass of milk. Since I am used to creamy, delicious cow's milk, almond milk just lacks that omph when it is consumed plain. Thus, why I remember and started to make this simple recipe.  I keep a jar in my refrigerator almost all the time.

Chocolate Syrup

Makes 1 pint (I half the recipe for me and keep it in a jelly jar)

½ cup cocoa (often I add more or add some of the dark chocolate cocoa)

1 cup water

2 cups sugar

1/8 tsp salt (I never measure, I just throw some in)

¼ tsp vanilla (again, I never measure, I just splash some in)

Heat everything, but the vanilla, on the stove.  Bring to a boil. Whisk every so often. Boil 3 – 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla.  Pour into a jar. Keeps several months in the frig.

***Note: to be especially frugal, after pouring the syrup in the jar, pour some milk in the pan to use up all remaining chocolate that is stuck to the sides.  Warm up and drink as hot chocolate. Yum.   

Chocolate Pecan Pie

The history behind this pie … a few months ago, back in the late fall or early winter, one of Jared's co-worker's wife had a birthday.  Her husband (who works with Jared) asked me to make her a chocolate pecan pie for her birthday.  Since I had never made one before, I printed off several different recipes from online and scoured my cookbooks. I halved or quartered each recipe and then made mini pies (one of my favorite kitchen tools – whenever you have extra pie filling you can use these to make an extra pie or two so that you can try your creation before you bring it somewhere). I tried some goofy recipes.  One of the recipes called for chocolate chips to be sprinkled over the top.  That one tasted like a pecan pie with chocolate chips sprinkled over the top. Some recipes called for as little as one cup of pecans and you couldn't even taste the pecans.  The worst recipes were ones that called for over 1 cup of sugar.  BLEH.  They were way too sweet.  I would send samples with Jared to work and they would tell me which recipes they liked and why.

After a few tries, we ended up settling on a recipe from my southern cookbook, with the addition of unsweetened chocolate squares and removing some of the sugar (both ideas from other recipes).  It was also one of the only recipes that called for vanilla, which I thought added to the flavor. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as Jared and his co-workers.  Oh, and the wife said this was one of the best birthday presents she had ever received.  :)

Ingredients

4 large eggs

2/3 cup sugar (recipe calls for 1 cup)

1 cup corn syrup

1-1/2 tsp flour

tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

cup (½ stick) butter

2 cup pecans (I buy the broken pieces at Sams because they are cheaper than the whole ones and that way I don't have to chop them up for cookies, pies, or oatmeal)

1 pie crust (uncooked)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs until foamy (2 – 4 minutes on med or high speed).

Mix sugar, corn syrup, flour, salt, and vanilla.

Melt butter and chocolate (I melt it in the microwave in a Pyrex measuring cup). Mix into rest of ingredients.

Stir in pecans.

Pour into pie crust.

Bake 40 – 60 minutes until filling is just soft in the middle when the pie is shaken and the crust is golden brown.

Cool on wire rack or chill.  

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

First, to those of you who have given us Amazon gift cards over the past few years, I am about to use some of them to buy the rest of C.S. Lewis's books for our collection.  If I am going to have a son named for him, I should probably have all the books in my house.  There are a few of his books that I know I have read and own, but I cannot find them.  The last time I remember reading them is in college. Although, college seems not so long ago, it has been five years and who knows where they could be. Really? I graduated with my undergraduate degree five years ago? Wow. Time sure flies by.

I am re-reading Mere Christianity, which I was able to find (I am also reading the Chronicles of Narnia to Martin lately). Recently, I finished the chapter on Christian Marriage. I would quote the whole chapter here, but I believe that would be against the copyrights of the book. So I have just put some particularly great quotes below.  You will have to read the whole chapter, and maybe even the book, to grasp the full, awesome writing of Mr. Lewis.

“But, as I said before, 'the most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of our own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs'. Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it.  You cannot make it the basis of a while life.  It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even last at all.  Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go.”

“People get from books the idea that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on 'being in love' for ever. As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake and are entitled to a change – not realizing that, when the have changed, the glamour will presently go out of the new love just as it went out of the old one.”

“That is, I think, one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies. It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do.  Let the thrill go – let it die away – go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follows – and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time. But if you decided to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life.  It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all around them.  It is much better fun to learn to swim than to go on endlessly (and hopelessly) trying to get back the feeling you had when you first went paddling as a small boy.”

“Another notion we get from novels and plays is that 'falling in love' is something quite irresistable; something that just happens to one, like measles.  And because they believe this, some married people throw up the sponge and give in when they find themselves attracted by a new acquaintance.”

“No doubt, if our minds are fill of novels and plays and sentimental songs, and our bodies full of alcohol, we shall turn any love we feel into that kind of love; just as if you have a rut in your path all the rainwater will run into that rut, and if you wear blue spectacles everything you see will turn blue.  But that will be our own fault.”

Teaching

During my grad school, I either could be a TA (teaching assistant) or a RA (research assistant).  I chose the easier of the two routes (because I had heard so many of my grad student friends complaining about being slaves to the professor that they were RAs for).  The class that I was assigned to was circuits 1, which was one of my favorite classes.  I loved running the lab and grading the exams for that class.  I also was able to lecture a bit in each of the lab sessions on material that the professor had not had a chance to cover. It was great fun.  During that year, I fell in love with teaching.  Both my parents are teachers and the profession never had appealed to me until grad school.  

After Jared and I were married, the first job that I found was teaching a lab at SU.  Teaching a lower level lab is completely different than teaching a senior level lab.  The students actually want to learn in a senior level lab because it is part of their major. At SU, after dealing with students who were just there because they needed a lab science and had heard that this lab was the easiest, I quickly thought, maybe I do not enjoy teaching as much as I thought.

However, tonight I have decided that I do really enjoy teaching others (and it especially helps if you have good students who want to learn). I started teaching a circuits class again and I LOVE IT!! I miss Martin a little bit, but I love love love teaching this class. I am actually teaching the entire class, which is a first.