Last week was our baking week for CHRISTmas.  Below are photos of most and recipes:

Aunt Barbara’s Mexican Wedding Cakes. See recipe here.

These are light but taste similar to shortbread

Dipped Pretzel Sticks

These are easy for even the smallest child.

Super easy and super good, creamy fudge. See recipe here.

Anne

Anne

Peanut Butter Cookies With Kisses. See recipe here.

Peanut Butter Cookies With Kisses

We also made:

• Molasses Cookies (See recipe here)
• Peppermint Bark (See recipe here)
• Martha Washington’s Bon Bon’s (See recipe here)

All the cookies laid out for the neighbors

After the plates were wrapped, we drove around town caroling and handing out these lovelies to our dear friends and neighbors. We had a couple neighbors gone, so those will probably be distributed tonight.

Tags: Anne, Emily, Family, Food, hospitality, Jay, kitchen cares, Photos, recipes, winter

As many of you know, I have been away visiting my dad in his last days. Originally, I went out to Oregon to see him in the hospital. By the end of that week, the decision was made to place him in a hospice. He was in the hospice for about ten days. After that, it was the preparation for the memorial service.

Below is a photo of my dad with me on the left, my sister on the right and our half brothers. He will be missed by many, indeed.

My husband wrote an email to friends and family. Here is a small part of that email.

While we had a time of sad parting at Grandpa’s internment and then latter memorial, you might be wondering how it’s possible we can be so lighthearted after a memorial;

I Thessalonians 4:13-18
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

It’s like I explained to Rase when Grandpa died; Grandpa laid aside the dead part, his body, so he could grasp real life, Jesus. Our body is subject to the curse of sin and has to die, but for those who have placed their trust and obedience in Jesus, their bodies die, but their spirits are made more truly alive in a way we can’t understand now because in Jesus;

Colossians 3:3-4
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

What is truly sad are the partings we make that are eternal because people choose to remain in their sins as opposed to accepting the grace of God available in Jesus to grasp what is truly life. Jesus said;

John 14:6
I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.

Fortunately, we will see Grandpa sooner than we think.

We drove home Saturday and arrived here at 2:30am Sunday. Sunday, we celebrated Eric’s 17th Birthday by having a feast of egg rolls! I will share a tutorial on how to make these soon.

Homemade Eggrolls

Today is catch up day with the checkbook, bills, and my forum. I hope to get back into the groove of things here.

Thanks for stopping by! Lord bless the rest of your day as you serve Him!

Tags: Birthday, Eric, Family, Food, Photos

A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed hamburgers made with homemade buns. They were fabulous! The recipe used was from the Tightwad Gazette for Cuban Bread.

This a quick yeast bread. It takes half the time than normal yeast breads and it is super easy!

Ingredients
5-6 cups flour
2 T. dry yeast
2 T. sugar
1 T. salt
2 c. hot tap water
1 T. sesame seeds, oats, or poppy seeds (optional)

1. Mix 4 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar, and salt.
   
2. Pour in hot water and beat 100 strokes, or 3 minutes with a mixer.
   
3. Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky.
   
4. Knead 8 minutes.
   
5. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with damp towel.
   
6. Let rise 15 minutes.
7. Punch down.
   
8. Divide into 2 pieces, shape into loaves and place on baking sheet.
   
9. Cut an X 1/2 inch deep on top with sharp knife.
   
10. Brush with water and sprinkle with oats.
    
11. Place on the middle shelf of a cold oven.
    
12. Place a cake pan of hot water on the lowest shelf.
    
13. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake 40-50 minutes until deep golden brown.

Tags: Food, recipes

We are getting ready to send off our hunters. Here is the menu I have come up with:

Breakfast
Choice of the following:
Egg Muffin (English muffin, cheese, sausage, egg)
Egg casserole (shredded potato, bacon, egg, cheese)
Yogurt with granola

Lunch
Choice of the following:
Cup O Noodles
Meat sandwich
Cheese sticks and/or carrot sticks

Dinner
1. Steaks and scalloped potatoes
2. Stew and biscuits
3. Hot dogs and chips
4. Hamburgers
5. Deer backstraps and cubed potatoes

Snacks
Marshmallows
Cookies
Muffins
Cocoa
“Emergency rations” (candy)

We will prepare most of the items ahead of time so they can simply be heated. The exceptions would be steaks and backstraps.

Tags: Family, Food, hunting, Organization

Tags: Anne, Food, Joe, kitchen cares, recipes