Easter Memories

I can’t believe that we are at the end of March and preparing for Easter weekend again! Last year 3 of my 4 kiddos were able to be with us for Easter. It was a special time with all three of the grands together for the first time! This year I will have only 2 of them plus a sweet daughter-in-law and 2 of the grands.

Recently I found a few pictures taken during my college days…senior year to be exact. I was a Home Economics major, and at the time, we had to spend 6 weeks in the Home Economics Residence. I happened to be assigned during the spring…including Easter. This picture was taken on Easter Sunday 36 years ago! I have been able to reconnect with 2 of my housemates through social media! We all got along very well and have lots of happy memories of those 6 weeks!

If you’ve been ready this blog for any length of time, you will know that I got my love of baking from my dear mother. I also was the recipient of many of her small kitchen gadgets when she decided she needed to give up her own kitchen. I know that kitchen gadgets are not meant to last very long. They are items we often receive as gifts for bridal showers and are often replaced before too many years of marriage have passed. However, I do still happen to have a few items that belonged to my mother years ago. They were very well made way back then (early 1970s) and have withstood the test of time. Mom bought these two particular items from a very dear friend of hers who was a school teacher during the year, but needed work during the summer. At least one summer she sold kitchen items…Pampered Chef, perhaps?  I have no idea what company made these amazing tools, but they have lasted and lasted and lasted…like the Energizer Bunny, maybe? It is time for me to replace them, though, because they are finally wearing out. You can see the crack in the spatula to the left and the broken handle on the one on the right.

 For several years, our Easter dessert has been pavlova. This year will be no different! I have all the ingredients written on my grocery list! You can find the recipe here. Be sure to give it a try! Your family will love it!

She Said, “Yes!”

No recipe with this post, just good news from my 2Lt and Citadel grad! We are super excited to announce that there will be a wedding in 2017!

I’m thankful to Julia’s mom for sharing this reenactment picture of the proposal!

As we close 2016, we look forward to the blessings coming in 2017. We will now have a wedding as well as a new grandbaby!

And I promise new recipes will be coming in 2017, too!

Cranberry Apple Pie

Hello, and welcome to the Christmas season! I can’t believe that it has been a month since I wrote my last blog post! These last few weeks have just flown by, and now Christmas is just a week away.

This post is #400! It has taken almost 6 years to get this far, but I have persevered and have  had 22,760 views to the blog in that time. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get to 23,000 by the end of 2016!

I love Christmas, but I am also often a sentimental puddle of mush during the season. My fondest memories of my dad are from Christmas. I miss him the most during this season. Actually, I miss my mom, dad, and brother the most during Christmas.

Christmas will be a little strange since there will be only 3 of us together. Our family of 10 going on 11 will be spread out from Chicago to Philadelphia to Orlando this year. However, I am very thankful that I had 9 of our 10-almost-11 here at Thanksgiving! This is what life is all about! We spend years training our kids to become independent adults, capable of surviving life without us! It is such a blessing to see our kids marry and become parents and begin new traditions with their own little families! I have two favorite passages of Scripture concerning children. One has also been my mother-in-law’s favorite…Isaiah 54:13–“All thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children.”  The other is verse 4 of the little 3rd epistle of John–“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.”  If these are true of my children, then I feel that I was a successful mom, for this is what matters most!

Here are a few pictures that we had taken at Thanksgiving.

Now to this amazing pie recipe! Tomorrow evening we are having our special Lessons and Carols service at church. We always have a fellowship time after this service, and this year we are all supposed to bring side dishes and desserts. I had an extra bag of fresh cranberries that I needed to use, so I did a little searching for a cranberry pie. I found one on the Food Network web page that sounded really good! As usual, I made some changes by adding apples and using pecans instead of walnuts.  It is not THM-friendly, but could easily be adapted. Delicious!!

• 2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup Truvia baking blend)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Topping:

• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. almond extract

Spray a 10-inch pie pan to prevent sticking. Spread the cranberries in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and sugar. Let sit while mixing the topping.

Cream the butter with the eggs and sugar. Add the flour and almond extract to the mixture until blended. This mixture will be thick. Spread the topping over the cranberries and nuts. Be sure to seal the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Serve warm with whipped topping or ice cream!

 

 

 

 

 

Blessings Jar for 2013

Happy New Year to all my faithful readers!! I hope you all enjoyed time with your families and friends over the holiday season.  Did you try any new recipes?  My family loved the macaroni pie!  It didn’t last long enough for me to get a picture of it!  We enjoyed playing games, watching football games, and just hanging around the house with each other. The boys each had friends over on New Year’s Eve…except for Ben, who went over to the home of one of his friends.

This Blessings Jar idea is not original with me. My friend Joanie has been talking about it on her Facebook page.  I think that it is such a good idea that I want to share it with you all.  It is not a kitchen tip, recipe, or meal idea, but it is still something great that you can do on your own, with your family as a whole, or with each of your children. It is a great way to help children see the blessings in life!

Take a one-quart canning jar and decorate it with a nice ribbon or some such thing and label it “Blessings, 2013.”    Make a stack of small pieces of paper…sticky note size will work…you could even use sticky notes…just fold each piece when done.  Each evening before going to bed, think back through your day.  Did something special happen? Did the Lord answer a specific prayer?  Did you begin to pray for something specific? Write down one thought or blessing on the paper and add the date.  Drop it in your jar.  You can do this each evening, a few nights a week, or just once a week.  By the time the holidays roll around next year and we are once again on the eve of a new year, you will have lots of reminders of how the Lord blessed you during 2013.   Letting each of your children have his own jar to keep on his nightstand will help him to see how God can bless even the littlest ones in our families!  Mom, Dad or older siblings can help the small children by writing down what they want.  If you choose to do the Blessings Jar as a family, keep the jar on the kitchen counter or where you might have your family worship time.  If the jar is visible, it won’t get forgotten!