We are Loved

Easter is my favorite holiday. A time of reflection, new beginnings, awareness of our Lord. It is a time of joy and a time of great sadness for me.

He is risen!

The tomb is empty.

That is great news for those that BELIEVE.

My heart is full during Lent and during the Easter season. I am amazed that Jesus died for me, and all of us. He was tortured. He died on a cross. Crucified. An excruciating death and he did it for us. He endured the pain for sinners. We are all sinners. He loved us. He loved us enough to die for us. God loved us enough to have his Son die for us. Complete love. It makes me cry knowing the pain Jesus felt, the betrayal he knew would come.

THE POWER OF THE CROSS

Crowned Jesus with Glory
Reconciled us to God
Overcame the World
Shed blood for our sins
Saved us from our own way

So this Easter, rise in celebration of His love for us, each and every one of us. Share your faith, praise God and love him for all He has done and continues to do through His people.

Mud 2 Come

What is everyone talking, rather complaining, about lately?  The weather.  When will spring come? Oh, it is so cold. Is it snowing again? It is March. This is supposed to be a crazy month. 

My attitude about the weather is let it be.  We cannot change it. We have to live with it. No matter what it is doing – sunny, raining, snowing, cloudy – someone is complaining. We need to learn to just live with it.  People, you are living in upstate New York. We get snow in the winter and winter is much longer here than the south. You get snow in the spring, sometimes even in May or June.  Summers can be really dry or cold and wet.  Fall, fall is just beautiful.  And then the cycle continues. We have four great seasons.  Sometimes it may seem that a season did not happen or was too short but that is the way with life.  And with each season, there are advantages and disadvantages.  Just depends on your point of view!

Summer

By now we are mowing lawn weekly, working in the garden and enjoying the longer evenings on our new deck!  It could be a good year without bugs or a bad year with lots of pesty bugs.

Fall

The lovely colors and the first smells of a wood fire.  Harvest time.  Cooler days mean I can bake anytime of the day.  However, the days are getting shorter.   We still enjoy the great outdoors though.

Winter

It’s a real treat waking up to a land that has been blanketed by inches of glistening white snow. It’s magical. The beauty of the first snow fall is breath-taking and well, magical.  Every year, it is magical. Special.  The fluffy snow is fun to sled in and the wet, packable snow is great to play in.  Who doesn’t like to make a snowman? Or a snow angel? Ok, with snow there is work as well. It must be shoveled.  It stresses people out when it comes to driving on snow-covered roads...just this morning I had a scare as my car danced around a corner.

Spring

Oh the fresh colors of new life.  Have you ever noticed that the first leaves that burst forth on the twig are the greenest?  Take the time to look this year then.  The blooming flowers. I get excited when I see the tulips and daffodils popping up through the ground.  As a matter of fact, I wanted to plant a few bulbs I had in the garage last weekend but the ground is frozen. So how do those delicate shoots break through the frozen soil?  Pond life coming to life and the little creatures thawing.  The return of the migratory birds. Hello Robin!  The flowering trees. The smell of fresh cut grass. And then there is the mud…the mud… the kids and the mud….the dog and the mud.  The mud in the house, on the floor, on the clothes, boots, stairs, and on my light-colored rug.  

Awww… and that is where we are now, living in a mud-filled life.  It seems to be everywhere as I track after it cleaning it up.  I always seem to be a step behind the mud trail!

Our Girl

She is amazing.  Our girl. Our daughter.  Not only is she beautiful in appearance but she is gorgeous inside!  She is thoughtful, helpful and kind.  She is serious and on the flip-side of that coin, she is a real clown. She is responsible and ambitious.  She tackles her homework and special projects without us asking about them (although I do, nightly).  She is creative.  She is growing up and even though I try, I can no longer deny the inevitable.  And to top it off, this September, she’ll become a teenager!

In school, her grades reflect the time and effort she puts into each subject.  Her reports come home with comments such as “a pleasure to have in class, an active participant, completes assignments on time and in detail, etc.  She was honored last year by being inducted into the National Honor Society.  As a member, she is required to volunteer her time. And volunteer she has.  Last fall, she made baked goods for the S-VE Youth Association concession stand, she made banners for the teams, and now she is volunteering her time at the local library and the elementary PTO meetings.  She volunteers once a week at the library.  She cleans, finds books that are on the retire list, and she has even learned to check books and materials in and out.  When I went to pick her up after her first afternoon at the library, there she was, sitting at the circulation desk with a huge smile on her face! She was so excited and has enjoyed her Tuesday afternoons at the library.  She doesn’t get to man the circulation desk now; instead she is cleaning and doing other assigned duties.  She also volunteers to babysit at the elementary school once a month so parents can attend the PTO meeting without looking for daycare.  She enjoys that as a friend volunteers as well. They had three kids the first time they volunteered and Olivia said the one kid was terrible.  So told me all the things they did to try to get him to play or be good, I thought, this is the first AND last time she’ll babysit.  She proved me wrong.  That pleased me – she doesn’t get discouraged and keeps a positive attitude.   

I wrote the above some time ago.  We have received another report card and once again, Olivia’s grades are high.  We can say nothing but wonderful job; we are so proud you work so hard.  She leaves no room for discussion! 

Olivia stays after school and attends a wonderful program.  They work on their homework, have or make snacks, play games and learn new crafts.  Often, a group of students from Cornell visit and they participate is various activities with these students.  Lately, she has been spending time in the technology classroom as she loves that class and the fun projects they do. She is spending that extra time on their current project.   Last week, she brought home two opportunities through the after-school program. Wonderful opportunities, I might add.

The first being a day trip to Albany.  They will visit the museum, take a tour of the capital building and then take a 90-minute cruise on the Hudson River.  I so want to go as a chaperone but, as my luck played out, they don’t need any chaperones.  This will be a long day for her but a great learning experience. See, they have to keep a journal and they have a list of 15-22 questions that they have to answer.  Learn they will.

The second opportunity, a career explorations conference, is a three-day, two-night stay at Cornell University.  While staying on campus, she will attend classes, meetings and every night after dinner, they have free time. During this time, she can go to the pool, bowl or participate in other fun activities they have planned.   I cannot wait to hear about the whole program after she attends.

These are great opportunities from a small, rural school. I am thankful for the teachers that take the time to find learning opportunities for our youth. For the time they take to research and then write grants so these opportunities become a reality for our children.  Day-trips and career conferences – she is still in seventh grade but keep these opportunities coming. We appreciate them – and all the individuals that make these happen.

Thank you!

In a pinch

Sometimes being in a pinch can turn out for the good.  Really it can!  In my huge box of printed or clipped recipes, I have flagged many recipes that I plan going to try.  I’m not sure when, but they are at the top of the box. 

The other night, I decided to make tacos since we just bought half a cow from a friend and I was anxious to try some of the beef.  We had some ground beef that had not frozen completely (John spent time rearranging the meat so it would all freeze over the course of two days).  So tacos it was but I did not have a packet of taco seasoning.  Well, that was fine because homemade taco seasoning was a collected recipe. However, when it is dinner time, well, honestly, I don’t have the time to sort through all those recipes for a specific one.  So I googled taco seasoning and I wrote a recipe down. I had all the ingredients to make the seasoning too.  Lucky night for me!  So I made the seasoning, put it in a container I had specifically saved (see I really was planning to make the seasoning) and added it to the beef. I ended up adding the whole batch.  I told Olivia about this and she tried the seasoned meat mixture with me as I decided how much seasoning to add.    So during dinner, we asked how the meat tasted.  They guys said good. Then I asked if they liked the seasoning.  Yes.  Olivia laughed and made a “men” statement.  Then we told them that I made the seasoning. Should we continue to make it or go back to the packets?  Hands-down the result was: Make the seasoning. 

If you want to try this, here is the recipe. 

Homemade Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. onion powder

¼ tsp. red crushed pepper flakes (I did not add these as the kids would have had a fit)

¼ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. paprika

1 ½ tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

Mix and use to suit your tastes.  We used the whole batch!

When I do find the taco seasoning recipe I printed to try, I’ll compare it to this recipe, that is if it is different.

Likes

Hugs

Biting into a CRISP juicy apple

Baking

The smell of the first wood fire in the fall and the smell of the first grass cutting in the spring

Slowly putting my hands into a sink of hot water to wash dishes (yes, I like washing dishes)!

Reading

Sunrises and Sunsets – the awesome colors God paints our skies

Laughing so hard my stomach hurts

Listening to peepers

Laying in the snow star gazing

Seeing wildlife in their natural environment... 

                                                                      ...just to name a few of my likes!

Nearing the end

Friday I can honestly say I was nearing the end of my rope. When 3:30 p.m. finally arrived, I clocked out and headed home. Last week was a long week. I was ready for family time and just being home with the three people I love so very much.

We didn’t have anything exciting to do. I had grocery shopping to do, cleaning, laundry – typical housework that usually takes up a lot of my weekend time. Baking and making meals. So I baked and I baked a simple, yet delicious cake that I have never made. Not only was it delicious, baking it allowed me to tick off the U in my Baking through the Alphabet project. I am on the home stretch now. What did I make? I could have made an Ultimate recipe. Ultimate chocolate chip cookies, ultimate pound cake – you get the idea. Instead, I made an Upside-down pineapple cake. Yep, never made one in my life. Now I can say I have and darn, it is good, easy and so pretty.

I used a recipe that I found in this cookbook:

I love King Arthur – totally love their website, their cookbooks, their products.

Upside-Down Pineapple Cake

Topping that starts on the Bottom
¼ cup (½ a stick) butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 can (20 ounces) pineapple rings (you’ll need 6 to 7)
maraschino cherries, optional
½ cup pecan halves, optional

Cake Batter
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk or buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ½ cups pre-mixed King Arthur “Self-Rising” Flour*

*You can substitute 1 ½ cups of King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt for the “self-rising” flour.

Preheat your oven to 350° degrees.

Preparing the Topping: Make a slurry of the butter and brown sugar in your skillet over low heat. After the sugar has dissolved, remove the skillet from heat. (If you’re going to bake your cake in a pie plate, make the slurry in a small saucepan and then pour in to the pie plate.)

The slurry

The slurry goes into the baking dish.

Place a layer of pineapple rings in the butter/sugar mixture so the sides are just touching. If you have them and/or feel like using them, place the maraschino cherries and pecan halves in the center of each ring. Put this aside while you mix up the cake batter.

This is looking good.

Making the Batter: In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until light and, while still beating, slowly add the vegetable oil. Mix in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Blend in your “self-rising” flour or substitutes.

Gently spoon this batter, I poured, over the pineapple slices and slide the skillet (or pie pan) into your oven and bake for about 30 minutes. Make sure the cake is done by gently pressing on the center surface. If it’s done, it will spring back.

Flipping the Cake: Now comes the exciting part. Take the cake out of the oven. Invert a serving plate over top of the skillet. Holding the plate and the skillet very firmly with a couple of pot holders, or folded towels, quickly flip them over and set them down on the counter. Leave the skillet upside down for a couple of minutes to make sure everything has fallen out of it and onto the cake. Take the skillet off and rearrange anything that has slipped out of place.

(Recipe from the King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook)

Turned out pretty nice!  

A view from the top.  

Elliott was ready to try it as soon as I flipped it over. He just loves cherries!  I let it cool a bit then cut each of us a piece.  He liked it. He asked for seconds and I told him no.  Olivia came out to try a piece as well. She ate the cake, and liked it, nibbled on the pineapple slice and threw that off to the side and let Elliott eat the cherry.  So I won't say she likes this particular cake.  John joined Elliott and I as he ate one huge slice, or two little ones, as I wasn't around when he decided to try it.  I noticed how little was left when I returned to the kitchen.  I wrote in my cookbook stating this was delicious and we liked it.  I'm thinking Olivia's tastes will change in time.  

After making this, I made bread, roasted a chicken and a huge pan of vegetables, made mashed potatoes and gravy then we sat down to dinner.  We ended the weekend off with stuffed, satisfied bellies.    

Oh, in one way, I LOVE this cold weather.  When I am in my kitchen, I am so very happy!