I mixed up Tasha Tudor’s recipe for gingerbread last night with Sarah.
This evening we rolled it, cut it out using a free template that I found online, and baked it.
After it cooled, I put the sides together using Twizzler pull n’ peel candy.
We have done gingerbread houses before using a kit, this is my first attempt at a homemade one. I bought candy today and hope to decorate it tomorrow.
It’s most exciting.
I dragged myself out of my cozy bed this morning to go wake up Seth for school, and wake him up I did, out of a sound sleep. We came upstairs together to find Caleb in the rocking chair, “There is a two hour delay, mom,” he says. Seriously, I could have stayed asleep. Ugh. But once up, I stay up and I made pancakes and bacon and hugged everyone. I heard a report from Caleb and Grace that “Sherlock was meowing all morning and wouldn’t stop. Jacob finally put him outside.” After the children all left for school I found the cat under the porch, in distress. “What is wrong with this cat?” I wondered, and then thought to myself, “He did bite Caleb not long ago, maybe he has rabies.” The more I thought about it the more I was convinced that he had rabies and since he bit Caleb, Caleb naturally had rabies as well. I called the vet and sure enough, his rabies vaccine had needed updating a year ago. I made an appointment to take the cat to the vet and also put in a call to the pediatrician to let them know Caleb was bitten by a cat that didn’t have his shots up to date and probably had rabies but I didn’t know because I was on my way to the vet with the cat. I had to leave a message and left to travel to the vets with my sad cat.
I was crying when I explained to the technician that I feared that my cat had rabies and that he had bitten my son. She quickly left the room to send in the vet, who came in saying, “Sherlock was vaccinated for rabies in the past and there is no way he can get rabies or pass rabies on to your son especially since it has been over two weeks since he bit your child.” She felt Sherlock all over and announced “Oh this is his problem, your cat cannot pass urine, he is blocked.” So I cried some more and tried calling my husband to ask him what to do and if we could spend 800 dollars to get Sherlock on the road to recovery. Rich grew up on a farm and values all living creatures, but only to a certain extent. ha ha. Providentially for the children and I, he did not answer his phone, so I called my son Jacob, who after all is a man now. After talking it through with Jacob we decided to go ahead and get treatment for our cat, as the only other option according to the vet would be to put him to sleep. All of us love Sherlock very much and since he had a sickness which could be treated, we decided that even though it would cost 800 dollars we felt responsible for his care and knew that in this instance it was the right decision to help our dear pet, after all he probably only bit Caleb because he was grumpy about his condition.
I drove home without Sherlock, who was being busily sedated and catheterized by the vet and her assistants to remove his blockage, which, as explained to me, was a multitude of crystals in his urine that had built up over time. In fact, the vet was a dear older lady who became a vet later in life after her own cat had the same condition. She told me that she was so impressed by her cat’s vet that she decided to become one as well. She was very nice, I liked her a lot. I’m wondering if now I will become a vet, too. 😉
I came home and ran 2 miles on the treadmill while texting my brother Dave in order to settle myself down again.
I am now sitting cross legged on my bed attempting to blog about Grace at the Christmas house.
Grace is part of the Madrigals singing group at her school and they dress up in victorian clothing and sing Christmas carols a cappella in exquisite harmony at many different venues. They were scheduled to sing at a lovely decorated museum on Saturday so I went and took Sarah with me. Rich came a little later, as well.
I loved the wall paper.
There were decorations everywhere, and a little gift shop in which Sarah spent a few dollars on matching Menorah necklaces for herself and her sister so that Grace, “would never forget me.” She said this with such sad eyes that Grace quickly told her “I could never forget you, Sarah, you’re my sister.” and then I cried a little. It was one of those moments.
The acoustics in this room were divine.
When they were finished with their performance, I took a few photos of Grace who was dressed so beautifully.
She was the queen.
There was an older gentleman in the room watching us who invited Grace to sit on the couch (museum furniture is not typically to be sat upon) for a photo.
The music director’s daughter MADE this dress for herself when she was the queen in high school.
Grace with her friend, who was coming to get her for a group portrait outside in front of the house. I gave the camera to Rich and asked him to try to get a picture of them for me while I went to go help Sarah with something.
And this is what I recieved:
~Merry Christmas~
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing!
Heart. Soul. Mind.
For the busy mama, these important parts of our selves can be run down and dried up over the Happy Holiday season. This is how it has been for me the last few weeks or more. I’m so caught up in the doing, doing, doing, that within me is withered and waiting.
Oh how I yearn and crave a deeper life. Jesus is in my heart and my soul is beautiful because of His saving grace, I know this. I have everything working for me in my innermost being…everything but some free space to breathe.
Even attending church leaves me hungry for “more” because I have children doing strange things next to me every time. I can’t settle down and soak it in like I want to. I’m thankful for a Father God who understands the Mothers He made.
I was reading Les Mis last night. I’m on page 615. And I thought to myself….what a life…..in the time I DO have to breathe, to refresh, what do I do? I read a book. Dusty, musty, silence and stillness. Reading is the place to relax, to gather up the blanket, feel the purring cat at my feet, shut the door in order to silence “Top Gear” from the other room, and read until my eyes are tired.
But reading isn’t CREATING. Reading is taking in and admiring someone else’s creation.
I do love to blog and blogging is creating. Journalling is creating– but I don’t do as much of that. Sewing, baking (but I do too much of that), drawing, what else? (thinking out loud here) Photography…. yes…… I want to do these and more.
Now that Christmas is over I feel myself resolving to do more artistic work, by the grace of God, in order to bring down some water for my thirsty heart, soul, and mind.
cookie-art (tired of it)
Don’t laugh. (I’m talking to myself, because I’m laughing)…..because part of me feels silly as I express this need. Will I make the most of the opportunities that come my way? Or will I read a few more pages of my latest book, too tired to do much else?
A little less sleep, a little less slumber, a little less reading, and little more soul FUN~(I did calligraphy on some of my Christmas cards…which was wonderfully satisfying!)
Creating with the children. They know how to be artistic and inspiring without second guessing. I admire that. Perhaps I should draw on the walls like they do?
Christmas was nice. Certainly it is more work than magic for the parents, but it is a rewarding work. All the shopping, lists, and making sure everything gets done by December 24 can be rather tiresome. (At least there is a deadline.) I love the photo of the stockings; starting with Rich’s, then the children from oldest to youngest, with mine at the end. The tree lights reflecting in the stove look like there is a fire is going. A sweet friend who owns a greenhouse gave us the gorgeous poinsettias, which I keep faithfully watering. Seth made the red handprint green construction paper wreath and the paper chain.
Rich got up out of bed on Christmas morning at 5:30, I asked him why, “I have to go do your stocking.” I gave him enough time and then got up to find that the three littlest ones were also awake. Grace soon followed and tucked herself into her favorite corner of the couch. We sat and waited, the kids tested their limits in exploring the gifts as Rich and I drank coffee with our feet up on the coffee table. Jacob and Ethan woke up next. Our David is the late sleeper and Rich made his yearly torturous joke about how because it’s Christmas we weren’t going to wake him up, “let the poor boy sleep in.” He has been known to sleep all the way until lunchtime so it was a relief when Seth went down to wake him up at 6:30.
We began with the stockings. Rich thought it would be funny to put a pack of rawhide bones in my stocking. At least Parker the dog ended up with something special and it was good to laugh.
Sarah is behind the box. Happiness is being small enough to get lost behind your gifts.
We had the gifts all opened by 7:30 am, but it was done with minimum stress because we tried to do things orderly as possible. David passed out the gifts and we watched the person open it before going on to the next one.
Rich and I went shopping together to get my gifts and I love the two pairs of Swarovski crystal earrings he gave me; one pair also came with a darling ear cuff. I received two books.
Here I am reading the books; one is about playful photography, the other is a photo book of French cats, both books are so so inspiring, which is contributing to my determination to ENJOY life by not only doing my duties, but having creative fun, too. I want to be wild and free at times….I miss that part of my personality….(tips?ideas?anyone feeling the same?)
David loved his soda maker, set of Calvin and Hobbes books, legos, books, and Nerf gun.
Seth’s lego set was somewhat challenging so I was called upon to help him. He was SO SO CUTE.
Frankly, I was surprised by our Caleb, who put “Star Wars lego set” on his list three times (so he got three small sets). What surprised me was that he did not rest until he had put them all together.
Ethan put his box of GAP clothes on right away, with his cross necklace and cologne. Only then did he break open his lego set of the Eiffel tower. I texted brother Dave a picture of it when it was done and he texted back; “I was at the top of it!” Jacob’s set was of the United Nations building. Anyway, the older boys didn’t even ask for legos for the first time in approximately 10 years so I bought them each one set because I was sooooooo sad.
Christmas cat #1, can I just say I am in love with cats again? So many things need to be put on hold when you having the darling BABIES……baby season is over for me so I can think about my kitty cats again. This is Snickers, our oldest, he is probably about 4 years old.
Parker the Dog was exhausted by the time everyone opened their gifts, with so much fuss first thing in the morning. He was glad to have the couch to himself.
I asked Caleb for a picture. (By the way, when the boys do lego sets they keep all the bags organized using my fiesta bowls.)
Christmas cat #2. Sarah, which was a shock to me, hated her feather boa that I gave her. I thought my girly-girl would adore feathers and silver sparkle– but no. She won’t let it touch her. However, Billy Cat loves it. We found him curled up sleeping on it, with a few wet feathers torn off. Evidently he “killed” it before he fell asleep on it.
Rich bought me the softest feeling sweater of my life. This is the only gift which was a surprise. My little Seth received a light saber (another item which we have gifted for years and years to all of our sons). I love this “baby” boy (five years old) and still make him take a nap with me whenever possible. He even has a term of endearment for me. In loving moments he calls me “moo-moo”.
A sight to stop me in my tracks. Caleb snacked on all his stocking candy during his lego-building-time. (pictured next to Grace’s little stack of gifts.) Grace has already completely read the Patricia MacLachlan book, White Fur Flying, which she said was really deep for a little kid’s book. Patricia MacLachlan wrote the beloved Sarah, Plain and Tall and I’ve been buying her books for Grace since she could read. Again, with her at 15 years old, I still couldn’t quite stop buying yet another this year (like the boys and their lego sets).
Happy Dave, busy working on a Transformer.
For my artist son, the dot to dot book was a big hit, along with new Sharpies. The dot to dot is of portraits, with about 1000 dots per picture. He practically needed a magnifying glass to complete them. He loved it.
Ethan was thrilled by his PS3, our family’s very first gaming system. It only came with one controller which was hard for him. He wanted so much for Jacob to be able to play with him. He even went online to see if Target was open on Christmas day so he could go buy one. (it wasn’t, thankfully)
It took Caleb for.ev.er. to figure out his transformer, again; I was impressed by his endurance and the robot finally turned into a hippo.
Christmas cat #3; Snickers again, sleeping under the piano bench. I love how cats can sleep anywhere.
David loves his soda machine. It is perfect present for a young scientist/inventor.
You twist the bottle three times to carbonate the wate, until it makes a funny sound (each time).
Then you add the soda syrup.
Let us talk about the weather in these parts. There was no snow on Christmas Day but……we saw rare sunshine and it was mild enough outside to be welcoming. We all went out for some fresh air.
S U N S H I N E ! ! ! ! ! !
Grace went right into the woods. She’s here someplace, you can’t see her, but she was there, walking quickly like she had a place to go and things to see.
The sparkling ribbon of stream……
Then, I went to say hello to my hens.
They gave their acknowledgments in return, the best they could.
iridescent feathers!
selfie with a (distressed) hen. They tolerate hellos but draw the line at hugs.
Then, Jacob’s Emily came for a quick visit. She came bearing gifts and sparkling good spirit. What a joy she is to us all.
She gave Parker a frosted candy-cane shaped dog treat. She spoils him. Consequently he doesn’t leave her side. (see?) She and Jacob exchanged gifts. Jacob laughed to see the candle because she was with him when he saw it at the store and admired it (it has a wick that sizzles as it burns). She had gone back to buy it for him. She also gave him a handsome black shirt. He gave her a locket.
There were two gifts labeled “To: Jacob and Emily”. The most darling thing was that they opened them at the same time together. Jacob’s hands unwrapped one end, while Emily’s hands opened the other end, perfectly fair like it was the natural thing to do. Their togetherness is so sweet.
Rich gave them books and I gave them matching shirts and socks.
The socks and shirts were from American Eagle men’s department. The socks were men’s *one size fits all* but Jacob could barely get his on and Emily’s were too big and the heels to the socks were about five inches up the backs of her legs. It was quite funny.
Well, I had to get the Christmas Ham into the oven and while I did so, people started falling asleep.
Christmas cat #4; Sherlock the orange cat slept by Rich’s legs.
I did the ham in an oven bag with sweet liquid poured over (ginger ale, maple syrup, honey, etc) pineapple and cherries pinned on with toothpicks.
Well. Over the last week I tried making candied clementines. The recipe said to boil the fruit every day for six days in a sugar syrup (20 minutes each time) and also let sit at room temp. You see the results. Not like the picture in the cookbook. MUCH uglier, like huge orange raisins. They taste okay but only in very small bites. I put them into a container and popped them in the fridge to use for scones, or muffins. It was a fun experiment and I may try again to see if I can do better.
Emily went to her Dad’s house for the rest of the day and at 4 we ate our Christmas feast; ham, homemade rolls, buttered corn, cottage cheese, and scalloped potatoes.
Rich had objected earlier to me doing so much work on Christmas day for our meal but I noticed he asked for “more ham” quite a few times, until as a joke Jacob used the meat fork to put the entire ham on his plate.
“What the Room Looked like Before Throwing Away the Wrapping Paper”
David’s new shirt; “designed to fly”.
(One time he “flew” off the porch with an umbrella!)
Ethan’s new clothes.
He is sixteen and one of the best boys in the world.
Christmas cat picture #5; a nap companion
Thus ends another photo-blog of Christmastime. What a blessing this year has been and how thankful we are for family and friends.
*****
I was able to write this downtown at the coffeeshop with Rich this afternoon. Truth be told, I was irritated by him being gone all morning for wrestling practice and then planning on taking the teens to the movies. The movie was sold out so they had to go to a later showing, which meant I got some HUSBAND TIME! He read his book while I typed, with no distractions, with coffee and chocolate. God knows what we need and will provide, Amen! Thus, my thirsty soul was refreshed and I realized it is MUCH easier to write when I’m not tempted to throw the next load in the washing machine or empty the dishwasher or vacuum or ………….
2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self his being renewed day by day.
Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Psalms 34:5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
………….
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
with lots of love!
{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. inspired by soulemama
{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Good day to you. It is drizzling cold rain outside and as a matter of fact, the children had a two our delay from school this morning because of icy conditions…… and, it was quite the morning, let me tell you. There was a flurry of activity as the children did their best to enjoy the extra hours. They are now gone to school and Sarah is playing in her room, so I have a few moments to give a report on the Madrigal Feast.
The music director at our local High School has put on a weekend of Madrigal Feasts for the last 28 years. Grace was involved for the first time last year, as a Freshman, and I was so impressed by it that this year I bought tickets for Rich and I, plus Grace’s six siblings. The tickets were 15 dollars a piece and the kids perform three times over the weekend to a packed house. It is a great fundraiser for the music program, and they also donate money to a local charity. The first two Feasts were in the evenings. Rich and I went on the third day, Sunday afternoon, to avoid having the children out late.
On Sunday afternoon, while Rich (I love him) conveniently fell asleep and took a nap on the couch, I got the four younger children looking presentable.
Here is darling Sarah, all dressed up in her little dress, white tights, matching shoes, and itchy hair band.
After the 10 minute drive to school in the backseat with her brothers, she looked like this:
I mean, you just have to laugh, right? I took the itchy hair band off the poor girl and then everything was fine.
When we arrived at the door to the cafeteria, where the feast took place, we told the doorman our name and they called out in a loud fanfare, “The ‘Smith’ Party has arrived!” (only they used the correct last name; our last name is not Smith, by the way) and in we marched through two columns of choir children, to our assigned table.
We each had a name card at our place, where a salad and fruit plate were waiting for us. I sat in between Seth and Caleb. Seth did everything in his chair but stand on his head, but it was nice for the most part. David became cold and had no coat. Jacob kept making eyes at his girlfriend.
Grace and the rest of the choir were singing up front all during the salad course. I felt shy, so I asked if one of the children could walk up to take a nice picture. Seth was the only volunteer. Thank you, Seth!
When the singers filed past our table I took a quick picture of Grace, using the flash. LOL Ethan.
There was a wonderful song all about wassail. Every member of our table asked me what wassail was, including my husband, who was in attendance last year and should have remembered that it is a nonalcoholic hot cider drink served in a punch bowl.
Seth had three glasses of wassail and two full glasses of water, consequently he had to use the bathroom several times and was also too full to eat his feast.
The number of wonderful songs being sung one after another were like a lullaby to Sarah.
We ate chicken, stuffing, a baked potato, bread, and mixed vegetables. For dessert there was chocolate cake with cherries and whipped cream. As we ate, the choir performed beautiful songs, skits, dances, and jokes for our entertainment. There was a king and queen, a group of wenches, a jester, and so on….we were to imagine that we were in old time London.
In this picture, on the far left, you can see a door with a sign, “face painting”, which is where Seth was taken to sit and have his face painted like Spiderman (his choice).
Also, this is the picture I took during the final verse of “Silent Night”, when our Grace stood front and center to perform sign language.
There were many, many items raffled off. David had put tickets in several jars, trying to win things, but when he discovered that the winners had to go up front to claim their prize and perhaps do something embarrassing, he hoped and prayed he would NOT win. (he didn’t).
OVER TWO HOURS later, the feast was over. I had thoughtfully volunteered Rich to help tear down the sets so we hung around for another hour or so, until the cafeteria was a cafeteria again.
Mrs. Jones, the choir director (not her real name) is an AMAZING woman, so strong and capable, the children respect and adore her. She wrote a little poem about each and every senior and had it read in their honor…provoking tears from every mother’s eye. Grace is her assistant this year and she made sure to tell me how much she appreciates Grace and her work ethic.
I can’t begin to tell you all the little ways Mrs. Jones makes the feast special for everyone involved. It truly amazes me.
After the performance, every photographer took pictures of their children. 🙂
The yearly groups form a close bond and Grace was thrilled to see graduating students return to visit;
LOL Jacob (far right)
I took the little ones out to the hall and sat as they ran around, waiting for the clean up to be over.
I had to laugh by the end of the evening I had a huge stack of coats, purses, shoes, etc, in front of me on the table to “watch” for the kids……
Spiderman!! (make up remover wipes took it off just fine)
This was embarrassing. David, my magician, came to me with this plastic tie around his wrists and asked me to tighten it for him. Even though my inner motherly instincts were screaming “NO DON’T DO IT” I tightened it. “More than that, mom”. Okay, I tightened it more, as per his request. Well, he thought he could use magic to break free, but it never happened…..as he struggled, another mom came by to say hello to me, and to my horror, noticed Dave whose hands were turning an unnatural shade of pink, “Oh, that’s not good, David, you shouldn’t have that on your wrists.” “It’s MY MOM’S FAULT,” he replied, “She’s the one who did it.” Nice, Dave, nice. We finally found some scissors and Emily cut it off.
It was eventually time to leave and we all left like a herd, 10 of us, a big family full of never ending excitement, the stressful kind AND the good kind. Deep in my heart I appreciate each and every moment with these people.
We went home and decorated the tree (pictured in the previous blog entry).
*******
a proper photo, by another parent
First, pour yourself a smooth, sweet cup of cocoa.
And gather up your favorite cat…….while I share with you, dear friend, some of our weekend happenings, namely; decking the halls with boughs of holly, and decorating the “O Christmas Tree”.
This morning, I awoke to the sound of my two youngest children arguing loudly over a cat. I was heavy with sleep as reached for the clock to look at the time. It was 6:47am. Caleb would need to leave for school in half an hour. I rolled slowly out of bed, and thankfully found the boys already dressed for the day. I served them peanut butter toast, passed out lunch money, made a cup of coffee, and after the busses came and left, I sat and looked at all the pictures we took this weekend………..
These are busy days for all of us. Some of us Moms are working on less than ideal energy. What a blessing it is to be tired yet still determined to love and nurture our families.
On Saturday, between a wrestling practice and a Christmas Ball, Rich and I had a small window of time to get our Christmas tree. We were determined to cut it down ourselves this year so we bundled up in our coats and asked the children who wanted to go with us? Out of seven children, we had two who were excited about going with us to get the tree; Seth (5) and Sarah (4). So off we went.
It was raining.
The tree farm was busy despite the rain. There were a line of cars with people tying up their trees. We couldn’t help getting excited about finding just the right tree.
It is simply amazing that we’ve been in love over the last 20 Christmases…..
We walked briskly along the rows of trees and it didn’t take long to chose one.
Just right.
“Not only green when summer’s here,
But also when ’tis cold and drear.”
While Daddy cut down the tree, Seth and Sarah ran around laughing and having a wonderful time as only 4 and 5 year olds can do.
Happily wet and muddy, our dear darling Seth. A cute note about the matching mittens; I dug through the mitten box and found two that didn’t match, yet more importantly were for the left and right hands. When we got to the truck and buckled up, Seth leaned forward with the matching black mitten (which he had discovered in the truck) and said, “Mom, you’re blind. The matching mitten is right here.”
Seth, ready to be a help, climbed up on the truck to pull the tree up with his Dad.
Then, even though I was right there ready, he insisted on jumping back down all by himself, thanks anyway Mom!
Christmas mud.
They wanted to get out while Rich returned the saw, but did you see that mud? We made them get back in.
We left the tree farm with candy canes. A few miles down the road Sarah spit hers out in my empty coffee cup, spitting and clearing her throat so much I became amused. Apparently she doesn’t like candy canes. (She doesn’t like toothpaste, either).
Points if you can name the title of my current read!
We returned home. Rich and Ethan set up our beautiful (but very wet) tree, and then Rich and I had to quickly get ready for our date. Grace left with a friend to go to school for the Madrigal Feaste, Jacob babysat the children for us, and we left the house for the evening.
And it came to pass that we decorated the tree 24 hours later, (last night).
Jacob turned on some Holiday tunes, while Emily made a Santa craft with Sarah and Seth. The children are to glue a cotton ball on his beard each day until Christmas, when his beard will by then be fluffy and white with cotton…….they loved it (thank you, Em!)
It was a flurry of chaotic activity to get the tree decorated and all too soon not soon enough, it was completed.
We followed the excitement up with early bedtime for the younger children and crashing in front of the Andy Griffith show for the rest of us. I went to bed at 9 and was asleep very shortly afterwards, thankful for another day.
******
keep calm and jingle on
xoxo
I’m in the new addition and a fire is quietly burning in the fire place. I can look across the room and see that the light of this day *is gray, snow is falling, and the children came home early from school. When I check the temperature on my phone, I see that it is 19 degrees, but we are warm as toast inside. Rich cleaned out the wood pellet stove so a fire is going in the livingroom, too. Ethan is on the floor in front of it with his dog, playing video games.
I am at Rich’s desk and behind me is another window. Sammie the cat is on the sill looking out. When I stop to pet her, she honors me with immediate purring. Sarah just wandered over and carried her away, “Poor little Sam,” she coos.
Grace is texting with her friend Jenna, they are both all excited because the new Sherlock episode aired last night. They have been wondering for over a year how Sherlock faked his death….and now they (sort of) know.
Rich just got done running on the treadmill and I asked him if he would make me some coffee. “yes”
I don’t know….today is calm. Today is lovely, dark, and quiet. Christmas is over, Jacob’s birthday is over, New Years is over. I might be sad tomorrow, but today I enjoy the feeling of nothing pressing, nothing on the “to do” list.
I’ve enjoyed puttering around, making small little improvements, going through old stacks of papers, putting up new calendars, throwing things away, taking down the Christmas tree (with 9 nerf bullets in it!), wrapping up Joanna’s Christmas gifts to mail out later.
Rich and I took a nap on the couch.
Christmas was a week ago now, and I thought it would be fun to do a food post.
The Christmas Menu.
spiral cut Cracker barrel ham
mashed potato bake
homemade rolls
corn casserole
green bean casserole
strawberry congealed salad
MASHED POTATO BAKE
One day, while I was out, my friend Mary was babysitting the children for me. When I came home I discovered that Ethan had asked her to make this dish (we hadn’t made it yet) and she did. I couldn’t believe that she went to that much trouble for him, and it was so good! I consider these Ethan’s special mashed potatoes and I shared the recipe on my blog five years ago, when he turned 10. The original recipe is from Taste of Home magazine.
5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup sour cream
2 pkgs (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
3 T. butter
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. onion salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Boil potatoes 20-25 minutes until very tender, drain. In a large mixing bowl, mash potatoes. Add sour cream, cream cheese, butter, salts, and pepper; beat until fluffy. Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish. Dot with butter. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
Yield: 8 servings (can easily increase recipe slightly by throwing in a few extra potatoes)
CORN CASSEROLE
Years ago, Rich’s grandma gave us a Hospital Guild community cookbook. As I was looking through it, the recipe for corn casserole caught my eye. I made it and we liked it. very much. I only realized later that it was his grandma’s very own contribution to the cookbook! I make this for every holiday meal.
1 can whole kernel corn (do not drain)
1 can cream-style corn
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup soft butter
1 pkg. Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl on medium speed until well combined. Pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. bake, uncovered, at 350 for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.
HOMEMADE ROLLS from this link.
My mom and I both use this recipe, but we only use half the sugar. The recipe is for loaves, but it is very easy to use the same dough to do rolls. One batch made one 9 by 13 pan of rolls, just enough for our dinner and some leftover, too.
GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
First, I made my own condensed cream of mushroom soup substitute, using this recipe.
Drain 2 cans of French cut green beans, added the cream soup, and 1/2 tsp. of onion powder. Pour it into a baking dish, sprinkle with 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Crush some ritz crackers in a bowl and added 2 T of melted butter, toss with a fork and then sprinkle on top of casserole with your fingers. Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly.
CONGEALED STRAWBERRY SALAD
When I was visiting Jekyll Island this spring with my parents, I bought myself a cookbook called Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse Cookbook. This recipe was included.
1 (6 oz) pkg. strawberry jello
2 cups boiling water
1 1/4 cups sliced fresh or 1 (10 oz) pkg frozen strawberries
2 large bananas, mashed
1 cup pecans
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup dairy sour cream
Dissolve the gelatin in the hot water. Add the strawberries, bananas, pecans, and pineapple and mix. Pour half into a 9 by 9 inch dish. Chill until firm. Spread the sour cream over the firm half, then pour the remaining half over it and chill until firm. Serves 6-8
The food was received with grateful hearts.
Of course we all ate off fiestaware!
Rich took most of these pictures…..
The congealed strawberry salad is in that vintage pyrex dish (another favorite thing to collect at thrift shops).
After dinner we had energy to burn so I went outside and played two games of PIG with the boys (very fun) and Michael came over to visit, too.
He totally looks like a relative, doesn’t he? We’ve only known him for 2 years, from church. One of our first special services was seeing him get baptized at the apple farm. (in the pond). Anyway, he’s like a member of the family.
Nerf war!
And a very Happy New Year to you, too.
*by the time I am done writing this, it is black, 5pm
Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
Then let us all rejoice again,
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Sentimentality hit hard on Christmas Eve, after we placed the gifts under the tree and stuffed the stockings we sat in our rockers in front of the fire thinking about the children and how fast they were growing. Thinking about our grandparents and how they are all gone now. Thinking about each other, how happy and content we are in our love and wanting time to slow down and last forever, but knowing it won’t, it can’t.
In these moments, we always come back to the same truth: to determine to savor the NOW and enjoy the days as they happen, as gifts from God, which is what they truly are.
I got up at 6 to find … Jacob, Ethan, Grace, and Seth all awake and waiting for the rest of the family. I was laughing from the first, with the discovery that the older siblings were just as excited as the rest of the children. Caleb and David woke up at 6:30 and we all called, “Sarah!” to wake up the littlest one. She stepped carefully down the stairs to us, with sleepy eyes and crazy morning hair. Still little enough to be a tad confused about all the fuss.
After working on wrapping each and every gift, I was bound and determined not to miss a single child’s face when they opened it. David passed out the presents and we all watched as that person opened it. At first they were a little shy about all the attention (16 eyes upon them) but they quickly warmed up and forgot about being self-conscious.
The faces.
Those darling eyes revealing wonder and expectation.
Sweet joy filling the room, in the giving and receiving.
And then, the beautiful mess.
The children fled to the new addition to put together lego sets and play with dolls, leaving the cat alone amongst all the wrappings, and a mama upstairs, camera aimed down with full heart, thankful for the day, CHRISTmas day, and a family to love with everything within me.
Good to be Home 