Reminders to Pray . . .

Whenever I am in the kitchen or working in the living room, there are several things around my home that remind me of people. When the reminder hits my mind, I stop and say a prayer for them. I know they didn't give me the items with a string attached in mind but their kindness certainly gets paid back in my simple way of remembering them.

One Easter, the Holy Saturday Mass was crowded when we saw an elderly friend come down the aisle. My family squeezed in more tightly and made room for her and it made the Mass that much more beautiful to suddenly share it with a friend. The next time we saw her, she handed me a gift bag and card. It was totally unexpected. It was a beautiful standing picture of the Blessed Mother. I immediately put it on my shelf when we returned home and it has been there for over eight years now. Sad to say, the generous giver passed away two years ago. Every time I clean the house and dust, the picture get an extra swipe with the cloth as I say a little prayer for her soul. Her generousity got her some extra prayers for her eternity.

We used to have a family next door. They were Protestants but the mother and I got to be great friends and had a lot of thoughtful conversations the summer before they left for Brazil. I had a newborn and she was working on a doll house for her girls. I rocked my baby, she worked, and we talked and talked. When they left, she gave me the key to her house and said to get whatever I wanted from what they couldn't take with them before the landlady took possession of the house. I got several handy items. One of them is an old-fashioned, red mixing bowl which I have come to like very much. It is my soup bowl at lunch. It mixes up small amounts of icing for cakes. No one touches my red bowl without consequences. I use it a lot and every time I do, I remember my friend, Linda. We corresponded for a few years while she was in Brazil. In her last letter, she said she was looking for a way to be needed in her ministry in Brazil. Two weeks later, she was killed in a car accident. The bowl reminds me of her so often and she also gets a prayer when the bowl comes into use in my daily life.

It made me think and wonder what I might have given people over the years that could evoke memories and thoughts. Needless to say, I know it doesn't take much to bring back a memory and wonder if my two friends are laughing at how my thoughts of them are triggered by such items.

Get out the inspiration!

Here is a start to the Christmas baking plans - a cut-out sugar cookie recipe that takes to icing, decorations, or sandwiching together with your favorite thick jam or icing.

Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Ingredients

1 ½ cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to ½ inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets or line with parchment paper. Brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg white and sprinkle with colored sugar or other decorations.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven.

As with any cut out cookies, you can sandwich them with your choice of icing or thick jam. Instead of decorations, you can dust them with powdered sugar. You can also divide the dough and tint them in your choice of food coloring.

Christmas Research . . .

Christmas research? I'm talking cookies, of course! I had time this evening to browse the extremely helpful Internet and discovered several baking sites that looked practical, festive, easy, and fun. I'm getting to the time of the year when I start making my baking lists. Since the beginning of last month, I've already begun stocking up on chocolate chips and such. Spreading the cost over several paydays is easier on the heart and paycheck.

http://www.momswhothink.com/christmas-cookies/christmas-cookie-recipes.html

Great cookie site! Recipes are in alphabetical order. Even if you are new to the baking game, just the names will give you pause to look, consider, and bake!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Holiday---Celebration-Recipes/Christmas-Recipes/Christmas-Cookie-Recipes

Taste of Home Magazine always has great recipes. I like this collection of their cookie recipes.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/best-christmas-cookie-recipes

Good Housekeeping Magazine never lets you down! This site even has pictures of each cookie recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/desserts/cookies/christmas-cookies/main.aspx

Tried and true recipes submitted by other mothers in the kitchen.

Good question!

"If you don’t have time to do it right,
when will you have time to do it over?" - John Wooden

The pork roast odyssey . . .

When we were out shopping, my husband and I came across an unexpected sale - boneless pork roast for $1.85 a pound. I like boneless cuts of meat because I know all my money is going to meat and not a bunch of heavy bones. Okay, I will admit that bones comes in handy for very good soups but I'll opt for the boneless when it is on sale. We got a 14-pound roast.

The first day, we had roasted pork. Naturally, we had leftovers so it make two work lunches for my husband and one for my son. Two days later, I used the broth from the pan drippings and enough diced pork to make a Asian-type rice soup. Again, it provided two work lunches for my husband besides the dinner portions. Today, I put the leftover chunk of roast pork in the crockpot with a cup of barbecue sauce, chopped bell pepper, garlic, and lots of red onion - shredded pork! The shredded pork goes on freshly baked rolls for pulled pork sandwiches. I'm anticipating enough leftovers for sandwiches for lunch over the weekend.

I like saving money by stretching the ingredients. You know the best part? All the above mentioned came from only half of the 14-pound piece of meat. I still have seven pounds in the freezer!

It doesn't take too much imagination to stretch the meals. When you have a main ingredient like the meat, you just check out your cupboard and see what will work. Diced pork goes well in spaghetti sauce. Slices of the meat makes a good grilled sandwich. Cold, diced pork is good in a chunky salad. I've even included shredded pork in grilling cheese and onion tortillas.

Just thought I'd share some ideas on making approximately $25 pay for 14 or 15 meals!

Molasses Cookies

I like drop cookies and more especially, spicy molasses cookies. They are usually the first on my baking list at Christmas time. They are also often the first to disappear from cookie plates. To make things even easier, I use a cookie scoop. It looks and works just like an ice cream scoop only cookie size. Of course, one can also use the regular ice cream scoop if they want really, really huge cookies!

Molasses Cookies
1 1/2 cups softened butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I've been known to substitute a cup of the all-purpose for whole wheat flour)
5 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped orange zest
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 Coarse sugar for rolling cookies (I like using a rainbow colored type)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and well incorporated. Add the eggs, vanilla, and molasses, beating well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, spices, candied ginger,  and orange zest, Add to creamed butter and sugar and mix until it forms a workable dough.

Shape or scoop into 1-inch balls. Roll in coarse sugar and place around 2 inches apart on a lightly vegetable oil sprayed baking sheet. To really avoid any sticking problems, I prefer using parchment paper.

Bake for approximately 8-12 minutes or until the tops crack. Let rest on baking sheet a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.

Ideas . . .

For a really fat cookie treat, you can sandwich the cookies with either a tart lemon frosting or a sweet cream cheese frosting.

Instead of using the coarse sugar, try some other cake decorating item like the rainbow nonpareils.

A head's up on sewing stuff . . .

One of my favorite places to get interesting sewing items that aren't always available in the store is Newark Dressmater Supply www.newarkdress.com They sell fabric for quilting, dress patterns that are unusual, many books on different sewing subject, lace at good prices, thread . . . name it and they probably have it! Go to their webpage and sign up for a catalog to be delivered to your home. My favorite day is when the mailman delivers their latest catalog and I can plan some sit-down time to browse through it.

A new favorite!

The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on earth.

- Wilfred Grenfell

All keepers!

"There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality."
-- Pablo Picasso

"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men."
-- George Eliot

"A waist is a terrible thing to mind."
-- Jane Caminos

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't the fine line between sanity and madness gotten finer?"
-- George Price

The first wealth is health . . .

"The first wealth is health." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like this quote and try to remember it every time I enter the kitchen to prepare a family meal. We are not fanatic about eating totally healthy food and enjoy our treats, too. I do, however, make sure every meal includes a carb, vegetable, and protein. Dessert happens about three times a week. The snacks I keep on hand are usually leaning towards the healthy but tasty side. No one wants to eat cardboard even in the name of healthy eating! My rule is that if it doesn't have fiber and some vitamin value, why bother eating it.

We really learned the value of good eating when the children were little. Once they were eating solid food, we realized that what they learned to like at that moment would be what they remember to eat and enjoy when they grow up. We never gave them a choice at meals. Every plate got a serving of each item being offered. Everyone was expected to at least try a bit of each thing. If you absolutely didn't like what was on the plate, you had to finish your vegetables and could then leave the table. Naturally, if there was a dessert on the menu, more of the good effort had to be eaten in order to indulge in the sweet course.

Today, all my children eat just about anything. Sure, they have some items they can't stand but don't we all? Even out of their teens, they will still take a bite of the things they dislike for the sake of politeness. Over the years, however, those gracious bites have gotten them to like some of the foods they hated as children.

Not only was the food we fed them, the stuff of which their health depended, it turned them into young people with manners. When they eat out with friends or go to dinner outside the family, their hosts would never know how much they might dislike something on the menu.

People don't realize that what we allow them to eat when they are toddlers will mold the way they eat and behave as adults. You spoil them regarding their eating habits now, you deal with a spoiled person later in life. Everything in life is a challenge and learning experience. Besides giving them foods that build their bodies, you provide for their future both in health and actions.

Chick has a plan . . .

Chick collects things. If we give her something on a paper plate, that plate is carefully put in a corner of the yard and so help you if you try and throw it away. When she isn't interested in something offered her, she politely takes it and buries it. Up until yesterday, we assumed she buried things and forgot about them. Not true!

I was working in the living room and heard Chick whining at the backdoor. Since she likes to do this for attention, I ignored her but the whining got louder and more persistent. I finally went to check on her and she was sitting at the slider door with a bag of crackers in her mouth. Over the weekend, she had discovered a snack bag of crackers in the garage and had made off with them before we could stop her. She came back minutes later with a nose full of dirt as she had promptly buried it. Well, today, she wanted the crackers but couldn't get the ziplock bag opened thus the whining.

When my son went outside to open the bag for her to indulge in the three or four crackers, she panicked and ran around in circles just knowing my son desperately wanted that dirty bag of crackers for himself. He finally convinced her that he was only going to open the bag for her and she happily threw it at his feet. he opened it and she stuffed her nose into the bag like a feeding horse and happily munched away on her forbidden treat.

At least we now know that when she buries things, she is not getting rid of them but saving them for the appropriate occasion. I guess that yesterday was eat the crackers day!

No one listened then, no one listens now . . .

Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute.

- Marcus Tullius Cicero