My New Victorio

I visited a friend a few weeks ago. When I walked into her home, she was busily producing vats of applesauce. It was glorious! I watched with wonder. I offered to help but was told "it's messy. You can just sit over there and talk to me." After a bit, I did jump in. Not much though. but I knew then that I MUST own one of these things. So, I came home and did my web search.

And now I'm the proud owner of a Victorio Food Strainer. Yesterday my children and I made our own vats of applesauce. We are sold! and we plan to eat applesauce for Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, and the next and the next and the next. You see, I don't yet own a canner.

Yarn Shops

I find it comforting to walk into a yarn shop with walls of bins colorfully stocked with varieties of yarns. There's so much potential! The colors are usually luxurious and give me such a peace. Sometimes to appreciate the full effect, I need to touch them. Feel the color. Imagine wearing the color. I will admit that some shops are more comforting than others. Perhaps it's the "feng shui."

sigh....

Thankfulness

I am so thankful for my life. Not just for life, but for MY life. It can be super crazy. It can be so frantic that I feel as though I'm going to fall apart. It is definitely FULL. But I can not imagine my life being any different. I can't imagine having less to do. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I had fewer children, if my husband made a ton of money, if I worked 9-5 outside of the home, etc. It is totally incomprehensible to me. I love every minute of my life. (Well, okay, so maybe I don't act like I love every minute of it. And maybe there are some minutes that are not so lovable. And probably a lot of the time, I am not so lovable. But that would be because I'm not responding to everything in a Christ-like manner) But the ADD in me truly cannot imagine my life any other way. Yes, I said ADD :-) Recently, while chatting with a friend, I jumped from one subject to another, not once, but multiple times. My friend looked at my other friend sitting there and said "She's having another one of those ADD moments!" And I realized that she was correct. sigh....

So my life needs to stay crazy, frantic, and exciting just to keep my ADD mind sharp. And for that, I am thankful!

God is good. And He knows me. He knows every bit of my sinful frame. And He takes care of every little minutia of my life. He has given me what I need. He has caused us to have water issues in nearly every home we've lived. He has placed me in a very cold environment, knowing that I have a hard time with cold weather. He brought that fabulous man into my life for my husband. He has put friends into my life for my sharpening. And even when I think things look bleak, He is watching out for me and my family. For that, I am thankful!

WW Pancakes with Kefir

I once used yogurt for this recipe, but now kefir makes a great substitute.

2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup safflower oil
2 cups plain kefir
2 cups whole wheat flour (I use soft wheat/pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder (non-aluminum brand)
1/2 tsp salt

Blend first three ingredients together. Combine dry ingredients and stir briefly into wet ingredients just until mixed. Cook on hot griddle. Serve with real maple syrup or all-fruit syrup.

Baking Day Near-Disasters

Looking ahead, we decided to begin our baking. And being fall, we thought that pumpkin was the flavor of choice. New recipe from southernfood.com (Cake was served last night and was delicious!) Anyway, got the cake done, and 4yo comes into the kitchen, chatting non-stop as usual. She climbs up onto a stool near the counter where the cake sits. She likes the higher view. The rest of us were busy with other things... Then 4yo says "Moma, help me!" I turn to find icing on her hand and the sleeve of her dress. I was a good mother, didn't lose my temper, and carefully cleaned her up. And left her with the typical mother comment "Be careful when you're up here." She got down and walked into the next room. Her sister hollers out "What's all over the back of your dress?" Looks like 4yo attempted to sit up on the counter, scooching (is that a word?) herself backwards from the high stool. When her hand hit the cake, she stopped, but not before her backside had hit it too. Hmmm, no wonder the icing looked a bit messed up. Fortunately she had not sat upon the ENTIRE cake, but had only pushed at it.

Part 2: I didn't use all the pumpkin for the cake, so we decided that pumpkin cookies were a good idea. Emma wanted to do that baking, so I handed her another recipe from southernfood.com. I pointed out that it called for a certain amount of pumpkin, yet we had slightly more, so she would need to adjust the recipe accordingly. We calculated that she needed to 1 1/2 times the recipe. She started working it in her head, and I handed her a pencil. I said "It would be a good idea to write the new amounts in the margin." Haha, words of wisdom... So Emma got everything put together and was just about to put the cookies on a baking sheet, when she said "What? I've got to grease the pans?" To which I responded "What? toss that recipe..." But I told her instead to just go ahead and proceed without greasing the pan, since there's butter in the recipe. I looked at the recipe, and discovered that while she had increased all the ingredients to the proper amount, she had accidentally quadrupled the butter amount. OOPS! And we had no more pumpkin at this point. Emma left the room while I worked on the recipe. Finally I determined that bar cookies were the best bet. And they turned out perfectly!