Memories of Grandchildren exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house

The Christmas celebration is over, decorations are coming down, Christmas lights are finally off and the New Year will be here at the end of the week. The highlights this year were many. There isn't enough space to mention all of those highlights but I think attending Jonah's first birthday party and our family Christmas stand out the most.

Helping Sarah with all the preparations for Jonah's first birthday turned out to be fun as Sarah and I tried to figure out how to do things and make them work - like the green marshmallow trees. I laugh when I think of how we tried several things to make them stand up all by themselves and they turned out looking amazing.

Watching our three littlest grandchildren last week, seeing the wonderment in their eyes as they explored every nook and cranny of our house was precious. Noah and Chloe (2 1/2), and Jonah (1 1/2) noticed all the sparkly decorations, bows, greenery, and tree decorations. The three children shared toys, cars, books and other items together as each gift was opened and played with. The room seemed like chaos but this chaos was a controlled chaos and I sigh and just smile when I think of all that occurred during our special Christmas time with family.

I'm finding it hard to transition from Christmas to making any New Year's resolutions for the new year, but this next year I do want to focus on finishing my book and then hunt for someone to publish the finished product.

As for a recipe to share with this post, I am reminded again of that elusive little green marshmallow tree my daughter and I tried to make for Jonah's birthday. So if you find yourself wanting to make any green trees in the future, here you go with the recipe.

Green Marshmallow tree

1 bag of large marshmallows
12 oz of white premium chips
2 cups Rice Krispie cereal
1 bag of long pretzels
1 roll of Marzipan
green powdered color
brown color, either gel or powdered

Take some of the green color and toss with the cereal. This will turn the cereal green but keep the cereal dry.

Melt the chips until just melted.

Take a marshmallow and stick a pretzel in the middle, Next coat the marshmallow with the white melted chips. Immediately roll in the green cereal. Put the coated marshmallows into a container so they can stand up and harden.

Next, take a small amount of the marzipan and add the brown color to it. Do this by kneading in the color. Make a small ball of the marzipan and stick the pretzel end of the tree into the marzipan. Place the tree back into the container to again set and harden.

The trees should stand up by themselves and you've got something totally edible. Enjoy.

Christmas is here....Let the celebrating begin!!

This week is Christmas and first of all, I am reminded of the ultimate gift God gave to me in the form of His son, Jesus Christ. Without this gift I would be nothing and I would have nothing. Jesus has given me the strength to perservere when I thought all hope was gone. He also gave me the strength I needed to start a new life in 1985 with my daughter. Remembering back on those days of being a single parent to a 3 year old, I wanted the holidays to bring the best memories I could possibly give my child.

One of the traditions I had was to have my daughter go to bed on Christmas Eve and then when she was asleep, I'd jingle some bells and run into her room and tell her, "Santa just left and those were the reindeer I heard." She believed me until she turned older, and I think she didn't want to spoil my fun and didn't tell me for a few years just so we could jingle the bells and proclaim Santa came to our house.

I also remember those days when my dad would take my daughter shopping for a Christmas present for me. I was always humbled by my dad's actions because he would do this for Mother's Day as well.

When I started celebrating Christmas with my new "blended" family, I tried to make traditions by decorating EVERY (yes, I said EVERY) part of the house. I had theme rooms. Our living area downstairs was the Santa room with the tree; the family area where we spent most of our time was the angle and nativity area because this is why we really celebrate Christmas; and of course the kitchen and bathrooms were decorated with snowmen. I would even have our girls decorate their rooms with lights and fake trees so they would have something of their own. Of course their friends would come over and call my house, "the Christmas house" because of EVERY part of the house had something to do with Christmas.

Another tradition I started when our kids were small was to give each person (including the gentlemen) Christmas stockings in their Christmas stockings. (One of the first things I did when I remarried was to make everyone in the family their very own Christmas stocking. As our kids got married, I would make their spouse or their children a Christmas stocking to match.)

Since the kids have all left home, I haven't been decorating as much and in fact in the past few years, I haven't even done the outside lights. With the twins coming from Washington DC and our newest grandson coming from Washington State, I decided this year, I'd bring all the glory back to the house and make it kid friendly so the little ones will remember Grandma and Grandpa's house as a house of wonder and delight.

I'm also pulling out all the stops in the food area this year. We are having baby back ribs and turkey for our celebration plus Red Velvet Cake, cookies galore and all the favorites my family enjoys. So for this post, I'm going to give you my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I've mentioned before my grandmother would always put out sugar cookies at Thanksgiving time and I could never find the exact recipe she used, but I did find a recipe comparable. Enjoy and continue to make those traditions with your families as you celebrate this season of joy.

Grandma Reimer's sugar cookies

1 1/2 cups softened butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar

Cream the above ingredients until light and fluffy.

Add 2 eggs and beat well. Add 5 cups flour, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 cup milk and mix well. Regfrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm or overnight. Roll out to 1/4 inch thick and use your favorite cutters. Place on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

Before these cookies are baked, you can sprinkle colored sugar on top or frost them and design them once they are cooled. Use a buttercream frosting.

Even Good cooks have a bad day!!!

Have you ever had one of those days when you go, "What was I thinking?" Sunday night I made cookies for the gun club as usual. I don't know whether it was because the time was the middle of the night, or I just "wasn't thinking," but I screwed up my own recipe. Looking back I just laugh at myself because even I make mistakes sometimes while cooking.

Even Good cooks have a bad day....

I made my original peanut butter cookies according to my own developed recipe because they are so good and I don't use a recipe book. I got to the flour mixture and I put in five cups of flour just like I usually do. The cookie dough didn't look quite right but I didn't think about it. After putting the cookies onto the cookie sheets to cook, I went to put the flour away.

Okay, so this is where the, "What was I thinking" part came in. I always keep a 1 cup measuring cup in the flour bin but when I got to looking at the cup, it said 3/4 cup. On no!!!! Instead of using 5 cups of flour I used 5 cups of 3/4 cup flour. No wonder the cookies looked different. Even my husband said they weren't as good as they normally were.

I immediately took the wrong sized measuring cup out of the bin and replaced it with the right size measuring cup. But I got to thinking, "Did I use the wrong amount of flour for my Thanksgiving rolls?" Or, "Was the last batch of cookies right???" Like I said before, I laugh at myself trying to figure out if I used the right measure of flour in the most recent items I've baked. You can imagine next time I make someting, I will make sure I use the right amount of flour and use the appropriate size cup for measuring.

This brings me to the recipe I'm going to share for this post. Christmas is right around the corner. Last year I shared some Mennonite German recipes. This year, I'm going to share my own original recipes I've developed over the years and the ones my family loves. This recipe does use only 3/4 cup of flour. (LOL)

Decadent orange brownies

1 cube butter melted
orange zest of two oranges, fresh
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange flavoring
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix the above ingredients in the order they are listed and pour into an 8x8 square pan. Bake at 350 minutes until the brownies are slightly set. When cool, frost with an orange buttercream frosting, cut into squares and serve with ice cream.

Orange buttercream frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
splash of cream milk or cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon orange flavoring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

Mix together and add enough milk or cream to spreading consistency. These are so good and since I don't like chocolate sometimes, the freshness of the oranges make this a good holiday treat.

Thanksgiving, Baby Limas and Butter Croissants

As I was sitting at the table yesterday during our Thanksgiving dinner and watching my family, I had bittersweet memories of my mom and dad who celebrated their last Thanksgiving with us two years ago. I remember mom saying, "These are the best baby limas I've had in a long time."

By this time, dad wasn't eating much and he apologized for not eating more turkey and all the fixings. Somehow though he managed to eat a whole piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

There are some traditions in my family that started when I was a little girl and one of these was my mom would make her famous Butter Croissants and baby limas.

This year, 17 of my family members came to dinner and of course I had to fix the baby limas. Now I know most of you don't even know what baby limas are, but they are a smaller version of the butter bean and they are green, but they taste heavenly for those of us who grew up with them. I add a splash of cream, a pat of butter and pepper when I fix them. Since not everyone likes baby limas, I only made one package of them yesterday. What surprised me though was everyone was eating them and I only got a small spoon full when it came time for me to dish up. Even little Jonah ate them and he said, "mmmmm" which means he liked them too. Yay for baby limas!!!!

But back to my mom's Butter Croissants. I knew I was having a large crowd this year so I made a double batch at one time. I had never done this before and they turned out great. The recipe I'm sharing today as I look back on those fond memories of my parents is the Butter Croissants because they are easy and anyone can make them. Even those who don't know how to cook....you can't mess these up.

Mom - thanks for all the great recipes and especially these tasty morsals everyone has to have at Thanksgiving.

Butter Croissants

4 cups flour
1 cup cold Butter

Cut the butter into the flour until the flour looks like pie dough or the butter has been reduced into pea size morsals. Place the bowl in the refrigerator while you make the "wet" ingredients.

In 1 cup warm water, mix 1 package and set aside to grow a bit or 5 minutes.
In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup melted butter plus 1 egg. Add 1/3 cup sugar. Now add 1 cup flour and mix well. A few lumps are okay.

Add the yeast mixture to the other "wet" ingredients and use a knife to mix the butter/flour mixture into the "wet" until the butter/flour is just moisetened. Do not overmix.

Cover and refrigerate over night or you can let this sit in the fridge for up to 2 days. Cut the dough into 4 equal balls. Roll each ball into an 8-10 inch circle and cut into 8 pie wedges. Roll each wedge from the large end to the small end and place on parchment lined cookie sheets. Repeat with each dough ball. Let rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Bake at 325 degrees until light golden. Remove from pan onto a cooling rack. Makes 36 rolls. Enjoy hot out of the oven or save until later. To reheat the rolls, heat the oven to 325 degrees and put the rolls into the oven to heat for 5 or so minutes.

Our family likes these even frozen. Go figure..... but enjoy.

Kids Table

When I was a small girl, family get-togethers was routine. My family celebrated everything together from birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or just eating together as a family. There were so many little cousins - of course there was the infamous "Kid's Table". Anyone under the age of 14 sat at the kids table.

If I count correctly, at one time there were about 10 of us sitting at the kid's table. We'd do more laughing than eating and there would never be enough food on the table so we'd have to go to the "Grown-up's Table" to refill our plates. I think we had more fun going to the grown-up table getting food than sitting at our own. Nothing changed though when it came to manners. We had to ask, "May I be excused?" when we wanted to get up from the table. Back in those days, we had to be polite and sit at the table and chat for awhile before getting excused. I never could understand that principle until I got older. It's called manners.

I was so excited when I graduated to the grown-up table, but in my mind's eye, I still secretely wanted to be seated at the kid's table having more fun than the grown-ups.

Fast forward 35 years and I hear my daughters talk about their fun times at their own "Kid's table". Some things don't change where kids' tables are concerned. When my daughters talk about their time spent at the infamous table, they relate they did so much laughing they couldn't eat. Sounds so familiar!!!

My advice to parents and kids alike - Parents, enjoy your adult time and Kids, enjoy the laughter and memories made during family dinners at the infamous "Kid's Table."

Sitting at the kid's table and not being excused until dessert felt like forever to me as a kid. When dessert was served, we'd all go to the grown up's table and ask to be excused. My recipe is for dessert and one I've simplified over the years. Even if you can't cook, you can still make this simple dessert and still get compliments for "Best Dessert Ever".

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 large box of chocolate cook and serve pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vamilla

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Purchase a pie crust and bake shell until lightly golden. Remove and cool. In the meantime, make pudding mix according to directions except for the ingredients. Let stand for 5 minutes stirring at least twice. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate until cold.

Top with real whipped cream - 1 cup cream whipped until soft peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon over pie and cut into wedges and serve. Make sure there is enough for those who are at the "Kid's table."

Marriage "check-up"

Recently my husband and I sat down to actually communicate about our relationship. He wanted to know if I knew anyone who had a "happy" marriage. So we talked about several couples we know whom we thought had a "real" marriage....happy with all the ups and downs a marriage poses plus stay committed and in love.

During this conversation my husband asked me, "Name a few things you think are important in a good marriage." My husband actually asked me my opinion on my thoughts. I thought was special because sometimes in the hustle and bustle of life, we sometimes forget to communicate. Here's the list I came up with:

Faith
Commitment
Communication
Love
Communication
Quality Time
Respect
Laughter

Hearing my husband seek my opinion about the health of our marriage is one of the things I love about him. Twenty one years ago, I almost threw a relationship with this man away. In my opinion, I didn't think there were any good marriages and I saw so many friends who stayed married even though they were not happy.

My husband had the patience of Job back then and stuck with me until God made me see what good husband material he really was. I'm so thankful God destroyed the walls I had in place to protect myself. Not only did God tear down those protective walls but He allowed me to fall in love. Although we've had our ups and downs, the love God gave to us is stronger than it has ever been. I still get butterflies and smile when I see my husband or even think of him. Thanks God for allowing me to share my life with a Godly man who loves me for who I am.

The recipe is simple this time around. It's a recipe for a healthy marriage.

Two who share a commitment to our Savior, Jesus Christ
Two who share laughter
Two who communicate and are committed to each other
Two who pray together
Two who respect each other and don't put each other down in public or even in private
Two who find time to spend quality time together

When was the last time you had a "check-up" of your marriage or relationship with a significant other?

Proverbs 31

Anniversaries and Fall

The leaves are turning all the colors of fall and there is just something in the cool air indicating Fall has arrived. My husband and I are so thankful for our children and two children plus a grandson will now have anniversaries in the fall.

Each couple celebrated their own weddings uniquely. Jeanne and Mark got married at a summer camp and I remember being so cold in the early evening and wanted to stand in front of the big fireplace where the air was warm and cozy. Jeanne and Mark wanted their friends from back east to, "experience all that Oregon offers." The camp was rustic and damp from the fall rains and perfect for this couple who wanted to do something different and original for their day. Some friends and family even spent the night of the wedding in the cabins but not those who wanted the comfort of the nearby hotel.

Jeanne and Mark celebrate their 3rd anniversary this month and we found out recently they will be bringing the twins home for Christmas. We haven't seen the twins for quite some time and I'm looking forward to spoiling them and giving them hugs and kisses as much as possible. Having all of them home will be special and we will cherish their visit.

Sarah and Patrick had a classical and traditional wedding, with a different twist on candles. They had pillars lining the aisles and also on the front stage. The flowers they had were beautiful too showing Sarah and Patrick's originality and vision. The reception was held at a winery on a hill. The sun was setting during the first dance and I remember looking out over the hills wondering at the beautiful sight of all the fall leaves and colors. They have been married 8 years (I think) and have one son. One of the things I will never forget was driving into the church parking lot on their special day and seeing all the leaves on the trees brown, orange and red. Since these were the colors of the wedding, the trees became part of the color palet.

Speaking of this one grandson, I had the privilege of watching him from Tuesday while his mom got ready for a trip through Friday evening. He was a joy and I learned he liked Stroganoff so I'm going to give you my recipe for a fast and quick Straganoff everyone will love.

Happy Anniversary Jeanne and Mark, Sarah and Patrick and soon to be Justin and Crystal.

Stroganoff

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef (if you have any other type of steak, or beef you want to use, this is fine)
1 teaspoon salt while the beef is browning

Brown the beef in a bit of vegetable oil and while the beef is browning, bring pasta water to boil, salted liberally (I usually use 1 tablespoon salt per large stock pot of boiling water).

Once the water is hot, add any type of pasta your family likes. (I like the Farefalle or flat type of pasta.) Use 1/2 box or 1/2 package, or if you use elbow noodles, 2 cups. Cook the pasta to al dente since the pasta will cook a bit more in the beef sauce.

Once the ground beef has browned, add two cups of beef stock and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add a slurry (a slurry is usually a thickener and for this recipe I use 1/2 cup COLD water and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch).

Add the slurry to the beef mixture and stir until thickened. Dont worry if the sauce is too thick as it will be thinned out by the sour cream. If you don't think the sauce is thick enough, use more slurry. At the end of the thickening, add 1 cup sour cream and stir until just blended. Cooking the sour cream will curddle the sauce and you want a creamy sauce.

Add the strained pasta to the beef mix and serve immediately. Feeds 4-6 people so if there are only two or three of you, put any leftover in the freezer for later use.

Variations:

You can always use any type of seasoning to "kick-up" the flavor like Onions, garlic, pepper flakes, basil or parsley.

Some people add 1 cup of frozen peas making this dish a one-pot meal.

Grandma's special visit with Sarah and Jonah

The last few days, I've had the priviledge of watching my newest grandson while his mother ran errands and got her hair done. Watching him brought so many menories to my mind of his mommy when she was young. I noticed a few similarities between the two. Jonah doesn't fight you when you change his diaper. He lays there to let you clean him up. My daughter did the same thing. He also helps to dress himself by putting his arms in the sleeves of his shirts. Then there is the subtle behavior between the two.

For instance, Jonah loves hot dogs and my daughter ate her share when she was growing up. I noticed too that Jonah does like to eat sweets and I had the opportunity to share some spice cake and whipped cream with him, of course when mom wasn't around. He ate it up like there was no tomorrow. Jonah also likes his blanket and reminds me of my daughter when she was little and trying to cuddle with her blanket. Plus Jonah loves to cuddle especially when its time for bed. How can you not love that? My daughter also loved to cuddle at the same times. In fact if you were to ask her if she still cuddles, she would tell you, "Yes".

Jonah's mommy is doing a great job and I loved watching Jonah plus watching my daughter be a mother in her own right. She's doing a wonderful job and you can see so much love in this family. When it came time to say goodbye, Jonah even cried because he wanted to be with his grandma. Aw......he loves me....His love means so much to me and especially this morning when he said Grandma for the first time.

There is nothing more simple than making a cake (which my daughter made while she was here) with whipped cream for the topping. So here's my take on whipped cream with a twist.

Make sure your beaters and bowl are cold when you whip cream. The process is much easier when your utensils are cold. Pour 1 cup cream into a deep bowl and whip at a high speed on your mixer until soft peaks form. Now I've whipped cream via a mixer plus by hand. If you want to mix the cream by hand, be prepared to whip with a wire whip for awhile.

When your cream is done, add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. The twist for this whipped cream is to add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Fold all the ingredients together and you have a sweet tastey topping for any spiced baked good. This is also good on pumpkin pie, muffins and cheesecake.

As I was sitting cutting up chickens this morning, I remembered the chickens my grandparents raised. Of course, my grandmother and grandfather had a chicken house instead of a chicken coup and this meant we always had fresh eggs plus lots of chicken growing up.

Once or twice a year, the whole family, aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather at my grandparents house and spend one to two days working on chickens, killing, cleaning and of course freezing them. I know it sounds gross, but the men would cut off the chicken's head and let it flop around on the ground. Then, the young cousins would take the chicken over to a bonfire and singe the feathers and pluck all the feathers. We would then take the chickens into the house where the women folk would clean the chickens, cut them up and place them in butcher paper or bags to freeze. Then in the evening, we would all sit around and eat chicken with all the fixings.

We've come a long way from having to kill our own chickens to just going to the grocery store and pick them up already for us. All we have to do is clean them up again and fix them the way we want. You can purchase chicken whole, cut up, special pieces like the breast, thighs, legs or whatever part you like best.

So, since I've been working on chickens now for two days, I'm going to give you my secret for great chicken. I use a sugar-cure rub and marinate the chicken for one day and then I bake them at 400 degrees until they are golden brown and done. This takes 1-2 hours depending on the size of the chicken. No salt or pepper, just the sugar cure rub.

Pat's secret to perfect chicken every time.

1 whole chicken.
Remove the neck, back bones and cut the chicken in half. Rub with a sugar cure mix and place in a baggie over night. Place the chicken skin side up on a foil lined cookie sheet and place in the oven for 1-2 hours at 400 degrees. The skin crisps up and has the most wonderful flavor. Serve hot or cold. I usually like to serve it hot with salads, and fresh bread. Enjoy. Each person gets 1/4 of the chicken so it will serve 4 people.

Back to school in style....(I think)

Okay, so its back to school next week for Oregon residents even though some schools actually started this week. What types of memories do you have of going back to school or what have you done to make going back to school memorable for your kids?

With 6 children in school, my mother had enough trouble just getting everyone ready and out the door for school let alone having time to make any memories.

As a single parent, going back to school for my one daughter was an important ritual I started when she was only 5 years old. To prepare for the big day, I'd always take her shopping a few weeks before school started getting those precious styles "just right". My daughter back then even at 5 years old knew what her style would be and the deal was that if she didn't wear her new clothes within 2 weeks, they would go back to the store. Of course after the first week of school, she knew exactly what styles were in or out. This one daughter remains my fashionista expert to date and helps me decide what's in or out when we go shopping. We laugh a lot and have a system of trying on clothes that would make most people laugh!

After shopping, we would go on one last camping trip together, go to the beach and Mo's, go up to Silver Creek Falls one more time and of course go visit Grandma and Grandpa on the farm. The first day of school would be spent getting ready and then standing outside in front of the door getting her "first school day picture". This was a ritual that happened every year until High School and even then, I would make anyone who was going back to school get their picture taken. I know the kids got tired or it, but I still made them do it.

One more memory I would try to make for my daughter was to take her out for breakfast where she and I would share a large cinnamon roll and slices of bacon with milk and orange juice. During those breakfasts, we would talk about life, boys, and expectations of school. I smile remembering all those first days of school and special breakfasts together.

If you want to treat your family to some "quick" cinnamon rolls that are easy and simple, follow this recipe. Take time to make some memories with your children as they go back to school.

Simple quick cinnamon rolls

1 box of puff pastry
1/2 cup brown sugar per sheet of pastry.
2 tablespoons of softened butter for each sheet of pastry.
1 teaspoon cinnamon for each sheet of pastry.

Follow the directions on the puff pastry box making sure to keep the pastry cold as you work. Roll out the dough just a bit and spread with the butter, brown sugar and sprinkle the cinnamon on top. Roll the long end of the sheet and cut the roll into 6 cinnamon rolls. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet and back again according to the box of pastry sheets until the tops are golden brown.

Each sheet of pastry will equal 6 cinnamon rolls. Frost with your favorite buttercream of eat them without. These rolls are light and airy and so full of good layers of buttery goodness.

Memories of precious saints....

This last week brought back some memories of when I was a little girl and my family spending time with cousins, aunts and uncles and friends of my parents. My parents believed relatives should get to know each other so it seemed like every event or holiday, our family either hosted or spent time with another family at our house or their house.

Of course coming from a German background, my family believed in providing a huge dinner or potluck. When I was young, you could hear the older relatives speaking a form of low German. My grandmother was a formidable woman and she would state, "You are now in America, and you must speak Enlish." My dad related it drove him nuts as a young boy because he only knew German, and didn't like to speak English. Looking back, I wish they would have continued to speak both languages but that never happened.

During these gatherings family members never made just "one" dish, but would make four or five dishes including making a dessert. I think this has carried over to myself and siblings because whenever we get together, we always bring our share of food and the table is always over-flowing. If you ever come to a potluck where I'm invited, you'll find I've made several dishes because I don't want anyone to go home hungry. If there are leftovers, I send the leftovers home with friends.

As I mentioned earlier, the memories flooded back because our family lost two more older saints this last week. The loss reminds me that my siblings are now the older "it" generation. One of these saints regularly hosted Father's day events either in Dallas, Salem or Portland, and again, there was an abundance of food. Chicken seemed to show up in some form or another at every potluck.

My mother made this chicken dish using raisins and prunes. Yes, I said prunes. They provide am amazing addition to this chicken dish, and the recipe I'm sharing today is my mother's baked chicken with gravy.

Baked Chicken with raisins and prunes with gravy

1 cut up chicken, cleaned and washed
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup prunes
1 onion sliced into four pieces

Place the chicken in the bottom of a roasting pan and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle on top the raisins and prunes and onions. Cover the chicken and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Take the top off the chicken and continue to bake and additional 30 minutes. Remove the chicken and place on a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Deglaze the pan with 1 cup water. Mix together a "slurry". We traditionally used some type of shaker jar. 1 cup water with 2-3 tablespoons flour. (The water should be cold). Shake the jar until there are no more lumps. Add the slurry to the deglazed pan with the fruit in it. Cook to gravy consistency. Taste for salt and add it if needed. We had the gravy over mashed potatoes but you could use rice or even pasta if you wanted. Enjoy.

What is age? "Happy Birthday to you."

Okay, so I had a birthday yesterday and am one year older. In honor of my birthday, I decided to delay the story of my grandfather a few more weeks and give out another recipe and memory of growing up on the farm.

What is age???

* Age is something God has given us
* Age - is better than the alternative (lol)
* Age doesn't dictate how we really feel inside (My hair looks younger than I am)
* Age is not something to be afraid of (embrace it....maybe - I still remember turning 40
* Age is something we can laugh about or not
* Age is something to be proud of, you've earned it
* Age is to be celebrated with those you love

So, on August 14, 1949, my mother relates she had been picking and canning peaches on the day of my birth and my father had been in the field working with his father on the summer harvest. Mom related she had labor pains and they decided to head to the hospital where I was born. Of course I remember being born.....Not!

Birthdays my house growing up were quiet. We didn't have a lot of money, but there was always a gift or card and of course the ever present birthday cake.

After having a child come into my world, I wanted her birthdays to be special and I would try to make each birthday memorable. One birthday, I had a clown come to my home with a bunch of balloons. Another birthday, I made sure family celebrated with a big party.

When I remarried, I drove all the kids nuts by singing "Happy Birthday" to them all day - many times a day. This means I would sing multiple times until they would go, "Mom, STOP!!!! Alright, already." Every year, it would be the same thing. So now when all my children are gone, I get these goofy phone calls with my kids singing back to me, you guessed it, "Happy Birthday". What special memories it brings and of course, I smile.

So do I still sing all day long to my family and kids??? Wellllll......Yes, in some form,the "Happy Birthday" song shows up in emails, texts, and even phone calls. I think the kids secretly still love to hear that goofy song on their birthday.

On my birthday, I usually make my own cake and yesterday was Sunday. As many of you know, I usually make something for our church crew for their breakfast. I made my famous cinnamon scones (this recipe was given out in a previous post), and one of my own creations, a spicy Cinnamon applesauce/Walnut cake with an icing made with cream, vanilla and maple. So without further ado....

....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to Everyone....Happy Birthday to you...Do This about 10 times and you'll know what my family sent through.

Spicy Cinnamon Applesauce/Walnut Cake

1 cup butter softened
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup ground walnuts and 1 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Cream the first two ingredients and then add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the salt, baking powder, soda and cinnamon. Gradually mix in the flour with the applesauce, starting with the flour and ending with the applesauce. Fold in the ground nuts and chopped nuts. Pour into a bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees until the cake is done. This takes about 30-40 minutes.

Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon maple flavoring
1/4 cup cream

Mix all items together and pour the icing over the cooled cake.

Enjoy....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to you....Happy Birthday to Everyone....Happy Birthday to you...

Sind das die knabel alle. (Is that all of the Boys?)

In the next few posts, I will be retelling the story of my grandfather who came to America when he was 13 years old and the adventures he had getting here. The story was first published in a Mennonite periodical. I will be breaking up the story into segments and of course finish with a German Mennonite recipe.

Sind das die Knabel alle - A story of Pete and Cornelius Reimer

It is always with great interest, as one looks back upon our lives to see how the Lord has led us along our way. Looking ahead, father saw many testings and obstacles in the way for his family of 5 boys and 3 girls in Russia. This prompted him to weigh carefully the possibility of moving to the United States where three of his brothers were already living. Talking it over with his wife, they decided to have a public auction selling their farm implements, livestock and household furniture and goods and then move to America.

In the spring of 1910 father sold all of his belongings but only received a small part of the money making down payments for the trip. After all arrangements were made, a date was set to start. Two other families decided to also move to America. The date to leave All-Atta, now named Dushanbe, was set as May 22, 1910. From Alle-Atta to Tashkent they made the trip via covered wagon because no railroad was in the area. This journey took 1 week. They traveled by day and stopped at night in lodgings. The lodgings generally were a large one room affair and meant sleeping on the cold floor, bedding had to be taken along, as well as things to cook and eat. The children remember getting hungry and begging mother for something to eat. Finally she got out a large flour sack full of roasted bread she had prepared before leaving their home.

In the family were, David D, mother Anna and children, David 15, Isaac 14, Mary 13, Peter 12, Jacob 10, Anna 8, Elizabeth 6 and Cornelius 4.

After a week of a rough wagon ride, they arrived in Tashkent where they purchased a ticket and left for Bremen, Germany. This trip went well and without any complications. Arriving in Bremen they wasted no time getting tickets and passage on an ocean liner for America. While waiting for the ship to arrive, they all stayed in a large one room affair close to the docks especially built for the purpose of families to stay while waiting for their ship. In due time, they arrived in Philadelphia and from there after a number of hot days, they arrived at their destination, Galveston, Texas. Galveston was the closest port to Hillsboro, Kansas, their final destination, where father's three brothers were living. But Galveston was to be their crucial place, for here it was where trying events began to happen..........Next post will continue the story.

Scripture cake

1 1/2 C Judges 5:25 1/2 C Judges 4:19
2 C Jeremiah 6:20 2 teaspoon I Samuel 14:25
4 1/2 C I Kings 4:22 2 teaspoon Amos 4:5
2 C I Samuel 30:12 6 (whole) Jeremiah 17:11
2 C Nahum 3:12 1 pinch Leviticus 2:13
1 C Numbers 17:8

Season to taste according to II Chronicles 9:9. Follow Solomon's prescription for making the cake, Proverbs 14:23. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.

Now, if I told you what the ingredients were, it wouldn't be a challenge. Enjoy and yes, this is an old world cake.

China, glass crystal wine glasses....White Water rafting....recipe for disaster.

Summer time is a time to celebrate the warmth of the sun and in our family, White Water rafting.I had never been white water rafting in my life until I met my husband back in 1991. He is an accomplished river captain and spent most of the summer weekends on the river camping and running the white water.

The first time he asked, "Want to come came and run the white water with me?" I said, "sure", even though it scared me. Now I'm not one who is afraid of water because I was a lifeguard and water instructor at one time in my life, but watching rafts go down a "Class 4" rapid is a bit frightening. (Rapids are classed from 1-5 with 5 being the most difficult rapid to manuever in.

Okay, so I'm getting ready for my first camping trip and I pack my crystal, china and wine so that we could have a romantic dinner next to the river. I couldn't figure out why my husband would pack water along since when I used to camp with my daughter, I would pitch our tent next to a water faucet in the campground and next to the bathrooms and showers.

Camping near the river we were rafting was considered "dry" camping and that means there is no water unless you bring it in. Plus on the high desert, the winds come up in the afternoons and the sand and dust is incredible. How did my romantic dinner come off? We laugh about it now, because the crystal and china remained packed and we ate off paper plates and drank out of paper cups (of course my husband was sensible and packed the right type of things for this type of camping). I still smile when I think about our camping trips with our family over the years and once our girls started rafting with us, they eventually stood at the bow of the rafts going over "class 3" rapids. But that's another story for another time.

Since that first rafting trip, I've learned to pack the right way so instead of a recipe with this post, I'm giving you hints on how to pack for a multiple day rafting trip and how you can keep your food cool even in the hot heat on the river.

Tips for white water river camping:

Plan your menu ahead of time
Pre-cook all your food except pasta and/or instant potatoes
Place all the pre-cooked food in double zip-lock baggies
Freeze the baggies flat
You can even freeze breads and milk

The day of your trip, take the zip lock baggies and place them in the order of how you will eat the meals. If you use multiple coolers, once the coolers are packed do not open them until the day you eat your meals. (This keeps the items frozen longer).

Use the river to wet some towels and place these over the coolers. This also keeps them protected and they stay cooler as well

Once you're ready to eat a meal, empty your baggies into a skillet or saucepan and heat through. You may need to add a little water, milk or oil to get things reheated.

If you follow these simple rules, your camp kitchen will be smaller because you won't have to pack so many saucepans and skillets and clean-up will be easier.

Happy White Water Rafting this summer!!

How much do you love your spouse?

Do you love your spouse enough you'd give up your citizenship? My grandmother Anna Reimer did. I mentioned on Facebook I would be posting the story of my father's parents and how my grandfather came to the United States.

This post is a "teaser" to what will be written in later posts. My grandfather came to the United States from Russia when he was just 13 years old. He was not allowed to enter due to an illness and was sent home without his parents. When he finally got to America, he fell in love with Anna and they were married. Only one hitch.....she had to give up her citizenship for 6 months until my grandfather became naturalized. When he became a citizen, she got her status back.

This is definitely the short version of the story, and I will be posting the longer version in the weeks to follow.

One of the dishes my grandmother would make from the "Old World" was Keelka or something similar to spatzle. Here is the recipe for an old Menonite pasta favorite.

Keelka

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup water (cold)
1 teaspoon salt

Add enough flour to make a stiff dough, (manageable with stirring spoon). Then place a portion of dough on a saucer and cut off (into bite size pieces) over edge into a kettle of boiling water. Keep at a slow boiling point until all the dough has been cut. Boil 1 minute longer and drain.

Gravy - use ham or bacon pieces and fry in a skillet with 1 large size onion. When browned, add 1 cup of cream and heat but do not allow to boil because it will curdle. Add the Keelka and serve hot.

Enjoy....This will probably serve about 4-6 people as a side pasta dish.

Growing up on a farm definitely had its advantages. My family lived off the land from our garden to the livestock that fed us. I've mentioned before that I had the opportunity to help out with the dairy portion of the farm plus I got to drive a tractor off and on during my years growing up but I haven't mentioned the tree orchard next to our house. There were pear trees, apple trees, cherry trees, walnut trees and filbert trees. There was a neighbor down the road that grew strawberries, green beans and of course cane-berries so we had an abundance of fruit. Now I'm not a fruit person, but the rest of my family is and so for them having fruit for supper was a treat.

You'd often find my dad having berries and fresh raw cream for supper. Did I mention that I started picking berries and green beans when I was probably only 8 or 9 years old? Since our neighbor had strawberries, my brother, sister and I would walk up to their farm and pick berries all day and then come home in the afternoon.

The trees next to the farmhouse gave us some amazing apples during the fall and the walnuts and filberts I picked gave me the needed money for Christmas presents for our family. As a sidebar...My mother was ingenious when it came to drying nuts and would use old panty hose, fill them with nuts and then hang them in the furnace room where it was warm and dry. The nuts would eventually dry out providing us with nuts all year round.

A friend of one of my daughters posted a picture on facebook the other day of a pork chop covered in peaches with green beans and coucous. The picture reminded me of growing up on the farm and also of a similar dish using apples, pork stuffing mix and cinnamon. Thanks for bringing back the memories....dear friend...

Apple Pork Chops with stuffing

4 pork chops
1 box Stove Top Stuffing (pork)
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups of chopped apples
1/4 cup butter plus 1/4 cup butter for the apples
1 cup hot water
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Put the chopped applies in a saucepan and add the sugar, cinnamon, and butter, simmer until the apples are semi-tender. Place the apples in a 9x13 pan that has been buttered.

In a food processor, pulse the stove top stuffing until it is like bread crumbs. In the first half, melt the 1/4 cup butter and heat the water until its hot. Sprinkle this on top of the apple/cinnamon mixture.

Use the other half of the stove top stuffing and dredge the port chops in this. Brown the pork chops on both sides and place on top of the apple/cinnamon mixture.

Bake the dish in a pre-heated oven at 350 until the apples are heated through and the pork chops are still tender. This will take about 30 minutes.

Serves 4. Serve with a salad and vegetable and you've got this incredible apple/pork chop dish.

Muffins for breakfast.....yum..

This morning when I got up, I thought to myself, "Let's do something different."

Growing up, I got hooked on baking for breakfast. I think that's why I still enjoy it today. Some mornings mom would let me make muffins for breakfast or even one time, I made homemade donuts. I got to the point where I'd mix the dry ingredients the night before and put the dry mix into the fridge. In the morning, I'd turn on the oven, then grease my muffin pan. By the time I was done mixing the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients plus baking time, I'd have muffins in 15-20 minutes. Not bad since I had to catch a school bus or help with chores in the mornings like feeding the calves, stock or moving hay into the bins for the stock.

The family enjoyed eating fresh muffins even though I'd make them for myself. No leftovers ever made it back to the kitchen.

Since I love to create recipes, I decided to create a new muffin recipe this morning. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Orange Almond Muffins

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
Orange zest from two large oranges
1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg

Zest the oranges into the 1/2 cup sugar. Mix the zest into the sugar. This flavors the sugar and infuses the orange flavor throughout the mix. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and make a well in the bowl.

Mix together the wet ingredients and pour into the well of dry ingredients. Fold in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the mix is just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls into either a 12 cup muffin tin or 6 cup muffin tin that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray. Bake for about 15 minutes until done in the center at 425 degrees. Makes 12 small muffins or 6 large ones.

If you want to dress up the muffins - before they are baked add a streusel topping of 1/4 ground almonds, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons of cold butter. Sprinkle on top of the unbaked muffins.

Thanks Dad....Miss you....

This post is dedicated to my Dad who passed away in January of 2010. I have been racking my brain trying to remember my earliest moments with my Dad. I remember my first tractor ride with him. I don't know how old I was but riding on the big wheel cover of the tractor was great fun or sitting in his lap while he was driving was a big deal for me back then. I think all of us siblings cherished those memories because we all wanted our turn at riding no matter how dangerous it was. (We look back at how we were perched on the wheel and now know it was a foolish and dangerous thing to do.)

I also remember helping out with the dairy. If Stan wasn't around or he had to be at school early, helping to milk the cows would be my chore. Feeding hay, grain and helping out in the milking parlor was hard work for a young girl but when one grows up on a farm, you do what you have to in order to help out making a living for the family. There was one time when I was chasing a cow on the cement floor and that cow had just pooped a warm cow pie onto the floor. I tired to dodge the big cow pie, but somehow slid into the whole thing. My Dad said, "Way to slide into third base!" I had cow pie EVERYWHERE!!! I'm sure we all had a laugh at that because when I got home, I didn't smell too pretty and had to go to school smelling like a dairy....

Then as I got older, my Dad did little things that I will always remember. When I came back to Oregon as a single parent, my Dad made sure I always had a Mother's Day present from my daughter. The first year I was home, he said he was taking my daughter shopping. I had no idea what those two did or where they went, but on Mother's Day, my daughter had a gift waiting for me wrapped in a pretty box. The little things is what makes a Dad special.

My Dad had a few favorite things he would have me make for him. One of those items was a blackberry pie. So here's my recipe for my version of marion berry or blackberry pie.

Pie crust - you can go to the store a purchase a pre-made crust or you can use a crust I use from scratch.

3 cups flour
1/2 cup butter (cold)
1/2 cup shortening (cold)
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ice water

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until mix resembles peas. Add 1 tablespoon at a time into the processor and continue to pulse until the mix comes into a ball. Pull the ball together and wrap into plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour. When you're ready to use the dough, roll it out to fit a 8-9 in pie plate and place on the bottom of the pie plate. Fill the pie with your filling and dot with 2 tablespoons butter. Roll out the top portion of the pie crust and place on top crimping the edges to seal the pie. Use your fingers and brush a fine film of cream on top of the pie. Cut slits into the pie so the steam will be released. Cover the edges of the pie with tin foil or use a pie cover (you can purchase these at your favorite kitchen store). Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes and then bake an additional 30 minutes at 350 degrees. During the last ten minutes, remove the foil or pie cover. Remove from the oven and cool. Serve warm with ice cream.

Berry mixture:

5 cups fresh or frozen berries
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (depening on the sweetness of the berries)
1/2 cup flour (this will thicken the sauce for the berries)

Combine all and pour into the pie crust.

Things that go bump in the night.....what a slumber party

I have been trouble sleeping lately and so on one of "those" sleepless nights, I tried to think of something to write about. Since it was in the middle of the night I was reminded of what occurred about 21 years ago when both our youngest girls were having a slumber party in our house.

The "incident" happened when Mike and I were engaged and for some reason, the youngest daughter was having a slumber party in our now living room. Back then, it was a large unfinished room with a cave like entrance (yes, it was a hippie cave entrance with a rock wall on both sides separating the dining room and the unfinished room.) The rest of the rooms are on the other side of the house and you can't really hear anything once you've gone to bed. Mike slept upstairs in a sound proofed room and there was no one else in the house at the time.

I got a call around 1 a.m. from the youngest daughter who woke me up from a deep sleep. She was frantic, crying, screaming and swore she and her friends could hear sounds in the house. This daughter and her friends were sure someone was in the house and they were afraid to go anywhere in the house for fear the intruder would "get them". The sounds coming from the phone were sounds of pure fright from 6-10 young girls around the age of 10. So I told them to stay on the line while I tried to call Mike who was sleeping soundly upstairs in the sound proofed area. Somehow, the phone got disconnected and he never answered the phone. He continued to sleep through all the drama that was taking place in the unfinished room downstairs.

I then called 911 and notifed them there might be a prowler in a house full of young children and I couldn't waken the dad from his sleep. I then called a trusted neighbor and asked him to go to the house and see if the girls were okay. Now you have to remember this all happened within a span of about 10 minutes. As soon as the neighbor came to the door, he called me back to let me know he was in the house. The time was now 1:10. I got in the car and drove over to our now current home. When I got here, the police were here, the neighbors were here and Mike was just waking up because of all the commotion outside. What drama!!!!

By the time we got everyone's stories straight (no prowler)and got the girls calmed down, neighbors gone, and police gone, it was 2 a.m. The whole house was awake now and everyone was hungry. I decided to make pancakes and apple compote for everyone. So around 2:30 we had an early breakfast where we all sat around the dining room table, ate pancakes and laughed at how foolish we all were. That night, it took the young girls a while to calm down, but food helped. Soon the girls were giggling and sleeping.

So here's my recipe for the apple compote. Its so easy and you'll want to make it whenever you have pancakes.


You will want to use your favorite pancake mix or batter. I use a simple mix, but I always use an egg (even when the recipe doesn't call for it) and milk instead of water. By doing this, you get a much better tasting pancake.

Apple Compote

4 large gala apples - slice them thinly and place them in a skillet
Add 1/4 cup butter
Add 1/2 cup brown sugar

Stir the apples and the syrup that is made by the butter and brown sugar until the mixture thickens and the apples become semi-tender. Serve over pancakes or waffles.

Has God ever shaken your world?

Almost 21 years ago, God decided to shake up my life. I had a great job in management, just had a new house built for me and my daughter was thriving. I was happy with life in general and didn't want anything to rock my life and world.

Many of you know I was a victim of domentic abuse in my first marriage and after that marriage ended, I vowed I'd never trust a man again. So much for that statement!! God decided I needed to learn some new principles by placing a special person in my life.

While playing keyboard on a worship team with another church, I met a man who ran sound and slides for worship. He asked me out on a date with another couple (that's another story for another time), and my life hasn't been the same since. Of course, that's in a good way.

While this man wanted to get closer, I wanted to pull away, but somehow, God helped this man to be patient and this man kept trying. Eventually 21 years ago, he proposed to me and tomorrow we will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.

How does a victim of abuse heal old wounds and baggage and make a marriage work? Well, it's a long process and one that I still work on. I learned through Jesus Christ that I could forgive my ex-husband for the abuse and also learned that I could love a man again fully and completely. My husband has the patience of Job and when "baggage" crops up, he waits patiently until I can work it through. I've learned that marriage can be happy but it takes a lot of work and dedication on both of our parts. I love to cook for my husband and his favorite is Mac and Cheese and hamburgers. So I'm showcasing Fried Mac and Cheese balls.

In gaining a husband, I also gained the many children I had always wanted plus even some grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. God has so blessed me in this relationship and I give Him all the glory. Proverbs says it so well: 3:5&6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

HAPPY 18TH ANNIVERSARY HONEY BUNNY!!!!!

Macaroni & Cheese Balls (FRIED)

Make a bechemel sauce or a white sauce as my mom always called it:

3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter
2 to 2 1/2 cups milk

Melt the butter and add the flour until the flour absoarbs all the flour. Add milk and stir until thickened.

Add 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Add 2 cups Shredded Gouyre Cheese

Add to 2 cups of cooked elbow macaroni and place in an oblong dish. Regrigerate until solid. Shape the hardened mac and cheese into small balls and place these on a cookie sheet. Freeze until these are solid.

To two eggs, add 1 Tablespoon water and beat together. Place this in a bowl. In another dish, place bread crumbs or panko. Roll the balls into the egg wash and then into the panko crumbs. Refreeze the balls unitl solid again. Take these out only when the oil is hot and ready to fry.

Heat 1 quart of oil to frying temp 350-375 degrees and drop the frozen balls into the hot oil. Fry the balls until golden brown. Serve immediately with a cream-mararina sauce.

Cream Sauce
1 jar mararina sauce
1/2 cup sour cream

Mix and serve with the fried mac and cheese balls. This will make about 20 balls. Enjoy.

Saturday rituals on the farm....

As I sit working on the computer and watching my housekeeper clean, I have flash-backs to when I would clean for my mother long ago. I love having a clean, fresh smelling house, but unfortunately, I can't clean like I used to and have a housekeeper who comes in to clean my floors, dust and do an overall deep cleaning once a month. Having the housekeeper is one of the pleasures I enjoy and even though she may be expensive, I appreciate all she does for me.

Growing up, my family knows that once a week on Saturdays, we would clean house. Bathrooms, mopping floors, dusting, and sweeping floors. I remember my mom telling me, "To get the floors really clean, you must get on your hands and knees and scrub." I would get on all fours and with a knife, scrape and clean the floors changing the water at least two to four times. Washing the utility room floor was a different matter because this was like a mud room and the floors would get so dirty especially since dad was a farmer and dairyman. The visual picture still remains in my head as I remember cleaning those floors.

Each person had their own "chores" in cleaning while growing up. I tried to instill in my own children to clean the house once a week and it worked until they became teens. One of my favorite things to do was to pay one of my daughters a quarter every time she cleaned the bathroom (the one area I still don't like to clean). Believe it or not, she would jump at the chance to make a bit of money. I look back at this and just laugh and if you asked her, she would tell you all she could think about was the quarter she would earn. (Side note: When this daughter and I moved into a new house, I needed to clean up some rocks around the house so I paid her 1 cent for every rock she picked up. That's another story to tell at another time, but it was funny too with what happened.)

Okay - So back to my growing up years.....While cleaning, mom would be cooking, baking or getting ready for the weekend meals. Saturday nights would likely include chocolate cake with frosting, Zwiebach, cold cuts and peaches or some type of fruit. Here is her recipe for sour cream chocolate cake. Enjoy....As a side bonus, this cake uses no shortening or butter.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sour cream

Combine all indgredients and mix with a beater for 3 minutes. This is a smallish cake and you can use a 13x9 pan or a square 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Here is a trick to get your cakes out of the pan fool-proof. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. When your cake comes out of the oven, use a knife to loosen around the edges and then flip the cake onto a cooling rack.

Chocolate Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter
pinch salt (probably 1/4 teaspoon)
milk

Mix these ingredients together and use the milk to make the frosting to a spreading consistency. Spread on the cooled cake.

While trying to sleep last night, (yes it was one of those insomnia nights), I tried to think of what to write for my next post. Listening to the rain I started thinking of growing up on the farm during one of the stormiest falls we ever had.

I can't remember how old I was, but I do remember the Columbus Day storm, October 12 because the school I was going to dismissed classes so children could go home and be safe with their parents. What the school didn't know is when I got home, I had chores to do outside in the barns feeding the younger calves milk, breaking bales of alfalfa feed into stalls and feeding grain to the older calves. The moto around our house was, "if you don't feed the stock, you don't eat."

The wind was howling and blowing and I could hardly walk the 150 or so yards to the barns. I jumped up into the grainery, got the feed and when I jumped down, a part of the barn roof flew by and hit the ground next to where I was standing. Talk about being scared! I never told my parents about my close call and hurried back to the house to eat supper.

When I got back home, the electricty had gone out, and my mother had the old Coleman camp stove out and was heating baked beans so that our family could have something to eat for supper. Its a good thing my mother had made something simple for supper and all she had to do was finish it up on the outdoor stove. My mother always made fresh homemade bread to go with baked beans and the rolls had been sitting out for their final rising before baking. That night we didn't get any fresh bread because the oven didn't work and I remember how disappointed I was because there's nothing better than fresh homemade bread with soup or baked beans.

I've made my mother's baked beans many times and have received compliments on how good they tasted and comments like, "What did you put in those beans?" So here's the most simple baked bean recipe there is. Any one can make these beans. All you have to do is add a bit of love and a store bought loaf of fresh artisan bread.

Momma's Baked Beans

1 bag baked beans (rinse the beans and let them stand in water to soak overnight)
3-6 hamhocks or you can use a ham bone with ham still on it
1 diced onion
1 carrot, diced

Drain the beans you have soaked overnight and place them in a large stockpot. Add the hamhocks, onion, carrot and 1 teaspoon of salt. Fill the stockpot up to half full. Cook this until the hamhocks start to break down. This will take anywhere from 2-3 hours.

Add a sauce of 1/3 cup molasses and 1/3 cup ketchup. Taste the beans to make sure they have enough flavor. You may need to adjust the sauce mix by adding a bit more molasses or ketchup, but the above recommendation should work.

Mix into the bean mixture. Continue to cook the beans until they are thickened and tender. If you have too much liquid, you can always take some of it out before adding the sauce. Once the mixture has thickened, you're ready to serve. (If the sauce doesn't thicken, you can always use a slurry. This is a mixture of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 cup water. Mix the slurry and add it to the bean mixture a bit at a time until you get the thickness you want in the sauce.)Be sure to take the meat off the hamhock bones and add it back into the beans. Of course, beans taste best after they have been in the fridge for a day so if you can wait, you can put the finished beans in the fridge and reheat them the next day. These beans also freeze well.

You can also use a crock pot to make these beans and cook them all day. When you get home after work, your meal is ready. This recipe will feed a large family of 6 people. Enjoy and stay dry.

A tribute to my Mom....

I've seen several of my Facebook friends posting a photo of their mothers this week in honor of Mother's Day. So I also changed my profile picture to my mother. This picture was taken at the last family gathering we had before both my parents went to be with the Lord.

I wanted to share some of my fond memories of both my grandmothers and also my mother while I was growing up. During the 1950's and early 1960's, a girl growing up needed to know certain things such as cooking, sewing, and general homemaking. This knowledge was accepted back then because it was a woman's role to get married, take care of the house and have children. If a woman worked outside the house, it wasn't career orientated but to keep a woman occupied until she got married and had children. Back then, careers weren't an option in my family.

I remember my mother getting both myself and my sister involved in 4-H cooking and sewing clubs during our growing up years. I have to toot my own horn because I won several blue ribbons in cooking and sewing plus actually had a chance to go to the State Fair with both my cooking and sewing. By the time I was 12, I knew how to make bread, muffins, cookies and cakes. There were some mornings, I'd get up early and make muffins for breakfast so the family could have something fresh and hot. Our family also got into the habbit of making chocolate cake every Saturday along with the fresh Zwiebach. This helped to boost my confidence and the family came to expect me to bake on the weekends.

Both my grandmothers and mother helped me to learn along the way. Grandma Thiessen helped me with the housekeeping part, Grandma Reimer helped me with cooking and baking, and my mother was the rock that I leaned on when I made a mistake and didn't know how to correct the mistake. I got to the point where I could figure out how to fix things that normally would flop or go wrong. I used this philosophy in sharing with my children that even if you make a mistake, you can recover and make a positive. Even in food.

Back then, my grandmothers and mother had "special" drawers designated for flour, and sugar. So that when you went to use the ingredient, all you had to do was scoop out the ingredient from the drawer and use it.

Okay, so I have to admit since I'm now making cookies for the gun club, I've reverted back to what my grandmothers and mother used in the kitchen. Gone are the cannisters and I now have my flour and sugar in a drawer ready to use. This way, I can purchase large quantities of flour and sugar and not have to go to the store so often.

Now you might think all the older women in the family did was teach me how to cook, sew and clean. This statement is definitely wrong because they taught me so much more like how to solve problems, and their unconditional love was a lesson in itself. My talents in the kitchen are a great tribute to the women I grew up with, but the love they shared with me meant more than all the cooking, cleaning, and sewing in the world.

So how do I segway into a recipe? The recipe I'm sharing is one coming from one of my huge failures. I remember crying because my cake didn't come out of the pan like it should have and I wouldn't be able to frost it. My mom came to the rescue and helped me make a trifle. So next time you screw up on making something, make a trifle. You can make a trifle out of brownies, cookies, or anything that is baked. One of my favorite is Angle Food cake.

Who would have thought you can make something good out of a failure! Thanks Mom, Grandma Thiessen and Grandma Reimer for setting such great examples of loving Christian women.

Chocolate Trifle

1 chocolate cake or cake of any kind, already cooked
1 pint of whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package of instant chocolate pudding or you can use vanilla pudding
2 cups cold milk
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts (use your favorite nut, such as filberts, walnuts or almonds)
1 large clear glass bowl

Whip the cream until soft peaks and then add the powdered sugar, and vanilla. Set aside. Also beat the 2 cups of milk with the instant pudding and set aside to set up.

Break up the cake into large bitesize pieces and place on the bottom of the clear glass bowl. Add a shallow layer of the whipped cream, then a layer of the coconut, and nuts. Add the next layer of instant pudding. Repeat this layer two more times ending with the instant pudding. Sprinkle the top with any remaining coconut and nuts. Chill until firm. To serve, use a large spoon and place it in a bowl. This is so yummy. You can switch it up and do the layers in any order and up with the whipped cream if you wish. This isn't set in stone so put your own twist on the recipe.

"COOKIES, COOKIES, WE WANT COOKIES"

"Cookies, Cookies, we want cookies." This is what my husband came home to say last Friday. He said, "Some shooters (Gun Club shooters) came into the office looking for cookies and there were none." I guess the supply I sent earlier in the week was sold and club members are starting to expect cookies in the retail store and office.

All I could think of on Friday was making breakfast for our church crew and started cooking and baking in preparation for breakfast for our Worship, Production and Pastoral Staff. This means I was going to make breakfast for about 50-60 people. So I told my hubby I was going to skip making more cookies until after Easter. After Easter, it took a couple of days to regroup, recooperate, and feel rested.

Today, I got my thinking cap on and tried to come up with a new recipe for the gun club. I've made Ranger Cookies, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Triple Chocolate Cookies (this is also a new recipe I developed). These are cookies that are normal and not very inventive. I didn't just want to make one of the cookies but tried to think outside the box of what ingredients went well together.

My friends and family know I LOVE ALMONDS!!!!! So I thought, "What if I came up with an idea incorporating almonds, oranges and white chocolate chips." I started putting ingredients together and hoped they would turn out yummy. Once my cookies were in the oven, the wonderful aroma of baking cookies filled the house and I think the cookies will be a hit.

My hubby came home unexpectedly and tried one and commented, "These are really Good!!!"

On Facebook, I asked my friends to give me suggestions for a name, and one friend indicated that creamcicles sounded good. I'm using that name plus adding a bit more so people will know what's inside these cookies. Here is the new cookie called:

White-Chocolate Almond Creamcicles

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream

Cream the above ingredients together until light and fluffy. Add the zest of 1 large orange (about 1 tablespoon) plus 1 teaspoon orange flavoring and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Add:
2 1/2 cups flour (You can use 1 cup whole wheat flour to add more texture)
1/2 cup ground raw almonds

The dough will be a bit stiff but not too stiff. Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Makes about two dozen cookies.

Blessings at Easter

Easter to some means the arrival of spring, fancy clothes, and Easter Egg Hunts. For my family, it is the heart of our salvation. God gave his only Son (John 3:16) to die for my sins. I am so thankful that God gave His most precious child and through Jesus Christ my sins have been forgiven. On the third day, God rolled away the stone and Jesus rose again. For me that means God has justified me as if I'd never sinned and I have eternal life. Without God's gift, my life would be empty. God has also promised that we will live with Him and have Eternal Life.

So this Easter, our family and church family celebrate this gift in different ways. The way I celebrate is to prepare a large breakfast for our folks at church who serve in the Music, Production, Band, and crew for the three services at church. I love to serve my church this way and pull out all the stops because they work so hard at sharing the gospel on Easter Morning. I will be making a couple types of croissants, morning buns, egg casseroles, fruit platters plus some type of dessert. I thought about doing the mini cheesecakes, but I think I'm a bit burned out on them so I might do a filled cupcake like I did for Jonah's first birthday.

One of the recipes my mother gave me while growing up was a quick butter croissant. This roll takes little prep time but the results are that everyone can't eat just one....When our family gets together, they tell me, "Mom, you must make those rolls that Grandma made." My folks are both in heaven looking down on us and I'm sure they remember all the family gatherings and great food. I'm also sure they are having the ultimate celebration of God's precious gift and the sacrifice that was made for us.

Quick Butter Croissants

Cut 1 cup COLD butter into 4 cups of flour and set aside in the fridge.

In another bowl, use 1 cup warm water and 1 package yeast and let the yeast sofften and bubble. To this liquid, add 3/4 cup evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup melted butter. Wisk together and add 1 cup flour.

Take the cold flour out of the fridge and add the liquid. Mix until just moistened. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight or at least 8 hours.

When you're ready to make the rolls, Remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple of times to make the dough into a ball. Cut this ball into 4 portions. Shape the rolls one portion at a time and put the other portions back into the fridge until you're ready to shape the rolls.

Roll out one of the four portions until it is in the shape of a circle and about 1/4 inch thick. Cut the circle into 8 pie wedges and roll up the wedges from the outer to the inner creating a croissant. Place the shaped rolls on parchment paper and repeat with the other three portions.

Let rise for two hours and bake at 325 degrees until golden brown. You can also use an egg wash on top of the croissants made of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon of water just before baking. This makes 32 rolls. Plenty to go around for everyone. Enjoy.

Gizmos, Gadgets, Crafts and a whole lot of fun!!!!

One of my daughters and I have a tradition of shopping together whenever we can. In fact, I like to help when asked for special occasions so this time, my daughter asked if I would go up to Puyallup and help prepare for our Grandson's first birthday. I thought we might be able to get a little bit of shopping in as well. Boy was I wrong.

My daughter had "this vision" for her son's birthday party and right away when I got to her house, she put me to work picking out all the green fruit loops from a HUGE bag of Fruit Loops. By the time I got done, it was time for bed. (We ended up not using them....lol) On to day two....I got up to find a "list" on the breakfast counter saying, "Have a cup of coffee first", then please do these things. All I could do was laugh because there were at least four to five things on the list. I was still chuckling even after the second cup of coffee.

To go along with "this vision", I brought some things from home I might need to make life a bit easier, i.e. disposable piping bags, apple corer, piping tips and a few other gizmos and gadgets. I have a weakness for gizmos and gadgets and when I find one I think will be cool to own, I make sure I can use that gizmo or gadget for at least one or two other things (at least I can justify the expense that way.) I couldn't even imagine what kind of crafts my daughter had in mind for this special party. We laughed together through making the marshmallow trees to mud puddles to elephant food to other unique things for the party.

After making a six inch two layer cake, my daughter and I made 18 cupcakes. I said, "why don't we fill them and make them cuter". So I took my cool gizmo apple corer and used it to take out the centers of the cupcakes to fill. I then thought about what kind of filling to put into the cupcakes and came up with my Mom's recipe for a quick chocolate slurry filling that she used quite a bit when I was growing up. My mother passed away last year and wasn't able to meet her grandson, but I thought this was a cool way for us all to remember her by. My mother and father would have been married 66 years on my grandson's birthday. So the recipe I'm sharing is my mother's chocolate filling. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

I'm sure my daughter will be posting pictures of all her cute ideas so be sure to check her blog often for the new post of the big birthday bash.

Mom Reimer's chocolate filling

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 squares unsweetened chocolate (you can used unsweetened cocoa powder, but you'll need to increase the butter to 2 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup cocoa powder)
2/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix the above ingredients together and cook over low heat melting the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted, turn up the heat to medium high and be sure to stir and sauce as it thickens. It will thicken quickly and bind together like an icing. Once it thickens like icing, take off the heat. Be careful not to burn the chocolate either.

Add 1 tablespoon softened butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Mix this together quickly and you're ready to use the icing. Use the icing while it is hot. Don't cook it down. This is enough to spread between two layers or fill 18 cupcakes. I put the icing in a piping bag to fill the cupcakes because it was easier to control the filling.

Ice your cake or cupcakes with your favorite buttercream icing. You can buy a can, but if you know me, I always make my icings from scratch.

Enjoy.

The wonder of grandchildren

I love all my grandchildren. Most of them are grown up so when twins were born two years ago, my hubby and I added to the grandchildren total. These twins live in Washington DC and we've only been able to see them a few times, but each time, the love grows. Our daughter will send us new pictures often, but its just not the same as holding those precious grand babies in our arms. The twins will be two in a few short months and watching them grow even via pictures has been a blessing. They change so quickly and I wish we could see them in person more often.

Then last year, we celebrated another baby that came to our family via another daughter and her husband. This family lives closer and we've had the priviledge of seeing this grandson more often. Again, we cherish those times when we get the opportunity to see our little ones and the babies amaze us with their abilities to talk, and share their love. The newest family member has a birthday next week when he will turn one year old. My daughter is going all out with a party, cake, goodies to eat and lots of people and presents for this little boy to enjoy. What makes this birthday special is that he was born on the 12th which is significant to both families.

As these new babies come into our lives, their parents have started to build their own memories and traditions. Never in my wildest thoughts would I have imagined to have so many grandchildren and great grandchildren. I had always wanted a large family with lots of children and grandchildren. God has blessed me beyond measure with the desires of my heart. Proverbs 3:5&6

In keeping with a birthday theme, the recipe I'm sharing is a simple basic yellow butter cake. I developed this cake and tweak it by adding different ingredients to switch it up and make it different, but the cake itself is a basic go to cake, and yes, its not from a box.

Pat's basic yellow Butter Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Cream the above until it is light and fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk in thirds starting with the milk and ending with the milk and mix until smooth after each addition.

Mix all the dry ingredients together
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 cup regular milk - you can use non-fat or any other milk you want

Place in an oblong glass dish that has been greased (or sprayed) and bake at 350 degrees until the center is done. You can test the cake by sticking a toothpick in it and if it comes out clean, its done.

Frost with your favorite icing - you can purchase a can of frosting or use the following:

1/2 cup softened butter
2-3 cups Powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Milk to add until you get the spreading consistency you want - Use 1/4 cup or a bit more.

Unexpected Surprises......

I love surprises. I'm usually the one who does the surprising, but this time around, the tables were turned on me and I had no inkling of what was going to happen.

As most of my family and friends know, I had the priviledge of helping in a small way for a recent wedding with making some cheesecakes, doing some sewing and helping in general where needed. I even made some new friends in the process who are caring and wonderful people.

After the wedding the family of the bride surprised me with a 90 minute massage. It was totally unexpected and I was a bit overwhelmed by their generosity. What a nice gesture!

Then today in the mail, I received another unexpected surprise. The mother of the groom sent me a cupcake cookbook. Little does this person know that I have a tendency to collect cookbooks and again I was overwhelmed by this person's generosity. She said she saw the cookbook and thought about me. This mother of the groom is awaiting the birth of her first grandchild and one would think that person would have nothing on their mind but the new baby. To think of me and make time to send the cookbook through the mail tells me I've made a friend for life.

So the recipe I'm sharing in this post comes from my new cupcake cookbook.

Almond cupcakes

1 3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 pound butter at room temperature

1/2 cup walnut or vegetable oil
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup almonds ground and toasted
4 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Insert liners into a medium cupcake pan

In a large bowl cream 1 cup of the sour cream, the butter and oil. In a separate bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, one third at a time. Mix thoroughly after each addition.

In another bowl mix the eggs, the remaining 3/4 cup sour cream and the extracts. Add the egg mixture to the batter in thirds, beating for 1 minute on medium speed after each addition.

Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full with the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Taken from Crazy about Cupcakes by Krystina Castella, published in 2006, page 49.

Dream the impossible.....Cookies????

I swear, my mother didn't throw anything away. Honestly!! She kept empty boxes in the hopes she would use them again "some" day. My dad wasn't much better because when I was going through their personal papers, I noticed their original bill of sale for the farm they lived on for 50 years. I also saw receipts from their wedding back from the 1940's, the first furniture they owned with copies of the payments plus the receipts for mom's china and fostoria.

That wasn't the only thing my parents were good at. Dad loved to travel and his dream was that one day they would go to Europe Europe and possibly visit some of the places their ancestors lived. So my parents started a savings account right after they were married and put away $25 per month every month in the hopes of going to Europe. On their 25th wedding anniversary, their dream came true because they had enough money saved up to pay for their dream trip. I admire them both for sticking to their dream and never letting it die or even using the money for emergencies.

Well, I have a dream of going back to Hawaii for our 20th Anniversary. So I came up with the idea to make cookies for the gun club my husband runs each week, and the money I get from my cookies will be used and saved for our trip to Hawaii. I'm dreaming big! Once a week, I send a basket of cookies to the club with my husband and he comes home a few days later with money I've actually earned from my cookie sales. So yeah, its not much, but I remember how my parents saved money for their dream trip and because of that, I'm confident (even though it will take a few years to get enough money for the trip) my husband and I will get the opportunity to celebrate our 20th anniversary in Hawaii.

I have a basic cookie recipe I use, but the one that is requested most is the Ranger Cookies I've tweaked to the way I like them and I guess others like them as well. I hope you enjoy them too.

Ranger Cookies

1 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar (I use dark brown because it gives the cookies a better taste)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cream the above ingredients together until soft and fluffy.

2 eggs

Add one egg at a time and beat until fluffy.

2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups Corn Flakes

Add the flour and mix this in before adding the other ingredients. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Drop by spoon fulls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10-13 minutes until the center is light golden brown. This recipe makes about 2 dozen, but since I make them for the club, I use a regular sized ice cream scoop and make giant cookies. This batch will make 12 large cookies. If you want to double the recipe like I do, you will get 24 cookies.

Enjoy.....

DAFFODILS!!!!!!!!

You wouldn't think it was spring with the snow we had in Salem yesterday morning or the fact that it was 33 degrees out this morning. What I did notice was the Daffodils in the yards as I was driving around yesterday.

One Sunday morning when the two of our girls were young, our family was on our way to church. It was one of those "Sunday mornings" when things at home didn't go quite as well as I wanted. When I saw the Daffodils at church, I piped up and said in a loud voice, "DAFFODILS!!!!!" The girls thought this was so funny the family cracked up laughing. Every Sunday thereafter when we got to church and saw the Daffodils, the family would go, "DAFFODILS" in that loud crazy voice I used when I said it the first time. Then to make matters even more funny, every year after in the spring when the girls or my husband saw Daffodils for the first time, they would all go "DAFFODILS" together to remind me of my craziness.

I love it that my family remembers those days of laughter and "reminds" me periodically of what I said, especially in the spring. Special family moments like these will be remembered for a long time.

Spring is also a time when we share new beginnings and Easter. God says that when one becomes a Christian, "old things are passed away and behold, all things are new". Even though the world has declared Easter a time of bunnies, eggs and newness in Springtime, I love the fact that to a Christian Easter means so much more. God made the ultimate sacrifice when He gave us His son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and rose again for me, His child. Thank you Jesus for Spring, Easter and new beginnings.

During the spring, I like to do the usual spring cleaning, but I also enjoy some spring cooking. Here is a family recipe that I developed and hope you enjoy as much as our family.

Sizzling Chicken Salad

Using chicken tenders, cook in a small amount of olive oil just until the chicken is 1/2 done. Remove from skillet.

In skillet add 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/3 cup brown sugar and the joice from 1 can pineapple. (Any size will do). Mix these ingrediants and put the chicken back into the skillet to complete the cooking process. Simmer everything together and just before serving, add the pineapple into the skillet heating through the pineapple.

Layer salad greens onto a plate and add the HOT chicken mix on top of the greens. Sprinkle with shredded carrots, shredded parmesean cheese and croutons. You can also add tomatoes and hard boiled cooked eggs. Top off with your favorite Ceasar salad dressing. Serve the salad right away.

The chicken wilts the salad greens a bit and the taste is wonderful.

Enjoy.

The language of Music

When I was a small child, my mother thought it would be a good idea for me to study piano. I began taking lessons every week until I was a sophmore in high school. Through this, I learned my language of love was music. I thought my teacher was too slow so I'd cheat and mark off pages that I could play and went through several books before my teacher found out. That's when I decided to stop lessons and play on my own because I knew I had enough "learning" to last a lifetime. I played piano for the high school choir, church, and even small groups. I loved my piano and even taught piano when I lived in the south.

I thought I knew everything there was about the piano, but when I started playing keyboard for a church's worship team, I was challenged to the "nth" degree and learned a whole lifetime of learning again. Being on the worship team blessed my socks off and I even met my husband while playing on the worship team. I played on this team every Sunday for about 7 years when my new husband and I decided we needed to make a change to another church. I gave up playing the keyboard for the worship team and always felt I wasn't serving up to my capacity at church. I'd often wonder what I could do to serve at church.

A new opportunity opened up for me to serve and low and behold, it was okay because I would still have a connection to the worship team at church. I know it was a long stretch, but I feel making breakfast for our worship and production teams at church is my way of being a part of the team. Music is still a big part of my language of love and whereas you will find my husband listening to "talk" radio, I have my radio tuned to a Christian station where I get music all the time. I'd much rather listen to music any day than listen to "talk" or other forms of radio.

Because I get to serve our Sunday morning groups, I get the opportunity to try some fun recipes and even make new ones that I personally develop. Here is one recipe I developed this last weekend that was a hit. I hope you enjoy it.

Cinnamon Struesel Raspberry Coffee Cake

3/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoon baking powder
Cream these ingredients together until soft and fluffy. Add
3 eggs
Continue to cream the mixture.

Dry ingredients
3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups milk - Add the flour alternately with the flour ending with the flour.

Pour batter into a 9 x 13 oblong pan.

Use 1 can of raspberry filling (or you can use a jar of Raspberry jam). Drop by spoon fulls onto the cake and then swirl the raspberry to make a marble effect.

Struesel topping

1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cold butter

Cut the butter into the dry mixture and sprinkle on top of the cake and bake the cake at 350 degrees. It will take about 30-40 minutes. Let the cake cool. The raspberry filling and struesel mix and you'll find that it settles onto the bottom of the pan with a little struesel left on top. There won't be any leftovers if you take this treat to a get-together or even if you want to indulge and listen to your favorite music with a cup of cake and coffee by your side.

Enjoy