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