Christmas Tour of Homes

It's Friday!!!

Today I'm participating in the Christmas Tour of Homes over at Kelly's Korner.  

I love decorating for Christmas!  I don't have a ton of decorations, mainly because I'm slowly buying things each year, but also because I am currently renting a furnished house and I am waiting to invest in some things until I live in my own space.  Still, I am pleased with how it's all turned out.  

This is the view from the kitchen into the living room.  I bought this tree five years ago for $25.  It still looks good when decorated, but I plan to get a new one with the after-Christmas sales.  I love that my dog decided to put all his toys under the tree this year.  

 My landlord has a thing for corner cabinets so I tried to jazz them up a bit.

 I bought this candle nativity from Dayspring a couple years ago.  I plan to get a Willow Tree one in the future, but for now, this is enough.  I did the canvas myself.

This is a printable I downloaded from Pinterest several years ago,  I actually leave it up all year.

This is the view from the front door.  This house is so cozy.

 And a bad iPhone pic of the tree.

 Moving into the kitchen, I just have a few touches here and there.  Christmas mugs and She Reads Truth Advent prints....

 Some Christmasy hand towels I got for a dollar at Kohl's.

 Another canvas I did last winter above the kitchen sink.

 My Christmas cookie tins.  I cut back on my Christmas baking this year for a couple reasons.  First, I just don't have the time.  Work is crazy.  Second, I'm trying to be on a diet.  Not easy during this season, but I'm trying to muddle through.  I only made shortbread and snowballs, so a couple of these are empty.

 The kitchen table, which I rarely actually use for eating.  I should probably have used my Christmas tablecloth.  Oops.  The poinsettia in the background was a gift from my boss.

And there you have it.  How I wish I could decorate like this all year!

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Caramel Frosting

Last week four of my coworkers in our front office had birthdays in a two-day span. Naturally, this required a party.  We planned a potluck lunch for Friday with a traditional birthday cake, but I wanted to make sure the Thursday birthdays didn't feel completely ignored (Friday's festivities were a surprise).

This is the cake I made for Thursday.  It is amazing.  The cake itself is so moist and the frosting is to die for.  Many people told me they'd love to just eat it with a spoon.  I found the recipe on Chef-in-training, and hers was much prettier.  I think I let the frosting cool a bit too much before pouring it on the cake.  I plan to make this one again soon and I will do better. :)

Cake Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (which I omitted, obviously)
1 teaspoon salt

Frosting Ingredients:
1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, pumpkin and sour cream.  Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices and stir to combine.  Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.
3.  Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Invert cake onto a cooling rack (I suggest waiting about 10 minutes first) and cool completely.

For frosting (or is it icing -- does anybody know the difference between the two or know which one this is?): heat milk and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.  Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Cool for five minutes and pour over cake.

As you can see, I waited too long to drizzle and had to spread it with a spatula.  Fortunately, what this cake lacked in the visually appealing category, it made up for in taste.  Oh. my. Wow.

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Blondies

I made these on Saturday and served them to my best culinary critics -- my sisters -- on Sunday.  The recipe is from Averie Cooks Blog and is in her upcoming cookbook that includes only pumpkin recipes.

Recipe first -- then my thoughts.

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 large egg

1 cup brown sugar, packed

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (I made my own sans nutmeg)

1-1/4 cup flour

3 Tablespoons sugar, for sprinking

2 Teaspoons cinnamon, for sprinking (I actually cheated her and used a cinnamon sugar blend that I keep on hand for toast)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F.  Line an 8x8 pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

2.  In a large microwaveable bowl, melt the butter (about 1 minute) and set aside.

3.  Wait a little while for the butter to cool -- this is key, y'all.  You don't want scrambled eggs in your pastries!.  I actually whisked my egg before pouring into the mixture and stirred continuously while adding it.  It worked!  Then add brown sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and pie spice, and whisk until smooth.

4.  Add the flour and stir until just combined.

5.  Pour into prepared pan, smooth (I didn't do that very well because I didn't care) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

6.  Bake 25-27 minutes or until done (toothpick comes out cleanish).

Overall, this makes a yummy dessert.  I must say, however, that I was slightly disappointed with the texture and I think the "Blondie" in the name was misleading.  I just didn't get that wonderful blondie taste and texture in this.  I'm not sure if it needed more butter, more flour or what.  Maybe it's just that the pumpkin makes it very moist and spongy/rubbery.  It just isn't what I expected but was still yummy.  I would just prefer that they'd been named "Pumpkin Snickerdoodle BARS" and there wouldn't have been such a let down for me personally.

They do, however, get the Mock girls' stamp of approval.

Divine Love

A friend shared this Spurgeon devotional below on Facebook a few days ago.  These words are such comfort, both to her, who is walking the road of a mother whose child is gravely ill, and to me.  While I face nothing so severe, I spend much time wishing my life was different.  Praying for dreams to finally come to fruition.  Wondering why, if He loves me, He has not given me the life I've hoped for since I was a small girl.

But this is the truth: if any other circumstance were better, I would be there.  I must trust that this is best.

Psalm 47:4 -- "He shall choose our inheritance for us."

Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you.  Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition.  A ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one part of the stream there is a sandbank; should some one ask, "Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel and deviate so much from a straight line?" His answer would be, "Because I should not get my vessel into harbour at all if I did not keep to the deep channel."  So, it may be, you would run into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession.  Some plants die if they have too much sunshine.  It may be that you are planted where you get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation you will bring forth fruit unto perfection.  Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there.  You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows."  Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good.  Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God.  Down busy self, and proud impatience, it is not for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love!

"Trials must and will befall--

But with humble faith to see

Love inscribed upon them all; 

This is happiness to me."

**Copied from Spurgeon's Evening by Evening, November 11, emphasis mine**

Tasty Tuesday: Salsa Chicken

I actually don't really have a name for this, but it's good.  A friend served me this several years ago, and I've been making (and adapting it) ever since.

Here's the recipe, but understand that you can add whatever you want to this and it will be good.

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds frozen chicken breasts
1 24oz jar of Pace picante sauce (I use medium)
1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of corn, drained
4-8 oz cream cheese

**The pictures here show that I also added a can of Pinto beans....like I said, do whatever you want.

Directions:
Add chicken, beans, corn, and Picante sauce to a slow cooker.  Cook on low for about 8 hours.  About 30 minutes before dinner, shred chicken and add cream cheese.  After half an hour, stir and serve.

This time I just ate it like soup, but you can do it however you want.  Add shredded cheddar, avocado, and sour cream...serve over rice....scoop up with tortilla chips.....easy and versatile! :)

Also, did anybody know that celery looks like this when you cut the stalks off the bunch? So cool!

Tasty Tuesday: Orange Dreamsicle Pound Cake

Hey! Remember that time I was going to blog multiple times per week and have themed days?
HA!

Well, I do remember Tasty Tuesdays.  Once a week I will share a recipe that I loved and have used recently.  Today, I am sharing a recipe for Orange Dreamsicle Pound Cake, that I found on Positively Splendid.  I made it this weekend for my Mom's birthday, and it is AMAZING!

Orange Dreamsicle Pound Cake

Ingredients for Cake:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I used 2%, because if you have that much fat and eggs, why not?)
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 cup orange juice

For Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325.  Cream butter and shortening together at medium speed until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Stir in orange zest, lemon zest, and 1/4 cup orange juice.  Pour batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes (took my over 75) or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely.

To make the glaze, whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, 4 teaspoons of orange juice, 2 teaspoons of orange zest and 1 teaspoon lemon zest until smooth.  If necessary, play around with powdered sugar and orange juice until the glazing is a pouring consistency (but not too watery).  Garnish with orange slices and powdered sugar, if desired.

Here's mine!

We Win

Note: I actually wrote the post below over two years ago, after chaperoning a bus trip to watch our school play in the state basketball tournament.  I never shared it, but found it this afternoon while deleting old files on my computer.  After a week of feeling like I've lost many battles, it is comforting for me to remember that we will not lose the war. He's fighting for me, and the outcome is not in doubt.  

“I believe that we will win.”  Together….united….hoping against all hope that Hoosiers was about to play out in our favor.  Knowing this chance won’t come again in their “lifetime”

He has set eternity in the hearts of men.  The epic battle of good and evil – of men of courage slaying monsters….it has been written on our hearts.  We all know it, embrace it.  That is why we cheer for the underdog.  For the one we know can’t really win, but somehow our hearts tell us it can happen.

David vs. Goliath

A baby in a stable one day conquers a dragon.

Life defeats death.

Light drives our darkness.

Love overcomes hate.

The meek inherit the earth.

Mary is the first to see Jesus after he rises from the dead.

A little boy is used to feed 5000+ by faithfully giving all he has.

A widow’s pennies are cherished by the God of the universe.

Moses stuttered but set a nation free.

Joseph was sold as a slave…falsely accused of a crime…yet honored by a king as a prisoner.

Esther risked her very life for the sake of a nation.

Because we’ve had more than our fair share of things not going right.  Just in the past 10 years we’ve witnessed 9/11, Katrina, tsunami disasters, the earthquake in Haiti.  So much pain and we all know this is not the way things should be.  All of humanity can agree that something is gravely wrong with this world.

Even my students have suffered more than I believe they should.  Over and over we’ve seen it.  Suicide, car accidents, loss of parents, hunting trips gone horribly, horribly wrong.  Even in the short time I’ve been here we’ve lost two students.  Just this past week I witnessed two come terribly close.

So here we were.  Tied at 56 and going into overtime.  We weren’t supposed to have come this far.  Yes, the kids talked about a state championship, but we adults knew the truth.  

We were not supposed to win this game.  The other team was too big, too strong, too experienced.  They’ve played in the big games before….6 years in a row, in fact.  This game should haven’t even been close.

But even so, overtime.  And there they were – over two hundred of our kids standing together, cheering on their classmates as they played in one of the greatest high school basketball games I have ever witnessed.  One turned to the others and began this cheer…

“I….I believe….I believe that….I believe that we….I believe that we will win!”

Such hope, optimism, excitement.  I heard one person say the cheer was stupid.  A reporter later tweeted that it was the most cliché cheer in high school basketball and it needed to go.  I disagree.  For me, this was the most beautiful and precious moment of the whole game.  Let’s not underestimate the power of teenagers united together for a cause, even if this time it was “just a game.”  Let’s remember that they are far more likely to engage in raucous “hate the other team” chants than this simple, innocent creed.  Let’s thank the Lord that their hearts are still convinced that good can conquer evil in this world…and they expect it.

Sometimes it doesn’t go like it should….in basketball or in life.  Stephen was martyred.  Moses never entered the Promised Land.  David was unable to rebuild the temple.  The prophets were tortured; Paul imprisoned.  I could go on and on, but you can find it all in Hebrews 11. Sometimes, in basketball, size and skill have their way.  Shots that fell in the third quarter suddenly won’t drop the last thirty seconds of overtime.  Officials make questionable calls. The final buzzer sounds.  It shouldn’t have ended this way, but it did.

We may not always see the promise come to fruition.

But we still believe.  We don’t lose heart.  We tuck our heads down and head straight for the rim, knowing the prize is worth any scar.  We give up our rights and obey our Father’s commands because the outcome is not in doubt.  He is more than worthy of all we have to give. 

I believe…

….more than that, I KNOW….

I believe that we will win!

“Then it will come to pass, the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Adventures in Gardening

One lovely Sunday afternoon in May, my sweet boyfriend drove five hours each way and built me a garden.

The summer of 2014 will now be remembered as the summer I learned whether my thumb was black or green.

So far, I think it's a success.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

So far I've only come across two problems:

1) My summer squash plants keep dying when they are about two inches long.  I figured out today that it'd because the male flowers are not pollinating the female flowers.  That's what I get for killing the bee's nest on my front porch.  I did a little research on pollinating by hand and I'm doing to try that tomorrow morning when the blooms are open.

2) My skin is definitely sensitive or allergic to something in the garden.  I think it is more of an irritation, but I've been taking lots of benadryl and using hydrocortisone cream on my arms.  I guess this could be easily solved by wearing long sleeves and gloves, but it is so darn hot outside.  I wish I could figure out what plant so I could avoid growing it next year.

I'll update my three readers soon on how the hand pollination goes!

Jesus Feminist: My Humble (and Slightly Pathetic) Attempt at a Review

I am participated in Jon Acuff's "Empty Shelf 2014".  Basically, you clear a shelf off one of your bookshelves and fill it with books you read in 2014.

I finished my first book Tuesday night: Jesus Feminist, by Sarah Bessey.

My thoughts and emotions were all over the place during this read.  Part of the reason is that for most of the book, I wasn't sure what the ultimate purpose of the book was and I couldn't decide if I liked the author or if I agreed at all.

First, here were my reservations before reading.
1) I wasn't sure where she was going to go with the feminist thing.
2) I have some serious issues with the theology and practices of a few of the church leaders who endorsed this book.
3) Sarah Bessey is one of those bloggers turned Christian living writers and, frankly, though they are good writers, their books are often overly sappy and the chapters are disjointed as if they are separate blog posts. (Side note: I think this concern was warranted.  The chapters did not flow well and I did not understand the primary argument of the book until about page 170 of 190. It was a frustrating read in that sense.)

And, to be fair, what I was hoping to find in the book:
1) The secondary heading after the title is "Exploring God's Radical Notion that Women are People, Too" -- I could tell she has a good sense of sarcasm and I wanted to hear her perspective.
2) I think there are many churches that overly limit the role of women and expect women to be flighty, stupid, and of little importance to the body of Christ.  More writers should be calling attention to this injustice.

Now for my thoughts having read the book:
For nearly all of the first chapter, I was right there with the author, saying "Amen" in my head.  You see, you don't have to look far in the Bible to know that God cares deeply about women.  Eve was created, and he called her "good".  God met Hagar in the wilderness and gave her water and a promise -- He saw her.  Just read the gospel of Luke and you will see Jesus tenderly showing love and grace to women over and over.  And you don't have to look far to understand that God doesn't have limits on what women are able to do.  Deborah was judge over Israel - a woman leading a nation judicially, politically, militarily, spiritually.... Mary Magdalene was the first to testify of a resurrected Christ at a time when a woman's testimony could not be admitted in court.  Yes, clearly God does think that women are people, too.

"Your sons and daughters shall prophesy..."

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

So, as I got toward the end of Chapter 1, I was getting kind of excited.  And then, Bessey switched gears and threw out any sense of logic in her argument.  She writes, "The women of the gospel narrative ministered to Jesus, and they ministered with him.  The lack of women among the twelve disciples isn't prescriptive or a precedent for exclusion of women any more than the choice of twelve Jewish men excludes Gentile men from leadership."

Ummmm, excuse me, but what the what???

I'm not even going to get into the argument of whether or not women should be pastors and the head of local churches, because, honestly, though Bessey often hints that this is what she believes, she never lays out an argument for this and, by the time I got to the end of the book, I realized the issue of women pastors is not really what the book is about.  However, I found the above statement so contrary to what I believe to be accurate (and absurd, quite frankly) that I got a little angry and put the book down for a week.

I believe in the absolute sovereignty of a loving God.  I believe Jesus is the exact representation of His Father, and therefore is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient.  If, in His perfect wisdom, He believed that some women should have been part of the twelve disciples or of the first apostles, I believe he would have called them.  He was not sitting around helplessly thinking, "I need to announce my inner circle today but all the women are off doing laundry.  This is terrible.  I really wanted Beth and Sally on my team.  I guess I'll just have to add some more guys."

That could not possibly be what happened.  Jesus chose the twelve intentionally, and if I believe that, I must believe the reverse -- he did not choose others equally intentionally.  It was not an oversight.  That's all I'm saying about that.

The rest of the book goes on to talk about Bessey's own experiences in the church, both positive and negative.  I got the sense, after a while, that she has been deeply hurt by the church and writes as one wounded, but longing for it all to be redeemed.  Reading some of the stories in the book made me want that, too.  At times, the tone of her plea sounded a whole lot like, "We just want our place at the table," which drives me crazy, but I think part of that is her extremely sentimental and poetic writing style.  For example, there is one whole chapter that talks about her labor and delivery experiences and how they were so beautiful and ugly and painful and joyous that the were defining moments in her relationship with God.  Then, she states that there should be more sermons about childbirth and motherhood.....this isn't theology, more just a personal preference, but I do not want it at all, especially if they are as graphic as her story.

So, what is a Jesus Feminist?  Well, when she finally got around to telling us, at the end of the book.  To be a Jesus Feminist is to fight for justice, to bring restoration.  To not leave one hurt unhealed.  To, in the words of Isaiah, "proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to comfort all who mourn, bestow on them beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair."

After listing many painful statistics about women and children throughout the world and here in the United States, Bessey concludes, "One needn't identify as a feminist to participate in the redemptive movement of God for women in the world. The gospel is more than enough. Of course it is! But as long as I know how important maternal health is to Haiti's future, and as long as I know that women are being abused and raped, as long as I know that girls are being denied life itself through selective abortion, abandoned and abused, as long as brave little girls in Afghanistan are attacked with acid for a crime of going to school, and until being a Christian is synonymous with doing something about these things, you can call me a feminist."

Amen.  Call me one, too.