Category Archives: Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Land That We Love Tour ~ October 7th

We start on our home stretch on our Land That We Love Tour.

After two and a half great days with our brother’s family we left Dallas on Thursday October 7th at O’dark’thirty heading north to Oklahoma and Kansas. I posted a short post on that day here. We got a few gallons of gas at Central Truck Stop in Oklahoma City at $3.199 per gallon. Later that day we filled up our tank at the Costco in Wichita, Kansas for $2.729 per gallon.

After our gas and shopping stop at the Costco in Wichita Kansas we continued North and noticed the sign on the highway about the Mennonite Heritage and Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas. We took the exit and enjoyed our time on these backroads checking out the church and museum.

Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church

Here’s a link to the museum for more information. It is a well thought out museum with a great collection of history and historical artifacts and other objects that tell stories of the Mennonite people in Kansas.

When we walked into the museum we noticed the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Cookbook. Woohoo!

Schroeder Barn

One room schoolhouse

Goessel State Bank

It was quite warm on this day and we were parched after walking around the museum out buildings.

Back on the road we made our way to McPherson, Kansas where we stayed at Fairfield Inn and Suites. We used our accumulated points to stay here for free. We ate at La Fiesta Restaurant and ate well for less than we had at any other Mexican restaurant.

McPherson has developed into one of the most industrialized small communities in the nation. Centered in one of the largest wheat producing areas of the United States, McPherson is also ranked among the top agricultural centers of Kansas.

On this Thursday we traveled 416 miles for approximately six and a quarter hours not counting our shopping and time at the museum.

 

Hodgepodge History

Time to go back to the beginning of Hodgepodge with Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? 

When my brother told me he was going to start a blog for me I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle the technology. He convinced me everything would be ok. We then started brain storming about what I should name it. We came up with a few fun names but the way I came up with my keeper is…

a. I’m generally a very happy person.

b. I’m also someone who wonders about a lot of things and have a deep need to know.

So as we were discussing point a and b my husband came up with The Happy Wonderer.

As far as the purpose of my blog I chose “to Honor and Encourage”. I’m an encourager to people around me and I wanted that reflected in the relationships I’d develop on my blog. It is very important to me to Honor Jesus Christ my King.  I want my words and posts to be things that will encourage people and be something that won’t reflect poorly on my King. My blog was born on March 3, 2007.

I would not change my blog name.

My blog header has changed over the years. The photo at the top of this post was my header for awhile. It was taken at a photo shoot for our 2nd Mennonite Girls Can Cook cookbook, Celebrations, that was published in 2013.

2. What bill do you least like to pay? 

Our Tax Bill.

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? 

Favorite word, Hope. I also like sweet, redeemed and cheers!

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. 

Half full and I’ll refer you back to my blog name for the elaboration.

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? 

I’m a bit surprised that I didn’t join in to the Hodgepodge until August of 2016. I put a link to my first post in the random thought section.  I was a big ABC Wednesday participant from the early days of my blog.

Our lives were very busy in November of 2010:

Our daughter was engaged at the end of September and we started wedding dress shopping and making wedding plans that overlapped into November.

Our son came home from a 6 month training in Arizona and was establishing his new digs with his new job in Northeastern Washington.

We had an early Thanksgiving celebration before our son moved to Eastern Washington.

My brother Tim and Letty flew up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Thanksgiving day we had our meal with 40 others at a friends home.

On Black Friday we had our annual tea day with my sister, sister-in-law, and daughter-in-law and shopping at Goodwill and Country Village. Laura took this photo.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I believe this was my first Hodgepodge post.

https://happywonderer.com/2016/08/08/summer-olympics-hodgepodge/

Thank you Jo for all the years and all the questions!

Granola Chews

Granola Chews

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups white flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 cups granola
  • 2 cups dry oatmeal
  • 1 cup walnuts chopped

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Combine flour, soda and salt and set aside.
  3. Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla till creamy.
  4. Add one egg at a time to the creamed mixture beating after each egg.
  5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.
  6. Stir in granola, oatmeal and walnuts.
  7. Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown, watch after 10 minutes.

I like to use a dough scoop because the dough is easy to drop onto the baking sheet and the cookies are uniform.

Apple Raspberry Bars

These bars have a nice shortbread like base with an almond flavor. I saw this recipe in my grocery store flyer and cut down on the sugar and spices from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 large apples, cored, peeled, and sliced very thin
  • 6 ounces raspberries
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Grease a 9×9 inch baking dish.
  3. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, salt, baking powder and 1/3 cup of the sugar.
  4. In small bowl, whisk melted butter, egg, lemon zest, and almond extract until smooth.
  5. Pour this mixture over the flour mixture and work with hands to make a soft dough.
  6. Pat 2/3 of the dough in pan, pricking it all over with a fork.
  7. Bake until browned, 15-20 minutes.
  8. In large bowl, toss fruit with spices and 1/3 cup sugar.
  9. Drop the sugared fruit evenly over the bottom crust that has just browned.
  10. Crumble remaining dough on top of the fruit.
  11. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
  12. Bake until top is golden brown, 30-35 minutes.
  13. Cut into bars.
  14. Store any leftovers in airtight container.

Yield: 9-12 bars

Honey Raisin Bran Muffins

This is a recipe from the Kellogg’s page and the reason I chose to do this recipe is because it’s easy and I don’t keep bran in my cupboard. We enjoy this cereal and usually have a box of it in the cupboard. All the rest of the ingredients are always in my pantry.

Ingredients:

  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups Kellogg’s Raisin Bran® cereal
  • 1 1/4 cups fat-free milk, I used 2%.
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl, combine Kellog’s Raisin Bran cereal, milk and honey. Let stand 3 minutes or until cereal softens.
4. Add egg and oil. Beat well.
5. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined.
6. Portion batter evenly into twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin-pan cups coated with cooking spray, or use muffin paper liners.
7. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Serves 6-12

Oatmeal Muffins

These muffins are easy to make and they aren’t overly sweet. Enjoy them any time of the day.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 well beaten egg
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Combine the oats with the milk and let stand for 15 minutes.
  3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
  4. Combine the beaten egg, oil, sugar and oatmeal mixture.
  5. Add all at once to the sifted dry ingredients stirring just to moisten.
  6. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. I used muffin cup liners.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Chicken Quesadillas

I’m re-visiting my chicken quesadilla recipe/method and adding it here. This is a great quick meal when you have a few key ingredients on hand.

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1/2 onion diced
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1-7oz. can of chopped green chiles
  • 1-4oz. can of chopped jalapenos (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 8 oz. bag of shredded Mexican blend cheese
  • Chopped Roma tomatoes (optional)
  • Chopped Avocado (optional)
  • Chopped Cilantro (optional)
  • Salsa of your choice
  • Sour cream

Method:
Saute onion in heated vegetable oil until translucent.
Add the ground chicken, chilies, and seasonings.
Cook until chicken is no longer pink.
Photo 1, Prepare 2 large pans by sprinkling shredded cheese on the bottom over medium heat.

Photo 2, Add tortillas of your choice on top of the melting cheese.
With a spatula turner shift the tortilla a little in the pan making sure the cheese is sticking to the bottom of the tortilla.
Photo 3, When the tortilla moves easily add a small layer of cheese on top of only one of the tortillas and then the cooked chicken mixture and other ingredients you desire to the same tortilla in the pan.
Now add cheese as the final layer.

Photo 4, Flip the 2nd tortilla over in the second pan to warm it a little.
Photo 5, Now place that tortilla on top of the tortilla with the all the ingredients.
Photo 6, Slide the tortilla onto a cutting board or plate and slice into serving sized pieces with a knife or pizza cutter.
Top with some avocado, sour cream and salsa and enjoy.
We had a Southwest salad to go along side, too.

The melted cheese in the pan that adheres to the tortillas gives the tortillas a nice crispy layer of goodness.

People Get Ready Hodgepodge

1. Saturday marks the first official day of summer! Whoohoo! Your favorite thing about the season?

Summer visitors. The photos below were taken in our front yard when we had summer visitors camping out last August. 

2. Love it!, labor of love, not for love or money, no love lost, love handles, love does, love-hate relationship, misery loves company, tough love, love will find a way…pick one and tell us how it applies to your life right now.

I’ll pick LOVE-IT. Love it when family visits. Love it when we can visit our family. Love it when I spend time with the grandchildren and see all their new skills. Love it when our freedoms come back to us. Love it when all the birds flit about in our back yard. Love it when the Truth is spoken and it is louder than evil. 

3. What’s one thing currently causing you to seethe?

When people call evil good and good evil. 

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah 5:20 (ESV)

One thing currently making you smile?

See #2

4. Of the following to-dos found on a summer checklist (here) which three would definitely make your personal list of summer want-to-dos?

roast marshmallows over a fire, go berry or peach picking, dangle your feet off the end of a dock, sit on a porch swing, watch the sunset from a beach, nap in a hammock, go barefoot in the grass, collect seashells, play tennis, go fishing, build a sandcastle, catch fireflies, eat a soft serve ice cream cone, make a pitcher of Sangria, swim in a lake, stargaze, ride a bike, paddle a canoe or kayak, make a summer road trip, throw a frisbee

  1. Take a summer road trip. 2. Make a pitcher of Sangria. 3. Paddle a canoe or kayak (although it is getting more and more difficult to get into or out of)

    Do you make an actual list? NO

5. Thursday is National Splurge Day. What might you splurge on in order to celebrate?

Well, since Thursday will be mow the 4 acres day I will celebrate by listening to at least 3 good sermons since that’s how long it takes for me to mow. Maybe to keep the theme going we’ll go out to eat in one of the local restaurants that have re-opened.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A summary of a good sermon in 5 sentences:

“You can’t change a fallen world. We come and go and are forgotten. The only one who can change the world is God. MY story is not THE story. We need to fear God and keep His commandments.”

By the Fear of the Lord men depart from evil. Proverbs 16:6

Thank you to Joyce for coming up with the questions for the Hodgepodge.

Favorites

Today is the letter F and it took a while to settle on a theme or a word starting with F. How about Favorites from Easter’s Past or Flashbacks from Easter Past. These photos were from a cooking class the Mennonite Girls Can Cook taught at Lepp Farm Market in Abbotsford, British Columbia in 2014. The class was for Mennonite Heritage (Russian/Ukrainian) foods we enjoy at Easter especially Paska (Kulich-Russian Easter Bread), Seernaya Paska (Sweet Cheese Spread for the Paska) and other Mennonite foods.

Paska (Kulich) a very traditional Russian/Ukrainian Easter bread that is frosted and sprinkled!

Our daughter Katie traveled with me to Canada for this cooking class and took most of the photos during the class. This will be an Easter where our family does not gather to bake Russian Easter Bread together.

This is what our family’s Easter bread looks like. We bake the bread in old coffee cans we’ve saved from years past.

And here’s a flashback to the fifties, a family photo in our Easter finery. I’m in yellow with my classic Buster Brown haircut!

Back to the present. Today is Tuesday April 7, 2020. Yesterday I started the process to try to make a couple face masks. Pray for me because sewing has gotten me into so much trouble in my past. I was sent to detention in 7th grade because of something I said to my sewing teacher. OYE! My sisters are more talented in the art of sewing than me. My mother was a great seamstress, too. Me…not so much! I hope I can finish a mask today!!

Elastic is so hard to come by these days and look what I found in my sewing bin! A new package of the right kind of elastic for making masks!

I can’t remember why we bought this sewing machine but there it is and here I am hoping the threading is right and the tension is right and the stitching will go without the bobbin thread getting all backed up, etc. etc.

But…look at my delightful fabric that I’ve kept in my sewing bin for over 40 years now! Our firstborn’s room was themed after Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter and I bought this fabric thinking I’d sew curtains or something. Now I’ll be able to use it for Covid19 masks!! Who would have fathomed!

Forging Forward full of faith forever founded in Father God the author and finisher of our faith!

Looking forward to fun family and friend fellowship in the future!!

Do you sew? I’m sending my excess elastic to my sister Vera who has received requests for her to sew face masks for them. Eeek but now I have to make sure and finish a mask before I head to the Post office to mail that elastic to her!

Happy Tuesday y’all!

MGCC Christmas 2019

This year our annual Christmas event with the Mennonite Girls was hosted by Julie and her hubby at the clubhouse in your community. It was a great space for a party and Julie went all out with the decorations.

Julie folded the napkins to look like angels.

The appetizers were delicious.

 

We had some fun catching up moments. The guys had some rip roaring games of pool while we waited to sit down for dinner.

Judy and I were fashion twins…and this wasn’t the first time we showed up at a Christmas party dressed similar.

Zwieback (double buns)

Whole Wheat Sourdough loaf

Stuffed cabbage rolls (Golubtsi), a special chicken dish and a yam casserole were the mains with homemade buns and bread along with two fresh salads.

We all had more then enough good food and we still had dessert to come.

And boy were the desserts masterpieces in themselves.

Judy made this amazing cake. It was light and it’s flavor was gingerbread. Correct me if I’m wrong, Judy.

Julie made this light gluten free roll which seemed to pretty to cut.

And Anneliese made her classic fruit and nut wreath.

We had our gift exchange which had a “basket of goodies” theme this year. Instead of numbers drawn to know in what order we would be able to choose a basket from under the tree, Julie had lines from a classic Christmas carol that we drew and had to sing our line in the order that it came in the song to be able to pick a basket. Hope that made sense. It was a fun method.

I wish I would have gotten photos of all the different “baskets” none of which were actual baskets but different containers to hold the goodies. One of the containers was a large lantern!

Dear and I were fortunate to be hosted overnight at John and Marg’s home. Since the party ended after ten it was nice to just drive down the hill from Julie’s to head to bed at John and Marg’s.

With this party at Julie’s clubhouse we can now say we have all hosted a MGCC gathering with our husbands in attendance. We missed our Manitoba girls and their hubby’s.

Thank you Julie and Vic for a wonderful time at your clubhouse. Here’s the carol we sang line by line to be able to pick our basket of goodies. We concentrated on the first stanza and refrain.

Angels From the Realms of Glory

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

Refrain

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn king.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:

Refrain

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.

Refrain

Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.

Refrain

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.

Refrain

Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:

Refrain

All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.

Refrain

I’m happy to report that all I have to do is seal my Christmas greetings and take them to the post office. We had two inches of snow last night into the morning so everything is white and lovely. We’ll see if the other couple inches they predicted will fall tonight. Our mystery tree is a beauty and I’ll share the steps to the reveal after we get the lights on the the ornaments hung. I came up with a great way to display the cards and photos that come in the mail and I’ll show that in a later post, too. Addy and JJ got to go and see a couple of Santa’s reindeer today. It is so nice for our son’s little family to be reunited now that daddy is home from a 30 day work assignment in Texas. We are a thankful bunch.

I’m joining all creation in praising God, the Father, Spirit, Son this Christmas season!