Snow Fun

We finally got enough snow for our Grands to enjoy sledding on their driveway.

JJ told me he learned how to turn the sled, too.

Meanwhile at our Country Bungalow we enjoy the views from inside.

We try to figure out what animals are leaving what tracks in the snow.

When our kids come to our place they pull around on our drive before they park by the front door. This next photo shows the fun result their truck tires made. This is what I see from our office window.

Double hearts!

Are you enjoying a winter wonderland?

Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing ~ Hymn

Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing

Lord, dis­miss us with Thy bless­ing,
Thanks for mer­cies past re­ceive;
Pardon all, their faults con­fess­ing;
Time that’s lost may all re­trieve;
May Thy child­ren
Ne’er again Thy Spir­it grieve.

Bless Thou all our days of lei­sure;
Help us self­ish lures to flee;
Sanctify our ev­ery plea­sure;
Pure and blame­less may it be;
May our glad­ness
Draw us ev­er­more to Thee.

By Thy kind­ly in­flu­ence cher­ish
All the good we here have gained;
May all taint of ev­il per­ish
By Thy migh­ti­er pow­er re­strained;
Seek we ev­er
Knowledge pure and love un­feigned.

Let Thy fa­ther-hand be shield­ing
All who here shall meet no more;
May their seed-time past be yield­ing
Year by year a rich­er store;
Those re­turn­ing,
Make more faith­ful than be­fore.

Words: Henry J. Buckoll, 1850.

Apple Tart

I found this post in my drafts and thought I better post it before it gets lost. This was a Christmas treat in the past but would work for any occasion. This recipe was posted on Mennonite Girls Can Cook in January of 2014. Since it is George Washington’s birthday today and he grew many apple trees on his property at Mt. Vernon it’s a good day to share this with you.

Our son has apples trees on his property and he prepared apples by coring, peeling, and slicing them then preserving them with his Food Saver and freezing them. I decided to use his apples for our Apple Tart that we enjoyed on Christmas day years ago. Posting this before it gets lost in drafts.

Crust:
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup quick oatmeal
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed lightly
3/4 cup unsalted butter-cut into small cubes
1 egg yolk

6-7 fresh apples
juice from half a lemon
2 tablespoons sugar

Cut the apples lengthwise into quarters, core the apple, and slice into smaller sections, about 8 slices per apple. You’ll need 6-7 apples for this recipe. After the apples are sliced put them into a bowl and add the lemon juice and sugar and toss lightly. This will allow them to juice slightly.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, oatmeal, walnuts, and sugar, butter and egg yolk in bowl. Mix ingredients until they are a crumb size. You can use a mixer.

Pour the mixture into a 10 inch tart pan and press to an even layer coming up the sides of the pan, also.

Arrange the apple slices starting on the outside edge going around in a circle and then start the center circle with the remaining apple slices. Save the apple juice left in the bowl to brush the apples when the tart is fully cooked and out of the oven. This will add a nice sheen to the tart. If you don’t have enough juice for this step add a little water and sugar to the apple juice you have and cook it on the stove top till it thickens slightly.

Bake the tart for 35-40 minutes or until it’s lightly browned. Remove from oven, cool slightly and enjoy warm or after it has cooled completely. It would be nice with a dollop of whip cream or a la mode.

Note: I reserved a tablespoon of the crumb crust to add on top of the apples in the center of the pan before baking the tart. That is an optional step.

I also had extra crumb crust and apples so I made a small crumble, too.

Many Hands Make Light Work

…along with a lot of planning and organization.

I agreed to take on an event at our church for the sending off  and 10 years of service of our dear Youth Pastor’s family. They are heading to a new ministry in Georgia. The event was a three hour drop in event and I wanted it to be as simple as could be with finger food and no heating necessary but also have some elevation in taste and presentation.

This is the beautiful family we were celebrating.

Volunteers were enlisted for three shifts of service. My first 5 shift volunteers from 1pm until 4pm did all the peeling, chopping, mixing, slicing, stuffing, frosting, arranging and clean-up for West Coast Chicken Sliders, Veggie platters, and elevated brownie bites. Once the sliders were stuffed they were stacked in stainless pans between waxed paper and stored in the refrigerators for the event. Before the volunteers arrived I staged the serving tables with tiered servers and some sparkly accents and candles. My second shift of volunteers had the task of keeping the buffet tables stocked with the goodies we prepared. Husband, Greg, was in charge of the water and coffee. We had a third shift of two families who were in charge of the final clean-up, putting away tables and chairs and taking out the trash. The first two shifts of volunteers kept the kitchen clean-up to a minimum washing prep items as we went along. What a fabulous crew.

We will miss this dear family but send them off with prayers for their continued growth in their love for the LORD Jesus Christ and the Great Commission to go out into the world and make disciples.

I’m battling with Plantar Fasciitis for the first time ever . With lots of prayers on my behalf, I was able to make it through the event with little or no pain. As is the case with this condition after coming home and sitting for a while and then standing up again my feet ceased to function well. I’m trying some remedies to ease the problem along with good supportive shoes. I woke up on Wednesday with very little pain and am thankful. Hopefully icing, massaging, and doing a few exercises before I get out of bed will help the condition and make it cease.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Truth for Today #132

Thursday February 20th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Psalm 104:1-5

From Cathy:

Psalm 3:8

“Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people.”

From Dianna:

Psalm 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

From Cheryl:

Acts 4:12 NKJV

”Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

From Vera:

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.”

From Leonard:

Deuteronomy 1:36

“except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.”

Oh that we would all be Calebs!

From Barbara:

Romans 12:19

 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

From Karen:

Hebrew 13:8

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

A Presidential Hodgepodge

Mount Rushmore September 2021

Joyce From This Side of the Pond has fresh questions for us to ponder for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Many of our earliest presidents created words or expressions widely used today. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with mollycoddle, pack rat, frazzle, and loose cannon…which of those words/phrases currently relates to your life in some way? 

mollycoddle: to treat with an excessive or absurd degree of indulgence and attention

I was going to say none of these relates to my life in some way but then mollycoddle was in a sentence in the book I am reading, The Vanishing Conscience, Drawing a Line in a No-Fault, Guilt-Free World by John MacArthur. It made me smile to see it right there in print. Here is the sentence I read and then the context of my reading.

We cannot mollycoddle our sin.

“Paul is not suggesting that anyone can obtain life or merit God’s favor by the process of mortification. He is saying it is characteristic of true believers that they put to death the deeds of the body (mortification). Nothing is more natural than for people “led by the Spirit of God” to mortify their sin. One of the proofs of our salvation is that we do this. It is expected of believers. It is the expression of the new nature. 

In other words, the true believer is not like Saul, who wanted to pamper and preserve Agag, but like Samuel who hacked him to pieces without mercy and without delay. Saul may have wanted to make a lap dog of Agag, but Samuel knew that was utterly impossible. Similarly, we will never tame the flesh. We cannot mollycoddle our sin. We must deal with it quickly and severely. “

So yes, I want to mortify my sin not mollycoddle it and make excuses for it. It can be done with the help of the Holy Spirit.

2. Have you visited many (or any) of the US Presidents homes, monuments, libraries or related sites? If so what’s been your favorite? Are there any you particularly want to see? Here’s a link to presidential sites listed by state which is kind of fun to read-Presidential Places by State. And since several bloggers who participate in the HP each week live outside the US, here’s a link to Presidential Places Outside the US. Have you seen any of those? 

The most concentrated presidential sites I’ve seen were in Washington D.C. in the Spring of 2011. At the National Portrait Gallery you can view paintings of all the U.S. Presidents. The Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Monuments and statues of other presidents are prominent and scattered throughout the area. You could go on a presidential scavenger hunt.

Outside the Lincoln Memorial

At Arlington National Cemetery we were able to see the grave of John F. Kennedy. When we were in Dallas we went to the ‘Grassy Knoll’ to see where JFK was shot.

My parents lived in Yorba Linda for a few years where the Nixon Library is located. Whittier was part of our stompin grounds, too, growing up so we passed Whittier College many times. When Greg was working in Thousand Oaks California his company Christmas event was held at the Reagan Library and Museum and we enjoyed an evening there taking in history including Airforce One that we were able to walk through.

I have a photo somewhere of the George Washington statue at the University of Washington, Greg’s Alma Mater.

We’ve been to Mount Rushmore and to Rapid City, South Dakota. Rapid City has the coolest display of statues of all the presidents on several corners in town.

John Quincy Adams

Favorite? It is hard to choose a favorite. It’s a tossup between the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore and the Reagan Library and Museum.

3. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day…will you celebrate? Given your choice of cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cheesecake with a cherry topping, or black forest cake which would you choose? 

Cheese cake with cherry topping would be my choice (and I might just scrape the cherry topping off). Greg enjoys cherry pie.

4. Last time you worked a puzzle of some kind? Something that had you puzzled recently? 

Finished this puzzle a week ago.

I had to puzzle over converting a recipe from serving 24 people to serving 400 people. Calculating the quantities of the ingredients was something I puzzled over and then I puzzled over how many veggies to buy for veggie trays.

5. Of the early blooming flowers (January-early March depending on your zone) which one’s your favorite? snowdrops, lenten roses, pansies, violets, snapdragons, reticulated iris, crocus, winter jasmine 

Do you have any of these in your own yard/garden? 

I don’t have any of these growing on our property here but when we lived in Kenmore we had a couple Lenten Roses. They are my favorite.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

George Washington Statue in the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and outside the Cathedral.

I’m posting my Hodgepodge early this week. See you all tomorrow when I’m recuperating from our big event on Tuesday. Maybe I’ll have the presence of mind to take some photos.

A Love-ly Recap

On Valentine’s day we had a surprise delivery of flowers from Josh and Laura. It was unexpected. We were thankful for the thoughtful gift. Addy and JJ came over in the afternoon for a movie and dinner while their folks enjoyed some time on their own. We watched Milo and Otis and then enjoyed tacos for dinner. JJ made guacamole out of the one avocado we had on hand. Ice Cream Cones for dessert and then we had some story time and just got started watching Davy Crockett and their folks came to pick them up.

Earlier in the day these photos were texted to the family.

Sending love across the miles!

Before Valentine’s day Katie and Laura met up for nail day getting ready with just the right color for Valentine’s day.

We are grateful for technology that allows us to see and enjoy what our loved ones are doing miles away and closer to home!

We had a nice dump of snow on Sunday. We couldn’t see our mountains and hills on the way to church.

After church the Grands had fun in the snow.

Don’t shake those limbs!

A targeted snow shower.

My Monday and Tuesday will be full of activity from morning to night as our church is having a Going Away plus 10 Year celebration for our Youth Pastor’s Family. I’m overseeing the food preparations for that event. My computer/blog time will be scarce over the next couple of days.

Happy President’s Day if you live in the states and if you live in Canada, Happy Family Day.

Blest is the Man, Forever Blest ~ Hymn

Blest is the Man, Forever Blest

Blest is the man, for­ev­er blest,
Whose guilt is par­doned by his God;
Whose sins with sor­row are con­fessed,
And co­vered with his Sav­ior’s blood.

Blest is the man to whom the Lord
Imputes not his ini­qui­ties;
He pleads no mer­it of re­ward,
And not on works, but grace re­lies.

From guile his heart and lips are free;
His hum­ble joy, his ho­ly fear,
With deep re­pent­ance well agree,
And join to prove his faith sin­cere.

How glo­ri­ous is that right­eous­ness
That hides and can­cels all his sins!
While a bright evi­dence of grace
Through his whole life ap­pears and shines.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1719.

Coeur A la Creme

This is a fluffy sweet cheese/cream dessert that has a great presentation for Valentine’s Day but a nice treat any time.
I use a Coeur a la Creme mold that I bought at a specialty kitchen store but you can use any 7 inch sieve.

Coeur a la Creme with Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients:
8 oz. ricotta cheese
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

Sauce:
1 pound frozen or fresh strawberries
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 Tablespoons sugar

With the paddle attachment beat the ricotta cheese and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Change to a whisk attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and vanilla bean seeds and beat on high speed until the mixture is very thick, like whipped cream.
Line your mold or sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels so the ends drape over the sides and suspend over a bowl, making sure there is space between the bottom of your mold/sieve and the bottom of the bowl so liquid can drain. Pour the cream mixture into the cheesecloth, fold the ends over the top, and refrigerate overnight.
For the sauce place the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes. Pour the cooked strawberries into the bowl of a blender and blend until smooth. Chill.
You could substitute raspberries for the strawberries to make the sauce.

To serve, discard the liquid, unmold the cream onto a plate, and drizzle strawberry sauce around the base. Serve with strawberries and extra sauce.

Valentine’s Day 2025

Hope you are having a lovely Friday and Valentine’s Day. This is my catch-up post for this past week and the month of February so far with photos I’ve taken and photos that were sent to me. Trader Joe’s tulips were too pretty to pass up last Friday and after pulling my Valentine’s Day bin down I found the sparkly hearts to add to the bouquet.

When we were at Costco a couple trips ago the adidas warm-up sets were $10 and a set in size 6 made it into our cart. JJ is growing right on schedule into size 6!

Basketball is going on this winter and Baba finally made it to a practice.

My sister and her hubby flew into Seattle to surprise a close friend who was turning 50 and they had a bonus visit with our West side kids. Makes me happy to see them all together. They had a great time and sent us photos to prove it!

The first puzzles of 2025 got started and finished in the last couple of weeks.

JJ and I finished this glow in the dark puzzle during our Monday afternoon time. Later when it got dark we checked to see if it was glowing and it was. Woohoo!

This farm seasons quilt puzzle was a fun one to do. I finished it earlier this week.

A few close-ups showing the 4 seasons.

Addy and JJ went to a birthday party at Flying Squirrel in Spokane a couple weeks ago and we were sent these photos.

Tonight Addy and JJ are being dropped off at Gramps and Baba’s for dinner and a movie. Their parents are going to have some uninterrupted time together for a few hours.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. May love fill your hearts and minds and actions!