I’m sure by now, you’re asking yourself….how can one girl love Valentines this much? Not sure…But I DO! Its the second best holiday of the year….right behind my Birthday!
So here’s an idea for decorating your table on Tuesday.
On white craft paper, write quotes on love and romance in various shades of red and pink.
Then sprinkle on those little conversation hearts, Valentine’s confetti, and rose petals.
Happy Valentines!
Jess
On Christmas Eve I am often surrounded by memories and I wonder what your memories are this evening.
My memories as a kid are simplistic…of a sleepless night anxiously awaiting Santa’s arrival, Christmas carols sung around a piano, the hilarious gift my ‘gran’ gave every year. And then I transition to memories more recent…the first Christmas spent with our son, to the now joy I experience as my two kids open up their Christmas Eve gift. But I also guess you may have some somber moments, like me, as the day passes…when you remember simpler times or remember people who are no longer by your side.
So what I wish for you and yours this Christmas is child like magic. The ability to see hope in our lives, to see the good in others, and to see the strength that comes from a warm embrace. I hope you look beyond a hectic day of going here and there to see the joy spent among friends and family. And as tomorrow dawns, I hope you are able to see all the blessings in your life and give thanks to God for the birth of His son. And if tomorrow dawns and it isn’t quite the situation you would ask for, I hope you are able to still give thanks to God for the wondrous reason we celebrate and to know that you are not alone. No matter your circumstances or where you are spending Christmas, you are forever in God’s loving embrace and I pray His peace will be with you tonight and tomorrow, as always.
May you have a joyous and memorable Christmas Eve and Christmas.
Love,
Jessica
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6
If the Santa and Elves in your household enjoy chocolate then this recipe is for you! Its got semi-sweet grated chocolate plus milk chocolate chips. And, if you love oatmeal in cookies, this recipe delivers on that too! This is one of my favorite cookies…I’ve been known to devour 2 dozen in 2 days, all by myself! So be careful…they are addictive!
Pure Chocolate Delight!
Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you Google this recipe you’ll find lots of different variations and an interesting story of how the recipe came to be. I’ll save the story telling for someone else but this variation came from a friend’s mom a few year’s back. The chocolate has been scaled back and the recipe is halved. Even with halving the recipe it still makes 4-5 dozen cookies. But that’s good right…the more for you to eat?
Ingredients
1 cup, 8 oz, unsalted butter, softened
1 cup organic cane sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 brown eggs, preferably farm raised, slightly beaten
1 to 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups organic all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups quick 1-minute oatmeal
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
12 oz bag milk chocolate chips
4 oz chocolate semi-sweet bars
Notes
To soften butter, leave out at room temperature for 30 – 45 minutes. You don’t want to microwave it as that messes with the make up of the molecules so the cookies don’t have the right texture. Also, organic flour (or at least the brand I use, King Arthur) has a higher protein make up of the flour which limits how much the cookies spread while baking. Also, I’ve found that if you use 1-minute oatmeal versus old fashioned you will have more moist cookies. And if you slightly beat the eggs before hand it ensures you get no shell in your dough and also distributes the egg more evenly into the dough, in my opinion!
Recipe
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat liners.
Grate chocolate bars into a medium size bowl.
Measure oatmeal and blend in food processor.
Next, cream together butter and sugars. When I first started baking a lot, I would wonder “how do I know when it is ‘creamed'”. Well this is what I consider ‘creamed’ to look like and takes 3 to 5 minutes to achieve.
Add beaten eggs and vanilla. Next, add the flour and oatmeal mixture. Then mix in chips and grated chocolate.
Spoon the dough into tablespoon size and place on cookie sheet and bake for 6 minutes at 375 degrees. The few minutes pass quickly so set an oven timer for these cookies! Transfer to baking rack as soon as cookies are set enough. And ENJOY!
Now, the best part…Lick that bowl clean!
I’d love to know, what cookies do you bake at Christmas each year?
Jessica
So last Friday after a long day of taking care of the kids, cleaning up the kitchen countless times, and stepping onto matchbox cars with their rough edges on the soles of my bare feet, I decided I just had to have a break. And what would be nicer than a romantic meal at home with my husband….a glass or two of wine, a meal made from local ingredients, and a quiet house with sleeping kids.
Well, before you try to make your man a romantic dinner, you should make sure he likes the ingredients you’re using! Because apparently I forgot that my husband doesn’t like arugula.
And, he doesn’t just not like it. He detests it. So I make this really nice meal of fresh flounder, locally made pasta, and you bet….arugula lightly sauteed and mixed in with the pasta.
The worst meal of the decade…according to my husband!
I thought it tasted pretty good but after one bite, my husband promptly announced…this tastes like fresh mowed grass. WHAT??? How would someone know what that tastes like and really, how could I think this tasted good and he very much hated it? He explained that if I had been as lucky as him to have been a boy, that around the age of 10 I would have been pounded into the dirt and grass during a scuffle and would know first hand what fresh mowed grass tastes like.
So in case you were wondering what fresh mowed grass tastes like…just saute some arugula and you’ll know! At least, according to my husband you will.
I hope ya’ll enjoyed this funny story at my attempt at a romantic meal at home. Coming later this week I’ll be sharing Christmas cookie recipes from an annual cookie exchange and also, some ideas on making homemade goodies to give as Christmas presents.
Enjoy today,
Jessica
Isn’t it easy to get so caught up in our busy lives that we forget to be thankful to God for all we’ve been blessed with? I, for one, am very guilty of this.
I run from errand to errand, chase kids around the house just to get them clothed, and at the end of my day wonder where all those seconds and minutes went to. But if only I stopped to think about what I’m doing in the present moment, I might be more thankful for kids that have amazing vocal chords, their imaginative brains that turn hands into backhoes for dirt, or those little legs that run at lightning fast speed.
But those are the easy things to be thankful for. Maybe I should also be thankful for my pre-schooler no longer taking naps…perhaps this gives me more time to spend one-on-one with him and to experience first hand the wonders of a child. Or to be thankful that my younger sister moved back in with us again…what a blessing to get to spend time with a loved sibling. Or to be thankful for the changing tides of friendships which make you all that more appreciative when a friendship blossoms again later in life.
Earlier this year I read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp and I cannot say enough good things about this book. It is amazing, life changing, and very thought provoking. It really challenged me to be more thankful to God for everything. Not just the good stuff. Or the easy stuff. But the really hard stuff too. Like the trials of grief, the difficulties of broken relationships, and the insecurities of seemingly starting life all over again. If you get a chance, check out Ann’s blog here which contains information on the book and inspirational ways to live your life full of eucharisteo.
Some things I’m thankful to God for…
1. My toddler’s ability to nap 3 hours
2. My pre-schooler’s radar vision that keeps me from missing out on the beauty God surrounded me with
3. The breeze blowing outside while the birds tweet in the tree
4. Friends, Friends, Friends – My cup overfloweth from the love of such amazing friends
5. Completing an item on my husband’s honey-do list…I unclogged a slow drain all by myself
6. My five senses, especially the ability to taste
7. Dirty messes – they mean my house is well loved and well lived in
8. Caramel Apples and all their gooey yummness
9. Butterflies
10. Still working on being thankful for the really tough things….but I can say this, I am thankful for the ability to learn from mistakes, from tragedies, and from disappointments
What are you thankful for?
In case you hadn’t heard, today was the first ever National Food Day! This was organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest which “encourages Americans to eat healthy, delicious food grown in a sustainable and humane way and to advocate for smarter food policies.”
75 years ago, people knew where there food came from. Primarily, it came from their backyard or at the least – from the Moore farm a few roads over. Sadly,today, most of our food is transported at least a thousand miles before it hits our grocery stores. It has often been so processed, that the corn kernel you started out with, now resembles a Doritos chip or the oil in a granola bar. The orange in your Doritos is not natural and cheddar cheese is not suppose to be orange. You see…
Large corporations have taken over and created industrial farming. These companies do not care about the quality you get on your plate. They care about the quantity of dollar signs. Take Monsanto for example. They make Round-Up. They also make Genetically Modified Corn (and a whole bunch of other Genetically Modified Organisms) that are resistant to Round-Up. Imagine that. You eat a plant that has been sprayed with the strongest of weed killers and yet, it survives. Hmmm…imagine this….do you think some of that weed killer may still be lingering on the veggies you had for dinner?
And what we miss out on, is much more than the higher amount of nutrients in freshly picked produce – it’s the dirt between your toes, talking with the farmer who raised the cow you are about to indulge in, taking your kids to a U-Pick farm to pick fresh summer berries, or opening up a can of vegetables that you preserved.
So I want to encourage you to try one new thing this week when it comes to your food. Buy local meat, plant cilantro or lettuce (they like cooler weather), research CSA’s in your area for next spring. There are lots of ways that you can become more knowledgeable about the food you digest and its done with small steps. Do one new thing this week to eat smarter and more locally. Next week (or month) you can try one more thing.
And for the record, I know first hand how addictive those Doritos can be! I love Doritos and am currently trying to give them up…a challenge to say the least.
In the spirit of encouragement, here are some things we do at my house to eat locally…
Cilantro growing in October
Fresh cilantro in the garden
Happy Cow Creamery milk and eggs can be purchased from Our Local Foods
Butter from a local dairy
Strawberries and blueberries were picked this spring/early summer at Ambrose Farms and Maple Ridge Farms. The kids & I spent 2 hours on 2 separate days and we made a lot of fun memories! After taking the tops off and coring (strawberries) we freeze in gallon sized plastic bags. The strawberries ran out a few months ago but we still have lots of blueberries frozen. And I know what you’re thinking….frozen fruit is so squishy after being defrosted. But if you teach your kids to eat defrosted blueberries with a fork, they adjust! And that frozen fruit is great in yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies, fruit crisps, etc.
Fresh strawberries picked from the farm
Blueberry muffins made from local blueberries
So try something local this week….and let me know how it goes!