(And All My) Work Be Praise

Have you seen the Christmas ornaments "celebrating" 2020? Toilet paper rolls, face masks, quarantine, social distancing, distance learning . . . all of the bizarre things of this year "commemorated" to be chuckled (or cried, depending on your year) over for Christmases to come. I cannot count how many times I have uttered (or heard uttered) the phrase, "what a weird season." And a long one, too -- a season we're not out of yet, though I join with those who are optimistic for an upswing by the end of January or so. This morning we sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing  at church, and ever since my praise team rehearsed it on Thursday, I can't stop thinking about the second verse: "Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I'm come." The story of the Ebenezer stone from 1 Samuel 7 is one I've carried with me since my divorce in my mid-20s, when a friend gifted me a small stone with reference to Samuel. "Thus far the Lord ha...

Today was "use up random ingredients" day -- a third of a jug of apple cider, the bottom cup of a jug of orange juice, blueberries that had been at the bottom of the freezer for a while. I made apple cider waffles (quadrupled the recipe) and orange-blueberry bread (instead of muffins, because honestly I just didn't feel like scooping batter into muffin tins). This isn't my usual orange-blueberry muffin recipe , so I can't vouch for it yet, but it smelled yummy while baking! Between the last ten weeks of prepping/baking and the bulk pork purchase, our garage freezer is now stuffed to the gills! That puts me in a great place for the holiday season: plenty of food on hand for easy breakfasts and dinners, and Fridays freed up for holiday prep. Of course, I don't anticipate much actually happening  for holidays this year (thanks, COVID), but it's still nice to feel a little ahead of the game in early November! I'll have to remember this next fall. :)

We've done a variety of things in November to keep a running gratitude list leading up to Thanksgiving. Take note that not a single thing here is Pinterest-worthy in any way. I'm a firm believer that a roll of butcher paper and a box of markers, maybe a cookie cutter and some scissors if time allows, is more than sufficient to accomplish discipleship. 2012 tree  (when I had a 3-year-old, 2-year-old, and five-month-old) 2013 leaves  (when the new toddler would've ripped anything off the walls) 2014 chart  (when Sid the Science Kid was all the rage in my house) In November 2015, we were packing up our house to move to Minnesota. There was no time for projects. In November 2016, Calvin was a month old and I was absolutely swimming in new-baby-hood. There was no mental capacity for projects. 2017:  The Thanksgiving Alphabet. This was the year we put "baby" on the list right before I found out I'd miscarried. Some holidays carry sadness, you know? 2018: I couldn...

I finally  got to the baking I've been planning for weeks. First a full dehydrator and instant pot full of apples (for rings and applesauce, respectively), and then apple biscuits , orange zucchini bread and apple pecan bread . I made up the apple biscuits through cutting them out, then flash froze on a cookie sheet, to be stored in a ziploc bag for baking in the future. I doubled the apple pecan bread, and the orange zucchini bread made two loaves as written, but I only have three loaf pans. So I did half the zucchini batter as muffins. And, the exciting part for me, this week we replaced our toaster oven [the old one died] with a larger one that can fit an entire 9x13 pan. You know you're a dedicated homemaker when a new toaster/convection oven is the highlight of your week! So big and so shiny! And it fits my big stoneware pans! Baking haul, plus messy counters behind. The truth is, with my crew, three loaves of bread and twelve muffins is probably only two or three breakfa...

As I mentioned in my homeschool curriculum post , Silas and Toby are using Galloping the Globe  as their core guide this year. We're learning a lot about animals and their habitats, a few key people and people groups from each country, assorted facts about assorted other things . . . and food! The Galloping the Globe  text has a few recipes included, and I purchased Eat Your Way Around the World   and the Usborne Children's World Cookbook . (Note that the latter, while a beautiful book as Usborne books always are, is not terribly helpful for unique recipes.) Our first continent to study was Africa. Here's what we ate: Kenya : peanut bread Morocco: couscous with chicken, orange and date salad, honey-glazed carrots, date bars, mint green tea, square flat bread rgaif Bonus: we sat on the floor and ate off the coffee table! Nigeria: banana fritters Egypt:  shish kebabs and rice casserole biram ruz beef and onion kebabs, plus watermelon (which is grown there) Stay tuned f...

Apples, apples, apples. I got through all the pears, but still have probably 20 pounds of apples in the garage -- and that's after  making a sizable dent today! In a whirlwind of multi-tasking, I made, in this order: * apple cinnamon rolls (currently rising in the fridge to bake tomorrow)  *peeled and sliced rings for the dehydrator (ours has four trays, so however many apples that is . . . ) *a stock pot of chicken broth using the carcass from roast chicken earlier in the week (which of course has nothing to do with apples, but needed to be done) * apple butter (about a quart and a half, after it was all blended up) I spent the afternoon working on food for our geography studies, but I intend to post about those foods separately! A busy busy day in the kitchen -- so, as a side note, special thanks to whomever it was on Facebook who mentioned that there's a new season of the Great British Baking Show out. I don't remember who you are, but I'm grateful!

Technically, this isn't a *Friday* cooking post. Last Friday we took advantage of the glorious weather go to to the zoo . That turned out to be a great decision, as this past Friday, we had our first snowfall. Seven days from t-shirts and shorts to snow.  At least it melted by the afternoon! I did want to share quickly, though, about my favorite homemade hamburger buns  that I baked last week. I double the recipe to make 24, which lasts us three meals. I use all white whole wheat flour, freshly ground, and they are soft and delicious!  I also made two more batches of pear-apple sauce, and a big pot of these cinnamon pears  for the freezer. And lastly, this afternoon I whipped up this apple twist bread on a whim, for the sheer joy of baking something yummy! (Well, and because I still have dozens upon dozens of apples left in the garage.) I did one as the recipe said and one with pizza sauce and cheese . . . except that the cheese turned out to be moldy so I had to cu...