First layer:  Half of the cookie crumbs, half of the caramel sauce and then all of the ice cream.  I used a caramel ice cream by Mayfield.  It had chunks of caramel/chocolate bits in a vanilla base.  =)

It then gets topped with the other half of the caramel sauce before getting put back into the freezer to harden up.  Pop off the springform pan and serve.  Don’t worry about it melting, it won’t last long!

1 1/3 Cup all purpose flour
2/3 Cup quick cooking oats
2/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 Cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2/3 Cup butter, melted
1 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened (or your choice)

• Combine first 4 ingredients, and stir in melted butter; press mixture firmly into a lightly greased 15 x 10 x 1″ jelly roll pan.
• Bake at 350 for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned; remove cookie to wire rack.  Cool and crumble.
• Combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and evaporated milk in a heavy saucepan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly; boil 3 minutes.  Cool caramel sauce.
• Sprinkle half of crumbs into bottom of lightly greased 10 inch springform pan. I think the next time I make this I will cover the bottom of the pan with waxed paper, then spray it with cooking spray before adding the cookie crumbs.  Drizzle with half of caramel sauce.  Spread remaining caramel sauce; sprinkle with remaining crumbs.
• Cover and freeze until firm.  Yield: 12 servings

I was in the mood for new recipes this past week and went to my favorite and most reliable source – my old Southern Living cookbooks.  You just can’t go wrong with their recipes!


Sunday dinner was a favorite menu for our family and one I’ve shared here, but with an addition of a new side dish – the one from SL.

This Pineapple-Almond slaw was really good.  What a yummy addition to a summer meal!  The sweet pineapple is a great combination with the slaw.  I had purchased a fresh pineapple from Sam’s and used it instead of the canned pineapple.

Pineapple-Almond Slaw

2/3 Cup sour cream
2/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1 tbl lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp finely chopped onion
1/4 tsp salt
5 cups shredded cabbage
2 cups shredded carrots
1 15 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (2 oz) package slivered almonds, toasted

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.  Combine cabbage and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; add sour cream mixture; tossing well.  cover and chill thoroughly.  Yield 8 to 10 servings.

What new things have you stirred up in your kitchen?

From my parsonage kitchen,

When we finished, we took the warm tortillas and filled them with chicken, cheese, tomatoes, boiled eggs and a little olive oil.  then they were folded over.  Yum!  They were so delicious!  They’re much better than the ones you buy in the store!

The best part was the fellowship we shared together.  We had so much fun chatting and laughing as we worked.  We have plans to learn from one another in other sessions, and also to perhaps invite some of our teen girls to come join our lessons. 

Make plans to get together with some of your friends and learn from one another.  If one does scrapbooking, another is a knitter and someone else makes beautiful wreaths, take turns in one another’s homes and spend time gleaning from their talents.  I felt like we were accomplishing the Titus 2 admonition for the older to teach the younger.  Age really doesn’t matter – it’s the sharing your time and abilities with one another.  What a blessing!  What refreshment! 

What would you like to learn to do?  Who could you ask to teach you? 

Be refreshed,

It’s not something I love to do, but several times a year I have check-ups.  I have an annual eye exam. I sit in the dark with one eye covered and strain read “O, F…No, make that E! G, H, I…errr, um, no that’s a T.” Yeah, it’s fun.    I have my teeth cleaned and examined twice a year. I sit and review my memory passages in between counting the tiles on the ceiling to get my mind off of the scraping going on inside my mouth.  “Are your teeth always sensitive?” the hygienist asked the last time I was there.  “No.  Only when someone is taking a jack hammer to the back of them,” I wanted to answer!  I also have a yearly over-all physical examination.  Enough said!  Though they’re less than fun, without those examinations blindness could be lurking around the corner.  Decay could take over a tooth.  Minor problems that could lead to deadly disease would go unchecked.  It’s essential to good health to have regular examinations. 

Spiritually it’s just as important that we have regular check ups.  It’s so easy for bitterness to cause decay in our heart.  Resentment and envy are cancers that destroy usefulness. Stop and ask the Lord: How’s my heart today? Am I blind to something I should be seeing?   Is my heart:

• tender
• sensitive
• thankful
• grateful

or is it:

• hard
• unresponsive
• self-centered
• resentful

Yesterday I read Hebrews 3:7-10 To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.  The Lord brought to my mind that if I do not acknowledge what He is doing in my life, my heart could become hardened.  If I don’t recognize God’s hand in what is going on around me, that means I take credit for it all.  How arrogant that is. 

We must all realize that everything that goes on in a day is from the hand of our God.  When we fail to recognize that, we are like the Israelites who didn’t know God’s ways.  This is just one small way that a hard heart can slip in.  A hardening of our heart leads us away from the Lord.  We are independent of Him and are on our own.  How disastrous that is!  Look where it got the Israelites! 

At the first realization of a hard heart, we must apply the cure, just like we would if there was a physical issue going on.  The cure is confession and acknowledging our God.  “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.”  Learn to thank Him for the little things all day long.  Recognize what He is doing and tell others.  Your security in Christ, answered prayer, provision of needs, grace blessings…they’re all His doing.  Have you thanked Him today? 

Don’t let your heart get hard.  Get it checked, then at first sign of disease, take the remedy!

Thirty-one years ago today I was a young bride getting married to the man of my dreams.  He was literally my Prince Charming, who had come in and snatched me and my heart away!   I am blessed beyond measure to have a husband who is godly, a romanticist, loving, thoughtful, appreciative, tons of fun, and still my best friend!  All I wonder is where did those years go?  They have truly flown by. 

I have no regrets of the decision to marry Dale Cunningham, but if I had to do it all over again, I would do a few things differently from the start of our marriage.    I would…

• Keep a journal of each anniversary – what we did, where we went.  Maybe keep a scrapbook with cards and celebrations from each one.
• Be more careful to show respect to Dale in my words and actions .
• Forgive quicker.
• Learn his mode of communication and learn to wait for him to speak.
• Be more flirtatious with my hubby.  Yep!

Too many of those things weren’t learned until many years into our marriage.  Our marriage has truly gotten better every year – maybe it’s because we’re both willing to keep learning about each other and how to make our marriage – not perfect, but better. 

If we get to be married another 31 years, I pray it will continue to get deeper and sweeter with each passing day.

From my parsonage windows,

Recently as I read through the book of Job,  Job is asking lots of questions, but he doesnt’ receive any answers at this point in his trial.  Then I read – “My desire is that the Almighty would answer me.” (Job 31:35)  When you’ve been in a trial have you ever said the same thing?  Have you asked,  “Why is God not talking to me right now?  Why am I not understanding why this is happening?”  Recently in a church service my husband said this – “When you were taking a test, did your teacher talk?”  The answer is, of course, “no! The room was always quiet!” 

As I sat and thought all this through after reading this verse in Job, I realized that during testing time when it’s quiet…

• I’m able to really think. 
• I have time to reflect
• I’m not interrupted by someone else’s opinion
• I’m able to think about what I’ve learned
• I’m able to appreciate my Teacher and all He’s said to me prior to the test
• I’m able to apply what I’ve already learned to what I’m experiencing now

If it’s quiet right now during your test, remember that the greatest Teacher hasn’t left you; He’s watching over you like the best Teacher would.  He’s letting the quiet be a part of your learning experience.  He loves you…even when He’s quiet.

Is your Teacher quiet right now?  What have you learned?

With love,