Create your own free slideshow Here’s a peek at the wonderful evening we had last night at our ladies’ retreat night!

With love,

Girl time…don’t you love it? It’s so refreshing to get together with other women for a time of fellowship.  We find out that we’re not alone in the things we’re struggling with.  We get good ideas from our friends who have just read up on some creative decorating idea, or parenting tip.  Time away with other women prepares us to go back home with a smile and press on with the things that we do routinely each day.

 I got to have a bunch of sweet ladies over last week for brunch.  There was lots of talk,  laughter, some tears, and of course, food!  While we’ve had our two-week revival meeting going on at BCBC, aside from revival, we’ve also enjoyed sweet fellowship with fellow full-time ministry families.  They have been such a blessing to us and  I wanted to do something for them – for the ladies in particular. So, I had them over for a mid-morning meal.  That way they had time to give their husbands all the home school agendas, suggestions for lunch, instructions for hap time, and then time pull themselves together before leaving home!  They are a lovely group of women – inside and out!

Meet Amy Herbster (beside me), Tori Wood, Amy Herbster (yes, there are two Amy’s!), Sharon Weigle, Kristen DeGarde, and our youth pastor’s wife, Christy Matlock.

It never fails, you seek to be a blessing to others, and you end up receiving the greatest blessing.  They were fun guests, and I know that our time together encouraged my heart.  I pray it did theirs as well.

Can’t you just hear the chatter?  =)

The blessing of my menu was that I was able to do everything, except for the fruit, the day before they came over.  All I did the morning of the brunch was cut the fruit for the kabobs and put the strata in the oven!  Working ahead is key for me…otherwise I’m a basket case.  I need a little time to apply some lipstick, fluff the pillows and turn on the some good music without feeling rushed that the meal has to be created from start to finish!

This strata needs time to sit in the fridge before baking, so it’s a perfect dish for do-ahead meals.  I like this because it’s not too “eggy”, and has some meat and cheese in it.  It smells like a pizza when it’s baking. Mmmm.

The breads I made are so simple!  The Nutty Orange Coffee Cake  is made with canned biscuits!  I’m learning that canned biscuits are a staple that should always be kept on hand.  You can make these Parmesan Knots, or you could deep fry them and roll in sugar for the tastiest homemade donuts.  Or you could whip this Nutty Orange Bread together!  I got the recipe from a 1995 Southern Living Cookbook.  I have made this many times for Christmas brunch.  Here’s what you’ll need:

3/4 C Sugar

The French Breakfast Puffs are light little muffins covered with butter, cinnamon and sugar.  They come together very quickly.  If you make these ahead of time, be sure to pop them into the microwave a bit.  I think they’re better a little warm.

French Breakfast Puffs

1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 C milk
1 egg, beaten
1/3 C butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
Topping
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 C butter, melted

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.  Add milk, beaten egg, and 1/3 cup melted butter.  Mix well.  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Remove while still hot, dip in melted butter, then mixture of sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Makes 1 dozen

If it’s been a while since you’ve gotten together with some girlfriends, why not do a simple brunch and invite your peeps over? Or invite over some ladies you don’t know very well yet.   Being at your house is better than meeting out at a public place.  The setting is cozier, you can laugh and cry without being stared at by the other patrons at the restaurant, and you can have seconds! 

What yummy thing have you cooked up recently? 

From my parsonage kitchen,

Nothing will refresh us like revival!  In this first week of our revival meeting there has been so much that the Lord has said to me; several things about which He has stirred my heart.  I will admit that sometimes in a week like this (with one yet to come), I feel desperate.  I see where I have failed the Lord.  But oh, how wonderful to make it right!  His mercy is boundless, and when I confess, He forgives.  That brings a renewal and refreshment like nothing else! 

Here are some of the statements that have been in my thoughts and on my heart –

Temptation comes:

• When we’re strong
• When we’re successful
• When we’re serving
• When we’re in secret

• The Savior is exalted
• The saints are edified
• Other sufferers are encouraged

This picture, taken at Whitney’s wedding is really special to me.  She and Allison are sitting at the piano; this has great significance for our family because there is an element that has been a part of our parsonage home since the very beginning of our marriage – music.  My husband and I sang to each other at our wedding.  I remember singing to both of our girls when they were tiny babies (and even while in the womb).  I taught them all the little children’s songs and we would sing them together – “Jesus Loves Me, Oh, Say but I’m Glad, I’ve Got a Mansion, Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World, Into My Heart, Trust and Obey”, and the list goes on. 

We also played music in our home.  I have the first Patch the Pirate Album (yeah, it was a long time ago!), Patch the Pirate Goes to the Jungle, that I played when Whitney was just a baby.  Both our girls grew up listening to Ron Hamilton’s music and stories that touched every area of their lives.  They learned about obedience, sharing, loving good food that mommy fixes (even broccoli!), being a wiggle worm, being selfish, having a happy home and best of all, salvation – all from the songs on the Patch the Pirate albums, tapes and Cd’s. 

It was after listening to a Patch the Pirate CD of a little child being saved that Whitney began to enquire about salvation and then trusted Christ as her own Savior one evening in our home. 

I’ll never forget carrying Allison into surgery when she was three.  Dressed in surgical clothes, I was allowed to escort her to the operating room where they placed her on the operating table.  As the anesthesiologist  placed the mask over her nose to put her to sleep, I sang to her –When shadows fall, and the night covers all, there are things that my eyes cannot see.  I’ll never fear, for the Savior is near, my Lord abides with me.  How can I fear, Jesus is near; He ever watches over me.  Worries all cease, He gives me peace.  I’ll never fear with Jesus. Neither one of us sing that song now without remembering that time all those years ago.  I sang the song for her, but it ministered to my own maternal heart so sweetly that I always tear up when I hear it.

My husband and Whitney have had “their song” too – a special one for daddy’s and their daughters. 

Our girls were both gifted with musical abilities at the piano, and their music filled our home all the years they were growing up.  That was one thing about them leaving home that I really missed.  I love it when they are here and sit down at the piano and play.

Music is a gift from the Lord, and I’m thankful for the way that gift graced our parsonage over the years.  It knit our lives together, it turned hearts to salvation, it taught of our great God, it comforted, it praised, it encouraged, it blessed…and it still does!

Does your family sing together?  Does your family have a song that brings special memories?

From my parsonage window,

I love, love, love roasted chicken. I think my posts here have proven that!  If I could eat fried chicken and get away with it, that would be my recipe of choice for this little bird, but roasted comes in at a close second.  I have always put herbs inside the cavity of the bird, but recently I read about making a mixture of herbs and rubbing them on the skin of the bird.  So…

I mixed:

Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and then rub the mixture over the entire cleaned and dried chicken.

Place on a roasting pan and roast at 375 – 400  degrees until the meat thermometer registers 165 degrees.  Let the chicken rest 10 minutes before slicing. 

This makes the skin golden brown and crispy and really flavorful!  Okay, so it’s not the healthiest part of the chicken, but if you’re not going to fry it, you might as well enjoy the flavor baked into the skin!  Yum!

I also put potato wedges in another pan, tossed them with olive oil and roasted them for about 50 minutes in the same oven where the chicken was roasting.  This makes the potatoes crispy instead of soft like when you roast them with the chicken.  I liked them better this way!  Add a little fresh parsley when you take them out of the oven.  I added them to the platter with the chicken. 

I posted about these little rolls once before, but if you haven’t made them yet, you are missing one of the quickest and tastiest little breads.  These are Parmesan Garlic knots.  So simple and so good!

Chicken Quesadilla
Tortillas shells (size of your choice)
Chopped chicken
Tomato, diced
Black beans
cheese

Spray pan with cooking spray.  I also like to spray the tortilla shell – it makes them nice and crispy.  Place in skillet on medium heat.  Add ingredients to one half of the quesadilla, then fold over.  Cook until lightly browned.  Flip over and brown other side.  Serve with sour cream.

One more recipe – a breakfast one to share from the past week – Blackberry French Toast.  ~Sigh~ this is heavenly.  French toast is my favorite breakfast food, and I had the delight of having this blackberry version while on vacation a couple of years ago.  Here’s the way I make it:

2 eggs
Enough milk added to make a batter for dipping – maybe 1/2 cup
Dash of vanilla
Mix eggs, milk, and vanilla in a shallow bowl. 

Slice French bread into 1 inch pieces.  Dip bread in batter; flip bread and then lay blackberries on top of the bread slice.

Place second piece of bread that has been soaked with the egg mixture on top. Press bread together. Place in a skillet with cooking spray and/or canola oil.  Brown on both sides.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish with more berries.  Serve with syrup. 

That’s what’s been cooking here.  What have you made lately, and how do you disguise leftovers?

From my parsonage kitchen,