Category: Uncategorized

baking · Uncategorized

Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Biscotti

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Are you a dunker?  I not asking if you put people under water when you’re swimming, or if you can put a basketball through the hoops; I’m asking if you like to take a crisp cookie and dunk it in coffee, tea or milk?  If the answer is “yes!”  then you will love this recipe today!

Biscotti means – Twice baked.  This is a simple rolled out type of cookie that gets baked two times.  Let me give you a visual of how to make them, then I’ll share the recipe.

First the dough is mixed together.  It is dry and crumbly!  Press forward.  “Mush” it together.  That’s my not-so-technical word for “do whatever you need to do to make it into a ball of dough.  Then press it into two logs on a baking sheet.  Press down to make one-inch high rolls.

Bake those rolls for 30 minutes.  Let them cool for ten minutes.

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Slice the rolls into 1/2 inch pieces and lay on a baking sheet, flat side down.

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Put them in a lowered temp oven for 10 minutes.  Flip them over and brown the other side for 10 more minutes.

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Cool on baking rack.  They will harden up as they cool.  The crunchiness makes them perfect for dunking in that cup of coffee, because little pieces don’t fall into the cup!

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I’ve made all sorts of different kinds of biscotti and I love them all!  I hope you’ll try making a batch.  They make great gifts! Take some to your hostess, or make some for a coffee-loving friend for Christmas.  Fill a tin with the cookies or fill a cellophane bag and tie it with a ribbon, and you’ll have the perfect gift for the coffee drinkers on your list!

Here’s the recipe:

Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Biscotti

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour and the next 5 ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Combine oil, extracts, and eggs; add to flour mixture, stirring until well-blended (dough will be dry and crumbly). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead lightly 7 to 8 times. Divide the dough in half. Shape each portion into an 8-inch-long roll. Place rolls 6 inches apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; flatten each roll to 1-inch thickness.

Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Remove rolls from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Cut each roll diagonally into 15 (1/2-inch) slices. Place the slices, cut sides down, on baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 325°, and bake for 10 minutes. Turn cookies over; bake an additional 10 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft in center but will harden as they cool). Remove from baking sheet; cool completely on wire rack.

 

Enjoy!

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px

Uncategorized

You May Have to Eat That!

RefreshHer1 Comment

I saw a little sign in a store recently that said,

Make sure your words are sweet. For one day, you may have to eat them. A perfect lesson for children of all ages ...:

Not long after reading that, I was eating some not-so-sweet words that I said to my husband.  He had been talking to me, and I had a thought about what he was saying, and then I let those thoughts come out.

I spoke too quickly.

As soon as I said it, I knew it should never have come out of my mouth.

Have you ever been there?  It’s awful.  There’s no way to take those words back.  I had to eat them, and it was no meal I want as leftovers!

Proverbs 29:11 says,

A fool utters all his mind; but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.

A wise woman realizes that just because she’s thinking it, doesn’t mean she needs to say it.  Here’s a good test as to whether or not that thought should come out as words:

  • Is it true?
  • Is it kind?
  • Does it need to be said now?

All three questions need to be answered affirmatively before you should speak it, and even then it might be best not to let it from your lips.

Remember, what you say, you may have to eat.

Lovingly,

Denise Signature 150 px

Clever Uses for Jars
Home making · Uncategorized

Clever Uses for Jars

RefreshHer3 Comments

I love finding simple organizing solutions to little frustrations in my routines. One area was cupcake liners.  It seems that once the packaging for Cupcake/muffin liners are opened, they’re history!  If they didn’t come in a hard plastic covering, I find them crumpled and useless, like our morning newspaper that didn’t make it into the box (bless our carrier’s heart!)!

However, I recently found a clever idea for storing them.

Pop them into a little jar!

muffin liners

I already had this one on hand, so I grabbed the loose and straggling liners in my cupboard and popped them into this little jar.  I love how it has dressed up my pantry shelves!

Jars have become my best friend when it comes to kitchen organization!  Look…

I also still love the jar I store Corn Starch in.  No more corn starch showers all over the counter when I’m baking!  Not sure why I didn’t do  that YEARS ago!

Other things I have stored in jars are:

  • granola
  • pastas
  • brown sugar
  • powdered sugar
  • croutons
  • pretzels
  • popcorn kernels
  • oatmeal

Whatever you have that won’t stay fresh once it’s opened is a great candidate for a jar.  Those cellophane bags for pasta, croutons, pretzels are all frustrating if you try to clip them shut.  I’ve seen jars at The Dollar Tree, Dollar General and TJ Maxx that are so affordable and they make life so much easier AND prettier!

What do you store in your jars?

Denise Signature 150 px

 

 

Social media · Uncategorized

The Necessity to Be Unplugged

RefreshHer4 Comments

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I knew a little girl who, when she should have been sleeping, was listening intensely to the voices of her parents in the next room.  She leaned in to hear conversations between her mom and dad.  She wanted to be included in anything they were discussing, so she sat very still and very attentive.

She reminds me of myself during these past thirty-one days of sabbatical!  All the time we’ve been away resting, I have known that the Lord was speaking and I didn’t want to miss it!  Of course, that was a huge reason for our time away from ministry – so we could spend greater times in Quiet with our God.  Just like Whitney that little girl, I wanted to be intentional not to waste this time, or to miss His voice.

So, let me start today with sharing just one Truth I heard the Lord say to my heart:

Being unplugged is necessary for a portion of each day.  We spent time in some remote areas while we were away, meaning there was no Internet connection.  We also made the choice one day to leave our phones behind. Let me say it – it was good!  It kept me from being distracted from what was happening. It allowed me to really hear what was going on around me instead of feeling I had to jump and respond to every “ping” that happened on my phone, tablet or computer.  It made me rest.  Really, really, rest.

When I realized what the Lord was teaching me in little snippets of my day, I took this truth into my Quiet time each morning. Yep, I unplugged.  Instead of getting up in the morning and quickly checking through any new Instagram pictures, fresh email or text messages, I went straight to my Bible app for my reading plan and nowhere else.  Then while studying, a buzz or notification may have alerted me, but with God’s enablement, it did not distract me. I just ignored it. As a matter of fact, I waited each day until after I was completely dressed and ready for the day to connect once again to the Internet.

How did being unplugged help me?

  1. It allowed me to stay focused on what God’s Word was saying to me.
  2. It made my devotional time richer because I realized that I had been connecting more to what everyone else was doing every minute of the day than I was what God wanted to speak into my life.
  3. My prayer time was sweeter because it was uninterrupted.
  4. I got more accomplished each morning!
  5. It made me see how much time I had been wasting on temporal things.
  6. It made me really prioritize my time with the Lord.

God has important things to say to me and I don’t want to miss it!  I will, with His grace, continue to discipline myself in this area of my life!

Anyone can feel free to text, add Instagram pics or notify me of things on Facebook.  You won’t distract me because my phone will be in “silent” mode.  And I’ll be happy to answer you, but it will just be a little later in the day – after I’ve heard God’s voice and found out what He’s doing today!

Could you use less time on your phone or devices?  I challenge you to

  • Unplug for a period of time each day – especially needful during your time with the Lord.
  • Make meal times a “No Phone Zone.”
  • Make one day a week a Sabbath rest from your phone. 
  • Set a timer when you go to check Facebook or Instagram. That way you’ll only be on for a limited time (say ten minutes), rather than letting 30 minutes escape while you scroll.

Anyone else feel the need to Unplug?

With a listening ear,

Denise Signature 150 px

baking · breakfast · Uncategorized

Week-Long Muffin Batter

RefreshHer4 Comments

Muffin batter - Copy

Coming up with a great breakfast is difficult to me.  Oh, I know there are lots of options – French Toast, waffles, omelets, etc., but most people don’t have time to be stirring up great recipes first thing in the morning, myself included.  The best way to have a something good is to prepare ahead.

Years ago, I found a Bran muffin recipe that you stir together and put in the fridge.  I call them Morning Glory Muffins because they make the morning glorious!!!!  The batter stays fresh for a week!  During that week, you can heat up the oven, bake up as many as you need without having the work and mess first thing in the morning.  These are healthy and delicious!  This month during Sabbatical, I mixed up the batter and it was a great addition to my yogurt and fruit.  I took some batter with us when we went to Pigeon Forge for a few days, and it was great to have it all ready to bake!

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Here’s the simple recipe:

Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1/2 cup bran cereal (not flakes, preferably a wheat bran)
  • 1/3 cup (vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 cups
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup raisins
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups bran cereal – not flakes. (Though they say “not flakes” that’s what I had on hand and used, and they turned out great!)
  • 1 – 2 tsp Grated Orange peel

Instructions

  1. In a small mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the half cup of cereal. When cooled, mix in the vegetable oil and egg.
  2. While the water/bran mixture cools, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the raisins.
  3. In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and brown sugar, and stir into the dry ingredients. Stir in remaining cereal, then the softened bran mixture and orange zest. Cover the batter and refrigerate it overnight.
  4. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F for 15 minutes. Line a muffin tin with papers, and spray the insides of the papers. Or just grease the muffin cups themselves, if you like a crustier muffin edge.
  5. Stir the batter once or twice, then scoop a heaping 1/4-cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.
  6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Remove from the oven, cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the pan.

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If you want a nice hot muffin without having to be in the kitchen more than a few minutes, this recipe will be your morning glory, too!

With love from my country kitchen,

Denise Signature 150 px