What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 RefreshHer1 Comment

With all the great recipes out there on the Internet web sites and on Pinterest, I still love looking through cookbooks to find new recipes. I recently purchased a Gooseberry Cookbook on sale for $5. It has 101 Entertaining recipes and every single recipe looks so tempting! I’ve made several recipes so far and each one has been a home run.

With my affinity for popcorn, I was so excited to find a recipe in my new book for Almond Toffee Popcorn. I’ve made it three times since New Year’s Eve. I made it the first time for a church New Year’s Eve party and it was pretty good! The second time I made it for a meeting my husband was having and didn’t even send it because it was chewy. The third time I made it it was for a Sunday school class party, and it was perfection! I wrote the adjustments in my book so hopefully it won’t be a flop ever again. Third time was indeed the charm!

I just have to share this recipe with all my popcorn-loving readers. Seriously, I have to lock this stuff away, or else I keep nibbling at it. It is WONDERFUL!

Almond Toffee Popcorn
12 C popped popcorn
1 C sugar
1/2 C butter
1/2 C light corn syrup
1/4 C water
1 C copped almonds,toasted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

I found the best way to get all the popcorn covered with the toffee mixture was to place popcorn in a brown grocery bag. Remove any unpopped kernels and set aside.

In a large saucepan, combine remaining ingredients except vanilla. Cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches the soft-crack stage – 289 degrees on a candy
thermometer. Note: The second time I made it and it turned out chewy, I took the temperature to 270 degrees; 289 degrees was perfect.

Remove from heat, add vanilla and stir well. Pour over popcorn. Fold bag down and shake to cover popcorn with sugar mixture.

Pour popcorn onto waxed paper to dry.

Taste to see how wonderful it really is. Taste again, and again, and again. You won’t be able to stop. You have been warned.

Enjoy!

With love from my country kitchen,

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A Peek From My Porch

January 14, 2015March 13, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

A peek into my life this week…

One activity that I look forward to each Tuesday afternoon is my After-School Bible Club that I hold for my two next door neighbor children. They have become so precious to me! I’ve told you about it before, but today I need to give you an exciting update!

Our recent lessons have been on People who knew Jesus. Last week we learned about Nicodemus coming to Jesus to understand how to have eternal life. We’ve gone over and over how Jesus died and took the punishment for our sins, and that in order to go to heaven, we must receive Him as our own Savior.

Yesterday our lesson was on the Woman at the well. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had with the lesson. I made a little well, using a canning jar, Popsicle sticks and rubber bands. This was used as a teaching aid, but also for a review game we played after the story. I served cups of “Well-O” (Jell-O) for their snack, complete with dollops of Cool Whip on top.

They came to club yesterday with their new Bibles they’d gotten for Christmas!

As we talked about how Jesus gave the woman at the well Living Water, I reminded them that only Jesus could make us happy forever by saving us from our sins. The six year-old said to me,

“I did that last week after church.”

“You went to church somewhere last week?” I asked.

(I learned from their mommy after club that she and her brother call our club “church.”) She pointed to the floor and said, “Here. After I came here last time, I went home to my room and prayed.

I gasped. “You did?! Tell me about it. Where were you? What did you do?”

She shared that she had gone home from club, and that night in her room, at her bed, she had prayed and asked Jesus to forgive her sins and save her. She said no one else was in there except her cat. =) I hugged her and rejoiced and reminded her that God says in His Word that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! I also told her how wonderful it was that she had her whole life now to live for the Lord. She nodded enthusiastically and smiled.

Many people hear a story like that and wonder if a child can really understand to make a decision to receive Jesus. I did! I was seven – only one year older. I knew I was a sinner – I’d lived with myself and knew my heart! I knew I needed a Savior to get me to heaven. When I heard that Jesus loved me and wanted to be my Friend and Redeemer, I was all in! I never doubted or questioned what happened to me that day.

Oh, the happy tears my husband and I shed as we prayed and thanked the Lord for this answer to prayer! This little tune came to my mind as we ate supper…

Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,

And love that soul through me.

And may I humbly do my part.

To win that soul for Thee.

–Bayless Benjamin McKinney

I ask now, “Who’s next, Lord? Who do you want me to share the Gospel with now? Will it be her brother that will soon understand and trust You?”

I’ll faithfully keep giving the Word and praying for that little guy. It’ll be another day of rejoicing at my house the day he, too, accepts Christ!

Who are you sharing the Gospel with right now? Who has the Lord put on your heart? Love them with Jesus’ love and do what He tells you to do so that they can come to know Him, too. There’s nothing sweeter!

With love from my country porch,

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Encourage a Stooping Heart

January 14, 2015February 13, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

His self-esteem is nothing. He has been told he couldn’t hold a job or even concentrate on anything long enough to bring home a paycheck. Anywhere. He has believed that he could not push a broom or flip a burger or wash a car. His dependency is to rely on the government to provide for him instead. But it isn’t true.

I’m talking about a young man who has been talked to and beaten down with words all his life. In the short time we have known him, my husband and I are amazed at his mind, his ability to communicate with anyone, and his growing knowledge of God’s love for him, a new Christian, still young in his faith.

My heart leaped for joy recently when I heard this young man say to us, “When I buy my car, I’m going to drive over to your house (after I get done with work) and show it to you!”

Wait a minute! He said he was going to buy a car and go to work?! How did he get to the place that he could make that statement? It came by the same means that his wrong thinking had come – through words. But these weren’t words that tear down, these were words of encouragement, given to him by my husband. These were Words of Truth from God’s Word. Powerful, wonderful words.

WORDS.

They can change a life.

They can lift a stooping heart.

Proverbs 12:25

Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.

They can also destroy.

James 3:5,6

Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

So, who will you be talking to today? Your husband, child, co-worker, friend, parent, a stranger? What kind of words will you give? How will you know what to say? Ask for the right words from the One Who gives us His Word to teach us.

Colossians 4:6

Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt,

that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Please understand that I’m not talking about syrupy words that won’t ever tell the truth in love. Sometimes straight-talk with a tender heart is necessary. But I’m talking about using our speech wisely – seasoned with “grace and salt.”

Our words are plentiful, but let’s make sure we’re using them in the right way so that we build up and encourage rather than tear down and destroy!

Lovingly,

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What’s Cookin’ in the Country?

January 12, 2015March 13, 2015 RefreshHer14 Comments

Sometimes lunch just stumps me. A can of soup is great, but after a while I feel the need for something more adventurous and delicious. I found a recipe sometime ago for Sloppy Joes and Oh, My! They are everything a Sloppy Joe should be. They’re plenty moist (making them sloppy!) and they have enough ingredients to make them really savory. It doesn’t call for any strange things that I wouldn’t normally have on hand, either, which is a huge plus!

A simmering pot of Sloppy Joe goodness!

Pile this mixture high on a bun and you have just moved lunch into a whole new world!

Here’s the recipe:

Sloppy Joes

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 celery ribs, chopped

1/4 cup chopped green pepper (I used a red one I had in the freezer)

1 2/3 cups canned crushed tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbl brown sugar

1 tbl vinegar

1 tbl Worcestershire sauce

1 tbl steak sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp paprika

8-10 buns, split

In a skillet, cook beef, onion, celery and green pepper until the meat is longer pink and the vegetables are tender; drain. Add the next nine ingredients; mix well. Simmer, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture onto each bun.

This mixture can be frozen and kept on hand for those days when you say, “I’m tired of soup. What can we have for lunch?” Enjoy a yummy Sloppy Joe!

What meal is most difficult for you to pull together?

With love from my country kitchen,

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Freshen Up Friday

January 9, 2015March 13, 2015 RefreshHerLeave a comment

For several years now I’ve gotten the adorable Susan Branch Calendars to hang in my house. This one was in my laundry room. They’re so pretty and inspiring! She gives recipes, suggestions of things to do that month and even decorating ideas. When the year ends I always HATE throwing those pretty pictures in the trash. But aside from framing them (and I have nowhere to hang them) I didn’t know what to do with them.

Last week when I took my old Susan Branch calendar down, I saw my little magnetic board sitting on my counter (see instructions to make one here) and suddenly I had an idea! I cut the January page so that it would fit my frame, and I put it over the metal sheeting. Now every month I can replace the picture and have a seasonal background for my cute magnetic board! I Love it!

See my cute little marble magnets on the board? We made those at our last Pinterest party at church. They were so easy. You can find the instructions here.

So, freshen up that old calendar picture or any other picture you love by attaching it to a piece of metal sheeting and create an adorable magnetic board you can change out each month!

Be sure to be faithful to church Sunday. It’s the best way to refresh yourself!

Stay refreshed!