Then I Thought of Home

I couldn't help but be reminded of the Christmas poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" when I woke in the night. You know the line that says, "and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse" ? Makes you think of a nice quiet home doesn't it? That isn't the case at our house. We're a noisy night bunch. I heard Jess ask her dad where I was, he answered, "in there snoring." Now I would have been offended but down  inside I knew the reason I was awake to him him say that was I woke myself up snoring. After I got over his offense I went back to sleep only to wake later to hear, PUH.....PUH.....PUH....PUH..... For those of you who don't know that is the noise some make instead of snoring, they do that each time they exhale.  This would be Mark. It drives me crazy. In my heart I want to hit him, but of course I don't. I put the pillow over my head and go to sleep only to wake up later to hear O...

 This is one of my favorite fall/winter desserts. Cranberry-Apple Crisp You start by making the crust. 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 TBSP. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup butter 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup milk Heat oven to 375. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender cut in the 1/2 cup butter until it looks like crumbs. Beat the milk and egg yolk with a fork and add to flour then mix it up. Roll it out and place in 9x13 dish. Push the crust up the sides an inch or so. Filling: About 9 Granny Smith Apples peeled and sliced thin 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chopped cranberries In a big bowl microwave the apples for about 7 minute until they get soft.  Stir in remaining ing, except the cranberries. Pour apple filling into the crust and sprinkle the cranberries on top.  Topping: 1 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup butter (okay I know this is heavy on the butter but it is a holiday recipe yo...

There is  a lot to be learned from a chicken. Well, really when you think about it, there is a lot to be learned from almost everything around us if we slow down enough to pay attention. While I was walking through the buildings yesterday I was reminded of how the chickens drink. They drink by hitting the water lines with their beaks and the water drops out. They drink one drop at a time. When they are grown they will be drinking thousands of gallons of water a day but they do it one drop at a time. All of them together drinking one drop at a time adds up to thousands of gallons. Something to think about. When we feel something is to small to matter maybe we should think again. Your act of kindness or forgiveness or generosity coupled with my act of kindness or forgiveness or generosity could be world changing, even if it just changes one persons world. Most of the time we aren't called to do huge things, we are called to do  little things and ...

I have always liked to have supper ready for Mark when he comes in. Even when we didn't have children and I worked outside the home I always enjoyed coming home and seeing to it that he had a good supper. I would want to sit the table pretty and serve it just so. I wanted him to look at it and think, "wow!" Well, I now know he didn't really care about the table setting but he liked the meal. If it's cold out I think about what they would  like to eat when they come in. If it's hot I think about what would be cool and refreshing. As you know it was a cold day yesterday, Mark came in and while he was getting cleaned up I felt this surge of excitement about getting his plate ready for him. I was so glad I could do that. But then..........He came out of the bathroom and headed for his chair.  Another surge shot through me.  Only this one was a negative one. This surge said said to me, "hey, he is expecting you to fix his plate, he is expecting yo...

I just heard the Alan Jackson song, "The Little Man." It made me think about our little town. About the square and all the shops. I remember going to Salem to shop when I was a girl. I can still see the big Brachs Candy display in Murphys. It was glass and you bagged the candy. The toys were downstairs.  I remember Gambles and the dime store that was where Brick Street is now. And of course Le Genes and Boggs and Justies.  Bennett's, Armstrongs Hardware and the Fashion Shop. Most of those business's are gone now but there are new ones in their place. I love to shop local.  It is great to support "the Little Man." How about you? Where are the local places you plan to visit for your Christmas shopping? Is it one of the main stores or is a little out of the way place? Share your favorite shops with us. If you don't live in Salem share the shops from where you live, it will be a  good excuse for some of us to take a little trip th...

You know how it is when the worth of something hits you right in the face and you are overcome with gratitude and love.? When you really see what something or more importantly what someone means to you If you have read any of by blogs you know how much my family means to me. They mean everything. What I haven't told you about is my church family. I not only have a great physical family, I have been blessed with the best church family possible. As I sit here and type I can see each face. I can see the faces of the babies and the children. As a matter of fact, I can remember when almost every child was born. Today on my way to church I saw Todd pull out on hwy 56 and I got behind him. Then when we got to the stop light I saw Jon and Lindsay were in front of Todd. I thought to myself, here we go down the road together again as we have so many times before. I thought of not only Todd, Jon and Lindsay,  but of all the church family. I couldn't help but tear up bec...

I woke up a little after four this morning.  I had Bible study and prayer time then I started the Thanksgiving Day preparation. First I put the turkey on. It turned out wonderful. Like I described in our visit yesterday, not pretty but wonderful. With the turkey roasting I went on to rolling pie crust. I made pecan. My sister-in-law, Karen gave me a great recipe for pecan pie years ago and I have never found a better one. The secret is to use real butter and to brown it when you melt it.  Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. If you want the recipe let me know. You will love it! Then on to the ham.  I have never been satisfied with the hams I bake. Mark and the kids always say they are good but every time we went somewhere to eat and they had ham I would battle ham envy. I wanted to be able to make a great ham. I even tried the "The Best Ham There Ever Was"  recipe. All to no avail. Today I think I finally found the ham that will give my g...