Strawberry Season

This is one of my favorite seasons of the year. Spring. The weather is starting to warm up without being too hot. The flowers are blooming. And the fruit is growing. And we LOVE to have fresh strawberries in the house.

LilE and I loaded up to meet a few friends and ended up meeting the entire church at the strawberry patch (well, maybe just two other playgroups and another staff family).

LilE and I found a spot all by ourselves and picked away.

Two gallons of strawberries.

They were yummy!

We talked about how the plants grow and the flowers bloom.

Then the strawberries grow out of the blooms.

Isn't it great how God created these wonderful plants for us to enjoy?!?

We took some other pictures just because we could. I have one beautiful princess with beautiful friends. 

The next morning we gathered our supplies to make freezer jam. I am so thankful for a friend making it for us a couple of years ago. We have forever been changed.

I cut the strawberries.

We crushed the strawberries.

Add the sugar (and it's not just a little sugar).

Boiled the pectin.

Mixed the two together.

And poured it into the jars.

I ended up using all two gallons of strawberries to make 4 batches of jam. Yielding 24 half pints. If we run out of jam this year we need some serious help! But really, it IS that good!!

The Tomb is EMPTY!

A couple of years ago we made Easter Story Cookies. They we fun to make and we enjoyed the reading that went along with them. But we didn't like the end result (the taste, not the "empty tomb" analogy).

This year I decided to give the Resurrection Rolls a try. (And I kinda tried to take pictures along the way...kinda).

Gather:

One can of crescent roll dough  (I had biscuits, so I used those...be sure to keep reading)

One large marshmallows for each roll you’ll be making (not pictured, oops) 

Melted butter (1T was plenty)

Cinnamon sugar

Bible or Easter storybook

          
Assemble rolls and read the story:
 
1. Read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating according to the package directions. If you’re really on top of things, spend the week before reading John 12-18 with your kids.

2. Unroll the crescent rolls. Explain that this is like the cloth they wrapped Jesus in.

3. Give your child a marshmallow and explain that it represents Jesus… all white and pure because He was without sin.

4. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter. This symbolizes the embalming oils.

5. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar. This is like the spices used to prepare his body for burial. (or use a spoon because you don't like to get too dirty)

6. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll cloth, pinching the dough together securely. Don’t worry about the shape so much, they’ll taste the same no matter how you roll or bundle them. This represents how they would have wrapped Jesus’ body.

7. Lick fingers.

8. Put the rolls in the oven (symbolizing the tomb) and bake for the amount of time specified on the package.

9. While the rolls are baking, read John 20:1-18.

10. Open the tomb (oven) and remove the rolls.

YIKES! They are supposed to be closed up. And obviously, they are NOT! Note to self, use crescent rolls next time!

11.When they’re cool enough to handle, break one open and discover what happened to the marshmallow. Jesus is risen! At this point, I also read 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18. Jesus is coming again!

Shew, this one was closed enough to see the 'emptiness'.  These tasted SO good! Live and learn!

Out of Town Guests

Mimi and Pop were ready to come out...and we were ready to have them! It has been 3 full months since we have seen them and 10 months since they have been out here. (We enjoyed LOTS of trips to Texas last year!)

Due to ticket prices, we got to have them for an extra day! Woot!! They flew out Thursday afternoon. We picked them up and then Mimi and I went grocery shopping. Sounds like your idea of a grand weekend, right? Next time hopefully I will be better prepared, but I do enjoy that one on one time with my mom. Usually LilE has her undivided attention.

LilE did have her plans for what Mimi and Pop were going to do with her when they arrived--color. And color they did. Isn't it great that her idea of a grand time with the grands is coloring. I love it! (but didn't take a single picture on Thursday)

Friday morning, LilE got up and went to school. We kinda piddled around the house. Mimi and I cooked a gourmet lunch--seriously. I tried out Pastor Ryan's Pasta Carbonara (from The Pioneer Woman). It was delicious! So, I am keeping that recipe for another meal.

photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman

After lunch we packed up our letterboxing gear and headed out to the Science Center here in town. They have several boxes so we went on a hunt. And then we all got tired and called it quits after we found 4 of the 10. All that means is we get to go back and enjoy the facilities again. They release the butterflies in May. That sounds like fun. And while I was there I picked up some info and registered my sweet girl for some big girl summer camps!

Saturday it decided to rain on us. All. Day. Long. Boo. But my child was in heaven. That meant she and Mimi could craft and craft and craft!

We picked up some pine cones on Friday while on the Nature Trail. Didn't they turn out cute? It is our family in Pine Cone Bunnies. Awww.

Sunday we headed to church and then came home and rested the rainy afternoon away. My parents were able to rock it out in our new Modern service. It wasn't so bad, they said, but they will stick with the contemporary at home. :)

Monday was a laid back morning and day of packing and picking up and playing and picture taking. 

After lunch, we headed to the airport. Back track a bit. LilE was out of sorts all morning. Nothing going her way. And we realized she understood Mimi and Pop were heading home in the afternoon. After we hugged and waved and blew kisses, LilE just buried her head in my leg. And as we walked away, she began to cry. This is the first time she has cried when company has left. It broke my heart. She is finally old enough to understand and it hurts her heart not to be with family.

But to our rescue came the TSA guy. (I know...out of character for those guys!) He gave us a website to watch Mimi and Pop's plane fly back to Texas! How neat! After their flight took off we headed on over to FLIGHT AWARE and put in our airline and flight number. This is what it showed us (click to see the detail):

How fun! Then we snuggled and watched a movie and she was good to go.

We are super-dy duper-dy excited that the next time we see them we will have a new baby in our house!! We can't wait!!

Snickerdoodles

LilE and I made a little sweet treat this afternoon in prep for Bible Study being at our house tonight. She enjoyed baking with me as she always does. I am trying really hard not to be caught up in the major mess she is making, but to count it as a learning experience.

Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix butter, shortening, and sugar. Add eggs.

Add dry ingredients.

Roll dough into one inch balls. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 teaspoons cinnamon. Roll dough balls into cinn/sugar mixture to coat the outside. Place on baking sheet.

Bake in 350* preheated oven for approx. 10 minutes.

For CRUNCHY cookies, follow the above directions.

For SOFT cookies, chill dough and cookie sheet for 15 minutes, then roll into balls and bake for 10 minutes.  (New trick I just learned.)

Chips and Salsa

I am Texan. And I LOVE me some good salsa. I think 7 years ago I called it hot sauce. You Southerners are rubbing off on me a bit. But not on what kind of salsa I like. I like it warm to hot. Not this mild tomato sauce you call salsa. Typically, restaurants are good for me. They have enough flavor and warmth. But the store is a totally different situation. Great Value and Pace are just about the only two choices. And I do not like either. That is when my journey to find the perfect recipe began. And today, I have found it!

Someone suggested the Pioneer Woman's recipe. I tried it, still without enough flavor. I tweaked it to my liking and this is what I came up with:

1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes with juice

2 cans (10 oz) Rotel (one mild, one original)

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1 cup cilantro

juice of whole lime

Combine all into blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed. Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips.

Happy Birthday Jesus

This year Rudy suggested we do a Happy Birthday Jesus party for the family. I thought it was an awesome idea. I looked up some ideas online, but they were for a party with lots of little ones. And we have two. Therefore, we decided to go with dinner and a birthday cake.

She had the place all decorated! I love all the fun colored balloons.

After dinner on the fine china (seriously, I was a bit nervous my girl would break something), JD told the Christmas story with the help of some Little People.

My one contribution was the cake. I found a great idea online and I ran with it. It was a 3 layer cake that tells the salvation story. The chocolate layer represents the sin we each have in our lives. The red layer stands for the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross for our sins. When Jesus died on the cross he cleansed us of our sin and made us pure (white icing). We are to be in the Word every day, growing closer to him which is represented by the green layer. One day, when our life on earth is finished, those who have accepted his FREE gift will be with him in heaven, where the street are made of gold (yellow icing).  Around the top of the cake are 12 candles, one for each of us at the table. The red candle represents Jesus. The candles are lit to remind us we are to be the light of the world and to shine for Him each and every day.

The inside



We had a great evening of celebrating the gift our the Savior this Christmas and we look forward to celebrating in the years to come!

Pizza Chef

Not sure those who make pizzas are considered chefs, but we will go with it.

We had some friends who introduced us to make your own pizza night for kids. Super cheap and super yummy pizza!

Pinch the dough

Poke it with a spork

Stretch it



Spread sauce with said spork

Sprinkle with cheese

Ta-Da!

Can't wait to do it again in two weeks!

Teriyaki Beef with Noodles

Remember how I said I would post all those recipes I cooked at the beach? Well, I forgot. Hmm. And I bet you did too.

Teriyaki Beef with Noodles
1 lb beef boneless sirloin, cut into thin strips
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
¼ cup teriyaki stir-fry sauce
Dash of ground red pepper (cayenne)
1½ cups frozen snap pea pods
1½ cups (3 oz) uncooked fine egg noodles (angel hair pasta works also)

Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Cook beef in skillet over medium-high heat 2-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Remove beef from skillet; keep warm.

Mix broth, stir-fry sauce and red pepper in skillet. Heat to boiling. Stir in pea pods and noodles; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until noodles are tender. Stir in beef. Cook uncovered 2-3 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened.

Fried Rice
White rice, cooked
1-2 eggs
Green onions, thinly sliced
Butter
Soy sauce

Sauté onion in butter. Add eggs and scramble. Add rice and enough soy sauce to get desired flavor.