What's in a name?

Not that we are fickle, or that we thrive on confusion, but we have changed the poor pooch's name again. This time it is a done deal. For various reasons both sensible and silly, we have named the new girl Molly. Number 4 likes to call her Molly Flower. I think he likes her much better than the vegetable Cauli-flower ;0)

Hope your Thanksgiving was a treat and I hope you know we are thankful for you!

What's for Dinner?

Thought I would share some of our menu for Thanksgiving. I only make things I love, and these are truly yummy!
Enjoy! I will add pictures as I can.

Marcy's Roll's
Dissolve 1 pkg yeast with
2 T warm water and set aside
Mix 2 cups warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
Beat until smooth.
Add yeast mixture and beat well.
Add 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 sticks melted butter
Combine well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, split dough in half and roll each into a circle. Cut dough into wedges and roll each piece into crescent shape. Let rise under a towel on a cookie sheet 1 hour. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
(Actually, someone else is bringing rolls this year, but I will make these this weekend to have with leftovers because we love them!)

Special Creamed Corn
Melt in large saucepan and stir until smooth and bubbly:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
generous pinch pepper
Slowly add:
16 oz whipping cream
16 oz. Half & Half
Stir until smooth.
Add 40 oz frozen corn
12 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
Bring to boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer about 15 minute, stirring frequently.
(This is not like any creamed corn you have ever had)

Cranberry Sauce
Combine in a medium saucepot and bring to boil over medium heat:
1 pound fresh cranberries, washed and dried
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
Reduce heat to simmer and add
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Stir to blend and simmer 5-7 minutes. Add
juice and zest from one orange.
Cool before serving.
(I don't like cranberry sauce and I wanted to eat this like it was dessert! Yummy!)
Recipe courtesy Alex Guarnaschelli - Food Network

Balsamic Root Vegetables
Combine in a large slow-cooker:
(this is a doubled recipe - my slow-cooker is 8.5 quart and we will have 29 people!)
2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
4 large red onions, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups sweetened dried cranberries
Layer over top:
3 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
Whisk together and pour over vegetables: (do not stir)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
6 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Toss with 2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley just before serving.
(This is new to the menu this year. I've never made it, but doesn't it look great?! I love that it is for the slow cooker, since my over and stove top will be occupied!)
Recipe courtesy Southern Living.

Smoky Bacon-Biscuit Dressing
Biscuits:
Stir together:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
Add
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
Stir until no lumps remain. Drop 1/4 cup batter onto an ungreased baking sheet, spacing the biscuits about 1 inch apart. Bake at 425 until the tops are pale golden and bottoms are golden brown 15-18. Makes 1 dozen biscuits.

Cut biscuits into cubes and toast on baking sheet in lower third of oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden. Increase oven to 375.

Cook 1 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
Drain on paper towels.
Using 3 Tbsp bacon grease, cook:
2 yellow onions, diced
Add and cook until tender:
5 celery stalks, diced
8 oz button mushrooms, brushed clean and sliced
1/4 cup choped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs chopped fresh sage
2 Tbs chopped fresh thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Stir biscuits with bacon and vegetable mixture in large owl and add 5 cups chicken stock, stirring to combine.
Bake, covered, at 375 for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes. Serves 10
(Another one that seems complicated but it well worth it. These biscuits are so good you will want to eat them all plain before you even get to make the stuffing!)
Recipe courtesy Williams Sonoma Kitchen.


Brined Herb Roasted Turkey
Dissolve 1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
in 2 gallons cold water
Add 2 oranges, quartered
2 lemons, quartered
6 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs rosemary
Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water. Soak in brine, covered and refrigerated, for 4 - 24 hours (mine will be on the porch!)
Remove turkey from brinse and rinse well under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Rub breast side with orange segments and all side with butter. Also rub with following mixture:
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
Place breast side up in heavy roasting pan, stuffing some butter under skin. Stuff turkey with
1 large ionion, cut into 1/8ths
1 stalk celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large carrot, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 bunch sage
3-4 sprigs parsley

Roast according to weight and instructions on turkey, basting with chicken or turkey stock or broth.
(This looks complicated, but it isn't and it is worth every little bit of effort)
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, Food Netowrk.

New Family Member

No, we aren't expecting a baby! Our newest member is the four legged kind. As many of you know, we said goodbye to our dear dog, Sadie, in September, after she had been a sweet part of our lives for more than fifteen years. There was a void around our house after she was gone, and we miss her still!

Having no intention to get another dog any time soon, we recently found ourselves smitten (I admit, for me it was love at first sight) with the face of a big puppy we saw online. Louise (note name change below) was rescued, along with her eleven puppies!!! She was in a foster home, and this young mama (she is about a year old) was the last dog to be adopted from the rescue. As a friend said, how do you not love a dog that watched all her babies get adopted and was left behind?!

So, we have had her about a week and we are thoroughly enjoying her. We are reminded that there are many life lessons for children to learn from having an animal in the house. What rich teaching moments we can have as we take turns walking her and filling her food and water dishes, play with her, and watch out for one who doesn't really have a voice of her own.

Molly is our new special addition. What fun for us and what sweet timing God has as He places conversations and contacts in our days just when we don't know we need them!

She is a Great Dane and, though she could very well be on her way to around 100 pounds, she is still very much a puppy! That is a Granny Smith Apple she has been playing with for about a half an hour!

For now...

So, as most of you know, we went to Togo in August. It seems like so long ago, and it certainly feels like it was worlds away, but we have so much to share that I realize I need to just start somewhere! Fraulein Maria says that the beginning is a very good place to start, but I find my mind working in scattered snippits this evening and I want to post something, so please hang in here with me!



Togo is an impoverished West African nation. The people live on so very little, and their fetishisms and tribal religions, their Islam and empty ritual leave them with little hope for the future. However, we find the people to be friendly and sometimes very open to the gospel of Jesus. What a privilege to go and share our family with them for a couple of short weeks.



While we understand that we really don't understand what it is truly like to live in Togo, either for the Togolese people or for the faithful missionaries who serve them so lovingly, we love it there and we love the opportunity to shepherd our children in serving our Almighty God. Tonight I will share some photos and later I will share my heart. For now, will you join us in praying for God's name to become famous in this tiny nation and for the missionaries there, that they would continue to serve Him well.

First things first

“The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.”
Madame Marie du Deffand

By now, the first day of school seems almost a distant memory, and our trip to Africa, about which so many of you have kindly asked, practically a dream. I promise to visit the colorful streets and beautiful people of Togo with you in another post, but today I wish to share some observations on the special start to another school year.

Even to our older boys, who have had many a first day of school, September 7 was one full of anticipation and trepidation. Our daughter, too, put on her smart new pink plaid dress with fingers trembling a bit with excitement and nervousness. A week later, when number four started his first day of preschool, his hold on my hand was tighter than usual and his goodbye hug just a little bit longer. I wonder, did they have any idea of the butterflies dancing in my own stomach as I sent them all on their way? Do they realize, as someone has said, that they all represent my heart, skipping away from me clad in brand new tennis shoes and mary janes? Do they know that I held my breath and willed away my own tears as their lovely new teachers took them by the hand, at least figuratively, and led them through the door to new discoveries and endless possibilities?

There is no accomplishment without first an endeavor. There is no value without first a cost. There can be no harvest without first planting. So, I gave my children the necessary nudges, and the required hugs (right in front of people, yes, and even the oldest) and I invited them to partake of the rich blessing of a new year of school. I prayed so much that first day. I still pray daily for a hedge of protection around them - around their bodies and their minds and their hearts. Oh, Lord, please fill them only with those things that You deem important! Father, grow them, stretch them, shape them this year. Teach them to place You first and to manage the rest in a way that pleases You.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
Isaiah 42:10

This picture was taken by my twelve year old son in my mother's garden. What a joy to see him delight in God's special handiwork! Join my son and take time today to get close to something God made and marvel at His glorious creativity, delight in His kind offering to share Himself with us, another part of His creation!

Happy summer day to you!

Sunshine in a Glass

We made lemonade today. I am not talking about mixing up some Country Time, though I know that can be yummy, too. I am talking about the sweet tart liquid sunshine that comes from a home-squeezed lemonade syrup. The process is simple. I confess, though, that it makes me feel like I should be carrying jars of the pleasing stuff in a picnic basket across the field to my husband who is sweating behind a horse and plow. Sarah, Plain and Tall anyone? The truth is, like many other long-lost practices, squeezing our own citrus when there are so many choices on our grocers shelves just doesn't suit our modern lifestyles anymore. The other truth, and those who know me best will agree, is that I crave that earlier simplicity and I often struggle to find the right balance between Sarah Witting's life and mine. Don't get me wrong, I have done three loads of laundry today in a manner Sarah would find wildly easy and I am thrilled for it! However, I just love to spend as many days as possible in the quiet simplicity and peace that working and serving in and about my home with my family around affords me. Titus 2 encourages women to be busy at home. I love that. I long for that. When I get to do that, I find I am blessed beyond measure.

Sip summer with us, won't you? Bask in the simple joy of a glass of sunshine on a porch with your kids all around. Talk with them. Marvel with them at the wonderful glimpse of God we get by quietly drinking in, literally and figuratively, His lovely creation.


Juice 16 - 20 lemons, straining out seeds, to equal 3 cups of lemon juice.

I find that if you roll the lemons firmly on the counter first, they juice much better. This is a good job for small people ;0)

Then make a simple syrup by dissolving four cups of sugar in one cup of boiling water.


Finally, add the lemon juice to the cooled syrup and store in jars. This recipe makes about three pints of syrup. We made one quart for our refrigerator and one pint to give away. To serve, mix about 1/3 cup syrup in a glass with ice and water. Enjoy!

June Bug

You've heard of the "travel bug" which bites people with his venom of adventure, leaving the bitten with side-effects of a taste for exotic food, longing for sandy toes or snowy eyelashes, a penchant for living out of a suitcase and viewing glorious vistas out of hotel windows or tent-flaps. Perhaps you've been bitten by the "baby bug" which causes its victims to swoon for the scent of talcum powder, the softness of receiving blankets, and the gentle gurgle of a tiny, bubbly smile.



Around our parts these days, we've been stung by a gentler beast, one who lazily waited out the long, sometimes hot sometimes chilly, months of a Michigan spring. She laid in wait through chilly April evenings and misty May mornings. This bug slowly nibbled our ears until all we could hear was the distant call of water birds and jet-boats. She tugged our toes until they would not be satisfied in socks and shoes and craved water, sand, or bright foam flip-flops instead. Once bitten, we were giddy with gooseflesh when faced with the anticipation of taking a plunge off a wood plank dock into refreshing cool-warm water, creating more little pleasure bumps on our limbs! We now salivate like Pavlovs dog when we smell a campfire and we race to the basket holding the treasured chocolate, grahams, and spongy soft marshmallows. Our cravings are satisfied only with long days of sun and water and sand and iced tea or lemonade. We have been bitten by a powerful creature and there seems to be only one remedy: true, uninhibited frolic. So, rather than seeking an antidote (even though one tried to sneak into the house in the form of a - gasp - Back to School catalog, which we promptly tossed! The nerve!!!), we revel in our infection. We rejoice in our affliction. We've been bitten by the June Bug and we are loving every minute of it!

Monkeys and muffins and bears, oh my!

Today is my delightful day at home. Each day throughout the week, there are things that draw me away - Bible study, school volunteering, errands, etc., but Thursdays I protect like a mama bear over her cubs, which is, in fact, what I am! Every other day of the week, I try to stay home as much as possible, but this one is special because the first trip I make is to pick up the kids after school, and there is something wonderful about waking up to a day in the den that makes this mama bear joyful with anticipation.

After checking my email this morning, I wandered over to a blog with which I have recently become acquainted (thanks to a dear friend) and I found a recipe (among many that look delicious!) that grabbed my attention. I will post it here, although it barely makes my twelve items or less requirement. I had slowly rotting (okay, they were just very very soft and turning brown) bananas on my counter so I decided to try Monkey Muffins today. Because I have twelve feet in my house, there are lots of mouths to feed so I can't seem to help myself from quadrupling a recipe, which is what I did here (praying that Mrs. H was trustworthy and her recipe was yummy!). Once I got going, I discovered two things. A) The muffins were great! (yeah!) and B) I had dozens and dozens in my kitchen! (oh my!)

I started to pray - not because I was overwhelmed by a bounty of baked good, but because God was prompting me to use them to bless some people today and I wanted to pray for them all as I prepared their yummies. You can see from my photos the resulting tower of treats. What joy to be able to bring a smile to some families today. Our teachers and pastors and friends will sample the sweetness, but I am the one who is blessed by their faithful service and I am so happy that today, in the quietness of my home, with my two youngest happily playing on the floor, I was able to prepare for them all a small token of the love that our family feels for all of them.

Have you considered that in our rush to fill up our days we might be missing the simple pleasure and the daily blessing of looking outside our hectic selves and ministering to others? Are your days so full of appointments and dates, schedules and plans, that you are missing out on that to which we have been called - loving OTHERS? Jesus said that others will know we are His by our love for one another. Is there room in your date book for "one-another" opportunities? Are you training your children to be always looking for ways to love on people, as Jesus Himself did? Will you join me in pursuing a simpler life that pulls out its day-planner and says, "Today is Yours, Lord, and I have carefully penciled in peace so that You may fill my hours with whatever you choose?" Will you help keep me accountable to this commitment?

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:15-16

In a Jam

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Strawberries were on sale. The weekend was not the best for adding the job of "jamming" but I couldn't resist the price. The other truth at play here is that making jam is one the little things that delights me about being a homemaker. It ranks right up there with baking homemade bread and mopping my floors with lavender scented cleaner! :0)

I know what you are thinking. Jam is not that pricey and readily available at the grocery store. Homemade jam is high in sugar (four cups per batch - yikes!) Who has time for hulling, chopping, canning fruit?! Well, I say you are missing out if you have never tried it. The cooked version is wonderful and keeps on your pantry shelf as long as you would need (of course, at our house, it goes fast, no matter how much I make!) The hot sweet scent of ripe berries fills your kitchen, enticing neighbors and mailmen alike.



This time around, I made freezer jam. When time is short, there is nothing simpler and the sticky sugary goodness is worth the twenty minutes it takes to wash, hull and chop berries, add sugar, boil pectin, and stir it all together into a pink heavenly concoction that will cause your peanut butter jar to swoon!

The kids' eyes get bigger when they step into the kitchen (better yet - let them help!) and see all those scarlet jars full of yumminess. Summer feels closer when one eats a piece of bread with jam running down its sides. Little cheeks beg for kisses when strawberry seeds slide into their dimples and fingers find tongues to get every last morsel.

Enjoy the treats of spring. Delight in the simple pleasures. Slip your cell phone into your apron pocket and pull out the wooden spoons and potato mashers and preserve a little love in those jars! Our days slip by too quickly not to stop and smell the strawberries!

God has given us each day as a precious gift. How blessed we are. Are you, like me, often racing through days in a fog of schedules and demands, forgetting that the things that keep us busy are often the things that distract us from those we love most. Is it worth it to stop, breathe, enjoy the bounty that God richly gives us? Can we use those sweet moments at the sink, at the counter, to talk to our great Provider and thank Him for a moment of peace? Is there a spiritual lesson in strawberry jam? Absolutely. What a sweet simple picture it is of the abundant ways our Father blesses us. Stop with me and taste and see that He is good!