Better Baby Mittens

How to upcycle baby mittens that don't fall off!!!

If my babies are like your babies, they really don't like to keep mittens on their hands! We got some that were attached by a piece of yarn that you could string through their coat sleeves, and that kept us from LOSING the mittens, but it didn't keep the baby from pulling them off the very instant we got them on his hands and running around with dangling mittens! So I brainstormed and came up with this idea, and we've been testing it for a few weeks now. I'm happy to say that it works brilliantly! We put the extra long mittens over a shirt, and the coat goes over the top of that. This layering system keeps the little mitties in place and even our precocious little one hasn't figured out how to get them off yet!!



Chose your baby mittens and find a coordinating pair of old adult size socks that you don't mind cutting up. This pair had several holes in the heal and toe.



Cut the sock straight across at the ankle.



With your sock WRONG side out, and your mitten RIGHT side out, slip the mitten inside the sock and make the edges nice and even.



Sew the sock and mitten together on your sewing machine - first go around with a straight stitch, then use a zig-zag stitch over the edges.



Turn right side out, and you are done! Now do the other one! Nice and simple, and your baby will have nice toasty fingers when playing in the snow!

(If you're like me, and you are really, really frugal, you can save the holey sock for dusting!)

Lifting Holy Hands

Ever had an experience like this?

Life is going along just fine. Feeling content, feeling satisfied, feeling like I can look to the future and smile... Out of the blue, an event comes along that shakes us to the very core. It's like a tornado suddenly descended and whirls us around like a shake in a blender, and then sets us down again. Only instead of being set down where we once were, we are in a new and unfamiliar place, a place where we never imagined we would be. Everything has changed. "Looks like we aren't in Kansas anymore, Toto" is about all you can say if you are even able to speak or put together coherent thoughts. You may be so shaken that you can only cry out to God and count upon the Holy Spirit to intercede. (Romans 8:26) You look across the chasm in front of you and wonder how you can even take one step forward.

Church Mouse is not presently in this situation, but I have been there before, and I have dear ones who are facing such a test of faith. It is easy to feel completely alone as we look upon our plight and contemplate our future and our course of action. It is easy to feel utterly immobilized. Once we get our bearings though, we have to start taking steps. Tiny ones are ok... just steps... steps towards God. Did you see God there? Perhaps you were blinded by your tears. Look again. He is there! He is standing on the other side of the chasm reaching out with open arms. Do you hear Jesus there whispering to you, "I understand. I have walked this road before you. You can do it too!" Did you feel the Holy Spirit there, lifting you up, supporting you, keeping you from sinking to your knees? The Spirit is there too, bearing you up with each and every step. Did you look behind you? There is a HOST of people there too! They are your brothers and sisters in Christ and they are eager to bear your burdens (Galatians 6:2). Just like Aaron and Hur held up Moses' hands while Israel battled against the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-13), you have friends and loved ones there holding up your hands.

I find tremendous encouragement in Romans 8, but the passage is rather long, so I will give some excerpts here:

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

²²For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. ²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

³¹What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I know this post is already long, but I cannot help but also consider this beautiful song:

Each Step I Take by W. Marcer

Onward and upward as we journey on to higher ground... He ever leads us on!

Gifts for the Neighbors

For the holidays, we like to take baked gifts to our neighbors. Does anyone else notice how rare home baked treats are anymore? These recipes both freeze well, and we tell our neighbors that in case they are overwhelmed with treats at the time. These are the things we have made that are most appreciated:

Cherry Eggnog Bread
BREAD:
-3/4 c. maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
-2 1/4 c. flour
-1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
-3/4 tsp. nutmeg
-3/4 tsp. salt
-1 c. sugar
-3/4 c. butter, softened
-3 eggs
-1 c. eggnog

GLAZE:
-1/2 c. powdered sugar
-3-4 tsp. eggnog
-1/4 c. toasted, sliced almonds**

Chop cherries and dry as best you can on paper towels. In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and butter, beating until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add 1/3 of the dry ingred. and mix, then add 1/2 the eggnog and mix. Add another 1/3 dry, then the rest of the eggnog, finally adding the remaining dry ingredients. Gently fold in the chopped cherries and pour the batter into a greased pan. ***Bake at 325* for 1 hour and 15 min. or so until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, loosen the sides, and turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

GLAZE: Mix the powdered sugar and eggnog until smooth. Drizzle about half onto the completely cooled loaf. Sprinkle evenly with the toasted almonds. Drizzle the remaining glaze over the almonds.

TIPS:
*This is a wonderful gift bread! It is beautiful and festive and tastes delicious! To make in advance, freeze the loaf before adding the glaze for up to a month.

**To toast the almonds, put them in a skillet and toast the dry over medium heat, stirring frequently until they turn golden brown. Watch them carefully, once the start to brown, they turn pretty quickly, so be careful not to burn them! Turn them onto a plate and cool them completely before using. (To hurry this up, you can stick them in the freezer for a few minutes.)

***Cooking times and temperatures are given for baking in a stoneware loaf pan. For metal and glass loaf pans, you may need to turn up the heat to 350* and cook for less time. Watch it carefully. For a bake sale or for gifts I like to use mini loaf pans - you'll have to just watch carefully and guess on the baking time though because I can't remember how long I ended up baking them.

Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti
Really works best if you use a heavy duty stand mixer. This is a very stiff dough! The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. We also enjoy the almond biscotti recipe.
Makes 4 dozen
2 1/4 c. flour, plus more for dusting (I use part whole wheat)
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
12 oz. (about 2 c.) semi-sweet chocolate chunks chopped to pea size (mini chocolate chips work great!)
1 1/2 c. (8 oz.) hazelnuts, chopped to pea size
4 eggs
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c. sugar

Preheat oven to 350*. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, lightly grease, and set aside. Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add 1 c. of the chocolate chunks, and all of the hazelnuts. In an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat the four eggs until the mixture holds a ribbon-like trail on the surface for a few seconds when you raise the whisk. Switch to the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, then the remaining chips, and beat until just combined.



Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface. Work in extra flour until the dough is tacky, but holds together. Divide into three equal pieces, and shape into an 18" long log. Transfer the logs to your prepared baking sheet, and press the top down lightly to flatten slightly. Brush some egg white over the logs and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until logs are just firm to the touch, 20-24 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 20 min.



Place logs on a cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut thick slices on the diagonal. Place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange the slices on the rack. Bake until biscotti are firm to the touch and completely dry, 10-12 min. Remove pan from oven; let biscotti cool completely on the rack. Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container at room temp. for up to a week (if they last that long!) and they also freeze well.



This post is a part of the Four Moms Cookie Exchange - check this link for more recipes!

Also linking up with the 2012 Four Moms Food for Gift-Giving link-up.  Didn't try them the first time around?  Pin this post so you don't forget about it!

Cookie Exchange

Best Sugar Cookies EVER!
These are so thinly crisp and delicious! My favorite cookie recipe for rolling out and using cookie cutters. The orange zest is the secret ingredient that makes them so perfect!

Ingredients:
- 2 sticks butter at room temp.
- 1 c. sugar
- 1 lg. egg (room temp.)
- 1 tbs. vanilla
- 1 tsp. salt
- 2 1/2 c. flour
- 2 tbs. finely grated orange zest

Directions: Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla & salt and mix well. Add flower in two batches mixing well. Add orange zest and knead it in with your hands. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours (and up to a week).

Preheat oven to 350*. Roll out the dough to about 1/8" thick. (If you need to use a bit of flour to keep the dough from sticking, it is o.k.) Cut out shapes and place on a cookie sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Gather together the scraps and reroll & cut, until you've used all of the dough. Decorate the cookies with sprinkles if you wish. Bake cookies for about 12 minutes until golden around the edges and firm to the touch. Let them cool completely and store in sealed containers for up to 5 days.

Number Of Servings: about 4 dozen cookies

Variation: Hawaiian Snowballs

These will melt in your mouth! One of Preacher Man's friends said he would eat these for every meal of the day if he could – that’s how good they are! Hint: use a nut grinder to chop both the macadamia nuts and the pineapple.

Ingredients:

- 2 c. salted, roasted macadamia nuts, finely chopped

- 1 1/3 c. finely chopped dried pineapple

- ½ c. confectioner’s sugar for dusting

- sugar cookie dough from the recipe above

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350*. On a clean work surface, toss nuts with dried fruit. Sprinkle over the dough and knead until just blended. Form into 1” balls, place on cookie sheet. Bake until barely golden – about 15 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack. When slightly cool, roll the cookies in confectioner’s sugar in a small ziploc bag and return to cooling rack until they are completely cool.

Number of Servings: about 4 dozen cookies

This post is a part of the Four Moms Cookie Exchange - check this link for more recipes!

Post Thanksgiving Recipes

What to do with the leftovers... that is the question.

We honestly don't have much in the way of leftovers this year. Some turkey and some stuffing. That's about it! Here are two recipes that you can use to remake some of your leftovers if they are still lurking around in your fridge.

First - the carb-overload recipe: (This was our lunch today.)
Turkey Gravy
Inspired by one of my favorite school cafeteria meals! ;)

How to make it - It's very simple really... just chop up lots of turkey into little bits and mix it in the gravy. Remember, you can never have too much gravy! To serve, put a scoop of mashed potatoes on one side of a bowl, a scoop of stuffing on the other, and ladle the gravy on top. It's like a KFC bowl, only lots better! I freeze this for a quick meal later - one ziploc with the gravy/turkey and one with the stuffing, rubber band the two together so they don't get separated in the freezer. I usually fix fresh mashed potatoes, and some sort of green vegetable with it. At school, they also made hamburger gravy, which was hamburger meat in a beef gravy served over mashed potatoes. I didn't like that one at all, but I think roast beef would be absolutely delicious!



Second - a meal to help you feel virtuous again: (This was our dinner.)
Salmon Patties
I served them with roasted broccoli and roasted sweet potato fries. Both of the littles devoured these, so I'm thinking this one will be appearing on our table much more often in the future! This is also a very frugal meal - less than $5 to feed a family of 5. We stretched the salmon patty recipe into two meals, as we got 14 patties out of the recipe.

• 1 1/2 c. cold mashed potatoes
• 14 oz. can salmon
• pinch of cayenne
• 2 Tbs. lemon juice

Mix these ingredients and form into tightly packed patties on a plate. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

• 1 c. crushed saltines
• 1 egg beaten with a little milk or water
• butter for frying

Melt a stick of butter on medium heat. Dip each patty in the beaten egg and then in the cracker meal. Fry in the butter for about 6 minutes on each side. (Try not to mess with them too often or flip them too many times. They will keep their shape better if you leave them alone.)

We like these served with ketchup!

Deck the Halls

Trimming our tree this year is a little extra challenging because we have a very mobile little one, who is not quite old enough to be reliably obedient on what is "no touch". I'm all for house-proofing your child, but I am hesitant to leave temptations so easily available that could send a tiny one to the emergency room for a moment of disobedience. So for this year, we have kept the breakable glass and ceramic ornaments boxed up, as well as all of the metal ornament hooks. We have set our tree "in the midst of the garden", and it is the ideal "forbidden fruit" to work on some extra training. So far, preeeeeeetty good. :)

I'm not a big fan of tinsel, and while I like the idea of stringing popcorn and cranberries, it gets messy, and is a bit of a pain. I had a moment of pure genius though when I remembered that I have yards and yards of crocheted lace trim in one of my boxes of sewing supplies. I don't even remember when or where I got it, but it is PERFECT garland for our tree! The flat kind (not ruffled) works the best. The effect looks like a gentle flocking of snowflakes, and it is baby-friendly.

In an effort to fill in where the rest of the ornaments usually go, I pulled out a metal christmas cookie cutters and they look pretty nice up there. I will be looking for some crafty ideas to try my hand at making some ornaments with the littles.

For now... enjoy your holiday soundtracks and hot cocoa!

Here's a recipe for a yummy and thrifty hot cocoa mix:

• 16 c. powdered dry milk
• 1 1/4 c. cocoa powder
• 5 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
  

Add 1/3 c. mix to 1 c. hot water and enjoy!

"It's the hap-happiest season of all!"

Everybody said...

At the suggestion of Preacher Man, I'm making an addendum to my post, A Preacher's Work Is Never Done. He made a good point that many of the works I listed were things that everybody should do - especially things like reading, studying, and praying. Also, many of my readers are not full-time preacher families, but are very dedicated to the works of their local congregations, and that is a wonderful and valuable thing. The church's phone line may not ring at your house, but you are quick to jump in and take care of things when you see a need, and I'm oh so grateful for those kinds of people! God sees your hard work, and so do others, and it is a real encouragement! Everyone has different strengths and abilities, and hopefully all of us are so busy working for the Kingdom that we don't have time to criticize!

I heard this song when I was a child, and I think it about sums it up:



To the work!!!

1 Corinthians 12:14- For the body does not consist of one member but of many.