Cran-Apple Salsa

1 package (12 ounces) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
3 medium apples, cut into wedges
1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, chopped
½ cup sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened apple juice
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper
juice of 1 lime

In a food processor, process the cranberries, apples, red pepper, jalapeno and
onion in batches until coarsely pureed.
Transfer to a serving bowl. Stir in the sugar, apple juice, cilantro,
and lime juice.

You can also cook it on the stove, low heat, for about 30 minutes and it works as well. It especially tastes good with Cinnamon Tortilla Strips.

A Funny Thing Happened While Searching for a Green Bean Recipe.

The picture above is Eric before his haircut.

While I was looking for a new way to cook green beans. I stumbled on a website, actually a recipe, but the recipe showed me a blog that has left me laughing and shaking my head for the last three days. Just a warning, it is very very very country. She talks about things that city-folk (which she happens to be) would not have a clue about, neither did she for she married into her country life. By the way, the green bean recipe was good, but maybe I can't make it right or something, it wasn't fantastic. So if anyone has a GREAT recipe for snap beans, let me know.

Other than that, let me see what I've been up to. Cooking cooking cooking. Today I made Cran-Apple Salsa see next post. I'm going to serve that with cinnamon tortilla chips. Made "Crack" again and then made sausage balls. The old standby for parties. We have to bring snacks to church tomorrow and everyone has brought wonderful things, so I decided to do something kind of Thanksgiving-y. Hopefully it will go over well.

We took the pacifier/soother away from Eric two nights ago. He's not very happy, but we're making it. He cried for about 45 minutes this morning for his nap and about 30 minutes this afternoon, so I think we're getting better. Unfortunately, like Ella, he's going to be come attached to something else, probably his blanket as well. (Which desperately needs to be washed at the moment! EW!) Oh well, we're working on the blanket thing with Ella and we'll work on it with Eric as well.

Last week our family went to Bastogne, Belgium where the Battle of the Bulge took place. It was great. The pastries were fantastic! If you don't know anything about WWII, which is one of my favourite periods in history, this is an awesome place to visit because it was so key to the Allied Victory. We found the woods were soldiers were holed up before they got the key towns needed for a victory. The foxholes are still there, thanks to some boy scouts in the area. We would love to go back again. If you want a quick glimpse into what it was like fighting you can see the movie, "Band of Brothers." Or you can read the book, which surprisingly, the movie followed quite closely! You can see pics of our trip here.

Thanksgiving is coming up. We're going to our friends that live near Baumholder. I can't wait. I can't wait to make all the food too. For Christmas I'm going to do an Advent wreath and a gingerbread house, so those will be on the agenda next weekend along with the tree decorating and the watching of "Christmas Vacation" while the tree is being put up. I'll post pictures when we're done with those. We bought everything for the gingerbread house, but I don't have the actual house made yet. You may ask, "Why don't you just buy one?" Well I'm a glutton for punishment and I like learning new things, like how to make candy glass for a lake etc.

So that is what's up with me. We're almost done 1/3 of our school year so that's good, though we're not so rushed this year because of moving, I still feel like I need to not take this next week off. Oh my silly, Type-A self!!!

Well I should go and put receipts into our budget program. Another wonderful thing that I looooooove to do!

Have a wonderful weekend and blessed Sabbath!

"Crack"

You're wondering, "What?" Well, tis the season of pumpkin and today I made my first two batches of Pumpkin Squares. When Douglas would take these to work in Washington, they would be gone in an hour. One co-worker called them "Crack Cocaine" because they were so good. They are addicting. And so I give you the pumpkin square recipe. This recipe is from my sister-in-law, Carolyn. I don't know where she got it, but it has revolutionized the Fall at this house. I make at least 4 batches of them every fall.

Pumpkin Squares

½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
14 ounces canned pumpkin
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in sugar then eggs one at a time. Slowly beat in pumpkin. Mix last seven ingredients in a separate bowl and add to first mixture. Stir. Scrape into greased 9X13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Frost with Cream Cheese Icing. Spread over Pumpkin Squares. Chill. This last part is very important as it adds to the addictive factor.

Here's the recipe for Cream Cheese Icing, if you don't already know it.

4 oz. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat Neufchatel cheese, works just as good and you don't have as much guilt)
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smotth. Beat in icing sugar a little at a time.

Again you frost the squares as soon as they are cool then you put them in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Enjoy!

What I Did During My Husband's Absence

Douglas has been gone for almost two weeks and he'll return on Friday night sometime. In the military of today almost all spouses of soldiers will agree that the moment the soldier walks out the door, everything that can go wrong, will. So I will tell you what all happened during these two weeks. Make no mistake, I'm not complaining. I'm actually laughing about it because God is so good and He has made me realize that we are but a blip in the larger scheme of things. What seems so important, is so not important. I think that I've gotten closer to my kids, especially my girls. I've tried so hard to keep my head and not lost my temper about inconsequential things that happen, though I've failed many times as well. I'm pressing on for that goal.

So here goes... the list of things that I did while my husband was gone for 2 weeks.

*Spent freezing cold hours on the soccer field with my son
*Played Wii with my children
*Done puzzles with my kids
*School, School & More School
*Spent 3 1/2 hours at the ER with Eric when he fell down the stairs (see picture above)
*Saw soldiers coming into the ER from "the sandbox" and realized how thankful I am that Landstuhl is there to treat them.
*Spent 7 hours in a car with four kids running errands
*Bought a vacuum cleaner
*Realized that I'm so thankful that Douglas is only gone for 2 weeks!
*Prayed on my face for my children and my days
*Had a wonderful day out with Douglas' Commander's wife. She is someone who is constantly on her knees, praying for others. What a blessing to have that in a military unit.
*Scraped the side of the car at the commissary. Remind me never to be prideful about my vehicle ever again!
*Have to get flu shots for the young ones tomorrow. Praying for no temper tantrums!
*Endured many many temper tantrums from a 3 year old. Oh Lord, how long?
*Drunk coffee and tea
*Talked with friends in the States and Family in Canada. What a blessing technology is!

Just a few things to bore you today. May the Lord bless you as go about your tasks he has given you. May we all greet each day with a focus on God and His tasks for us!

Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, it's fall and it's the second week in October. That means for all of Canada it's Thanksgiving. For Manitobans it means snow! (I'm so sorry it snowed early this year!) As I think about Thanksgiving and family my thoughts turn to the fact that food is so important to us and especially to those of us who are Mennonites. The thought of food and Mennonites brings me to realize with trepidation that my wonderful, albeit non-Mennonite, husband wants Varenekye and farmer sausage for Christmas.

So because of that I've been "neglecting" my children by letting them watch a movie and I've been trying to find out on the internet the name of dry-curd cottage cheese in German. I was told that you can get it here, but I didn't know the name of it. I think I've found it!!!!!! I'll now go out and have to find it in the grocery store. Next on the agenda is the Farmer Sausage. In my research I've also found out that farmer sausage is nothing more that coarse ground pork and salt and pepper (maybe garlic too) in a casing and then smoked. I'll have to figure out if the butcher in our town can do this. I know he has a smoker, so we'll try and figure it out. It makes me excited just thinking about it.

Looking for farmer sausage and Varenekje made go back to a great blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It has wonderful recipes that look really good. So if you are wondering what Mennonites eat, you can see all of the recipes there! (Hint, bread, meat, potatoes, bread, sweets, bread, jam, pickles, bread, cheese, bread).

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Canadians. May the Lord of the harvest bring joy to you and your families!

Thoughts on Chores

I've been stressed out for the last oh 8 weeks or so. Yeah, pretty much since we moved here. Not so much because of what is happening in our home as to how to do what we do in our home. School has started and we've got a rhythm going with that, but there are other aspects to life that I'm stressed/worrying/contemplating etc. I was taught when I was six to clean my room. (I still hate cleaning to this day!) I'm a selfish creature and I would rather read a book than clean. But I also have learned over the years that it is much more enjoyable to get your work done and read a book, than to read a book knowing that the work you had to get done was hanging over your head. In college I would get my papers done long before they were due so that I didn't have them hanging over my head! I'm strange I know.

I don't know if my parents instilled that in me or what. I think it just naturally came out. I remember when we moved to Kentucky, in 1995, I hated that the chore/cleaning day was Saturday. Why Saturday? It is the weekend. So I would clean my room on Friday nights. (I didn't have much of a social life at that point or I would clean quickly when I got home from work/school so that I could go out.) I remember being stubborn and asserting my sinful will and complaining about cleaning. I still do it to this day, though mainly in thoughts, not out loud. Douglas, in his wisdom, while I was pregnant with Megan suggested I do a little each day. I have followed that faithfully since then. It helps me not feel overwhelmed.

So now my oldest children are 8 and 7 and are older than I was when I learned how to clean my room. They clean the bathrooms, they tidy up their rooms (sort of) and I would like them to do a little more. Not so that I have more free time, though that is an added bonus, but so that they learn how to be responsible and so that when they get married their spouses won't think they were lazy bums or helpless. I'm realizing that I have a fight on my hands for I have two children who love their free time as we all do. I'm praying that they would understand that in order to have a happy home they have to help me. Because of the time spent homeschooling (on average 3 hours a day, usually a little less). I need their help to run this home smoothly. So as I contemplate, with the help of Douglas, a new chore system and add to their lives new chores (like folding laundry and picking up the shoes at the door, which I think are not too harsh for an eight year old and a seven year old). I'm asking for prayer for their attitudes and mine. I will have to help them at first. Teaching them how to do things well. I ask for my children's open hearts that are willing to listen to me and the heart of God who asks us to look at the ant in Proverbs. I pray that they would have obedient hearts who are willing to do all things

Cheerfully
With a Hardworking Attitude
Impeccably
Punctually

May my Children have hearts that are obedient and that I may have a patient heart to guide them with kindness and love!

Random Thoughts

I gave Meg a haircut yesterday. I hadn't done it in such a long time. I think she was 2 the last time I gave her one. She desperately needed one and I have not had a chance to find a stylist yet. (I need a haircut too!) So I plopped her in front of a movie (Prince Caspian) and we went to town. It only took me an hour to do. Unfortunately she was not happy that I wanted to take her picture while she was watching so she's scowling. I think it turned out pretty good.