Indian Summer

This is what Conner did during "Indian Summer"

What do you think?  Pretty dapper in his glasses, am I right?

Oh my goodness it is absolutely heavenly here.  I mean it was so warm saturday and sunday I was outside without a jacket!!!  I think it was in the sixties, can you imagine it's November and we're outside running around like it's May?  I know the ick and snow is coming so this was wonderful it felt like such a huge blessing to be outside and using the new swing set.  We used the opportunity to get the leaves bagged up and then I did the yearly climb to the roof to clean out the gutters (Brian is afraid of heights and I kind of like the challenge).  The part that scares me the most is the climbing off the roof it's just a little frightening taking that first step onto the ladder.

Hunter got his glasses Friday and every one says he looks totally cute.  He's been really good about keeping on them his face so maybe he can tell that he's seeing better.  When you get a new eye prescription everything looks weird Hunter dealt with this by stomping around the office, falling down (on purpose) and totally entertaining everyone there.

Here's a question for you what do you do with a kid who starts punishing himself?  Saturday Brian was in the shower and I was laying in bed trying to get up when I heard Hunter say "Dad, I'm in the naughty chair!" he kept calling him until Brian went to him "dad I ripped that" pointing to a envelope "so I'm in the naughty chair." And then today he had two accidents he looks at me after the second shrugs his shoulders and says "Oh well, no wii." (which is his punishment if you wee in your pants then no wii for the rest of the day).  It's pretty funny, although, the accidents themselves are getting old.  Hunter loves the show Kipper the dog.  Kipper is an english dog and today Hunter comes up to me and says "I'm packing to go on holiday." I thought that was hilarious!!  What would Hunter take on "holiday": a wooden box, a stuffed bear, a red mat, one cymbal and one maraca.

Canning

This apple was huge!!!  And look at these cute helpers, they kept sneaking apples out of the pot when my back was turned.

Isn't my red dutch oven thingy so pretty and fall looking?

Finished product, I used those tongs to get them out of the water, it worked but not well I totally stuck my finger into boiling water.

I did it I canned something successfully!!!  Oh I can see how canning could become totally addictive especially with the right tools (which I did not have).  I made my holiday spice apple sauce out of some awesome and huge apples from Gull Meadow Farms, but since it's homemade I wanted it to keep and thought hey why not try canning?  My only other attempt years ago was a disaster but this worked out great.  I love that little "ping" when the seal took to the jars.

The secret to my holiday spice apple sauce is the right kind of apples (spys and jonathans) cinnamon, sugar and cloves (just a bit a little cloves goes a long long way) yummy.  It's like a grown up version of apple sauce although, my kids liked it too.

Pie

Today I made pie. I love pie I think that is the principal reason that I finally buckled down and went through the hell it is to learn to make pie crust. I don't care what pillsbury says there is something off about their crust. My Grammy has always been the alfa pie maker in our family followed closely by my Aunt Debbie, who, I'm told, once spent two days in the kitchen making and throwing out pie crusts until she got it right (I also imagine there was a lot of swearing going on during those two days) but she like me was able to look into the future and think that someday someone else beside Grammy would need to know how to make a decent pie (not to be dramatic or morbid). Also as good as Grammies pies are, I like pie so much that in order to get my fill I had to learn to make it myself because there are never enough family get-togethers to warrant getting Grammy to make me enough pie. Plus this gives me a skill that makes cool and invaluable to my dad and sisters.


My favorite pie is raspberry, which has two crusts and tons of raspberries which are more expensive then gold at the grocery store.  Grammy always made me at least one a summer (my Grandpa had raspberry bushes) and would cut my first initial out of the top crust so it could vent.  Oh mama there is nothing better tasting in the entire world then a warm piece of raspberry pie with vanilla ice cream!!  I went years without getting a raspberry pie, then last summer my dad and I discovered wild berries where they live while Grammy was visiting; jackpot!!  I managed to get one this summer as well.  After raspberry it's hard to choose between dutch apple, pumpkin (my sister heather's favorite), pecan (my mom's favorite) peanut butter (my dad's favorite or is his favorite key lime?)...Oh how I love pie!!

Luckily, or not depending on how you look at it, my husband does not like pie (I think it's lucky or I would weigh a lot more) so I only make them if I'm having company.  Today is a potluck at church and I always sign up to bring desert (because beyond pie I love dessert and baking in general) so since it's fall and my fridge is full of apples I am taking apple and pumpkin.

below is my recipe for pie crust, it's a good tasting recipe as long as you use the off brand crisco because it still has trans-fats which must make the crust light and flaky.  Since crisco changed their recipe their crusts are horribly tough.  Some things are just better with a little trans-fat.  I wish I could say that you will never have problems with a pie crust if you follow these instructions but it's just not true.  You will swear and stomp your feet as your learning and you will piece crusts together (at least I still do) but I think it is well worth the pain.  You will be an enigma if you make your own crust, I'm pretty sure I'm one of like only three people my age that can make a pie crust.  Don't worry about how it looks at first it's the taste that really matters I've been making them for four or five years now and mine are only just now becoming consistently pretty.  And remember the number one rule is don't over work it, stir it less then you think you should.

Simple Pastry
makes one 9 inch double crust pie
2 1/2 Cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick of butter chilled
1/2 Cup vegetable shortening
1 egg
1 Tbs vinegar

In a food processor (if your lucky enough to have one) or with a pastry blender or your fingers combine the flour salt butter and shortening until you get crumbs that are about the size of peas (don't over think it).  Break the egg into a measuring cup and beat in the vinegar add enough cold water to equal 1/2 cup.  Stir into flour mixture until a soft dough forms (don't over stir you will still have flour hanging out on its own on the bottom of the bowl). Divide dough in half wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk, refrigerate for at least one hour. (The vinegar and refrigerating will make it a little easier to work with and roll out, and allow you to store the crust if you only use one half; you can store the other in the fridge for a couple days or in a plastic bag in the freezer for three months, partially thaw before rolling it out.)


I have a theory that a persons favorite pie can tell you a lot about their personality.  I'm sweet, a little tart and full of crazy (the seeds), so what about you are you spicy and warm like pumpkin, a little nutty like pecan or just plain weird and alien by not liking pie at all?  Let's see if my pie personality idea is correct.

A True Tale of Two Sisters

Luke 10:41-42
"'Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better'"
Where do I even begin?  I have read this story in the gospel a thousand times and every time it just rubs me the wrong way.  I am a Martha, I think I have been a Martha from the womb.  I totally connect and understand Martha in this story and I've always been, if I can be frank, a little annoyed with Jesus and his response to her.  Let me just say I'm pretty sure Martha was the oldest, any of you out there that are the oldest girl in your family will know what I am talking about.  I have two sisters one of which in particular is a Mary with no hint of Martha in her at all.  I know exactly how Martha was feeling as she peeled potatoes, set the table and got ready for all of these guests in her house.  My blood pressure actually goes up while I imagine her getting more and more angry that her baby sister is just sitting there not doing a darn thing to help.  I mean "hello, can you not see Martha doing all the work!!!  At least get up and put the stupid plates on the table."  So here is my journey through this passage (with a little help from Beth Moore and the Holy Spirit).

John 11:5 tells us that Jesus loved them both.  Now going back to my sibling problem I can see this turning into a Jesus loved Mary more thing, and no that is not what is going on here at all.  As a mother there are times when I have to reprimand one of my children, it doesn't mean I love the other one more.  And let's keep in mind that Martha is the one that invited Jesus in, not her brother not Mary.  It is the Martha's of this world that think to do those kind of things, she was not bad.  This passage is not about good vs. bad it is about good vs. better.  Oswald chambers wrote: "The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough.  The good is always the enemy of the best." It took me a while to wrap my brain around what he was saying, I think what he was saying was; doing something that is good can often distract and keep us from doing what we are really suppose to be doing.  Let me use an example from my life, I like a clean organized house with three little ones, a dog, and a husband running around it takes a lot of time to keep it this way.  There is nothing wrong with a clean home in fact it can help keep us healthy and keep our stuff from getting broken, but all too often I find my answers to Hunter's pleas for my attention as "not now I'm busy, not now I have to get these dishes done."  Having a clean home is good, and Hunter learning to play and entertain himself is good too but one day he will be grown, I know that what is more important than a clean house is a relationship with my son.  Sometimes I have to let the dishes pile up and the beds go unmade in order to do what's best.

"Sometimes ministry can be the biggest distraction to the pursuit of true intimacy with God.  God's Word is saying that if we're not careful, even our need-meeting, well-meaning ministries can distract us from what is most important."  I think that this is one of our biggest dangers as women, we are wired to take care of things, that is why women are mothers and not fathers; if something happened to me the children's nails would never get cut, the toilet paper would never get replaced and the clothes would never get put in the dressers.  Likewise I'm sure we could each think of at least one thing that would not get done in our church buildings and for our church services if we women just didn't do it.  But these things are not the same as having a relationship with Jesus.  Service is important James says "faith without works is dead" but it is not the same as sitting down and spending time with the Lord.   Remember "if Satan can't make us bad he'll make us busy."

The issue with Martha wasn't that she was preparing a meal for the Lord "the issue is that she continued all her duties when the time came to sit at Christ's feet and listen." I am so glad the Beth Moore brought this up because one of the things I really hate is when people don't prepare properly for something in a church service and then act like they were doing the Spirit a favor by giving him extra "room" to work.  God is NOT honored by procrastination or laziness, of course there will be times when the Spirit moves you away from something you worked hard on, but he isn't asking you to not work, more often he will bless your hard work by working through that.  The word preparation has the beginning "pre" this means before.  The work is to be done before not during, there is a time to work and a time to sit.  Why is it that we know we need the Lord but when we get super busy and stressed the first thing to go is our time with him?  It's as if we're saying "yes you created me and saved me but you understand how busy I am let's reschedule." Well I had a very very close friend, we practically lived with each other during high school but when we got to college she couldn't say no to other people.  That meant that if we had something planned but one of her more "needy" friends had hurt feelings, or a bad day our thing would get called off.  At first I liked that we were that close and comfortable with each other; that we knew each others needs and I truly didn't want to make her life more stressful but after a while I began to wonder did she not want to spend time with me?  I clearly wasn't as important to her as every one else and I got tired of always making the first move, eventually we spent less and less time together and now we barely even talk on the phone.  Let us make sure that that is not how we treat our Lord!

One last thing, the scriptures don't tell us if Martha ever actually asked for help, maybe she did but I'm thinking she was thinking "I shouldn't have to ask" because that is exactly what I would be thinking.  You know sometimes we should ask for help, I'm guessing most of our husbands and most of the Marys we know would help they just need a little more direction and prodding.  My Grammy always says "many hands make light work" that is true.

There is nothing wrong with being a "Martha" within the correct parameters.  Lazarus was the head of the house, Mary, the depth of the house, but it was the hands of the house that invited Jesus in.  Otherwise Mary wouldn't have had a set of feet at which to sit and Lazarus wouldn't have had a friend with which to recline.  Jesus wants our service but he wants our hearts more.  Right priorities will never choose us, we must choose "Mary has chosen what is better."  Let us not allow good to become the enemy of our best.

email problems

I thought that when I published a new post that it was sending everyone in my email list something that said "jessie has published a new post" with a link, I just found out that it is actually sending my post to your inbox.  This feels really pushy and forward to me I am so sorry I had no idea that was happening.  I am going to ask a friend how she manages things like that I don't know if it's even possible to change it but please know I am working on the problem.  My friend who let me know this was happening told me that sometimes she doesn't get the entire post like pictures and videos and stuff and lets be honest that's the most exciting part.  If you don't want my posts clogging up your inbox I totally understand just email me and I will take your address off the list, (this will not hurt my feelings) if you like getting them in your inbox then enjoy until further notice.

Meanwhile back at the homestead...
The leaves are falling down like crazy and when it's not raining (which is like two days in the last week, do we live in Seattle or something) it is beautiful.

This is what it looked like when I started raking

Every time I turned around this one was chewing on leaves, yummy!

Mom you have a leaf in your hair!

awww aren't they cute

This is why I had kids to do the work!!

And this is what it looked like three hours later when Brian got home!!!

Nacho Chicken & Rice Wraps

Today's dinner is brought to you by the Campbell's Classic Recipes book.  Today we are having Nacho Chicken & Rice Wraps which you make in the crock pot.  I'm not sure why I feel the need to tell you about my crock pot recipes except that it is just so rewarding to do a little work in the morning and have a hot yummy dinner ready in the evening with hardly any mess!  I had to thaw the chicken in the microwave and didn't notice that I forgot to plug in the crock pot so I turned it up to high for a couple of hours hopefully it will catch up.  Below is the recipe (with my additions and tweaks of course).


2 Cans Campbell's condensed nacho cheese soup (they call for regular cheddar cheese soup but I find this has more flavor)
1 Cup of Water
2 Cups of Salsa (I use medium and the Meijers all natural thick and chunky which is one of the best salsas I've had in a long long time, but if your wimpy then use mild)
1 1/4 cups uncooked regular long-grain brown rice (I think this means not minute I hope so or this won't be ready until saturday and you could use white too it's just not as healthy)
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used three big ones) cut into cubes
10 flour tortillas (10 inch)
In a slow cooker combine soup, water, salsa, rice and chicken.  Cover and cook on low 7 to 8 hours or until chicken and rice are done.  Spoon about one cup rice mixture down center of each tortilla.  Fold opposite sides of tortilla over filling,  Roll up from bottom.  Cut each wrap in half.

I just now looked over and noticed that the dog was trying to bury a piece of gross raw chicken I gave him in the couch cushions; dogs are so gross!!  I mean really ranger, did you think I wouldn't notice the smell of rotting chicken in a couple of weeks?

So what do you think?  She's a little taller but they sure make a cute couple.

So yesterday Maddie (the little girl I babysit for) said the funniest thing.  She leaned way in to Hunter and said "Hunter I want you to listen carefully to what I say, don't understand me...I want to marry you because I love you very much." Oh my gosh!! could the two of them be any cuter?  Hunter was watching Clifford the Big Red Dog and it got to his favorite part (the speckles story) he pumped his arm in the air like he was watching a game and went "yah a speckles story" in this high squeaky voice.  Oh man for as much as they make me want to scream they sure do make me laugh.

A Cottage in the Snowy Woods

Tahquameonan Falls is Beautiful even in the rain

I know I promised photos from the UP and you may just get your wish because today I want to talk about living in the city vs. the woods.  I know that the UP and this topic don't necessarily go hand-in-hand but I believe the reason that this is on my mind is because I was just in the upper peninsula and well it is one of the prettiest places on earth, more on that later.

Ok so lately I've been dreaming about living in the country.  My parents always talked about this when we were kids, how they wanted a house in the country, and I always thought they were crazy; who cares where your house is right?  Well now I am older and wiser and more tired and frankly a little peace and quiet would be oh so nice.  Now I don't want God to think that I'm second guessing his blessing for us in this house because I'm not.  Brian and I wanted to live in town, the last house we had was way out in nowheresville but was not quiet (we had a highway on one side and a turnpike on the other) and was not dark because of the street lights.  We also had our car broken into because of people coming off the turnpike, plus there were no trees just corn fields.  So we lived way out in the country with none of the perks and all of the hassle (no pizza delivery namely).

All that being said there are great things about where we live.  First of all I love our house, it's small and the kitchen is way too small the bathroom still needs to be re-done and I'll have to paint next spring, but I love it.  It's a good size for us and has loads of character, our living room floor is wood and shines so nicely.  We have a fenced in yard and great neighbors who look out for us love our kids and come over to visit.  It's nice having tree lined streets and sidewalks to go down with the dog.  When I do walk the dog people are so friendly (there is something about a floppy eared dog that black, white, old, young, middle and lower class all love).  There are a couple of parks within walking distance (one that they are redoing as we speak) and some really nice ones within driving distance.  And if I am in the middle of baking and discover that I'm out of butter (this happens way too frequently) I can run to the store...

But maybe if you grow up in the woods it gets in your blood and you just can't seem to really thrive if your not in the trees.  There is that smell of pine and the soft way it feels under your feet.  The way the wind whispers through the tree tops, the sound of a creek gurgling happily.  The deer that roam into your yard, the occasional fox and oh the birds!!  I discovered I wanted to be a writer in the woods behind my house as a kid.  There was this tree that leaned out across the creek and I would lay on it on my stomach and watch the water go past and think how magical it all was, especially when the snow was beginning to melt, it just looked exactly like Narnia should look.  I took Brian there last summer, it was sad that it wasn't mine any more.

I know what I want and I'm willing to wait, I understand once the kids are in school living in town will be a lot more convenient, nothing huge just a bit bigger then the house we have now.  It will be nestled in the woods next to a small lake that I can kayak on.  It will have a bigger bedroom for Brian and I so that we can have a real bed with a head board.  The bathroom is going to have a footed tub and there will also be a half bath for those times when you need a second toilet (I do have a second toilet now but it's just in the laundry room right out in open; isn't that funny)?  A front porch in the front and a three seasons type room in the back.  A sewing room with tons of light where I can have everything organized and not have to put the sewing machine away every time the creative bug hits me (if your interested in seeing the perfect sewing room check out posiegetscozy.com).  And the kitchen will be bigger!  Big enough for a dishwasher and table and chairs.  And last but not least I would really like a fire place to curl up in front of during the winter.  I know it's crazy and I am happy with what I have now but I can dream can't I...I think it's worse right now too because I have this "Currier and Ives" vision of a quiet snow covered forest that I can cross country ski in and it would be so hushed so quiet.  My life is filled with lots of noise and I'm sure that you totally miss it once the kids are gone, but for now I'll dream of a quiet home filled with the smell of gingerbread and a lake right outside my window.