Tuesday Evenings

There's a lot of joy sitting around this table. I never laugh so much as when our young moms group (well, at least they are younger than me by quite a bit!) gets together on Tuesday evenings. Don't get me wrong, they have all the normal ups and downs and when we share our stories, there are plenty of hard bits. But when Aimee starts in on... (well, maybe I'd better not say what Aimme starts in on), we cannot stop giggling! I love the time with these dear girls.

Ready for Christmas

I have to admit, I have come into this Christmas season with less than my normal enthusiasm. Maybe it is because last year at this time I was elatedly preparing for 2 grand-girls and all of my kids home for Christmas time. What joy! Or maybe it's just that Christmas shopping is not quite so fun when you are watching you pennies. Or could be the phone call last week to find out Aaron and Jessica can't make it home for Christmas.

After a few days of pouting, I had a thought. Perhaps like peeling back the layers of an onion, this is God's way of peeling back all the things I think I need to make a Christmas. Maybe I should remember to be thankful for God's enormous gift of our savior and hope, real hope.

Don't misunderstand. I've still got the tree up and a list of cookies to bake, presents to wrap and a bright painted sign to welcome home our Ani, Brian & Laurel. But I'm hopeful, I have a more tender heart to God's great, glorious gift. God is good.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving has come and gone. The dishes are all washed and back in the cupboards. Turkeys and pilgrims are packed away for another year. There is just a smidge of cranberry sauce moldering in the fridge. But the thankfulness I've known this month lingers.

I'm thankful first for my Larry--with me through thick and thin--and there have been a lot a thicks and thins in the last couple years. I'm thankful for the joyful, lovely wedding of Ani and Brian last winter and the romantic engagement in a medieval garden in Spain of Aaron and Jessica. I'm thankful for visits with Micah, Jodi & girls both in China and CA-- and for our 7 uproarious weeks with Charlotte in the house. I'm thankful Laurel is sitting on our sofa right now-- "photojojo-ing" and waiting for dinner together. I'm thankful back to parents I can still admire and the wonderful childhood they gave us. For a job I'm happy to go to, for Monday night friends who share my life, for my adorable MOPS girls, for afternoon walks and meals with friends. I'm thankful for God's presence in my life that never lets me down. How could I not be thankful?

Orange Rolls

Orange rolls first crossed my path in a book. Edith Schaffer in Tapestry describes rolling up orange rolls in the kitchen of her Swiss chalet for tea/coffee with friends. Once I found this recipe, they became our family favorite, especially at Thanksgiving time. We made a pan this week in Ani's SF kitchen for our bedtime tea

--so much warm, orangey goodness.

ORANGE ROLLS

1 package yeast

1 cup warm milk (120-130 degrees)

(warmed 1 minute in the microwave)

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 tab. canola oil

1 egg

3 1/2 cups flour

Mix this all up and turn into a glass bowl that has been sprayed with pam. Cover with a damp towel and put into a warm oven for 1 hour 15 minutes (I turn the oven to 350 degrees while I'm mixing the dough for 2 minutes to warm the oven and then turn it off and it's ready to go).

Let the dough rise and meanwhile make the filling:

5 tab melted butter or margarine

2/3 cup sugar

grated peel of one orange

Mix butter, sugar & orange peel all together. Then when the dough is risen roll it out into a long rectangle about 10" tall and 24" wide. Spread the orange sugar mixture over the dough and roll it down into a 24" tube. Cut 12 rolls and space them evenly in a 9x13" pan sprayed with Pam. There might be a little space between the rolls. Put them back in the oven covered with the damp towel and let them rise 45 minutes more.

Take off the towel (I missed this step at Ani's and scorched her towel-ugh!) and then bake the rolls at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

While they are still warm drizzle on the glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tab orange juice

Delectable eaten warm from the oven with a mug of tea. Also good passed though the toaster the next morning for breakfast.

Thanksgiving 2010

Laurel's 1st grade turkey and Ani's pilgrims are on the fridge so I know that Thanksgiving is imminent. And now I have no kids at home to fill in the "Thankful Heart Chart" with me (I miss you Laurel!), so we're making them at school. Kids draw in their parents, their pets, their DSI games and lots of pizza pics... There is a lot of gratitude swirling around that room these days. I've been looking over the 25+ Thankful Heart Charts I have from years past, from Costa Rica to Spain to California. I was reminded to be thankful for donuts, hot showers, music, libraries, calculators, grandparents and, of course, friends from over the years. Hundreds of little pictures drawn by the 6 Sittigs, reminders of God's hand of goodness to us. I remain thankful.

Pumpkin Brownies

I love these things! It's the recipe you forget about most of the year, but then comes November and you pick up a can of pumpkin at the grocery and suddenly remember--OH! Pumpkin Brownies! They are the ultimate fall baking treat. Or maybe I just love them because the recipe is from my beloved Aunt Mary Ann.

PUMPKIN BROWNIES

Bottom layer:

1/2 cup butter (or canola oil)

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Mix all the ingredients together and spread into a 8x8" (or slightly larger) pan sprayed with Pam.

Top layer:

8 oz. cream cheese

2 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

2 tab. flour

3/4 tsp. vanilla

5 tab. margarine

With a electric mixer blend the ingredients together until smooth. Pour over the pumpkin layer and swirl the two layers with a knife until it looks marbled together.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (do not under bake)

Serve in small squares or in larger portions with ice cream and caramel sauce for a full on dessert. A plateful of fall ready to enjoy!

PS- the pumpkin pie spice at Trader Joe's is less expensive and a great blend of fall spices. I use in place of straight cinnamon in lots of recipes.

Ready

I just received this email from a close friend who is in the middle of chemotherapy. Her trust in God strengthens my belief. And she sent me this quote.

"No one warns which days will forever change our lives. No one wakes us that morning and says, 'This day will require you have an unwavering trust in the sovereignty of God. This day you'll need to be prepared with all truth'." --Swindoll

So we must live "ready," intentional about who God is and what we believe. Because hard times will come. And God alone is our help.