The air is filled with Christmas music. The ads pop up on the computer screens advertising potential gifts. The mail is filled with tantalizing invitations to spend money. All of this is to get us into the swing of the season. Supposedly to bring Christmas joy. The real reason for the season often takes a back seat to all the frenetic frenzy. There is a series called The Chosen that will soon come out with its third season. You can…
Winter weather is just around the corner. I hear whispers of, “Broccoli Cheese Soup” in my brain and belly. Here’s a recipe I found online the other day. I think I’ll try it. Copycat Panera Broccoli Cheddar Soup Servings: 8Ingredients Original recipe yields 8 servings 1 tablespoon butter ½ onion, chopped ¼ cup melted butter ¼ cup all-purpose flour 2 cups milk 2 cups chicken stock 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped broccoli florets 1 cup matchstick-cut carrots 1 stalk celery, thinly sliced 2 ½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese salt and ground black pepper to taste Directions Gather all…
Every fall I decorate with a pumpkin on my porch. This year the squirrels got to it before I did. As you can see they ate a hole in the side and even ate the seeds inside. Guess I’ll have to dig deep in the freezer for pumpkin pulp made from last year for Thanksgiving pies. Have you ever made a pie from a pumpkin? The instructions are below. Pumpkin Pie from Scratch We grow our own pumpkins so I…
I never cease to be amazed at the variety of lies the enemy comes up with concerning abortion. I heard this one the other day that I’d not heard before: A fetus is just a parasite. Hmmm. Really? Someone hasn’t thought this one through. A parasite never attaches to its own species. A fetus (meaning: little human) becomes the same species it is attached to. Another lie: A woman has a right to her own body. This little human…
Leaf Life In the beginning, a tiny budonly a bump on a branch,my friends and I. Soon became full-blown leavesproviding shading shadowson hot days to a nearby home. In fall, our foliage morfedto brilliant reds and yellows—my friends floated to the earth. I clung to the branchuntil, I too, joined the others,no longer able to clap praise to our Creator. We lay listless until strong windsscattered us in scurrying swirls.Then we were raked into orderly piles,sucked into a dark tube,mangled…
A friend and I remised the other day about the funny things our children did. I told her this story. My youngest daughter, Sara, loved butter. In fact, she loved not only butter but every kind of oil. If I left the butter too near the edge of the table, one-and-a-half-year-old Sara would toddle by and swipe her finger through the butter dish for a healthy dose. By the time she was two, she’d figured out how to unscrew lids….
I found a recipe online the other day and decided to try it. It’s yummy so I want to share it with you. Cook it in a Dutch oven or a large skillet. Skillet Bread Recipe Ingredients 2 Cups Warm Water 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast 1 Tablespoon Sugar 6 Tablespoons Salted Butter, Melted & cooled to room temperature 2 teaspoons Salt 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour 3 1/2 Cups Bread Flour Instructions In a large bowl, combine water, yeast,…
This is 1/3 of my fig crop this year. It’s been a long time coming. A friend gave me a start. After a year it came up. Then the deer ate it to the ground. Round two. I thought it was dead, but mid-summer it sprouted and managed to set on three figs. I ate the first one. A few days later this one ripened. I took this picture, then ate it. If I’m lucky, the deer won’t eat it…
As fall looms on the horizon, the bees know they have to make every minute count. Soon winter will be here and they and their fellow sister bees will be clustered in a tight clump in the frigid hive. The cold girls will work their way into the center where it’s warmer and closer to the food they’ve stored. When they are warm, they make room for the colder bees. You may ask, where are the males (drones). They’ve been…
With all the rain this summer, the mint around the patio took over everything. In order to rescue the strawberry plants, I bought this fancy pot and transplanted some for safekeeping. After about six weeks, they have taken hold and are doing well. They are everbearing. I wonder if I might get some fall strawberries. Do any of you have a pot like this? Do you take it in in winter?
For the longest time this year I didn’t think I’d harvest any beets. They finally came up. This is the biggest one. Over a pound! Very delicious. I planted a second crop for fall, but that’s when the rain stopped. None of that planting came up. Well, there’s always next year!