At the juncture of the Christmas season and family celebrations lies a potential treasure of tradition. Old handwritten recipes carefully written by a long-gone grandmother are resurrected as you prepare her memorable dish. The holidays are a season of fondly recalling prior Christmas memories while building new ones to cherish. Nothing remains static or stays the same. Life moves forward like a living mural, transporting memories and traditions and creating something new. Traditions are fluid—they only seem static from a distance.
Category: Food/Entertaining
About Being Grateful
Shifting to an attitude of gratitude keeps us focused on what we have. I think it also helps us believe in the abundance all around us and pull more of those good things into our lives. I know I need a reminder every once in a while, so as we rock our way into the holidays, it seems like a good time to share some of my favorite gratitude tips.
Did You Know Cranberries Float?
Mary Clare, my oldest granddaughter who is now 9 and has been making cranberry relish for years, recently reflected: “Oh yes, that’s the best part of making cranberries because they float even though you don’t expect them to.”
Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner
Invite family and friends over, make the old-fashioned turkey dinner and top it off with the perfect pumpkin pie. This menu offers all the parts you’ll need without being so full of vegetables, pies and extra work that you’ll have to start on it a week ahead. Additionally, I’ve included the timetable here so even a novice cook can have everything come out on time.
Blessed to be Content
At its core, this is really what the Best-Life Project is about. Realizing what you want and being happy with it. When we know what we want our future to be, it helps us make decisions today that move us toward that end goal. Ten years from now, even two years from now, my vision for my future may change. I may be tired of dealing with workers and customers. I may want to travel more. But for today, I’m good.
Creative Zucchini Recipes
Last week I got a text message from a friend asking me if I’d like some zucchini. How could I turn that down? He brought me a grocery sack full of his fresh, home-grown zucchini. The only problem is, I am married to a man who thinks he doesn’t like zucchini. So, I searched for ways to use the zucchini that were not obviously zucchini.
Lemon-Themed Dinner Party
By doing all the prep work in the morning, and getting back to everything else about an hour before your guests arrive, you should have time for a nice rest or other projects.
St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Party Menu
The day of the party, make the Dark Chocolate Guinness Cake with Bailey’s Icing. Start with the cake. You do not want to serve it hot as it will melt the icing. This makes it a good choice for baking earlier in the day. One note on the recipe. It says to butter and line the springform pan (also known as a cheesecake pan), but the recipe doesn’t say what to line it with. I checked other similar recipes and they did not suggest lining the pan. I buttered it, but didn’t line it. It worked fine. I suggest making the cake in the morning and the frosting later, early afternoon. Once frosted, I put the cake in the refrigerator so the frosting sets up. As the recipe indicates, the frosting should look like the froth on a glass of Guinness. So, just spread it over the top. Bring it back to room temperature before serving.
Casita Marita Dinner Party Lottery
When I first moved to Lubbock, I literally cried to Chuck that I didn’t know enough people to have a dinner party. Now, 8+ years later, I have so many friends, I cannot fit them all around my limited dining space. I realized that I wasn’t hosting the parties, that are a big part of who I am, because I didn’t want to leave anyone out—but I couldn’t fit everyone in.
Team Faith
Our paster did an interesting take on the typical Hebrews 11 “hall of faith.” He addressed an oft overlooked participant in the hall of faith: The People. I’m not going to give you the whole sermon here, though you could go and watch it. But he left us with this challenge: “How will your faith…