Reformation Day Recipe

We celebrate Reformation Day at my church. October 31 is the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, which was a major catalyst in the revival God was bringing about in the 1600s. I often wonder if God didn't plan for it to be on the 31st just so Christians could have something worthwhile to celebrate on this day... : )

Tonight is our traditional Reformation Day Church Dinner, and I'll be bringing some pumpkin cookies for dessert. They really are cookies, but they're very cake-y and don't smooth out in the oven like other drop cookies do. Hence, they got officially dubbed "Pumpkin Lumpkins". You can leave the chocolate chips out if you want. (I like them, but everyone else says they'd like them better without.)

Pumpkin Lumpkins
yields about 7 dozen

1 cup transfat-free crisco (yes,.. I used crisco. I'm sorry.)
3/4 cup white sugar (yes,... I used that too. Sorry again.)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2 cups whole wheat flour (I won't use white)
2 cups oat flour (grind oatmeal really well to measure this much)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
1 cup chocolate chips, optional. You could use raisins if you wanted.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets.

Cream together the shortening and sugars until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. in another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Stir this into the pumpkin mixture. Fold in chocolate chips, if using.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown slightly and the bottoms are golden brown.

Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Dependence

Yesterday we got a note on our door from the water company telling us that we needed to be prepared to have our water turned off. But it might be today, or it might be Monday. And we can't tell you what time we'll turn it off... And we don't know how long it may be off (if we turn it off). So, draw yourself some extra water (before 9 am!- that's important, of course), turn off your water heater, if you leave the house, be sure all your faucets are off, and ... have a nice day. If you have any questions, feel free to contact yada yada yada.

Needless to say, our water was not turned off, and we did everything they told us to (well, we left the water heater on) and we'll probably do this all again on Monday. And they may not even turn it off then!

Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to rely on "them" for all of our stuff? Wouldn't it be nice to just grow our own food, bake our own bread, make our own clothes, teach our own schoolchildren, gather our own eggs, milk our own cows, power and heat our own houses, have water from our own well, and not have to be so dependent?

Everyone is dependent on something, even the most "liberated", independent-minded free spirits out there. The difference is- on what are you dependent? You can be dependent on society, government-- other people, our you can be dependent on the all-sufficient God of the universe. But the best part is: you can (and should) depend on God even if you do still have to run to the grocery store and deal with fickle water companies.

"Great is Thy faithfulness." ~Lamentations 3:23

"Unspeakable Consolation"

"Learn to sing unto Him a new song, to despair of yourself, and to say to Him, 'Thou, Lord Jesus Christ, art my righteousness, and I am Thy sin. Thou hast taken what was mine and hast given me what was Thine. What Thou wast not, Thou didst become, in order that I might become what I was not.' Beware ... of pretending to such purity as no longer to confess yourself a sinner; for Christ dwells only with sinners. He came down from heaven, where He was living among the righteous, in order to live also among sinners. Meditate carefully upon this love of Christ, and you will taste all its unspeakable consolation. If our labors and afflictions could give peace to the conscience, why should Christ have died? You will not find peace, save in Him, by despairing of yourself and of your works and in learning with what love He opens His arms to you, taking all your sins upon Himself and giving thee all His righteousness."

~Martin Luther (emphasis mine)

pp. 49-50, The Triumph of Truth: a life of Martin Luther
Jean Henri Merle d'Aubigne
Bob Jones University Press, 1996

Matthew is One!

My littlest baby brother is one year old!
(You can see the cream cheese frosting (recipe below) on his "muffcake". That's a muffin we pretended was a cupcake.)

Honey-Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

My very own almost-good-for-you icing...

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened
6 tablespoons honey
1 tesaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons dry milk powder

Blend together cream cheese and butter in mixer on high speed for 2-3 minutes till it is creamy and smooth. Drizzle in honey and vanilla. Add dry milk powder and continue to beat until the milk powder is worked in and there are no lumps.
Chill for about 30 minutes before using.

Serve on your favorite carrot cake recipe, and enjoy!

Kindred Spirits

I just "met" Kelly and Andrea, aka "Professional Daughters". Two more blogging buddies! (Notice the similar format of our blogs... great minds think alike!)

A simple click on "aprons" in my profile turned up two new friends for me. God moves in mysterious ways... even on Blogger!

Now I need to go introduce myself.

I've been a newbie on ebay...

...what's the word for a first-time blogger?? Whatever it is, that's me. I've toyed around with the idea of a blog before (mainly because I so enjoy reading Amy's) and have even been known to compose a virtual blog post in my head before... so it's only natural that I take this official leap into the blogosphere.

The title of my blog describes my enthusiasm for home and home life. If it has to do with homekeeping, I like it. And as much as I hate to admit it, I like Martha Stewart. I don't like her business policies, but I have to say I like her style and her ideas!

So far I've got sewing, crochet, knitting, cooking, and child care under my belt, and I'm polishing up on my organizing and cleaning routines and ever learning about nutrition and natual remedies. Come spring I have to work on a better garden (so far it's been cursed earth:2, me:0).
My newest endeavor is in soap/toothpaste/lip balm/shampoo making.

An added bonus: If I find any really good recipes I'll post them here.

See ya 'round!