tradition

it used to be that when one of our children turned 13, we celebrated it like no other birthday--its the milestone of becoming a teenager and being given more adultlike privileges (and responsibility--shhhh).

as the children have gotten older and particularly with divorce, it has been hard to keep up with tradition. the boys' celebrations haven't ever been as elaborate as the girls' have been but there is always a celebration for everyone--a passage of rites, so to speak.

for the girls, it is a time to start the big girl things.....13 is the year for make-up, nail polish and pierced ears.....and all on the same day. the day calls for all girls in the family over the age of 13 to participate in coffee, facials, manis and pedis, ear piercings, eyebrow waxings, and lunch.

this is autumn's year and since reagan was the only one left under 13, autumn decided she wanted her to come too. it was very difficult to find a time when ALL the adult sisters could make it ALL at the same time. well, we actually didn't even get THAT. we had all the sisters for one part or another. what a lesson in being flexible and grateful for what we do have and the time we DO get to spend together.

only 1 more 13th birthday to celebrate.

hot fudge sauce

i came upon this recipe so innocently. honest.

i was trying my best to cook more healthy. and found this amazing set of books. i think i have mentioned them before....the Sue Gregg Eating Better Cookbooks.

well...there are some healthy ones in there and then there's this little gem

this is ALWAYS requested for birthdays that include ice cream (we have several who don't like cake--go figure)

and....it calls for fructose. i buy fructose and keep it on hand for this recipe....and this one alone.

i have tried making it with sugar and it just doesn't work.

try it

you'll see. it is so good. it gets real thick and gooey once its on ice cream.

it's love at first bite.

hot fudge sauce

• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 or 2 - 1 oz squares unsweetened chocolate (to taste)
• 1/3 c. crystalline fructose
• 1/2 c. evaporated milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

In saucepan melt butter and chocolate over very low heat. Whisk in fructose and milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla

YUMMO!

twenty three.

i can not think of this day or this boy  man without seeing the mercy of god. i love this guy so much, sometimes it makes my heart hurt.  i am so incredibly proud of him and all that he has walked through. Jordan is probably the most like me of all my children.  he has such a love for life and truth and god.  he has always wanted more and more of whatever god had for him.  i remember one time, after sunday school.  i think he was about 5 or 6.  his teachers looked for us after church to tell us how jordan blew the rest of the class away with his knowledge of the bible and the depth in which he 'got' it.  it surely didn't come from us.  we drilled them all, yes, but for the revelation he had at such a young age....only god.

jordan has walked through many years of having an angry mom....and lots of that anger was directed at him...because this mama didn't like herself very much, she was determined to not have any children like her....how sad. for him and for me.  it breaks my heart that for years, i didn't allow him to be what and who god created him to be.  years of beating submission into him...literally and figuratively

but god

god knew what it would take for me AND for jordan to turn to him with our whole hearts.....it has been a bumpy road....a hard one.  and we have come out on the other side.  and we are great friends.  i love that.

i love that jordan and i can talk for HOURS about scripture or a movie or a book...to get to the bottom of its true message.  we debate most of the time :)  but we both love a good debate.....

jordan has had several prophetic words spoken over him through the years....one was that he wouldn't walk with god...he would run.  i so see that in him...the other one is that he is a pied piper.....and boy.  does that describe him.  he never meets a stranger and is ready to jump into whatever game any group, anywhere may be playing at any time....and he is determined to win...and usually does.  and he draws others to him with his smile and sense of humor.

this year, he graduated from college.  he was the only child of ours that was home schooled all the way through high school and he has done an incredible job of working his way through college and holding down a job leading the youth in church and as a worship team player.

today, i think back on that itsy bitsy baby handed to me....a son...the oldest boy........who knew...that this man would {by the age of 23} have served on the mission field, would be a great writer, could play a musical instrument....who has journeyed so far....physically and spiritually....?

who knew that this young man that i call jordy boy would grow up to be such an amazing man of god....running after god, to have a hold of all god has for him?

god did.

i am so thankful for this man....that god allowed me to have him and through my mistakes has redeemed what i and the enemy tried to steal.

Happy Birthday, Jordan!   we love you!!!!

lasagna dinner

Birthday dinners--we could have 12 of them throughout the year, and that's if we just took care of our immediate family.  when our children were young and the birthday parties were  {figuratively and literally} eating our lunch, we came up with a new plan.  every other year, the children could have the big, blowout birthday party.  every other year, it was to be just family.  and to make that year a bit more special, they got to have the birthday dinner of choice.  it has since grown into every year is the dinner, but when they were small, all available money was spent on the party--and that was their gift from us, also.  so, lots of thought goes into what they choose for their dinner.  the birthday child is met with all kinds of persuasive talk about what would be good for that day :) .  In the end, though, I try to get them to choose what they and they alone want for their dinner.  we have some pretty consistent choices from each person.  we pretty much know now what that person will ask for.  lasagna has become a regular...not just any lasagna, but MOM's {my recipe} lasagna.  It usually goes with cheese bread and a salad i replicated from III Forks restaurant, a very expensive steak house/restaurant here in dallas.  for dessert, we again, have the birthday boy/girl choose what they want.  its almost never cake :) , or if it is, its some non-traditional cake that we just love.

Lasagna

• 1/4 chopped onion
• 8 oz lasagne noodles
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. dried, crushed sweet basil
• 1 t. dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 t. dried oregano
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 6 oz.  tomato paste
• 8 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/2 c mushroom pieces ( I leave out, or no one would eat this :))
• 1 1/2 c water
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 c. cottage cheese

Cooke lasagna noodles as directed.  Brown beef with onion.  Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, mushrooms, spices and water.  Simmer 1 hour.

In a 9x13 cooking dish, alternate layers of two thicknesses of noodles, cottage cheese, meat mixture and mozzarella, ending with mozzarella.   Bake for 30 minutes at 350.  Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes.

NOW...what I do :)  I always double the sauce recipe for a  single batch.  AND, I always make 2 batches...one to eat and one to freeze.  SO, I double everything and put one in the freezer before being cooked.  You can cook it straight out of the freezer--IF you put it in a cold oven on about 300...but it will take a while to cook.  If you are more organized than me, you will think ahead and take it out and let it thaw, at least a bit before you cook it.

**in the picture, I had extra sauce and just plopped it on, but it usually has just cheese on top :)

tip:  my kids will not eat any chunky onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc...so, I always blend them up in whatever liquid I am using in the recipe.  if it is eggs--say in meatloaf--i will blend them up with the veggies....you get the yummy flavor everyone loves without all the chunks....which I do miss, but will have them back one day :)

bread and salad recipes to follow...........

He knows my name.....

today is my oldest "baby" 's birthday.  she is 26 today.  and she is SUCH a blessing to me.  I was praying for her this morning and God brought back a memory of her birth that speaks of HIS love for us.....

at the time, I was working at the corporate offices of Mary Kay.  I had my doctor and the hospital that I would be using.  I knew when I went to the drs office that there was another mom with the same name, but since mine is GI instead of the usual JE, we were able to keep straight :).

I went in to have my baby.  there were 2 baby girls born the same day, at approximately the same time {frame}, with the same last name...one had blonde hair one had black hair.  When all the family gathered to look at the new baby, they were all gooing over the black headed baby....the nurse then brought out another baby--the one with blonde hair and pointed to my husband....that brought a laugh to the crowd who had been making all over the wrong baby :)

When it was time for her first feeding, they brought her to me.  I was to nurse her.  they brought her to me with all the paraphernalia that goes with bottle feeding.  i asked what this was about...the nurse did some immediate checking and realized they had gotten the charts mixed up.  it seemed that not only did those babies have the same last name, their mom's had the same first name (one spelled with a GI and one with a JE) , we were employed by the same company, therefore had the same insurance company, had the same doctor and used the same hospital and were born on the same day!!!  The nurse was flustered and started checking our bands (this was right before the time they pretty much made you bleed to prove you were the mom {well, I guess you really do} ).  I was holding this blonde little baby and looked at her head (this was the first time I had really seen her, as I had had a C-Section).....she had a cowlick on her head in the same place as mine....a nuisance to me for many years.  I knew she was mine...there was no doubt.  Once that was declared, there were many more check points put in place to make sure we got the same baby, but I knew I would know her from there on out.  She bore my markings.....

that is what god told me today...just as I knew her, he knows me, I bear the marks of Christ...

'From henceforth let no man trouble me:

for I bear in my body

the marks of the Lord Jesus."Galatians 6:17

it brings me to a song that god sings over me when i feel lost....when I feel like no one knows me....you can listen here and be assured he knows you!!

Happy Birthday, Love.....I am so proud of you and love you soooooooo much!!!  And, I love your cowlick :D

linked up today with chatting at the sky and sweet shot Tuesday

yummy chocolate cake

this is probably the most requested cake for birthdays at our house.  there are a few others, and i will share those later....this recipe came from my dear, sweet friend, Patti Johnson.  it is called texas hot cocoa cake...i'm not sure why, but it doesn't matter...its GOOD!!!!  NOW, i will be sharing shortly about my interest and giftings in cooking from scratch, messing with recipes to change them and whatnot....what i tend to do with passing recipes on, is post the recipe as written and then post script what *I* do :) today, i had to make 4 of these cakes.  we are going to downtown dallas tomorrow to feed a group of special people and i volunteered the cake.  one reason is that it is sooooo good.  the other is that it is sooooo easy.  i almost always have the ingredients on hand and can pretty much whip it up in a few minutes. its a great cake to take to potlucks or to family in need.  after the first double batch, i decided to change it up a bit and will share what i did.

TEXAS HOT COCOA CAKE         serves 24

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup liquid shortening (another word for oil :))....i have used 1 cup of butter, too and like it better
• 1 cup water
• 6 Tablespoons cocoa (I use heaping)
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon (optional--some of my kids really don't like the cinnamon in it)

icing

• 1 1/2 stick butter
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 6 Tablespoons milk
• 1 box (1 lb) powdered sugar ( I usually use just a tad bit less than this--makes more of a glaze on the cake)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (very optional, we usually don't use them, since they are $$ and not everyone likes them, but used them on one cake today)

directions:  bring butter, oil, cocoa and water to a boil.  take off heat.  combine the flour and sugar and cinnamon.  add the cocoa mixture to that mixture.  mix together the buttermilk, eggs, soda, salt and vanilla.  (yes! do make sure you add the soda to the wet ingredients, NOT the dry--it does make a difference--ask me how I know).  mix in the egg mixture to the chocolate batter.  Pour into a greased (pam) 9x13 or sheet cake (I have done both and really like the sheet cake better)  Bake at 350 for 30-45 min for the 9x13.  15-20 for the sheet cake pan.  While the cake is cooking, combine the butter and cocoa in a pan ( I use the same pan I boiled the other mixture in--don't bother to even rinse it--its the same ingredients :))  heat and mix til butter is melted.  take off heat and stir in the milk, powdered sugar, vanilla and nuts....pour over a hot cake--just pulled from the oven....and watch everyone fight over licking the bowls

this is how it is every. single. time.  I promise, I didn't do this :)

its really, really, REALLY good with a glass of milk (don't tell my kids I said that)