Snacks, Drinks, and Humble Pie

At the risk of ticking off the menfolk in our congregation, here is today's column/devotion for our church bulletin...

Snacks, Drinks, and Humble Pie

Ladies, nod your head if you've had this conversation with your man.

Hubby: I was thinking of having people over after the football game Friday.
Me: Oh. OK.
Hubby: You don't sound thrilled.
Me: I am. It's just that I work the rest of the week and have meetings at night, so I won't have time to get anything ready.
Hubby: What do you have to get ready?
Me: Sigh...

I suppose I could blame Martha Stewart for killing my sense of spontaneity. I can't just "have people over" without presenting a clean house and decent variety of food and refreshments. What would they think?

Yes, we place unnecessarily high standards on ourselves sometimes. Well, often times. But maybe it's not Modern Martha's fault. Maybe Medieval Martha, er Lady Wisdom, played a role.

I can totally relate to today's reading in Proverbs 9.

Here we have Wisdom – presented as an independent woman – preparing to welcome guests in her home. But first, Wisdom must build her house. Then she crafts seven decorative pillars, which in those days meant she either chopped down trees or carved stones.

The party planning continues as she butchers her own fresh meat, mixes her own wine, and sets her table. (Can you say “overachiever”?) Then she probably created some gorgeous invitations to send out with her serving girls, who invited anyone and everyone who needed some Wisdom – whether they knew it or not. 

I don't think our little snack parties can compare. One, that's way too much work. And two, in my experience, conversations don't get any wiser as the night progresses! If only we could feast at her table and, as a result, leave our "simple" ways behind to live and walk in understanding.

We can. The key word is humility. First, we set aside our egos and know-it-all ways. Then we humbly ask God to guide us to do his will. We may not have the wisdom to understand it, but there’s no shame in dumbing it down for us simple folk. Like considering “What would Jesus do?” before we act. That’s a start, right?

No need to slave away building the perfect banquet hall and serving a seven-course meal either. Start small. Maybe some cheese and crackers with humble pie for dessert.

M-m-m-m Good!

We interrupt this blog to bring you the following commercial message...

Attention BUTTER BRAID lovers...

Carter is selling Butter Braids for school to help raise money for their technology programs. If you want to order 1, 2 or 6, let me know by Oct. 28.

Available flavors: Apple, Blueberry & cream cheese (pictured), Caramel Roll w/caramel glaze, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream Cheese, Raspberry, Strawberry & cream cheese. ... Just thaw, rise and bake. They are soooooo yummy and totally worth the $11 each.

I won't do a hard sell because he is not in any sort of "contest" to sell the most. And really, if you've had them before, you know they sell themselves!

OK, commercial over.

That does remind me we do have one of those Butter Braids in the freezer, I'll have to bake it some day soon. Today's Martha Stewart moment, however, was brought to you by Snap, Crackle and Pop. Yup, due to popular demand, I had to mix up some Reese's Puffs Rice Krispy Treats for tomorrow's sectional cross-country meet.

Kind of hard to believe we're down to the last meet already. Though this cold, wet weather is making it easier to accept. Days like these would be perfect for having a Butter Braid in the oven.

Don't you agree?

Spice Girl

I sat staring at my leftover bowl of apples yesterday and knew I had to rectify the situation today. Time to put my Martha hat on and get baking!

I found a recipe (read: EASY) for an Apple Spice Cake and figured I'd give it a try. It is pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself. So I'm going to share the recipe because it is just too easy not to!

Robyn's Easy Apple Spice Cake
(Oh, I can name it what I want when I'm typing this!)

Spice Cake Mix (easy already)
- Mix in eggs, oil and water as listed

3 small apples (if they are off the tree, make it 4 'cause they're so small)
- Peel and chop apples into small pieces then add to cake mix

Pour into greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes.

Combine:
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup lemon juice

Mix and spread over cake. Return to oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until done.

Sprinkle cinnamon over top. Cool. Share with your neighbors and family. Then refrigerate leftovers.

Wow, now I feel like I accomplished something! And I did share. Honest.

So now hubby took Carter into town to go watch the middle school soccer team he played on last year. And I have work to do. Real work completely unrelated to my role as Martha Stewart.

I do have a few more apples left, though, so stay tuned for more treats and maybe another secret EASY recipe!

Martha Made Me Do It

I'm proud to say I'm pretty much drug-free. I don't have any prescriptions but I do take daily vitamins that are good for old ladies like me who need strong bones and all that. Today I would have done just about anything, though, for a magic little pill that would have turned me into Martha Stewart for the day.

So I had to fake it.

And I must say I did a pretty good imitation. While cinnamon rolls were in the oven, I was mixing up cake #1. While cake #1 was in the oven, I was mixing up cake #2 which actually was made into cupcakes. While all that was cooling, I got my dusting, vacuuming, sweeping and laundry done. That was followed by a 4-mile run (with some walking) which Martha would never do, would she? Then it was time to decorate my mother's birthday cake according to the Boss' instructions.

What I did not realize was that Carter truly was the Cake Boss -- as in give orders but I did most of the work. Now I can't blame him that it looks like a kid did it! Oh well, "we" got it done just in time for company to arrive.

We had a little get together for March birthdays in hubby's side of the family. Well Casey was earlier this month but my mother-in-law and brother-in-law were both in the past week or so. Thankfully, since I was Martha-ing it, Jim picked up some pizzas so I did not have to make supper for everyone! My sister-in-law Sherry brought a cake, too. (Not that I didn't have enough cupcakes around.)

Here's Casey -- now 20! -- and Jim's mom. The store-bought cake was good and just begging for ice cream! That's the first time during Lent where I just about caved. But then no one had any so I had some support. Nice.

During all this, my sister in Texas called and wanted to know if I got the cake done. Since she won't see it tomorrow at my mom's, she asked me to post some pictures. That is why I am putting them here. It is not because I think I did a good job. In fact, I heard Carter tell her on the phone, "Mom's not happy with it. Of course, something could be a centimeter off and she's not happy with." OK, OK, I perhaps am a bit of a perfectionist. But not 100% -- or I would have re-done the word "Mom" and fixed some crooked lines, etc.

Anyway, here it is and does match Carter's general idea (since Grandma likes flowers and gardening). And, like I said, nothing at all fancy. My hands were so sore from squeezing the frosting bags, I just couldn't add any more to it. There is a border around the bottom but I realize you can't see it from this angle.

The reason I needed the cupcakes, too....

So I could cut them half and use them as flowers. A little 3-D action here! Yes, you can feel free to be impressed. Ha.

Once we had the house to ourselves again, I did get down to the Scrap Cave and finished up my 2010 album. Now I can do a "show and tell" with that tomorrow, too!

Wow, baking, decorating, running, hosting, scrapping... all in one day? Eat your heart out, Martha!

A.D.D. it Up

Here's one for you: Is Attention Deficit Disorder a bad thing if you can still claim to be productive?

I'm not sure where the weekend went. But I've got a pretty good idea...

I woke up Saturday morning and, unbeknown to me, the spirit of Martha Stewart had overtaken my body. So I made a cake and a batch of cookies and got the vacuuming done -- all before noon. Now honestly, the only reason hubby calls me Martha is because he thinks I expect my TV crew to clean up after me. But I was a good girl and took care of my dishes. (This time.)

Yesterday afternoon, all 3 of us headed to work for awhile and from there went northwest of Iola to a friend's house for a bonfire. (See, there was a reason I was making treats.) Despite the frigid temps, we managed to keep warm enough between the fire and the homemade chili. Enjoyed another night under the full moon, too! Thanks to spending several summers at Kidz Camp in Iola, Carter has become friends with their son. So he actually stayed overnight there last night.

When we got home, hubby headed out to the hot tub and I made the mistake of checking email. The only reason I say "mistake," is because my A.D.D. flared up and I forgot all about those wonderful opportunities that exist when there is not a child in the house...

I got an email from a distant, distant relative who is doing family tree work on the mutual parts of our tree. She and her husband got my email address from my mother (who thinks the e in email stands for eager not electronic) so I have been expecting to hear from them. So naturally, I put on my genealogy hat and spent a good half hour reading and responding to their inquiry. Then wondered why hubby was so warm when I got to bed! Doh!

This morning we both went to late church, though. No alarm. Yay.

After church, I continued some correspondence with my "new" cousins. You see, the thing with genealogy is that it can really consume you. Especially if you are on a hot trail of new information. You look at what you have. You see what someone else has. Do they go together? Are these the same people? What else do I know and where did I put it?

Honestly, that was most of my day and evening. Somewhere in there, I did go pick up Carter. I did wear my Martha hat again and whipped together some banana bread. And also went with Jim to the funeral home.

Pre-ancestry obsession, I had every intention of getting some scrapbooking done this weekend. Or at least some things organized for an upcoming camp. I did not get to that. YET. Thankfully, I still have a little bit of time on my side for that. And, if I honestly think about it, those ancestors of mine aren't going anywhere either. So I could actually spend a little time with the guys...

What? The Grammys are on? And the Pro Bowl? And I only walked 2,700 steps today? Ooooh, I was gonna start that new book...

What to do... what to do...

Fired Up

I caught the Martha Stewart bug this morning. After baking cinnamon rolls for breakfast, I made my famous Hornet's Nest Cake for a bonfire party tonight and made some bars called Speedy Little Devils for Carter and Casey to enjoy for the Super Bowl. I was going to get some more banana bread made, too, but frankly, I was just tired of standing!

Earlier this week, my friend Sue from work invited us over for a bonfire tonight. Her son and Carter went to Kidz Camp together last year and hit it off. He was very excited this week that Carter was coming over on Saturday. We, on the other hand, didn't tell Carter about it until today.

He knew we were going somewhere but I wouldn't tell him where. He had to "buy" clues by doing homework, making his bed, reading... At about 4 o'clock he figured it out and was pretty fired up. By then he only had to wait an hour and a half before departure, so he was OK with that. (They live close enough to work where it was a 45-minute drive for us.)

We couldn't have asked for better weather. After the frigid cold we've had, today was one of those mild winter days in the 30s where you felt like you should be sitting out on your front deck! So we did not freeze around the campfire. We were able to enjoy the fire, some fireworks, then warmed up with homemade soup and chili and good conversation.

The nice thing about going to a party where you don't know many people is that you aren't going to waste your time griping about work. The conversation tends to be more general, yet positive. So Carter had a great time with a group of mostly new kids and hubby and I got to hang out and be adults. Wow. It was almost like a date!

Small Victories

If we only waited until the big wins happen, we'd have few occasions to celebrate. That's why I'm a big believer in celebrating the small victories. They keep us moving forward in a more positive frame of mind.

Here are a few small victories this week...

Idol Chat: Last night when we watched American Idol, we did not get to see the actual audition of my friend's niece and husband. However, in a quick montage of winners, we did see them kissing each other and holding up their "golden tickets." So it's onto Hollywood, baby! Hopefully next week we'll see more of them, but for now it's very exciting for my friend and her family. (And I'm sort of into it, too.)

Book Worm: Carter is starting the semester off on the right note. He got his first book read already and tested on it today. We gradually have been getting better at pacing out the reading so he doesn't have to "cram" every weekend to finish a book. It was good to get one out of the way so early -- and I didn't even have to read this one to quiz him. That's a small victory right there. He's gaining confidence in his understanding of the books. And he ended up doing pretty well on the test, too!

Perfect Attendance: Although there was no school Monday for the district, somebody managed to get to his new school four days in a row! Today he overslept and missed the bus. But instead of saying, "Screw it" and staying home, he called Grandpa and got a ride so he wouldn't miss. That feels like a huge victory, but we're not going to overreact. We're still taking this one day at a time.

Learning Curve: My new responsibilities at work involve a major project that will take a lot of steps to complete. (And a whole lotta learning on my part.) Right before I headed home today I finished off the first step. I'm feeling a bit anxious about some upcoming steps, but knowing I'm off to a good start is a boost. I'm not cocky or anything, but I'm not scared either. That's something anyway.

Super Sunday: Martha Stewart has officially taken over my body for the weekend. The good news is, she arrived early. Tonight I made Superbowl Sugar Cookies to take to a party Sunday. I decorated half of them with red sugar (for the Cardinals) and the rest of them with yellow & brown sprinkles (for the Steelers). I have a few more treats to make tomorrow for a bonfire tomorrow night and for the game Sunday. It feels good to get some of it done. Now the "victory" will come when I manage to keep everyone's hands out of the cookie jar until then!

Undomestic Goddess :: Part 1

My husband called me an "undomestic goddess" today and frankly, as they say, I resemble that remark. For the sake of time and space, I will stick to the kitchen for this blog.

Since we are finally home for a weekend, I decided to get some spring cleaning done over this long holiday weekend. Yesterday I tackled the kitchen. I was throwing out old stuff, like torn bags and cracked plastic containers, and trying to organize things.

Our counter space is cramped so I finally put that huge food processor in storage. I have this challenge at Christmas time that I never know what to ask for from Jim's family, so I always put some appliance or trendy gadget on my list. And I usually get it. The food processor is everything I could ask for ... If I ever had need for one. I've used it once and now I know where it is for the next time.

I came across some bags of M&M's, too. Christmas colors. And mint, too. My favorite! I decided I better get those made into cookies today. I checked for ingredients. As usual, my brown sugar is a brick since the last time I needed it. And I thought I had everything else.

I started making them today and when I pulled out the shortening, thinking of the brown sugar, I thought I should check for a date on the can. Sure enough. "Best used by 09/06." Who knew shortening had an expiration date?!

Well the old phrase of borrowing a cup of sugar is more of a challenge in these times, I found. It took me calls to two neighbors to find -- and subsequently borrow a cup o' shortening. Not everyone keeps it on hand. People just don't bake like they used to. I love baking. I do! I just don't think about it much between Christmas and Thanksgiving. And then I have to buy all new "fresh" ingredients.

I'm sure the M&M's expired, too, but the cookies taste pretty darn good -- if I do say so myself. I used my handy-dandy brand new Pampered Chef scoop -- another gadget I HAD to have -- and I can't wait to use it again, come Christmas.

Domestic or undomestic, I should just be thrilled Jim called me a goddess. Usually he calls me Martha Stewart ... but that's only because I make a mess when I'm baking and he wonders when my TV crew will be by to clean it up!