Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Recipes for Nicole


A while ago I posted about making these two cookie recipes from my childhood; today I'm sharing the recipes!  Go bake and enjoy, and be warned: there is nothing healthy about these.  Just yummy goodness.

Butter Cookies
(Grandma Schneider's specialty - she puts two together with icing in between.)


2 cups margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
vanilla (1 tsp)


3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Beat together margarine, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix well.
Bake at 350 (until edges brown).
(Make small balls!  1/2 batch made 58 cookies or 29 sandwiches.)

Pecan Puffs
(Aunty Joan's recipe - she usually puts a bit of icing on the top.)

4 tbsp sugar
1 cup margarine
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

Mix all ingredients
Roll into balls
Bake 1 hour at 250 F.




Friday, May 24, 2013

The Week That Was

We went to Winnipeg for the long weekend and found that this short week sped by! We did get lots of errands run and had some pretty good backyard time, and even a short bike ride.


It took a day to get him used to the helmet, but he loves bike rides, so now he's happy to see it come out.


We found a park to play at while M was at piano, and played on this slide for a solid 20 minutes.


For spring soccer, the girls play outside, but on great turf fields.  Monday's game was early enough for Nolan & I to go to; we have to miss the later ones.


Silas (he's the one in front) brought me a deck of cards from France, and I broke them in playing our 'family game' Pounce.  It's always a good time - little K was doing a great job keeping up!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Media Star!

This past Monday was Music Monday:
Astronaut Chris Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies frontman Ed Robertson have collaborated between earth and space to co-write the official song for Music Monday 2013. The end-result features Hadfield playing the song from the International Space Station, while Robertson and the Wexford Gleeks, a TDSB school choir, join him to unite in song with schools and communities across our nation.  

At 12 pm Eastern Time and at the exact same time across Canada (...11 a.m. Central Time...) schools and communities from coast to coast will be united by the Music Monday theme song, “ISS – Is Somebody Singing.
(quotes from the Music Monday site.)

 Madeline's school was one of the ones in SK that was participating, and had some media coverage of the event.  She said there were just a few students interviewed, and she was interviewed twice!  I got the links from her music teacher and wanted to share with you - enjoy!!

News Story - (in English) - This link also has the video with the song. 

Radio-Canada - This one's a video, in french.  Choose the Monday, May 6 link (lundi 6 mai), and it's at 4/4, 2:45.

(I think it's funny that these are both radio stations, but one is a printed article and one is a video...)

Monday, May 13, 2013

Snow Shoveling in Shorts & the First Haircut

With winter turning to summer within days, there was a bit of overlap in the seasons!  Sean spread the last of the big piles of snow out so they'd melt faster, and Nolan was right in there with a little shovel helping.

Just like Dad!


Except with his own sense of style.

"I'll start this one, Dad!"

Ha ha - this one just made me laugh.

A good shot of his hair 'before'...

And a few days later - no snow and a little boy cut!

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Skor Cake

I was asked this morning for this recipe, and since I had to type it out to email it to my Mother-in-law, I figured I'd share it here with you.  It really is not too hard, and the results are so good.


The recipe comes from a 'Robin Hood Festival of Baking' booklet from 1998... Wow - I've had it since before M was born.  It's called an Easy Creamy Chocolate Torte, but we just call it 'That Skor Layer Cake'.  Put whatever title you want on it when you copy this; here's the recipe for the goodness:

1 pkg Devil's Food cake mix
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
4 Skor bars, crushed

Prepare cake mix in two 9" round cake pans accornding to package directions.  Cool.  Cut each layer in half.  (I do that by wrapping a piece of dental floss around it and tightening it right through.  Works like a charm.)

Combine whipping cream, sugar and cocoa.  Chill 15 minutes.  Whip until stiff.  Fold in 3 crushed Skor bars.  Spread cream mixture between layers and on top of cake.  Sprinkle remaining Skor bar on top.  Chill  until serving.

Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

What to do with Buttermilk

I made a batch of raisin bran muffins the other day, and the recipe called for buttermilk.  I had 1/2 the carton left over and figured I'd go online to find a recipe that called for buttermilk...  Before I got around to doing that, though, I was flipping through a magazine, and saw a recipe for buttermilk pancakes.  Perfect!  I made them up for Nolan and I for lunch and threw the rest in the freezer to enjoy for later breakfasts. 

 
I did see online that you can freeze buttermilk.  Use an ice cube tray to freeze 2 tablespoon portions, then throw them into a freezer bag.  This is great, because I rarely use the whole carton when I do get one, and then the rest doesn't go to waste, and I don't have to buy a whole new carton for another recipe.

The same article also had two loaf recipes that call for buttermilk... I don't need lots of baking around the house, so I'm looking for opportunities to try both of them, too!

Monday, May 06, 2013

More Thoughts on Prayer Nights

I wrote recently about a prayer night that our small group had; we still had our visiting and eating time, but the bulk of our night was spent wandering to different 'stations' in the house that were set up with prompts for different areas of life to be praying for.  Today I wanted to share with you a few more thoughts on why nights like that are so good. 

  • We rarely spend that much time in prayer in one chunk unless it is intentionally planned.
  • It reminds of of things we neglect to pray for.
  • We get suggestions for different ways to pray for the things we do pray for.
  • There is power in being in community, and in praying in community.  We were praying separately, but together.  This was enhanced by our time of communion and feasting together after.
  • Praying together helps keep you from being distracted!
  • Learning about God is great, but we also need times when we act on what we learn, times of serving him, times when we are with him and seek his face.

A few verses that fit (because everything is better with Scripture!):

  • Ephesians 6:18 - And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people.
  • Mark 11:24 - Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
  • Revelation 5:8 - And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
  • Proverbs 15:8 - The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
Wishing for you a good time in prayer today.



Friday, May 03, 2013

Photos

It's been a while since I've posted pictures because I got a new phone and have been taking most of my photos on that, and haven't got the system down for getting them on here yet. Glad to finally share these and give you a bit of a visual update on my awesome family.


Our biggest news this week is that M is now a glasses wearer!  She has always had 20/20 vision, but lately was having headaches, so we took her in to get tested and found she's farsighted.  So today is her first day off to school with this new look - hopefully she finds them easy to adjust to.  I think they make her look sharp.


Nolan had fun trying on the little glasses - he'd laugh and check himself out in the mirrors.


Here are Nolan's first paintings!  There is a new Early Years Family Center near us (a 12 minute stroller walk away!) that is full of neat stuff for him, it's open every morning and afternoon (M-F), and is free.  Beat that!  We went last week for the first time with friends, and yesterday afternoon walked over by ourselves.  An hour there sure went fast.


Some of Madeline's new talents - french braiding her own hair, and fish tail braiding.  She did a couple on me the other day, too - that's almost as good as a massage.  Apparently guitar is another new skill, but she just plays at school, so we are looking forward to getting her one at home so she can play more and we can hear her!


This is a typical morning in our house.  Madeline practicing, Nolan getting in her way, somewhere in between pjs and being dressed for the day, with his favorite thing to steal from the fridge - the mustard.


A new friend!  This cat has been hanging around for the last week or so, since I left a bag of garbage on the deck...  The kids both love her, and she's great with Nolan, but she's learned not to come meowing around at night...


Coffee.  Both our kids love coffee.  This one is empty, and decaf.  Should be safe.


This is another common sight.  I take Nolan swimming every couple of weeks, and Madeline has lessons Monday nights, which we all go to (as long as he's had a decent nap!)  At both pools he loves to play in the lockers.  Don't they all?




And snow.  It's going away, finally - from totally covering the swing last week, it's now down to the grass under the swing.  There are still a couple big piles, but I think spring has finally arrived.  Nolan loves being outside and doesn't mind the snow at all; it takes a lot for him to be too cold or tired enough to want to go in.

Have a great weekend!!