Traditions

"Although we can’t bequeath God to our children, we can help them know Him and understand Him in ways that prepare them to believe in His name. ‘Everyday’ and ‘especially’ traditions in a family are an important part of that teaching, of picturing who God is and what He’s done in our home and in the world. Traditions are a vital way of displaying our greatest treasure, of showing what—Who—is most important to us."-Noel Piper

Whirlwind of Grace

This week has been a whirlwind of emotions.

People have made decisions I find to be completely wrong. They have disappointed me, and I believe hurt God. I know things are not as they should be, but God has shown me ways to truly love these people and hold nothing against them. He has shown me how to show grace.

One of the men at church gave his testimony last night. Something that was shared with him during a particularly hard time in his life was this: "What is the point of having a God if you will not trust Him?" That hit me about 3 different ways. Ultimately, I have to trust God in this situation, in every single aspect of it. He has shown me how He longs to give grace.

I was blog cruising this afternoon and was stopped in my tracks by this woman. Her take on grace was exactly what my heart needed today. God gives us grace no matter what, because He loves us. He has shown me how He unconditionally distributes grace.

I'm calling this week Grace Week.

Life has seriously been a whirlwind of grace, and I cannot help but praise God and thank Him for showing me this!

Apple Turnovers

There are a few ways to make apple turnovers. One is to make a pastry shell, similar to a pie crust. Another option is to make a puff pastry. Some people just use refrigerated biscuit dough. My favorite option (because I could use less butter and knew how to make it from scratch) was the pastry shell. So, here's my figured-it-out-as-I-went recipe for Apple Turnovers.

Preheat oven to 400*F
Crust:
2.5c. flour
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Sift all dry ingredients together, then cut in 1c. butter to make coarse "crumbs". Add 6-7 T. water to make a pie-crust like dough. Put it in the refrigerator.

Filling (make while your dough is refrigerating):
4 honeycrisp apples
2T. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Peel and core apples, cut into slices, and half the slices lengthwise. Cook apples in butter until just tender (don't cook them all the way, they will finish in the oven). Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Then take a little flour, and use it to thicken the sauce. Go for a texture similar to ice cream topping; not too thick, but not too runny. Remove from heat.

Now take the dough out of the refrigerator, and roll it into a rectangle. I made 7 turnovers, but you can make whatever size you want. Cut the rectangle up into squares (mine were roughly 4 inch squares). It's important to make them as square as possible so you can fold them into an even triangle-this makes sealing your turnovers easier.
Once you have your squares cut, put a spoonful of filling in the center. Do just one at a time, since you will need to fold the top over and put it on your baking sheet before the warm filling melts your crust and makes it gooey. Once you have the edges sealed, use a fork to completely smoosh the edges together. (Folding your turnovers is tricky, since your filling will try to ooze out. It takes practice to figure out what works best for you, and how much filling to use per square of dough.)
Now put those turnovers on your baking sheet, about an inch apart, and bake them for 25 minutes (the time may vary based on oven types).
Enjoy the delicious pastry you've made! I would love to know if you experiment, what you do differently, and any other kinds you might make.


*Note: the filling may still leak out of your crust while baking. It came off of my baking sheet well, but you may want to bake on parchment paper if you don't want your baking sheet stained.

Hello, November

November is colder than October. (Yup, I figured that out all by myself!)
Remember the hat, mittens, and coat I picked up for Ava at Target? They are perfect...well, almost. She was getting her hat off by turning her head every which way. That meant daddy had to be our retrieval system while on a walk once, and that's just not something we want to make a regular habit.
I made a trip to my local fabric retailer (Walmart, yippee), and picked up some white fleece and velcro strips. I did a rough measurement of the ear flaps for a pattern, pinned them in the hat and stuck it on her head to get the length right for the straps under her chin. Sew, turn right side out, and stitch to the double seam that runs just above the ear flaps. Attach velcro after again putting the hat on your child to make sure the ear flaps are just right.
The final fitting:

Goofball, if you hold still for a picture so mommy can blog about this, I promise I won't put your hat on for the rest of the day.

In other news, we (meaning Scott) installed this at the top of the stairs. K*Mart, you are my new friend.

Ava likes the box. The gate she's not so sure about. :)

Food cravings usually mean that I bake. Apple turnovers were my latest attempt. If they taste as good as they smell and look, well...let's just say I'm ready for breakfast now. (Yes, I am planning to eat an apple turnover for breakfast.) I did want to make them healthier so I bought honeycrisp apples in order to need less brown sugar. Then I made a cross between a puff pastry and pie crust, so there is a whole lot of butter in the pastry shells.

I sent some home with the quartet guys...lucky people, getting to be my guinea pigs.

Operation Christmas Child

Consider helping a child today:
Samaritan's Purse, and Operation Christmas Child