Sunday, April 24, 2011
He Is Risen Indeed!
Church, then the annual trek up to my uncle's farm to enjoy dinner with family and shoot skeet. We drove home into the beautiful sunset God painted. After the boys were tucked into their beds, I heard howls emanating from their bedroom--the telltale sign of too much chocolate.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Passover & Four Decades
We had a Seder dinner here the night before last. It was the seventh Seder we've hosted. We also celebrated Matt's fortieth birthday that night. Even though our family will attend our church's Seder meal tonight, Matt requested that we have our own Passover celebration here as well. So we did--after all, he was the birthday boy.
We had a lovely evening with Matt's parents and another homeschooling family with whom we've become friends. Each year, we pray about who to invite to our Seder. We try to invite those who have never attended a Seder. We also try to include families with children, as the Passover Seder was instituted by God not only to remind His people of His faithfulness, but also to teach future generations of His faithfulness. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Ex. 12:26-27
My friend who attended our Seder on Tuesday night was especially delighted to be invited. She was invited to Martha Zimmerman's Passover Seder one year when she was in high school, but turned down the invitation. She has regretted that decision ever since, but Tuesday night she was finally able to experience a Messianic Seder and she loved it.
The girls and I prepared our usual menu of matzoh ball soup, beef brisket, apple kugel and fruit salad. My friend brought roasted vegetables and Matt's mom brought the haroset (apple mixture signifying the mortar the Israelites used to make bricks in their captivity). I made the desserts I traditionally serve--Martha Zimmerman's Passover cake and chocolate covered matzoh. In honor of Matt's birthday, I stretched my culinary skills and also made a flourless chocolate torte with raspberry coulis.
After dinner, I gave Matt his birthday present, a bell engraved with the following : "The Macduffs, est. 1993, Eccl. 12:13" Our old bell broke, so Matt has been wanting to replace it. The new bell is very nice and will be more than adequate (it's quite loud) for calling the kids to dinner and family worship time.
After singing "Happy Birthday," we resumed the evening with the children looking for and finding the afikomen. We then proceeded to the third cup, with which Jesus instituted communion. We ended the evening by saying in unison the traditional saying, "Next year, in Jerusalem!" This was especially poignant to me this year, as we studied Isaiah chapter 60 this week in Bible Study Fellowship, which details Jesus' millennial reign. Only God could have orchestrated the timing so beautifully. Pretty cool.
Tonight we'll attend our church's Seder meal. Once again, I'll be providing the matzoh ball soup and the girls will help to serve the meal. I'll be reminded once again of God's gracious provision of a Redeemer for His people--and for me. No amount of working or striving towards righteousness could ever be enough to earn my salvation. "There is no one righteous, not even one." Rom. 3:10. When I should have been left for dead, the Lord Himself became my Passover Lamb, so that I wouldn't have to take the punishment of which I am so deserving. Praise be to Jesus!related post: 2009 Seder
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Wheat Grinding
I recently took the plunge and bought a wheat grinder. I bought a Nutrimill with the money I received for my birthday. I guess fortieth birthdays net one a bit more money than run-of-the- mill-ordinary birthdays.
I received the grain mill and promptly put it downstairs in our fruit room where it stayed for about six weeks. I didn't have any wheat to grind. This seems impossible with two wheat farming uncles, but it was the situation in which I found myself. In all honesty, my Uncle Keith had given me a bucket of hard white spring wheat, but try as I might, I couldn't figure out an efficient way to clean it, so I quite trying. I also knew that our family would prefer hard red winter wheat for bread making.
I looked all over online for wheat, but the prices were a bit steep, mostly because of the cost of shipping. I have a friend from high school (Hi, Becky!) who offered to take me to her church's bulk food store, but the store is only open to the public on Wednesday evenings. Right now, because it's Lent, we're attending church every Wednesday evening, so I knew it would be awhile before I could get to that store.
I finally got the bright idea to call the local health food store to see if they carry wheat and sure enough, they do. Problem solved. Grace and I pulled the mill out of its box and read the instructions--fairly straight forward. We ground our first batch of hard red winter wheat and we were pleased with the results the mill produced.
Grace's first batch of bread with the freshly ground flour turned out loaves with a little less lift than we wanted. She added more wheat gluten to the next batch of dough and that seemed to help. I've read that a lot of gals use the hard white spring wheat for their bread baking, which eliminates the rising problem, but results in a less hearty loaf. We like our loaves hearty around here.
I also ground some hard white spring wheat to use in waffles, muffins, etc. Using the flour right after grinding it is the ideal, as no nutritional benefits are lost. However, I don't think that's always going to be possible for me, especially if I just decide to whip up a batch of muffins in between assigning school work and doing a load of laundry. I think Grace will continue to grind the wheat she uses for her bread baking as she needs it. She has definitely spoiled us with her fresh bread.
Does eating a whole loaf of bread with the kids when it just comes out of the oven count as health food? Because if it does, we've been doing some healthy eating lately. Yummy!
I received the grain mill and promptly put it downstairs in our fruit room where it stayed for about six weeks. I didn't have any wheat to grind. This seems impossible with two wheat farming uncles, but it was the situation in which I found myself. In all honesty, my Uncle Keith had given me a bucket of hard white spring wheat, but try as I might, I couldn't figure out an efficient way to clean it, so I quite trying. I also knew that our family would prefer hard red winter wheat for bread making.I looked all over online for wheat, but the prices were a bit steep, mostly because of the cost of shipping. I have a friend from high school (Hi, Becky!) who offered to take me to her church's bulk food store, but the store is only open to the public on Wednesday evenings. Right now, because it's Lent, we're attending church every Wednesday evening, so I knew it would be awhile before I could get to that store.
I finally got the bright idea to call the local health food store to see if they carry wheat and sure enough, they do. Problem solved. Grace and I pulled the mill out of its box and read the instructions--fairly straight forward. We ground our first batch of hard red winter wheat and we were pleased with the results the mill produced.
Grace's first batch of bread with the freshly ground flour turned out loaves with a little less lift than we wanted. She added more wheat gluten to the next batch of dough and that seemed to help. I've read that a lot of gals use the hard white spring wheat for their bread baking, which eliminates the rising problem, but results in a less hearty loaf. We like our loaves hearty around here.I also ground some hard white spring wheat to use in waffles, muffins, etc. Using the flour right after grinding it is the ideal, as no nutritional benefits are lost. However, I don't think that's always going to be possible for me, especially if I just decide to whip up a batch of muffins in between assigning school work and doing a load of laundry. I think Grace will continue to grind the wheat she uses for her bread baking as she needs it. She has definitely spoiled us with her fresh bread.
Does eating a whole loaf of bread with the kids when it just comes out of the oven count as health food? Because if it does, we've been doing some healthy eating lately. Yummy!
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Alamo and Single Parenting
Matt traveled out of town on business this past week. He went to San Antonio, Texas. I stayed here with our brood.
Two hours after he left town, we discovered that one of our toilets was leaking. This was on a Saturday and I had no desire to call for an emergency plumber, so I called my brother-in-law instead. He told me how to turn off the water and empty the tank. Grace taped down the lid because I've learned from experience that signs just don't work with the younger set. Even if they can read, they don't connect the words with the idea of NOT using the toilet.
Although Matt resisted the idea of me packing an extra shirt for him, he was glad I did. A pigeon was nice enough to leave him a gift deposit on his way to lunch one day. Mama's always right. Pack an extra shirt and an extra pair of underwear, 'cause ya never know.
The kids and I managed fairly well without Matt. Early in the week, I realized that I needed to put my "to do" lists away because they just weren't going to happen. Survival mode prevailed--meals, laundry and keeping on our regular schedule became the order of the day.
We were all very glad to have our Daddy back at the end of the week. As tradition dictates when Daddy goes on a business trip, Matt did come home with t-shirts for all the kids. This time the shirts were from the Alamo. Cost of the t-shirt to the recipients--listen to Daddy tell the story of the Alamo, but that's a cost the kids were willing to pay. They love to hear their Daddy tell them stories.
Two hours after he left town, we discovered that one of our toilets was leaking. This was on a Saturday and I had no desire to call for an emergency plumber, so I called my brother-in-law instead. He told me how to turn off the water and empty the tank. Grace taped down the lid because I've learned from experience that signs just don't work with the younger set. Even if they can read, they don't connect the words with the idea of NOT using the toilet.Although Matt resisted the idea of me packing an extra shirt for him, he was glad I did. A pigeon was nice enough to leave him a gift deposit on his way to lunch one day. Mama's always right. Pack an extra shirt and an extra pair of underwear, 'cause ya never know.
The kids and I managed fairly well without Matt. Early in the week, I realized that I needed to put my "to do" lists away because they just weren't going to happen. Survival mode prevailed--meals, laundry and keeping on our regular schedule became the order of the day.
We were all very glad to have our Daddy back at the end of the week. As tradition dictates when Daddy goes on a business trip, Matt did come home with t-shirts for all the kids. This time the shirts were from the Alamo. Cost of the t-shirt to the recipients--listen to Daddy tell the story of the Alamo, but that's a cost the kids were willing to pay. They love to hear their Daddy tell them stories.
Chicken Run
Well, we finally did it. We quarantined our thirty two chickens by putting them in a chicken run. They no longer have the freedom to peck around our entire acre, plus the eight acres of our surrounding neighbors' properties, plus the neighbor's lawn across the road. Because one acre was just not enough for our pampered (very) free range chickens. Something about the grass being greener, I guess.
I resisted the idea of a chicken run for a very long time. I like to be able to look out the windows of the house when I'm going about my day and see the chickens pecking and scratching. There's something very satisfying about seeing chickens going about their chicken business. To the naive (to which category I once belonged), it may seem that chickens are fairly innocuous creatures, but they actually can be very destructive.
Last summer our chickens ate all my potted petunias, geraniums and impatiens. I ended up putting all the pots on the hot tub (so attractive) to try to prevent further annihilation by my feathered friends, but even this would not deter them. They just flew right up and continued to eat their feast. I'm sure they enjoyed the lovely view the hot tub afforded them as they munched the last of my tender summer flowers.
The chickens also got into our very high raised vegetable beds and ate the tomatoes, including all of the heirlooms, the desire of my heart. They smashed down all the bean plants and they ate the zucchini flowers (we still had plenty of zucchini, though--ha, ha).
But the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was the poop. Poop, poop everywhere. Poop on the sidewalk, on the back porch, on the newly refinished picnic table and benches and all over the lawn. The poop basically rendered our half acre back yard unusable for any company we wanted to entertain outdoors. And every time our kids came in the house, I had to catch them at the door to check their shoes. All day long, in and out, stopping what I was doing to check shoes.
So we decided enough was enough. Enough with the poop! Matt and Paul built a chicken run in a couple of weekends this past month to keep the chickens contained. They still have plenty of room to peck and scratch and they have their favorite forsythia bush to nestle under (and eat the blossoms off of). They still have access to shade under the chicken house and also to plenty of the bugs and green grass that make their eggs extra yummy.
True to form, for our chickens at least, we've already had a few escapees. Some of the chickens have managed to fly out at the run's end and then head over to the forbidden neighbor's pasture, but not before leaving several deposits on our front sidewalk. In general though, the poop problem has been greatly reduced and we do expect a spectacular looking lawn this year due to all the extra fertilizer it received over the winter.
I resisted the idea of a chicken run for a very long time. I like to be able to look out the windows of the house when I'm going about my day and see the chickens pecking and scratching. There's something very satisfying about seeing chickens going about their chicken business. To the naive (to which category I once belonged), it may seem that chickens are fairly innocuous creatures, but they actually can be very destructive.
Last summer our chickens ate all my potted petunias, geraniums and impatiens. I ended up putting all the pots on the hot tub (so attractive) to try to prevent further annihilation by my feathered friends, but even this would not deter them. They just flew right up and continued to eat their feast. I'm sure they enjoyed the lovely view the hot tub afforded them as they munched the last of my tender summer flowers.
The chickens also got into our very high raised vegetable beds and ate the tomatoes, including all of the heirlooms, the desire of my heart. They smashed down all the bean plants and they ate the zucchini flowers (we still had plenty of zucchini, though--ha, ha).
But the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was the poop. Poop, poop everywhere. Poop on the sidewalk, on the back porch, on the newly refinished picnic table and benches and all over the lawn. The poop basically rendered our half acre back yard unusable for any company we wanted to entertain outdoors. And every time our kids came in the house, I had to catch them at the door to check their shoes. All day long, in and out, stopping what I was doing to check shoes.
So we decided enough was enough. Enough with the poop! Matt and Paul built a chicken run in a couple of weekends this past month to keep the chickens contained. They still have plenty of room to peck and scratch and they have their favorite forsythia bush to nestle under (and eat the blossoms off of). They still have access to shade under the chicken house and also to plenty of the bugs and green grass that make their eggs extra yummy.
True to form, for our chickens at least, we've already had a few escapees. Some of the chickens have managed to fly out at the run's end and then head over to the forbidden neighbor's pasture, but not before leaving several deposits on our front sidewalk. In general though, the poop problem has been greatly reduced and we do expect a spectacular looking lawn this year due to all the extra fertilizer it received over the winter.
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