Cookie Pictures

If you notice Jeffrey's face in this one, you can tell that he was sneaking M&Ms whilst I was cooking. He was hoping I wouldn't notice. Delightful child.:)


Joanna looks so cool in this picture!




I put this picture in here just for fun. I wanted to show off my brother's adorable face. Although, he would prefer I call it manly instead of adorable. Notice the tree in the background. Compliments of Janessa's artistic and decorative abilities.

Well, the day is almost here! I was skipping through the kitchen today. I'm acting like a silly schoolgirl because my dear J's are coming. I can hardly wait for Jeanette, Jeremy & Jessica, and Julie to come back for their visit! And of course for J and J's "kid", or "child". I need to come up with a proper name. I think baby works best.:)
Well, I'm off to bed. I am so blessed. God is so good to allow me the privilege of seeing my family all together!

Holiday Cookies!

Well, our family has been struck with a small cold! Jeffrey and Judy are the ones suffering the most. Jed and Mom seem to have a little something. Joseph, Janessa, and Joanna are vowing not to get sick, and I feel fine except for a tickle in my throat which produces hacking coughs. To the Virginia crew: We decided to get sick now instead of when you visit. We thought you all would appreciate that.:)
Speaking of Virginia people, they will be here in two days!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

In other news, we had a traditional cookie baking day on Saturday. I wanted to share a recipe for Rudolph cookies. These were Mom's favorite from the list of Peanut Butter Blossoms, Andes Mint Cookies, Sugar Cookies, and the Rudolph Cookies.

1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. light brown sugar, packed
1/2 C. butter softened
1/2 C. creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lg. egg
1-1/4 C. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 C. sugar for rolling dough balls
Small pretzel twists
Chocolate chips
Red M&Ms

In large bowl, combine 1/2 C. sugar, brown sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter, vanilla and egg; blend well. Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Cover and chill for one hour. Shape into balls for baking: half of balls a little larger than a half dollar, and the second half a little bigger than a quarter. Roll into extra 1/4 C. sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, flatten the larger piece with the palm of your hand or a glass dipped in sugar. Overlap the smaller piece onto the bottom third of the larger piece, flatten cookie uniformity. Place small pretzel twist into upper, outer edges of the larger piece of antlers and two chocolate chips strategically for eyes. Place on red M&M at the middle lowers edge of smaller piece for Rudolph's nose. Bake @375 two inches apart for about 8-9 minutes or until edges are brown. Immediately remove form baking sheet to cool on rack.

Edit: Janessa and I decided that a pancake turner worked best when flattening the cookies.
Also, watch out for sneaky siblings! Rudolph's nose is supposed to be red. Some of my younger siblings went behind my back and gave him blue, green, and brown noses. I'll try to pose the pictures we took in a little while. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Favorite Pumpkin Pie

This recipe has become my favorite Pumpkin Pie recipe. I got it from one of my favorite chefs - Sara Moulton. We made this at my house for Thanksgiving this year. It's a little different than other recipes I've used in the past and it seems to be a little more reliable. I also love its very creamy texture.

One pre-baked pie crust

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
7 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
6 1/2 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground clove
Pinch salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, mix together the pumpkin and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until reduced and thick, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream, milks, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, salt, eggs, and yolk. Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake until set, about 45 to 55 minutes. Cool and serve.

Thanksgiving on the East Coast

Well, it wasn't the entire family, but Julie, Janessa and I had a great Thanksgiving. The most fun part was squeezing three of us in my little kitchen, but we somehow managed it.

I think Julie and Janessa were having a little too much fun doing the dishes.......


Not sure what Janessa was up to here - I think she was getting ready to raid the fridge for more pumpkin pie.

"Missing" at Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, know that you (Jeanette, Jeremy and Jessica, Julie, and Janessa), are very missed around our table. This Thanksgiving I am so thankful to God for allowing me to have such a large and happy family. Know that you live in my heart, even though your presence will be missed. Thank you Lord, for such incredible blessings in my life.

One of My Signatures....

I recently made this for an office potluck.....and as usual, they got rave reviews. We even had two guys litterally fighting over the last few....pushing, shoving, pulling on each other's clothes....for a minute there I thought I was going to be wearing the meatball. I only wish I could take the credit for inventing the recipe....but I just clipped it from a magazine a few years back. So here you have it......

Barbecued Meatballs
Combine:

3 lb. ground beef
1 ½ c. milk
1 c. quick oatmeal
1 c. cracker crumbs
2 eggs
½ c. chopped onion
½ t. garlic powder
2 t. salt
½ t. ground black pepper
2 t. chili powder

Form into walnut-size balls. Freeze on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. When frozen, transfer to ziplock bags and keep in freezer until ready to use.

Sauce:

2 c. ketchup
1 c. brown sugar
½ t. liquid smoke
½ t. garlic powder
¼ c. chopped onion

Combine sauce and pour over frozen meatballs in baking dish. Bake at 350 for one hour. (Note: You can cook these without freezing them first, but the texture seems to be best if they're baked from the frozen state.)

Mother Mine

O Mother mine, when I was small,
You seemed to me my all in all;
The sunshine shimmered in your face;
The flowers blossomed in your grace.
You laughed with me when I was gay
And kissed my childish tears away-
Mother dearie, Mother cheery, Mother mine.

O Mother, as the years rolled o'er
Our heads, I loved you more and more.
When weakness laid its hand on you
You were so patient, brave, and true;
You seemed the sum of all things good;
My dream of perfect womanhood-
Mother dearie, Mother cheery, Mother mine.

O Mother mine, if I can be
To little ones who look to me,
A mother half so sweet and wise
And tender; if they but surmise
That in your likeness I have tried
To grow, I shall be satisfied,
Mother dearie, Mother cheery, Mother mine.

Unknown

Happy belated birthday Marmee!

Caption: Mom at Jeremy's wedding...crying tears of joy.

Final Post-the Dancers

Our Dresses

The Costume Contest Winners!

The Costume Dance

This past Saturday we went to an English Country Dance featuring costumes!
Our first order of business, of course, was to get our hair done all spiffy.

A Spicy, Fall Recipe

I love fall, and I love this recipe! I made this for our church potluck on Sunday, and I felt like sharing it with all of you. It's from my Grandmother...I think.

Rose's Raisin Spice Bars

Boil the ingredients below, and let it cool.
1 C. sugar
1 C. water
1 C. raisins
1 stick of butter

Add:
2 C. flour
1 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

Spread on a cookie sheet (Grease and flour the sheet)-Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Icing:
1 C. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. rum
1/2 t. lemon
Add milk as needed to spread. Spread the icing on the bars while hot. Cut into bars and enjoy!

Mount Crumble before the frosting

This is me trying to fix a train wreck.

Mount Crumble

Well, I decided to share a little story of a culinary flop lest you think I am a flawless chef.

When I was in Illinois, Joanna and I decided to bake a carrot cake for dinner. I was supposed to be imparting my great culinary wisdom to her. I had visions of a three-layer cake perfectly covered in cream cheese frosting and garnished with pecans. We were going to pipe a little trim at the base of the cake and we were going to hear great words of deepest admiration and praise as we brought the cake to the dinner table to rounds of applause.

Ummm…yeah…that’s not quite how it turned out.

I hadn’t made this recipe before, but Janessa warned me that I might have trouble getting it out of the pans if I didn’t use parchment or flour the pan or both. Well, I thought I could get away with just greasing the pan – after all, most cakes I make I only grease the pan, I don’t usually flour or use parchment unless I’m doing a wedding cake or something.

We took the cakes out of the oven and I told Joanna to invert them on a cooling rack. After all, that’s what you’re supposed to do with most cakes, and that’s what I usually do. Of course, if I had stopped to really think about it I would have remembered that I normally invert sponge cakes, not moist carrot/pineapple cakes. When I lifted a pan a few minutes later I discovered to my horror that only part of the cake had fallen out of the pan. I suddenly realized that
Janessa was right, but I had to prove her wrong. So, I turned the oven back on and replaced the part of the cake that had fallen out and put everything back in hoping I could bake it back into a more cohesive cake.

I took them out and let them cool. The first one came out mostly ok so I thought I was safe. But the second one – well, that was another matter. Joanna and I tried to glue it together, but I finally had to admit that this was one major cake flop! At that point I just had to laugh. We managed to glue it together with frosting somewhat, but in the end it was just pathetic. Janessa, of course, deeply enjoyed the fact that she was right and I had to admit it.

We took some pictures of our disaster, and I'll post them when the crew sends them to me. In the meantime, Joanna has promised me that next time I'm home, perhaps she will have to be giving me lessons. :)

Friends..........

For Judith......

Today is a very special day in our household. Today our dearest Judah-bean turns 12! I can't believe my second "little" sister is already twelve years old. Although, my little sister is rapidly becoming my "big" sister, in terms of height.
Where would I be without my dear sister Judy. She is continually making me laugh at myself through my blunderings. Judy is great at making me realize how to enjoy every minute of every day. She also helps me see the limitless possibilities that God gives us in life, and how we should enjoy them to the full.
I must confess that I haven't always had the best attitude about sharing a bedroom with my two sisters. I also have to admit, it's been one of the best things that could have happened to me. Life is full of opportunities to learn selfless love. Let me tell ya, sharing a room gives a person great and limitless opportunities to put selfless love into practice. I can safely say, that my dearest friends and pals, are my sisters. We learn from one another, grow with one another, and learn to appreciate and respect each others tastes and differences.
Judy is a sweet little taste of Heaven in my mind. Yes, we all have moments when we can be quite testy (ask anyone else who lives with us). Judy and I are two very different individauls. Maybe that's why we're learning to get along so well.
Judy, I love you very much, and I can't wait to see what God is going to do with my dear little sister(and yes, I called you little, because you will always be a little sister to me).
Life will bring many changes in the coming years, as we all grow up and move on with our God-given roles in life. I know, though, that I can always count on having my sister Judith as a very dear friend and comrade in life.

Here's to Heaven blessed sisterhood!

House Memories

Grandma and Grandpa Cole

The lilypond behind the hill place.

Grandma in the newly remodeled kitchen on the hill place.

House Memories

Doghouse at the hill place. It was actually the top of an outhouse at one time.

House in Hull, Illinois where Jeanette was born

Pike County Courthouse in Pittsfield, Illinois (Jeanette was born in Pike County)

House on Cherry Street in Winchester, Illinois (this is where Jeanette turned 1)

The house where Brad grew up

Mark Twain

Jed in a Tom Sawyer shirt with Mom

Grandma and the kids (in costume) at the Becky Thatcher House

The children with Great Aunt Helen Dunker at the Mark Twain Art Gallery (where Helen works)

Trip to Hannibal

Jeff and Joanna as Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher in Hannibal, Missouri

Jeff and Jane taking their turn

Jed and Judy as Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher (and Jeff obviously up to no good)

Jed and Judy again

Even if you don't like broccoli...

...you'll probably like this. We had a bunch of broccoli that we needed to use so I found this recipe and decided to try it.

Broccoli Sauce for Pasta
4-6 servings

1 bunch broccoli, about 1 1/2 pounds
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper

1. Cut broccoli in flowerettes.
2. Peel the stems and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
3. Heat oil in pan.
4. Add garlic, salt and black pepper.
5. Slowly saute garlic until it is slightly brown.
6. Add 1/2 cup water.
7. Mix water and garlic into a sauce.
8. Let come to a boil.
9. Add broccoli, cook stirring constantly until broccoli is cooked to almost a mushy stage.
10. Add red pepper flakes.
11. Puree sauce and serve over pasta.

*Janessa's notes*
You will need to add more water as you cook it. I also added more when I pureed it. I forgot the red pepper flakes but it still turned out really well. This is also really good over rice.

Recipe from: www.recipezaar.com/117005

Turkey Chili from Ana Carolina

Well, it’s been ages since I posted anything on here. Life has been a little busy.

This is a recipe from one of my co-workers, Ana Carolina, who many of us affectionately call “AC.”

Enjoy.

Turkey Chili
1 can of black beans drained
1 jar of salsa (mild or hot)
1 package of ground turkey
Pasta or Brown Rice (however much you’d like)

Start with frying some chopped garlic into olive oil. Then add the ground turkey into this garlic & oil and wait until it gets golden brown. Then in another pot (a deep one) pour the salsa jar and the black bean can. Once the turkey looks like its almost done pour it into the salsa and bean mix.

On the side prepare either rice or pasta and then serve the chili over the rice/pasta.

A.C. Says, "Since my husband likes spicy food, I will sometimes add a little Tabasco and mix well and also some cilantro leaves just to make it look more gourmet. :) It actually works b/c once its ready……it tastes delicious."