Ramblings of a Klutzy Cook

I just made a rather extraordinary mess in my kitchen, and that is saying something considering I am kind of a master at extraordinary kitchen messes and disasters. In my sad history of kitchen messes, this one probably tops it. First, this kitchen in the house we are renting at the moment was truly not designed for someone who cooks much or for a big family. It’s a small kitchen, too small, with almost no counter space whatsoever and really awkward positioning is what I am saying. We live in a house that was built in 1931, and, like all the houses in this neighborhood, it was designed to be a two-family house - with one family living on the entire bottom floor, and the other family on the top two floors, while sharing the basement. Our family currently lives on the top two floors of this wonderfully creaky, nooks-and-crannies house. You can see why I’ve mentioned before how thankful I am for a good downstairs neighbor, yes?

Anyway, I was attempting to salvage the pitiful bananas that were not going to survive one more day on the counter, so I started up a batch of two loaves of banana bread. I won’t attempt to describe what happened when the too-full bowl of batter tipped over, dumping melted butter all over the counter and dripping to the floor. I managed to rescue enough of it to continue baking, but, well, I’m glad my dog likes butter and I hope I got enough of it mopped up before he came running in to lick up the rest or his evening walk may be kind of…..interesting……tonight. I’m thinking I don’t really want to be the dog-walker tonight. :-) 

So, there are two loaves of banana bread just freshly out of the oven, and I am once again reminded that I truly need to start wearing an apron, especially when I spur-of-the-moment decide to bake banana bread while wearing my favorite Cedar Point Snoopy sweatshirt. Did I mention it’s nice and cool out today, finally? Another quirky thing about this house is….no central AC. This Florida girl is NOT used to that. So, I’m enjoying the natural AC today. NICE. Speaking of which, yesterday while driving to pick up my son from high school, I saw a guy waiting to cross the road wearing a heavy winter coat, knit cap, hood, scarf up over his nose and mouth, hunched over with hands in his pockets like it was the blizzard of 2014 or something. It was 62 degrees out. I was just finally feeling cooled off from the stifling, sweltering heat of no AC in my house for the past several hot days. Dude, if you’re that cold now, winter is going to be rough. Or so, I’m constantly being told. I met a new friend the other day, and as we were chatting she asked where I was from originally. I told her I grew up in Florida. She grinned ruefully and said, “You’re really not going to like winter here….” Yes, I hear that a lot. I can only imagine the tundra-like conditions awaiting us here this winter. And my brother-in-law told me once that we won’t see the sun after Labor Day. Turns out he wasn’t actually kidding. Gray and drizzly again today….

But, I digress. Back to my kitchen adventures, while I was cleaning up my colossal, greasy, buttery mess, I was reflecting on how I really wasn’t in the mood for baking today, and maybe I should have just stayed with that thought and let the bananas go rather than get into this this afternoon. So, word to the wise Sweet Tea people in my home, the proper response to this freshly baked banana bread this afternoon will be, “Why, Mother! You made our favorite! This is the most wonderful banana bread in all the world!” Even if it isn’t. :-)

Then I got to wondering if I really and truly had the energy to go on to the next cooking project on my agenda for today……homemade salsa. I really didn’t. But, my 10th-grade son made the comment the other day that for some reason he always craves salsa and chips when he comes home. “Spanish is last period, isn’t it?” I said. Little grin and, “Yes. Yes it is,” he answered. Then he made the comment that he hoped I would make more of my salsa soon because we were almost out and mine is just the best, so much better than the store-bought kind. How can I refuse that? So, salsa is simmering on the stove now, too. And I managed not to make a mess with it. Yet. The day is still young.

Now that I’m done cooking for a bit, I think I’m going to take a break and read a book. I’ve got some good ones going. I just finished True for You, But Not for Me: Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith by Paul Copan. Now I’m reading something purely for fun because my 8th-grader and I were super happy that the seventh book in Margaret Peterson Haddix’s The Missing series, The Revealed, came out this month. It arrived at our house on Wednesday in a little box of happiness from Amazon, and I am reading it and loving it as much as I’ve loved the rest of the series. And, yes, I’m reading it first. Kiddo has to read a lot for school. I do not. I get to read it first. And I can hardly put it down. Next I’m planning to read Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. This one my high school boy had to read for school and he wants me to read it so he can discuss it with me. I love that. I’ve also got Jesus Unmasked by Todd Friel and The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung waiting in the wings. And all of them are real books, not on my Kindle, so I could actually call this a what’s on my nightstand paragraph. The books really are stacked around the house. It’s been a while since I’ve read non-Kindle books. 

So, that’s a glimpse at my Friday. Hope you’re having a good Friday, too. :-)

A Little Summer Stream Of Consciousness to Keep the Blog Alive Another Day

I found a seeded watermelon at the store!! Hooray! We can now teach our kids the joys of spitting watermelon seeds, which should really be a part of every kid's summer, Don’t you think. (Just so you know, the only reason there is not a question mark there where one should be is because that key is not working since a nameless child spilled Gatorade on the keyboard the other day. I’m guessing we will be shopping for a new keyboard shortly.) Besides, seedless watermelons are just NOT as tasty, and there's GOT to be something just WRONG about a seedless watermelon. It's just not natural. :-) So that was a good thing about shopping at my new grocery store yesterday. On the other hand, I looked up and down the canned vegetable and fruit aisle for canned tomatoes and all I could find were a measly few cans of organic which cost a lot more for negligible benefit (DO NOT even start with me on organic vs. regular, please. I don’t buy into all that, and you won’t change my mind, and I shop on a budget, so let’s just agree to disagree before we have the discussion), but I took a can since I needed it to make my homemade salsa which I'd been craving (store bought salsa just does NOT compare. Mine is immensely more tasty, as my husband and children will tell you). Anyway, later I ended up by accident on the 'Italian' aisle, and low and behold, there were shelves and shelves of…..canned tomatoes. Because OF COURSE that's where you would naturally think to look FIRST for canned tomatoes because it's not like you might want them for something OTHER than Italian food, like, say…..salsa, or something. I have yet to find pepperoni in this store, by the way. And, yes, I have checked the Italian aisle, which actually MIGHT make sense. One of the goofy things that makes the nomadic life of an Army family which means moving all the time a pain is you no sooner figure out all your everyday things when you have to go find and figure out new ones in a new place. I REALLY need to find someone to cut my hair. I'm starting to look like the shaggy dog. On the other hand, I had gotten myself into a right blue funk the other day about how I don’t really like it here and can I really live a year here, blah, blah, blah, blah.....when I got a wake up call just by reading my newsfeed. Then I realized I have NOTHING to complain about, shape up, already, and my heart has gotten so heavy for the REAL heartache in the world. I am praying for Iraq, and Israel, and Africa, and so many others who really are suffering. Who am I to complain about the goofed up organizational skills of my local grocery store, for crying out loud. And one really incredibly good thing about where we live is that we have an awesome church we’ve been attending and are moving toward joining. That is a blessing that far outweighs the angst over moving to a new place. This is a church where the Word is opened and read and preached WELL every week, and the Gospel is central to all that happens there. We are encouraged and challenged and that is amazing, and I’m grateful.

So, all told, it’s been an interesting summer round the ol’ Sweet Tea household. I really do intend to start blogging again one day. Until such a time, however, this will have to do, and by the way if you haven't checked it in a while, I've updated my current reading list for 2014, so you can see what I've been reading lately if you're interested in such things. Ciao!

Some Random Thoughts on Easter Afternoon

*Jesus is risen! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

*He is risen! He is risen indeed! I enjoyed teaching the Kindergarten-First Grade Sunday school class to say that this morning. I’m thankful for The Gospel Project. The kids are responding well and listening to the lessons, and we are having a great time using the curriculum. 

*You know, every Sunday is a celebration of Resurrection Sunday really, but there is something extra special about gathering together on Easter. There was such joy this morning in the worship service, and I count it a blessing to be able to meet with other believers as a family to share in worshiping our Lord and Savior together.

*There are a lot of things about social media that can be negatives, but today it was really neat to see all the Resurrection greetings flooding the Facebook and Twitter feeds. It was a neat reminder of the bond Christians have with believers all around the world. There was one especially moving post on Facebook as a friend who is currently in another country adopting their daughter posted Easter greetings from that country She told a moving story of being able to worship with an international group of believers in several different languages, and how she and her husband were able to share the gospel with someone they met  during their travels who was asking questions. 

*Speaking of negatives of social media, I felt a little frustrated with people who were over the top offended by Google’s most recent stupidity today, by calling for us to write Google and complain because Christians need to let their voice be heard. Here’s my take on that: The best way for us to make our voice heard, in my opinion, is to do what I commended in the paragraph above - rejoice in the real meaning of today, loudly and clearly and joyfully. If we’re known for being prickly and offended by a company that has never claimed to be a “Christian” company, we come off sounding whiny and negative all the time. I’m not a big fan of boycotting, because to be consistent we’re going to have to boycott just about everyone and go live in the woods somewhere, and we just end up sounding hateful. They didn’t tell us we couldn’t celebrate Easter, they just didn’t choose to do so themselves. I don’t expect Google to act like Christians, and, let’s face it, if they HAD chosen to portray something about Easter it would have been the Easter bunny and Easter eggs most likely, and that isn't what today is about, either.  Complaining to them won’t change their opinion if they are already not inclined toward Christianity, and we come off looking angry and mean-spirited and easily offended on a day when we should be celebrating the greatest announcement ever made to mankind, “He is not here. He is risen, just as He said!” If we get sidetracked into barking at Google, then they win. Just move on over to Bing and forget ‘em, which is what I did. 

*On a lighter note, my husband requested that we try lamb this year for our meal, because he just loved the food when he was in Bosnia several years ago and has always wanted me to try making something like it here. We made Greek style roast leg of lamb today, and it was VERY good. I also made deviled eggs to please my middle son - they are his favorite. I very much dislike making them, because I am a disaster when it comes to peeling hard boiled eggs, but for love of the boy I did it. Took an insane amount of time to make for how quickly they are eaten, but he liked them.

*And last, but not least, there were a few blog posts I read during the last week that I’ve been meaning to corral into a post to share, so I’ll add those here.

Christ Forsaken from the Ligonier blog was very good.

Here Come the Bunnies! from Tom Chantry I liked, too. Every year it seems that Easter becomes more and more secularized by the world, but that should not mean we have to cave to it. Big surprise, but we don’t “Easter Bunny” at our house. Here again, the holiday just is too rich with meaning to trivialize it by focusing on bunnies and eggs. Do it or don’t, but I also don’t think we need to worry about not calling it “Easter.” 

Raising Daughters in a World that Devalues Them: 7 Things We Must Tell Them. As a mother of a daughter, I really appreciated this post. 

How to Rock Twitter Like a Pharisee was good, too. Great reminder to check our motives before posting our thoughts, and I'm trying to remember and practice it.

Biblical Christianity Needs Both Javert and Valjean. Y’all know how much I like Les Miserables, and I enjoyed this post. Good thoughts in the post, but also in the comments, at least in the first few I read the other day (I haven’t checked since then).

Random Thoughts in March

Something about the promise of spring makes me want to start blogging again. I don’t know that I will be any more regular about posting, but I do miss writing here. I realize my last few posts have been sort of heavy, and it occurred to me that I could write a fluff post now and then to keep the blog alive.

So, some random thoughts for today.

I have a rather large amount of homemade butter frosting left over from an earlier project, and upon pondering what I could do with it, I thought, “Homemade cinnamon rolls!” They don’t have to be only for special days, right? Consequently, I am waiting for the bread machine to finish the dough and thought I’d work on a blog post while I wait. My kids will call me blessed in the morning, I’m sure, because we’re having cinnamon rolls on an ordinary Saturday with really good frosting. Of course, it will blow my whole calorie budget for the day if I don’t exercise somewhere along the way tomorrow, but, the kids will enjoy it. The boys will, anyway. My daughter informed me on Christmas morning that she ‘doesn’t really care for’ my cinnamon rolls. That sounded very funny coming out of a 6-year-old mouth. At least she was polite about it. She doesn’t seem to like sweets a whole lot. Just give the girl a hunk of cheese and she’s a happy camper. 

Speaking of my daughter and her quirky cuteness, I once wrote a post here about how she hated my hair when I cut it short. Well, since about October I've been trying to grow out my hair. Growing out my bangs has been driving me crazy, but it's almost to the point where I could think about showing a before and after picture. Not quite, but we're almost there.

It’s nice to see that spring is on the way. One of my very favorite things about spring is the flowers blooming. My daffodils are almost here, the tulips are starting to sprout, and one little purple flower that is lovely even if I can’t remember what it is called has already bloomed and been damaged by the frosty mornings we’ve had. Brings this scripture to mind: “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” (1Peter 1:24). As thankful as I am for the pretty flowers that last for a season, I’m so much more thankful that the word of the Lord remains forever! 

As far as what I’m calling the Scripture memory personal challenge for 2013, I’ve been working on memorizing Isaiah 53 and reviewing Philippians. I’m not sure what I’ll work on next yet. The time spent pondering on scripture as you spend time trying to memorize it is priceless. It takes me longer than it used to take to master a passage, but I enjoy the effort and how it often spurs me toward prayer as I think on it.

As to writing that children’s story I mentioned a while back, I did get it started, then life got super busy and I didn’t get very far. I need to get back to it as things settle down a bit, hopefully.

As to reading, I am STILL working my way through Les Miserables, which I started right after Christmas. Granted, I also read two other books during the past 2 1/2 months, but it’s taking me a long time to get through this one. I’ve read more than 3000 Nook pages, and still have about 600 or so more to go - I’m about 85% finished. :-) I am enjoying it mostly. I say mostly because there are parts I find tedious and don’t really understand what he’s talking about, but when he tells the story, I like it. And the translator of the version I’m reading chose to leave most of the songs and poems untranslated, so I have to flip through pages of French. Kind of misses the point of reading an English translation if you don’t know what those sections are saying. But, it’s a great story. This may be the one and only instance I’ve found where I liked the movie better than the book. It’s probably a good thing I saw the new musical movie first. That way, I knew the story is incredibly worth wading through the more boring sections. Then again, I find myself with songs from it stuck in my head as I read. 

Speaking of liking the book better than the movie, I didn’t even try to watch ‘The Bible’ on the History channel. I just didn’t feel confident they’d get it right, and judging by some of what I’m hearing about it, they didn’t so much. I’ll keep reading my Bible, and leave the movie alone, I think. Judging by all the buzz, just one more thing where I’m out of step with, well, just about most people I know. That and the fact that I don’t get all the Protestants who are giddy and gushing about the selection of a new pope. As my husband says, the Reformation happened for a reason. Know your history!

Well, the dough is ready for me to make it into cinnamon rolls to be baked in the morning, so I should bring this post to an end. Mission accomplished.

But before I go, I would be remiss if I didn't share the latest goofy church sign sighting: "Feeling chilly? Let God be your comforter." My husband told me he almost drove off the road when he saw that one the other day. 

And on that note, Happy Friday! And happy (almost) spring!

Status Report - November 2012

November has arrived, chilly and right on time. Does it seem like this year is flying by? I intended to write a status update post yesterday, but never got to it, so here it is today.

Sitting....in my kitchen. It’s a little chilly in here, so I’ve got my sweater on. It’s been chilly enough for our gas fireplace to kick on the past few mornings. I have a feeling it may be a cold winter this year. 

Sipping....homemade ‘pumpkin juice.’ We really liked the pumpkin juice we found at Universal Studios’ The Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year, and I’ve attempted to come up with something similar here. The last time I tried to discover a recipe, we didn’t like it very much, but that may be because we didn’t stumble across the secret that we did this time, which is that it is much better served cold than hot. After looking around on the internet for some ideas, the recipe I came up with this time is much more to the liking of my boys and myself. Even my daughter claims to like it, though she didn’t finish her small cup of it last night. Here’s how I made it if anyone wants to give it a try:

1 gallon apple cider

1 can pumpkin

1 large spoonful honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice (if it’s ‘allspice,’ why do you have to use other spices with it? Just something my inquiring mind wants to know)

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Add all together and simmer on the stove for a while. Cool and store in refrigerator. Best served cold. 

Funny (to me) story...The apple cider was not in the refrigerated section of the store when I bought it, so when I brought it home, I put it on the counter until I finally got around to trying the pumpkin juice experiment, which was two weeks later. I was wondering if maybe it should have been refrigerated after all because it seemed to have expanded the plastic jug it was in a little on the bottom and it was a little tangy and it frothed pretty quickly as I simmered it. I did a little wondering about how bad it might be if the teetotaling Southern Baptist deacon’s wife made her kids tipsy with fermented apple cider, but it turned out ok. :-) 

Waiting....for the sun to come up just a little bit more so I can go out and take a walk. Walking outside is a little depressing when it’s chilly AND dismal gray out, so I’m hoping for chilly and a little sunnier. I need some exercise, though. I haven’t done very well this week with exercising (meaning, I haven't exercised at all, urg) and need to get back to it. 

Glad....that the time change is this Sunday. It will be nice to have daylight in the morning when I walk kids to the bus again, at least for a little while. Don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors, too!!

Thinking...that this year is flying by. I think the busyness of band practices and football practices this fall contributed to how fast time seems to go by. Just last summer when we were thinking that the busiest time of the year would wind down in October once marching band season was over, that seemed such a long way away. And here we are, no more band practices for my oldest boy, and only one more week of football for my middle boy. Already. Band ended on a high note (smile!) as their band finished fourth in their class for the state. Just qualifying for state finals was so cool. And football is ending on a high note for our middle boy, too, as his team won their playoff game last week and is 'superbowl' bound this weekend. It's going to feel strange when all the whirlwind slows down after this week, but it's going to be nice to have a more relaxed family time in the evenings, too. Looking forward to getting back to reading together again. We still so enjoy reading books out loud together, and that's been on hold for MONTHS now. I'll be glad to get that back.

Puzzled...at how often people gripe about laundry on Facebook. Seriously, laundry isn’t exactly my favorite thing, either, but it has to be done. I, for one, am really glad to have a washing machine and dryer. After watching Revolution and wondering how they always seem to look so clean with no electricity for the past 15 years and always on the road looking for the kidnapped brother, and then thinking about what a chore laundry really would be without electricity, I've decided that, yeah, laundry can feel like a drudgery and a ‘vanity of vanity’ kind of chore since once you get it done there’s always more, but it has to be done, so might as well just do and stop griping about it. My two cents there. You could always be glad you don’t have the torture I do going through my head, singing, “Laundry, Laundry,” to the tune of “Monday, Monday” every time I go in there and start sorting the clothes. Or, then again, maybe now you will now that I’ve planted that little gem in your noggin. You are welcome.

Speaking...of Facebook, I’m thinking it may be time, once again, to take a bit of a hiatus. Facebook is good in a way, because I’ve reconnected with friends from times and places past who I had lost touch with or would have lost touch with, and I enjoy keeping up with them. However, for someone like me who is all too prone to hermit-like tendencies, it also has dangers in that it can lead to a false sense of connection, too. It’s really easy to get sucked into thinking that if you interact with blog and Facebook friends that you have ‘community’ and then ignore the real people right across the street. What I mean is, Facebook can feed hermit-like tendencies if I’m not careful. So, need to watch it and get out there and connect with my nearby neighbors more. Plus, when you’re tempted to check in too often, it eats away at things that are more important. For example, I meant to be getting serious about my writing this fall. I need to get past the ‘mean to’ and just DO IT. That may mean hiding my dumb ‘smart phone,’ which I think has actually made me dumber with the false urgency of having too much right there at my finger tips all demanding my dwindling attention span. I am convinced computers and smart phones are turning us into zombies.

Speaking....of zombies, what is the deal with all the death stuff on kids’ clothes? And all the talk about zombies everywhere, all the time, by almost everyone? My daughter has nightmares about zombies, thanks a lot everybody for talking about them all the time. Stop it already. Why is our culture increasingly obsessed with grossness and death?

Working....on memorizing several passages of scripture again, and I’ve come up with a way to be more disciplined about working on it throughout the day. Aside from the limited time block I’m planning to allow myself on the computer, whenever I’m tempted to hit the Facebook app on my phone, I’m going to reach for the memory work instead. This morning I began reviewing Philippians to refresh it once again. It’s amazing that after all those months I spent memorizing it and how well I once knew it, how rusty I’ve become since I haven’t reviewed it in a while. I don’t want to lose it completely, so I’m actively reviewing it. I’m also going back to work on something else I started but never finished a few years ago. When I was an Awana helper at our church in South Carolina, we were challenged as leaders to memorize several passages, and I have always intended to complete that challenge, for my own benefit even though we are no longer there in SC. Today I was reviewing Psalm 23, and I just love, love, love that Psalm. I think when a passage is familiar, sometimes we neglect to take time to really think about what it’s saying, and this morning was sweet indeed as I thought about how the God who is so awesome, as I wrote about in the October 23 post, is so very tender and personal and loving to His children that He is our shepherd who cares for us and leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 

Reading....well, just finished reading, The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler. I highly recommend this book. And I’m also reading a fiction book I got at the library the other day, State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Due to my aforementioned smart phone induced ADD, I’ve had a little trouble sitting still long enough to really read, but I think that will be improving now as I put the safeguards in place to really limit those tendencies to be online all the time. Hoping to spend some time writing, too. Like I’ve said countless times before, I need to hurry up and keep writing the pirate story while my middle son who requested it is still a kid and can enjoy it.......

Looking....out the window, I see the sun is finally up, so I think I’ll go ahead and end this and post it and get moving today. 

Happy Friday, all.

Thankful Thursday

I seem to have forgotten that I have a blog, and that I enjoy writing it, and that I enjoy reading other blogs. Or maybe it’s just been summer. And a HOT one at that.

Seeing as it’s Thursday, how about I write a Thankful Thursday post to remind myself that I have a blog and enjoy writing here?

I’m thankful for pomeganates. What an interesting and delicious and beautiful fruit it is.  My mom taught me how to cut and eat one last Thanksgiving, and I’ve been searching the grocery store ever since in the hopes they might some day have them in our produce section. Yesterday they did! I was tempted to do a dance of joy right there in the store. My boys were excited to see the pomegranates come home, too. They LOVE them. Here’s some pictures of my pomegranate fun: 

Such a pretty fruit, don't you think?

All those yummy little jewels!

I’m also thankful for air conditioning. It’s been over 100 degrees here several days during the past few weeks. Whew. Our upstairs AC unit, on what was supposedly the hottest day of the year, decided to quit blowing cold air. It got HOT, HOT, HOT upstairs. I’m thankful we have two units and the downstairs is cool. We’ve been calling for a week now and finally have an appointment tomorrow to have the upstairs fixed. Long story, not going to complain here, though. I’m just thankful we have any AC at all. In a world where there is so much poverty, I really feel selfish complaining when we have one working unit in the house. That’s an inconvenience, not a crisis.

I’m thankful for the ministry of Truth for Life, Grace to You, and Wretched Radio. The teaching I hear daily from these resources has been precious to me. I really appreciate the instruction I’m receiving in the gospel, and words just can’t express how thankful I am for the impact it’s having on my own life and on how I’m growing in teaching my children. 

I’m thankful for an app I found for my iPhone called Run5K. It was an 8 week program that helped me to learn to go from a non-runner to being, well, more of a jogger than I ever have been in my life. I finished the program, heat and hilly neighborhood notwithstanding, and I’m trying to get into better shape. All this hilly running is even helping me to strengthen the muscles that are helping my knee to not hurt quite as much as it has for the past 3 years. Nice. Now if I could just see some of the weight come down. You’d think with all this jogging I’d lose a few pounds, wouldn’t you? But I’m thankful to be feeling healthier, and to have reached a goal I’ve never been able to reach before - being able to run (slow, but more than I've ever done before) for exercise outside. My husband likes to run, and he’s really patient and slows his pace to run with me once in a while and is very encouraging in my effort to learn to do this hard thing.

Most of all, I’m thankful for the gospel and that God delights to save sinners, of whom I am a most wretched one who is most grateful and joyful to be saved by His grace. I am thankful that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and He ever intecedes for His people. 

Romans 5:8

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Don't Mess With the Sauce!

Dear Chef Boyardee People:

I have happily used your pizza sauce for YEARS because I like it. A lot. It brings back happy memories of my childhood and pizzas made at home in bygone years, and I’ve been pleased to share those memories by bringing them forward and baking pizzas with your delicious sauce for my own children. We pretty much all agree that when we are craving homemade pizza, it is the sauce we are remembering fondly.

However, imagine my dismay when shopping at my local grocery store this week and there were no cans of delicious Chef Boyardee pizza sauce on the shelf where until a few days ago it happily was always to be found. Not to be deterred, I opted to buy the Chef Boyardee Pizza Maker kit, because I knew the sauce is contained in that box. All seemed well and good until I went to make my pizzas tonight, a joyous Friday tradition in the Sweet Tea household. When I opened the can of “Pizza Maker Sauce”, the name of which probably should have clued me in, I realized it didn’t smell exactly right. I thought, “No, surely they didn’t....” and proceeded to swipe a taste on my finger from the lid. 

You did. You went and changed my sauce.

Why, I ask you, did you take something that has been providing deliciousness for years, and go about changing it? And you know what? I don’t like the new flavor nearly as well. It doesn’t have that special something that was in the old sauce, and has a new something that I just really don't like.

Why go about changing a good thing? Do you remember the “New Coke” debacle? I do. Didn't turn out so well, and when they brought back "Coke Classic," it still wasn't the same Coca-Cola we had known and loved, but apparently they thought we were too dumb to notice, and now my kids have no idea what once was. Well, now I find myself unwittingly in the midst of a pizza sauce debacle, and I am sad. I am letting you know that there is now nothing to prevent me from leaving your trusted brand and embarking on a journey to find a new favorite elsewhere. Sadly, my Chef Boyardee sauce seems to be going the way of so many other old favorite items that have left us for the land of “new and improved” which is usually none of the sort.

I will eat my pizza tonight with some sadness and nostalgia for what was, and hope that perhaps this sauce change is a fluke or something. 

If it is not, then I am sad to say that I see no reason to continue what has been a happy friendship for so many years. 

Sadly,

Rebekah

Chief pizza maker and cook in the Sweet Tea household

Just Another Afternoon in the Kitchen

I see that quite a few of my bloggy friends are attempting to get back to writing daily blog posts! This is something I would like to do, also, but I’m not ready to make promises on that front. My trepidatious relationship with my blog leads me to long dry spells and times when I’m somewhat reluctant to post my thoughts out here at all for just anybody to read, and times of swirling insecurity where I contemplate not posting another blog post ever again. Then I get to where every post ends up being long and, well, too much. Maybe I need to try the everyday blogging thing. Would it help to lighten up the feel of my blog if I didn’t save it all up for the big posts? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

I suppose I could share a snapshot of what this afternoon entailed and therefore a glimpse at what daily blogging might possibly look like, and let you, my few remaining friendly readers, decide:

I’ve mentioned before that I’m something of a disaster in the kitchen. I think my escapade today may just be my most spectacular mess yet. 

Trying to make the easy version of banana pudding for my banana-pudding loving kiddos, a feat I have completed successfully quite often in the past, I made a valiant start by placing the first layer of vanilla wafers in the dish, slicing the first banana and arranging it just so. So far so good, yes? 

Enter the chaos that intruded upon my moment of domestic homemaker bliss.  

I typically use my blender to mix the boxed pudding, so I measured the milk, put in the pudding mix, turned it on, and promptly turned my back to throw away the banana peel. Upon turning back around, I saw my blender spewing yellow pudding mess all over the kitchen. My response? “Ack, ah, what?????!!!!!” Coherence is not my strong point in a crisis moment. 

Apparently I had not sufficiently checked to make sure the bottom of the blender was securely attached to the jar. I had carefully checked to make sure the bottom was securely on the blender base, but the jar? Escaped my notice. The jar was slowly turning and pudding was pooling out the bottom and spewing forth in a fine yellow mist. It was quite exciting.

And sticky. Very sticky.

So. In a fit of optimism I started laughing and talking to myself about how I don’t think I’ve made quite such a marvelous mess in the kitchen before. I’ve come close but this one was the worst for today. So far. Laughing beats crying when the mess is that spectacular. 

In another fit of.....something, call it optimism if you will, I googled “Homemade banana pudding” to see if I could salvage the treat. Right. Like I’ve EVER made homemade, not from a box, pudding before in my life. Turns out you need eggs for that, and all that I have in the fridge are egg beaters at the moment. In a fit of waning optimism at this point, I googled “homemade pudding with egg beaters.” Suffice to say, unless I find a way to get to the grocery store in the next little bit, we aren’t going to be having banana pudding tonight. Possibly tomorrow....

Take home message: Though I may have lived a mere 45 minutes from Savannah for 5 years of my recent adult life, Paula Deen I am not. There are days my family is lucky to get something resembling a home-cooked meal absent some kind of kitchen incident. But that meal is made with love.....

Status Report October 2011

Sitting.....in my car - well, while I was hand writing the original of this in my spiral notebook journal I was, anyway. Now I'm sitting at the computer desk in my kitchen, naturally. Well, when you all read this, I don't know anymore where I am, since you could be reading it anytime and I won't still be sitting at the computer desk then. :-)

Pondering....just how much we must love our sons to sit in our cars on a chilly, wet, gray, muddy, intermittently rainy Fall evening, eating Subway for dinner on the run in the car while we wait on our boys to become sufficiently muddy during two hours of football practice. This after 45 minutes of waiting for a certain little girl to have her gymnastics class earlier this afternoon. Just livin' the dream, baby. Or maybe we're just a little crazy. That too.

Eating....Subway ham and cheese on wheat with lettuce, pickles, onion, red vinegar, tomato and oregano. Just the way I like it. And a diet Coke. Rachel's having Mickey D's. Yuck. Michael will get his Subway when practice is over. Like I said, sports crazy. (Actually, see point above. Now that I'm not in the car and everyone but me is going to bed, I'm just about to enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Chai latte here, in my Disney mug, because in spite of that rather long post I wrote, we did have fun family time there and the further out from the inundation that I am the more I can appreciate the parts I like about our fun together there. And Pumpkin Spice Chai latte is just......Ahhhhh. Just saying, "Pumpkin," makes me feel all cozy and snug.)

Missing....my husband and oldest son. Drew took Joshua on a Father-Son field trip to Washington D.C. and New York City. Even got the days officially excused from school as an educational enhancement opportunity. Drew has some really neat stuff planned for them to do. I know they're having fun, and I'm glad Drew wants to spend some one-on-one time with our newly teenaged boy.

Thinking....I have cake issues. There is about half a chocolate cake sitting in my fridge. It keeps loudly tempting me to issue it into my mouth. See? Cake issues. Anyone want to come eat this cake and get it away from me? Which leads me to the other big news. The cake is birthday cake from my son turning into a teenager yesterday. We have a teenager in the house now. Well, when he comes home from his trip we will. Did I mention it?

Wondering....how in the world my baby boy is 13 as of yesterday. How grateful I am that God granted us the awesome privilege and responsibility of parenting him 13 years ago. How grateful I am that God allows us to be Michael's and Rachel's mom and dad, too.

Soaking....up the beauty of Fall leaves. Thankful for the beauty of God's creation as it is displayed in such abundance of eye-drenching colors.

Bummed....because new white tennis shoes and clumsy misstep into ankle deep, rich, red Kentucky mud are not a happy combination.

Relieved....that laundry soap and washing machine took care of my mud and white shoes conundrum. Mostly-ish.

Surprised....that "Mostly-ish" did not get a red or green squiggly line under it when I typed it.

Excited...that my baby, my Kindergartner is reading. She reads out street signs and store signs all the time now. And last night, she read a book to me before bed. Did you catch that? She read a book to me. Woot! Another reader in the Sweet Tea house! Woot! Woot!

Listening....to Addition and Subtraction rap CD. (This was back in the car). It's a little irritating after the first track or two, but daughter requested it, and how can I refuse? She actually likes learning math facts when they are rapped at her by a cat and mouse duet. Shrug.

Reading.....The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Yet another series that Joshua was reading that I find interesting, also. I've liked everything I've read by this author. One very cool thing about having kids who LOVE to read is that they have introduced me to some good books I probably never would have read otherwise. And we get to enjoy discussing them together, too. Coolness.

Thankful, humbled, and amazed.....at God's mercy, compassion, and awesome greatness. What a humbling and truly awesome thing it is when He allows you to see a glimpse of how He is working when you have been praying a gospel-centered prayer for someone. It's wonderful when you walk with the Lord and pay attention and see He is working in all things for His glory. Wondrous grace and matchless joy!

Love....my church. Looking forward to exciting things I trust the Lord has for us to participate in during the near future. So thankful for this family of believers in the Lord Jesus who gather together at Northside Baptist Church.

Happy October!

This Afternoon In Facebook Status Update Format or Laughing About My Afternoon in the Kitchen

You know how you read status updates that people intentionally write cryptically, causing you wonder what in the world they mean? Here's what my afternoon would be like if I had chosen to Facebook my dinner-making progress:

I was something of a disaster in the kitchen today.

Buttermilk was everywhere!

Everywhere, I say.

If you're going to make a mess, might as well go all out and make it spectacular.

Dinner was such a success, we wished we'd ordered pizza.

Well, that last one probably isn't true. I have no doubt the dinner itself will be just fine. It was the producing of it that was rather eventful.

And just what, pray tell, caused buttermilk to be all over the kitchen?

That's where the cryptic nature of the post comes in. Frustrating, isn't it? :-)

Yeah, I don't like those kinds of cryptic status updates, either.

So, in case you're wondering and in the interested of public service, always make sure the cap is on the buttermilk before you shake it.

But the banana bread will still be yummy.

Have a nice day.

Friday Frazzles

Welcome to the second edition of ‘Friday Frazzles,’ a collection of tangentially related and fairly random thoughts unworthy of a solid blog post, but plopped out here to keep the blog limping along as they wander through my brain. Can’t promise this will become a regular Friday feature around here, but here’s another one, anyway.

I’m loving the Fall weather we’re having. Windows open, crisp air. Need to be outside soon and enjoying it with the kiddos.

I also love that my house is nice and cool and that the AC isn’t having to run to make it so. I am a fan of Fall.

Pizza dough is rising in the pans for homemade pizza Friday. Yum.

Really enjoyed volunteering in a second grade classroom at my kids’ school yesterday morning and this morning. Second graders are so sweet. It’s going to be fun volunteering in there this year. 

Enjoying teaching the second and third grade Sunday school, too.

My son brought tears to my eyes when, after drilling him really hard on his math facts, he said, “Thank you, Mom,” and gave me a big hug. I’m feeling all kinds of mommy guilt for not getting on top of his math struggle sooner. We’re working together on it, though, and it seems that he appreciates it.

I’m thankful for my husband, for lots and lots of reasons, but I’m thinking right at this moment how thankful I am that he can support and cheer for his son at football without being the kind of jerk another dad was as he yelled at the coaches and made pretty much an idiot of himself treating nine and ten year old football like something much more important than it is. I’m thankful my husband isn’t that guy. 

Enjoying the book I’m reading, but ready to finish it and move on to the book that arrived in my mailbox from Amazon the other day. That is the newest installment in a series the boys and I are reading together that we had pre-ordered months ago. Looking forward to reading it before oldest son slips and tells me anything about it since he’s already finished it. Also looking forward to reading the series we ordered from his book order. We’re not just ordering books for the kids anymore, now I am enjoying a lot of them, too. Fun!

Reviewed Philippians this morning, and am glad I still have it memorized. I love it.

That’s about it for now. Time to enjoy the afternoon. It’s one of those days outside where you just feel glad to be outside. Have I mentioned that I love the Fall?

Status Report August 2011

Sitting....and staring at the computer, wanting to write a blog post.

Drinking....cherry Coke Zero, made with the cherry syrup we bought at Gloria Jeans while visiting my brother and his family.

Cooked....chicken and veggie stir-fry for dinner. It was good. The daughter opted for PB&J. Weirdo. :-)

Feeling...a little anxious, depressed and blah over the fact that the kids go back to school tomorrow. I don’t know if it’s because my over-perfectionistic bent toward school and the anxiety I had over school way back when has scarred me for life or what, but I get this way every year. That and my baby enters kindergarten this year, and you see some of the reason for my feeling angsty and sick to my stomach today. Seems like summer went way too fast this year, especially. I haven’t had my yearly nightmare involving a locker that won’t open and classes I’ve forgotten to attend yet, however. Yet, I say.

Enjoyed...visiting my brother, his wife and their 9-month-old little boy over the weekend. Finally got to meet my little nephew in person, and he’s a cutie.

Visited...Mount Airy, NC as we took a scenic route home from visiting my brother. It was fun to see "Mayberry" and reminds me we need to watch some of those old Andy Griffith shows with the kids.

Laughed...at the funny things my kids said in the car on the way home. My daughter talked NONSTOP for the two days we broke the trip into. Seriously. Funniest thing she said was while we were driving over a mountain: "We're having a really fun adventure, Dad!" And my middle boy asking my older boy to kill the flying ant in the car by saying, "I can't get it! Josh, use your wand!" My family is weird, but we have a good time.

Also enjoyed....going to a real mall. Yes, local friends, there was even a food court - with a Sonic and Gloria Jeans, among others, inside. Nice. Imagine that. Bought myself some coffee and the cherry syrup I mentioned above.

Reading....the King Raven trilogy by Stephen Lawhead on my Nook. I’m enjoying the first book, Hood, very much.

Surprised...that my husband decided to upgrade my phone to an iPhone while we were at that real mall that also had a Verizon store. I like. Not sure it was the wisest thing to buy me a phone that allows me to Facebook anywhere, anytime, but, I like.

Ready....for church choir practice to start back up now that August is here. I’ve missed it over the summer.

Amazed...that the outside thermometer was reading 130.5 degrees F at one point this afternoon. That direct sunlight is scorching out there.

Thankful...for air conditioning.

Realizing....that this post is entirely fluff. Sorry. That’s kind of all I can manage at this moment.

Thinking....I need to review Philippians. I had memorized it, but when I tried to review it yesterday, I realized I need a concentrated review before I lose it.

Excited....to be entering the adventure of team-teaching the second and third grade Sunday School for our church this year.

Planning....to get writing. I’ve been saying it, but I’m planning to get busy. That may, or may not, mean less blogging. I know, less than my stellar blogging rate this summer? Time will tell, I guess.

Just finished....packing my daughter’s first ever school lunch. Why do I cry over everything? I packed the boys’ lunches for them, too, though usually I make them pack their own since it’s a responsibility-training exercise. But for tomorrow, I did it for them. That way I can slip in a little note, too.

Time...to end this post and go get everyone ready to wind up the day.

Happy August!

Status Report - July 2011

Well, here we are nine days into July, maybe I’ll write a status report. The blog seems to be stalled, and I’m in something of a funk writing-wise. For one thing, I’ve been reading a lot, and for another, just not really able to sit and write in the summer this year for some reason. Anyway, thanks again to Lisa for her useful status report format:

Sitting.....where I’m always sitting when typing at the computer, in the kitchen.

Drinking....hot Constant Comment tea. One of my favorite things. Yes, even in summer, hot tea is a good thing.

Ate....French toast and bacon for breakfast today. I had started cooking the bacon, and husband came in and took over that chore, knowing how I do not like to cook bacon, and then he proceeded to cook the French toast I had prepared also. I have mentioned that I love him, right? Kids enjoyed their special breakfast today

Wondering....if I’ll ever take up regular, or even semi-regular, blogging again.

Sure....I shouldn’t make any pronouncements about blogging or not blogging, because I know from experience that it often comes in spurts for me.

Pondering....several topics that I’d like to flesh out into a blog post soon, among them the influence women can have over the people in their lives, more thoughts on silence related to my last post and the misuse and misunderstanding of a certain scripture passage on being still.

Still laughing....about overhearing my daughter yesterday while she was playing with a friend. She said, "I don't like peace and quiet. I like peace and loud." Friends, if you only knew....... :-)

Shocked....when I checked the school calendar and realized they go back on August 3. I was sure we had more time than that! Where has the summer gone?

Thinking....about the fact that you can lie without actually saying something that is not true by choosing carefully which facts you share and which you leave out and thereby allowing someone to draw a wrong conclusion, and if you choose not to correct that wrong conclusion, it could be argued that what you’ve done has the same effect as if you’d lied. Think about it. Yes, that’s another topic I’ve been pondering for a blog post.

Enjoying....reading with my boys. I’m really enjoying this strange series we’re reading together. Definitely have had some things to talk to them about, but overall it’s been interesting reading. My oldest boy is getting better about not spoiling the plot as he’s a couple of books ahead of me. Not perfect yet (grrr), but better than in the past.

Staying.....on top of things regarding reading with the boys, too. Had a bit of drama when I got a letter from one boy’s school about him being eligible for an accelerated English class this year complete with a book that is required for summer reading before school starts (Aug. 3, did I mention it? Ack! Not ready for school to start back!!). When I looked at some reviews of the book, I was concerned and sent an e-mail to the teacher asking for information. I then read the book before giving it to my boy. It turned out that I didn’t really feel as bad about the book once I’d read it as the review made me think it was, and after talking with my boy about what concerned me, I think it’s not as bad as I feared. Staying involved is key, though.

Reading....well, besides the stuff I’m reading with the boys, I’m also reading this: Counterfeit Gospels: Rediscovering the Good News in a World of False Hope by Trevin Wax. So far, I’m really appreciating this thoughtful book. In a day and age when we seem to be muddling the message of the gospel, and realizing I've had to firm up my own thinking and jettison wrong thinking along the way about the gospel, I think it is a very important, vitally important, topic. I stand on my soapbox again and say, read the Bible, know it, hide it in your heart and know God, and be discerning! Just because someone can spout a lot of Bible verses doesn’t always mean they are a good Bible teacher. Be like the Bereans and search the scriptures to see if what you are hearing is true.

Hearing... my boys squabbling at the moment. Again. Sigh. Need to discuss this Proverb with my children and drill it into them, again, today: “The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out.” Proverbs 17:15.

Praying...for my church family.

Looking forward....to gathering together to worship our Lord again tomorrow. Have I mentioned how much I love Sundays? It is good to meet together and worship our Lord with fellow believers. Praying for a sweet time of fellowship and worship and learning from His word as we anticipate Sunday.

Needing...to get on with the day. But at least the blog lives another day in this goofy post.

Happy Saturday!