When life gives you lemons....

Make lemon curd!

Or not...since in my case it wasn't lemons, but oranges. In which case, you make orange curd! (Although, I must admit, a good lemon one is my favorite. Shhh...wouldn't want the oranges to get jealous.)

Actually, before I start this off, I am going apologize and say that from this point on I will no longer tell you that I will have something out on such and such day. I homeschool, and cook, and homeschool, and sew, and homeschool, and chase a hyper german shepherd mix puppy out of my house, and deal with an awesome husband who is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Math (UGH! to the Math not the husband), and did I mention we homeschool? I love blogging things, but I'm finding my time doesn't usually go the way I plan, sooo.....I will spare us all the anguish of waiting around for something I promised and then can't seem to get to when I say I will (I'm also sparing myself a HUGE guilt trip!) and just let my posts be random surprise things that are fun and maybe a little informative.

Back to the oranges.

A couple of the recipes I tried out from the January SL citrus stuff used orange curd as a base. I've made a lemon one before and, honestly, it wasn't that great, so I figured I'd give this one a whirl.

Oh, and in case you're curious, you can find this recipe right here: Buttery Orange Curd.

You'll need orange juice, it doesn't have to be fresh squeezed, granulated sugar, corn starch, butter, salt, an orange, and an egg.

First remove the zest from your orange. That's the orange part of the skin. You don't want the white stuff underneath because it's really bitter! I have a microplane grater/zester and absolutely love it. All you have to do to remove the zest is pull it across the skin of the fruit and, viola! (Make sure you only pull it across the fruit because if you miss and get yourself, OUCH!) You don't have to use a microplane, the fine side of a regular grater will work too, you just have to be extra careful not to include any of the white pith.

Next, whisk together your sugar and cornstarch in a good heavy pot on the stove.

Then whisk in your orange juice.

Just mix gently until everything is nice and smooth.

Then whisk in the egg. I got a litttle carried away with the whisking and it really foamed up. I was worried, oops!

But no worries, after bringing it to a boil and whisking it constantly as the recipe stated...

It all evened out and I was able to add the orange zest, butter, and pinch o' salt.

Pour it into a bowl...

And cover it with plastic wrap. You want to press the plastic right onto the curd. This keeps the top from forming a thick skin. Ew! (Please, forgive the reddish pink color...I'm still trying to use up all the holiday plastic wrap I bought by accident at Christmas.)

Now, stick it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. I used this as the base of a Panna Cotta (that recipe will come next) but this would also be good in miniature tart shells topped with some sweetened whipped cream, or on a toasted English muffin. The recipe says to only store it for 3 days and this is a good guideline. I kept some of it in a bowl for a couple days longer, just to see, and the curd began to break down and got rather watery.

Also, next time I make this I will probably omit the zest. The curd had a good orange taste, but I thought it was a little bit strong. I think if I cut out the zest or at least halve it, the flavour will be just right for me.

Delicious Inspiration

Michael gave me a fantastic cookbook for Christmas: Bon Appetit Desserts! I already have the previous cookbooks released by Bon Appetit over the last couple years and was so excited to receive this one. There's only one small problem, well two, but who's counting...1) With over 600 fantastic recipes at my fingertips, where do I start? 2) Why did they change the size of the book?

My family couldn't really care less about #2 when #1 means there may be a delay in them tasting yummy goodness, so, I decided to put off ruminating about cookbook coordinating and settle down to solve the problem of what comes first, a one whisk recipe or a 4 whisk-er, a cake or a candy, and then my January issue of Southern Living came and brought along with it some guidance. (And just in time since the deep chicken vs. egg debate was next and chickens only belong in desserts so long as they are chocolate.)

Mmmm...citrus! What a delightfully delicious way to start off the new year, so....unfortunately, the recipes in Southern Living were yummy looking too, so, diving in, I'll do a bit from both.

15 Months!

Wow! I can hardly believe it has actually been 15 months since the last time I blogged. Talk about writer's block! Well, the long dry spell is over. Starting tomorrow, I will be posting several recipes I've tried recently that are based around sunny citrus fruit. Southern Living magazine got me started and between them and the cookbooks I got for Christmas, I am ready to go...look forward to seeing you!

Life Abundantly

A few days ago my children and I were sitting in the living room reviewing some school work. It had been a long, rough day. The kids were fighting amongst themselves, and, being sulky and snappish towards me. Truth be told, I wasn’t responding the best, either. We were in the middle of a Bible verse when my son responded with a particularly sullen remark to my correction. I stopped. We could not continue in this vein. It wasn’t making our relationships with each other any better and it was surely not pleasing to God.


Calling my son and daughter to sit next to me, I began to talk to them about the harm bad attitudes and responses cause to our spirit. It was during this talk that I felt God give me a little nudge of inspiration; and, of course, as is often the case, by the end of our conversation I felt I had been ministered to as much as either of my children had been; perhaps, more so.


Our conversation went something like this:


Our spiritual person and our physical bodies have a lot in common. They can both be hurt and wounded. Our body may be wounded by someone or something. Usually our spirit is hurt by someone; sharp words and bad attitudes are like little knives attacking and wounding us. How we take care of our wounds determines how healthy we are both physically and spiritually.


If I get a cut on my arm, I can go to the medicine cabinet, get antibiotic ointment and a bandage, clean the wound, put salve on it and a band-aid, and move on. If I keep the cut clean and well cared for it will probably heal well and I will be able to move on with my life and will possibly one day even forget I had a cut.


However, let’s imagine for a minute I decide the band-aid is not something I want. I take the band-aid off and go outside into a messy, germy world and go about my business. Germs are able to get into my body from the cut. It gets infected. I could still at this point stop and take care of it properly, but the healing is delayed and may even be harder to come by than it was at first. It will also be more likely to leave a permanent scar, making it harder to forget.


Let’s say, for whatever reason, I choose not to stop and take care of the infection. Eventually, it is going to travel from the wound to my bloodstream. Now, my body is going to get sick. I will probably have to go to the doctor and get special medicine and treatment to heal what was originally something easily treated. It is even possible that if I let the infection go for too long no treatment will be possible; and, what was originally something quite small will end up killing me.


There are times when someone or something comes along with a mean spirit or wrong attitude, and my own spirit ends up feeling cut or wounded. Sometimes this is deliberate and others times it is an accident, but either way, how I respond to the wound is what matters. I can take my hurt to the Lord and allow him to cleanse, salve, and bandage my spirit. If I let Him continue to care for my wound, eventually it will heal, I will move on, and one day I may even forget there was ever a wound.


The healing of a wound takes time and care. Jesus wants to handle our hurts and offenses. We can let him, or we can decide to go it on our own into a sinful world. If we choose to turn from His care and tear off the bandage he has placed on our spirit, the “germs” of this sinful world will infect our cut and infection of the spirit sets in. Even now we could turn to God and allow him to doctor us, but sometimes we choose to roll down our spiritual sleeves and ignore that there is a cut there. A person can hide a hurt and an infection for a long time, both physically and spiritually, but eventually it will make its presence known.


The infection gets worse and eventually our entire spiritual being is in a place of compromise. Even now it is possible for the power of God to resuscitate us, but the process is long and hard, and often impossible to forget.


Eventually, if we continue in our refusal of treatment our wound will end up being fatal to our soul.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


This conversation has played itself over and over in my mind since it happened. I truly believe God gave me the analogy to communicate a great truth to both my children and to myself. We can let the hurts of this life wound us, infect us, and eventually destroy us, or, we can turn to the Great Physician and allow him to heal us. Sometimes, it takes many treatments on a daily, or even hourly, basis for the healing to occur.


We always have the choice to walk away and refuse His ministrations at any given time, but the end result, if we do, is spiritual death.


In John 10:10 (KJV) Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”


Let’s determine to have, not only life, but life abundantly.


May God’s blessings and peace be with you all,
Tamara

Memory Lane

Take a walk with me today, a little stroll down memory lane in honour of the fact that 4 years ago we had been home from the hospital a bit over a week and were learning all about juggling the needs of twin daughters. They were tiny, couldn't regulate their own body temps well, and were close to clueless about the whole eating process, but, they were so precious, and they were all ours.

I was only 8 weeks along when we found out our number of children would be doubling. Emalea, our oldest, had been praying for twin siblings so that she could be like her best friend Alyssa. Alyssa's mommy had given birth to boy/girl twins in August, and for the previous months Em had been petitioning God. So, there we were in March discovering that we should never underestimate the prayers of a 3 year old!

Our girls, as we discovered at 15 and 17 weeks, grew well and I did my best to stay healthy and eat lots. My Dr constantly reminded me that with my height...or lack thereof...I was at risk of an earlier delivery. She lectured Michael about what I was and was not supposed to be doing, and generally did a good job of putting the fear of God in our lives over the well being of our little treasures. Emalea and Michael Jonathan were just excited that they would *each* get a baby.

And throughout the long hot summer, I grew. I was determined to hold out to 36 weeks. After all, if my good friend Karen, whom we discovered was also carrying twins, could deliver healthy 7 lb, 36 weekers then so could I...right?

Apparently, that wasn't the plan...at 34 weeks 5 days Michael and I found ourselves in the emergency room and then the operating room. At 4:19am on September 7, 2005, Caitlin joined us at 5lb...and just a couple minutes later Elizabeth completed our family, weighing in at 4lb. 9oz. Absolutely fantastic weights for their gestation, but still so very tiny.

An itsy bitsy hand and knee.

NICU was stressful, but thankfully didn't last long. Four days after delivery, we were able to leave the hospital together, much to everyone's surprise...all thanks be to an awesome and powerful God!

C in the back, E in the front.

Elizabeth on the left, Caitlin on the right.

And I have no idea which baby they are each holding.

There are so many stories and pictures that cover the next 4 years, but I'm sure you all have lives and a walk down memory lane that would last 493 hours is probably not in anyone's schedule...so, I'll just share tidbits now and then. For now, here's a brisk jog (and lots of pictures)...

Jackson, Elizabeth, Caitlin, and Kendall (5weeks and 2 weeks)

Elizabeth and Caitlin (3 weeks)

Our Family, Dec. '05, girls are 3.5 months (C,E), MJonathan is 2.5 and Emma is 4.5.

April 2006 - 7 months (E, C)

1 year old! (Elizabeth, Caitlin)

18 months (Elizabeth, Caitlin)

Elizabeth (2), Emalea (6), Caitlin (2), MJonathan (4).

Easter 2008 Elizabeth and Caitlin 2.5.

A visit from Aunt Mimi. E & C, 2.5.

At the Patch, October 20008. MJ (5), Emalea (7), Caitlin & Elizabeth (3).

NICU Reunion, Summer 2009, Caitlin and Elizabeth (3.5) with mommy.

September 7, 2009 - Caitlin and Elizabeth (4).

Happy 4th birthday my sweet girls. You have been a blessing and I thank God daily that He saw fit to give you to us. I love you!

Be still my heart....

It's official....I'm in love!

With take-out containers....oh, and bakery boxes....and itty bitty panettone papers. Hooray! My life just got easier and my husband is going to faint away at the amount I want to charge to his credit card. That, or just get really still....and quiet....and stare at me as though I have lost my ever lovin' mind.

Seriously, though, have you ever tried to take multiple baked items to point B from point A without lovely bakery boxes? It's a tragedy waiting to happen, and, no, Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake does NOT look good decorating a sidewalk. Not that this has happened to me yet (it was actually strawberry jam) but in my nightmares I can totally see this happening. Hours and hours of labour down the drains....or splattered across an otherwise lovely cement walkway...all for the lack of a box.

Now, I realize there are likely a few naysayers out there that will remind me how completely possible it is to drop a bakery box. In the face of all that logic, I am here to remind you: It's a whole lot easier to scoop up and eat Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake from the inside of a box than off a sidewalk.

Plus, you won't have to worry about all the extra grit.

Yummmm! Already thinking about the holidays!

Today I made a pot of Veggie Beef Soup for dinner. That got me thinking about the changing of the seasons....well, sort of...I live in Texas so there aren't exactly 4 different seasons, but in the next couple months we should go from hot to cool, sooooooo.....

Thinking about soup made me think about the coming cooler weather, and thinking about that led to thinking about Thanksgiving, and then Christmas.....and all the delicious yummy foods that go with those holidays (I am explaining the thought process here because from time to time my leap from one thing to another has been known to cause whiplash) and thinking of that (the food, not the whiplash) reminded me of Southern Living.

I love Southern Living. The food, the travel information, the food, the pictures, the food...oh, and did I mention the food? They have some of the best recipes to be found and most of the time said recipes are fantastic. I try hard not to dwell on the not so fantastic times. It can be rather traumatic. There have been times when my family was very thankful we have a Pizza Hut in town. Actually, come to think about it, there have been a few times I have been thankful there is a Pizza Hut in town, but I digress (I do that so easily, *sigh*.)

I decided, in honour of the coming holidays, I want to share some of my Southern Living favorites with you. Here is the first. Hope you enjoy. We did.

Southern Living’s Black Bottomed Pecan Cheesecake Pie

½ (15oz) package refrigerated pie crusts (I admit I made one...I'll share that recipe later.)
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
3 Tbsp whipping cream
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla, divided
¼ tsp salt
1 cup light corn syrup
3 Tbsp butter, melted
1 ½ cups pecan halves
Chocolate syrup (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Unroll piecrust; fit into a 9” pie plate according to manufacturer’s directions. Fold edged under and crimp.
3. Microwave chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a small glass bowl at MEDIUM (50% power) 1 to 1 ½ minutes or until morsels begin to melt. Whisk until smooth, set aside.
4. Beat cream cheese, 1 egg, ½ cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour chocolate mixture into piecrust, spreading evenly. Pour cream cheese mixture over chocolate layer.
5. Whisk together corn syrup, melted butter, remaining 3 eggs, remaining ¼ cup sugar, and remaining 1 tsp vanilla. Stir in pecans; pour over cream cheese layer. The pie plate will be very full.
6. Bake at 350 for 55 minutes or until set, shielding pie after about 45 minutesto prevent excessive browning. Cool completely on wire rack. Drizzle each slice with chocolate syrup if desired.

Mmmmmm.....