Bloom Where You're Planted

Sometime before Christmas, we finally moved the planter at the front of the house to the wash house. The plants that had so cheerfully decorated our entrance during the summer were long dead. After weeks of freezing weather, they were shriveled and brown.

They certainly weren't fit to welcome guests to our house during the holidays. Much better to dust off the Christmas lights and let them provide a little color for the season.

And then, something unexpected happened.

Those plants that had looked dead suddenly came to life.

They surely hadn't received any care. They weren't watered. They weren't fertilized. A little light streamed through the dirty wash house window. But, at most, they got a glance from Randy when he went into the building to dish out the cat food each day.

But then, one day, he noticed the blossoming flowers and couldn't wait to tell me about the surprising revival going on in the wash house.

As we approach the season of Lent, the blooming flower served as reminder.

Ash Wednesday is March 9. It signals a time of prayer and preparation as we make the 40-day Lenten journey toward Easter. It should signal a time of cultivating our relationship with Christ through prayer and study so that we can bloom where we are planted.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 55: 10-13

We are approaching that time of year when the world will burst into song and the trees of the field will clap their hands with the arrival of spring.

A couple of weeks ago at Bible study, we were asked whether we believe there are modern-day miracles.

I think we are surrounded by miracles every day:

It's the miracle found in the beauty of a spring bulb piercing the cold surface of the earth and bursting into bloom (or blooming against all odds in a cold wash house during the winter!).

It's in the new baby animals that populate farm country during the spring months.

It's in the miracle of birth and the love of a parent and a child.

And the biggest miracle of all is that God loved us so much that He sent his only Son to the cross to save us from our sins.

But He didn't stop there. Jesus rose from the dead and gives us the promise of new life.

And He sends us illustrations of new life everyday ... if we'll only open our eyes and look. It may be in a budding tree. It could be in a plant left for dead in a cold wash house.

Lord, open our eyes so that we can see and be made new in You. Amen.

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The recipe I chose this month also has its share of surprises. Chocolate Trifle was served at the first Lovely Branches Ministries' Friendship Friday. LBM is serving free luncheons for ladies six times this year, thanks to a grant from the South Central Community Foundation and help from local businesses.

Are you near Stafford? Join the Lovely Branches crew for lunch and fellowship on March 18 and April 29. The meal is served from 11:30 AM to 1 PM in the Stafford Senior Center. Look for other dates in September and October to be announced later.

A delicious dessert is always part of the meal. The Trifle recipe reminds me of a more elegant version of "Dirt" Cups, little individual servings of pudding and whipped cream and crushed chocolate sandwich cookies with a gummy worm hidden inside, one of my kids' favorite treats when they were little.

There were no gummy worms hidden in this dessert. The surprise ingredient? Coffee.

What woman doesn't love coffee and chocolate? (And, what husband wouldn't be delighted to eat the leftovers? Mine was!)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Trifle

1 pkg. chocolate fudge cake mix
1 large pkg. (6 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 carton (12 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed
6 Heath bars (1.4 oz. each) crushed

Bake cake according to package directions. Cool. Prepare pudding according to package directions. Set aside. Crumble cake; reserve 1/2 cup of cake crumbs.

Place half of the remaining cake crumbs in the bottom of a 4.5- or 5-quart trifle dish or decorative glass bowl. Layer with half the coffee, half the pudding, half the whipped topping and half of the crushed candy bars.

Repeat the layers of cake, coffee, pudding and whipped topping. Combine remaining crushed candy bars with reserved cake crumbs. Sprinkle over top.

Refrigerate for 4-5 hours before serving.

Recipe Notes:

• The recipe said it would serve 8 to 10 people. It served double that number.
  


• I used one, 8-ounce package of chocolate covered Heath English Toffee Bits (found by the chocolate chips at your grocery store) instead of crushing candy bars.

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Need another coffee and chocolate creation? Try this bar cookie recipe from my kitchen.

What Love Really Means

It's February. It's that time of year when the television ads remind us all about hearts and flowers and expensive jewelry and finding the perfect Valentine.

After all, that's what love is all about, right?

But is it really?

I have had a song repeatedly running through my head this morning. I heard JJ Heller sing it on K-LOVE radio as I drove to choir practice last night. It's called "What Love Really Means."

I haven't faced the terrible circumstances of the people she sings about. In it, she sings about a boy who has a life story "no one would believe." I have always had a family who has loved and cared about me.

She sings about a wife whose husband has left her. She wonders if she were just thinner, would her husband have stayed? I have been married almost 30 years to a wonderful man who loves me unconditionally.

She sings about a man in a cell who wants to be forgiven and cries out to God in his final hours before death. I have never been there either.

But the final words of the song still speak to my soul. It is God telling all these people:

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done
Or what you will become.
I will love you for you.
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew.

And I think God's reminding me of that, too. I've heard the song before, but for some reason, it really sunk in this time. Maybe it's because earlier in the day, I had just read a devotional with the same message.

I have been chosen by God, my email devotional from ourprayer.org had reminded me:

The book of Ephesians says so: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight."

Ephesians 1:3-4

Think of it! Before He designed the universe, our heavenly Father selected you as a special object of His eternal affection. ... God always chooses us for a special purpose. Jesus said, "I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit. (John 15:16) What fruit are you to bear? The fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23).

God wants to fill your life with His spirit of love and joy and peace and pure goodness.

That's the kind of LOVE I should be celebrating this Valentine's Day.

But I'm human. And in my humanness, I sometimes get caught in evaluating myself with the world's standards.

"I'm not thin enough to be worthy. I'm not pretty enough to be worthy. I'm not smart enough to be worthy. I don't do enough to be worthy."

I think that's why the message of the song (and the message from Ephesians) is so powerful:

This is GOD speaking to me - not that human voice that doubts my worthiness:

I will love you for you
Not for what you have done
Or what you will become
I will love you for you.
I will give you the love
The love that you never knew.





And that's a message worth hearing this Valentine's month. It's way more valuable than expensive jewelry and flowers.

***

If you're looking for a yummy way to share love from your kitchen this Valentine's Day, here's a tried-and-true recipe from my kitchen to yours!

They are called Caramel Chip Bars, but I think they are more like candy. They are a favorite around here at holiday celebrations! Enjoy!

Caramel Chip Bars

1/2 cup butter (no substitutes)
32 caramels, unwrapped
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup vanilla or white chips
1/2 cup Heath brickle chips

In large saucepan, combine butter, caramel and condensed milk; cook and stir over medium-low heat until smooth. You may also use the microwave, taking care not to burn the mixture. Cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; mix well. Stir in chips and brickle. Dough will be stiff. Press 3/4 into a greased 9- by 13-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Place on wire rack for 10 minutes. Pour caramel mixture over crust. Drop remaining dough by spoonfuls onto caramel layer. Bake for 25 to 30 additional minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes; run a knife around edges of pan. Cool 40 minutes longer; cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

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Need another idea?

Try these Caramel Coconut Squares.

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Or see my December blog, R-E-S-T, for links to several other cookies. There's also one of our family favorite cookie recipes in last February's Food for Thought post, Heart of the Home.

Happy Valentine's Day to you and yours!

A New Start

Sunrise on the County Line

A new year dawns. It's a blank slate.

It's like the excitement we felt as little kids, when we opened that big 64-crayon box at the beginning of the school year. There was a whole carton of possibilities. No blemishes. No broken crayons. All the colors were there, just ready for us to create.

It's another chance to begin again. We tell ourselves we will make better choices. After six weeks of holiday eating, we will choose more healthful foods. We will commit to exercise each and every day. We will vow to develop a spiritual discipline - read our Bibles more, pray without ceasing, find God all around us.

Ready, set, go! OK, I'm ready! Like the little kid with brand new tennis shoes, I'll run head-long into the new year. And I'll run really fast ... because I have those new shoes, you know.

And then the Lovely Branches Ministries leadership team gave us the January blog theme:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19

Hey, wait a minute! Don't they know that when I took my personal gifts inventory from "Serving from the Heart" that evangelism wasn't anywhere to be found in my Top 5?

Couldn't they have chosen something more in my comfort zone, I wondered?

How about the great commandment found in Luke 10:27?

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

That would be much better, I decided. Then I could stay in my comfort zone. After all, the handy, dandy guide told me I was much better at Assistance-Helps, Faith, Mercy-Compassion and Leadership-Administration.

But, maybe, just maybe I'm supposed to find my way outside the confines of my comfortable little box this year.

That's a scary thought. I'm not the best when it comes to change. So maybe I'll just forget about that message. It will be good enough to practice the great commandment, right?

And then I went to my church's charge conference, a time when we talk about the past year and make plans for the coming one. And wouldn't you know it! The very first bullet point my global church wants to emphasize was this:

"We believe in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."

Hmmm .... It sounded rather familiar. Was there a theme developing?

Then our minister issued a challenge in the church's January newsletter.

"If you know of someone who hasn’t come to church in awhile that could use a little nudge, offer to give them a ride to church. Just knowing that someone cares could be all that a person needs to start a church-going habit."

OK, God, I get it. I'm supposed to step outside my comfort zone. I'm supposed to find new ways to love and serve you. What better time could there be than at this beginning of a brand new year?

We humans like the comfort of our "ruts." We like the familiarity of a path we've already taken - no GPS required. But sometimes God has different ideas.

So, ready or not! Here's the new year.

Dear Lord, help me to run head-long into the new year and be the hands and feet that will transform this world by drawing people closer to You. Lord, I can only do it through You. Amen.

***

A New Start in the Kitchen

OK, that was the "Thought" part of "Food for Thought." And now to the "Food" part.

Speaking of ruts, I can get into them in the kitchen. Don't we all? We have 30 minutes to get dinner on the table, so we turn to the most familiar ... the recipes we can do without pulling a cookbook off the shelf.

So, this new year, I hope to add new recipes to my repertoire. If you're looking for something new, here are a few tried-and-true meals from my County Line kitchen to help you break outside your mealtime box. Hey, while we're breaking out of our spiritual comfort zone, we might as well add adventure to other areas of our lives, too, right?

Enjoy!

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Bruschetta 'n' Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

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Impossibly Easy Lasagna Pie

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Sloppy Jose Supper

R-E-S-T

Rest? You've got to be kidding.

There is no such thing as REST this time of year. There are presents to buy. There are candies and cookies to make. There are programs to attend. There are Christmas cards to mail. Those ornaments won't hang themselves on the Christmas tree, and the house must be adorned with twinkling lights so everyone will see we have the holiday spirit at our house.

REST?! You must be joking.

But, maybe that's exactly what we do need. At a Bible study before Thanksgiving, Carrie (one of the Young Hearts blog co-authors) gave us a timely reminder. She had each of us write down this acronym on an index card:

R enew yourself in God's goodness.

E njoy the life God has given you.

S implify your life to magnify God.

T rust God with your everyday life.

Hmmm ... REST, not STRESS!

Is it any wonder that women need a reminder as we enter this Advent season?

With a to-do list that seems to multiply exponentially at this time of year, REST may be the best gift I can give myself and my family - and the best way I can honor the blessed arrival of Baby Jesus.

But there are expectations, right? How can I simplify when everyone has a different favorite food? (Maybe I'm the one who has these high expectations ... not my family members. Probably another idea to ponder ...)

While all of the acronym resonated with me, the "S" really stood out during this Advent season. I really do enjoy holiday baking, but it can also seem overwhelming at times. What's a practical way I could celebrate the Christmas season and still simplify?

A few years ago, one of my friends hosted a holiday cookie exchange. It might be time to brush off that idea. Depending on how many friends or family members you invite, you can end up with a variety of cookies - without spending days upon end in the kitchen.

Here's how:

1. Choose a date and time that is most convenient for people's busy schedules - either weekdays evenings or a Saturday morning usually work well. If you're having the exchange at work, holding it during the lunch hour would probably be most convenient. Plan early. People are more likely to attend if you give as much advance notice as possible early in the season.

2. Invite 8 - 12 friends. You need enough people to have a variety of cookies, but too many people means too much baking for everyone.

3. Instruct each person to make a dozen cookies for every person attending the exchange. (If 8 people are coming to the cookie exchange, each person needs to bake 8 dozen cookies). This is a must so that each person gets to take home the same amount of cookies.

4. When your guests RSVP, be sure to ask them what kind of cookie they are bringing so you can have the best variety possible. You might want to suggest that people make something other than chocolate chip! Also remind them to bring extra containers for the goodies they will be picking up.

5. Have each guest bring enough copies of her recipe so that each guest (and you!) get a copy of the recipe. That way, each guest goes home with new recipes to go along with those cookies!6. Set the mood with holiday music and light a seasonal candle for a little atmosphere.

7. Prepare some simple snacks for your guests to enjoy while they're at the party. If you'd like, you can ask each person to bring an extra half dozen cookies for a communal plate so everyone can sample the cookies at the party. Add a few savory snacks and some beverages - spiced cider, hot chocolate or even milk - and you have a party!

8. Turn your cookie exchange into a cookie gifting party. Set out gift tags, decorative treat bags and pretty ribbon. This will give your guests the chance to assemble gift bags for co-workers, neighbors, teacher and anyone else they'd like to give a delicious, homemade treat.

9. Supply extra plastic bags or containers for guests to transport their cookies home. There are sure to be some who forget to bring their own.

10. Stash the cookies in the freezer until your holiday celebration.

11. Spend the time you saved with your family ... reading the Christmas story, playing board games, playing in the snow ... whatever brings you together as a family!

You can even take a shortcut with the cookies you make for your cookie exchange contribution. No one will be able to tell these tasty cookies started with a cake mix.Jiffy Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

1 cup chunk-style peanut butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 2-layer yellow cake mix
2 eggs
2 tbsp. water
Reece's mini Peanut Butter Cups

In large mixer bowl, cut peanut butter and shortening into dry cake mix using low speed of electric mixer. Add eggs and water. Mix well to form dough. Using about 1 tablespoon of dough for each cookie, shape into balls.

Place each ball into a mini-muffin cup. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes or until cookie is lightly browned. Remove pan to cooling rack. Press unwrapped mini Peanut Butter Cup into each cookie.

After about 15 minutes of cooling, use a knife to remove each cookie from the muffin tins. Cool completely.

Need other ideas? Try these tried-and-true recipes from my kitchen. Just click on the links (the highlighted words) for each recipe:

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Chocolate Toffee Delights

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Fudgy Mocha Brownies

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Coconut Macaroons

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Dressed Up Basic Cookies

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You can also look back in the Food for Thought February post or even last month's Cranberry Pecan Bars. And I'm sure you have plenty of family favorites you could make for a cookie exchange. Enjoy!

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Wishing you REST this holiday season as we look forward to celebrating, yet again, the best gift of all - our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Saying Grace

For all we eat
For all we wear
For all we have everywhere
Father, we thank Thee.
Amen

This was the prayer I grew up saying before meals as a child. As we move toward Thanksgiving later this month, I thought about table graces and the tradition they represent for families.

I called my Mom and asked if this was the prayer she said as a child. She thought it was used by both her family and my Dad’s family when they were children. (They grew up in the same community).

I’m the oldest of four children in my family. My mom said that we three girls got to saying the prayer so quickly that it lost its meaning. So when my brother – who is 10 years younger - came along and he started saying “Frall wheat, Frall wear, Frall everywhere and so on, we switched to:

God is great.
God is good.
Let us thank Him.
For this food.
Amen.

Many people seem to use this prayer or variations on it. Randy had grown up saying, "God is great," and I ended my childhood with it, so we used that prayer when Jill and Brent were little.

Even though the Thanksgiving holiday makes many of us think of early pilgrims, the idea of thanksgiving is actually rooted in ancient Judaism. The early pilgrims likely looked to the Bible to find means to give thanks to God for their survival. In it, they found the celebrated Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering. The Israelites, having been delivered from the desert of Sinai, celebrated their harvest with this feast and is still the most joyous of all Jewish feasts today (Leviticus 23).

The idea of giving thanks is also prominent in the New Testament. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, says, “No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

All early celebrations had one common theme -- God. Thanksgiving was directed toward God, their Creator, Protector, and Provider. They believed that all good things ultimately came from Him as they do today.

A 1998 Gallup Poll showed that 64 percent of U.S. residents pray before eating meals, so prayers at dinner time haven’t become obsolete. Saying grace isn’t just for the times the good china comes out of the cupboard. Religious leaders agree that a prayer before dinner is just as appropriate over paper plates, fast food wrappers and those everyday dishes that are beginning to show their age.

People who otherwise aren’t used to saying grace are often more of a mind to count blessings - along with calories - on Thanksgiving Day.

Grace is the name for any of a number of short prayers said or an unvoiced intention held prior to eating a meal. In the English language tradition, reciting a prayer prior to eating is traditionally referred to as "saying grace".

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a story on table prayers and asked readers to submit prayers. Among the most popular ones submitted was: "God is great ..."

One family who responded to the Post-Gazette’s request added a different tradition after their “God is great” prayer was complete. In a tradition passed down by their grandmother, they squeeze each others' hands three times to signify "I love you.

Another popular response to the newspaper's survey was:

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.

May this food to us be blessed.
Amen.

In "Bless This Food: Ancient and Contemporary Graces from Around the World," author Adrian Butash wrote: "Food blessings provide a common thread - mankind's need to connect to the Almighty." He said that the older prayers have such power because they came from the heart. "Starvation was a real possibility, so people were truly grateful for food.”

This idea is often lost in modern American culture, but many families still use prayer time to teach children.

There are four principal types of thanksgiving grace: the silent grace, the spoken grace, the sung grace and the signed grace.

This photo of a man saying grace was taken in 1918, but it still decorates many dining rooms, churches and restaurants across the U.S.

It was taken by Minnesota photographer Eric Enstrom. The bearded old man was Charles Wilden, a peddler who came to Enstrom's studio to sell foot scrapers. Enstrom placed a family Bible, spectacles, a bowl of gruel, a loaf of bread and a knife on the table and had Wilden pose in an attitude of prayer.

The photographer said:

"I wanted to take a picture that would show people that even though they had to do without many things because of the war, they still had much to be thankful for. This man doesn't have much of earthly goods, but he has more than most people because he has a thankful heart."

Isn't that a message we can all take to heart as we approach this Thanksgiving season! As you say grace around the family table this Thanksgiving, may your heart be filled with thanks for your many blessings.

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I'd love to hear from YOU! What table graces did you say as a child? What table graces have you taught your own children or grandchildren? Send me a comment and share them with me and other readers.

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I'm beginning to see fresh cranberries in the produce aisles of the grocery store these days. Try this yummy bar cookie recipe. It's a great snack to have on hand for Thanksgiving guests and will also make an attractive addition to any holiday cookie tray. Enjoy!

Cranberry-Pecan Bars

1 cup flour
2 tbsp. sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 cup finely-chopped pecans
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tbsp. flour
2 beaten eggs
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. finely-shredded orange peel
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped cranberries (I use food processor to chop)
1/2 cup coconut

In medium mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour and 2 tablespoons sugar. With pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Press flour mixture into the bottom of a greased 13- by 9-inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine 1 1/4 cups sugar and 2 tablespoons flour. Stir in eggs, milk, orange peel and vanilla. Fold in cranberries, coconut and the remaining chopped pecans. Spread over partially baked crust. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars while warm. Cool completely before removing from pan.

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If you are having guests at your home this Thanksgiving, you might consider using the Prayer Mix I shared in February. You can decorate the bags with Thanksgiving stickers or use a business card template on your computer to make a Thanksgiving-themed card to attach to each bag. You could use them as place cards on your Thanksgiving table.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Taste and See

One thing I love about being a Kansas farm wife is having a front-row seat to the changing seasons.

Only a few days ago, we officially said goodbye to summer and hello to fall - at least on the calendar.

I have loved the brilliant colors and visitors of summer.


But I am equally looking forward to the oranges and yellows of fall when the evenings bring a slight chill to the air and you get that snuggly feeling from pulling on a sweatshirt at a football game.



I know the chill of fall will make way for the colder days of winter. Though the ice and snow can sometimes cause hardships for travel or for work here on the farm, there is also great beauty in the season.


And after ice and snow and cold, we will be ready again for the birth of spring.


Isn't it amazing how God has created such a miraculous world, so full of visual beauty and reminders of His majesty and power?

Change is unavoidable. Days begin, days end. Weeks start, weeks end. We pull another month off the calendar and before we know it, it's time for a new calendar.

The years pass. The activities change. But the busyness remains. And I think we sometimes wish away the moment, anticipating the next moment.

I believe God wants us to appreciate the moments He gives us. God sets our lives into different times and seasons because He has a purpose for each one of us. There is no question that there will be times of storms and times of rejoicing.

"To everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1.

As I was writing this, the children's song, "This Is the Day," kept drifting through my mind. It's a song in which the leader sings, "This is the day," and the followers repeat, "This is the day." The pattern continues with the leader leading the way and the followers echoing the phrase:

This is the day (This is the day)
That the Lord has made (That the Lord has made)
Let us rejoice (Let us rejoice)
And be glad in it (And be glad in it.)

What would happen if I imagined the Lord leading that song every day? What if in the midst of my storms (usually of my own making), I realized that my Lord was there to walk through the day with me? I know it sounds simplistic, but what would happen if we relished every moment and every season?

Every stage of life brings fruits to remind us of God's presence and to make us thankful. These gifts remind us that God loves each of us with an unmatched, unrivaled intensity ... every day ... every season.

Every season gives us reminders of God's bounty and providence for us. Is there anything that tastes better than summer's first tomato, picked straight from the vine? Is there a better meal for the first cool day of fall than a steaming bowl of chili and homemade cornbread? Is there anything more tasty than a hot cup of cocoa after a day of sledding?

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." Psalm 34:8

Taste and savor each season of your life. It's what we are called to do.

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If you want to savor the taste of fall in your own kitchen, try this recipe for Apple Butter Coffee Cake. Each year at our church, the Stafford United Methodist Women make apple butter to sell during a bazaar. (This year's bazaar is Saturday, November 13, and you're all invited from 9 AM to 2 PM!)

When I make this recipe, I use the UMW Apple Butter. The red hot cinnamon candies in the recipe give our version the distinctive pink color. But you may use any apple butter. It just might not look exactly like my version pictured here.

Apple Butter Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup apple butter
1 cup dairy sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
Topping (see below)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Mix dry ingredients together, and add alternately with sour cream. Add vanilla and apple butter. Put half the batter into a greased 13- by 9-inch pan. Sprinkle with topping. Place other half on batter on top and sprinkle with rest of the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Topping

1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and sprinkle over batter.

If you want a "fancier" presentation, you may put this is a Bundt pan. I usually put half the batter into the pan and sprinkle with half the topping. Then I use the rest of the batter and sprinkle on the remaining topping. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing onto a pretty serving platter.

I usually glaze the coffee cake with a thin frosting made of melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and a little milk. Spread on the cake while it's still warm. If you're making a Bundt cake, drizzle the frosting in "swags," creating a decorative pattern. For the Bundt cake, you may want to wait for it to cool a little before frosting, so the frosting stays in place and doesn't puddle on the plate.

The Bread of Life

Learning by doing: It's the foundation for so many things in life.

When do I learn more? Is it when I am reading an article about photography or is it when my finger presses the button and the shutter captures the moment in time? Is it perfectly captured with that very first click? Or will I have better results when I change the angle, change the shutter speed and try again and again?

When do I learn more? Is it when I'm sitting in a chair, reading a cookbook? Or is it when I am up to my elbows in bread dough?


We all learn in different ways. Some experts say there are as many as seven different ways to learn. Others say learning styles fall somewhere in three broad brush strokes - listening, seeing and experiencing. Maybe the best learning takes place when there's a little bit of all of those things involved in our educational experience. I think it's that way for me.

When my son Brent was interested in 4-H photography, I added photography leader to my "resume." I am the first to admit I don't know everything there is to know about photography. I took one photography class in college. When I first started my job as a reporter at The Hutchinson News, I often had to be my own photographer when a "real" photographer wasn't available to go with me to cover a feature story I was writing. I learned by doing.

As a 4-H parent, I probably learned as much or more than my kids did. I learned from other parents, leaders, extension agents and from workshops. I also learned by doing activities with Jill and Brent.

I began serving as a 4-H foods leader when our daughter, Jill, was a 7-year-old 4-Her.

As a 4-H cook myself (many, many years ago), I wasn't a successful bread baker. I didn't do it often enough to get proficient at it. Baking once a year for fair competition is not the way to get better at something.

I didn't get better at baking bread until Jill and her friend, Holly, began exploring bread baking in 4-H. We all learned together. We started with homemade pretzels. We put together a demonstration called "Fit To Be Tied." Their pretzel-making expanded to a little enterprise during our Stafford community's Oktoberfest one year. Believe you me: When two girls and two moms are making hundreds of pretzels, there's plenty of learning going on.

It continued when Jill & Holly did another demonstration on shaping rolls. I don't think I'd ever shaped a dinner roll in my life before that endeavor. We all learned together.

I became the leader because I wanted Jill to benefit from 4-H cooking, just like I had years before as a child in Pratt County. An adult spent time with me and my friends. We learned by doing. We learned by being together. I wanted to pass on that gift.

I think that's why I am still a 4-H foods leader, even though my own children are grown up and I'm no longer doing it for my own family.

But am I under any illusion that I know it all? Absolutely not. That's why it's so important to ask for help.

This summer, I asked a fellow Stafford homemaker and farm wife to lead a 4-H cooking meeting and show my older 4-H foods members how to shape bread loaves.

When I make yeast dough, it's usually shaped into dinner rolls or cinnamon rolls.

But Sharon makes bread for her family every single week. And she is a shining example of what I have been telling my 4-H cooking kids for the past 15-plus years.

You only get better with practice.

The three girls who were at the cooking meeting in June took that to heart. All three of them practiced and all three of them did well in the 4-H foods division during the Stafford County Fair.

But if they wait until next July to start baking bread again, they will lose any proficiency that they gained this summer.

And I will personally never get any better at shaping bread loaves if I don't do it myself. It won't be without obstacles. It doesn't just happen because I want it to happen. There will be disasters and mistakes along the way. But there will also be rewards.

It takes practice and perseverance. I know I won't get better at bread baking unless I practice it. The same goes for my Christian walk.

God's Word - the Bible - gives us an instruction manual. If I want to make a quality loaf of bread, I will start with a quality recipe and quality ingredients.

If I want to live life as Christ would want me to, I can't just leave God's Word sitting on the book shelf. I will have to open it up and find direction.

But just like I asked for help from a more experienced bread baker, I don't have to make this Christian journey alone either.

I frequently hear people say, "Well, I don't need to go to church. I can worship on the golf course. I can worship while fishing at the lake. I never feel closer to God than when I'm tending my garden."

I have no doubt that we can worship at any time, at any of life's intersections. I personally do some of my best praying and thinking and listening for God's voice while walking down our country roads.

But I also know that I can learn and I can grow by being with others. I teach an adult Sunday School class at my church. I learn when I'm preparing for the lesson each Sunday. But I learn just as much as I interact with the other people in the class. The message God wants me to learn may be revealed through what someone else says during a class discussion.

I learn from our minister's message every week. I am blessed by the lyrics and melodies of the worship service, whether the songs are the old hymns from 200 years ago or more contemporary praise songs.

I can study my Bible at home, and I will grow in my knowledge and faith. But I can also learn from the insights and interaction with other women in a Lovely Branches Ministries Bible study. This fall, the Bible study will be titled, "Get a Grip," and we'll be studying a book called "Manage Your Moods" by Women of Faith. The study will give us Scriptural reinforcement for focusing on our heart, or our emotional well being. All women in the area are invited to participate in this study. If you're not in this area, you can find a Bible study at a church near you.

In the Bible, Jesus used everyday items, familiar to his disciples, to teach the lessons he wanted them (and us) to learn. For the disciples, bread was central to every meal. It was literally the staff of life, one of the things that gave them their daily sustenance.

Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread of heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6: 32-35)

There's nothing more fragrant than the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven. There's nothing that adds more depth and dimension and fragrance to our lives than the Bread of Life - Jesus Christ.

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If you click on the colored words in the text above, it will link you to recipes. On the Fit to be Tied link, there is a recipe and step-by-step photos of making pretzels. The other link gives you two tasty bread loaf recipes - along with the knowledge that not everything coming out of my kitchen is perfect!