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| I think this is a rocket ship |
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| The lovely ladies in my Sunday school class |
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| A byproduct of lice at school, the dolls get checked for nits |
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| Wearing her red braids just like Anne of Green Gables |
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| Sunrise on a morning run |
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
November Photos
Sunday, November 17, 2013
With Thoughts of Christmas
One of the local radio stations has been playing Christmas music 24-7 since the beginning of November. While the rational part of my brain tells me it's too early for such things, the non-rational and Christmas-loving side of me has been listening anyway. Feliz Navidad, anyone?
So, in that spirit, yesterday we made a big batch of peppernuts.
Yep, the recipe makes two gallons. Every couple of years we do this, mostly in memory of Great-Grandma, who loved peppernuts and made them every Christmas.
The girls helped for about ten minutes, then got bored and began to play while Grandma and I did the rest. Every once in awhile a finished cookie would accidentally drop to the floor, and then one of them would come running to eat it.
You make them by rolling the dough into a snake and then slicing off pieces and baking them. The "traditional" method is to make them tiny and bake them until very crispy. We prefer ours (by Great-Grandma's example) a little larger and softer.
Next week the girls have their International Thanksgiving Lunch at school, and they will take these cookies as representative of Germany. Their German name is pfeffernusse.
The girls have also been thinking of what they want for Christmas. Hannah put together her list using the following little poem, which I love: "One thing I want, one thing I need. One thing to wear, one thing to read." You can see her choices in the photograph below.
I tried to talk Sophie into doing the same, but she wanted to write a traditional letter to Santa. She asked for a number of cooking items to supplement the green cutting board and knife that she got after getting her last teeth pulled. Her letter will go out in tomorrow's mail.
As you can see, Christmas is in the air in the Hendricks household!
So, in that spirit, yesterday we made a big batch of peppernuts.
Yep, the recipe makes two gallons. Every couple of years we do this, mostly in memory of Great-Grandma, who loved peppernuts and made them every Christmas.
The girls helped for about ten minutes, then got bored and began to play while Grandma and I did the rest. Every once in awhile a finished cookie would accidentally drop to the floor, and then one of them would come running to eat it.
You make them by rolling the dough into a snake and then slicing off pieces and baking them. The "traditional" method is to make them tiny and bake them until very crispy. We prefer ours (by Great-Grandma's example) a little larger and softer.
Next week the girls have their International Thanksgiving Lunch at school, and they will take these cookies as representative of Germany. Their German name is pfeffernusse.
The girls have also been thinking of what they want for Christmas. Hannah put together her list using the following little poem, which I love: "One thing I want, one thing I need. One thing to wear, one thing to read." You can see her choices in the photograph below.
I tried to talk Sophie into doing the same, but she wanted to write a traditional letter to Santa. She asked for a number of cooking items to supplement the green cutting board and knife that she got after getting her last teeth pulled. Her letter will go out in tomorrow's mail.
As you can see, Christmas is in the air in the Hendricks household!
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Weekend Pancakes (and then some!)
This happened on Saturday morning:
And this wasn't even all of them! The left stack are triple-chip for Hannah (chocolate, peanut butter, and white chocolate chips) and the right stack are plain for Sophie. This is what was left after they and Charles ate their fill.
This is the pancake mixing crew, one of whom accidentally added twice as much water as the recipe called for. (I won't name names, but it's the bigger guy.) So, more dry mix was added as well and they ended up with a quadruple batch of pancakes instead of the double batch they were aiming for.
Sophie worked on her pancake pouring and flipping skills. (She also worked on her pajamas and bedhead look, in case you hadn't noticed.) So, now it's pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
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I signed up last week for a November "Pile on the Miles" challenge that encourages you to pile on extra miles of running and/or walking during the holiday eating season rather than gaining pounds. I set a goal of 30 miles of running, in addition to continuing my circuit/strength training 3-4 days per week.
I got off to a good start this weekend with runs on both Saturday and Sunday morning. It was chilly both days, but now I have 7.5 miles toward my 30! Below are some photos from my Sunday morning run. Somehow, the pictures never do justice to the real life views.
Sunday was also All Saints Day at church, where we honor and remember those who have gone before us. Not many Mennonite churches celebrate this church holy day, but I like the tradition at our church of remembering all the church members who have died throughout the church's history, going all the way back to the 1950s. The names are read during the service and albums of photos and life stories about all the saints who have passed on are available for folks to look through and remember.
There's also a time for the congregation to come forward and light a candle in remembrance of a loved one. I was singing in two small ensembles during this time (beautiful pieces, "Go Silent Friend" and "Angel Band") but Sophie came forward with Charles to light a candle for great-grandma. I lit one on my way back to my seat in honor of all my grandparents who have joined the ranks of the saints.
This is the pancake mixing crew, one of whom accidentally added twice as much water as the recipe called for. (I won't name names, but it's the bigger guy.) So, more dry mix was added as well and they ended up with a quadruple batch of pancakes instead of the double batch they were aiming for.
Sophie worked on her pancake pouring and flipping skills. (She also worked on her pajamas and bedhead look, in case you hadn't noticed.) So, now it's pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
----------------------
I signed up last week for a November "Pile on the Miles" challenge that encourages you to pile on extra miles of running and/or walking during the holiday eating season rather than gaining pounds. I set a goal of 30 miles of running, in addition to continuing my circuit/strength training 3-4 days per week.
I got off to a good start this weekend with runs on both Saturday and Sunday morning. It was chilly both days, but now I have 7.5 miles toward my 30! Below are some photos from my Sunday morning run. Somehow, the pictures never do justice to the real life views.
Sunday was also All Saints Day at church, where we honor and remember those who have gone before us. Not many Mennonite churches celebrate this church holy day, but I like the tradition at our church of remembering all the church members who have died throughout the church's history, going all the way back to the 1950s. The names are read during the service and albums of photos and life stories about all the saints who have passed on are available for folks to look through and remember.
There's also a time for the congregation to come forward and light a candle in remembrance of a loved one. I was singing in two small ensembles during this time (beautiful pieces, "Go Silent Friend" and "Angel Band") but Sophie came forward with Charles to light a candle for great-grandma. I lit one on my way back to my seat in honor of all my grandparents who have joined the ranks of the saints.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Halloween 2013 in Pictures
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| Superhero poses |
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| Watching the cakewalk downtown |
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| Never fear... Super Girl and Wonder Woman to the rescue! |
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| Trick or treating downtown |
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| Getting their fortunes told -- Wonder Woman will live in NYC and Super Girl will live in Las Vegas |
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| Trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house |
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| Sorting her loot -- see the chocolate eyeballs? |
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| Crying her eyes out, literally |
Friday, November 1, 2013
Pumpkin Butter, A Year Wiser
OK, so I totally found the indescribable deliciousness that is pumpkin butter last fall. I made batches to keep and batches to give away. This year I am giving none away. Beautiful green mint jelly with red bows will be Christmas giveaways, but the pumpkin butter is mine. ALL MINE!
Last year I tried a couple of different recipes. Now I know that this one is my favorite, hands down. No other recipes need be tried. I made several batches this fall, and here are some photos from the last batch.
Last year I tried a couple of different recipes. Now I know that this one is my favorite, hands down. No other recipes need be tried. I made several batches this fall, and here are some photos from the last batch.
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| Getting ready to de-seed the pumpkins |
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| Pumpkins and seeds ready for the oven |
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| Nice and shriveled, ready to puree |
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| Boiling pumpkin butter makes a pretty big mess, the splatter shield helps a little |
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| The finished product, quite messy! |
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| Cooling on the counter before going in the freezer (well, not the seeds) |
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