Christmas Cookies

Today, we carried out our annual holiday tradition of decorating Christmas cookies.  (Back in Togo, we did this with the Reeves family…We missed you!!)  I worked on the baking side of things while the boys occupied themselves and then we all decorated together.  I took the short-cut of store bought frosting and I wish I hadn’t.  It just doesn’t taste very good.  But, maybe that will help me stay away from eating too many of them.  I asked Bryan to take some snapshots of our activities.  Here are the results…

We are at the beginning of decorating...

 

Yummy!!

Tasty!

Delicious!

 

Brotherly Love

 

This how I felt after the mixing, cutting, baking and decorating was all done! Bryan is sweetly trying to lift my spirits.

Our handiwork…nice batch don’t you think?

Blessings

Giving and receiving blessings has been a recurring theme recently in my life. I wanted to share with you some of the blessings too! Please visit my teammates’ blogs- Matt and Brett- to learn about a trip to Mandouri, Togo to offer food for famine relief. I don’t want to share too much here, but it’s worth your time to read how God has worked there.
The other blessing might seem a bit silly to some of you, but not to any of us here in Togo! Bryan and Brett went to Burkina Faso a few days ago to take care of some business and returned with a bounty of strawberries, broccoli and cauliflower. I spent the morning sanitizing, rinsing, cutting, storing and eating the produce. Yummy! So, if any of you have any to-die-for strawberry recipes…pass them along!

I pray that your eyes will be open to God’s blessings that surround you!

Try This at Home

My seven year old, Graham, has always had food tastes a bit different from other kids his age. He has loved ultra spicy foods and unsweetened iced tea since he could eat solids. He’s also the only kid I know that can eat a meal then dessert and then more of the meal. For most people, once dessert is introduced dinner’s over. He also has no qualms about onions in his food or if his food touches. He’s a mother’s dream to cook for! Lately, Graham’s food interests have turned to trying out unique taste combinations. Here are the top three for you to try at home for yourself:

Banana dipped in ketchup

Hot dog dipped in nutella

Brownie dipped in Fiesta Ranch dip

Yummy!!!

Chocolate Cake

I cannot take credit for this delicious cake since I am copying the recipe directly from the back of a Hershey’s cocoa container!  However, I will say that I first made this cake back in 1997 for a special occasion that I can’t remember now.  Ever since then, this cake has been a family favorite.  When I ask, “What kinda cake do you want for your birthday?”  The reply is usually, “That yummy chocolate cake!”  I’m not one to keep a good chocolate cake recipe to myself so….here it is!  (By the way, if you make it, let me know how you like it!!!)

“Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Cake                           2 eggs

2 c. sugar                                                                           1 c. milk

1 3/4 flour                                                                         1/2 c. oil

3/4 c. cocoa                                                                        2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder                                                 1 c. boiling water

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour 9 in. round baking pans.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat on med. speed for 2 minutes.  Stir in boiling water, batter will be thin.  Pour into pans.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden pick comes clean.  Cool 10 minutes.  Remove pans to wire racks to cool completely.

“Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter                                                               1/3 c. milk

2/3 c. cocoa                                                                  1 tsp. vanilla

3 c. powdered sugar

Melt butter.  Stir in cocoa.  Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on med. speed until spreading consistency.  Add more milk, if needed.  Stir in vanilla.