Sausage, Potato and Cabbage Stew

This recipe creates more of a "stoup" - a cross between a soup and a stew.

1 lb kielbasa, sliced

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 lbs red potatoes

3 cups (1/2 pkg) store-bought coleslaw mix

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, cook the kielbasa and onion over medium heat until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the mustard and vinegar; then add chicken broth.

Cut potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes and add to pot, along with the coleslaw mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe serves 5. Serve with fresh bread. Yummy.

Cinnamon Nut Coffee Cake

Our adult small group meets on Sunday mornings at church while our kids have their own small groups. When I wake up early on Sundays (which doesn't happen as often as I would like!!) I get up and make something to bake for our small group. I had been thinking about it this week and how I would like to take something - and what do you know - at 6 am I was wide awake. I decided to try a new recipe - here goes....

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl whisk the butter, eggs, milk and vanilla.

Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened; set aside. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients.

Spread half of batter into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the topping. Carefully spread the remaining batter over top; sprinkle batter with the remaining topping.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm.

Serves 12 - 15 pieces.

Home from Church and the coffee cake was yummy. This will go in the keep pile :0>

Halloween

I grew up in a very strict Christian home. There were a lot of things we were not allowed to do as kids, no television, homework or sports on Sunday. We reserved Sunday for Church, family and friends. I saw my first every theater movie at the age of 18. My boyfriend (now my husband) took me - Raiders of the Lost Ark- wow what an amazing first movie! I didn't tell him til afterwards that it was the first time I had been to the "show". He was appalled - figured my parents wouldn't be impressed. I don't think they ever knew. Anyway, something we DID do was celebrate Halloween. My parents hosted Halloween parties in our home for their friends. My husband grew up in Africa on the mission field...and they celebrated Halloween. Somewhere along the way...Halloween for Christian's become a bad thing. Somehow we lost the "fun" part of just being able to let our kids use their "imagination" and have fun. Dressing up and visiting friends. It seems a shame that we as Christian's "give" our holidays away - allow satan or evil to take over something that could be innocent - and even an opportunity to share Christ - wow, your church has a Halloween Party?

I did a lot of sewing when my kids were young and made all of my kids Halloween costumes - the first ever was a bee costume - he was just a year old - so sweet. From there I continued until about 4 years ago. Every year - a new costume - it become quite a tradition - the kids and I would go and pour over the pattern books and decide "who" they wanted to be that year. We have had Zorro (my absolute favorite), a mermaid, Rapunzel, Robin Hood, a dinosaur, the kids loved those times.

Over the years I have had many conversations with many people about this subject. I lose the battle when I don't have information to back it up - my memory isn't great for dates, etc... But I still feel strongly that we have to look at this differently. This post was brought on by the fact that we did pumpkin carving last night. Another think I love is doing neat designs - yes I use patterns and special tools - i guess it is that jigsaw puzzle lover in me :)

We have a friend - she is the same age as my oldest - and we have "adopted" her as part of our family. She goes to church with us and is usually at the house several times a week - for a quiet (?) place to study, join us for a meal, hang out with my daughter, or just to chat with me. We love Erin...she has never carved a pumpkin before and was looking forward to it. So yesterday we went to the grocery store and picked out our pumpkins, came home and decided on a design and started cleaning out pumpkins.

This is Erin cleaning out her Pumpkin

My 16 year old daughter, Sadie - making faces while she cleans out her pumpkin.

Look at all those pumpkin guts. Almost done cleaning.

Erin working on her design - laughing at something Sadie said - these two laugh a lot.

Sadie "posing" for me - she is "poking" her way around her design.

There are restrictions to our Halloween - no witches, warlocks, skulls, etc... nothing that depicts evil - just good clean fun.

Here are the finished designs, all lit and ready to go :0) Mine is the first one, a cute little
Boo Ghost". The second is Erin's - a "Cross-Eyed Happy Face". Erin did an amazing job for her first ever pumpkin carving. The 3rd one is Sadie's - he was called "Bugaboo" .

This morning I was sitting here thinking of posting the pictures of us carving pumpkins and got thinking more about the concept of Halloween being a secular holiday. I did a quick search on google and what did I find - wow - some fascinating information.

Halloween DID begin as a Christian Holy Day! No matter what you have heard before the truth of history and the understanding of the word Halloween is quite Christian. Halloween broken down is the eve (evening) before the Holy (Hallow) day. It was first called All Saints Day or Hallows Day in 610AD and was celebrated on May 13. So the very first step is to understand the meaning of the word. Halloween means the Holy Eve. Happy Halloween means Happy Evening before Holy Day!

The church moved Hallows Day from May 13 to Nov 1 on 741AD to place it on the same day as the Pagan (unbelievers) Festival of Death. This was very common in the early church because they moved Christmas and Easter already to coincide with Pagan celebrations so that Christians had something Christian to celebrate when everyone else was celebrating.

Hallows Day was a day to honor all the martyrs that died from Christ's death and resurrection until 311 AD when Constantine made it against the law to persecute Christians. The church picked one date to celebrate all the people who willingly and often joyfully followed Jesus and refused to deny their faith.


Recognize that we have been ignorant of our Christian history and did not understand that the Pagans took their celebration known as Samhain (festival of death) to be one with Halloween. Instead of continuing to call their day Samhain over the years it got mixed into being called Halloween for both celebrations.

As a Christian we don't need to run from Halloween, but to redeem it and embrace it as a Holy Eve Celebration to remember all the martyrs that have died and that continue to die in our generation for their faith. We really have something to celebrate because our faith could not be destroyed or mowed down because Christians are not afraid of death but embrace it..."For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain." The sting of death was taken away after Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected.

Now the choice is yours. Be creative! Find a way to celebrate your Holy Day! And be set free by the truth and know your can really cheerfully say, "Happy Halloween!" guilt-free!

This article came from www.ehow.com when I searched "How to Celebrate Halloween as a Christian"

So...what is your take on this holiday that we celebrate? Would love your feedback.

Chicken in a Cashew Nut Sauce

Our family likes to try different foods from different cultures. Something we enjoy is curry. I have a recipe book - Best Ever Curry Book (over 150 great curries from India and Asia). The author is Mridula Baljekar. I have been trying to get in the habit of taking pictures of the meal as it progresses...but last night I got so into the cooking that I didn't remember until I was sitting at the table enjoying the food...oops. I did manage to remember to take a picture of the finished dish. I also cooked Basmati rice to go along with the rest.

2 onions

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/3 cup cashew nuts

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp plain yogurt (I used a Greek yogurt - it has a nice texture)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

1 tbsp sultana (golden) raisins

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cubed

6 oz mushrooms

1 1/4 cup water

Cut the onions into quarts, then place in a food processor or blender. Process for 1 minute.

Add the tomato puree, cashew nuts, garam masala, crushed garlic, chili powder, lemon juice, turmeric, salt and yogurt to the onions and process for a further 1 1/2 minutes.

In a wok or large pan, heat the oil, lower the heat to medium and pour in the onion and spice mixture from the food processor or blender. Fry gently, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, lowering the heat if necessary.

Add the fresh coriander, raisins and chicken to the pan and continue to cook for a further minute.

Add the mushrooms, pour in the measured water and bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes.

After this time, check that the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is thick. Continue to cook for a little longer if necessary.

Served over rice.

Serves 4

This was a big hit. Everyone enjoyed. It is not a hot curry. Nice flavor with just a little bite. We will definitely try this again. Well worth the time of spending with the food processor/blender to make the sauce. What do you think? Was it worth it?

Scooter

This is my two year old dog, Scooter. He is a labradoodle - but a mini - so smaller than most people expect. Scooter has two favorite toys. Both are stuffed animals from my 16 year old daughter that Scooter has "stolen" and adopted for his own. One is a black cat and the other is this dog. One or both join Scooter in bed along with our other dog, Abby. When Scooter is in bed he lays his head on the dog or cat. Last night he was laying on the ottoman (that he has called his own also) and gently chewed/played with his dog/puppy friend. I couldn't resist getting photos. So, indulge me and take a look at my sweet Scooter.

Mushroom Barley Soup

I love soup. I can - and often do - eat soup every day. I love creamy, brothy, about the only kind I don't love is cold soup - to me the whole point of eating soup is it warms me up. Next to my love of soup - is mushrooms - sorry JD :) Today I tried a new recipe - it turned out yummy - give it a try - did you love it?

8 cups (2 quarts) beef broth

1/2 cup raw pearl barley

2 large carrots, sliced or diced

1/4 tsp dried sage

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, chopped

10 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Combine the broth, barley, carrot and sage in a pot. Bring to a quick boil; reduce the heat and simmer slowly for 40 minutes.

In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until wilted. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 5 minutes more.

Stir the mushroom mixture into the broth. Simmer partially covered 10 minutes longer.

Taste for seasoning and add the pepper and salt. Serves 4.