Here's a great recipe for a busy Saturday

I received this recipe from Cori Schrader. She is a talented mother, a hard worker and a wonderful singer/songwriter.

She works nights and daytime with her busy family can be difficult to navigate. She writes:

It's 10 AM and I worked all night so my bedtime is soon! As for the recipe...I serve a lot of "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun" (McDonald's) - America's Roast Beef (Arby's) - the Chihuahua's food (Taco Bell) - Mr. Sander's best (KFC), etc.

With my sleep/work schedule and getting tired of hearing someone always say "I don't like that!" at EVERY meal..., I kind of lost a desire to make home cooked meals. I know I am not doing my family any favors by hiring the fast food chefs. I guess I do have one favorite desert I/we like, it just doesn't get made very often in this house!

Here it is..."Magic Pumpkin Buckle" From the Kitchen of : Cori's Kitchen...yeah right!!!

CRUST: 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

FILLING: 3 cups pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon EACH of ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg

TOPPING: 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 tablespoons sugar

CRUST: Pour butter into a 13"x9"x2" baking dish; set aside. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour into the pan/dish.

FILLING: In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin (poor pumpkin!), milk and eggs. Combine the remaining filling ingredients; add to pumpkin mixture. Pour over crust mixture (do not stir).

TOPPING: Dot with butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean and top is golden brown. YIELD: 12 servings.

A neighbor shared a helping of her batch but it was more the consistency of brownies! Still tasted good enough for me to ask for the recipe. In fact, I thought they were SUPPOSED to turn out that way until I made some myself. One of us definitely did something different than the other!

Anyway, I think what my family liked about this recipe besides the good taste, is that the crust (which you remember went into the pan first) rises to the top during baking forming a rich topping. My kids really thought that was cool when they were younger!

How Cool Cori! I remember busy days when I went the route of "two all beef patties". I think we have all been there and done that. With the way you work perhaps there is more benefit in going that route than it is to lose you to a day of cooking.

Thanks for the fun recipe! Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and keep those stories coming!

God loves you,

Debbie

Thanks for all the recipes!

Thank you for all the recipes and stories!

I'm preparing some of them for publication.

I can't wait to try them all! Keep them coming.

The more I browse through the book the more I love it! I can't wait to give it to one of you.

For those of you who are just joining us, you can participate in an on line contest. Send me a recipe and a paragraph about why it means so much to you or your family and you might win a cookbook by Faith Ford, "Cooking with Faith".




Good luck all you wonderful cooks.

Someone suggested that we should make a cookbook of all these wonderful recipes. Hum....maybe so.

Remember the picture of Mom and Dad fussing over the Lemon Cake? Well....last night I waited until everyone went to bed and I grabbed the last piece. I savored every bite remembering all the snitches each family member had swiped over the years. I smiled as I remembered coming down the steps one night and catching one of the kids chomping on a huge piece of the cake.

I remembered how many times I've watched Mom stirring and working on the cake. We might work on the decorations or play a game or watch a movie, but when that warm lemon smell filled the entire house and we heard those wonderful words, "Okay, it's done. All it needs is a little time in the fridge..." - the plans to snitch could be seen in every one's eyes.

Here's the cause of all those wonderful memories....

Maggie's Lemon Cake

1 Box Duncan Hines Butter Cake Mix
1 pkg. Lemon Jello
4 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup Wesson Oil
1 cup hot water
2 tsp. lemon extract

Mix all ingredients together and beat with electric mixer 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick.
Stir in 1 cup chopped pecans.

Bake in Bunt pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour
Cool cake

Glaze
Take 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar and mix with 1 tsp. Lemon extract
Add water by 1 tbls. at a time until you get the right consistency to drizzle over cake.....(Unless you are papaw and then you will double the glaze.)
Decorate with whole pecans.

Ummm.....ENJOY! I have !

God loves you,

Debbie

Let's come together

Do you like contemporary music? Most of the time I don't. I'm a Gaither Music fan. I love the old songs and beautiful orchestration. It's been hard for me to learn to like the new stuff. Even with my son participating in Christian Contemporary Music, I still find it hard.

I don't make fun of contemporary music. That's just not fair. But I do know a lot of families that are split on the issue and it causes great stress within the home. I'm also working on an article that discusses both sides of the issue. Many churches are splitting over music issues and that's just wrong. My heart breaks for everyone that is being hurt.

David Phelps is my favorite artist. He sang with the Gaithers for years. Several years ago he went out on his own. He's contemporary - but I like him. He presents a great mix of both the classical side and the contemporary.

I just purchased his Christmas CD - One Wintry Night. I love it!

If you want a Christmas CD that will appeal not only to your classical side but to your children as well, I encourage you to get this CD. Berean Christian Bookstores has it on sale. If you want to support this site, you can get it from Amazon.

I think you will love the contemporary version of the Hallelujah Chorus. It's called Hallelujah!

Be prepared to dance around and be glad that it's Christmas.

God loves you,

Debbie

I love home-made

We are all busy and there are times when we have to purchase gifts rather than make them. I appreciate any gift that I receive. The most precious gifts are home-made. They let us know that the maker took the time to not only purchase the supplies but also took time to make something special just for us. When you think of how much time it takes to hand-make something, you realize that for at least an hour or so they were thinking only of you. How special is that?

Last summer my sister-in-law brought her family for a visit. I explained that Ron designed our kitchen table with glass top and had an Amish company carve it. He designed it so there was a place under the glass to put flower arrangements or table decorations. That left the top free for food etc. We were talking about how nice it was and I made a comment about having to pull out all the place mats when we have supper. She smiled and looked intently at the table.

Just after my birthday I received a package. It was a lovely table cover made exclusively for our table. Rather than pulling out five place mats for our plates and two for the middle to hold food, I now just slide this beautiful cover over the top. How neat is that?

An added surprise was that it's reversible. The other side is Christmas.

Who do you care enough about to take the time to make them something special? In this intensely commercial time wouldn't it be nice to say I love you with something home-made?

Be sure and weave a lot of love into what you do.

Thanks Cheryl......I love it!

God loves you,

Debbie

The Best Gift

When my children were little I wanted to teach them to "give" to others. There were times when we helped someone in the church, times when I made sure they gave gifts to someone in need, times when we visited nursing homes and they always took a gift to birthday parties. I stressed the importance of being kind and remembering those we love. I stressed that it wasn't the price of the gift or even the popularity of the gift. The important thing was to remember the person you cared for and to give of yourself. Spend time thinking about what that person is about and how you can give them something they want - not something you want.

All you parents know the routine...cover all the bases so children are well rounded and not selfish or unthoughtful. But there was one area I provided little training in - gifts for Me. I made sure they had paper and glue so they could make me a card. I made sure they tried their hand at planting flowers or making toast for breakfast in bed. When the children were about six, Ron assured me it was time to give them spending money and allow them to go to the store and purchase a gift for me. I thought they needed guidance. Ron felt they needed freedom of expression. "Let them purchase something from their own heart", he said.

I waited at home while Ron patiently walked Jamie and Amie age six with Ken age two - up and down the store aisle looking for just the right present. On my birthday I was served toast dripping with jelly and a twenty minute boiled egg. It took a lot of coffee to get that one down. Ron grinned from ear to ear as I received two gifts. The wrapping was about two inches thick and tied with enough ribbon to make a large bow for my front door. There was three hand made cards with X's and O's covering every inch that wasn't occupied by large hearts.

Tears ran down my cheeks as I embraced the love of my children. I giggled and began to unwrap one of the presents. As I tore away layer after layer of paper the children jumped up and down and said, "Oh mommy, you will be so surprised!"

It was lipstick. I was thrilled....until....they said...."Put some on Mommy." How can you refuse a request like that? I grabbed a mirror and pushed the lipstick up. "Keep a smile on your face" I thought to myself. "Don't let them know what you really think."

That tube of lipstick was the most awful psychedelic pink I'd ever seen. I felt like a clown putting it on. I smiled and kissed each child leaving as much of the lipstick on them as possible.

The second gift was matching hot psychedelic pink nail polish. I smiled and proceeded to paint my nails. I looked like I had glowing nuclear nails. But my children's eyes...now that's where the real story lived. They were so excited that they had bought me a present and that it was something that made me look "beautiful" - well...beautiful to them.

Ron also had tears running down his cheeks. Tears of intense internal laughing. Every so often I would catch him holding his mouth and laughing as much as possible without letting the children see. Once he came over and said, "Kiss me baby, I'm excited by your electric look of fire." I won't tell you my response.

After my birthday, the gifts went into the drawer....hopefully to be forgotten. A few days later Amie came home from kindergarten. "Mommy! I told Jenny how beautiful you are. I told her we made your smile the prettiest smile in Conyers."

That's when I knew. It wasn't the psychedelic hot pink that was important - it was the love behind it. I saw her heart that day. I knew that her heart could only be happy if my heart was happy. Her love bought the gift but it was my love that needed to receive it to make it meaningful for both of us. I found the meaning behind heartfelt gifts. Gifts that are given with the deepest love.

I still have that half used tube of lipstick and dried up bottle of nail polish. It's one of the most treasured gifts I own. Every time I look at it I see my children's eyes and I see love.

Give from your heart this season - and more importantly - Receive with your heart.

God loves you,

Debbie

A quiet house

Hello yawl!

I hope your week-end with the family has been fun. I also hope you have had a restful week-end. You know I didn't hit the mall, but there was a lot happening with the family. We have always had a lot of traditions for the holidays. I'll be telling you about them later. But this year traditions had to take a back seat to new work schedules. That's very sad for me and yet the family reassured me that those traditions will return next year.

With Amie's move to Florida and Ken just getting started on his new job, their time at home is limited. Jamie is still working hard to recover from his accident and there simply isn't enough time to do everything.

The house seems unusually quiet without the children. Not really sad...just a little confusing. I keep wondering why I feel a little down. Why can't I just enjoy the ability to rest? Why don't I just sit back and enjoy that I will have a little more time? Why don't I spend some time working on one of my novels?

I think the answer is in the fact that we trust our emotions too much. We think if we "feel" something that it must be true. With our emotions at a frenzy during this month, we can't expect them to tell us the truth. We are overworked, hyped up on sugar, sleep deprived and overzealous about trying to get so much done in 25 days. When our life seems like it's not meeting our expectations of the "perfect" Christmas, we get scared. That fear translates into mild sadness or even full blown depression.

How can you fight it?

1. Understand that emotions "lie". Don't let yourself dwell on those emotions. Instead center on what you do have and how much it means to you.

2. Get plenty of sleep.

3. Drink plenty of water.

4. Fun for the holidays does not depend on how much you splurge. Try to eat as normal as possible.

5. Relax. Whatever you can't do this year can become top of the list for next year. Take your list of priorities and try to whittle them down to five or ten things that you know you can accomplish. If the rest of your list happens, great! If it doesn't, don't get upset. It wasn't a top priority anyway.

6. It's not your job to bring Christmas joy to everyone on your list. It is their job to "receive" Christmas. In other words...you are not responsible for the "bah humbug" of every person on your list. Do your best and remember them with love. Their reception of joy is their responsibility.

7. This is the most important. Say "Merry Christmas" as much as you can to as many people as you can. Say it with gusto. Say it with the excitement of a child. Say it with a belly laugh. Pretty soon your mind will start to believe you.

And to help your stress for Christmas I'm going to share my "Turkey" recipe. I feel so sorry for people who stress out over the turkey. It's easy to have a wonderful tasting moist turkey that falls off the bone.

If you have the extra cash and can purchase the following roaster, your turkey will take only minutes to prepare. If you don't have the extra cash, you can use tin foil. Thank you so much for using this link. It helps support this site and a portion of the proceeds will go to fund scholarships for Family Training Center classes. I've also included a general link so you can do all your amazon shopping through this site.







Debbie's Turkey....guaranteed to be the best you've ever tasted!

Buy any turkey - even the cheapest you can find. It really doesn't matter.

If you want to thaw the turkey you can. If you run out of time...don't worry.

Place turkey in the roaster. If you are using tin foil, cut two sheets of foil long enough to cover the bottom of the pan and still fold up and over the turkey. Lay the foil slightly overlapping in the bottom of the pan. Place turkey in the pan and check to be sure you can fold the foil up and over the turkey. Kind of like wrapping a baby in a blanket. Foil isn't necessary in the roaster.

Take one stick of butter and slice into squares. Place two squares in each wing cavity. Put several squares in the open breast cavity. (If frozen, you can do this later) Lift the hind skin and place several squares in that cavity. Place four squares across the breast meat. Salt, pepper and add any other spices you like to the outside.

Bring foil up and fold together. Continue making folds until it rests on top of the turkey. Close the ends. For roaster simply secure lid and put in 400 -450 oven. Bake according to size. I usually get a 20 pound turkey and it takes between 4-6 hours.

If the turkey is frozen I start it the evening before. I bake it at 300 for two-three hours. This will warm it up enough so I can take out the giblets and neck. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. THE TURKEY WILL BE HOT. I use tongs and plenty of oven mitt. Once the giblets are out I put butter in those cavities and more on top of the turkey. Close it up and continue to bake for another 4-6 hours. It's great to put the turkey on while you sleep. It fills the entire house with a wonderful smell. Just be sure and set your clock so you won't overcook.

I've been doing this for 33 years and it has never failed. The steam bakes the turkey to a luscious golden brown - just right for snitching!

God loves you,

Debbie

The Shopping Frenzy

I know people that think real excitement and fun is getting up during the night, dressing to brave the elements and preparing for a marathon of shopping. They put as much thought into managing their day after Thanksgiving as some people do when they plan their retirement. They make a list of all the stores, pack a back pack with power bars, bottles of water and even a first aid kit. They carry fold out stools for waiting in line and extra bags for carrying their latest find just in case the store runs out of carts.

It's a race. There is a prize. Therefore there must be a strategy.

Here's my strategy. "If I have to fight to purchase it, it's probably not worth it." Ron's favorite is, "If they made this one, they will probably make another one like it." No store would ever depend on us to boost their sales. No, we usually aren't the ones walking away with some major purchase that we just saved $35 on. Yet, we do feel a lot less stress and our Thanksgiving lingers a bit more through Friday.

This morning we slept in. Each of us stretched and moaned until we finally drifted downstairs. We had a leisurely cup of coffee and lingered around the table rubbing our bellies and talking about yesterday's meal and how we shouldn't eat for a week. We read the paper and saw all the great buys we were missing. Instead of being upset, Ken peeked over the paper and decided to get on the floor and play with Jolie. Jamie rubbed his sore leg and laughed at a silly commercial. Memaw told a story. Amie sighed and poured another cup of coffee. Papaw drummed his fingers on the table and wondered how to put sidebars on his blog.

I held Ron's hand as we sat back and smiled. I was glad I didn't go shopping. This was much better. Everyone doing their thing and just being family. It was sweet and quiet and wonderful.

Ken left for Illinois tonight. Amie will leave for Florida on Sunday. Jamie will stay at his house so he can get work done. I will go back to writing and Ron will return to Roadway.

Never let your busy plans destroy your ability to stop for the "normal" moments. I wish I could stop every young parent and find some way to tell them...."Pay attention. Paint pictures in your mind. Savor this moment. "

One day in the distant future your heart will break when you realize that you can't recall what your son looked like when he was 8. You will find yourself rummaging through pictures just to remember that time once again. Not too long after that you will find a tear running down your face when you can't recall the sweet smell of baby powder or remember the sound of their voices begging you to read one more story. Your memory is limited to the stories that are told over and over at reunions. Remembering the daily stuff....the mundane....that slips away as quickly as the ground absorbs rain.

Am I against Black Friday and the shopping frenzy? Of course not. If it's the highlight of the season for you, I'll help you pack. Just remember while you are stuffing that last item into your bulging cart that you have a date tonight - a date with future memories.

I hope you will take the time to go home, gather the family into one room and then watch the show. I promise it's one you will cherish.

God loves you,

Debbie

P.S. Don't forget to submit a recipe and story. The prize is Faith Ford's book, "Cooking with Faith" and it's wonderful!