A wonderful visit with family

A wonderful visit!

Yesterday we went to the Natural History Museum and 

had a nice Pasta dinner at home!

The slow cooker Fia Sauce is so simple and so delicious!

And you can add anything to it

(vegan options - fried mushrooms and onions; other fasting

option is to add canned clams; feast times ground beef with 

onion and seasonings)...

I am thinking of using this pizza crust later this week 

with some of the sauce...

And today we had our tea party for lunch!

Not pictured were the half chicken burger cut up

and served with the sandwich tongs to the girls... :)

and Mr Husband and I had vegan burgers as well, 

and my Sister-in-Law had her left over burger...

I did not have a lot of time to make tea sandwiches so this

was a great way to get some protein for all of us!

And the girls loved all the treats 

and the vegan scones (I kept them in the fridge) were excellent.

The mini-nutella single servings were a real hit with my

2 nieces, currently 7 and 11 years old. 

They had them on the brioche toasts + on strawberries.

The 7 year old had a lot of fun using her little silver spoon to sip tea with

and stir in some honey... it is such a joy to have happy young kids around,

playing, singing, enjoying themselves...

tonight we took them to the diner, they had happy face pancakes...:) 

It is treasured times when I have family over and hear the happy

voices of young ones... 

And onward it goes

I just finished my re-read of Listening Valley by DE Stevenson and it was lovely.

And poignant.

And such an incredible way of capturing what it was like

during WWII for people in London and Scotland.

As our unbloggable continues, 

I feel like so much of the book I just read fits.

Both the taking life as it comes and the pain of war,

the pain that comes from prolonged struggle and uncertainty.

It is really an incredible book.

Best to read Cecila's House first to get the full impact,

as Listening Valley is a direct squeal to it, though cleverly done

and indirect as a squeal....

***

It's funny, while I can't write here more about the unbloggable,

I find it is also hard to talk to friends about,

to explain what the latest is and why things

are the way they are.

There are so many things that are lived understanding that are 

simply hard to translate the reality of the situation

to others.... but at the same time, that is OK

and I was able to say enough to make things clear; I am just aware

that really being able to explain the situation is hard

esp as so much is unclear and now we are still in the situation at hand

and can't step outside of it.

So as I wrote yesterday, I try to stay within today only,

doing more than that sends me into a panic and destroys my peace.

We will know the next step when it is time to know it

and right now we are doing what God allows,

which is light for the very next step.

I remember hearing when I was young, probably 19 or so years old, 

the pastor Chuck Swindoll speaking about God

being the light unto our feet/our path

and that that light was for the very next step,

not steps 5 steps down but that God was right there with us,

giving us the next step to do and that we had to do that step only

in so doing, live in faith in God and follow Him.

So that's pretty much what we are doing and I am convinced that this hard time

is so that we have strength and I hope a bit more inside of us when we need it

in the future; but again, that's in God's hands only and we must do the next step only...

***

Meanwhile, we did cards for July birthdays and anniversaries. 

I prepared the cards and my Husband stamped them,

I think he did a great job (was his first time doing this, at least since we were married

that is...so I am extra proud of him!)

I did the red stamped card, my Husband did the rest.

And of course he is more careful than I and 

was sure to clean the stamps after they were used.

It was really good to be in church this morning.

To be with friends that I have known for over 5 years

and some of whom my Husband has known nearly 30 years.

We had ice cream bowls, vegan, for a treat today, 

which was really nice. 

***

I was making some sort of joke, alluding to the old movie,

the Muppet Caper, when the older lady and older man are sitting at a table

fancy with candles and Miss Piggy is scaling their house 

and then falling in through a window,

if I remember correctly, and it became known quickly 

that my beloved Husband

had never seen the movie. 

 I happen to own it and he suggested we have a watch

when the nieces are here.  I think that sounds rather fun. 

I am planning a tea with them on Wednesday 

and perhaps an afternoon movie

will be the next good thing... they come tomorrow night!

I am so glad! It begins about a month of family visits and that is so welcomed

in our life, such a great blessing! 

***

May God help us all in the difficulties we are facing and may we know that 

no matter what, God is taking care of us..... 

2 Vegan Scone Recipes + Vegan Pizza + pondering what it takes to be at peace in the midst of 'life's hard'

Another title for the blog post could have been

 if I can stay inside the day at hand, I can find some peace and quiet happiness 

but first the recipes.

***

The pizza is simple... olive oil + minced (from a jar) garlic spread on crust,

wonderful cherry tomatoes, sliced, dried oregano and red pepper flakes,

a bit more oil with chopped thin mushrooms, torn spinach and basil,

vegan cheese on top, baked 425F for about 13 or so minutes.

It was really good pizza! 

***

The scone recipe... 

I was looking for a good vegan option as I talked to my

sister-in-law about having a tea party lunch while they are here and 

Mr Husband is going to join them for this special time and so vegan scones

(still in the Apostles fast!) were needed! 

I looked at these 2 recipes online before pulling out

Marion Cunningham's book on breakfast to see if she had a scone recipe

and to see if that recipe was similar to her cream biscuit recipe

and to compare them to what I saw online. 

I saw this one and read it

saw this one and read it

looked back at the first one and saw that it was adapted from this 

recipe and that recipe began in the same way as what is in 

The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham 

(however it changes the butter content/adds shortening + egg)

but it was the beginning that showed me quickly 

that I was on the right track 

and went back to the book itself and read the two recipes,

cream biscuits and dried fruit scones. 

Remember the cream biscuits recipe is one that she used with 

James Beard and if you know the American culinary scene + recent history,

then you know you should pay attention and if you were gambling, 

you would put your bet with them! 

***

I still have not shared the epic brunch I did a while back,

I do hope to fix that as I used Marion Cunningham's book exclusively for it!

The cream biscuits I have made many times since and it's great!

I am pretty sure my vegan rendition of this + her scone recipes

is so good because I stuck close to her recipe, save the vegan parts.

***

Here are the recipes:

So here's how I did it and with the changes to make it vegan:

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup dried cherries (in 1 recipe)

1 cup wild frozen organic blue berries (in other recipe)

half lemon zest (in batter)

1 cup coconut cream

1/3 cup approx coconut oil melted (in microwave, did on half power for 30 or so seconds)

Follow instructions for cream biscuits.

I made these various ways,

some cut into triangles with a dough chopper

Some I did in rounds with an old biscuit cutter

and others in heart shaped in the baking tin I got at the VNA rummage sale. 

Baked about 13 - 15 minutes in toaster oven.

Cooled.

Glazed and let set for hours (got busy!)

Glaze:

Next time I will do the following:

juice 1 lemon + zest of half or a full lemon

add enough (i.e. lots) of powdered sugar until it is a thickish glaze

What I did was add some water to the lemon juice 

and it made way too much and was hard to get to thicken.

I had not made it in so long that I simply forgot the simplicity of what I needed to do.

********

The dried cheery ones had the added lemon zest (should of done that for both)

and with the glaze, it was quite good.

I am excited to try the blueberry ones; I did have a good bite of one and 

it was quite satisfying.

You would not know at all that this was made with coconut cream and oil

at all, it seems like a very natural buttery scone! 

****

About the pondering/second title of this post

 if I can stay inside the day at hand, I can find some peace and quiet happiness 

I will have to write more later, as it is quite late and I need to get to bed.

However, it's simple but not simple to do.

It's being fully present to this day only and not letting one worry about tomorrow.

For me that means reading engrossing novels, baking and cooking, 

vespers tonight and listening to this lovely set of Bach while I made the pizza

after vespers. 

It's somehow viewing the day as having a set of 4 walls that I can stay within in,

realize that today I am cared for, have more than I could possible need for that day, 

pray as I can and try to stay within the day.

It's not easy and I am pondering it a lot.

It has something to do with remembering that God is our refuge,

that the Psalmist talks of God's wings covering us,

trusting that God is a good Father who tells me not to worry

because He is worrying about tomorrow for me. 

It has to do with trust, security in God and a lot of wearying days

and nights, hard times and uncertainty 

and yet a wish to be at peace and stay within the 4 walls of the day at hand

and trust that God will help me when the day after today comes. 

NYC on Wednesday

I went to Michael's craft store and got a few things, 

discount priced ribbon, washi tape, a watercolour brush, 

ink and calligraphy pens and two heavy paper art books. 

We went to my favourite quiet diner for a quick snack.

Went to a Mexican (felt Spanish in decor) restaurant; the food was 

decent but the space was loud and we could hear others much to easily;

the ferry took a lot longer than we anticipated and I think, 

based on the poor sleep we had after this, it was all a bit

stressful... yesterday was a huge rest day to recover

and today we went out and tried out new chromebooks as my 

chromebook (bought in 2014) was not working unless plugged in;

the battery seemed completely shot.

So I have a new chromebook now; I am trying it out for a week

to be sure it works well; it has a much bigger screen and is nice this way.

I've realized that my blog (not on cell/mobile but on chromebook at least)

looks small in font to me, I am always making it a bigger size to see it 

better and am wondering if I should be making the font bigger

or change the format. 

I guess I will have to experiment at some point about this.

However, if you find the actual typeface/words you are reading to be 

on the small size, let me know and I will try to change that.

***

Well. 

This has been a strange week. 

I felt in ways that God had given me an encouraging Sunday to 

gird me up for it.

I can't write everything about it but I felt a lot of worry

about a few things and was not sure where the unbloggable was going; for

a bit I was afraid that things were actually getting even worse than I had

foreseen but today was better and I am hoping that we will have some progress

in a positive direction next week.

***

On another note, while I don't feel I can write about it here on my blog yet,

I have something happy I am looking forward to 

in my extended family and I am going to MI in July for this

and I am greatly looking forward to being home. 

***

I don't, however, know how much I will be able to blog

then so if I have silences here, don't worry, I am merely busy

seeing and being with family!

And speaking of family, I have some coming to visit here in NJ

next week and so if I don't write next week, that just means I am 

extra busy with the nieces and having a trip into NYC, a tea time with them,

game playing and talking and the like. 

***

Meanwhile, we watched a Walton's episode this evening

that was enjoyable and we had a vegan ice cream cone, 

fruit salad, green salad and simple summer pleasures... 

of which we thank God! 

Spicy Lentil Sauce (made vegan)

From this wonderful cookbook

changes: used vegetable oil + vegan margerine

used a different type of pasta.

I would go with spaghetti next time however, 

the sauce would have been better incorporated. 

I also did not cook the pasta together at the end

as I wanted to store it separately.

Thus I added some more margarine to the sauce 

and some more (about 2 normal spoons full each) to the newly 

cooked pasta. 

This sauce was good, a warm savoury dish.... 

my Husband rightly said I should have used spaghetti with it (like recipe said) 

and he wanted more of a garlic taste...it had a lot of garlic

but it turned into part of the warmth of the sauce instead of standing out! 

It was good though!!!

So that was a fun meal to prepare; took me about 2 hours or so,

with everything from the sauce, the pasta,

the salad, the watermelon and juiced half lemon for fresh lemonade. 

I had realized the other day 

that I could not find the VNA rummage sale find spoon for loose tea....

I looked everywhere yesterday and prayed..... 

today when I went to cook, I found it! 

Most likely my Husband put it away in the cup with the measuring spoons, 

which makes sense, as it looks like a measuring spoon! 

So glad I found it today!

***

Today was a pretty good day.

Quiet. 

Cooking I find therapeutic and peaceful. 

I read to my Husband the little bit about pasta in the cookbook

that this meal is from, how they found a picture in an old Gourmet magazine

and it changed what they wanted their soon to be open resturant 

completely and for the better. 

It's amazing how one seemingly small thing can impact one's life so indelibly. 

***

At night I am reading one or two chapters out loud from

Ordinary Wonders to Mr Husband and that has been a great joy.

***

My days are very full right now but I find that if I keep

within the day,

am aware of what is hard and admit it

yet enjoy what is to be enjoyed in the day,

then it still can be a peaceful day;

of course this is a gift from God as

I often ruin my days with anxiety and worry.

***

Tomorrow is a trip in the afternoon to NYC to do some

errands and we hope to have a date out that night,

so hopefully that works out as planned.

***

Uncle Al, the camp director of Mt Lake, would always say at 

staff prayer at the beginning of the day,

there is a lot to thank the Lord for

even though in 1997 Aunt Elaine got cancer and died in

October of 1998. 

He is right, 

there is a lot to thank the Lord for.

Another day

Today was very hot.

I did not go outside until late, after dinner,

walking hand in hand with Mr. Husband in the hot humid air.

The kids did not understand, when I wanted to go under the water

at the play ground -- and kept trying to stop the water

until I told them not to -- and got gloriously wet

on this hot humid evening, walking home, soaking in the 

glories of water cooling the body. 

The house is clean again, I got advice on how to get out a stain

and am working more tomorrow on this.

We got take out for dinner, a luxury that I greatly appreciate. 

We watched a Walton's episode... talked to my Mom on the phone,

enjoyed tea, vegan milk, cookies and chocolate. 

I read this article on Jane Kenyon's peonies and it was lovely.

Tomorrow is going to be hot as well, though not as bad,

from what they say, and Wednesday I hope to go to NYC and get some

errands done, including a trip to Trader Joes.

We all have difficulties in life and yet God promises not to leave us

and to this I seek to cling.