Recipe--Cuban Bread

For years, my Mom received the monthly “Tightwad Gazette.” Some of our favorite recipes have come from its pages! This is one of those. This bread recipe is incredibly easy and fast, and DELICIOUS! My favorite way to eat this bread is hot from the oven, slathered in butter. Heavenly!

Cuban Bread

5-6 cups all-purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour for 1 or 2 cups)

2 Tablespoons dry yeast

2 Tablespoons sugar (we use honey)

1 Tablespoon salt

2 cups hot water (120-130°F)

1 Tablespoon sesame or poppy seeds

In large bowl, mix 4 cups flour with yeast, salt and sugar. Pour in hot water and stir together until all moistened. Add some of the remaining flour and turn out onto bread board dusted with flour. Knead 8 minutes, continuing to add flour until bread is elastic, and no longer sticky. Place dough in a greased bowl; cover with damp towel. Let rise 15 minutes. Punch down. Divide into 2 pieces. Shape into 2 round loaves and place on a baking sheet. Cut an “X” ½ inch deep on top with sharp knife. Brush with water, sprinkle with seeds. Place on middle shelf of COLD oven. Place cake pan of hot water on lowest shelf. Heat oven to 400°F. Bake 40-50 minutes until deep golden brown. Allow to cool, and then enjoy!

Baby Josiah

Little Josiah was a surprise blessing in our lives! Mom had the rest of us kids much closer together, and there were several years between the twins and Josiah’s birth.

We kids were so excited at the idea of having another baby in the family! For those of you who are parents out there, the best and most entertaining gift you can give your children is a sibling! J My Mom practically had to fight us to get a turn with Josiah!

During the time Mom was at the hospital, we kids stayed with friends overnight. We were VERY excited about that part of the deal. J We don’t do sleepovers in our family, but this was the exception. Josiah was born on a very good day as well; the friends we were staying with had lots of fun things going on that day!

Josiah was such a sweet baby! He was always so quiet and content. One time Mommy took him in his car seat with her to a meeting. He was less than one year old at the time, and the speaker stopped in the middle of his talk to comment on what a good little guy he was!

Wasn’t he the cutest thing??? Babies are such a gift from God. We all feel so blessed to have Josiah in our lives!

It’s hard to imagine that one day the baby in the pictures will most likely have his own babies to love on. While it’s bittersweet to see my baby brother growing up to be a lanky boy who wants to play football next year, I know that growing up is part of God’s plan for him. And God certainly knows what’s best.

But still, I love looking back at pictures and remembering when he was little! It’s a good reminder to treasure the moments I have with my siblings, because they are getting older every day!

“There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Fundraising at VG's

As part of the preparations for our trip to Haiti, our family has been fundraising with our team. Our current fundraiser involves VG’s grocery stores. When people shop at VG’s they earn community share points that they can share with a charity, like our team. Members of our team have been standing outside these stores with signs about our trip. When people ask, we can talk with them about our fundraiser. If they’re interested, they can allow us to clip the Community Share Points off their receipts. They earn 1 point for every dollar they spend, and we earn 1 penny for every point we receive.

So last week, our family went to one of the VG’s stores in our area.

  Sitting in the front of the store.

We weren’t sure what to expect since this was our first time. But things went quite well! We started around 5:00 p.m. and there were lots of people coming and going from the store. After about an hour, we pulled out the dinner we had packed and ate.

Around 6:00 p.m., things started clouding up. The temperature had been in the 80’s all day, and the humidity was high. We saw storm clouds rolling in and noticed a few lightning strikes. We couldn’t hear any thunder, so we decided to stay and hoped the storm would remain to the south of us.

  The storm clouds.

Around 6:45 p.m., the wind picked up. It almost looked like a dust storm was occurring! I guess things had been dry for the past few days, and so the 30-40 mph winds were whipping things all over. It wasn’t raining yet, so we waited outside and debated whether or not we should call it quits.

Right around 7:00 p.m., we decided we should call it a night even though we were supposed to stay until 8:00 p.m. Daddy went to pull the car around so we didn’t have to carry the table far. That was when the torrents came! It started pouring rain, with thunder, lightning, and lots of wind. I picked up our card table to put it in the back and a huge gust of wind nearly swooped it out of my hands! We ran to the car, soaking wet. A glance at the thermometer told us the temperature had dropped down to 64°F. That was a 15-20 degree drop in half an hour!

Even though we had to leave earlier than expected and had the issue of weather, we were all grateful for the experience. That might be hard to imagine, but we looked at it as great training for our trip. While we were sweating in the 80-degree heat, we reminded each other that Haiti will be much hotter. When our plans changed, we remembered that on a missions trip, plans change very often and that we need to be flexible. We were thankful for the funds we raised that night, but even more thankful to have the time together working as a family and preparing for the trip!

Bake Sale

The youth group at our church is going to an evangelism conference later this spring. Every year they hold fundraisers to help shrink the cost for the teens to go. Ben and I aren’t able to go this year, but we still wanted to help with the fundraising for the others. Our church sells coffee and snacks every Sunday to benefit the children’s church. So for one month, the teens took over the table and the funds went towards their conference.

I volunteered to take care of the baking for one weekend. I had lots of fun picking out things to bake and spending Friday and Saturday putting together the treats! Roma also helped by making cookies. On Sunday morning, several other girls from church brought treats to sell as well! In addition to all of the treats I brought (pictured below), we also had carrot cupcakes, cookie bars, no-bakes, chocolate covered strawberries, license plate covers with our church name on it, and duct tape flower pens. We had lots!

Standing in front of the table with treats.

Mini Lime cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Red Velvet Cupcakes (made from scratch.)

Chocolate Covered Cookie Dough Bites.

Tahini cookies.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.

The sale went quite well! Hopefully I’ll be able to post a few of the recipes for some of the treats in the next few weeks. My Mom and I have a funny habit when it comes to cooking for other people; instead of making something tried-and-true, we usually pick out something we’ve never made before. J The only recipe I had ever used before was the Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. But I was told that everything was good! J

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

This past weekend, we visited our grandparents out in Pennsylvania! We hadn’t seen them since Christmas, and we were very anxious to spend time with them after a long winter apart. We left early on Friday morning headed east.

Along the way, we stopped at a rest-stop to eat our sack lunches. We had meatloaf sandwiches, bananas, pretzels, and cookies. Then it was on the road again!

We were very happy when we finally arrived at our grandparents’ house! Since the weather was good, and rain was forecasted for Saturday, we decided to do some outside work before dinner. We worked for awhile cleaning out some of their flower beds, picking up sticks in the yard, etc. I’m afraid I didn’t get any pictures of the work! I was too busy working! J

Some of us went grocery shopping and picked up dinner for the night: pizza and breadsticks! We had a nice evening catching up with our grandparents. Then it was off to bed!

After sleeping in Saturday morning, we enjoyed a breakfast of muffins, oranges, and cheese. Since it was cold and rainy outside, we spent the day inside working on projects, cooking, and relaxing!

Josiah has been building “Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction,” and he built a penny bomb this weekend. But before he set off any bombs, he made sure he had safety gear: a pair of head phones, and my purple sunglasses. J

It worked! The cap paper wrapped around the penny puffed with smoke when he threw it on the ground. He was quite pleased!

My project for the weekend was planning my garden! I brought along my well-marked gardening books and planned out what I’m going to plant, and how I will arrange things in my garden. I’m trying some companion-planting techniques this year that will hopefully improve my produce and reduce pests. But more on that another time!

Josiah and Mom looked at some of the items on sale at Vision Forum while we were there. Josiah especially enjoyed looking at the LEGO sets for sale. J

Ben and Dad vacuumed the screens in the windows for our grandparents. Now they can enjoy the fresh outdoor air whenever the weather decides to warm up for good!

We girls cleaned the basement a bit by dusting and vacuuming.

This photo probably looks a bit random, but there’s a story behind it! This is everybody’s favorite cabinet: Grandma and Grandpa’s snack cabinet! They always have it stocked with cookies, granola bars, crackers, hot chocolate, and other goodies we don’t normally have at home. We enjoy having some “special” snacks while visiting them! J

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Saturday afternoon. The kids watched “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” in the basement.

Roma also made a pan of walnut brownies to go with our dinner.

Mommy made her delicious Crock Pot Pork with Vegetables, rice, salad, and Cuban Bread (recipe coming soon!)

Sunday morning we had a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls, cantaloupe, and scrambled eggs. Grandpa came with us to church that morning. For the sermon, the Pastor gave a dramatic monologue on Judges 11. In his monologue, he tells the story of Jephthah from the perspective of his brother. He did a great job! He then talked about Jephthah’s vow to sacrifice his daughter, and how it was unnecessary. The point of his sermon was how important it is for us to have a solid understanding of scripture. If Jephthah had known what the Torah said about redeeming vows, he wouldn’t have sacrificed his daughter. It was a great sermon!

We returned to Grandma and Grandpa's and had sandwiches for lunch before heading towards home. We’re always sad to leave our grandparents' house, but we look forward to seeing them again soon! We love them so much!

Swimming with the Sharks

(Making Yourself Believe that “Pushing the Limit” is Okay)

Photo Credit: Shark-Pictures.

(Posted by Rubia)

“How far is too far?” the boy asked.

“What do you mean by that?” replied his teacher. “Do you ask me that so you know where you’re not supposed to go, or do you ask me that so that you know just how close you can get to it?”

One night several weeks ago, I had a dream. In my dream, I was swimming with sharks! They were not always very nice to me, but I tried my best to tame them, because I wanted to get near them. I knew in my dream that if I got too close, they might eat me. But still, I tried to get as close to them as possible.

Normally, when I have a dream, I wake up before something important or terrible happens. In this case, I woke up very startled. I don’t remember exactly what was about to happen, but I assume that I finally got too close…and they ate me.

When I explained this dream to my Mom, she had an idea that my dream was similar to how people sometimes try to “tame their sins,” or persuade themselves that they really aren’t so bad. It is like the boy who asked his teacher, “How far is too far?” The teacher had set a limit on how far he could go on the playground, to keep the child from danger. But the boy was really wondering, “How close can I get to the limit?”

We know that God wants us to stand firm, be wise, and take the advice of those who are older and know better. So God wouldn’t want us to “push the limit” and see how close we can get to trouble without actually sinning. I would say that pushing the limit is just as bad as deliberately entering danger.

Why do we act this way? The Bible teaches us that we are all sinners, and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Satan made Eve believe that eating the forbidden fruit wouldn’t really be that bad—in fact, that it would be good to do. (Genesis 3).

But in all things, we should endeavor to glorify God. This means throwing off all our sins, and everything that easily entangles, and not letting ourselves think that sin doesn’t really hurt us.

A wonderful promise that God gave us is that He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor. 10:13) God doesn’t put us in situations that we won’t be able to handle.

Another thing that is important to remember is that God doesn’t cause evil, but He sometimes allows it to happen, to fulfill His own purposes. “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” (James 1:13-14)

Here are a few more verses from the Bible that can help us, the next time we are tempted to “swim with the sharks!”

“...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”. (1 John 5:4)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (Titus 2:11-13)

“If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7)

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

Set Apart

“But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

(1 Peter 2:9)

~ Posted by Betsy

Recipe--Cookie Pie (a.k.a. Toll House Pie)

A few months ago, I mentioned this delicious Cookie pie that we had when our cousins visited. This pie tastes like a warm, chocolate chip cookie, only better! J It is definitely a family favorite around here! Unfortunately, I cannot promise that calories are lacking from this dessert. J But it makes a delicious treat for special occasions!

Cookie Pie (a.k.a. Toll House Pie)

½ cup butter, softened

¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup flour

1 6-oz package semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup large walnut pieces

1 9-inch, unbaked pie crust

Vanilla ice cream (optional, but recommended. J)

Preheat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, cream butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in flour; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts; pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake in lower third of oven for 50-55 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Serves 8.

Twinsies

When the twins were little and people in public would see Mom herding around 4 kids under the age of 6, they would make a comment about the twins being “double trouble.” Mom always had a come-back about them being “double blessings.”

I am so thankful to have the privilege of having twins in the family! Even though things were very busy when they were really little, they are so much fun to have around! They have definitely added humor to our lives through their daily antics.

Through their sweetness, they have brought incredible joy to our family. I can’t imagine life without them!

"The Betrayal" Book Review

Several weeks ago, I was looking through my history book. At the end of each chapter, they have a section on “Further Reading.” They referenced several books by Douglas Bond. I had seen some of his books in a catalogue before, and they sounded like books I would really enjoy. I have found that the best way for me to remember events in history is by reading historical fiction books that are either about a real event, or a real person in history. I've read books by several good authors who write from a Christian perspective, and their books have really helped the history come alive!

We requested 5 of Douglas Bond’s books from the library, including “The Betrayal.” This book is set in the 1500’s during John Calvin’s life. I had never studied Calvin’s personal life, so I dug right in!

The book is actually written from the perspective of a fictional antagonist, Jean-Louis Mourin. It starts off when Calvin is a child in school. Jean-Louis has always been jealous of Calvin, his family, and the opportunities he was given as a scholar.

In a terrible fit of jealousy, Jean-Louis makes the following pledge, “God above, if you are there, you are most unkind to me. . . Therefore, will I not serve you, will I not worship you, will I not obey you. Henceforth, I give of myself to those powers that most work against you, against your will and ways, and against your servants.” Jean-Louis pledges his allegiance to the Catholic Church and begins working undercover to find evidence to discredit Calvin and ultimately have him martyred.

This is a very exciting book, and well written. But more importantly, it profiles one of the great Reformers, and clearly shows the providential hand of God throughout history. The words in Genesis 50: 20 are so true; “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” I would highly recommend this book!

March Pictures

After completely forgetting to take pictures in February, I made sure that I took nature pictures in March! (For those of you who don’t know about my photo challenge, you can read about it here.) I certainly wasn’t lacking in subjects this time. The flora and fauna seem to believe that spring has arrived. I sure hope they’re right! There is still a very good chance of frost and snow until Memorial Day weekend here in Michigan. But with 70-80 degree temperatures all week, flowers and trees are blooming prolifically!

The daffodils have all bloomed.

Daffodil blooms remind me of the sun. They are such bright and cheery flowers!

“And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28-29

I had fun with my macro lens. I bought it for the purpose of taking photos like this!

If the plant doesn’t get killed by a frost, our lilacs should bloom this year.

There is so much beauty found in delicate buds. It’s amazing to think that the lush foliage we enjoy throughout the summer starts from a tiny bud!

Our daylilies are up as well. I have no doubt they would survive even if we did have snow. It’s nearly impossible to keep them contained or to kill them.

A little ladybug on our crabapple tree. I can’t wait to see—and photograph—what will be blooming next month!

Classical Guitar Concert

Awhile back, the ladies in our family had the opportunity to attend a classical guitar concert. Since Rubia is learning how to play the acoustic guitar—and we own a classical guitar—we were especially interested when we heard about the concert.

Paul Vondiziano is a very talented musician! I was amazed at how quickly he was able to move his hands and fingers while he played. Most of the songs he played used plucking versus strumming. The neat part was that he didn’t use picks!

He played some music by Luis de Milán and Bach. He also played two suites that he composed himself. One of them—excuse me for being blunt—was NOT enjoyable. It was atonal and rather depressing. The other one was much more upbeat and more pleasing to listen to.

We had an interesting conversation on the way home about interpreting art forms. We do not believe that art can ever be neutral; it always expresses something about us and even about our philosophy and theology. When we listened to the atonal, dirge-sounding song, it may have been reflecting something going on in the life of the composer at that time. He wrote the piece almost 20 years ago; he said it was a time when he was “searching.” Perhaps he was searching for the peace that comes through a relationship with Christ. He may have been experiencing trials of the world that led him to write such a disjointed, agitated piece of music. His more recent piece reflected a more centered, serene state of mind and heart.

We were glad that we had the opportunity to go to the concert! It makes me wish I was better at playing the guitar! J

Company

As I mentioned last week, we celebrated Josiah’s birthday a bit early because we were having out-of-town company coming into town that weekend! We hadn’t seen my Abuela, Abuelo, Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins since Christmas, so they decided to come up and celebrate with us!

Can you guess which day of the week they arrived on? If you guessed Friday, you’d be correct. J There would be an uproar of monumental proportions if our family did not have pizza for dinner on Friday night!

The kids enjoying breakfast together on Saturday morning.

We had a very relaxed day on Saturday. We all enjoyed working on various projects throughout the day. Rubia read a book while I worked on a report about Voodoo in Haiti.

My Aunt worked on her knitting skills.

Abuelo read a book on his Kindle.

And my Uncle, Mom, and Dad had a good discussion on Revelation while Dad finished planning his Sunday school lessons.

Some of the kids braved the cold, snowy outdoors to play for awhile.

J really wanted to go outside, but it was too cold for a little guy like him. He had to content himself with indoor toys and watching from the window.

It appears he’s been eating chocolate again! J

He is such a riot, and a fun guy to have around!

Later in the afternoon, Josiah got to open his presents. He received lots of nice clothes as well as some toys. Cousin E. made himself available to help with unwrapping. J

For Josiah’s birthday dinner, my Abuela made a delicious Puerto Rican feast of platanos maduros, pasteles, bread with butter, Spanish rice, bacalao con yuca, pork and potato stew, and pineapple punch. It was muy delicioso!

For his birthday cake, Mommy made a four layer chocolate, whipped-cream-filled cake decorated with chocolate footballs. It tasted like one big Ho-Ho!

After watching the movie “Pendragon,” E and Josiah were inspired to re-enact the final battle scene between Caydern and Artos.

Sadly, our company had to leave on Sunday morning before church. L But we enjoyed our visit with them, and we are looking forward to seeing them again in just a few weeks!