13 November 2008
Welcome to the fourth A Homemade Christmas! This is week Four of Ten (you don’t have to enter in each one). I hope you’ll join us in sharing about homemade gifts that you have received or made — past, present, and future!
You can click here for the Introductory post.
Four years ago for Christmas I received a gift that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It was a binder filled with my favorite recipes. Momma spent hours putting it together each night after Breezy and I went to bed. I was so happy to receive it.
The book is a white three-ring binder. She made a cover for it that says, “Emily’s Recipes” with a clip art picture of a loaf of bread beneath it. Inside are plastic sheet protectors that are filled with typed out recipes (a few are handwritten as well).
One of the best things about it is the fact that I can continue to add more recipes to it. It is like a continual gift. It is used in our kitchen now, and will be used in the kitchen of my future home.
Last year, I wrote this about one of the recipes:
Happy Tears for Christmas
There once was a little girl, she had a Godly Christian family. A wonderfully caring father, a dear mother, and sweet big sister.
This little girl was a people person.
If her mother was in the kitchen, she’d be right along side her, helping and watching her every move, so that one day she would know how to cook for her own family.
She enjoyed asking “what’s for dinner?” and if she was asked what she wanted for dinner, she would probably reply, “Barbecued Meatballs.”
One year for Christmas her mother decided to give her a cookbook, with all of her daughter’s favorite recipes.
When the young girl opened the present on Christmas morning, she was overjoyed. And when she turned the page, tears came to her eyes. At the top of the page was written, “Barbecued Meatballs.”
Since that recipe has so many memories wrapped around it, I would like to share it with you.
Barbecued Meatballs
PREHEAT: 350° | BAKE: 1 hour | MAKES: 80 meatballs
Meatballs:
3 lbs. ground beef
1 12oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. chili powder
Sauce:
2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup chopped onion
To make meatballs, combine all ingredients and shape into walnut-size balls. Place meatballs in a single layer on wax paper-lined cookie sheets; freeze until solid. Store frozen meatballs in freezer bags until ready to cook.
To make sauce, combine all ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved.
Place frozen meatballs in a 9×13 baking pan; pour on the sauce. Bake at 350° for 1 hour.
These can be baked in any amount, just adjust your sauce recipe accordingly.
Have you made or received any homemade gifts? If you’d like to make a post about your homemade gifts, you can sign Mr. Linky below. You can add one of my Homemade Christmas icons to your blog by clicking here. Each Thursday (until the end of December) there will be A Homemade Christmas post! Hope you’ll join in the fun as we learn, inspire, and encourage one another!
| 1. Tina 2. Emily 3. Robin @ Robin\’s Egg Blue |
4. maralena 5. Elastigirl 6. BreezyTulip |
7. SchoolinRhome 8. Becca |
11 November 2008
This cake is a great combination of sour and sweet. We found the recipe several years ago, and it was an instant keeper. With the lemon juice in the glaze, and the delicious cake, it is the perfect treat. Easy to make and enjoy!
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Your Choice Citrus Cake
BAKE: 35-40 minutes | COOL: 10 minutes | SERVINGS: 16-20
Cake:
1 pkg plain yellow cake
1 pkg lemon gelatin (or orange)
2/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup hot water
4 large eggs
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice (or orange)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (or orange), optional
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix cake ingredients for 1 minute with mixer on low. Scrap sides and bottom of bowl. Continue to mix for 2 minutes longer with mixer on medium.
Pour batter into greased bundt pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes in preheated oven. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
Prepare the glaze by mixing together ingredients to desired consistency (I usually wait to do this until after the cake is completely cooled). You will just have to test the glaze, the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons, but I have used as much as 4 tablespoons in the past.
Run a knife around edge of cake and invert onto a serving plate. Spoon glaze over cake.
Store at room temperature for 1 week. Freeze (we have not yet tried this) for up to 6 months in foil. Thaw overnight on counter.
9 November 2008
Mrs. Jenny Chancey of LAF and Sense and Sensibility Patterns has been working on a treat for us ladies! She now offers ePatterns, a pattern that you can save onto your computer and print when you need it.
What is especially nice is that Mrs. Chancey does not have the cost of printing them, so the price is greatly decreased from the price of the printed/shipped ones.
Because you don’t have to wait for it to ship, you can print it off as soon as you buy it, and get to work! So far, she has done the Regency, Edwardian Apron, and the 1910′s Tea Dress patterns.
Both Breezy and I are in the new edition of The Girlhood Home Companion. I encourage you to take a look at it! It is a beautiful and encouraging magazine for daughters, mothers, and grandmothers.
My mother, sister, and I will be giving an online talk on Thursday, and are really looking forward to it. It is entitled Have Yourself a Merry Homemade Christmas with The Brookshires – Robin, Breezy and Emily Rose Brookshire. Our talk will be one workshop of the two-day seminar Girlhood’s Most Cherished Lessons, put on by Mrs. Novak of Remembrance Press. It is free to sign up and you get to hear the talks live! The dates of the seminar are November 12th and 13th. I believe we will have a wonderful and encouraging time together.
Would you like to join us? Click here for more information.
6 November 2008
Would you like an apron? This giveaway is for the apron pictured below. You can enter for your chance to win (scroll down for details)!
This full length apron is feminine and very girlie. The ruffle at the bottom lays nicely and adds extra beauty. The cotton material has a turquoise background with yellow, pink, and orange floral decoration. The apron ends right above the knees.
There is a pocket on the right side, a perfect fit for one’s hand. The inside of the pocket looks the same as the outside, you cannot see the underside of the fabric.
There are straps to tie around both the the neck and waist. The front of the apron wraps around the side nicely, giving extra coverage, and keeps it from sliding easily.
How do I enter?
To enter ONCE:
Leave a comment telling me one random fact about yourself.
or
To enter TWICE:
Email at least three friends, telling them about this giveaway and linking to this post. Come back and leave me a comment saying that you did that. In the comment, tell me one random fact about yourself.
or
To enter THRICE:
Post about this giveaway at your blog linking back to this post (click here for an icon and its code). Come back and leave me a comment with a link to your post about it. In the comment, tell me one random fact about yourself.
When does the give-away end?
It begins today and will end on Saturday, November 15 @ 7pm EST. The winner will be selected randomly that evening, and will be announced shortly after.
6 November 2008
Welcome to the third A Homemade Christmas! This is week Three of Ten (you don’t have to enter in each one). I hope you’ll join us in sharing about homemade gifts that you have received or made — past, present, and future!
You can click here for the Introductory post.
Aprons.
They are a great addition to any homemakers wardrobe. They keep one’s pretty garments from getting soiled. Every time one cooks, cleans, or picks up, an apron comes in quite handy. Not only are aprons a protection against grime and dirt, but they can also add a sweet homey look.
There are all sorts of styles of aprons. Retro, Whimsical, etc. Depending on the pattern, they can be tedious or quite simple.
One of the homemade gifts I am giving away this year is an apron. The apron above, actually. It will go to one of my readers. Yes, a giveaway.
It is very easy to enter the giveaway (it will end November 15th @ 7pm EST), click here to enter!
Have you made or received any homemade gifts? If you’d like to make a post about your homemade gifts, you can sign Mr. Linky below. You can add one of my Homemade Christmas icons to your blog by clicking here. Each Thursday (until the end of December) there will be A Homemade Christmas post! Hope you’ll join in the fun as we learn, inspire, and encourage one another!
| 1. BreezyTulip 2. Robin @ Robin’s Egg Blue |
3. Emily 4. SchoolinRHome |
5. Nancy Baetz 6. Jennifer on the Front Porch (Spring in Winter) |
3 November 2008
This election is a very controversial one, and one that many fear.
But we as Christians should not worry as to what will happen, and who will be our next president. God is in control.
No matter what the outcome, He is in control. We should never fear because he is our strength.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.” Â – Proverbs 3:5-6
“Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;For the Lord will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.” Â – Proverbs 3:25-26
Life is an important issue. To me, more important than all the others. God created us humans in His own image for His glory. Yet there are those who seek to destroy human life, to destroy the very thing that God designed in His own image.
Children are a reward from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). At the moment of conception, a baby is a person, a defenseless little human being. There are those who would like to take the life of that precious little person by killing it before it ever even has a chance to breathe.
Please pray that this country would repent of it’s sins and turn back to God! I ask that you would vote Pro-Life and not Pro-Death. This country and little defenseless children are depending upon you.
Tomorrow I will be volunteering at the polls. So farewell for now!
1 November 2008
The time of year has come to harvest Morning Glory seeds. We have brought in a few, but are planning on letting them plant themselves, so that they will come up in the same place next year.
There are plenty of little seed pockets all over the vine. God gave the flowers a wonderful morning beauty, and a sweet swirl in the evening. When their blooming season is over, God designed them to produce seeds for the next generation.
Inside each seed pocket are little orange-slice-shaped black seeds. In the spring once these are planted, little sprouts of green will rise from the ground, and grow into a large and lovely vine. As long as their is somewhere for them to go, and a place to wrap themselves around, they just keep growing.
Since I was young, I have found enjoyment in crumbling the remains of the flower that the plant strove so hard to produce. The little seeds fall out of their place, with a crinkling sound of the dried outer layer.
The process of a plant reminds me of our lives as Christians. When we become Christians, our knowledge is small. We seek more knowledge of God and He teaches us and shows us His glory, plan, and will. We must continue to seek God and study His Word, so that we can continue to grow.
Ministering to others and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not always an easy task. It takes time, patience, and love. All given to us by God. We may not see in what way the Lord has used or will use us and we may never know, but we can be assured that in His timing His will will be accomplished.
The plant spends a great deal of energy and it’s last breath working for those few seeds. Those seeds will turn into more plants the next spring. Just like a new life in Christ.
