Christmas Baking

Traditionally we enjoy baking lots of goodies around this time of year.  My Mom has shared that my Grandma Wille, my Dad's Mom, always made lots of cookies and candy, and it is something that she started doing when she married my Dad.  Growing up, I remember having a huge variety of cookies and goodies around the house.

This year one of my daughters emailed me asking about a couple recipes she was looking for.  I decided the easiest way to get them to her would be to post them on my blog.  That way you get to enjoy them too! ;-) I do not have the original source for either of these recipes.  One was passed to my by a friend, but I believe it came from the Taste of Home magazine, and the other I cut out of a magazine but have no idea which one.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Triangles

1 cup unsalted butter, (2 sticks) softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cinnamon red hots, (crushed)

1. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, (2 min.).  Beat in egg and salt.  On low speed gradually beat in flour until well blended.  Stir in crushed red-hot candies.  Divide dough into 4 equal disks.  Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2. Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheet with non-stick foil or regular foil sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

3. Place 1 disk of chilled dough on lightly-floured surface; place a piece of waxed paper on top. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut into about 22 cookies, (triangle shaped, about 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 by 2).  Place on baking sheets.  Re-roll; cut out scraps.  Repeat with remaining dough.

4.  Bake in 375 F oven for 6 minutes, or until edges are golden.  Let stand on sheets 2 minutes.  Transfer to rack; let cool complete, then store in an air tight container.

Makes about 7 dozen.

Mocha Bars

2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup of cold coffee, (the stronger the better ;)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips (mini ones work great, but regular ones are fine, too.)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Beat eggs, oil, coffee, and vanilla.  Combine flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda, then add to coffee mixture.  Beat until smooth.  Pour into a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan.  Bake at 375 F. for 30 to 35 minutes.  When you take them out, sprinkle with chips and nuts.  Let cool and cut into bars.  The texture of this is very "cakey", but very good!  I have sometimes just served it like a sheet cake instead of cutting into bars.

*note, I started sprinkling the nuts and chocolate chips on before baking.  That way you don't have so many "rolling off" your bars when you try to eat them! ;)

My Planner...

For the last several years, I have been taking other plan books and "planner pages" and tweaking them to try and find something that would work for us, with our home schooling.  I have used "plan books" I purchased at "Teacher Stores", in the US.  I have tried on-line planners and grade books.  And while they all had their positive points, none of them were exactly what I was needing, nor were they always inexpensive.

This year, I decided to try my hand at my own.  So I learned to work with Excel, and actually made a spreadsheet planner that fits our needs.  Now I'm a "pencil and paper" girl, so I just make the sheets and then print them out, for 1 term at a time. (We have broken our school year into 6, 7 week terms this year.  We only school 4 days a week, most weeks, so that is why we have added the 7th week. :-)  Here is a link to a pdf of my weekly plan book sheets, plan book page 1, plan book, page 2 .

I also have struggled with keeping some kind of "grade record".  We have tried as I mentioned above various different things, but this year, I also made "grade sheets for each child, and add grades daily to my "grade book".  Here is a link to a pdf of my grade book sheets, grade book sheet 1, grade book sheet 2, grade book, sheet 3 .

Since we do a form of "work boxes", (I call it our "work folders"), I have taken a free PDF download from the official Work Box site, and I tweaked it...color coding it for each child, and then typing in
the things that stay the same each week.  This has saved me tons of time. ;-)  The Work Folders hold anything that they can do independently.  They work through them during the day.  When I am ready to work with one or 2 of them, I just call them out to our table, and we work together, then when they return to their desk, they can pick up with their folders.   Here is a link to a pdf of my log sheet for our work folders, log sheet 1, log sheet 2 .

Hope you enjoyed the "peak" at my "plan book".    I am thinking of adding a couple pages to it  from a friend.  One that focuses on  my personal Bible study and prayer requests for the week.  I also think it would be good to add a monthly calendar for an over-view of what's going on in our lives.  I do have a "year at a glace" type of calendar at the front of my binder, but it would be nice to have something that I could actually make notes on, too. 

What's Cooking?

Here are 2 of our Thanksgiving Dinner Favorites...

Mock Sweet Potato Souffle
This is a recipe I got when our oldest daughter was a baby.  I have combined a couple different recipes and because we can't get "sweet potatoes" here in Ecuador, I started substituting carrots.  My family can't tell the difference. :-)

3 Cups of mashed carrots
1 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon maple flavoring

Mix together well and spread into a casserole.
Top with:
1 Cup brown sugar
1/3 Cup flour
1/3 Cup margarine
1 Cup chopped nuts

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  

Scalloped Corn 
this recipe was shared with me years ago, by a friend who often joined us for Thanksgiving dinner when our older girls were growing up.   It has become one of our "traditional" sides. 

2 cans corn, drained
1 Cup milk
2/3 cup cracker crumbs
3 Tablespoon butter melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon
1 Tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon onion minced

Beat eggs.  Add milk and crackers.  Add corn, onions, and seasonings, along with the melted butter.  Mix together well and pour into a greased casserole dish.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.  (I usually bake this in a loaf pan.  Also this year, I used frozen corn.)

Family Photo Album for November, 2012

Here are a few pictures of some of the things that have been happening in our life this past month...

Nov. 2, we celebrated the Ecuadorian Holiday, "Día de los muertos".

Carla and Matthew made pyramids out of blocks when we studied about ancient Egypt.

 Nov. 10, we celebrated my birthday.

That afternoon, some of the sweet people from our church hosted a surprise party for me!

At the close of his New Zealand unit, Teddy, made Pavlova, and wrote a short report about it's origins. 

 We hosted a get together with new attendees from church so we could get to know them better.

Matthew celebrated his 8th birthday.

Our Thanksgiving Celebration.

Family Update... Thanksgiving Day, 2012

I get so behind posting on here...I have great intentions, but then there just doesn't seem to be any time to do it all! :-)  This has been a full month, full of blessings and activities.

We took a trip to Quito at the beginning of the month, to see about our visas.  Here in Manta, we had been told that we would have to leave the country and return with a tourist visa, and then start the process to get a permanent visa.  But, in Quito they accepted our documents requesting a missionary visa.  We have spent the rest of the month, waiting to hear if this visa was granted or not.  On Monday, we received good news that the documentation was accepted as is, and they took our passports in order to apply the visas, which now have also been paid for.  Now we are waiting for the return of the passports with the new visas applied. Oh the joy of dealing with red tape! :-)

Besides, the drama of our visas...we have enjoyed celebrating my birthday on the 10th, and Matthew's birthday, which was today, but we celebrated it on the 21st, so that today, we could focus on Thanksgiving! Why have just one celebration, when you can have two?!

Carla, has been sick this month, but is doing much better, and we think she is on the mend, after a round of antibiotics and breathing treatments last week.

All 3 children are doing well in school.  Teddy finished a unit on New Zealand, and his end of unit project was to make a Pavlova for dessert.  He also did a short report about its origins.  I have to say that the dessert was excellent and not near has hard as I had thought it would be.  I can see it being made more often in the future! ;-)

Matthew and Carla have been learning about Egypt in Ancient History.  Last week, we read about "King Tut", and they also built pyramids with blocks.  There was actually directions in the book about how to make a "chicken mummy", but I decided that was not something we were going to get into! LOL!!  They had a great time making the pyramids, and we didn't have to wait 6 weeks or worry about stinking bacteria ridden chickens!

Because we made a trip up to Quito at the beginning of the month, and because Tony flew back up there on the 9th to check on the visa situation, and because Carla has been sick, we decided that it would be better for us to stay put at home this Thanksgiving.  We really missed the opportunity to be with our friends there, but we had a wonderful day here celebrating with the kids.   Today at dinner, we were talking about how much has changed since the first Thanksgiving Matthew and Carla were with us.  It is really quite amazing and remarkable.   I will post a couple photos to let you see what I'm talking about....

This was taken Thanksgiving day, 2010.  We had a couple kids that just weren't sure about any of it...

This was taken at dinner today!  

We are counting our blessings, and naming them one by one.  God has been so very good to us!

Thank you for your prayers for our family and for the ministry here in Manta.  God is working.  The church is growing and lives are being changed!

Blessings to you and yours on this very special day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joy

Teddy's Australian Meal

This year Teddy is studying the Eastern Hemisphere   It has already been very interesting.  He started out studying the Pacific Islands, and a week ago finished up the unit on Australia.  Last week he started a unit on New Zealand.  At the end of each unit he as a project to do.  For Australia he wanted to cook a meal.  Because of the Ladies Conference at church and then our unexpected trip to Quito last week, we had to put it off, a little bit.  Over the week-end he and I together, looked up different recipes on-line and came up with a menu.  This morning he and his Dad when shopping, for the needed items and together we fixed a delicious, "Australian Meal".  (Actually we aren't sure how authentic it was, BUT we will say, it was very yummy! :-)

Teddy making the Lamingtons.

Showing off the Damper.

"Not So Crunchy Chicken Casserole"

Everything is ready for dinner.

Teddy's Centerpiece.

Here are a couple links to the sites where we found our recipes.

http://www.food.com/recipe/not-so-crunchy-chicken-casserole-482062

http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/cook/recipes/451/Damper/

http://www.aussiecooking.com.au/cook/recipes/285/Asparagus%20in%20Lemon%20Garlic%20Dressing%
20/

We got the recipe for the Lamingtons we made from a magazine, FACES the Magazine About People, Australia Through Time.  Volumne VII Number IX, May, 1992

Lamingtons

To make the cake, you need:
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

two bowls; measuring cups and spoons; mixing spoon; electric mixer; baking pan, 9x12 or 10 x 15 inches, lined with wax paper, wire rack; sharp knife

Prepare pan by greasing it lightly or spraying it with cooking spray.   Cut wax paper to fit inside the pan so that the bottom and sides are covered.

1. Preheat the oven to 375.
2. Separate the egg yolks and whites into two bowls.
3. To the egg yolks add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla.  Blend, then set aside.
4. Beat the egg whites with the electric mixer.  Gradually add the remaining sugar (1/2 cup).   Beat until stiff peaks form.
5.  fold the egg yolk mixture into the whites.  Add the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Mix until the batter is smooth.
6.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 12 minutes, or until the center springs back when tested.
7.  Allow the cake to cool for a few minutes, then turn it out onto the wire rack.  Allow it to cool for a few minutes more, then remove the wax paper carefully.  (Loosen all the edges first, then peel off the paper in strips.)
8.  With a sharp knife, cut the cake into squares.  Allow them to cool completely.

To Make the Icing, you need:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons cocoa
boiling water
7-oz bag (about 2 cups) coconut.
measuring cups and spoons, 2 small bowls, mixing spoon, fork, plates

1.  Mix the powder sugar, melted butter, cocoa, and enough boiling water (about 4 tablespoons) to make a runny icing.
2.  Using a fork, pick up a square of cake and spoon the icing over it to cover all sides.  Allow the icing to drip for a few minutes, then place the cake in a bowl of coconut.  Coat the cake with coconut, then place it on a plate to dry.
3.  Repeat the process until all the squares are covered.  Lamingtons can be refrigerated or frozen.

What's been happening...

The last couple weeks of October have been really busy.  We enjoyed great services at church.  185 two weeks ago and 162 last Sunday.  God is working and moving in hearts.

Our daughter, Carla, celebrated her 9th birthday on Oct. 22.  Here is a link to some pictures from that special day.

Carla's Birthday

The Ladies Conference we had planned for the 26th and 27th was wonderful!  We had 58 ladies participate that is only short 2 of those who had signed up.  I don't think we have ever had that kind of turn out before.  The ladies did a great job of helping with the planning and carrying through with their commitments.  By taking on the responsibility of so much of the conference it allowed me to focus the bulk of my attention on the lessons.  What a blessing!

If you would like to see photos from that event, please visit the link below:

Manzanas de Oro

It is also that time of year, when we need to re-new our visas.  Tony started working early in the month, to get together all the necessary paperwork.  It has always been a fairly simple, straight forward thing, (well as simple and straight forward as you can get when the government is involved! ;-)  Anyway, the first time he went they told him he was going to need some extra papers this year.  They also told him the name that he was to address all the letters to, (the coordinator of visas for this area).  Well, when he went back about 5 days later to turn in all the paperwork...he was told that the coordinator had changed and that the letters now needed to be addressed to a different person.  Also was told that one of our papers we had received from the National Mission here was out dated.  It needed to be less than 2 years old.  So we again, talked to the Mission leaders in Quito, and they re-wrote the letters, (these have to be written, signed by the president of the Mission and notarized, all of which takes time).  They also found a more current document on file and had it copied and notarized.  All was done and sent to us, within a couple days, (which was really amazing in itself)!  When Tony, went last Friday, to again turn in our folder of documents, he was told that they were unacceptable, because the paper, that we had been told needed to be less than 2 years old, now, had to be dated this year!  We found out all of this on Friday morning, and I was preparing for the Ladies Conference starting that evening!  Can you see Satan at work?!   Well, despite all of that we had Wonderful conference and God blessed!   On Monday we headed up to Quito.  We were going to try applying for our visa there, and if that didn't work we would head across the border on Wednesday, to return to Ecuador with a 90 day tourist visa.  Well, we found grace in the eyes of the officials there.  Our documents were accepted, entered in to the computer and our photos taken.  We have an appointment to return on Nov. 9.  At this point it looks like everything is on track.  Appreciate your prayers that we would be granted our visa with no more problems.

Today is Día de los Difuntos.  It is traditional to eat Guaguas de pan, (bread babies) and drink Colada Morada, it is a thick drink made from blueberries, blackberries, lots of spices with chopped up fruit in it.
if you would like a recipe for it, you will find a great one here .  We enjoyed the traditional treats and spent some time talking to the children about the history and meaning behind it.  Here are some pics from our own family celebration.

Day of the Dead, celebration

Thank you for your prayers for our family and the ministry here in  Manta!
Blessings to you!
Joy

Gift Idea...

My Dad has been making pens.  I didn't even know you could make pens, until he started! ;-)  They are really pretty.  Check them out at Cumberland Crafter .  They would make wonderful gifts.

Blessings,
Joy

What's Been Happening in My Kitchen?

We have lived in Ecuador now for almost 24 years.  During that time, I've learned to adapt almost all of my recipes.  There are very few mixes and I'm sure if you walked down the "can goods" aisle at our grocery store you would be shocked and how little there really is there.  Learning to cook everything from scratch was a must.

While cooking in this way has it's advantages, as I'm sure it is probably healthier for you and usually the flavor is great, it does add a lot of prep and cooking time.  Years ago when our 3 older girls were still at home, I found a book entitled, Make A Mix.  I was so excited to find it and we made up and used quite a few of the mixes.  As they left home, and Tony, Teddy and I moved to Manta, I got out of the habit of making them.  For one thing, anything with shortening already incorporated in it, just did not hold up in this climate.  Also since I wasn't teaching full-time anymore, there was not as much pressure on my time.  

Adding 2 more little ones to the family and getting to a point in our Home Schooling, where our school days are becoming longer, my time for meal planning and prep less.  So about a month ago I dug out the old cookbook and started searching on-line and found a ton of ideas.  Also I searched around the kitchen and came up with almost enough jars and containers for everything.  I only needed to purchase 4, to not only do my new mixes but re-organize all my baking essentials!  So this week not only did a get a lot of new mixes and meal prep help, I also finally got my kitchen organized in a way that I think will be more workable.  :-)

Here is a website where I got the ideas for the labels and tags.  She even has downloads if you want to use her labels and recipe tags.   I thought about using them, but decided to just make my own, as I wanted to make it work for me.   

http://redflycreations.blogspot.com/2012/07/mixes-mixes-mixes.html

She also has several recipes too.  

Here is another site that has lots of recipes.  I used her "Quick Mix" recipe, because it doesn't have shortening incorporated into it, and that means that I don't have to keep it in the freezer in this climate.  I also

 made her "Yellow Cake Mix". 

http://chickensintheroad.com/cooking/archives/

I also made up some of these, Chocolate Cake Mixes.  This recipe was given to me years ago by a close friend.  It does have shortening in the mix, so I keep these in my freezer.  If you live in a cooler, drier climate that probably wouldn't be necessary. 

Chocolate Cake Mix

2 Cups flour

1-3/4 Cups sugar, (superfine if available)

3/4 Cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/4 teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoons shortening

Mix until no chunks of shortening are visible.  Store in an airtight container.  This is equal to one cake mix.  I put mine in "zip-lock" bags.  

To Make Cake Add:  

1-1/3 Cups water

1/2 Cup oil

3 large eggs

Blend with cake mix in a large bowl with an electric mixer at low speed until moistened, increase speed to medium and beat 2 more minutes.

Pour batter into pans and bake for 30 to 33 minutes for 9-in pans, and 35 to 38 minutes for 13x9 in pan.  You can also make cupcakes.  They take 19 to 22 minutes.

I also made a Corn Bread Mix, Hot Roll Mix, Brownie Mix, Muffin Mix, Pudding Mixes, and some "Slice and Bake" cookies, that I put in the freezer, all from the Make-A-Mix cookbook.  If you are interested in the book you can find at on Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Make---Mix-Karine-Eliason/dp/0762426020/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1350183823&sr=1-1&keywords=make+a+mix  

It is even available in Kindle Format! ;-)

Not only is it full of recipes for mixes, but also tons of recipes to use the mixes in. :-)

If you would like to download my labels and recipes, (for using the mixes I made) click on the link below:

Labels and recipes

Happy Baking!

  

Family Tree

I have been trying to make time to be "creative".  It is one of those things that when I make the time, the payback is so great!  I always feel rejuvenated, but making the time is the hard part!  It seems that our days are so full of just "surviving" that we often forget to take time for these things.

My latest "creative project" has been our "family tree" in our entry way.   I got the idea about 6 months ago, and started collecting the photos that we needed.  This past month, Tony was able to paint the wall for me, and my sweet daughter, Alexis, drew me a tree and sent it to me by email.  So I have to give her credit.  The tree is from "A Taylor Designs".  :-)

After we got the wall painted, I decided  that I wanted to use black, cream, and turquoise frames. So I spent a couple days painting some of my frames.

Tony helped me by sketching it on the wall for me, and then I spent the last week painting it. :-)

I am so excited with how it came out.  We still need to get a picture of Tony's grandparents, Grandpa and Nana Anzalone.

Here are a few pictures of my "family tree"...

More Boots!

Another great thing that happened in September, is that a long awaited for package arrived.  Our dear friend from the US, who sent Matthew boots, earlier, also sent Teddy and Carla boots.  They were mailed in June, and took a really long time to get to us!  It's funny because so many things have improved here over the years, that it is often easy to forget that we live in a 3rd world country, but then every once in a while we get a glaring reminder.  Our mail situation is one of those.

We were sad, to learn that one of the gifts that had been sent, had been taken out of the box, BUT we were thrilled that both pairs of boots arrived safe and sound!!

Here are a few pictures of the kids getting their boots...

Living Hope Academy...

Friday we just finished our first term!   Unbelievable!  It seems like we were just getting ready to start and here we have our first 7 weeks under our belt and are looking forward to our first vacation week.    Over all the kids did really well.  We all seem to be adjusting to the schedule and our days are full.   One of the things that has been really different for me this year, is that school is taking quite a bit longer than it has in previous years.  Of course for Teddy, it has been increasing every year, but I have been able to be finished with my part usually by noon.  This year, I am taking a break to fix lunch and then after lunch we all head back up for at least an hour sometimes 2.  That is is taking some getting used to.

One of the things I am hoping to accomplish during this break, is to get more of our meal prep done, and in the freezer.  Also hope to make several "mixes" that will be time savers, too.   Since we are all home for the mid-day meal, it just works better for us to have our main meal of the day at that time, instead of in the evening.  But, with more time needed for school during the day, it is taking some "creative planning" to make that work, and still enjoy a nice dinner together.  :-)

It is exciting to see the kids making progress!  Teddy has done an in-depth study of the Pacific Islands and is currently in the middle of a study on Australia.  He is just about to conquer Long Division and Complex Multiplication problems.   Next he will be moving onto some pretty complex work with fractions.  (I'm so glad Daddy is near by to help out with Math!!) He has also been learning a lot about the Human Body.   Just finished studying the digestive system. Also an in depth study of how the kidneys work.  Really quite fascinating   Not sure who is enjoying it more, Teddy or me? ;-)

Carla and Matthew have been learning about ancient history.  I was a little concerned at first, that it might be over their head, especially working as ESL, but I have been very pleased with how much they have understood and retained.  In Science they learned all about the Water Cycle, and we spent some time on Weather.  Now they are starting a study of plants.

Carla is doing great with her reading, and she seems to really enjoy it.  She is struggling a little in Math, but, is making progress, and we are very pleased with that.

Matthew has made unbelievable progress with his small motor control.  If you compared his work today with what he was doing even 6 months ago, you would never believe it was the same kid.  I am so proud of how hard he is working in this area.  He is still struggling a lot in the "decoding" part of learning to read.  Not because he doesn't know the sounds of the letters, but his problems with speech, make it difficult for him to put the sounds together in a way that he can hear the word.  We are working on some different things, and praying that we will find the right combination for him.  I have no doubt that this little boy will learn to read.  He has never failed to accomplish anything he set his mind to do, be it learn to walk...talk...feed and dress himself...write and cut.... It just might take a little bit longer to accomplish, but what is that in the whole scheme of things? :-)

We thank you so much for your prayers for our family.  It is such a blessing to us to know that you are praying for us.

Blessings, Joy

Matthew's "pizza"

Even Carla's babies enjoy school! ;-)

We enjoy "field trips" to the beach!

We spent time in Monti Cristi learning about culture things.  Here Teddy is showing a couple tagua "nuts" and the plant they came out of.  Tagua is known as "vegetable ivory".  

Here we saw how a hat is made. 

President Eloy Alfaro, brought the coast and the highlands of Ecuador together by building the first railroad connecting the two. 

Matthew enjoys swimming lessons 2 afternoons a week.  

I couldn't resist this one...he's like a duck in the water! :-)

Carla and Teddy enjoy Tennis classes 3 afternoons a week. 

Carla and Matthew made farms after we read Charlotte's Web.  Here they are painting their barns.

Teddy planned the menu and cooked breakfast all my himself for the family one Saturday morning. 

It was great!!  Chocolate chip pancakes with Strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate sauce AND chocolate banana milkshakes!  YUM!!

Tony and Teddy working on Viking Ship model.

Sorry this is sideways...I can't figure out how to rotate it! :-(  This a a picture of Carla with her "robot" she made!