Step By Step

He does not lead me year by year

Not even day by day
But step by step my path unfolds
My Lord directs my way.
Tomorrow's plans I do not know,
I only know this minute;
But He will say, "This is the way;
By faith now walk ye in it."
And I am glad that it is so,
Today's enough to bear;
And when tomorrow comes,
His grace shall far exceed its care.
What need to worry then or fret
The God who gave His Son
Holds all my moments in His Hand
And gives them one by one.

~ Author Unknown ~

Sauerkraut and Crocks

On my list of thing I want to try doing is making sauerkraut (and pickles). When I was little, my Grandpa used help us make sauerkraut. I remember going down in the basement and watching him check the big crock of kraut to see how the fermentation was going. After about six weeks it was finished, and my mom would then can it for us to enjoy later. My favorite way to eat it was when my mom would mix it with sausage and stewed tomatoes with a little sugar. We first learned to eat it that way from an older man from church we called "Uncle Henry". He had us all over for supper one night and fixed this dish. But back to the kraut,:) I had been looking up the process of making it, but my problem was I didn't have any crocks. Then, a few days ago I saw an ad in the "Bargain Hunter". Someone was selling three crocks, a eight, five and three gallon and they only wanted $23 dollars for all three! What make it even nicer was it was right here in the town where we live. I went to look at them and since none had any cracks I got them all. I was excited to get such a good bargain! Hopefully, I can post more about how the sauerkraut making progress goes when I try it. :)

A Precious Heartbeat

Yesterday, we were able to hear one of the most amazing sounds in the world; our unborn baby's heartbeat. Come sometime near the end of September, Lord willing, there will be another precious little one at our house! :) We are very happy and excited.:) God is good.

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139 13:14cff

Interesting Questions

-Is there another word for synonym?
-Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
-Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
-Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?
-If the "blackbox" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole airplane made out of that stuff?
-Why do toasters always have a setting that burns toast to a horrible crisp which no decent human being would ever eat?
-Why is there a light in the fridge and not one in the freezer?
-Why do the alphabet song and "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" have the same tune?
-Can blind people see their dreams?
-If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?
-Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
-Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there?
-Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?
-Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?
-How come abbreviated is such a long word?
-Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them?
-Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?
-Why do people pay to go up tall buildings & then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?-

A Girl and Her Daddy

This picture makes me smile so I thought I would post it. :) It was taken last month when we were in Florida visiting my family. Abigail loved the beach. It's so sweet to watch a little one's wonder when they discover something new.

Roll Up The Rim!

Look what I won! :) Was it ever exciting to roll up the rim of my Tim's cup and see......

....I had won a hundred dollar Tim's card! The odds of winning one is: 1 in 11,434; Not bad eh? :)

Here is a little about Tim's if you are not familiar with it. :) Here in Canada, Tim Horton's is the largest food service operator; there are actually more of them up here in there are McDonald's! They are everywhere, and a good thing too, because we go to one just about every time we are in town (everyone knows they have the best coffee;). I actually don't drink much coffee, but I do enjoy their hot chocolates, cappuccinos, and ice caps. Every year for a month, they give away prizes, if you buy a hot drink from Tim Horton's you get to roll up the rim on their cup to see if you won anything. It's always fun when we know "Roll Up the Rim" is on:). It was pretty neat to win something this big:)!

My Favorite Roll Recipe

I can't even remember were I found this recipe, but it is now one of my favorites! I think it was originally a bread loaf recipe and I decided to try making it into rolls. These are easy to make and taste so good!

Portuguese Dinner Rolls

5 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. milk powder
3 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 t. salt
flour, enough to make a soft dough

In a bowl add the yeast to the the warm water. Mix in the sugar,milk powder, eggs, salt and oil. Add enough four to make a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise about one hour. Shape into 20 rolls. Let rise again for around 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until done. Enjoy! :) Really good warm from the oven with butter and jam.:)

Hints and Tips: In the Kitchen

Here are a few hints and tips for the kitchen. :) My Mom always had us butter bread by melting it and spooning it on, which worked great when we had a lot to do. Using the pastry brush works good as well.

To butter many slices of bread quickly and evenly, heat the butter until soft, then "paint" it on with a flat pastry brush.

Place aluminium foil under the napkin in your roll basket and the rolls will stay hot longer.

Many vegetables and fruits, including potatoes and apples, retain many of their nutrients in their skin. So when possible, leave the skin on your fruits and vegetables and cook them whole.

Cookie dough can be frozen up to three months in an airtight container or refrigerated three to four days.

Cookies will spread if your dough is too pliable by allowing butter to get too soft. If your cookies are spreading too much, try refrigerating the dough for a couple of hours before baking.

When rolling out cookie dough to cut, use a thin dusting of confectioners' sugar instead of flour on the board. The flour tends to make the dough thicker and heavier, while the dusting of sugar will help the cookie to brown evenly.

My Little "Willie Bear" :)

My sweet baby is growing so fast! He turned five months yesterday:). Here he is the first time he sat up by himself a few weeks ago.

"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." Psalm 127

A Quote For Today

The spirit of godly womanhood is present in the woman who, with courage and fortitude, perseveres through the many challenges of life. She realizes that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," and consequently strives for the principled course of action.

-Christine Russel