Greek Bread Salad

 We love this salad. I know bread in a salad? It really works though. You do need a good sturdy bread, one with a dense chewy bite. (We love the roasted garlic bread from the COSTCO here.) This is one of the few recipes that I make as written. It is the Barefoot Contessa's Greek Panzanella. Follow the link for the complete recipe.

Ingredients:

Good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1/2 pound feta cheese
1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted

You can adjust the amounts of the vegetables to suit your families taste and what you have on hand. Even though the recipe calls for 6 cups of cubed bread, I always make more.  There is taste testing while they are being toasted, of course - Usually by everyone in the house. It also seems to be the favorite ingredient in the salad, so leftovers have very little bread.

For the vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

The dressing is pretty garlicky, which we love. You can use one clove if you don't want it to be so strong. Dijon mustard in the dressing may sound a little odd, but don't leave it out. Mustard helps emulsify the dressing (keeps it from separating).

 

You do need to plan ahead a little, since the salad should sit at room temperature for about half an hour to blend the flavors.

 

 This is great with grilled meats.

I did make the salad without the bread at first. I took some of the vegetables (that I cut smaller) and dressing and mixed them with quinoa (a bargain at COSTCO) for our daughter who is on a gluten free diet.

Finishing Well

My dear friend Anne Marie writes about homeschooling, family life, and her love for God on her blog Future Flying Saucers. She also shares the Bible lessons she prepares for her AWANA club. 

I wrote about the challenges of homeschooling our strong willed daughter and my thoughts as we approach graduation for a guest post on her site.

Here is the link:
Finishing Well

German Chocolate Pound Cake

Years ago my mom and dad created a cookbook of family favorites. It included this gem that I'm sure Mom found, but Dad makes. He has become the baker in the family since he retired. I love that this cake is moist, chocolatey and not too sweet.

You will get better results if you use an electric mixer instead of beating the batter by hand. (Kate, you can beat it by hand since you don't believe in using electric mixers.) Since there is very little leavening in this cake, you have to work a lot of air into the batter for it to rise properly.

Start by preheating the oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan or two loaf pans (8 1/2 x 4 1/2).


Cream 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter. You need to beat this for several minutes or until the butter is light colored and most of the graininess (is that even a word?) is gone.

Can you see how much creamier the second picture is?

Add 4 eggs, one at a time mixing  well after each addition.

Melt a 4 ounce bar of German Sweet Chocolate (you can find this near the chocolate chips) in the microwave in thirty second intervals. If the chocolate is almost melted, the heat in the bowl will probably finish the job, if you stir it a bit. Mix the chocolate, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, 1 cup of buttermilk, and 1 teaspoon of instant coffee granules into the batter.

A couple of notes here: If, like me, you grab a quart of milk instead of buttermilk, you can put one tablespoon of white vinegar into a one cup measuring cup and add milk to get one cup. If you don't have instant coffee, just leave it out. (The original recipe doesn't call for it.) For some reason, coffee makes chocolate more chocolatey without making the finished product taste like coffee.

Sift together 3 cups of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt. (If you don't have a sifter, you can stir the ingredients in a large bowl, with a whisk.) Mix the dry ingredients into the batter with the chocolate chips, if you are using them. You only need to stir until all of the flour is incorporated. Over-mixing will toughen your cake.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for 1 ½ hours. (70 to 80 minutes for loaf pans.) Cool 5 minutes before turning the cake out of the pan. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap or place in a sealed cake keeper. This cake is unusual because it is wrapped while it is hot, which keeps the cake really moist. Cool completely before serving.

It was a good thing these got wrapped while they were hot, since I needed to take one to someone half an hour after they came out of the oven.

German Chocolate Pound Cake

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter, softened

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 pkg (4 oz) German sweet chocolate, melted

1 tsp instant coffee granules, optional

3 cups flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 bag miniature chocolate chips, optional

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan or two loaf pans.

Cream sugar and butter, then add eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla, buttermilk, and melted chocolate. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix into batter with chocolate chips if you are using them. Pour into pan and bake for 1 ½ hours. (70 to 80 minutes for loaf pans.) 

Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and wrap or place in sealed cake keeper while hot. Cool completely before serving.

Revealing My Heart

I'm ashamed to admit how often I am unkind to and critical of my family. Usually it is a tone of voice that says you're bothering me, but that is all it takes to reveal my heart. If I am really living for God and surrendering everything to Him, I should not be thinking things that are critical and unkind. Yes, think, because before anything comes out of my mouth, it is in my mind. Even if there is nothing wrong with the words I am saying, my tone of voice and body language reveal my heart. If the things I am focusing on and thinking about are godly, then the words that I speak should be also.

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out fo the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.” Luke 6:45

What we think affects how we live!

It may seem like a few careless words don’t matter, but I still carry scars from unkind words spoken to me in my childhood. Words go deep and lodge themselves in the hidden places of our minds. They reappear when something happens to cause us to doubt ourselves.

It isn’t just our words that are affected by the condition of our hearts. I very easily fall into the trap of insecurity and feeling like I have no value when I drift away from God and His word. The further I fall into the trap, the more convinced I become that no one cares. As a result, I isolate myself from the people around me and continue to spiral downward. When that happens, I need to get back into the word of God and see what He says about me and reach out to show someone else God’s love.

God’s promises to me:

      He loves me

      He pursues a relationship with me

      His love casts out fear

      He sings over me

      He delights in me

      All things are possible in Him

       I can do anything through Him

      His plans are for my good, to give me a future and hope

      He has already planned good things for me to do.

It takes courage and faith to trust God and step out of the dark and I am learning to turn to Him more quickly when I fall into unhealthy thinking.

Lord, I pray that "the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)

Pretending

Angel

Jedi Knight

Hairdresser

Have you ever watched children engaged in imaginative play. I always enjoy seeing the world through their eyes. Over the years we have had explorers, hair dressers, Olympic skaters and skiers, Mary watching over baby Jesus, mechanics, computer scientists (before we owned a computer), along with a host of other characters in our home. This kind of pretending is healthy and important for children as they learn who they are and where they fit in the world around them. Adults pretend too. Much of that pretending isn't healthy.

So many of us spend our lives pretending. (I know I have.) Pretending everything is OK, pretending we’re happy, pretending life doesn’t hurt. But pretending isn’t really living. We hide in the shadows hoping no one will find out who we really are. God invites us to dance the dance of life with Him. Life can be one exciting and glorious adventure. (There will be pain and disappointment too – that’s just part of our fallen world.) The song Offering (Paul Baloche) includes this line: “There are no shadows in Your presence”. If we are going to really live our lives as God intends us to, we can’t hide in the shadows. We have to step out and dance with the King of the Universe.

Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you I knew you, before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

This is God’s call to Jeremiah. I believe it is His call to each of His children. He may not have appointed us as prophets, but He knows us intimately and has set each of us apart for a purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Phillipians 2:15 “so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe”

Phillipians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God, give us the courage to let go of all the lies we have believed and move beyond our fears. Teach us to trust You and see ourselves as you see us. God teach us to dance instead of hiding in the shadows.

(In Do You Think I’m beautiful? Angela Thomas compares our walk with God to a dance.  I highly recommend this book as well as her Bible study with the same title.)

Originally published November 13, 2009

I’m Beautiful (and so are you)

I am beautiful!  God says it so it is true!  I can’t always see it, but that doesn’t change the fact that He calls me beautiful.  (So has my husband for nearly 30 years, I have just never been sure I believed him.)  Why is it so hard to dig through the clutter and the voices in my head to see myself as God sees me and hear Him call me beautiful?  Why am I more ready to believe the world and Satan than my heavenly Daddy who loves me more than I can imagine?

There are certainly days that I don’t see my beauty, but that doesn’t change it.

When I’m feeling out of shape and unattractive - I’m still beautiful.

When I’m tired and my eyes are sad and baggy - I’m still beautiful.

When I’m disappointed in my husband and ugly towards him - I’m still beautiful.

When I’m yelling at the kids - I’m still beautiful.

When I feel like a failure - I’m still beautiful.

When I’m lonely and feel like no one cares - I’m still beautiful.

There is nothing that can change the Truth.  God says I’m beautiful - whether I believe it or not.

What else does He say about me that I haven’t believed?  What does He want to use my hands and feet to do that I’m not doing because I am too busy feeling sorry for myself?  I long to surround myself with beauty and be content with what God has given me. I need to slow down, be still, and listen for His voice.

(Do You Think I’m beautiful? by Angela Thomas explores the things that keep us from seeing ourselves as God does.  I highly recommend it as well as her Bible study with the same title.)

Originally published July 15, 2008.

A little bit of spring

 I am tired of gray days.

 I'm tired of being cold.

I'm tired of the garden being bare.

So here is a little bit of spring while we wait for sunshine, warm days, and green gardens.

This is at Brookside Gardens in Silver Spring. Brookside is a great place to wander for an afternoon, especially when they have their butterfly exhibit in the conservatory.

These pansies were on our deck.

 The rest of these pictures are in Williamsburg. Somehow in all the times we had been there, we never went in the spring. I corrected that last spring when I spent two days in Williamsburg with my daughter and her roommate. We found a number of flower filled gardens to explore and photograph. As we wandered between gardens through back gates we didn't always know if we were still in public areas. No one chased us out, so we kept going.

This was a peaceful place to sit and watch people out on the street.