Handwritten Recipes for Christmas

I'm always up for hearing Christmas gift ideas early, and get a head start every year--so I thought I would share what I did for my HUGE family last year, when we were on a tight budget.  It turned out so special, and there wasn't a dry eye in the Christmas gathering.

My Mom loved to cook for her family.  She wasn't the kind of cook that, if she would have had a blog, all her recipes would be re-pinned 500,000 times.  But to her family, her food was the kind that we could eat 500,000 times and it would never get old.  Her food tasted like growing up in our home; like the sanctuary of loved ones after a long workday; like the kitchen radio playing softly in the background, and laughing together around the table, long after the plates had been licked clean.

Last year, I tearfully went through hers and Grandma's cookbooks and found so many of our treasured dishes written in their own hand.  Handwritten recipes are so precious.  Especially the ones dating as far back as the late 1800s, like my Grandma's (Dad's Mom) pie crust and Mom's homemade tortillas (her Mom's recipe)--all in their familiar penmanship.  Some of them had humorous cooking notes, which makes me make such notes on MY recipes when I fill out my cards.

Last year, I was at a loss for my huge family's Christmas gifts (especially on a slim-to-no budget).  So I decided to photocopy all of Mom and Grandma's handwritten recipes and give those as gifts.  I simply photocopied them, printed them on multi-colored cardstock, and tied them with ribbon into bunches.  Even including a bit for the printer ink, I spent approximately $30-40 for this project, and it covered 22+ people for Christmas.

I'm so happy that my Mom and Grandma did this, and that I can pass these down to my girls. You could even go so far as to interview family members about their favorite family recipes, and include those on the backs of the cards.  If you have a Dad who is the family cook, encourage him to write his favorites down, too!  Things like this will be treasured for generations, and make extra special Christmas gifts.

Wednesday Words

 

Jen. "Green is the New Yuck". Processed Food Builds Muscle: A Culinary Critique on What Really Makes a Healthy Man. Sarcastic Wife Press. 2013. Print.

Simple Joys

This week, I'm linking up with my adorable friend at Melinda Blogs {sometimes} and sharing my Simple Joys; little things that have made the day brighter in their simplicity!

{God's love for me}

Not really a simple joy, but a simple message that I have been guilty of overcomplicating.  My Father is faithful to me, in spite of me, and He's daily revealing to me how intense are his affections for me.  I wrote about this in a guest post for Lovely Thoughts, featuring today on the lovely blog of my sweet friend, Yelena.  She is an ambitious law student, desiring to bring a worldview of Christ and his love to her field.  I've been blessed to blog-fellowship with her for over two years!

{scattered peas}

Bear and Bee love sweet peas.  They aren't the most convenient of vegetables, since they scatter everywhere and fall into every crevice.  But as long as the girls will eat their fill of something green, I will serve them.  This week, whilst cleaning up yet another scattered mess of peas, I realized that I will blink and those peas will be the bobbi pins of teenage daughters.  Ultimately, there will be no traces of my wee ones in my empty nest.  Then and there, I gave thanks for scattered peas.

{a red kettle}

Since it came to us as a wedding gift, this has journeyed with us since the very beginning of our adventure.  It has definitely earned it's place on the stovetop, where it never leaves it's post.  It has served us countless cups of tea, thawed breast milk, made baby bottles, blanched it's weight in sweet peas and warmed bath water when the propane tanks were empty.  I think of it very affectionately as my sidekick; my cherry red squire, in it for the long haul on the battleground of making home.

{binky-faces}

Even when I was young and my siblings were growing too old for pacifiers, I would rebel against weaning them even more than the toddler did.  I so love binky-faces.  Bear is now reaching that long-dreaded season of binky-weaning.  She still wants it at nap and bedtime, and it kind of makes me sad.  Maybe it's not saying good bye to the binky that is sad, but saying good bye to the babyhood that it seems to take with it.

{tea}

Oh, tea.  After two pregnancies, I haven't been able to touch my once beloved coffee.  But tea and I have rekindled our romance.  My staples are Red Raspberry Leaf, African Rooibos and my favorite, Kurdish Mountain Chai.  This simple, yet lovely blend of chai is made by some dear friends of ours who have a special place in their heart for missions to Iraq.  Their chai blend not only makes an excellent latte, but every purchase helps fund heart surgeries for children in Iraq.  You should get some from their Etsy shop and see what you're missing!



{fringe}

Or bangs, if you prefer.  I've had them for a couple weeks and I loooove them.  I may never go back.
 

What simple things have brought you joy, friend?

This is an excellent way to stop and "smell the roses" of our day-to-day and give thanks.  You should link up with Melinda and try it.  It's as good for the soul as Kurdish chai. :)

Tour de My Crazy Days These Days

I'm really enjoying my days lately.  After nearly 3 years of marriage, 2 babies and all the mountainous slopes thereof and therein, I actually feel like my house gets clean sometimes.  It's a grand accomplishment, indeed, for one to feel that their job is partially completed decently part of the time.

Our normal very-flexible-hardly-go-as-planned weekdays look like this...

6am
Mr.O awakes and readies himself for a day of Jesus-trinket peddling (haha I kid).  I make his lunch for the day and his coffee to-go, then kiss him goodbye!  Little Bee is usually awake and ready for her morning bottle and cuddles.

7am
The Bear is awake.  We girls start our Spotify playlist of morning music then sing and dance into breakfast time!  Bear loves scrambled eggs and fruit, so that is our usual morning menu unless I decide to shake things up a little around here.

8am
This is prime time for Mom-chores.  The girls are freshly rested, changed and fed--so they are super independent and like to entertain themselves for about an hour or two.  This is when I do the previous day's damage control, a.k.a. dishes, a bit of laundry and general through-clutter-pathmaking!

10am
Bee is down for her morning nap, so I try to devote this time to Bear.  We have one hour to ourselves to color, play with toys and read books, etc.  Her all-time favorite is P.D. Eastman's book Go, Dog, Go.  She quotes it all the time, asking us, "Doyouwikemyhat?"  Or if we ask her if she likes our hat, she answers, "I do!"  I really want to theme her upcoming birthday party after the dog-party at the end.

11am
Bee is awake from nap.  This is a miscellaneous time--for more cleaning, playing, dancing, and sometimes Veggietales or Bubble Guppies.

12pm
What time is it?!  It's time for lunch!  (See everysingleepisodeof Bubble Guppies)
We heat up leftovers or have sandwiches, yogurt and veggies.

1pm
The girls both go down for their glorious, togetherness nap.  Bear will sleep for up to three hours, but Bee only sleeps one right now.  I get one lovely hour to myself, and maybe one day I will tell you of all the horrible, treacherous, widely concealed, mustache-twirling, muahahahaha adventures I embark upon whilst they slumber.
And yes.  I'm part-Native American, so I DO have a mustache.  Be jealous.

2pm
Bee is awake and Bear has up to two more hours of nap left, so this is me and Bee time.  We also read books and play with toys.  I've been teaching her the parts of our face, but even though she knows where noses and eyes are, she gets all coy and isn't brave enough to show the world how brilliant she is yet.

4pm
I put on supper, unless it's for the crockpot when I would have put it on at lunchtime.  Then, if it's cool enough, we go outside to play until suppertime.  Bear is a very stereotypical toddler and loves to be outside!  She enjoys my Dad's apple tree (we live in my parent's driveway....stay tuned for Tour de Wheelburrow [yes that is the correct spelling of the name of my house] and a long-story-short), and this poor kitten that she carries around wherever she goes!  I don't say poor, because he follows her around and purrs even when she picks him up by his neck or tail.

6pm
To the girls' giggly excitement, Daddy is home!  I finish up supper while they reunite from a day of labor.  Then we pray and eat together.

7pm:  Bathtime.
8pm:  Winding-down time with storybooks or a movie.
8:30-9pm:  The tiny monsters are in their caves for the night.
9pm til 6am:  FREEEEDOOOOZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....

The End.