I needed that

Thank you to my girls, Lindsey, Jodi, and Katie for a wonderful evening chatting about life's wonderful delights; weddings, food, books, movies, books, relationships, books, rodents and bugs, and books.  How I have missed those times sitting on the couch and just laughing, blabbing and hugging and smiling.  I just wish Harmony and Heather could have been there to have made it complete with ALL of my favorite girls from the latter year in Berrien springs.  I love you, I love you and cherish the moments we had together.  How I hated it to come to an end.

a recipe to share- acorn squash

I have been looking through my cookbooks in search of new ideas and came upon this recipe.  It was a dining experience.  It was dinner and desert in one which made me feel like I was getting away with something, but really wasn't.  I thought I would share the recipe so that you can try if you would like.  Sorry about the picture.  It is from the cookbook because I didn't think to take an actual picture until after I ate half of it and it wasn't looking pretty. I made a half recipe because I hadn't made this before, but I wish that I had left overs!

MAPLE-GLAZED TOFU IN ACORN SQUASH 

 (prep time 20 mins    cook time 1 hour)

2 medium acorn squash                                      

1  1/2 c. vegetable broth                                      

1 /2 c. dried cranberries or raisins                          

1/4 c. pure maple syrup                                     

2 large Granny smith apples                             

1 tbsp. lemon juice                                               

3/4 tsp. cinnamon                                               

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg 

2 tbsp. chopped walnuts

1 (14 oz.) package extra firm tofu (cut into 1/2 in cubes)                   

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. cornstarch

1/3 c. thinly sliced green onions

1/2 c. nonfat sour cream (plain or vanilla yogurt) 

cut each squash in half lengthwise; scoop out and discard seeds. place squash halves, cut side down in a 9x13 baking dish. add broth.  bake in 350 deg. oven  for 60 minutes.

in a small bowl, combine cranberries and syrup.  let stand about 10 mins stirring occasionally.  peel, core, and thinly slice apples; place in a large bowl, add lemon juice and stir to coat apples with juice.  stir in cinnamon and nutmeg and set aside.

toast walnuts in a wide pan over medium heat, stirring often until golden.  remove from pan and set aside.

in pan, combine apples, cranberry mixture, and 1/4 c. water. cook over medium heat, stirring gently until apples are tender.  add tofu and cook until heated through (about 4 minutes).  In a small bowl, smoothly blend vinegar and cornstarch; add to tofu mixture.  cook, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens slightly. remove from heat and stir in onions.

arrange each squash half skin side down in a shallow individual bowl.  fill squash halves equally with tofu mixture; top with sour cream and sprinkle with walnuts.

makes 4 servings.  ea. serving 463 calories.  It was very filling and doesn't need anything to go with it.

new book

This is for my friends who share a love of the Anne of Green Gables book series.  Do you know that someone wrote a prequel?  Yes they did.  If you knew before me and didn't tell me, well then shame on you for that.  I received a copy of the book from my dear grammy who I visited in Seattle last week.  I was reading the books one summer while visiting her and got her hooked too, so she knew I would need to have it.

I have read 3/4 of the book already and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  You learn about people that Anne only told stories about from her past.  I think the author did a good job with writing close to the same style as Montgomery so to be convincing as a prequel.

The name of the book is called "'Before Green Gables" by Budge Wilson.  Care to read it and comment with me?

love, love, love....

Today I am reflecting on love.  My mushy womaness needs to think about love.  So often I am struck at random moments in my day at how fortunate I am to have the love of a wonderful man.  With Valentine's day, the Hallmark holiday of love, coming up  I ponder the subject of love today.  We are planning a special communion and agape feast celebration at church to celebrate the love of a beautiful creator God and our Lord and savior.  

I wonder if because Adam and Eve walked in the garden and had a face to face relationship with God, that they appreciated each other in their marriage so much more.  I wonder because whether they were able to see more clearly the beauty of their strengths in each other because they could see them directly in God.  We were both created in his image, man and woman he created them.  Men have their physical strength, ability to problem solve and "fix," to show a love that makes woman feel as if they are the only other being in this world to him, as Christ loves the church.  Man has a full list of other wonderful qualities, but I shall leave it at that for now and those who chose to comment may add to the list if they so chose.  Women are blessed with beautiful emotion and emotional thinking, nurturing, and desire for relational connection.

Woman also has a full list of wonderful qualities.  I am convinced that it wasn't until after the fall that man and women began this whole "I don't understand you," Mars and Venus thing.  Sin deceives us into being lazy and not trying to understand each other empathetically.  It takes too much work and strength to communicate?

Being a woman I am inclined to think further upon our emotions and that aspect of which we obtained from God.  God calls us to "submit" to our husbands.  Today's woman sees this word "submit" as a dirty word.  " I don't have to submit to anyone, I am my own person. I can do what I want when I want.  Women's lib and all that."  Submission to your husband and to God is such a beautiful thing.  It isn't always easy, but is beautiful none the less.  Christ submitted to the will of the desire to save humans from this desperate sin we live in.  God promises to never leave us or forsake us, no matter the ugliness that we commit.  His love is so great it is an ever lasting love.  Submitting to my husband is a little piece of that.  How beautiful for him to receive the love and respect that he deserves.  When he feels that he loves me and makes me feel like I am his world.  I will never tire of hearing John say "you are my everything."  He says it even when I am a mess, but I know that he means it.  Hearing thus makes me want to be a better wife.  We have our short comings and still need to work on our communication, but we prioritize and work at making each other most important.

I have had the privilege of witnessing great love for each other in both my maternal and paternal grandparents.  I have the honor of having friends who have beautiful love; the Moores, Painters,  Burnets, Duncans, Martinez', Gredekis,  who are all beautiful to be around and and witness the dance of two united hearts. ( I have also been embarrassed  for  a lot of couples because of how rotten and degrading they are to one another.)  We all need to be that good example to those around us  to show that beautiful unity of the trinity and God's great love for us in all our humanity.  We need to continue to appreciate each other, men and women, for the strengths and differences that we have that make our relationships complete. 

I could go on for hours, but I am hoping that all of you will comment and leave your reflections to my ramblings and your own thoughts on love.

something blue

Lindsey said that I should have something blue next.  I wish so much that I had something pink or blue to talk about.  I only have the blues.  I need your prayers.  I had sweet success for 2 weeks only to have it gone again.  I have been looking through the scriptures to look at the women of the bible who had difficulty having a baby and how God utilized them and what they may have learned from the experience.  I am trying to remain positive.  I just miss Aidan.  Please give any "girls of the bible"  insight you can help with.  It would be nice to hear your perspective.

something I borrowed

I went to the Greenfield library to borrow "How to house train your puppy."  As the picture shows she still needs to learn her boundaries.  "Leave it" is the command of choice these days. She has decided that John's shoe is wonderful and too fun to be left alone.   She has already mastered "sit" and "come"  (well most of the time).  These books are funny.  What they say doesn't always work with my dog, and I imagine that they are like parenting books that give you great theory, but doesn't always work for your child.

We have been having a lot of fun these days.  She is a source of joy to my heart because she makes me laugh so much.  

She has made friends with most of the neighbors who have come out to get their mail.  She is not sure about dogs, who are they anyway?  She walks back home if she sees one. 

She made me laugh when she growled at the fire hydrant at the end of our street, then 20 steps further got freaked out and barked at her shadow.  She walked around a tree and couldn't figure out how to go back around the way she came and didn't understand why her leash wasn't letting her go further.  she looked up at me like, "what gives"  so I walked around the tree to untangle her.  She thought how fun and chased me around.  We went around and around until I got dizzy.  Silly dog.  She has taught me that it is good to play.

someone new

     Someone new came to live at our house.  Her name is Dulce which means "sweet" in spanish.  John didn't want a "people" name so we started saying the first things that came to our minds.  "Cinnamon"was a favorite, but that was Eleanor Moore's nickname before she was born.  I jokingly said, "how about a starbuck's cinnamon dulce latte?"  And Dulce stuck.  

      She is a Golden-doodle, half golden retriever and half poodle.  She won't shed which was one of John's requests, and she won't be a little dog for long either, also a request of John's.  I am thrilled to have a puppy.  I have been waiting for four and a half years to get a puppy.  Life is better with a dog.  Remind me that I said that when I say I am tired from waking up in the night to take her out to do her potty thing, or if she eats something I didn't want her to. I didn't sleep well last night thinking I wouldn't wake up if she needed to go out.   She is only 9 weeks old so we have a lot of house training ahead of us.  She is teaching me how to be a good dog-momma.

     She was born 11-11-08, weighs 11.6 pounds, and is tons of fun.