There were wise men and shepherds.

And hip angels.

And of course Mary and Baby Jesus.

And Mary punching the hip angel (who was really her little brother).

And the nativity set that my grandmother made years ago.

To be with family and friends. To eat good food. To be warm and full, content and grateful. To even begin to fathom what God did on that night 2000 years ago….Those things are what makes Christmas so magical.

‘Tis the night of our dear Savior’s birth.

What a procrastinator Iam! But it’s all done now, and everyone will receive their gifts on time. And Steve only had to wait in line at the post office for about 15 minutes! Wrapping and packing really did get me in the holiday mood, though.  Since I was busy with that all day, Steve made cheese soup, and it was his best ever.

Off to wash dishes and get little ones to bed…

Oh, the name tags on the gifts are paint chips. Just think, you can have any color you can imagine!

In the winter, a favorite thing to do is to go stand in front of the fireplace immediately after getting out of the bath. I can’t say I blame him.

I had given up on pie crust, or at least suspended my search out of frustration. I really didn’t want to use shortening since it is hydrogenated. And though I love the flavor butter gives, it just wouldn’t yield that flakiness that makes a pie crust special. And I won’t even start on the whole wheat flour thing.  I do use whole wheat for just about everything, or half and half, but it’s too gritty for a dessert pie. Then there’s the issue of getting just the right amount of ice water mixed in. Then chilling the crust, then, then then….

It’s so overwhelming! So, when I saw this recipe on a blog, I really thought it was too good to be true. But late at night, when my sweet tooth was  attacking me, I kept remembering the photos on that blog. How the crust looked really flaky.Couple that with the fact that I had a few pears, plums, and apples that kept being passed over by the kids, I decided I would give it a shot.

Her recipe is:

2 cups flour, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup cold milk.

But, BUT, I didn’t quite have all the ingredients, so here’s how I ended up making it:

2 cups flour, 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 cup half and half.

Half and half makes everything better. Actually, I do think it helped make up for the lack of better.

The filling I used was made up of the apples, ( grannies and goldens), bartlett pears and red plums peeled and cubed. Sprinkled with some sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and maple syrup. But the filling really isn’t the point here. It’s the crust that’s so hard to master.

Anyway, here’s the link to the blog post: http://proverbs2434.blogspot.com/2009/05/old-fashioned-strawberry-pie.html

Also, it’s a beautiful blog full of lovely home decor photos and ideas.

Karen

So happy that he’d found out what a relationship with Christ is like and how sweet it is to be in fellowship with other believers. But most of all I was (and am) grateful. Grateful that Jesus called him. Because I know that God saved him and not his parents.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2Cor. 5:17