Streams of Silver

We do still exist.

2011-03-02T01:01:00.000-06:00

Yes that's right we are still here in scenic Chipley Florida. I was just thinking the other day about how long it has been since we posted anything here...didn't realize it had been over a year. Tonight I find myself in front of the computer after everyone else, including the pup has gone to sleep. Well I did get her up to go outside because if I am up she usually feels compelled to be up as well. However, she just went back to the bedroom and hopefully her bed, otherwise I am sure she is up to no good.
Alot has changed since my last post. Maggie is much taller, talking a good bit and has a ton more hair. I probably has less hair, still dealing with my health issues and otherwise just plain surly.
Tiff is doing well, she is now working at the High School in the town over from us.
Sure there is lots more to tell, but I won't get into that this evening.
I am speaking tomorrow to our college group at church and perhaps that is why I am awake now...
I think the main reason is, I inadvertently deleted some pictures off of the computer. Rest assured I have them on a disk that is currently in storage, they are also on an old hard drive that I will see if I can revive in a couple of days. Still, I wanted them now, henceforth my current distress.
Also, my allergies are in high gear today and my nose is stopped up, making sleeping an arduous task at best.
Oh well, I think I will go blow my nose and try to lay back down. Will we keep posting? Who knows, I guess we will just have to wait and see.
Until then,I'll leave you with a couple pictures.

Silent Sunday LII- Happy Reformation Day

2009-11-01T09:43:00.003-06:00

Saturdays are for Sweets

2009-10-31T17:14:00.000-05:00

Well here we are, the end of October, about to start the busiest time of the year, holiday season. I decided it was time to finally get these two cakes posted, after all, we did them back in the summer. They are our regular flavors, vanilla cake with our buttercream.

We sent more graham crumbs with this cake to finish covering the top and then the side as well. We didn't put all of it on here to try to help keep our recipient's car clean.

Both of these cakes were fun to do. I like the beach, so that made these beach and luau cakes fun to decorate.

What's Cookin' Wednesday- Homemade Candy Bars

2009-10-28T13:55:00.000-05:00

I originally found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. I adapted it and changed it a little, but with this one I have ventured too far away from the original. It is always a hit when I make it, and only recently have I even tried any of it. I will go ahead and apologize for the lack of pictures this week. They are usually headed out the door shortly after I get them finished. The article I read about them in claims that they are similar to Kit Kat Bars, which is why I made them in the first place. I would argue that they are perhaps similar, but Kit Kat, they are not, as that is my favorite, by far.

Homemade Candy Bars

8 ounces Waverly crackers, divided
1 cup butter, cut up
1/2 cup milk
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Method

Start by lining the bottom of your pan with crackers. I have tried putting melting chocolate and covering the bottom first, but I didn't hear any results from that time, so I usually don't, besides that just uses more anyway.

Next, melt the butter, I usually use unsalted, but I like unsalted, much better than regular butter for pretty much any type of cooking anyway. However, I am sure that regular salted butter would be just fine, it would just increase the sodium. After the butter is melted suffiecietnly, add the milk and sugars, I find it is easiest to add the graham crackers crumbs last. Stir until the mixture is sufficiently combined.

Cover the first layer of crackers with roughly half the mix, repeat and then top it all off with final layer of club crackers.

In another pot, or even double boiler, melt your chocolate chips and butterscotch together and add your peanut butter, the smoother your peanut butter brand is, the better this will turn out.

After everything is melted, pour it over the top layer of crackers and then let that cool a touch on your counter and then place in your fridge for at least an hour for it to set up well. I usually don't have the hour, so I usually just place it in the freezer, room permitting and that seems to work just fine. However, I wouldn't recommend freezing it.

This is always a hit, the only thing I would like to change is the crackers, I would much rather find a recipe for a wafer, that would be closer to the kit kat wafter. I have considered using those sugar wafers, but I haven't had the chance yet.

Silent Sunday LI- Got to get the big camera out more.

2009-10-25T09:31:00.016-05:00

SIng Sing Sing Thursdays- How He loves Us.

2009-10-22T11:35:00.001-05:00

I first heard this song on Total Axxess with Wally. It is a music/variety show that comes on in the afternoon on our local Christian music station. While I don't agree with alot of Wally's viewpoints, he does play some good music. Anyway, he had David Crowder on one day and he was talking about this song. He said the first he heard it, he was on a plane and it just spoke to him, so he is there sobbing in the middle of a crowded plane. So he decided to add it to his new album, which already had 16 songs on it. I think it is great, just a good opportunity to reflect how much He really does love us.

He is jealous for me,

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,

Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden,

I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,

And I realise just how beautiful You are,

And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,

Oh how He loves us,

How He loves us all

He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,

Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,

If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,

And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,

I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way…

He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,

Oh how He loves.

What's Cookin' Wednesday- Banana Pudding

2009-10-21T14:26:00.000-05:00

So, here we are the middle of October and the first Wednesday recipe post in quite some time. I have been cooking, well some, but not a whole lot. We have just been busy, even more busy since school started and since the baby is taking less naps and sleeping less during the day, I have much less free time than I did. Anyway, I made this Banana Pudding this past summer for a family. I don't like the recipe that comes on the box of vanilla wafers, just don't like the cooked taste, and besides I surely didn't want to heat up the oven, therefore the house in the middle of the summer.
Super, Super Good Banana Pudding
Ingredients

1 package cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 container frozen whipped topping, thawed
4 bananas, sliced
1/2 package vanilla wafers

Method

Yes I know, cream cheese? But ah, it makes the pudding. On to the method. First you simply mix the cream cheese until it is fluffy, to get some air in it, I would recommend a hand mixer, but you can easily accomplish this by hand. On a sad note, we lost old mixey, our stand mixer this past summer, I was trying to get some batter off the side of the bowl and the spatula I was using got caught up in the tines. Instead of breaking the spatula, but the mixer head tore all apart, oh well, I have an second hand kitchen aid that has one setting.....super high, and it throws stuff all over the kitchen, so I make do with our hand mixer as much as I can.

Next, add in the condensed milk, I sent the spouse to get the ingredients and she came back with evaporated milk, which worked fine, I haven't any idea what the difference is anyway. Then add the pudding mix, regular milk and vanilla and continue to beat until all your ingredients are mixed well. Finally fold in about half of your cool whip, because seriously, why would you bother with any other whipping topping?

Then spread out your vanilla wafers, banana slices and then cover with your mixture. Or, as I like it just mix it all together, not as pretty, but oh so good.

Serve whenever....I like banana pudding better the second day, but this tastes pretty good they day you make it.

Oh and of course cover your pudding with the rest of your cool whip, shew, bout to leave out an all important step.

Sorry my pictures aren't better, but then I have never professed to be a food photog;-)

Monday School- Consider it Pure Joy Part One

2009-10-19T06:07:00.056-05:00

This would be another part of the new segments that I have been thinking about. Since it typically takes me most of the week to get ready for Sunday School and I put alot of time and effort in reading and studying and gathering information I figured I would post my efforts.
We use the KNOWN material from Lifeway and I think it is pretty decent literature. I wish they focus alittle more on the passage in the material but on the other hand it has gotten better from last year and it is probably the best Sunday School material I have ever been familiar with. All in all I am thankful just for the opportunity to teach in the first place.
This past Sunday's lesson was on James 1:2-4 which is obviously about having Joy in the midst of trials. Instead of posting the whole lesson today I think I will break it up into at least two parts, partly because I have alot that I used yesterday morning.

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials. James 1:2

I found some presuppostions or foundations as I would term them on a blog I read this past week and I think the author borrowed it from Douglas Moo in the Pillar New Testament Commentary Series.
I will paraphrase, but again, the idea is not originally mine.
2. God is perfectly good. There is not the slightest hint of evil in Him. He cannot commit evil and does not hold grudges nor is spiteful.
3. I am perfectly forgiven through Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross.
This sums up my viewpoint and I can run everything about what I believe about trials and tests out of these three points.
Now, lets look at the passage. The first thing that jumps out at me is James uses the word whenever. There is no if, might, maybe, perhaps or slightest hint of a question in the sentence. As a human we are going to go through tough times, it is simply unavoidable. We are fallen people in the midst of a sinful world. It is a wonder and testament to God's grace that we are not faced with more trials.
Our lesson pointed out that if we are facing trials then more than likely we are on the right track. That is, if we are living from the Lord then we should expect opposition from the enemy. However, we have to keep in mind that sometimes God uses trials as form of correction and discipline in our lives. He will sometime use those tough time to wake us up and bring us back to Him.
Now going back to the beginning James instructs us to consider. You could swap out examine or evaluate, we should evaluate our trials with Joy, and not just any Joy, but Pure Joy or Great Joy, we should consider them to be among the best things to ever happen to us.
I also want to point out the word various. Notice when we go through trials it seems like they all come at one time, or as I like to put it they overload the zone. I used the analogy that they are like bananas, they come in bunches during Sunday School and that got a rise out of the guys.
To put it in a sports analogy, consider a quarterback under pressure. He snaps the ball, then he might have as many as four defends running straight at him, trying their hardest to kill him and stop the play. Our tests seem to take a similar approach, if they can overload our defense then it is much harder to deal with. However, that is crux of the matter. If we just had one trial to deal with , we might just be able to take care of that ourself, if the quarterback just has one defender running his way, he can usually side step him and then get the ball off. However, when we are overloaded then we have to rely on God to get us through the trial.
Lastly, lets take a look at the word 'trial'. It refers to something that will test a person for the purpose of proving and never the purpose of causing him to fail. Even though we go through tests and trials we can have the confidence that God is with us in the midst of them. Just like Jesus was with the Disciples n the boat in Mark 4:35-41. Jesus was the one that told them to get into the boat in the first place. He knew that the storms were going to come, but let them happen anyway. He even took a nap in the middle of it all. Sometime, we like the disciples can get terrified and loose our focus, but all we have to do is call on the Saviour and He will calm us, just like He did the wind and waves. Mind, He doesn't always take away the trial, but He will bring peace and return our focus.
to be continued.....

Silent Sunday L- Fall is finally here!

2009-10-18T15:06:00.001-05:00

Sing Sing Sing Thursdays-Overcome

2009-10-15T13:27:00.003-05:00

I love this song, it is 'Overcome' by the desparation band.

If this doesn't move you, you might just need to check your pulse.

I am also adding the youtube link, so if you are not familiar just click away!

Sing Sing Sing Thursdays- Offering by Paul Baloche

2009-10-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

I sang the first verse of this in our Sunday Evening worship, well with the help of our Associate Worship Minister, at any rate a first for me. It is a new song to me, in fact Paul Baloche is a new artist to me, even though I have previously heard some of his music. It is fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone.
Offering by Paul Baloche
The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It's only by Your Blood and it's only through you mercy
Lord I come

I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
O Lord I bring an offering to You
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

Silent Sunday XLX- So tired...

2009-10-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

Sing Sing Sing Thursdays

2009-10-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

So, here is one of the new blog series I have been contemplating. We are big music fans here in the Clifton household and I figured we would share the lyrics to some of the songs that we have been rocking out too. The first one inspired the name for the segment, and since I am a big fan of Chris Tomlin I figured I would start out with this one. The title is Sing, Sing, Sing and is on the Hello Love album.

We will sing, sing, sing
And make music with the heavens
We will sing, sing, sing
Grateful that You hear us
When we shout your praise
Lift high the name of Jesus

What's not to love about You?
Heaven and earth adore You
Kings and kingdoms bow down
Son of God, You are the One
You are the One we're living for

You are the love that frees us
You are the light that leads us
Like a fire burning
Son of God, You are the one
You are the one we're living for

Where was has What's Cookin' Wednesdays gone?

2009-09-30T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I just simply haven't been cooking much here lately. The summer season has been rather toasty here in the panhandle. To put it simply, if it is hot outside, then more than likely, it is hot inside our house. For as long as I can remember I haven't had much of an appetite when I am hot, so needless to say if I don't feel like eating, then I certainly don't feel much like cooking. However, Fall is upon us, so I will most likely move back into the kitchen, and I will start blogging what comes out of the kitchen. I have a couple all made up, I just have to take the time to sit down at the computer and type it out. Another point is that time is precious these days and when I have had a little bit of free time, I have been spending it reading or some such, as opposed to sitting in front of the computer. At any rate, I hope to carve out a little time to bring back this segment as well as a couple new ones to Streams of Silver.

Silent Sunday XVIV- Huge Weekend

2009-09-27T16:56:00.001-05:00

We interrupt this Silent Sunday with a very important announcement.

Maggie is excited to present to you her newest aunt!

Congratulations Taylor and Natalie.

Silent Sunday XLVIII-Quick Like Lightning

2009-09-20T14:12:00.003-05:00

Silent Sunday XLVII- Happy Birthday Tiffany

2009-09-06T14:19:00.001-05:00

Silent Sunday XLVI- First week of school+D Now=Super Busy

2009-08-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

Silent Sunday XLV- Batten down the hatches.

2009-08-16T17:24:00.000-05:00

Silent Sunday XLIV-Oh no mom goes back to work.

2009-08-09T21:48:00.000-05:00

Saturdays are for Sweets- Happy Birthday Pat Pat

2009-08-08T09:00:00.002-05:00

Goodness gracious, can it be? Pat Pat just turned 50! Pat Pat is of course Tiff's mom and recently had an extra special birthday. She was overheard saying that she always wanted a barbie cake, so it was a no brainer to decide what kind of cake to make her to celebrate this huge milestone.

Here is the birthday girl trying to use a decoy, but I don't think anyone will be fooled.

This is the other cake that we were working on last weekend. It was decorated using only buttercream, except for the bow of course. It was our first attempt at zebra stripes and well polka dots for that matter using buttercream.

Silent Sunday XLII- Busy week

2009-08-02T09:03:00.000-05:00

Saturdays are for Sweets

2009-08-01T21:03:00.002-05:00

These are two cakes that we completed a couple weeks ago. The first is a birthday cake and the other is for a wedding shower.

We have made a cake similar to this one, earlier this year. The order was a cake just like the other, however, there are a few differences.

Silent Sunday XLI-Walking all around now.

2009-07-26T21:56:00.001-05:00

Silent Sunday XXXX-Summertime fun

2009-07-13T10:17:00.000-05:00

Silent Sunday XLIII- Where did the week go, more importantly, where has our summer gone?

2009-07-12T21:13:00.002-05:00

Silent Sunday XLII-We had a good fourth.

2009-07-05T21:08:00.001-05:00

Saturdays are for Sweets..Happy Birthday

2009-06-27T21:32:00.001-05:00

Still trying to get to caught up on posting our cakes, and well I did miss posting last Sunday, too busy with Father's Day I guess. Anyway, The first two cakes are for birthdays and then the last one is the cake that we donated to the Student Cake auction at church.

13 Whole Months....

2009-06-17T16:15:00.002-05:00

Well I am a day late, Little M's Thirteenth month was actually celebrated yesterday, but I just didn't get around to sitting in front of the computer much yesterday. We went to the Dr. for her year old check-up, they were waiting for a vaccination to come in or some such. She weighed in at 22Lbs 10 Oz and measures 29 inches tall. The doctor was very pleased, as usual, with her progress and said she looks really good. She still is not eating very well, she used to eat pretty much anything that we sat in front of her, but since she got sick with a common virus that causes mouth sores, she has become quite a picky eater. Tiff is convinced it has everything to do with texture, I just think she is picky. She also tends to eat different things for different people, Tiff can get her to eat things that I can't and apparently the ladies at VBS can get her to eat monkey bread which no one else can, in fact when we give her any bread of any sort she spits it out and gives us the stink eye. We are beginning to doubt that she is in fact our child.
Little M is starting to toddle around a little bit. She really picked it up yesterday, which was surprising because she seemed a bit fussy all morning, due to the shots from the doctor. She has cruised around for a while now, but yesterday she took about 8 or 10 steps and would cross the room from Tiff to me or vice versa. I still can't wait to see her chasing the dog around the house, I don't think he realizes the storm that is on the horizon, but I think he will catch on pretty quick. He has started to warm up to her more, he used to run from her, but now that he has figured out that she is pretty free with her food they have become pretty good friends.
She hasn't really started talking yet, she does still jibber jabber a good bit, especially when she is in a quiet place, or when she can hear alittle bit of an echo, or especially when we need her to be quiet, funny how that usually works out. Little M and I have both enjoyed having mom home more, since it is the summer, however, she did work a good bit last week and this week is Bible School, still nice and hopefully soon it will start raining in the afternoons. We have had "dangerously" hot weather the past couple of days, "with no end to the heat", its a rough forecast, but at least we have been at church a good bit. Yesterday we went to walcharts just to get out of the house, which that should give you a good estimation of our desperation, much to our chagrin it wasn't all that cool in there either!
We have been pretty busy with our other projects, in fact I have a second load of cupcakes in the oven now for VBS tomorrow, just in case it wasn't hot enough already, I might have even been able to bake them without even turning the oven on, just set the pan out in the yard, hmm might have to give that a go next time.

Congratulations

2009-06-13T11:04:00.000-05:00

So, I am trying to get caught up on our cake posts, and well hopefully soon, posts in general. We have been quite busy and hopefully now that summer has arrived we will have a little bit more time to get caught up on our projects. Anyway, todays posts are the graduation cakes we completed this past May, along with a retirement cake. We wish everyone well in their new endeavors.

XXXIX- Summer here we come.

2009-06-07T21:00:00.001-05:00

Silent Sunday XXXVIII- Will this school year ever be over?

2009-05-31T15:16:00.000-05:00

Saturdays are for sweets! Congratulations Colby and Amber

2009-05-30T07:28:00.000-05:00

So my tentative plan is to post our most recent cake projects on Saturday. I am having to go back a bit because we haven't posted any in a while, so I will have to play catch up, but we will get there. We have just been really busy, Tiffs at the end of the school year and I am working on doing some spring/early summer cleaning, and of course the little girl keeps us both pretty occupied. Enough of that, on to the cakes.
Today Colby and Amber are getting married, so I figured what better a day than today to post some of the goodies we made for them. The first is the cake for their wedding shower and the cookies are for a shower as well, I think they are pretty self explanatory. It was nice to have a change of pace with the cookies and I think we are going to be doing more in the future.

Everybody loves birthday cake!

2009-05-19T11:11:00.000-05:00

Well most everybody that is. Little M celebrated her first birthday this past year. We had thought that she would have made short work of her cake, but a couple weeks ago she had a bug that caused a couple sores in her mouth. The pediatrician said it was something she probably just picked up some random place and most everyone has it at one time or another. At any rate since then she has been quite reserved when eating time comes, unless of course it is something like goldfish or peanut butter crackers, those she eats with reckless abandon. This past Saturday was no exception. We have given her a scrap of cake and she has tried icing before, so we figured since it is sweet, she would make short work of it, but instead she just picked at it and we ended up breaking it up with a fork. Definitely not the cute mess that we were hoping for. She had a good time though, she loves the attention, all except for opening her presents, not much interested in that, she would rather play with her favorite toy, which happens to be a cell phone that look at clothes, but that will change, all too soon I am afraid. Alright on to the cakes.

Silent Sunday XXXVI- The Return

2009-05-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday

2009-05-16T12:53:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday We love you, Happy Birthday to you.
That's right, today is Little M's Birthday. Where has the time gone? Seems it was just yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital, or maybe it is because I haven't gotten much sleep since then, who knows. She is tons of fun and we are excited about celebrating her special day. We will post some pictures of the party a bit later, but till then we have a couple that we took a couple weeks ago of her in her birthday dress.

Sigh

2009-05-13T11:15:00.001-05:00

We haven't been neglecting our blog intentionally. Our computer has been on the blink. It is working, at least to some extent now, so hopefully we wil get back on track later this week. It has been a busy week. We have a cookie order to finish and this weekend we are having a party for little M, she is turning One years old on Saturday, yes we know that is crazy, we are not ready for it and we have no idea where this year has gone, but the time is upon us and we are excited about celebrating this big time in her and our life.

Silent Sunday XXXV- Today was busy, busy, busy.

2009-05-03T20:15:00.000-05:00

Big Day Today.

2009-05-01T09:42:00.001-05:00

1...2...3...4 Happy Anniversary Baby, I got you on my Mind!
Yep today is our Anniversary. We have been married five years today.
A ton lot has happened in the past five years, been all over the east coast, one of us had a graduation, the other got really sick and we have a little girl who will be a year old in 15 days!.
We are still very much in love and are looking forward to the next 90 or so years.

Silent Sunday XXXIV- Busy Day and it is way past my bedtime...

2009-04-26T22:32:00.001-05:00

Silent Sunday XXXIII- The weather is quite nice.

2009-04-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Times 5

2009-04-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

These are our most recent cakes, they were all done this past week, but I am just now getting around to posting them. We have been busy trying to get the house back in order and a little bit of spring cleaning. Not to mention going to Dr. appointments, working in the garden and just simply not logging onto the internet. Anyway, these were all fun.
The first was a Handy Manny themed cake.

The next set of cakes was for a birthday extravaganza, this family had four birthdays all in April and decided to celebrate them all at once, what a good idea! The large cake was decorated similar to the napkins used at the party and the smaller cakes were camo, Hello Kitty, and a present cake.

What's Cookin Wednesdays- Tea Anyone?

2009-04-15T14:44:00.001-05:00

In honor of the tax day tea parties that are going on all across our country today I decided I would make tea the subject of today's post. I typically drink tea in the afternoon, right after Little M lays down for the afternoon siesta. Occasionally I will swap a cup of tea for my morning cup of joe, just depends on how lazy I am in the morning, because it is bit easier to just use some of the water Tip has already heated and just make some tea, as opposed to making coffee. Tea reportedly also has numerous health benefits, none of which I heavily buy into, I think yes it might help some, but I skeptical of what some of the "experts" studies about it. I drink it because I like it.
   As previously alluded to, I like to drink tea while it is still hot, in a coffee cup, however as we all know tea is extremely popular, sweetened and cooled, especially here in the south. In my opinion the best type of sweet tea is sun tea. Where you let the sun steep your tea and then you bring it in and mix it as usual. However, I have read that this approach also lends itself to some pretty nasty bacteria reproduction in your drink of choice, so you have to be careful when making sun tea, and they say if you see strands floating around in your tea, then you shouldn't drink it, me, I think that would just be common sense, but Mcdonalds does have to put warnings on the coffee, warning the consumer that the contents are hot, go figure. Alot of people also like a bit of honey in their tea and milk is also very popular. I have never been fond of putting either in mine. I consider it to be a lot like putting sugar and cream in your coffee. My mom always says that if she wants coffee, then she is going to drink coffee, not that I think all 'coffee' drinks are bad, I used to commonly enjoy those machiattos(spelling?) from starbuckles.
   There are several different types of tea, black, green, red, white and herbal, which really isn't tea, because it is not usually made up of tea leaves, but of other various plant particulate. Black tea is what we typically drink, and is what is commonly used to make the southern treat sweet tea, but the experts tell you that the greater health benefits come from green and white tea. I don't care for the green variety, I think it tastes a bit cabbaggy, if you will. However, while I am typing this blog, I am enjoying a cup of white tea. One downside is the catechins in tea stain your pearly whites quite effectively according to Food Detectives, and of course drinking more fluids means more pit stops!
   Just a quick note about the tea parties today. We certainly are blessed to live in a country where like-minded folks can peacefully take a stand to show their opposition to out of control government spending. Long live liberty!

Happy Resurrection Day

2009-04-12T14:51:00.001-05:00

Today is no day to be silent. Today more than other days we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. No matter what life brings, we can always remember that our Lord is alive and in control. We do not serve some god that we can hold in our hands, but the God who holds us in His hands. The weather could not be better here today, so let us remember and reflect on His sacrifice that gives us life.

What's Cookin' Wednesday- Southern Scramble

2009-04-08T18:40:00.001-05:00

Sigh......sorry I missed posting last week. I just got too busy and didn't manage to get a post up last Wednesday. Today I am posting the recipe I would have posted last week. I had planned to do breakfast recipes this month, and I still will, I hope to make up last week's post some other time this month, perhaps next week.
This is what I eat for breakfast, when I am not overly lazy and just pour up a bowl of cereal. I don't particularly like eggs, scrambled is about the only way that I will fix them, and I try to put alot of other things in with the eggs, so I can hardly taste them in the end.
I remember making this when we lived with Tiff's parents and getting some strange looks from my mother in law, but hey don't knock it till you try it. I think it is pretty good and the chips gives me that crunch that plain old scrambled eggs just doesn't have.

Southern Scramble
2 Eggs
Seasoning- I use Tony Cachere's, the container says that it is great on everything, and the container is not wrong
Black Pepper
2 Tbsp Salsa
Shredded Cheese- I typically use Colby Jack, however, I have used Mozzarella or cheddar with great results
Tortilla Chips- I prefer Santitos, no trans fats and I haven't gotten around to making my own yet

Method
I like to have my eggs sitting out for about thirty minutes or so. This allows them to expand just a little, and I think it gives you a fluffier scrambled egg, I read this in a cookbook regarding another recipe so I can't take credit for it.
Next scramble your eggs, I like to use a little olive oil, like Rachel Ray with that stuff I guess, I don't call EVOO though, that annoys me. After your eggs are cooked, go ahead and add your seasoning and sprinkle your cheese on top then throw it in the microwave, or cover it, to let the cheese melt a tad.
Finally top with your chips and salsa and enjoy.
I do sometimes add a little cinnamon, but that is strictly for diabetic reasons, I don't think it really effects the taste either way, but cinnamon does obviously help blood sugar levels.

Silent Sunday XXXII- What a lot of rain!

2009-04-05T14:48:00.001-05:00

Baby Shower and an Engagement Party

2009-03-31T21:18:00.001-05:00

Here are the latest two cakes that we completed, both this past week. The first was for a two fer baby shower and the second is for an engagement party. In the spirit of always wanting to try new things, we used rice krispy treats to make the toy blocks on the baby shower cake. We don't typically use those, but the were a good shortcut for this one. They were both fun cakes and we hope they were both enjoyed.

Silent Sunday XXXI- Spring Break is here!

2009-03-29T10:51:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday- Sweet Sixteen

2009-03-26T10:33:00.001-05:00

We completed this cake this past weekend, for four lovely young ladies who are turning 16. This is by far the largest cake we have put together and it was a bit challenging, but we were very pleased with the outcome. We had to borrow a vehicle to deliver the cake and we did not get to see it put together until we set it up at the Ag center. The top and bottom layer were both chocolate and the middle layer is white cake.

What's Cookin' Wednesdays- Crescent rolls

2009-03-25T12:37:00.002-05:00

Today's recipe was one of the first bread recipes that I tried. Unfortunately no pictures today, because I haven't made them lately, or since I started What's Cookin' segments. Anyway, the recipe is really easy and the taste tons better than the canned numbers.
Crescent rolls
2 Pkgs of Yeast- .oz pkgs
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 shortening
4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 butter
Method
Dissolve yeast in water and proof for about ten minutes. Stir in sugar and salt. Cut in the butter and shortening and slowly add in the flour. Knead until smooth then let rise for about an hour, or until doubled. Then divide and roll out your small rectangles. Roll them up and let them rise again on your pan or stone. Finally bake for about ten minutes at 400 degrees.
These are great by themselves or my favorite pigs in blankets. Sorry again no pictures, but come on we all know what crescent rolls look like;-)

What's Cookin' Wednesdays-Banana Bread

2009-03-23T14:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so before I made this for Special Breakfast Fridays I spent some time perusing our recipe books and looking in other places for a good recipe and found one I liked only to remember this recipe when I was about halfway done. Silly me, I will have to try Mrs. Ellen's recipe next time I make this wonderful treat.
We don't usually buy a lot of bananas because they don't get eaten that fast in our house, I don't eat them much anymore and Tiff hardly ever eats them. So we have stopped buying them, because they just went bad sitting out on the counter, had I known that banana bread was this easy, I wouldn't have thrown those away. Oh well, waste and learn. This recipe turned out well, we all three liked it, I would have preferred some pecans in it, but I had exhausted our supply from this past fall.

Banana Bread
3 to 4 ripe bananas
1/3 Cup Salted Melted Butter
3/4 to 1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg lightly beaten
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Baking Soda
Pinch O' Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
Pinch O' Cloves
1 1/2 Cup Flour

Method
This is fall off the wall easy to make. You first have to mush up your bananas. When they say ripe, they mean extra ripe, like brown, gross, wouldn't even want to think about eating them ripe, not black mind you. Nor would you want the banana itself all brown and gross looking, however I have worked with folks that eat them like that, ick, I just don't get understand and me, I hate wasting food, but there are limits indeed.
After you have those mashed up, not pureed like baby food, you do need it a bit on the chunky side, set your bananas aside and melt that butter. The next time I make it, I might try using unsalted butter, which I like to cook with far better and perhaps increase the amount of salt in the final mix, but for this go round I used good old Country Crock.
After the butter is melted you, set it aside and let it cool down just a bit and go ahead and mix all your dry ingredient together. Once that is done and after your butter is no longer super hot mix all the wet ingredients together, including your bananas. Now wrestle the dog's food bowl away from the baby. Oh wait, you might not have to complete that step, depending on your child and well dog status, but I typically have to, either the food bowl or fish her out of his water bowl, unless I have had the foresight to pick both up off the floor.
Finally mix everything together and if you like go ahead and fold in some pecans or walnuts or whatever you like, I have even seen it made with raisins, but the wife doesn't like raisins very much, so I leave those out of most everything that I make for her.
Then put your batter in a loaf pan, we happen to have a silicone pan, I wouldn't recommend them, not fond of mine, but since they are what I have right now, they are what I use and I am grateful for them. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or of course until brown, I think I baked mine a little long, because the loaf had pulled away from the side of the pan, but the bread was still really moist and delicious!

Silent Sunday XXX- Hello Spring

2009-03-22T10:42:00.001-05:00

Silent Sunday XXIX-10 Months Old, Tomorrow, Also 100th Post!

2009-03-15T17:10:00.001-05:00

What's Cooking Wednesdays-Rosemary Bread

2009-03-13T15:58:00.002-05:00

REVISION
Well I guess that the medicine I take has finally addled my brain. I had some pictures all resized and ready to post, but then completely forgot to post them. Mind they are not very good, I took them with the good ole point and shoot, as the sun was setting and I was trying to finish up supper. They don't do the bread justice either, it really is easy to make and it always turns out well for me.

This week is one of my favorite new bread recipes, well pretty much all my bread recipes are new, seeing as I am but a novice bread maker. At any rate, this one is pretty good. Have you ever been to the Macaroni Grill? This recipe makes a small loaf simmilar to what they serve, of course you have to factor that is freshly made as opposed to being mass produced and frozen, not to say that their bread is not spectacular, in fact it very much is.

Rosemary Bread
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour

Method
Once again bread making and getting bread to turn out like you want it, is all in the method. I have made and still make occasionally loaves that turn out TERRIBLE. Anyway, this one is pretty easy and I haven't had it turn south on me yet, knock on wood.
The first step is to add to put the yeast in your water, I like to go ahead and add alittle bit of the sugar to feed the yeast and let that sit for about ten minutes or so. It needs to be a bit frothy and and bubbly, if not throw it out and start again.
Next add the flour, salt, sugar and get to stirring. Once you get everything incorporated add the all the seasoning. A note, I usually use alittle bit less than a Tbsp of Rosemary, and it still turns out great. In fact I have let out most of the seasoning to try to get something closer to Italian bread, but the seasoning really makes a difference, and it makes the house smell, so, so good. Then go ahead and knead alittle bit while your dough is still in your mixing container. Then finally add the oil, you need to wait until as long as you can to add the oil because it will inhibit the gluten from properly forming and then woala , you get dense, flat bread that nobody would care to eat.
After everything is added turn your dough out onto a floured surface, I typically use the countertop, however, at some point I plan on buying a ceramic tile for this very purpose. It is my understanding they can be bought from flooring stores for a reasonable price. Then knead dough until smooth.
Next place your dough ball in an oil coated bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let that sit for about an hour in a nice warm spot. This is yet another wonderful thing about the warm weather here, it makes fixing bread so much easier.
Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, pat down and put on top of your baking sheet or stone. Cover you dough with a towel or more plastic wrap, I usually use a towel, and let that sit four about another hour or so. Next preheat your oven to 375 and bake you bread for about 30 minutes or until brown. I haven't tried it yet, but next time I make the bread, I plan on coating with an egg wash, that should give me a nice, shiny crust, but it is pretty stinkin good if you strickly follow the recipe.

Our latest cakes

2009-03-12T09:52:00.003-05:00

Last week was pretty busy, and well for that matter this week hasn't been any slower. We somehow managed to get three cakes done last week. The first one was for a wedding shower and the last two are for birthdays. We had a great time working on them, albeit a bit stressful at times. We just want to do the best job that we possibly can on each and every one of our cakes. This week is of course testing week here in sunny, warm Florida so we have been making some treats for Tiff's teachers, sorry no pictures. Tuesday was chocolate chip cookies, a new recipe, Wednesday was the vanilla sweet buns, I think they turned out even better this time and today was mini red velvet cupcakes. I tried a new icing recipe, that was pretty tricky to make, but I think it turned out well and as I am told they were a hit. Anyway, back to the cakes, I was hoping to get these posted earlier in the week, but I have been a bit busy with making teacher treats, combined with spending less and less time in front of the computer. It has been much too nice outside!

This is the wedding shower cake, white cake covered with buttercream. The flowers and ribbon are fondant. We had high humidity last weekend, not to mention stinkin butt cold temps. Humidity is no friend of cake but we were still pleased with this one.

This cake was our first birthday cake of the week. It is probably my favorite cake that we have made so far, I was and am still very pleased with how it turned out. It is white birthday cake covered with fondant and the circles are all fondant as well.

This was our last cake of the week. It is white birthday cake covered with chocolate buttercream, which we tried a new recipe, because I don't like just adding chocolate powder to vanilla icing. It works a bit different from our white icing, but we just have to learn how to work with it, like I said it tasted great. The flowers are made with royal icing.

We had a great time doing the cakes, it did make for a busy week, but we really enjoy it and are always happy to make cakes and confections.

After the cakes were finished we were all tired out. None more so than this little one.

Silent Sunday XXVIII- Is Spring Here?

2009-03-08T11:12:00.001-05:00

What's Cookin' Wednesdays- Hamburger Buns

2009-03-04T09:03:00.001-06:00

Yes I spelled Wednesday correctly this time. I must point out that the one who posted the previous comment had been reading the blog as well and hadn't corrected it, or noticed it before last night, besides I can't help it is the only day of the week that is not spelled phonetically. Anyway, on with the post. Due to recent demand I have decided to make all of March's food posts bread recipes or at least recipes related to bread. I made this first one a couple of weeks ago when I had decided to make some hamburgers for supper. Tiff pointed out that we didn't have any hamburger buns and I replied well, we will just have to remedy that won't we.
A quick search and a couple of minutes later, this is what I came up with; I think they turned out pretty good. I think I will go to these every time I need buns for hamburger or chicken or what have you, I hate buying them from the store, because we never, ever eat all eight of them and they just sit in the cabinets and go bad, I hate to waste food.

Hamburger Buns
1 Cup Warm Water
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
1 Egg
3 1/4 Cups White Flour
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Active Yeast
1 Egg Yolk Plus 1 Tsp Water
Sesame Seeds

Method
First Sprinkle the yeast in your warm water, but do not stir it up, it should get a little bubbly and frothy. After the yeast starts to proof a bit combine all other ingredients except the sesame seeds and egg yolk wash. After you get everything incorporated, turn your dough out onto your counter or a larger bowl and knead the dough until smooth.
Your work is pretty much done now and all that is left is the waiting. You need to let the dough rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size. Next some people punch the dough down and knead again, but I find this makes your bread a little tougher, or perhaps I am just not doing it right. Anyway, I usually just pat mine down and at the point go ahead and divide the dough into equal parts. The suggestion is to weigh the dough to make sure you parts are equal, but our scale is our and defunct so I just eyeballed mine. I only made a half batch, so I came out with four buns, but if you make the full recipe you should have eight.
At this point you want to put you divided dough onto whatever you want to bake them on, I used the pizza store, a cookie sheet would work nicely. Cover the buns with a towel and let them rise once again.
Finally preheat your oven up to 375 degrees and them bake your buns for about ten minutes, or until golden brown, slice and enjoy.

I did purposely make mine a little smaller.

Spelling

2009-03-03T17:05:00.000-06:00

So I am looking at the pictures Jeremy posted for Silent Sunday this week and just now realize that he has been spelling Wednesday wrong for the past . . . .oh, month and a half. Needless to say, I died laughing, for several reasons. . . . I am a notoriously horrible speller and I never noticed it. I just want to know - who noticed this and didn't say anything? I think I have changed all of them now. Jeremy says that "hooked on phonics has failed him again."

So on to other news - Maggie is all over the place. She crawls all over the house and has become quite quick. She chases the dog all around, laughing the whole time. The likes to crawl under the table and is constantly finding new things to play with - many times something she shouldn't (i.e. speaker wire, power strips). She is pulling up on everything and Mama got her a little stoller walker and she likes to push it around and "walk" behind it.

Silent Sunday XXVII-Burrrrr its cold!

2009-03-01T10:47:00.001-06:00

What's Cookin' Wednesdays- Blueberry Muffins

2009-02-25T11:54:00.003-06:00

This is a new recipe I tried it out when I made Special Breakfast a couple of weeks ago. Every Friday I get up a little early and make breakfast, to break up the hum-drum of oatmeal and cereal. Also I like to do special things for my family to show them how much they mean to me, this gives Tip just one more reason to look forward to Friday. They turned out well, better than a mix, for some reason every time I make muffins from a mix, the bottoms burn, I have adjusted the baking temp, used silicone baking pans, everything I can think of, still burnt bottom. I submit there are few things more dissapointing that a burnt muffin bottom. For some reason a few of the muffins had sink holes, where the topping fell into the batter, I don't know what happened there, I did make the batter the night before and it sat in the fridge, but I don't think that would have caused that, who knows.
Anyway, the jury is still out for the perfect muffin recipe, but these were pretty good, I will most likely make them again.

Blueberry Muffins
1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup White Sugar- I substituted Brown....mmmm
1/2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/3 Cup Oil
1 Egg
1/3 Cup Oil
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract- Optional, but I use it in ALOT of my baking
1/3 Cup Milk
1 Cup Blueberries- I used a little more

Topping
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 Cup Butter
1 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

Method
Combine Flour, Sugar, Salt and Baking Powder. I whisk it for a minute, just to make sure everything gets mixed up well, but I wouldn't consider that to be necessary.
Place oil in a 1 cup measuring device, I used my handy prep bowl that my lovely wife gave me for Christmas. It has cup lines on it, and makes mixing things like this easier, a regular measuring cup would work fine though.
Next add the egg and then fill up the remainder with milk. This will not necessarily give you the amounts listed in the directions, but it is how the recipe stated how to do it. I am sure you could go by those measurements and still have fabulous muffins.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry and stir or mix with a blender until everything is just incorporated.
Finally fold in the blueberries. Dump them in the middle and the with a spoon bring up the batter over the top of the muffins. You don't want to mash up the blueberries in this process, so perhaps using frozen ones, might work well, I used fresh, because that is what I happened to have on hand.
Now you want to line your muffin pans and pour out the mix, I think I ended up with 12 muffins.
The topping is easy, you just mix everything with a fork and then spoon out over your muffins.

Place them in your oven preheated to 400 degrees and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

They were enjoyed by all!

Silent Sunday XXVI

2009-02-22T07:36:00.001-06:00

The Latest Cake- Meet Spongebob

2009-02-19T09:56:00.001-06:00

I am just not getting around to posting our latest cake. I haven't been feeling that great this week and Little M has been running me ragged, which is only guaranteed to get worse! Anyway the order was Spongebob, now admittidly I am not very familiar with said cartoon character. I think it falls into that 'gross' cartoon category, which most new ones do. Whatever happen to Bugs and GI Joe? My idea of a good cartoon is a crazy gun toting hunter chasing a rabbit to the soundtrack of Vivaldi. That said, I have a little bit of Spongbob and I am at least vaguely familiar with all the characters.

We did have fun with this cake and I think it came together quite well. The cake itself was our white cake with buttercream frosting. We used a good bit of fondant on Spongebob, but it would have been rather difficult to get the look we wanted without using it. However, I do make my own fondant, I don't like the marshmellow stuff and Wilton is just terrible, I also find it is much easier to roll out and use, that and I can control alot of what we use in it to talior it to our need. We understand it was just what the birthday boy wanted and we are very pleased he liked it so well.

What's Cookin Wednesdays- The Dough

2009-02-18T07:45:00.002-06:00

Well today's post follows last weeks post. That and I haven't been trying to many new recipes here lately, been focusing on a couple of other things. Anyway, my dough is still a work in progress. The recipe I am going to post today is one I tried out a couple of weeks ago and uses some wheat flour, in an attempt to make it alittle bit more health friendly.
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 Package Instant Yeast- I believe it is something like 2 - 21/2 Teaspoons
1 Teaspoon Sugar- I use brown, but the original recipe calls for White, I might try Truvia next, finally found it.
3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Warm Water- Around 100-115 Degrees
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil

The Directions are pretty straight forward.
Mix the Yeast, Sugar, 1 Tablespoon of All-Purpose Flour, 1/4 Cup of Water and let is sit for about five minutes, it should get frothy, otherwise you need to toss it and start again.
Next add in the Wheat Flour, 1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour, Salt, Oil, Rest of the Water and knead for about 8 to 10 Minutes.
You will need to let your dough rest for about 15 minutes then stretch or roll your dough out to the size you are looking for, ours happens to be the pizza stone, I haven't measured the diameter.
Next take a fork and punch some holes in the dough to let the steam escape, otherwise you get bubbles in your dough, very important tip, that is.
Then bake your dough in an oven heated to 450 Degrees for about 5 to 7 minutes, just before it starts to turn brown.
Then top with whatever you like and bake for about 10 minutes, or until you see the crust browning.

I found the fork tip after I made this one, and as you can see I got bubbles in my crust, oh well it still tasted good.

9 months old!

2009-02-16T20:25:00.000-06:00

Maggie is nine months old today! I can't believe how fast it has gone by - before we know it, she will be one! So much has happened in the past couple of weeks. She went from army crawling around to crawling on her hands and knees and pulling up on everything in sight! She loves anything that makes noise. She still hates to wear socks and I think she tries to see just how quickly she can pull them off. She loves playing with the dogs food bowl - however, Cole doesn't appreciate it. She is so curious and we already spend so much time chasing her around the house. She has decided that she doesn't like baby food anymore, so we are trying to find different things that she will eat - and most of the time she refuses to eat off of a baby spoon. Here are some pictures from this morning:

Oh, and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Uncle Kristopher - we hope you didn't work tooooooo hard today. We love you!

Silent Sunday XXV- Busy, Cake Filled Week

2009-02-15T16:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T21:54:00.002-06:00

We decided to make some small cakes for the wonderful ladies that keep the nursery on Wensday nights at church. I figured, hey three inch cakes, no problem, it would even give me a bit of practice on some things I have been working on. Anyway, the project turned out to be a little bit more labor intensive, I even had to call in re-enforcements on Wensdays in order to get finished. They were alot of fun to make and I hope the ladies enjoyed their pre-Valentine treats.

A 12 Year Old Speaks her mind...impressive

2009-02-12T13:47:00.010-06:00

I don't know if you have heard anything about this. I just noticed it on a political blog that I browse every so often. It is quite impressive, a 12 year old speaking against abortion.

According to the mom, she wrote the speech herself: "My daughter prepared and delivered this speech for her grade 7 class. Even those who didn't agree with her loved it."
Also, you might want to check this out, we are going to participate.
The Red Envelope Project

What's Cookin' Wednesdays- Fantastic Pizza Sauce

2009-02-11T17:01:00.029-06:00

The post today is a little late today. I have been busy on a Valentine's project, more on that tomorrow. Much like bread, we really like pizza in the Clifton household. There are some particularly good pizza places at the beach and there is supposed to be one opening up here in Chipley. However, more and more I am not so big on getting pizza from the chain restaurants, ie. Dominio's or Hungry Howies. I do still like Papa John's, but we don't have one local. Anyway, over the past several weeks I have been working on a good recipe. I am sharing the first part, the sauce today. It is pretty easy and you can make a big batch at the time, freeze the extra, in fact I think it tastes a little better.

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
6 fluid ounces warm water
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Sometimes I will dial back the honey and add just a little bit of brown sugar. However, I did find some Agave Nectar, which is supposed to be a great natural sweetener. I am still working on the crust, this past week I was quite displeased with the recipe I tried, it turned out really thin and didn't seem to get really done all the way through, which was quite odd, oh well you bake and you learn I suppose.

Cookie Caper-Chocolate Chip I

2009-02-09T09:42:00.022-06:00

Cookies are one of my favorite sweet things to eat. Ice Cream would top that list by far, but cookies are pretty close and hey they do have cookies and cream and more recently cookie dough ice cream. I like to make cookies and try out new recipes so I figured I would add another series to the blog, the Cookie Caper. I got the idea off another blog and they term there series cookie carnival. I will post these once a month, perhaps twice this month because I didn't start in January, have to make up for lost time, that sort of thing.

I figured I would start with my favorite chocolate chip. There are a million recipes for chocolate chip cookies, some good, some great and some not so much. I had been using the recipe off the Pillsbury bag, which is a fantastic cookie, but I have several recipes that I have ran across that I have been wanting to try. Here is the first one. It was adapted from Alton Brown, of Food Network fame. These are made with bread flour and I expected them to be a bit more chewy than how mine turned out, but still good! Even better today, the day after I made them.

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

These were made for last night's Chili Supper at church. I hope they were enjoyed.

Silent Sunday XXIV- COLD COLD COLD week, warmer now

2009-02-08T08:56:00.006-06:00

Happy Birthday Aunt B

2009-02-07T09:04:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note to wish Happy Birthday to our Aunt B. We hope she is having a good day and we hope she enjoys the package we sent her.

Think calming thoughts...think calming thoughts.....

2009-02-06T08:47:00.045-06:00

So, yesterday Tiff told me that I needed to spend a week away from Talk Radio, Fox News and the like, why you ask? Well its because I tend to get a bit steamed from time to time about the things the government is doing to ruin our lives. Yeah I really think it is that bad, but anyway, she might have a point, but if I spent a week not listing to anything, I would just be that much more mad when I turned it back on. It's really not that bad, I just have no one to really vent out-loud to except her. Of course she says this to me, but she complains about things all the time, and uses the same argument, that I am the one she can vent too. Anyway, there are a couple things here lately that have set my blood to boil, and I don't even need someone to point them out to me, I just read the news on Yahoo or some such.
The first is went Al Gore made this statement "There are some things about our world that you know that older people don’t know. Why would that be? Well, in a period of rapid change, the old assumptions sometimes just don’t work anymore because they’re out of date. New knowledge, new understandings, are much more widely available sometimes to young people who are at school, who aren’t weighed down with the old flawed assumptions of the past. Now, don’t get me wrong, your parents and your elders, as you’ve already figured out, know a lot that you can gain from, but in a period of rapid change, there are times when new understandings are more apparent to young people."
He is of course talking about the global warming farce, I mean come on, he is says that 12 year olds are smarter than us grown ups. It would have been priceless had one of the kids mentioned to him that he is also older than they are and in some cases older than their parents, why should they listen to him? Priceless.
Also, if carbon, which is what we are comprised of, is soooooo bad for the environment, then why can companies buy carbon credits? Is uselessly throwing money away going to magically make all the bad carbon go away? Call me a skeptic if you will.
The other is the stimulus bill. Kills me, really. The President mentioned yesterday: “We’re not going to get relief by turning back to the very same policies that in eight short years doubled the national debt and threw our economy into a tailspin,” Obama told the House Democrats. “We can’t embrace the losing formula that offers more tax cuts as the only answer to every problem we face.” Well if he is concerned about national debt, why push a huge spending plan that will dramatically increase the debt?
Full article here. Also, two days ago on Wednesday, this:
WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (Reuters)
"If we do not move swiftly to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, an economy that is already in crisis will be faced with catastrophe," Obama said during a meeting with House of Representatives Democrats attending a retreat in Williamsburg, Virginia.
I did find the whole text of his speech, he seems pretty mad. Again, he bashes Bush, who did make huge mistakes regarding the economy, however, Bush was the past and you can only ride that horse so far.

Talk about putting all your cards out on the table. Sorry I just fail to understand how spending $335 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention programs is going to somehow help stimulate the economy, that along with a literal ton of other pet spending projects. Besides the Lord has the ultimate std prevention plan, HE came up with before the world even existed....keep it in your pants! The best thing about HIS plan? IT'S FREE!
Now I am no big economist and I had trouble understanding the House Bill I browsed through some of it here. However, I do know that if I spend money on things that I don't need, like Transformers or Batman figures, then I have trouble paying for things that I need like power and food, I have had to return many a toy, as well as other things I didn't need. We don't have that return luxury with this though. Now, if this bill had tax cuts and capital gains cuts in it, then it would make sense, but spending money we don't have, much of it not immediately is not going to stimulate anything but the government, unless I am just completely confused about it, which could be the case. Really though, it all comes down to whether or not this plan works, the stimulus plans haven't worked so far, will this one? Maybe so, maybe not? I'm just saying.

What's Cookin' Wednesdays- Vanilla Sugar Sweets Rolls

2009-02-04T08:23:00.003-06:00

We like to eat bread, there I said it, I think it is the ultimate comfort food. I have been trying a couple recipes out, some have turned out well, and others, well, they just need some work or perhaps I need a bit more practice in making them. I have found that the key to getting any bread to turn out is to make sure that the dough has risen, otherwise you get a dense, soggy, icky, gross lump that is not good for anything. I ran across this recipe the other day and figured I would give it a go, we liked them and the aunt we gave them to said anytime we would like to make some more, they would gladly be eaten. I like pretty much anything with vanilla in it, and since this uses vanilla sugar, I figured, hey can't miss! I did cheat and just added a little extract to the sugar, as opposed to the timely process of actually making it with a vanilla bean. I will definitely have to try that sometime, when I can get my hands on the required ingredients. Anyway, the recipe is from zapbook and adapted by a bread website I frequent.

Vanilla Sugar Sweet Rolls

Dough: 1 Cup Milk

1-2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Butter-melted
1/3 Cup Vanilla Sugar
2 Eggs-lightly beaten
2 Tsp Instant Yeast
1 Tsp Salt
3-4 Cups All-Purpose Flour

Filling: Egg Wash:
1/4 Cup Melted Butter 1 Egg
1/2 Cup Vanilla Sugar 2 Tbsp Milk

Start by warming your milk in a saucepan, add the vanilla extract and bring to a scald, but be careful not to boil the milk.

After the milk has reached a good scald, just before boiling, take your pot off the burner and allow to cool to about 105-110.

Next, add the melted butter and vanilla sugar. Stir you concoction to make sure that the sugar is dissolved and everything is mixed together well.
Add in about one cup of flour and the beaten eggs and mix till smooth. Now, add in the salt and instant yeast. Sprinkle about a half a cup of flour on a flat surface. Pour out the sticky dough and add another half cup of flour on top.
Begin to knead in the flour slowly, add a little at a time till you get a slightly sticky dough but workable. Continue to knead for 8 - 10 minutes. At this point you want to get another bowl, I use glass, but plastic would work fine, I tend to stay away from metal bowls when I am proofing my bread dough, I don't know if the metal would affect it either way.. shrugs... You want to coat the sides of said bowl with butter, oil, or some such, I use cake release that I make from oil and flour or sometimes Pam nonstick cooking spray.

Place the dough into the bowl and flip over so all sides of the dough is lightly coated with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to set for about 1 hour or till double in bulk. After dough has risen, pour out onto a flat surface. I find that turning on the oven light and placing the bowl in the oven, works pretty good, some new ovens have a bread proofing mode on them I hear.... have to look at said feature when I am in the market for a new stove.
After the dough has risen sufficiently, important, can't stress that enough, cut dough in half, place one piece back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Using the piece of dough on the flat surface, cut into 8 equal pieces.

Commence rolling out one piece of dough at a time to roughly a 6 by 4 1/2 rectangle. Mine didn't quite make a 'rectangle' shape, but I got pretty close.
Brush the top with a little butter and add a little vanilla sugar.
Do the same with the next piece of dough. Now place that piece on top of the other one, brush with butter again and add a little vanilla sugar. Do the same with the next two pieces of dough. After you should have 4 pieces of dough stacked on top of each other. Use your rolling pin and roll out the dough into a 6 by 4 1/2 inche rectangle again. I find that it was easier to stack the four pieces together and roll them out, then butter the top.
Starting on the longest end roll up the dough tightly. Pinch the ends and seam closed. Place the dough seam side down and set aside.
Cut each rolled dough into about 6 triangles. Of course continue the process with the rest of your dough, I ended up with roughly 24 triangle of yummy goodness.

Now place your rolls on whatever you intend to bake them on, I once again used my pizza stone, but I am sure a cookie sheet would work just fine. Cover your rolls with plastic wrap and let them rise for about an hour or so, till they have roughly doubled in size.
After they have risen, you want to use a pastry brush and cover the rolls with your egg wash. I however, covered mine before I let them rise, oh well they turned out fine, but next time I will wait until they rise.

Throw those beasts in your oven preheated to 375 Degrees and let them back for about 30 minutes, or until they are starting to turn brown, mine didn't take the full 30 minutes, but my oven is pretty wonky.
Here we are, I made a topping out of honey and a touch of butter, but they are fine plain or sprinkled with a bit of confectioner's sugar.

Just a quick note...

2009-02-03T11:09:00.003-06:00

I have been meaning to post more and I have over the past couple of weeks. Little M keeps me on my toes all day when we are here together and when Tiff is home I like to try and get caught up on some of my other projects around the house, not to mention cooking supper and what not. Anyway, I am doing better than I was a short while ago, still not feeling that great, but such is life, anything short of being back in the hospital is acceptable to me at this point. I take what I can get and always have to keep in mind that my situation could always be worse.
Thanks to all who have left recent comments about our layout change. I think this utilizes our space a little more efficiently and it lets us put up bigger pictures, which is always good. The header we currently have up was taken in Tulum, Mexico while we were on our honeymoon. I am thankful we have those pictures, because they were on a harddrive that I had pretty much given up on and the computer experts told us was failing.
We hope you enjoy reading our blog and we appreciate your comments.

My 25 things

2009-02-02T16:01:00.039-06:00

1. I have found that it is the little things in life that are the most fun.
2. Maggie is helping me type this list.
3. The sheriff once called mama and told her I needed to slow down going to school. I wasn't driving (or even in the car - it was daddy).
4. I love to read. When a new book in a series comes out, I like to read the entire series so I will know what is going on. However, now I don't have nearly as much time to read so it takes me forever.
5. I don't understand why Maggie is so interested in chewing on gross things - i.e. the dog's toys and our shoes.
6. I tend to have a hard time to open up and really let people get to know me.
7. I really miss my girlfriends from Louisville - and love the way we are able to just pick up whenever we do get to talk / visit.
8. I wanted to be a pediatrician my whole life, until my senior year when I was pretty much told it would be extremely difficult to be a pediatrician and be very involved in my children's lives.
9. I have colored or highlighted my hair since I was 15.
10. I love being a mother and love to see the way Maggie's face lights up when I get home from work.
11. I am addicted to email.
12. Dr. Pepper is my favorite drink.
13. I bleed orange and blue.
14. I have grown much closer to my brothers as we have grown - and am so glad!
15. Ice was the thing I couldn't live without while pregnant. Sonic ice is the best!
16. I like to watch cooking shows, but do not enjoy cooking.
17. I always said I would never move back to Chipley - and yet . . . . here we are.
18. I tend to be a creature of habit when eating out and rarely like to try new things.
19. Seaside holiday from yankee candle is my favorite scent of all time!
20. I love the mountains, especially in the fall.
21. I am looking forward to this summer and taking Maggie to the beach.
22. This May will be our 5th anniversary. The journey has been so much fun!
23. January 13, 2007 will probably always stick in my mind as one of the scariest days.
24. I love to paint walls in different designs.
25. I am very excited about being an aunt again this summer!!

Silent Sunday XXIII-Super Silent Sunday

2009-02-01T07:47:00.002-06:00

Randomosity.. or some such

2009-01-30T19:24:00.038-06:00

We got tagged on 7 Chicks, so I will attempt to post twenty five random things, which I guess is what the tag is about..... who knows?
1. I am tired.
2. I think the whole family, including the dog, is glad today is Friday.
3. This Wife Swap show is terrible, whatever happened to T.G.I.F.?
4. Supper was pretty good this evening, burger on the Foreman and pan-fried potatoes with salad.
5. Did I mention this Wife-Swap show is terrible.... the guy just taked about a swapped mom defecating on his children's dreams..terrible... where is the remote, there has to be something better on.
6. The baby is crying, because she is sooooooooo tired, I bet if she would just lay down she would fall asleep.
7. Sleep sounds good, it will be another early night tonight.
8. I am not sure if Wal-Mart could have been any more crowded this evening...we really should have gone yesterday evening.
9. I am sad that the government thinks it can solve the economy by spending money is doesn't have.
10. We got engaged at the fort in St. Augustine.
11. I hate cleaning the house, but I can't stand it, if it is a mess.
12. I really enjoy cooking and I wish I had taken it up a long, long time ago.
13. I wish the doctors would listen to me more instead of always looking at the numbers and test results.
14. I had a good Dr. visit and I couldn't be happier with my numbers.. doesn't make the pain or sick feeling go aways though.
15. Being a dad is tough sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it, far too late now anyway.
16. I really like to read, definitely a form of escape.
17. I wonder when the last time the groundhog didn't see his shadow....let it be this year!!
18. I hope this recipe for wheat bread turns out.. the first one.. not so much.
19. I really like living in a bigger city, though the small town isn't that bad, I just get really frustrated when I can't find ingredients for something I want to cook locally. That Really does frustrate me.
20. I am bit bummed that Flashpoint is a re-run tonight, I don't watch many regular tv shows, but that one is really good.
21. When I was in college at BCF I once rode my bicycle from Graceville to Panama City.
22. I like to see the mountains, but I love the beach.
23. I quite enjoy a good movie, comic book movies are the best.
24. I am all for taking care of the planet and being a good steward, but I am tired of the 'global warming' farce.
25. I sure am glad I am married to a wonderful lady who puts up with me.

What's Cookin' Wednesdays

2009-01-28T08:00:00.007-06:00

For a while now I have resolved to cook more and cook from scratch. I believe that most health conditions, including my own can be managed, well at least in part by what you eat. Also with the addition of Lil' M I am determined to help her eat better so maybe she will not develop my medical malady's. In my opinion cooking from scratch is healthier than buying pre-packaged meals, not to mention cheaper! So, in that vein I have decided to add a recipe day to the blog. The post may or may not contain pictures, but they will be recipes that I have tried and use. You will have to excuse the poor quality of my food pictures because my kitchen is not conducive AT ALL to taking pictures. Come to think of it, the kitchen is not conducive to cooking, but I have had to make do with less in the past and beggars can't be choosers! The first recipe to share is one that I used last year when Tiff had a Jr. Women's Club party, I had meant to get the post up earlier, but as I have found there is a wide divide between meaning and doing.

Sausage and Cheese Wontons

1 Package Wonton Wrappers
1 LB Sausage
1 Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 Cup Ranch (I use much less, but then I HATE Ranch)
About a 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
Sour Cream for topping-Optional

To start with I coat both sides of the wontons with olive oil and then place the coated wrappers in a muffin tin.

After the wontons are all coated I put the tin in the oven preheated to 350 Degrees. I let them bake for about 5 to 10 minutes, until they are just starting to get toasted and turn brown. You have to be careful or else they will bake too much, and you will have to throw them out, voice of experience here!

While I have the wontons in the oven I go ahead and brown the sausage and get my cheese portioned out. I find that it is always better to buy a block of cheese and then shred it myself, it always cooks better and once again..cheaper.

Here are the wontons fresh out of the oven and placed on my current cooking tool, the Pampered Chef Round Pizza Stone. They really do make great products.

At this point you are ready to start assembling your creations.

Mix the browned sausage

with the cheeses

and don't forget the ranch, even though I forgot to get a picture of said ingredient.

Then fill up fill you slightly toasted wontons with the sausage mixture, just eyeball it and fill up each wonton.

Then all that is left to do is place them them back into your already hot oven for just a minute or three, until the cheese melts and you done!

I had a little left over so I decided to make my own version and substituted the disliked ranch, with the beloved Frank's Red Hot Sauce! They were great!

Good news..

2009-01-27T08:30:00.008-06:00

I am most happy to report that I got back home yesterday. I finally convinced the doctor to let me out of the hospital! I am still a good ways away from what is considered 'normal' or regular for me, but at least I am no longer confined to the hospital. The trend usually is, I start recovering in the hospital and then I have to recover from being in the hospital once I get home. I have always laughed that they constantly tell you to rest, but then wake you up every four to six hours to check your blood pressure and temperature! Also, I think it upsets the apple cart when you doctor changes, because I think that every doctor has their own course of treatment and I suspect that that if they read your chart at all, they don't read it well or concern themselves with what other doctors and nurses have previously written, if nothing else, they ask you the same tired questions that you have been asked countless times before in your stay, ack! However, as much as I complain about it and assert it is not a perfect system, it sure beats no healthcare and definitely government controlled healthcare! I appreciate all your thought and prayers. Since the baby is laying down, I think I will as well.

Silent Sunday XXII-Look how big I have gotten!

2009-01-25T07:23:00.001-06:00

Ahh Garbage,,

2009-01-24T19:14:00.001-06:00

Well it all started two years ago, my gut just exploded, well not literally, but it sure felt like it at the time. Last January I had major surgery, to hopefully get everything back on track and to help keep me out of the hospital every couple of months. I was having a good run, till lately I just hadn't been feeling so great. I had some tests ran and the numbers came out great, better than they have in a while. However, the ball dropped yesterday, I couldn't keep anything down, which is bad, bad, bad news for an insulin dependent diabetic! So, I ended up in the local emergency room yesterday evening to hopefully get my jut settled back down. We figured I would be in and out, like I have a couple times in the past.... not the case yesterday. After I spent a couple hours in the Chipley Er, I got transferred to the circle city, where I got to go through yet more tests..yeah!!!!
The good news the tests didn't show any inflammation and the doctor thinks it was just a mild flare up, which that all depends upon how you define 'mild'. Also, blood tests this morning showed that my numbers had come down on their own, they hadn't given me anything to help them come down, which is always the best course. So hopefully I will be back home tomorrow. Just a bit frustrated with the whole situation, I don't like being in the hospital at all, but I am very thankful, because it could certainly be worse. Just trying to learn what the Lord is trying to teach me, obviously I am not a quick study.

Dear President Obama.....

2009-01-23T10:58:00.001-06:00

Today I had planned on writing a government outrage post about a new law pertaining to children's products, but due to a post I read recently on Castles Made of Sand I decided to postpone said post and write a letter to the President. I have long though about writing letters to Service men to show my support, and I am always talking about writing letters to our officials. I plan to write at least one a week and alternate my recipients.
Here is the letter I am sending to the President this week.

Dear Mr. President,

Let me first congratulate you and your staff on the election. It is truly an historic time in our country, as any election and change of power always is in our great country. I do have a positive outlook and I have no doubt that you are excited about your plans for our nation.

I implore you to continually seek the Lord’s guidance in all your decisions. I have no idea what you relationship with the Savior Jesus Christ is, all I can tell you is the difference He has made in my life. He is Author of hope and change and the only One who can truly bring about change in our country. The Lord is my comfort in times trouble and help in times of need. He has given me purpose in life and blessed me beyond my need and far greater than what I deserve.

Also, I ask that would strive to keep the market free and work to right some of the wrongs of the last administration, whose leader I greatly admire. While I was watching your Inaugural address there were many points that I whole-heartedly agree with you. You stated that that the economy is in need of bold and swift action, I agree that change does need to be made. You also alluded to past achievements of free men and women who in times of need stepped up with courage and used their imagination to change the world. I ask that you would indeed help to keep the market free and open so that individuals with a dream, a hobby or a skill can work to develop and realize that dream. There is truly no other place in the world, with enough work, you can do and become anything. Your current position is case in point of that fact and I admire your determination and accomplishment.

I pray that you would continue to support and encourage our brave men and women in the armed forces who give their all so that we can continue to enjoy freedom and even spread freedom to other parts of the world.

I am proud to be a Christian and I blessed to be a citizen of the United States. I look forward to the future with great anticipation and much prayer. May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Clifton

The President, Barack Hussein Obama
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: 202-456-1414
or: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
E-Mail: The President, White House

As a Christian I have a Biblical mandate to support our leaders, and as Molly stated our voice can never be heard unless we speak up and actually say something.

Brrr its cold

2009-01-22T08:38:00.001-06:00

Just a quick update, yesterday was the day of doctors and we got pretty good reports. Little M is now 18lbs 14oz and does not have an ear infection. We are really thankful for that, but her nose is still running like a river, as is mine. The weather is supposed to turn warmer over the next couple of days and I am hoping our allergies will dry up, at least while the weather is warmer.
I got some hopeful news yesterday from the Dr. as well, but I haven't seen this doctor in over a year and he was just looking at my most recent tests, which were pretty good. I will take it until the doctors tell me different, but I still remain a bit skeptical. I have been dealing with this for over two years now, and for some reason I have my doubts that it will just go away and I won't have to deal with it so much, we will see. Well it is time to get some housework done, clothes nor dishes wash themselves, fancy that!

Rough Morning....

2009-01-21T08:20:00.001-06:00

Whoooo wheeee we had a rough start this morning. It started somewhere around 5:30 or so, Tiff ran into the bedroom, turned on the light and was saying something about somebody being in our yard. I was still pretty much asleep, well no actually I was knocked out. At first I thought, well it must be the construction workers that have been working on the culverts lining the highway that runs in front of the house. I figured it was that, or someone just turning around in our driveway, which happens ALL the time, I guess people miss south blvd or they just turn off HWY 90 too soon, or who knows, people are crazy! Anyway, at first I didn't think anything of it, but Tiff was pretty insistent and then I heard a door close. Now I am moving from confusion to anger, who in the world is showing up at my house, when it is still dark!
    By this time the person has gotten out of his car and is knocking on our front door, which was thankfully locked. This of course get the dog all riled up and wakes up the baby... think I was mad earlier... So I am up now getting my contacts in so I can see clearly and I was to our door that leads onto the porch, also locked. I couldn't see anything but an outline of some guy who is continually knocking on the door, shouting for us to open the door. Mental note, if I am ever stuck and need some help, banging on someone's door and shouting for them to let me in is not the way to inspire anyone lend me a hand.
    I am not about to open the door, here I am thinking we have some crazy out in the yard, who wants who knows what. Tiff is running around with the baby calling her parents, all the while the dog is not happy at all and is barking away. By this time we have called the law and have a patrolman in route, but here we are stuck with this crazy out in the yard. At least the person has stopped banging on the door and shouting, obviously we aren't going to let him in, he gets back in his truck and tries to start it. Turns out his truck was pootin' out on him.
    Pretty soon the police do arrive, pretty quick by the way, definitely appreciate that and then Tiff's dad gets here. As stated the man did have some truck problems, he just picked the wrong house to terrorize at 5:30 in the morning. Fact is nobody has any business stopping at anyone's house that early in the morning, let alone banging on someone's door and hollering to have the door opened.. not like isn't a convenience store, what 500 yards from the house at the end of the road. Some people......

Thank You President Bush, Hello President Obama

2009-01-20T07:40:00.001-06:00

Today is a big day. Little M's nose is running like a spigot and she is not very happy at all in general. So today I am sitting in front of the tv, my computer by my side and my daughter in my lap. I was planning on watching at least some of the coverage today, but it looks like I will end up watching a good bit of it. Seems like M has a bit more than my looks, she seems to have problems with her allergies when the weather makes a big shift, like today. Anyway, today is big, it's the Presidential Inauguration, which it is a historic event any time we bring in a new president. Whatever you think or feel about President Bush, at least he did keep us safe from international threats, which historically is one of the primary roles of the office, while local governments were set up to serve and govern their general vicinity.
Today brings a lot of questions to mind. The first and foremost is what will the Obama Presidency be like? There has been tons of speculation and whatnot, but who knows till he actually fills the office. Will he govern from the center or from the left? Will he keep the country safe? Will he with the current congress help turn the country into a socialist state, complete with universal healthcare, or will Free Market Capitalism prevail? Will there be bans on guns, which many speculate, thus sending gun sales into stratospheric levels. There is only one thing we can count on and that is the Lord is in control and nothing, Nothing, will happen without His consent. What a comfort at any time, in any situation. Praise the Lord who reigns. Well maybe M will feel better later, I hope she will have a good rest this morning, that might help.

Silent Sunday XXI

2009-01-18T15:23:00.001-06:00

Super Saturday- Cake Edition

2009-01-17T08:56:00.001-06:00

Here are the two cakes that we completed this past week. We had fun doing them and we hope that both birthday folks had good days. We also want to wish Happy Birthday to Mary Beth, who also celebrated her 18th birthday this past week!
So, without further ado, here are the cakes:

Sneak Peek Week it is!

2009-01-16T15:46:00.001-06:00

Peek Sneak

2009-01-15T13:02:00.001-06:00

Here is a quick look at some of the fire fighter cake we did for Taylor. I had planned on getting all pictures up at once, but alas, plans tend to change in our house. I hope to get the rest of them up later this week, we shall see.

Right now I have to go chase down Little M. She has always liked our dog and well anything that belongs to the dog, most recently his food bowl. Slash! I guess she found his water bowl....make that I now have to go change her clothes. Sigh.....this is only the beginning.

Happy Birthday Taylor

2009-01-12T11:10:00.001-06:00

Today is Taylor's Birthday, he turns 20 years old today. Taylor is Tiffany's younger brother, so just a quick, short post to wish him happy birthday today. Hopefully we will have some pictures of his cake up later this week. We are so proud of Taylor and we love him very much.

Silent Sunday XX- Go Gators

2009-01-11T16:20:00.001-06:00

Go Gators! and a Little M update.

2009-01-09T08:59:00.003-06:00

It's great to be a Florida Gator. That was a pretty tense game for us last night, albeit a good one. I love a good defensive game, just as long as my favorite team isn't playing in it! I think people forgot that our defense and special teams won the Gators those first couple games this year and while the special teams wasn't that big a factor as far as offense goes last night, our defense sure showed up. That is not to say we didn't look good on the offensive side of the ball, we just didn't come out and punch them in the teeth like we had in several of the regular season games. Hats off the Oklahoma though, they kept up with us the whole game and ole Sam Bradford didn't seem to have the Heisman curse plaguing him either. Yet and still, Florida won by ten and that is what matters in the end! I hope Tebow stays in college for his last year, but I certainly understand if he makes the jump to the pros a year early. Go Gators.
That said, Little M has become mobile. At first she started by rolling on her back and using her legs to move around. Combined with just rolling around she managed to get around pretty easy. Now, well over the past couple of weeks she has transitioned to more of an army crawl. Not yet crawling in the classic sense of the word but still getting around pretty good. This is the first time I have tried to upload a video to the blog so bear with me if it does not work properly, but hopefully you will be able to see clips of both the back scoot and more recently the army crawl.

Video uploading is not working so well right now, I will keep trying. maybe later I will have success.

Mrs. Stephanie's Cake

2009-01-04T16:48:00.001-06:00

I don't typically post anything on Sunday besides pictures, but due to request I am posting some pictures of our most recent cake. We did this one for Mrs. Stephanie, our Preacher's wife and we are quite pleased with how it turned out. This was our first attempt at completely covering a cake with fondant and I think it turned out pretty well. The top layer is white cake, while the bottom is chocolate with chocolate chips added in, scrumptious. The accent pieces we chocolate fondant, which was a first for us and this was also the first time we have used our square pans, so this cake was a whole number of firsts. We hope she had a very happy birthday.

Silent Sunday XIV-HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-01-04T09:00:00.001-06:00

Great Scene from a new movie...

2009-01-02T21:05:00.002-06:00

This past weekend we got to go see one of the new movies that came out this year around the holidays. This one was not a holiday movie, actually it was quite emotionally heavy, but I thought it was really good. Now it did have a couple themes that were not the greatest. What it did have was one of the best representations of salvation that I have ever seen in a secular movie from liberal hollywood. I will try to be as comprehensive without giving away which movie it was. The scene was about halfway or so through the movie and it starts out with the main character going to a social worker to find someone who needs some help. At first our character is asked why he is doing this, but then he does get a name. This lady in need of help is in an abusive relationship and has two small children. The main character seeks her out and finds here in a just the spot that was described to him. The house was dirty and was surrounded by never-do wells. The main character who is a gentlemen explains to the lady that he is there to help her and promises to get her out of her situation and to a beautiful place where she can start again. At first the lady is confused about why our character is trying to help her and then turns to denial and anger. The first part of the scene ends with the lady refusing any help and kicking the main character out of her house and seemingly her life. The gentleman did leave his card and instructed the lady to seek him out if she did decide that her situation was too much. The movie leaves the scene for a while, but then when I least expected it, the main character gets a call and it turns out to be the lady. Apparently she has hit rock bottom. She is calling him from a public phone outside of a laundry mat, in the middle of a rain storm at night. When the gentleman arrives we see that the lady has some fresh marks on her face, cuts and a couple bruises. The gentleman instructs her to drive north, gives her directions and tells her to take the gift and make a new start and hands her an envelope. When she reaches her destination she finds a beautiful house and we find out that the envelope contained a deed to said house. The scene ends with the lady enjoying a sunny day with her two children.
No, it is not a perfect symbol, but I think it is pretty good. Jesus seeks out while we are still mired in sin. Sometimes we fight that call, because we happen to like where we are, we think sin is fun. However, we find that fun to be very fleeting and then we hit rock bottom. There is no where left for us to go but to the one who sought us out. All we have to do is stop fighting and let Christ do all the work.
The idea hit me like a ton of bricks at the end of the scene and I have meant to post about it, but I have had a list of other things to do. It was a heavy movie, you won't be in a happy-go-lucky mood at the end, but I think it was one of the better movies I have seen in a while.

Silent Sunday XVIII- Back on Track

2008-12-28T17:00:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:29:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas! We hope that you had a blessed day to celebrate the birth of our Lord!

Dora Cake

2008-12-25T19:54:00.001-06:00

We did a cake last weekend for a friend whose son turned one. They wanted a Dora themed cake, but not too girly. Here is what we came up with:

It is chocolate, chocolate chip cake with buttercream icing. We ran out of time and were unable to make the characters, but we really want to make some out of gumpaste very soon.

New news

2008-12-23T22:25:00.000-06:00

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas is just two days away - and I STILL have not finished all of my shopping. Hmm. . . might have to get extra creative this year. Maggie turned seven months last week and has started army crawling all over the place. She will see the smallest piece of something on the floor and will "crawl" to it. Usually she has one of her stackable rings in one hand, so it is quite interesting to watch her. When we take something away from her she shouldn't have, she isn't concerned, just looks around the room to see what else she can find. She has also learned how to drink out of a straw and lunges toward any drink she sees. Yesterday we found her sitting up in her crib, but missed her process of getting into that position. :( We are so excited about Christmas this year and being able to celebrate it with her!

We went up to Louisville a couple of weeks ago. It was a very impulsive trip and we went for several reasons. I wanted to see my former co-workers and it was actually graduation at the seminary. It was wonderful hanging out with old friends. I think that has been the hardest part of moving back to Chipley for me - not having the close friends I had up there. The graduation ceremony was wonderful - it was really different from my graduation from UF. It was a little bittersweet for me, as Ben and Greg started seminary the same time as Jeremy and if Jeremy hadn't of gotten sick, he would have either been there with them, or been really close. I still don't understand why he got sick, just trusting God one day at a time. We are very excited for Ben and Greg and their families as they take the next step in their lives! It was also a chance for us to meet Hannah and Eva who were actually born on the same day. We loved getting to hang out with everyone. I think Maggie loved the babies too. Toward the end of the week, however, I think she became a little too comfortable - she kept trying to pull Eva's socks off and eat them! She loved playing with Skeeter, he would actually play with her and not just keep a wide berth like Cole. Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend:

All of the guys with their girls

Hannah, Eva and Maggie

Eva and Maggs

Skeeter and Maggie playing tug-of-war

This week has been wonderful being off of work. I have been able to sleep in and spend so much time with Jeremy and Maggie. I really think I am going to be spoiled after being off for two weeks.

It is getting late and I probably need to start getting ready for bed, tomorrow will be another busy day.

SIlent Sunday XVII-Sorry, we missed one...

2008-12-21T21:07:00.000-06:00