Iced Pumpkin Cookies

I love autumn. Love the leaves, the rain, the cool air. I love crisp apples and cider, warm drinks, cinnamon, and pumpkin. Stole this recipe from allrecipes.com. Didn't change it one bit. We all like these, even Troy, my non-sweet-eater. They're fun and seasonal and yummy, a cake-like cookie, reminiscent of a muffin top.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies:

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c white sugar
1 c canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 c powdered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and salt; set aside.
2. In medium bowl, cream together the butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 tsp vanilla to butter mixture; beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls. Flatten slightly, using sugared or wet glass bottom.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool, loosen from pan, then drizzle glaze with a fork.
4. To make glaze: Combine all glaze ingredients and stir to uniformity. Add more milk as desired to achieve drizzling consistency.

One review I saw suggested using cream cheese icing--just a thought, if one is so inclined.

Completion

We all want perfection in our lives, to one degree or another. This is how we were made. This is why we strive. But, being mortal, we often try to achieve that perfection in the easiest way possible. A magic pill that will peel off the pounds. A new book to read that will transform our relationships. We tell ourselves that our lives will be perfect if only.... And then we will be happy. Because this is the ultimate goal of our perfection, isn't it? It is to be supernally happy, at peace, and comfortable in our own skins.
So I think of the ways I've thought would make me complete. Another medal in another race. A new home, a perpetually clean and orderly home, like my neighbor's house down the street. Losing 7.5 pounds. A new hair color. A different hairstyle. Clothes more like so-and-so's clothes. Living somewhere else. Etc, etc. All things about ME serving ME, me looking inward, me, me, me.
This morning as I stood washing dishes in my pajamas it occurred to me thus: We all of us are striving for completion, perfection, happiness. We many of us look for it in places where it is not to be found, not permanently. The new clothes get old, the new hair color grows out, the new car becomes less shiny. Even developing a talent won't complete a person. I too often forget that completion, wholeness, perfection come only through the Savior. And He doesn't care what I look like or how much money I make. He doesn't care if I'm thin or famous. He just asks for an honest heart, for humility, and He makes up the difference for all that I lack, if I let Him. And when I let Him, I no longer care about competing or keeping up appearances. I can stop worrying about all I haven't done or don't do that is important in the eyes of the world. I can look outward instead of inward. I can develop my gifts and use them to serve others and thereby glorify Him instead of using them to fill the endless hole in my ego. And what a better tool in His hands I can be than playing my old one-note instrument over and over.
Letting Him work in me requires faith. It requires letting go of my old security blanket. It means I stop comparing myself to everyone else, stop looking at magazine covers, stop worrying about my reflection in the mirror. It means asking Him each day to let me be of some service to Him in the world, and then listening for His answers. It means letting go of my old self and becoming new in Him. It means making mistakes, saying I'm sorry, and trying again tomorrow. I have a long row to hoe--I won't finish in this lifetime--but I will never, ever walk alone.

Boob Tube

I've been giving some thought to what I would do if I had only a few weeks left to live. It is too overwhelming, however, for me to contemplate what I would do; it's easier for me to determine what I would not do. What I would not do is watch any more television. I've noticed that the people we watch on t.v. never watch t.v. They are too busy living interesting lives and having fun and being funny. Would we enjoy watching people on t.v. if they were watching television? No! We want to watch them live interesting lives and have fun and be funny. We want to view their relationships and compare them to our own. But why don't we, instead of watching other people live, just live our own lives? Take the extra time to visit a friend or family member? Take the time to write a letter or to develop a talent? Go take a walk, ride a bike, enjoy the breeze on our skins.
Now in this light, I will admit to watching movies and television. I do it occasionally--more often than I'd like to. My family does it more than I'd like. But really, more often than not I leave a viewing session feeling less than uplifted. Sometimes I leave it feeling like I've eaten a bowl of ice cream with a cockroach planted in the middle of it.
Life is a wonderful gift; when it is too late is often when we realize that it is also all too fleeting.
So tonight, instead of watching television, I'm going to enjoy the peaches and cream of giving my baby a bath, kissing his soft skin, and inhaling the smell of his velvety brown head. I'm going to listen for the slap of his hands on the tile as he crawls across the kitchen floor. I'm going to make a beautiful salad for my husband, with green lettuce and lovely red tomatoes, meats, and cheeses. I'm going to play games with my older children, listen to them, and look into their eyes and let them know I love them.
Looking at the stars, observing the sky, smelling the rain, living each moment. I think if I do these things I don't have to worry whether or not I have two weeks or twenty years left to live, because I'm living genuinely, living my own life. Striving to live each day the way I would live it if it was my last. And there's no cockroach in that ice cream.

More Comfort Food--Homemade Mac and Cheese

1 1/2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 c milk
1 c (4 oz)shredded cheddar
2 oz processed American cheese (abt 3 slices)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside. In a medium-large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until mixture is smooth and thick. Reduce heat, then stir in cheeses, salt and pepper. Continue mixing until cheese is melted.
Pour over cooked macaroni and combine. Serve immediately.

Happy Father's Day--Here's to Dads!

So, about 12 years ago a social scientist named Gladstone did a study on elephants. Apparently, a pack of teenage male elephants and a female elephant were moved to an isolated park in Africa. Videos were taken which showed packs of these teenage male elephants chasing down rhinos, teasing them, pushing them down, and goring them with their tusks. A bull elephant was brought into the area by the game wardens, and the rhino killings ceased. According to Gladstone’s interpretation, "When fathers are absent, adolescent males become agitated, seem lost and out of control". He and other experts agreed that "studies done with elephants show that boys need strong, mature male influences, they need to know who is in charge, what the rules are, and who holds them accountable." (See "The Kovacs Perspective" on Searchwarp.com)
Dads' roles can never be filled by anyone else, no matter how well-meaning those others may be. Even the best mother can't replace the father of her children. A loving father makes a child's home feel safe in a way that nothing else can. His role is to "preside over, provide for,and protect his family" (Proclamation on the Family, 1995). Even a child who has mere memories of his/her father is often motivated, uplifted, encouraged by these memories.
I'm offended by television shows and advertisements, jokes and parodies, eye-rolling comments by women which belittle husbands and fathers. You can bet if the tables were turned, and women were degraded in this blatant manner, heads would roll and litigation attorneys' phones would be ringing off the hook.
Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating, maybe not. But I love dads. Even imperfect dads, which all of them are but One. But I love dads who try. They show up, they participate, they lead their families, love their wives, guide their children. I love my dad, who went to work every day to support my mother and seven children, who made sure my mother could stay home with us. I love my brothers and brothers-in-law who are dads as I watch them be involved, hands-on Fathers.
I love my husband, who supports me emotionally, physically, financially, spiritually. He adores our kids and he shows them who is in charge, what the rules are, and how to be accountable. He works hard and supports our decision for me to be home with our children. He makes our home feel secure. He is a stalwart and a loyal friend.
Dads are a beautiful blessing; can you imagine life without them? I don't want to. So Here's to Dads everywhere--keep up the good work! You are often behind the scenes, but we need you, we love you--You Rock.

Richesons' Salmon BBQ Sauce

Warmer weather means grilled salmon if you live in the great PNW. Got this recipe from my parents; they got it from some family friends in Burlington, WA. Now we rarely eat salmon prepared any other way. One batch should be enough sauce for a 10-15 lb salmon.

1/2 c butter
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 Tbsp Worcestershire
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp dry mustard

Boil all ingredients together in small saucepan. Pour over salmon on the grill as it is cooking.

Lemon Tart Squares

One of Troy's and Mom's favorites.

Crust:

1 c softened butter
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 c flour

Blend together thoroughly; texture should be crumbly. Press into 9 x 13 x 2 cake pan (spray with Pam first).
Bake at 350 for 15 min, cool slightly.

Filling:

4 eggs, beaten
3 oz lemon juice
2 c granulated sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp vanilla

Combine flour and sugar. Mix eggs and lemon juice into flour and sugar mixture. Blend thoroughly. Pour into baked crust.
Bake @ 350 for 25 min. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Allow to cool before cutting.