Looking Back, December 2022

 

On the 2nd we had quality time with Isaac and Logan during Daniel's basketball game.  D made 4 points!  

On Saturday evening the 3rd, all the kids were here to celebrate Bekah and Nicole's birthdays.  We had vegetable soup and a charcuterie tray!  

On the 4th I was still ordering more Christmas gifts.  Every day I say I am going to scale back, and every year, I don't.  

On the 6th, Daniel came down with Influenza A and a red ear.  I made and delivered my usual: herb-infused, prayed-over, chicken soup with homemade noodles.  

We spent the evening of the 9th with our dear friends, Jim and Myrna, and exchanged Christmas gifts with them.  

On the 15th, Nicole was very sick with the flu and Rebekah had it as well.  Nic was very sick which was worrisome and we prayed hard for her and for Kathryn.  By the 17th Jonathan had also tested positive for influenza.  

Throughout the month I made and froze food for our Christmas celebrations including brown sugar bacon, ham sliders, soup for Christmas night, homemade meatballs with sauce.  Other food listed this month were two meatloaves, baked sirloin, hamburger for freezer, (I use this for weeknight meals such as spaghetti, sloppy joe, or chili), and a batch of cheesey potatoes for a funeral dinner.  Our regular Christmas morning brunch menu was, as always:  

Corn pancakes with maple syrup

Cinnamon rolls 

Bacon and sausage

Biscuits and gravy

Hot spiced fruit

Coffee and juice

Afternoon

Christmas cookies and treats

Cheeseballs, summer sausage and crackers

Sugared cranberries

Punch

Evening

Chicken noodle or Vegetable soup

Bread sticks & crackers

Charcuterie tray

Vegie tray

Treats from the snack table

This was a beautiful, scary, and blessed year.  My exhaustion was from being low thyroid, not from something worse. My eye seems to be gradually improving. No one has had lasting ill effects from Covid or influenza. Baby Kathryn was born healthy and safe.  The Lord has been with us through many frights (including a tornado and a hurricane for Nicole and Jonathan respectively, while each was on a business trip far from home) and has brought us safely through.  

This favorite quote by Matthew Henry seems right for our 2022 and for our future:  

The Lord shall prevent the evil thou fearest, and sanctify, remove, or lighten the evil thou feelest. He will preserve the soul, that it be not defiled by sin, and disturbed by affliction; he will preserve it from perishing eternally. He will keep thee in life and death; going out to thy labor in the morning of thy days, and coming home to thy rest when the evening of old age calls thee in. It is a protection for life.

Matthew Henry 

Looking Back November 2022

 

 

I worked really hard to change the decor from October to November.....

At left, Rebekah is dressed as Fancy Nancy and on her way to school (everyone was to dress as their favorite book character).  The Garnett Borns were busy in November finishing Rebekah's beautiful new sea-themed room (get a load of the closet shelves and drawers custom built by Jonathan).

Grandpa Johnnie's 96th birthday, November 26, 2022

When I go for walks I must protect my face and be careful not to get overheated because of rosacea and ocular rosacea and a bunch of other weird things with my eyes.  So, I look like the invisible woman.  

Atypically for me I did not take photos of our Thanksgiving food or table.  We had a pleasant day but missed the rest of the family (Covid strikes again).  

Isaac donned this Santa hat sometime in November and to my knowledge, did not remove it until mid-January.  

We got our flu shots on November 3. I chose to get the "under 65" dose because of my overreaction to some vaccinations.  

Grandson, Daniel came down with Covid November 7.  I made chicken noodle soup and homemade bread for him.  

Son Jonathan flew to Orlando on a business trip on November 6.  While he was there a hurricane approached his location (ironically it was hurricane Nicole...).   He got out just ahead of the hurricane and arrived home to find his wife, Nicole, very sick with a stomach virus.  And then the very next day, the 10th, Jonathan closed on a major purchase. They kept my prayer list active this month!

On the 11th I ande a big pot of stew and took supper to the Rausch family.  

On the 14th I had a well checkup and blood tests found I was low thyroid and high cholesterol.  I upped my dose of Thyroid meds which ought to help the cholesterol reading also; here's hoping.  It took awhile for the higher dose to help but by the beginning of December, the debilitating exhaustion had lifted.  

The Rausch family recovered from Covid in time for Thanksgiving but the Garnett Borns were going down one at a time with that stomach virus.  So it was a nice but quiet Thanksgiving.  

On the 25th I put up not one, but TWO Christmas trees.  

We attended a 96th birthday celebration for Johnnie on November 26th; Irma and Amy hosted a breakfast for him.  Sweet photo ops.  

Toward the end of the month I was wrapping presents and filling the freezer for December gatherings.  

Food prepped this month (I see I need to branch out with my soup varieties--I seem to stick pretty close to the basics):  

• Stew
• Chicken noodle soup
• homemade bread
• Thanksgiving food--turkey, sausage/cranberry stuffing, and mashed potatoes were made ahead and frozen.  If you cover the sliced turkey with broth and thaw it gently, it is better after having been frozen than it was straight out of the oven.  It is a little like brining/marinating after the meat is cooked rather than before.  Moist and tender.  
• Vegetable soup
• Breadsticks
• "Grammy" cupcakes--egg and dairy free, double chocolate, somehow they are moist and yummy (recipe follows).  
• Mel's birthday peach cobbler

****

Dairy and Egg Free Cupcakes

 Chocolate, Spice, or Lemon 

 

·      1 and 2/3 cups all purpose flour

·      1 cup brown sugar or granulated sugar (for lemon, use granulated)

·      ¼ cup cocoa (for lemon or spice, substitute ¼ c. vanilla instant pudding)

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      ½ teaspoon salt

·      1 cup water (for lemon, use 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, then enough water to make 1 cup)

·      1/3 cup vegetable oil

·      1 teaspoon white vinegar (omit for lemon)

·      ½ teaspoon vanilla (omit for lemon, add ½ teaspoon lemon zest)

·      ½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips (omit in lemon or spice)

·      For spice only: add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

 

Frosting ingredients are approximate.  

 

Chocolate frosting:  

½ cup earth balance or less, softened

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt

Enough water to make spreading consistency, whip with electric mixer until fluffy.  

 

Spice frosting:  

½ cup earth balance or less, softened

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon vanilla and ½ teaspoon maple flavoring

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

Enough water to make spreading consistency, whip with electric mixer until fluffy.  

 

 

Lemon glaze:  

¼ cup. instant vanilla pudding, dry mix

Juice from 1 lemon

About 2 cups powdered sugar

About ½ cup Earth Balance, melted

About 2 Tbsp. H20, stir by hand to bring to thick glaze consistency.  

Looking Back October 2022

 

Blast from the past--three year old Daniel in one of my all time favorite October photos.  

On October 1 I made a huge pot of stew to share and John worked on the brakes of the truck we call "The Trilobyte" (because when we bought it, used, there was a sticker of a fossil on the back window that I said was a trilobyte).  

We watched the Chief's game with the Rausch family on the 2nd, and that was an experience!  So much fun--the boys jumped up and played football at every commercial break, and there were touchdown dances!  

John began hauling cattle to the Emporia sale on October 4th.  

October 15th was cattle moving day.  I had the kids here for chili and cinnamon rolls. I had a migraine aura and then a headache and so couldn't participate in the cattle drive.  

I made a Pioneer woman gift basket for the UMW auction.,  

The little boys were here for lunch on the 26th.  

Had my annual physical in Topeka on the 27th.  

We celebrated Isaac and Jonathan's birthdays on October 22 with the very last roast in the freezer until we butcher in March.  

Jon and Nic here for lunch on the 29th on their way to see Lyle Lyle Crocodile!  

I made chili and cinnamon rolls and took to Brian and Melinda's for Halloween.  Jon and Nic did Trunk or Treat at their church with truly amazing costumes (see above).  

October food, in part:  

• Stew
• Apple pie
• Meatloaf
• 2 batches cookies
• 2 batches of chili
• Cinnamon swirl bread
• Cinnamon rolls
• Homemade pizza
• 5 pounds of seasoned hamburger for the freezer
• Made cookies
• 2 gallons (!) of vegetable soup 
• 2 loaves homemade bread