Homemaking

What’s in the Bible? Christmas Blog Tour and Giveaway

Recently one of my favorite authors, Randy Alcorn, blogged about a new video series for kids from Veggie Tales creator Phil Vischer. What's In the Bible? is a 13-DVD series designed to walk kids and families through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. After watching the first video with his grandson, Randy Alcorn wrote:

I was impressed with the depth of biblical background and commentary on God’s great drama of redemption. Yet it’s so engaging to children and adults (namely me) that it remained fun and entertaining throughout. My grandson Matt retained a great deal of the material, bringing it up days later. What a remarkable combination of entertainment and biblical substance. I envision parents learning God’s Word right alongside their children, leading to spiritually significant conversations, and heightened interest in Bible study, something we desperately need. I applaud Phil Vischer’s efforts, and eagerly look forward to watching more of “What’s in the Bible” with my grandchildren…and when they’re not available, maybe by myself!

With an endorsement like this, we were eager to let girltalk readers know about these videos and participate in What's in the Bible? blog tour: 12 Questions of Christmas. Today we present video 11 of 12. Check out www.whatsinthebible.com to find the location of tomorrow's video (as well as previous videos) in the series.

Who is Immanuel, and what does he have to do with Christmas?



The kind folks at What's in the Bible? have graciously given us four copies of video #1: "In the Beginning" to giveaway to girltalk readers. Contact us before 10pm today and tell us (in one or two sentences) about the child(ren) you'd like to give this video to, and we'll announce four winners tomorrow.

What's In The Bible? DVDs 1-4 (Genesis - Ruth) are available now. Check out www.whatsinthebible.com to learn more.

We Want Your Christmas Ideas

We here at girltalk headquarters (four girls with our lap-tops in our kitchens) thought it would be fun to get some Christmas tradition ideas from you. I treasure the memories my mom provided for us at Christmastime, and I want to do the same for my kids now.
 
So here is what we want from you…flood our inbox with your favorite Christmas Eve or Christmas morning traditions. It could be one that you are currently doing with your family or one of your favorites from growing up. We will choose some of your fabulous ideas and post them by the end of this week so that you can actually use them this year!
 
Sounds like a great plan, I know! Contact us, and here in our kitchens, I mean, at headquarters, we will get busy.

A Gift Idea…

...for those hard-to-buy-for guys on your list:

Don't Waste Your Sports by CJ Mahaney

www.dontwasteyoursports.com

Sitting Out the Holidays

It's the first day of December and the Christmas rush is upon us. But we don't have to get caught up in Christmas craziness. We can choose, instead, to make it our first duty of each day to seek God through His Word and prayer. Last year we ran a series, "Sitting Out the Holidays", and I've reposted the links below (or you can download and print this pdf file). We hope these articles encourage you to make your Christmas season full of sweet communion with the Savior.

Sitting Out the Holidays

A Martha Moment

Another Martha Moment

To Do List of One

For Our Profit

Profitable For Mom

Location Location Location

A Matter of Life

Sitting Says Something

The Gift of Peace

A Good Meal

How We Sit

Dispensing With Distractions

Plan A Time

Place and Method

Advent Calendars

Even though we're all busy preparing for Thanksgiving in two days, December 1 is only a week away. Since so many of you have asked, I'm re-posting some advent calendar ideas from last year. Apparently both the links were broken, but they've been fixed below. Enjoy!

A few years ago, Mom bought each of our families a wooden advent calendar. My children love to open a new door each day to find a piece of candy and a Scripture about the Christmas story. Steve reads the verses aloud while the kids listen attentively, their mouths full of chocolate and nougat.
 
In the past, I’ve used this simple Christmas countdown and references. This year, now that Jack’s older, I’m adapting this schedule of longer readings that begin with the Old Testament prophecies. As the days march toward Christmas, I want my kids to connect, in some small way, to the centuries of longing for the Messiah. 
 
I’ve also pulled Nancy Guthrie’s Come Thou Long Expected Jesus off the bookshelf and placed it in my basket of quiet time stuff. I didn’t mark it up, as I do most of my books, so I can enjoy the daily readings afresh each year.
 
For my children, and for myself, I don’t want “the busyness of [the Christmas season]…to crowd out a quiet anticipation of the wonder of incarnation.” I want the glories of God become man to illuminate and outshine all our Christmas joys.

Thanksgiving is Coming!

With little Hudson arriving on Friday, we girls were busy making all our Thanksgiving plans today. We were back and forth on the phone talking pies and potatoes and fun activities for the kids.

Our purpose behind all this planning is well-expressed by Noel Piper:

"Although we can’t bequeath God to our children, we can help them know him and understand him in ways that prepare them to believe in his name. ‘Everyday’ and ‘especially’ traditions in a family are an important part of that teaching, of picturing who God is and what he’s done in our home and in the world. Traditions are a vital way of displaying our greatest treasure, of showing what—Who—is most important to us."

For more on our simple family traditions, check out our Thanksgiving Countdown. This ten-part series includes thoughts on how to prepare your heart, your menu, and some memorable moments for your family.

May your efforts to show your family and friends WHO is most important to you, be truly blessed!

Marinara Sauce Recipe

I'm racing to get some meals in the freezer before my baby gets here (update coming soon). As you saw on 52home last week, Mom and I made a large batch of marinara sauce. Since you asked for the recipe, here it is. A longtime family favorite!

Basic Marinara Sauce

¼ cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, pressed

2 28 ounces cans whole tomatoes, preferably imported (give tomatoes a quick whirl in food processor)

1 12 ounce can tomato paste

½ cup fresh basil, finely chopped

¼ cup fresh oregano, finely chopped

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

 
In a large heavy pot, saute garlic in olive oil over medium high heat for about 1 minute.  Do not brown!  Add tomatoes and tomato paste.  Add remaining ingredients, adding parsley last, and simmer 20 minutes.

Meat Sauce Variation: Brown 1 pound meatloaf mix (ground beef, pork, and veal).  Drain.  Prepare marinara sauce as directed above.  Add meat mixture after adding the tomatoes.

Tomato Basil Soup

So many of you asked for the Tomato Basil Soup from Janelle's 52home picture the other day, so here it is. Enjoy!

La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup

4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
12 fresh basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1 stick (1/4 lb) of sweet unsalted butter
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

Simmer tomatoes in saucepan for 30 minutes. Puree, with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and add cream, butter, salt and pepper while stirring over low heat. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

More Than Dinner

“It helps to imagine an ornate gold frame. Pick it up (don’t worry; it’s only pretend) and place it around the image that appears when you say ‘supper at my house.’ Bet the picture you see is very specific: These are the seats we sit in, the things we discuss. Here is the person who shows up last. That is the bowl we use for the rice…. Sitting down to a meal together draws a line around us. It encloses us and, for a brief time, strengthens the bonds that connect us with the others members of [our family], shutting out the rest of the world.”

I love photography; that is why I love this quote. It tells you to stop for a minute and observe. To pull up the image of your family mealtime. Can you see it? It can seem so trivial: What’s the big deal? You rush around, trying to get everything hot and on the table at the same time. Everyone comes, eats, leaves and you clean up. However this author is challenging us to take a step backwards and take a long, slow look at this seemingly mundane activity. There is something more that happens here.

Mealtime is a gathering. The people you love the most come to the same place at the same time. Conversations happen; memories are made. There is laughter and tears. A strong family bond begins to form—a bond that grows stronger by doing it again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that.

The mundane has purpose. If it weren’t for the ordinary duties of food preparation and kitchen cleanup, than this moment, this mealtime, this bond, wouldn’t exist.

So the next time you make dinner, hang that “mealtime picture” on the wall of your mind while you grate the cheese and toss the salad. You are making much more than dinner.

--from the archives

Your Dream House

Speaking of dream houses, do you (like me) find yourself desiring what you do not have?

You may be longing for the day when you can move away from your parents or get rid of your roommates in exchange for a husband and home. Or maybe you can’t wait until you and your husband can finally afford to purchase a house rather than pay rent on an apartment. Or possibly you resent being stuffed into a small house with a large family. What you wouldn’t do for a larger dwelling place!

Do you (like me) find yourself tempted to be discontent with your home?

If so, then this counsel author Randy Alcorn once gave a discontent couple is for you (and me) today:

“When I was a pastor, a couple came to my office and told me they wanted to be able to give more money to the church and to missions. “But we’ve always had this dream for a beautiful home in the country,” they added, “and we can’t seem to shake it.  Is that wrong?”
          No it isn’t.  In fact, the dream of a perfect home is from God.  It’s just that such a dream cannot and will not be fulfilled in this life.  Our dream house is coming; we don’t have to build it here.  In fact, we can’t. (In Light of Eternity, pp. 155-156.)

We may never have that perfect home we desire here on earth. But “our dream house is coming!” It’s in heaven, waiting there for us, as Jesus promised: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2)

Dear Lord, may my mind and affections be set, not on the things of this earth, but on my eternal home in heaven where I will one day be with you. This is my ultimate dream house—and not just a dream, it is a certain hope! Thank you for the work of your Son on the cross, which brought me into your family, and, one day, will bring me into your home forever!

--from the archives

Getting Ready for Vacation

You know you have kids when you tell people that you will be leaving for vacation in “3 sleepies.” Obviously, we are on countdown here at the Bradshaw household; we’ll be heading to Tennessee on Sunday with the whole Mahaney clan.
 
If you are planning to take a vacation, and like me, need to prepare to serve others and glorify God, here are a few links from the girltalk and cheap seats archives you might find helpful:
 
First, check out my dad’s three part series on leadership and family vacations. You can leave it up on your computer screen for when your husband “happens” to walk by.
 
Then, for some easy vacation cooking ideas, you might like these recipes.
 
If you need a reminder to keep fighting remaining sin—which doesn’t take a vacation--this post by Nicole will encourage you to prepare accordingly.
 
You definitely don’t want to forget to make wonderful memories. Read about that here.
 
And the hardest part of vacation--coming home. This post will help ease you into normal life again.
 
I hope this little sampling serves you as you prepare for your trip. I’m signing off, because I only have 3 more sleepies to get ready!

Is It OK for Moms to Have Jobs Outside of the Home?

Last week, John Piper answered a question we get a lot--"Is it OK for mothers to work full-time outside the home?" We love his answer--full of grace and passionate to encourage women to view their home as a "launching pad for ministry and missions." He concludes with these comments:

"Those are the kind of dreams I want to offer the younger women that are coming along so that they don't think, "If I don't get a career and make lots of money and be equal with men in pay and time and everything, I've somehow sold out to something small or something that doesn't require intellectual capabilities. It is a great and glorious calling to be a mother and a homemaker and a wife and a neighborhood make-it-happen kind of person and a church minister. Who knows what God might be pleased to do."

You can read a transcript of John Piper's response at the Desiring God blog. Also, we did a short series last year in response to a question about the husband's responsibility in the home. You can check it out here.

May God give us all a bigger vision of how we can serve Him in and through our homes!

Bitter-Sweet Appetizer

It may be summer, but a cold March wind still blows through our hearts when we remember this year's Maryland v. Michigan State tournament basketball game.

Wearing Maryland red, the Mahaney family all crowded into Dad and Mom's living room. We were on our feet--bouncing up and down, calling out plays to the television as the Terps overcame a nine point deficit in the last two minutes to clinch the lead.

Then, with only a few seconds left, and Maryland ahead by two, the MSU player took one final three-point shot.

He made it.

We sat down, hands to our faces, and looked at each other in disbelief.

Did that just happen? 

"We are heartbroken," Dad emailed a friend and MSU fan. 

As sad as that day was (and still is), it had two redeeming aspects:

1. We were all together, and

2. Mom laid out a delicious spread.

One of the appetizers (which will always remind me of that game, but there is no reason you can't enjoy it) is a perfect summer starter. It will make a great lead-off to whatever you're cooking up for Father's Day.

And, if you would be so kind, observe a moment of silence for our Terps. Your dad will understand.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips
 
3 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and diced
12 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
                        
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
Melted butter
1 2/3 cups cinnamon sugar (1 1/3  cups sugar and 1/3 cup cinnamon)
 
Directions
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Granny Smith apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Brush one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter. Sprinkle buttered side with cinnamon sugar mixture. Then cut into wedges (with pizza cutter) and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

Yeah for Summer!

In case you hadn’t noticed, we get excited about the change of seasons here at girltalk. I guess it's because Mom—who grew up in Florida—never got over the wonder of how different each season is in Maryland. Some of that delight must have rubbed off on us girls. And we haven't lost it yet.

So as each season changes, we find ourselves writing about it on the blog. In fact, we started girltalk in June of 2005 and before the first week was up we wrote about—you guessed it!—summer!
 
Since then we’ve shared our favorite summer salads, summer shopping, summer pics, summer reads, simple summers, and even some interesting summer classes for men.
 
Two years ago, you all sent us enough summer ideas to fill a book!

Summer Meals

Summer Vacations
 
Summer Schedules
 
Summer Activities
 
Summer Goals and Projects
 
We love summer because, as John Piper says, “Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. He is preeminent in all things (Col. 1:18), including vacations, picnics, softball, long walks, and cookouts…. The summer sun is a mere pointer to the sun that will be: the glory of God. Summer is for seeing and showing that.”

In all you do, may you see and show the glory of God this summer.

Chocolate Cake in Milk

If you checked out the 52home picture from Monday, you saw a large piece of chocolate cake swimming in a bowl of milk. Makes me hungry just writing those words. My brother, Chad, was about to make quick work of that piece of cake.

I titled the picture, “Cake the Mahaney Way” to avoid confusion, but this tradition actually comes from my mom’s side of the family—it is “Cake the Layman Way.”

You see, my grandfather was raised on a dairy farm in rural Virginia, and for as long as I can remember Grandpa Layman would only eat his cake drowned in a bowl of milk. So his kids grew up eating cake that way, and now, so do his grandkids. Even Mike ate his cake this way the other night. I’m telling you, it’s catching!

The cake you saw in the picture is a family favorite: Sour Cream Fudge Cake. We got the recipe from our friend Valori. She’s the mother of five boys, so you know this cake has to be good! Per your request, we wanted to pass it along.

The bowl of milk is optional, but I’m saying give it a go!

Sour Cream Fudge Cake (PDF Version)

from Valori Maresco

1 c. butter

5 T. cocoa

1 c. water

2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1/2 c. sour cream

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. butter

5 T. cocoa

1/3 c. milk

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Bring the butter, cocoa and water to boil in a large pan. Remove from heat and add the flour, sugar and salt. Mix together the eggs, sour cream and baking soda; add to the mixture. Pour into a greased (13x9-inch) cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven. While the cake is baking, make the frosting by bringing the butter, cocoa and milk to a boil. Beat in the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Spread on the hot cake when it comes out of the oven.