Focaccia Bread

This is a simple recipe that Don and I love. I got it from allrecipes.com but have added a few touches of my own. It is delicious with spaghetti, soup and lots of other things. We like to tear off pieces and dip them in olive oil sprinkled with a little freshly-cracked black pepper.

1 tsp. white sugar
1 (.25 oz) pkg. active dry yeast (or 2-1/4 tsp.)
1/3 c. warm water (110° F)
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 T. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt

In a small bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with flour; stir well to combine. Stir in additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the flour is absorbed. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead briefly for about 1 minute.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 475°.

Deflate the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface; knead briefly. Pat or roll the dough into a sheet and place it on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush the dough oil and sprinkle with salt. (I press indentations in it with the end of a wooden spoon. I sprinkle it with kosher salt and rosemary.)

Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes (longer if you like it crispier).

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Yum!

Things I Love About Fall

While I always dread winter, I do enjoy fall. Here are some of my favorite things about it:

1) The view from my kitchen window: 2) It brings back memories of my high school band days, spending chilly Friday evenings at football games and sunny, crisp Saturdays at marching competitions.

3) Pumpkins.

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4) Hayrides and bonfires, together or separately. I don't get to do either of these things too often, but it's always a treat when I do, and fall is the perfect time to do them.

5) Apples. This includes caramel apples, hot spiced cider, Southern Fried Apples, apple crisp, apple pie, and just plain ol' apples, maybe dipped in peanut butter.

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6) Taking walks, especially with the whole family, especially in the woods or a park.

7) Watching Don wrap the dogs up in their "blankies" every night. He does this when the weather gets cooler, and they generally stay that way all night, sleeping between the two of us. They don't look rotten, do they?

Our Monster Family

A little "monster" fun, from our family to yours.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Band Concert

My community band is having our fall concert this coming Monday night, the 26th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Mt. Juliet High School auditorium. Admission is $5 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. Hope to see you there!

Snake!

I just looked out my front window and saw this:Now, as women go, I am not too squeamish about this sort of thing, but this was right next to my front porch, which is right over a closet in our (finished) basement. It seemed to be crawling out of a crack in the porch as I watched. Where would this crack go but into our basement?

Just so you'll know, if I find this thing in my basement, I'm moving to Hawaii, where there are supposedly no snakes. Nice knowing ya.

Red Robin

After the movie, we went to Red Robin for dinner. They had sent me a coupon for a free dinner for my birthday.

Though they have other things too, this restaurant is best known for their burgers, which are far from ordinary. I had an A-1 Peppercorn burger, which had pepper jack cheese, bacon, onion straws, an A-1 based sauce, and tomatoes (none for me, thanks), on an onion bun. It was delicious! All of their sandwiches come with "bottomless" fries, though the burgers are so big I have never needed a second helping. They have a seasoning salt on the tables that is very good on the fries.

Don had a Bruschetta Chicken Burger, which had grilled chicken, pesto sauce, balsamic cream, provolone cheese, salsa, parsley and lettuce. His fries were embellished with garlic, parmesan cheese and parsley. He let me try one or two, and they were very tasty!

If you've never tried this restaurant, I encourage you to check it out if there's one in your area. The prices are reasonable (around $10 for a burger and fries), the atmosphere is fun, and the food is delicious!

Where the Wild Things Are

Don and I celebrated my birthday today. We were hoping to go to the firing range or maybe to play putt-putt, but alas, the day was cold and dreary, so we decided to go to a movie. There were none we particularly wanted to see, so we chose “Where the Wild Things Are,” just because we thought it would be clean and wholesome.

Well, it was pretty clean, but that was about all either of us could say about it. It was loosely based on the children’s book by Maurice Sendak, but I realize now that it isn’t really a book that was ever meant to be a movie. The movie had a cast of depressed characters, who never really resolved their issues. Don used the words “existential” and “godless” to describe it. I wouldn’t consider it very suitable for children, but not exactly exciting for adults either.

Oh well. We had a fun date anyway, but if you’re thinking of going to see that movie, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

Keep Singing

One of my favorite worship songs is "How Can I Keep from Singing," by Chris Tomlin. I've been trying to get our worship team at church, which I am a part of, to try it one Sunday. So far, they haven't gotten around to it, so this week I decided that maybe if I did an arrangement of it for flute, piano and vocals, that would prompt them.

I am by no means a professional arranger, but I came up with something that I thought was pretty good, 8 pages long on my Finale software. It took me about 15 hours to do, over the course of several days. I listened to it over and over, trying to get it just perfect. About the time I did (at least by my standards), something happened. I still don't know exactly what, but my music was gone, all but the first page. I couldn't see it on the screen, and I couldn't pull up the file. I found a backup on my hard drive, but I couldn't pull that up either.

Needless to say, I was not happy about this. Devastated would be a better word. But then God reminded me of the lyrics to the song: "I know I am loved by the King, and it makes my heart want to sing," and "I can sing in the troubled times . . ." It is about praising God in everything, good and bad, because He loves us. He has saved me, and I will live eternally with Him, and that is far more important than any earthly thing. Even 15 hours of work being lost.

So I kept singing.

A couple of hours later, I decided to go ahead and try to recreate it as well as I could while it was still fresh on my mind. I pulled up what was left of it, and behold, it was all there! All 8 pages!

I can't explain what happened, but I know God was teaching me to praise Him even in hard times. They don't always turn out the way this did, but He always uses them to work together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28)!

A Funny Video

I don't post things like this too often, and it's only 42 seconds, but this is FUNNY. It made me laugh out loud at 6:30 in the morning, and that was before I'd even had my coffee!

Goodwill

What do you do when you need some new fall clothes but have a very limited budget? Go to Goodwill! I've discovered that they have 99-cent sales on Wednesdays and Sundays, so in the past week I have gotten 1 dress, 1 blouse, 3 sweaters, 2 pairs of pants and 4 T-shirts for $10.89 (there is no tax on used clothing).

Can you tell I like red and black?

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Of course, I will wash everything before I wear it, but it's all clean (no spots) and in good condition. They have dressing rooms there to try things on, so I knew it fit before I bought it.

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I hesitated to post pictures because now when you see me wearing these things you'll know where they came from, but oh well! I'm a bargain shopper and I'm not ashamed!

Skipping Sunday School

They should have been in Sunday School. But selfishly, I wanted their company, so I didn’t bother to mention it. One was home on leave from military school. The other we had had some conflict with in the past, and I occasionally need reassurance that it has been completely mended.

Don and I were assigned to nursery duty yesterday at church. We had two baby girls to care for, easy enough, but for some reason, two high school boys, both seniors, decided to come join us there. The hour flew by as we all just hung out and chatted. Don and I worked with the youth a few years ago, so I still have an attachment to the kids.

They told us about their girlfriends, their future plans and their experiences at school and work. They played with the babies and helped us keep them entertained. I saw that they were growing into men, men who are responsible and who have a heart for God. And it brought me joy.

If anyone gets after us for not sending them to Sunday School, I’ll take the blame. Some things can be more important than Sunday School.

Another Year

If you're VERY observant, you may notice that I changed "42" to "43" years old in my "About Me" section. Yes, another year has passed, and today I celebrate its passing. I am thankful for each year of life God gives me.

Today will likely be uneventful. I have already celebrated with my family, and Don and I are celebrating next Saturday since we have a church dinner tonight. Still I am thankful . . . that I had 30 e-mails this morning, most of them "happy birthday" wishes, and that doesn't count the ones I have already gotten, in addition to cards and other gifts and wishes. God has blessed me with wonderful family and friends, and that in itself is a reason to celebrate!

Are They Serious?

I apologize in advance. I try not to put people down on my blog, but I am in disbelief right now. Barack Obama has won a Nobel Peace Prize?

WHY??

According to this article: http://www.wsmv.com/politics/21248290/detail.html,

The new president was hailed for his willingness to reach out to the Islamic world, his commitment to curtailing the spread of nuclear weapons and his goal of bringing the Israelis and Palestinians into serious, fruitful negotiations.

So basically, nothing has been accomplished. The prize is based on his potential accomplishments. His election, as far as I can tell, was similarly based, and so far, as well as I can tell, all he has done is drive our country deeper into debt, weaken our military and threaten our freedom. What's more, the deadline for the nominations for this prize was only days after he first took office.

I appreciate that he is the first black president. I really do. I would have been happy to vote for a black man IF I THOUGHT HE WAS QUALIFIED FOR THE JOB. I would like to affirm that his color has nothing to do with how I feel about all this, except that I think some people are so enamored with the fact that he is black, that they are overlooking everything else.

Enough said.

Genghis Grill

My dad and I had lunch today at this Mongolian restaurant. I didn't even know what Mongolian food was, but the first time I tried it, I was hooked!

Essentially, you build your own stir-fry. It's set up sort of like a salad bar, and they give you a bowl, which you fill up with meats, vegetables and seasonings of your choice. Then you choose a sauce and hand it all over to the grillers, who cook it in front of you. You pick between several types of rice or noodles for them to serve it over, and then you can sprinkle it with chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, chow mein noodles, etc. They offer suggestions for combinations, or you can just be creative. There are chopsticks available if you want a more authentic eating experience.

It's fairly reasonably priced, around $9 for a "bowl." You can pay a little extra if you want a "bottomless bowl," which means you can have as many refills as you want. One is plenty for most people though. My problem is that the only two locations in the Nashville area are in Cool Springs and Hendersonville, neither of which is particularly close to me. Their website says there are more coming though.

They serve alcoholic beverages, if you're into that, and offer a dessert menu if you're still hungry after you eat your stir fry, which I never am. I think this restaurant is a good place for a family outing, a date, lunch or dinner with friends, or just about any situation.

The Lesser of the Two Evils

I'm a little psycho about using poisonous products: cleaning chemicals, bug killers, weed killers, etc. Anything that says something like "Caution: harmful or fatal if swallowed" can't be very good to breathe in, touch, etc. By the same token, I don't like putting flea treatment on my dogs. Anything that's designed to kill fleas can't be too good for dogs either, in my way of thinking. Even the external stuff soaks into their skin, working its way through their bodies, but it also gets on my hands when I pat them, and I put my hands in my mouth, etc.

Fortunately, for some reason, we haven't had much of a problem with fleas. Our dogs are mostly indoor dogs, though I do take them out several times a day, but they've never had enough fleas that I've bothered to use anything for it in recent years. Nash got tapeworms twice in the past year, though, which can be caused by fleas. The last time he did, the vet talked me into buying a dose of Frontline for each of them. It was $17 a pop, but I didn't use it because I didn't see any fleas on them.

Until recently, that is. I cut their hair last week, so I can see more skin, and Dasha has flea residue all over her. Occasionally I see one crawling on her. Nash's hair is much thicker and darker, so I haven't seen any on him, but he is scratching a lot. So, with strong encouragement from Don, I put the Frontline on both of them this morning. I am watching them carefully to make sure they don't have any adverse reaction to it. So far they haven't, thankfully.

Am I a nutcase? Doesn't it make sense that poisons are harmful to us and to our pets? Look at how the cancer rate is skyrocketing, and the medical community acts like they're clueless about what's causing it. I think there are a lot of things we use that are considered "safe," but we have no clue what their long-term effects may be. We don't put 2 and 2 together.

Anyway. I'm just sayin'. I'll use these products if I have to, if I think their benefits outweigh their potential harmful effects, but I will continue to try to avoid them as much as possible.

Swiffer

This is nothing new, but it's a nifty little gadget.

(I stole this picture from their website, but I hope they'll forgive me since I am, after all, promoting their product for them at no charge.)

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Just pop on a cleaning cloth, wet or dry, and "swiff" away! (I think I've created a new verb.)The head rotates, so it easily slides under hard-to-reach places. (Please ignore the crud on my bread machine and my mixer.)

The wet cloths aren't quite as effective as mopping, but for a quick clean-up, I think Swiffers are great!

Boldness

We are studying the book of Acts in my Bible study, and this week we were on Chapter 4. Peter had just healed the lame man in the name of Jesus and was using the opportunity to preach the good news of the gospel. Along came the priests and Saducees, "greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Peter and John were arrested even as the number of believers continued to grow.

While on trial the next day, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly stood before those who opposed him, proclaiming Jesus as the only way to find salvation, amazing the men who recognized that these uneducated men must have been with Jesus. They couldn't charge them with any crime, but ordered them not to speak anymore in Jesus' name. They answered that they must do what God told them, not men.

The next section is interesting. They were released and went back to their friends and told their story. Their friends prayed for them, not for relief or protection, but for more boldness to speak! God's response was to shake the place where they were gathered, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit "and continued to speak the word of God with boldness."

Our leader challenged us with this. Do we as Christians in America today have anywhere near this amount of boldness? If we did, would things be happening as they are today? Would our rights be taken away from us, one after the other, as they have been in recent years?

Atheists are speaking out boldly. Prayer has been taken out of schools. There is talk of having "under God" taken out of the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" taken off of our currency. Even Christian radio is being threatened.

Should we just sit back and take it all? Or should we stand up boldly and proclaim God's truth? I think if enough Christians did this, we would make an impact on all that is going on. Thankfully, we haven't reached a point where we will be thrown into prison or killed for speaking our faith, so we have a lot less to lose in this country than Christians in the past or in other parts of the world do.

I challenge you to join me in praying for boldness to proclaim my faith and to stand up for the name of Jesus!