A New Favorite

I love trying new recipes.  I love reading recipes, just for fun.  Demented, huh?  Matt often wonders why I stress over planning meals.  He would be fine if every Monday was spagetti, every Tuesday was burritos, every Wednesday was hamburgers, etc.  And as much as I enjoy those things, I just plain get bored with cooking the same things over and over.  I like to try new things, or new variations on old things.  So I really love the TOH magazine subscription my Mom has been giving me for the past few years.  Some magazines I get a few new recipes or ideas from, some I get a lot.  And some have been added to my "favorites:  make regularly" list.

In my most recent mag, I found a recipe for Tomato-Herb Focaccia that I wanted to try.  So I made it for our Easter get-together.  Oh my goodness, it was so good!!!  And it smells incredible, even while just mixing it. =)  It has definitely become a new favorite.  I've only made it twice now, but it's one of those I'm tempted to make weekly, just because it is so yummy!

So, I thought I'd share it with you:


Tomato Herb Focaccia (from TOH)

1 pkg (1/4 oz) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp each: dried oregano, thyme and rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
dash pepper
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzerella cheese
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Add 1 Tbsp oil, salt, sugar, garlic powder, herbs, pepper and 1 1/2 cups flour.  Beat until smooth.  Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Placed in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down.  Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.  Shape into a 9 x 13 inch rectangle; place on a greased baking sheet.  Cove and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.  With fingertips, make several dimples over top of dough.
Brush dough with 1 Tbsp oil; arrange tomatos over the top.  Sprinkle with cheeses.  Bake at 400* for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove to a wire rack.

Enjoy! =)

Easter 2011

Ok, so I know I'm a little behind, but better late than never, right?
For Easter we got together with Kate and Phil, who are good friends of ours.
Our original plan was to have a nice Easter lunch after church, and the kids would have an egg hunt.  However both Justin and Julianne came down sick on Saturday.  They were doing better by Sunday morning, but we kept them both home from church.  Then, to give Justin and Julianne some more time to make sure they were over whatever it was that they had, we postponed our Easter meal until the evening.  But it turned out to be a nice evening with friends.  The kids enjoyed their Easter egg hunt, and it was nice to just hang out with dear friends.
(all pictures courtesy of Phil, as we forgot our camera!)

Determined to not crack a smile for the camera!

Easter dinner with Simeon and Joshua

Bread

Today was a bread-making day.  I had lots of things I wanted/needed to make.  So while the kids played playdough for a while, I mixed up my cinnamon raisin bagels and strawberry muffins.  Then I made a bunch of crescent rolls for dinner.

Keeping busy while I baked

But after a while of playing playdough, they wanted to come 'help'

Blessings

I'm so thankful for these little ones!  Sometimes they exasperate me.  Sometimes they annoy me with their fighting or bad attitudes.  Sometimes they make me practically roll on the floor from laughter.  They exhaust me.  They motivate me.  But I wouldn't give up one minute of the time I have with them.



 




 

Struggles

This week has been a very hard one for me, emotionally.  A friend, who shared a due date with me, lost her baby earlier this week (at almost 16 weeks).  This was her third miscarriage, and I know I wasn't the only one praying fervently that this little one would grow healthy and strong and LIVE!

So not only was it heartbreaking to hear that she had miscarried, but I must admit that I have been angry.  Angry at God for letting this happen, for not letting her baby live, for letting down her 6 year old daughter who had prayed this baby into existance.  I know God is all-knowing and He knows what is best for all of us, and lets us experience hard times to grow us, but part of me is just mad.  Why does she (and her family) have to go thru this hurt all over again?

I've been struggling with guilt too.  Why do I get to walk around with my massively huge (or at least it feels that way!) pregnant belly when hers is now empty?  I've seen her "across the way" a few times in the last few days, and while part of me wants to just go hug her and cry with her, even more of me wants to just turn invisible.  I feel like I am this (ever increasingly) large reminder to her of what she's lost.  And I'm ashamed/guilty to ever come into her line of vision (which of course, I can't avoid, living on a small center and being in the same Bible study and all that).

I don't always understand.  Almost all of my friends have either gone thru a miscarriage or struggled with infertility at some level.  It's so hard sometimes to walk around pregnant with a not-intentionally-planned gift, when so many of my friends are grieving and struggling. 

Anyway, I guess I've vented enough for now.

Today I felt like a missionary...

I mean, who else makes their own powdered sugar?

It was actually ridiculously simple, it just took time and dirtied more dishes (and was an extra step to add in to the dessert I was making).

After my many years of living in PNG,  I will never, ever take for granted walking into a massive grocery store and being able to get anything and everything I could ever need!

A Special Gift

A number of years ago, when Kaitlyn was pretty tiny, we recieved a special gift from Gramma Taylor (Matt's Grandma).  She sent us a package with Resurrection Eggs.

I had never heard of them at that time, and I'm ashamed to say I didn't really give them a second thought.  They sat in our cupboard for several years, before I once again remembered that I had them.  By that time, we had a couple more kids, and Kaitlyn and Nathan were older.  But I finally got them out of the cupboard and remembered to use them during the weeks leading up to Easter.

Am I ever glad I did!  It is a fun, easy-to-understand way for the kids to really get a good understanding of what Easter is all about.  And a good reminder for me too, as it helps me pause and think about all our Saviour willingly went thru, just so we could know Him and recieve his salvation.  And I'm so thankful to Gramma (who has since passed away) for her thoughtful gift.  Each year we get those Resurrection eggs out and do them together as a family.  Two years ago, it was even more special as when we finished reading and opening the last empty egg on Easter Sunday morning, Nathan decided to give his life to Jesus!

So Resurrection Eggs are becoming an Easter tradition in the Taylor household.