Love Songs to Melt your Butter

Everyone has a love song that makes their toes curl.

Actually, I have a few:

Amazed by Lonestar

I Will Be Here by Steven Curtis Chapman

I Don't Want To Live Without Your Love by Chicago

OK, OK, my itunes playlist for favorite love songs is 72 songs long, starting at Unchained Melody and ending with Marvin Gaye.

So what's the deal with love songs?

The lyrics to Chicago's "I Don't Want to Live Without Your Love" explode with the feelings I had when I became starkly aware of my walk without God:

Thought it wouldn't matter

If we didn't stay together

And if it was over,

Baby, it was for the better

I was thinking I'd be all right

'Til I thought it all through

Now I know that I ain't really living

If I have to live without you

I don't wanna live without your love

I don't wanna face the night alone

I could never make it through my life

If I had to make it on my own

I don't wanna love nobody else

I don't wanna find somebody new

I don't wanna live without your love

I just wanna live my life with you

Guess I had to go away

So much I had to go through

Guess I had to lose you

To realize how much I love you

Can we make the fires burn again?

Burn a little stronger

'Cause I've been alone, and baby I can't be alone any longer

I challenge you...google the lyrics to some of your favorite love songs. Yes, they do bring up warm feelings of your husband, first kiss, etc.

But really READ them.

There is almost always a deep longing, an ache for unconditional love.

If you know my story, you are also aware of the crazy paths I took, the promises made, covenants crushed. At the end of the day (not the end of the story), I ran back to the arms of my Heavenly Father.

What are you longing for?

Who are you running to? Who are you running from?

Who are you living for?

Recently, my friend Jeanine forwarded a song to our Bible study. It paints a sweet picture of the greatest love story ever...and I am the Beloved to whom the song is referring. Yes, me!

Best part is that you can claim that for yourself. You! It's His love song for you, for me.

Here it is.

Enjoy, Beloved.

One of my favorite websites is raisinghomemakers.com. They sometimes run great giveaways, but (in my opinion) today's was exceptionally good!

Check out the link & sign yourself up- you may score the "prize"!!!

http://raisinghomemakers.com/2010/voices-from-the-past-a-delightful-give-away/comment-page-1/#comment-11973

Blessed by Friends

Our friend, DS, came over today to bless us with his handiwork. My husband & I agree that DS is a master perfectionist with drywall....our basement is coming together! I almost cried when I stepped downstairs tonight. We haven't had official walls up for 2 years (since the flooding).

After a great dinner out with great friends, we are relaxing at home. Tomorrow's dinner is in the crockpot & I am getting ready to cut a pattern for some pajamas for C. Tomorrow morning I need to be at O'Hare to pick up Tman-yay!! We have missed him so much.

Our Menu

We are stuffed.
That's all I have to say about that.
Here is the run down of our menu:

Roast Turkey
Pernil (Puerto Rican pork dish)
Puerto Rican rice
Savory stuffing
Stuffing with apples
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Relish
Sweet Potato Casserole
Corn Souffle
Green Salad with Apples, Nuts & Poppyseed Dressing
Crescent Rolls
Baked Yams

German Chocolate Cake
Red Velvet Cake
Pumpkin Pie
Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Berry & Cream Trifle
Cherry Salad
Caramel Pecan Pie
Mexican Sweet Rolls

What a spread!

One of the best parts of the evening was when Tom said the blessing. It was wonderful to be surrounded by family & friends who love the Lord and recognize that He is our Saviour & Provider.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Brine the Bird

Following is an easy recipe for brining your Thanksgiving turkey. The salt solution effectively breaks down the proteins, resulting in tender, moist meat. Science aside, a brined turkey is amazingly delicious.

Here is the recipe I used for my (almost) 22 lb. bird, with photos:

2-32oz. catons vegetable or chicken stock

1.5 gallons cold water

1 can apple juice concentrate

2 cups sea salt

coarse ground pepper

2 sprigs rosemary

2 tsp. savory (optional)

In very large stockpot, combine salt, juice concentrate and 4 cups water. Bring to boil & cook until salt is dissloved. Add rest of ingredients and let cool to room temperature.

Now comes the (sometimes) messy part. I would recommend clearing everything out of your sink. Use a food grade plastic bag, like the Reynold's turkey bag here. Place bag in a container that is sufficient to hold your turkey. (I used a large plastic dish tub; sometimes a canning pot works well). Rinse your thawed turkey and remove everything from cavity. Place turkey, breast side down into your plastic bag. Slowly pour cooled brine over turkey.

You want to be sure that the entire turkey is sumerged in the brine. Tightly tie your bag closed. I then placed the white plastic tub in the garage so the brine could work its magic overnight!

Make SURE that you have no holes in your bag. Yours truly did not do that & I am sparing everyone from the pictures of that mess.

My 22 lb turkey will cook in about 2 hours. After rinsing the bird, I will give him a massage with a bit of butter and place him in a roasting bag and my big roaster. The brine greatly reduces cooking time, so watch your bird. In addition, rinse carefully before cooking so that your drippings will not be salty.

Here is the carmel-pecan pie I made while the brine was cooling. My pumpkin pie is cooking now. It is very chilly out today, but it's toasty in the kitchen & our home smells like Thanksgiving!

Caramel Pecan Pie recipe link from Southern Living. (I did sub dark brown sugar for white).

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001120407

Two Favorite Sweet Recipes

With good reason, Clone of a Cinnabon is one of the most popular recipes on allrecipes.com. I have halved the recipe with excellent results. They are sooooooo yummy. When we had a crew in our basement digging a sump pump, I made a batch. The guys practically inhaled them and pronounced them the best ever. This recipe is foolproof and I always have consistent results.
They would make a wonderful breakfast surprise for Thanksgiving guests.
Here is the link:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clone-of-a-Cinnabon/Detail.aspx

Following is my sugar cookie recipe that many request from me. I am always happy to pass it along as I think it makes the most delicious sugar cookies that hold their shape.

Susan's Sugar Cookies
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 generous tsp. vanilla
6 cups flour, sifted
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well. Add dry ingredients slowly, mixing until dough forms ball. Do not over beat. Separate into 3 disks and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let chill in fridge for about an hour. You want firm dough, but not rock hard.
Flour work surface and roll out dough. Cut with cutters and place shapes on parchment lined baking sheet. Place baking sheet in fridge about 15 minutes. (Chilled, cut shapes will hold their shape much better than room temp. dough).

Bake about 10 minutes in 325 oven.

Frost with royal icing (if desired) and let dry about 6-8 hours. Enjoy!

Right now I am waiting on a cookie order to bake. I have 6 trays chilled that I am baking in shifts. A repeat order of Irish dancing shoe cookies. My head is throbbing and the boys are sleeping on the couch (snoring, actually) and I will admit that I am a wee bit jealous.

However, I was excited when I discovered that I could download the Beatles on itunes. I am listening to my 2 favorite old school Beatles songs: If I Fell and And I Love Her. My parents can verify that I loved listening to my dad's old Beatles vinyl when I was growing up. Wish I could scan in a picture of my old royal blue record player...good memories.
Happy Sunday!

Countdown to Thanksgiving

That's right. This time next week we will be in a food coma from all the delicious food. We are fortunate to spend the day at Claudia & Richie's home.

There will be food galore and not just "I'll-have-a-helping-just-to-be-polite" food, but REALLY amazing dishes. My brother-in-law is Puerto Rican and we will be having turkey and lechon (roasted pork) for the main course. Marisa, my sister-in-law, makes my favorite side: her special cranberry sauce. She has a unique recipe that is loaded with cranberries, apricots, nuts and heavy on the clove flavor...soooo good. Enrique's mom is a wonderful cook and she is making stuffing!!

Our family is contributing turkey, corn souffle and a dessert. A giant 20+ pound turkey is waiting quietly in our deep freeze. Of course, I will be brining it-not sure if I will try a new brine recipe...any suggestions? As for dessert...hmm...so much fun to thumb through my stacks of cookbooks. Everyone likes pumpkin roll. Maybe a twist on pecan pie??

Claudia & Richie are some of the most hospitable people I have ever met. Not only do they open their home to family, but they have offered their home as a safe haven for friends that need a place during transitions. Extremely gracious, fun and warm. They are a living example of the verse 1 Peter 4:9.

Thanksgiving does have one downside for me. It is the holiday that T always spends with his father in DC & we miss him terribly. I am thankful, however, that he has a father who loves him & looks forward to spending time with him.