Cooking with Pumpkin

Back in November I cooked and processed pumpkin to put in the freezer. 


I spent part of my Memorial Day fixing 2 different pumpkin desserts from one container of the frozen pumpkin.

Pumpkin Nut Cookies

70 cookies later

Recipe:  Pumpkin Nut Cookies

1/2 cup butter or shortening (I used shorting)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup pumpkin

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped nuts

Cream shortening; add sugar gradually.  Cream until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and pumpkin; mix well.  Sift flour, baking powder, salt and spices together.  Stir in dry ingredients and mix until blended.  Add raisins and nuts.  Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheets.

Bake in preheated 350 degreeF oven for approximately 15 minutes or until cookies are golden on edges and set in center.  Be careful not to overbake! -----------Make 4 dozen cookies  (I got 70 smaller ones)

NEXT I made 6 of these

Pumpkin Custard

1 cup canned or fresh pumpkin (I used my frozen pumpkin)

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed (I used regular brown sugar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon dark rum or 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used vanilla)

1 regular can evaporated milk (about 1 cup)

Beat the egg until foamy. - Combine all ingredients in a blender, food processor or Vitamix.  (I used my blender)  Pour into heatproof custard cups.  Set the custard cups into a shallow pan of hot water and bake in a preheated 325 degreeF over for about 40 minutes, or until custard tests done.

Note:  To test custard for doneness, insert a sharply pointed knife about 1 inch from the side of the cup.  Knife should come out clean, but center may still be unset and will continue to cook after removed from the oven.  

Mickey really loved the cookies.  Not so much the custard.  I'm trying very hard to leave the cookies alone, although I did taste them and they are very, VERY good.  I'll serve them to the WOW Woman tonight.

HAPPY PUMPKIN IN MAY !!!!

Both of these recipes were from Cooks.com

MARBLES

Now, what is this all about???!!!

I am quoting here from Connie's blog His Will And Not My Will  because this is there I got this great idea several weeks ago:  "I found an idea that I think might help encourage me and hopefully you also. Something that I can see from day to day. I put some colored Marbles in a glass. I put one for each pound that I still have to lose. I chose one color for these. "


Thank you Connie for posting this!  The minute I read it I thought: "Now that will work for me!"  I'm such a visual person and I just instantly connected with this idea.  You can just imagine the look on Mickey's face when I told him I wanted to buy some marbles!!  What??!!  So I explained the above.  For your information, finding marbles today is not that easy.  I did find some, not very pretty ones, at Dollar General but they'll work.


So I decided to set my goal at losing 20 lbs.  I need to lose more, but wanted to set a realistic goal that I truly believe I can reach.  So I got these two little canning jars.  Marked one: "To lose" and the other one: "Victory!".  I weighed on Saturday, May 12th, which was my starting weight and day.

One of the "rules" is you can only weigh once a week.  This has almost been as hard for me as watching what I'm eating!!!  My first week, Saturday the 19th I had lost 2 lbs.  YEAH!!!!  This past Saturday, the 26th, another 2 lbs.  YEAH!!!!!  So here are my two little jars, with my 16 lbs to go and my 4 lbs VICTORY!!  I think this will really work for me, because if I can'ts move a marble one week it'll jar me to "get with the program" and I am determined NOT to have to move a marble from my "Victory!" jar to my "To lose" jar.  That would be awful :o(

I am not actually doing any kind of "diet" just watching what I eat, eating more salads, cutting down on my breads, and mostly eating hardly ANY sweets, although I do allow myself a bit once in awhile!!  My biggest weight problem is snacking on cookies, sweets, chips, etc. during the day.  NO MORE on this losing this 20 lbs. 

I'm excited about this, because I know for me it is doable - One of the ladies in my Monday Bible Study I attend has lost 50 lbs the past year.  Seeing her has been a BIG encouragement to me.    

I got a great recipe for a Fat Loss Soup which I'll post the recipe later.

Accountability:  I not only have made myself accountable first of all to Mickey, but also to my WOW woman Tuesday night Bible Study at my house.  Even my son yesterday came in and looked to see how many marbles were in my Victory! jar.

Anyone want to join me????  If you do let me know and we'll keep each other accountable!! 

HAPPY WEIGHT LOSS~~~~~~~

Another Adventure

Here I am, getting set to head out to one of these exciting adventures of meeting a blog friend!

They had arrived here the previous evening.  

 This motel is new and I had never been in it before.  The entry area was lovely, as I'm sure the entire motel is.

NOW, for the good part:  

This is Sharon-she is from Nebraska and blogs under New Country Girl.  She is the 14th blogger I have been blessed to meet in real life.  As always I was not disappointed.  Even after 5 years and 4 months of blogging, it still amazes me the connections that we make via blogging.  

Sharon, and her son, DIL, and 2 grandsons made the trip to Tulsa as her granddaughter was graduating from Daniel Webster High School that evening.  That was interesting, as both Suzette & Jacque graduated from DWH many years ago!!.  This was Sharon's first time to visit Tulsa.  She had posted about the upcoming trip and I immediately contacted her and told her I'd love for us to meet if she could work it into their busy schedule.  Fortunately she did.

 We met at 9:30 and talked, and talked, and TALKED until almost noon.  I teased the waiter and asked him if they were going to charge us rent!  One thing I learned from talking with Sharon is how my referring to Coweta, where we live, as a small town needs to be put into a better reference.  Sharon lives in a small town, I think she said about 300.  I looked it up, after I got home, Sharon, and Coweta had a population of 9,943 in 2010.  A fact I now know, which I didn't !!, thanks to our visit. So compared to where Sharon lives, Coweta is not a little town.  The other things I learned is that Sharon has the prettiest pure blue eyes!!! and that she is very short!!

Sharon came bearing gifts!!!  I did not  :o( -  She gave me a lovely ribbon book mark that reads "A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17 and a refrigerator magnet that reads "Do not be afraid of tomorrow, for God is already there."  Thank you again, Sharon.

Sharon and I had already "connected" via the blog and now, thanks to actually getting to meet, that connection will be even deeper.

Thank you Father God for blessing me with these wonderful friends I would never have had except for Penless Writer.  I am grateful!!!

Joel Rosenberg Article Copied

This is such an important time in history and exciting things are happening!!! I wanted to share this Joel Rosenberg blog with you in case you missed it.

NETANYAHU HOSTS TWO-HOUR BIBLE STUDY IN THE BOOK OF RUTH: Says “the Bible is the foundation of our existence.”

Posted: May 25, 2012 in Uncategorized

You may recall that in December 2011, I posted a story from theJerusalem Post that gave me fresh hope about the future of Israel. “Taking a page out of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin’s playbook, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will begin hosting a regular Bible study group in his official residence for researchers, public officials and invited  guests,” reported thePost. “Netanyahu announced the establishment of the study circle on Friday at a ceremony marking 30 days since the passing of his father-in-law, Shmuel Ben-Artzi. The study group will be named after Ben-Artzi, a noted poet  and Bible teacher. Both Ben-Gurion and Begin, when they each served as  prime minister, hosted regular Bible study groups. Netanyahu said he was establishing the class to perpetuate love of the Bible.”

Apparently, it took awhile to make it all happen, and since then Mr. Netanyahu also experienced the death of his own father. But on Wednesday, Mr. Netanyahu, his wife, his sons, and several close friends and Jewish scholars kicked off their first home Bible study. It was scheduled to last for an hour, but went on for two — and focused on the Book of Ruth.

Today, the Post updated the story — here are some excerpts:

• “On Wednesday afternoon in Baghdad, a few thousand kilometers away from  the Prime Minister’s Jerusalem Residence, the world powers known as the  P5+1 – the US, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany – sat down for much anticipated talks with the Iranians about their nuclear program. At the same time, just a few hundred meters away from the Prime Minister’s Residence, 100 or so people loudly demonstrated for the rights of Ethiopian immigrants and against discrimination. And all the while, for two hours on a mild afternoon, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – with a small black kippa on his head – sat in the covered courtyard of his home with 16 rabbis, academics, Bible scholars, archeologists and linguists, and discussed the meaning of the Book of Ruth, which will be read on Shavuot on Sunday in synagogues around the world. His wife, Sara, sat next to him, and his two sons sat on a bank of chairs set to the side.
• “There was something at once heartening and slightly humorous about Netanyahu setting aside precious time in  the late afternoon to talk about Biblical figures Tamar and Yehuda, Naomi and Boaz, Ruth and David, while Iran loomed so large, and domestic issues beckoned so seriously. It was heartening in that it is uniquely elevating seeing the prime minister of the Jewish state taking time out to study the Bible, the heart of Jewish existence. One cannot talk about Jewish historic rights to this place, which the prime  minister does constantly, without appreciating and understanding the Bible….
• “[The Rabbi] wanted to read only a few verses from the Book of Ruth, but the prime minister urged him on to read more. This is better then the usual matters he has to deal with, Netanyahu quipped as the session – originally scheduled for an hour – went 60 minutes longer than planned….
• “Wednesday’s meeting, the first of a number of study sessions that are to take place throughout the year, was more symbol than substance, more message than  meat. And Netanyahu made clear what the message was: ‘Ben-Gurion  and Begin believed that the Bible should be the heritage of the entire nation – secular and religious, young and old, men and women. The Bible is the foundation of our existence. It unites the Jewish people, as it  has throughout the generations. It also serves not only as a foundation  but also as a map and compass,’ he said. ‘The Bible is always  relevant vis-à-vis today’s problems and challenges. It inspires, it is a source of life for our people and I think that it is important to  expand Bible study and love of the Bible among all parts of the nation. This is also the goal of this circle.”
• To read the full article, please click here.

I am so encouraged by these reports. Lynn and I have been praying for Mr. Netanyahu and his family since he first invited me to work with him in 2000. Would you join me in praying for the entire Netanyahu family, as well as in reading the Book of Ruth as a family this weekend?

• Let’s pray that the study of the Word of God has a powerful, personal impact on the Prime Minister and his family and each of his colleagues and guests.
• Let’s pray that many Israelis would follow the Prime Minister’s lead and begin reading the Holy Scriptures again.
• Let’s pray that Bible studies in people’s homes would spring up all over the Land of Israel.
• Let’s pray that pray that more and more Israelis would develop a new and deeper curiosity about Bible prophecy, both the dramatic prophecies in the Scriptures that have already been fulfilled, and those that will come to pass soon, including the all-important prophecies about the Messiah.

May the Lord do a great work in drawing the nation of Israel back to His Holy Word.

 PRAISE GOD!!!!

It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is He who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do.  Charles Spurgeon

My life verse is Philippians 1:6 - "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ".  I am ever so thankful that God planted this verse into my life, mind and spirit soon after finding Him as Lord and Savior at the age of 18.


Over these ensuing 56 years I have always been sure and comforted that it truly was the Lords work and my part was to remain in His hands as soft, pliable clay, and He would accomplish His plans and purposes for Susan. 


As I read these words from Charles Spurgeon this morning it brings me great comfort.  I just wanted to share them here, on Penless Writer, for any of you that might be struggling with trying to do it in your own power, might or will.  We cannot!!!  Plain and simple.  Quit trying!!!  Put yourselves totally in His hands and then watch and be amazed as you see your life unfold.   

HE IS SUCH A GOOD GOD 

&

HE LOVES US SO MUCH.

Beautiful Flowers In Remembrance

These beautiful flowers arrived  May 19, 2012 from #1 Son David, from San Francisco in remembrance of his sister, Suzette.

Card Reads: 

Love you Mom,

David & Karin

REMEMBERING SUZETTE

Enjoy every precious moment and time together.

I am SOOO thankful that Suzette & I had so many just she and I. I'm so thankful that we've always been so close as a family and have always truly loved each other and shared all the special occasions together.  

Those memories are precious treasurers to cherish.

**********

My life is but a weaving between my God and me,

I do not choose the colors, He works so steadily,

Oft' times He weaves in sorrow, and I in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper,

and I the underside.  Corrie Ten Boom

I can honestly say I never forgot for one minute, since her diagnosis and her going to heaven, that we were seeing only the underside and I trust HIM and HIS plans & purposes for now & beyond into eternity.

I was given not only one but two beautiful, lovely daughters,

Jeri Suzette & Jacqueline Renee 1 year and 9 days apart.

Suzette - December 13, 1954 - May 19, 2011

Suzette you are so loved and so sorely missed 

but I will see you again and spend eternity with you.