Daily Photo Journal - January 4

I rearranged a couple of cabinets in the kitchen today. I am hoping the new arrangement will be more user friendly.

Peppermint Bark Recipe

The traditional way of making candy kind of intimidates me, so I was happy to came across a couple of easy recipes for candy I thought would be great for a hostess gift. I took this one (and one other I'll post in a few days) to my sister-in-law's house and it was a hit. I took pictures of the process and thought I would share it here.

INGREDIENTS:
1 bag of chocolate chips (any kind you like, I think semi-sweet is the yummiest!)
1 bag of white chocolate chips
24 mini candy canes, crushed *do not crush using a food processor – place candy canes in a zip lock bag and use a hammer to crush into small pieces

DIRECTIONS:

Line the bottom of a 9×13 pan with parchment paper. Pour (brown) chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave chocolate chips in increments of 30 seconds stirring the chips each time until chocolate chips have completed melted and mixture is smooth. Spread melted chocolate as evenly as possibly into lined pan. Place pan into freezer for 20 minutes. Repeat the same melting process with the white chips. While chocolate is still smooth, stir in half of the crushed candy cane mixture. Allow the white chocolate to slightly cool for a minute. Remove pan from freezer and spread white chocolate/crushed candy canes mixture on top of the chocolate layer. Spread white chocolate as quickly as possible. Top off with remaining crushed candy cane and gently pat down with the back of a spatula. Return pan to freezer for 20 minutes. Remove from freezer and gently lift the whole mixture from the pan with a butter knife. You should now have a solid sheet of peppermint bark. Remove parchment paper and break into pieces. Store any left over bark in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer. Enjoy! (if white chocolate chips do not melt smooth, stir in 2 tablespoons of shortening)

Daily Photo Journal - January 3

Megan played the piano for worship this morning. I really miss hearing her play. She has a gift. Pete and I were singing on the worship team. How did I get this picture? (I took it during communion.... sshhh!)

Daily Photo Journal - January 2

What I did today while the others were out in the below zero weather snowmobiling.

Movie Review

We rarely rent a movie, let alone watch so many in a short amount of time. We did rent a bunch of movies when we thought we might be snowed in. We paid $8 for six movies. Not bad at all when you consider we paid $8 a PERSON for a movie in the theater a couple of nights ago. (That one was Sherlock Holmes. It was pretty good, but do we really NEED that many fight scenes in a movie?) We ended up watching four out of the six since we did end up going to Iowa for the weekend to celebrate Christmas with our extended families.

Here's our take on the movies we watched. I know you were all just so anxious to know what we thought of them. You're welcome. ;)

1. Father of the Bride (1950 version) - This one starred Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy. Before I saw this at the video store I never knew there was an old version of this. It was really good. I really did notice the lack of background music. There was some, but there were some really obvious spots that were a bit awkward without it. I don't always notice the sound track in a movie and that's one thing my son always comments on. There were some really funny true-to-life moments. We thought we needed to watch this since the hubby is soon to be the father of the bride.

2. Hotel Rwanda - We didn't get this one watched.
3. Grapes of Wrath (1940 version) - We didn't get this one watched either.

4. The Soloist - This was such a good movie. It's about a columnist for the Los Angeles Times who comes across a homeless man who is an amazing musician. The cello is his instrument. The homeless man has some mental disabilities. There are parts of it inside Disney Hall. A fabulous concert hall. I'd love to hear a symphony there. A friend of mine's son goes to USC and has been able to go to a few concerts there. It shows a side of LA (and likely many cities across the world) that broke my heart. The homeless. So many people with no home. So many people with mental problems. So many people lost. All in all a really good movie. Jamie Fox and Robert Downy, Jr. are quite awesome in the movie.

5. Seven Pounds - Will Smith. Good Actor. Somewhat confusing movie. Will Smith's character is trying to pay back for an accident he caused that killed seven people including his fiance. We did enjoy it. Heart wrenching to see someone who couldn't forgive themselves for an accident. Kind of an odd, questionable ethical ending. We did have enough questions at the end that Wikipedia came in very handy and explained the whole movie, including the meaning behind the title.

6. My Life in Ruins - This one stars the same actress as the one in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was a pretty funny light-hearted movie. If you've ever been on a tour bus, even for just a day, you will be able to relate. We had fun with this movie and enjoyed being able to laugh at it.

Daily Photo Journal - January 1

I have seen on other blogs where they have posted a picture for every day for a year. I'm not sure if I can do 365 days, but I thought I would try for the month of January. I will write other posts as usual so my huge readership of 2 or 6 people can keep up with the ramblings of my mind.

So here we go with the first day of January and the first day of the year.

Here's the temp late this afternoon. Yikes! Gotta love January in Minnesota. Um, not really.

I made a huge pan of lasagna and we invited our friends the Smiths over to help us devour it. The food was great and the fellowship was even better.






One down 30 to go.

God Knows

Minnie Louise Hawkins wrote this poem in 1908. I thought it was fitting to post on the first day of a new year. May we always remember that God Knows. Nothing Surprises Him.

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

So heart be still:
What need our little life
Our human life to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low,
God hideth His intention.

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

Then rest: until
God moves to lift the veil
From our impatient eyes,
When, as the sweeter features
Of Life’s stern face we hail,
Fair beyond all surmise
God’s thought around His creatures
Our mind shall fill.