Cheddar Ham Chowder

This creamy, comforting chowder is very similar to my Cheddar Chowder recipe, but the addition of corn adds a delicious, pleasing taste. I made it recently for the first time, and we loved it.

Cheddar Ham Chowder

2 cups water
2 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can corn, drained
1 1/2 cups ham, cooked and cubed

Directions:
In a large saucepan, bring the water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are just tender. Remove from the heat; do not drain.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add cheese and stir until melted. Stir into the undrained vegetables; return large saucepan to the heat. Add corn and ham; heat through, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 6-8 servings (2 quarts)

Click here to print it from the Taste of Home website.

Linking up with:
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday

Beauty in the Moment

Beautiful, delicious food - love and memories are so often shared around food. And Thanksgiving's feast makes for overflowing hearts filled to the full with love.

And a mother's days are full of preparations of food. Such was the case for me leading up to our Family Thanksgiving together, with anticipation of two dozen family members home! The long list of things to do and prepare can sometimes feel overwhelming. And I sometimes get caught up in the tasks, and the checking off of things on my list. But I purposed to stay in the moment, treasuring the joys of home and of delicious, beautiful food. Capturing the beauty - so much beauty!

Thanking God for filling me with joy in the moment as I prepared ...

And thanking God for four daughters who brought delicious salads, sides, and rolls to add to our Thanksgiving feast!

One thing that I love doing when hosting a dinner for a large group (we had 23 family here for Thanksgiving!) is to work ahead with the meal preparation several days before the big day.

Preparations on Monday:
pie crusts for Pumpkin Pie
munchy snacks for our evening snack spread (not shown in photos)

Preparations on Tuesday:
Mashed Potato Dish (refrigerated, and then baked Thanksgiving Day)
Spicy Cran-Apple Sauce
Pumpkin Pies (baked, and then stored in refrigerator)

Preparations on Wednesday:
Sweet Potato Casserole (refrigerated, and then baked Thanksgiving Day)
Herb Dressing (prepared, and cooked in slow cooker Thanksgiving Day)
Citrus-Scented Brined Turkey (marinated for 17 hours in refrigerator, then cooked Thanks. Day)
Apple Pies (baked straight from the freezer, frozen a month earlier)

Working ahead is a life-saver for me, leaving time for other preparations and time for enjoying my family on Thanksgiving Day. Thanking God for the joy of family, and for good times together around beautiful, delicious food!

I will possibly be adding recipe posts for some of these dishes in the future. Click here for the Pumpkin Pie recipe, already on this blog.

(Digital scrapbooking credits: Page Template: JSM_dD-pageGrids01 and 02; Background Paper: KittyDesigns_YouAlone)

Linking up with:
Tasty Tuesday
One Project at a Time
Trick or Treat Tuesday
Heart and Home
Hearts4Home
I'm Lovin' It
Saturday Show and Tell

Heaven in Our Hands

"A thankful attitude opens windows of heaven. 

Spiritual blessings fall freely onto you through these openings into eternity ... " 

(Jesus Calling)

These words were the ones that I read early on Thanksgiving Day - and they are the words that keep coming to my mind at the close of a very wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving with our family home. Twenty-three family filled the rooms of our home last Thursday, and love was everywhere. It seems that our time together was a "touch of heaven". 

When children are grown, and they all return home, and love is there - my mother heart overflows, hardly able to contain it all. Life is not perfect, and trials are always with us - but where there is love, and hearts full of thankfulness, it is as if we are blessed with glimpses of heaven itself. What the love of a husband and wife, and love between family is meant to be - and how can we be so blessed to hold it in our hands? A taste of even more to come ... all a gift from a loving God.

Thanking God for His innumerable gifts to us - at this time, and all through the year ...

Sharing a few of the digital scrapbook pages from our time together - possibly sharing more in the coming week ...

(And continuing my listing of thanks, everyday, in my laptop journal and iPhone journal)

(Credits: Top page: Page Template: Digital Scrapper - 06-03_SINtemplate01; Paper: mturnidge_autumnalaura; Embellishment: kcroninbarrow-gratefulhearts.  Middle page: Page Template: Digital Scrapper - 01-11_SINtemplate01; Paper: mturnidge_autumnlaura; Embellishments: Sweet Shoppe - KCB Autumn Days. Bottom page: Page Template: Digital Scrapper's ScrapItNow templates; Paper: Scrap Girls - ASO_Alluring Autumn)

Linking up with:

Made by You Monday
Heart and Home
Multitudes on Monday
Work in Progress Wednesday
Faith Filled Friday
In the Studio

Thanks Be to God

"The flesh is always performance driven

 and everyday I need to become Cross-centered again

 and no one needs the Gospel only once

 because all the bad days need the 

Good News of His grace again and again." 

 (Ann Voskamp)

"The Gospel isn't a one time message for the unbeliever 

but the constant miracle for the imperfect."  

(Ann Voskamp)

"Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself 

through the death of Christ in His physical body. 

As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, 

and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault."  

(Colossians 1:22)

"And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, 

you must continue to follow Him. 

Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. 

Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, 

and you will overflow with thankfulness." 

 (Colossians 2:6-7)

Wishing you, and all those you love, 
a Happy Thanksgiving Day ~
filled with good food, good times together,
 and with hearts overflowing with thanks 
for the Greatest Gift of all!

(Credits: Frame: SNU_Picturesque_EmbMini-OrnateFrm; Background paper: KittyDesigns-YouAlone)

Thanksgiving Week

Lord, may we offer our thankfulness to You 

as a sacrifice of love this Thanksgiving week -

and all through the year.

(Credits: 4x6 Template: Scrap Girls - SNU_SS_DLT_LayItOut-4; Paper and Embellishments: Digital Scrapper's Nov Premier Kit - KCB autumn days from Sweet Shoppe, SNU_Picturesque, mturnidge_autumnthgts)

Praying Ephesians 3:16-19 {Heart Connect}

"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources 

He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.

Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. 

Your roots will grow down into God's love, and keep you strong.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, 

how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. 

May you experience the love of Christ,

 though it is too great to understand fully. 

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness 

of life and power that comes from God."

So powerful and life-giving to pray these words over others, and also paraphrasing the words to pray them over ourselves, as well. Pausing our busyness, reading these words slowly, from the heart ...

Heart Connect: Living a Life of Prayer - click here to read earlier posts in this series.

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving Day is coming up very soon - I love this time of year, and also love pumpkin pie! There will be several of these pies at our Thanksgiving feast this year. And this is the pumpkin pie recipe that I have used for years and years - the aroma of pumpkin pie baking in the oven is just heavenly. 

Pumpkin Pie

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 can pumpkin
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can evaporated milk
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell

Mix filling ingredients in the order given. Pour into pie shell.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes; reduce to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

Note: Click here for info about the pie crust recipe that I used - a make-ahead pie crust mix that can be stored in the freezer.

Linking up with:
Heart and Home

Everyday Blessings

A week ago I completed the counting of 1000 Gifts in 2012 - and I continue, daily, recording the blessings of each day in an app on my iPhone, complete with photos. Pictured above are just a portion of the big and little gifts from God this past week. (Seeing our youngest granddaughter crawl for the first time was a highlight - almost 8 months old! And also, finding Photoshop Elements 11 on sale, marked down to $49.99, from $79.99, was a highlight - so excited to have this upgrade. Thanks honey, for this belated birthday gift!) 

I'm no longer actually counting the daily gifts from God, but my list keeps growing, more and more each day. The listing - filling my heart with thanks - displacing worries - replacing with joy.

"Don't worry about anything;

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need,

and thank Him for all He has done."

(Philippians 4:6)

Linking up with:
Sharing His Beauty

Sweet Grandkids in Costume

We're on our way to Thanksgiving Day, but I wanted to share these photos of our sweet grandkids from Halloween Day! We were only able to see two of our grandkids on Oct. 31st, but were blessed with seeing photos for the rest. Love these little firemen, our two sweet little Rapunzels, our tiny little ladybug with her big brother pirate, the scary characters from Star Wars and Ben Ten, and two slumber party girls!

(Credits for digital scrapbooking: Page Template: GISSketch48at; Background Paper: mturnidge_autumnalaura.)

Linking up with:
In the Studio

The Size of Our Prayers - {Heart Connect}

Our view of God determines the size of our prayers.

"Yet many of us pray as if our problems are bigger than God. 

So let me remind you of this high-octane truth that should fuel your faith: 

God is infinitely bigger than your biggest problem or biggest dream."

(Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker)

How small my prayers are at times. And how dismal my outlook. Forgetting who we are talking with, forgetting who is the powerful one. But we are not praying to one who is equal to us. 

"'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the Lord.

'And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.'"

(Isaiah 55:8)

Our biggest problem is not our big problems. 

"Our biggest problem is our small view of God."

 (The Circle Maker)

Heart Connect: Living a Life of Prayer - click here to read earlier posts in this series.

(Photo above taken on our 40th Anniversary Trip to Italy - an unexpected gift from God, revealed to us just one month before we flew to Italy. Beyond our highest expectations.)

Linking up with:
Work in Progress Wednesday
Thought Provoking Thursday
Faith Filled Friday

Broccoli Raisin Salad

Broccoli Raisin Salad

1 bunch broccoli
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Dressing:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar

Prepare veggies, and bacon, and mix together with sunflower seeds and raisins.

Mix dressing ingredients; pour over broccoli mixture.

Serves 8-10

Note: I always like to work ahead as much as possible when preparing a meal for a larger group. Such was the case recently when twelve family members were home for a meal together. It worked great to prepare all the various ingredients for this salad the day before, and store them all in the refrigerator. Then shortly before the meal the next day, I just mixed them all together very easily. A freshly made salad ready in a few minutes!

Special note: this delicious recipe was shared with me by one of my daughters, who received it from a friend of hers.  (Thanks, Carrie!)

Linking up with:
Tasty Tuesday
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Inspire Me Monday

Fall Menu Planning

Have I already mentioned how much I love this time of year?! And something about the cooler weather, the warmth of the indoors, and the anticipation of holidays, calls me to focus on food preparation even more. This past weekend, I took a few hours to plan menus for the next three weeks, leading up to Thanksgiving Day, when we are anticipating that our whole family will be home! There will likely be 24 around our table!

I've been trying out something new for menu planning the past month or so. I rather accidentally stumbled across a blog post (click here) that explained about "Plan to Eat", a menu planning website. It offered a 30-day free trial, so I signed up to try it out.

Menu planning has always been fun for me, but also challenging to actually keep it up week-by-week. Especially in our "empty nest" years, when it is just the two of us here most days. And over the years I have gathered such a big collection of "family favorites" that the most time-consuming part of menu planning is actually choosing which recipe to use - there are so many choices. A few years ago, I set up a plan to use my recipes on a rotating basis. I still refer to this, but I don't always get to the final step in menu planning, of actually choosing which recipe (from this Three Month Menu Plan) to use on each particular day of the week.

A Great Menu Planning Tool

Plan to Eat may just be my answer. My 30-day trial period is nearing the end, and so this past weekend I signed up to use it for the next year. With a discount I received, it comes to only $2.60/month.

It works great - I import my recipes to "Plan to Eat" on my laptop with their easy import tool, directly from the source online (many of my recipes are from Taste of Home), and then also manually enter other recipes I have collected. (Some editing is necessary.) It even works with importing recipes from blog posts. (With some of them you need to do some additional copying and pasting, depending on the format of the recipe in the post.)

I then select the recipes I wish to use for my weekly menu plan, and print this plan out.  It also automatically creates a shopping list for these recipes. And the great part - I can view all of this on my iPhone - the daily/weekly/monthly menu plan, the actual recipes, and also the shopping list.

I've tried a number of different iPhone apps for menu planning in the past few months, and this plan surpasses them all by far for practicality and ease of use. Highly recommended by other bloggers that I trust, and created by a husband/wife team who are continually making additions and changes that will benefit the users.

Gratitude List - all the way to #1000!

And here, each Monday - continuing the Counting of 1000 Gifts in 2012. This week I jumped all the way from #907 ... to ... #1000! I also made the switch to use an app on my iPhone to record my gratitude list each day, and I love doing it this way. So handy to pick up my phone throughout the day, and quickly record something that warms my heart, a touch of joy during my day. Thanking God for His gifts, daily, helps me to keep my mind on Him, and draws me away from worry. And though my weekly gratitude list may not always be posted here each week, I continue with the listing, and the thanking.

Linking up with:
Menu Plan Monday
Multitudes on Monday
Inspire Me Monday
Better Mom Mondays
One Project at a Time
Heart and Home

Weekend Links

Sharing a few fun things, and a few inspirational things I came across this past week online.

Apple Pie Cake

Click here to find this recipe. I came across this recipe in a blog this past week (which contained a link to the Martha Stewart website). It looks delicious, and a good way to use up some of the apples that we have from our tree - an abundant year of apples!

Love the Pie - Recipe Party

I enjoy visiting TidyMom's blog, and noticed she's hosting a Love the Pie Recipe Party Nov. 13-19 - it will be fun to see all the great pie recipes. And also, if you link up a pie recipe (from your blog, or in a comment on her post that week), you'll be entered in a drawing for a new kitchen range. Click here to read her post. I plan to enter my Pumpkin Pie recipe just for fun, even though I don't need a new kitchen range (I received my very first "brand-new" kitchen range three years ago when our kitchen received a much-needed make-over.)

Reach ~ how to use your social media influence 

for the glory of God

Click here to read about this new ebook with ideas on how to use social media for the glory of God. Co-authored by Laura, a blogger who I have connected with online and who I greatly respect. You'll also enjoy watching the little promo video for the ebook in her post.

One Thousand Gifts Small Group DVD Study

Click here to read a recent post on Ann Voskamp's "A Holy Experience" blog - and be sure to watch the 22-minute video that she has posted there. It's the first session of a new five-session DVD series where Ann shares the message of living a grateful life, walking closely with God with a thankful heart for all that He is and all of His gifts for us. I wrote about this in one of my posts from this past week - click here to read.

The Beauty of Fall

Welcoming the brand new month of November ... and continuing to embrace the beauty of this season. Each of the seasons has a beauty of its own, and I cannot resist changing my blog header as we go through the year. I want to rest in each season, enjoying the gifts that God gives.

Digital scrapbooking credit: Page Teamplate: Scrap Girls - SM_dD-pageGrids02; Background paper: Digital Scrapper - allihavetodoisdream.

Linking up with:
In the Studio
I'm Lovin' It
Friday Flair
Friday Favorites
Simple Things Sunday

Weathering the Storms

"In the place where dark waters nearly swallow you alive, 

there the Spirit of God hovers. 

There is the place God prepares to make a new creation in you."

(Rachel, Heirs with Christ blog)

How do we respond to the storms in our lives?

I feel like I have learned the hard way. I expected life to be storm free. A faulty presupposition, but it was there in the beginnings of our marriage and when our first children were born. And I was not prepared for storms. 

But by His grace, God has taken us through some tumultuous weather, and by His grace we continue to walk through storms. Not choosing to go through storms, but also not choosing to escape from going through storms. 

By His grace, we have weathered a number of storms: difficult, heart-breaking years of broken relationships during the high school years of one of our six children - another leaving her faith for a number of years - walking through the devastating diagnosis of leukemia for a daughter and the subsequent chemo and then bone marrow transplant - nearly losing another child to an appendicitis attack - having my husband go through a horrible accident that nearly took his life - the list goes on - and we are also in the midst of some other storms today. (And there are some wonderful, amazing answers to prayer in the midst of these storms, too.)

And I am learning, by His mercy, to thank Him for the storms, even in the midst of the storms. For storms are the surest way to draw us close to His heart. For during the wind and the rain we have nowhere else to go. And it is there, close to His heart, that we find rest, and peace. And it is there that we find the help that we need, and all that we long for. All by His grace, and all a gift.

Click here to watch a video that explains this so well. I am so appreciative of Ann Voskamp's life, and of the grace that God has given her to weather the storms in her life. This recent post on her blog contains a link to watch the first of her new DVD series, a video study of the teachings from her book One Thousand Gifts. (Click on the second video in the post - 22 minutes long - and so worth the time.) You may need to grab a kleenex box to have nearby as you listen as she shares. Especially if you have also weathered some storms, or are in the midst of some today.

"The problems of hard times 

are answered in the presence of Himself; 

God is with us. 

The wise stand in wind 

and pray not for the danger to pass  

but for the fear to flee." 

(Ann Voskamp)

Desiring to learn all that God has for us as we walk through the storms of this life, and thanking Him for His Presence with us, always. Thanking God for using Ann to so clearly communicate His gifts of grace, mercy, and love through the hard times of life, as well as the good. And praying for all those who have experienced the devastating storm earlier this week on the east coast.

Linking up with:
Thought Provoking Thursdays
Faith Filled Friday
Fellowship Friday
Heart and Home