Easter 2016

What a beautiful day we were blessed with on Easter Sunday! The weather was glorious! We had a baptism at church which always seems to make the service more special. And, there was a crowd of friends around tables laden with delicious food.

We came back from our spring vacation just a few days before Easter (can't wait to post about that!) so there was a day to shop and a day to bake! I started with these gluten free hot cross buns. I use Bob's Red Mill Pizza Crust mix as the base and add in lemon and orange zest, mixed spice, and golden raisins and currants.

Then came the "true" hot cross buns which I made in large quantities because my kids love them so much. This year I only baked one tray at a time in the oven and that did make them even better!

 I found beautiful chocolate eggs at Costco and they made the table look so festive. Not only that but my daffodils were in full bloom and even though I picked large bunches for inside there were still so many left outside!

There were no pictures of the appetizers but for lunch we had ham, rice salad, spinach berry salad, carrots, and roasted asparagus.

Here is the girls' table:

And the boys' table under which one of mine is hiding!

And the long adult table which managed to squeeze 16!

The funniest thing about this gathering was the mix of food allergies/intolerances. Nearly everyone coming had something. I almost wanted to make a chart. Some people could have gluten but no eggs, or no gluten and no eggs but dairy, or no gluten and no dairy but eggs, and then I remembered one person was allergic to earl grey tea and I'd soaked the fruit for the regular buns in earl grey so managed to leave it out of the gluten free. On and on it went!!! Ha ha!

So, for dessert we had a gluten free cheesecake with amazing berry filling and topping, a gluten free pavlova with lemon cream, gluten free/egg free cupcakes, gluten free/egg free key lime pie, and gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free lemon curd tart! What a riot!

And up close picture of the cheesecake!

And one of the pavlova, whose recipe is here.

And the GF, DF, SF Lemon Curd Tart which I made from Paleo Patisserie. Wow this is so, so good! Thankfully there were lots of leftovers. I've been eating a piece everyday! The crust is made with almond flour and maple syrup, the lemon curd with maple syrup as well and the coconut cream has vanilla and maple syrup.

We had tea, of course! Hands down everyone's favorite tea from recent events is the special Chinese tea that a friend from China sent to us. Not being a huge fan of Chinese tea, I'm surprised at how much I love it. In fact, it's nearly addicting. Our only dilemma is how we can get more of this tea!!!

I also tried some maple syrup sweetened coconut candies which turned out very well and will be repeated next year. I tried some mock peanut butter eggs with sun butter. You know, I just can't get used to sun butter. I think we'll stick with coconut.

Another friend made these dairy free caramel filled hearts. She made the caramel with honey!!

Here is a kid picture from the Easter egg hunt.

The sky was such a lovely blue and the kids could run around without coats!

I love this picture!!!

 I found a basket to display our Lithuanian Easter eggs which we have collected over the last 5 years. Every year we get a little better at it.

Now Easter is just memories but it is nice that we still have this week off of school. I'm busy trying to get the household chores done that get postponed while we are in school. And I'm also enjoying spring!!!

Happy Almost New Year

Wow. The mountain range that is December and Christmas has been climbed. I am reveling in the reward of the vista at the top which is the memories all the work creates and leaves us with. Anything memorable seems to be a lot of work at the time but afterward yields the delicious bliss of only the good parts remembered.

I do love the last of December and first of January. I love the feeling of tidying up a bit and entering the new year with a fresh start (at least in some parts of the house or my mind). January always says "peace, quiet, rest, and new beginnings to me" although in recent years life can be as busy as the other months. But I still have hope for that rest.....

I can't wait to start my new diary. Hebridean Desk Diary 2014 is one I picked up in Scotland because I love the illustrations of Mairi Hedderwick.

And I have a  Susan Branch mini calendar to enjoy. I'm placing this beside my cozy reading chair in my upstairs personal library (i.e. the corner of my closet that has my bookshelves and my books). And I have a Scottish Islands calendar to hang on my fridge.

I also just started an ESV Journaling Bible (Antique Floral Design) [Bonded Leather] [2009] (Author) ESV Bibles by Crossway Bible from a friend. I love this!!! I don't think I'll be able to stop at just one. What will I do next year? One idea is to pick a theme or topic you want to study and read through the Bible making notes on the sides of anything you find that references your topic. It's like a treasure hunt!

Well, it's time for me to do a little tidying and pretend I am participating in some of the age-old Scottish traditions of Hogmanay. I have a folder full of photos from December and lots of tea trolley reports to give so hopefully I'll make it back to my blog on a more regular basis in the new year.


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Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!! I hope all of you Americans out there have a happy day celebrating our country! Our kids can't wait for the parade (and the candy throwing!). I'm looking forward to enjoying small town America, time with family, iced coffee and gluten-free donuts, a picnic lunch, the blueberry pie and strawberry-rhubarb pie I know will be there, and watching the kids have fun!

Happy Fourth of July!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful day! Our plans include a parade, a cookout with friends, and maybe even fireworks!

Conner Prairie

We began our Fourth of July festivities with a visit to Conner Prairie last week. The kids loved the Militia Muster the best I think.

I loved the militia's outdoor kitchen.

Complete with their lunch of chicken stew cooking over the fire:

I also loved the tea tray set out and noticed they were drinking lavender tea. Mom and I tried the idea on Sunday by mixing 1 tsp. dried lavender flowers with some decaf green tea. It was surprisingly good -- of course very floral -- the best part is that the tea turns pink after awhile!

Seeing live animals is also a treat. The little boys loved holding baby chicks and everyone enjoyed petting the goats, sheep and calves in the barn. One of the interpreters brought by these oxen.
After lunch there was a parade to participate in.

David marched with his "Quaker Gun".

Then we all gathered to hear the Declaration of Independence read. I am ashamed to say I can't remember if or when I've last read it. I was intrigued to hear all of King George's misdemeanors listed and wondered how hard it must have been for those early patriots to make the decision to break with England.

Many of those early leaders were either Christians, or highly respected the Bible, and so think about how hard it was for them to decide to overthrow the government when the Bible urges us to live at peace with all men, submit to the government, etc. And, that God will hold us accountable for the decisions we make. The Bible does make provision for not obeying authorities that ask you to do wicked things, etc. But, often in these matters things are not always black and white.

Our family knows something of how hard it is to make decisions where the answers are not black and white. When is enough, enough? When do you overthrow an oppressive king? I bet those patriots often felt like the weight of the world was on their shoulders! I'm just thankful that they made that decision and I didn't have to.

After the parade and the assembly, there was square dancing, which Rachel really enjoyed.

She even got me to join her for a bit.

It was a fun outing, the start to a very busy weekend. Here it is the end of another week. Christina and JK and Baby John are staying with us right now while their lives are in limbo due to mold infestation at their house. There's lots going on in the kitchen and we're trying to find some time for knitting. Only one more week until we head to church camp, so there is plenty to do!

Fourth of July

What a festive 4th of July we have enjoyed! Friday we went to Conner Prairie for their celebration.

Saturday we went to the Brownsburg parade in the morning and met these adorable quadruplets, whom we happened to sit next to. Check out the 4 blondies sitting next to the 4 brown haired kids. Isn't it cute?! (Although Rachel does look more brown than blonde in this picture.)

Laura finally decided just to skip the parade and take a nap:

The parade was great and between it, and the parade the kids went to on Monday, we have a TON of candy.
After the parade we had an open house to attend and then we headed to some friends for an evening BBQ.
Our friends made grilled flatbread for the appetizer. It was amazing! I can't wait to try grilled pizza. It doesn't look hard at all.

Christine, as always, cooked terrific food on the grill: two flavors of ribs, chicken, and the flat bread.
Unlike the last two years of cold and rainy weather, the weekend was gorgeous! I spent most of the evening trying to keep poor Laura happy -- all she wanted was her own bed.

Here's Emily, enjoying her favorite holiday. Incidentally, Emily is off to Arizona for two months to do an occupational therapy internship. So far she is loving it. We all will miss her!!

The boys got haircuts in time for the celebrations.

Emily made a sand castle cake for the BBQ to celebrate our friend's birthday.

Jimmy isn't looking very pleased in this photo, but we all enjoyed the cake, including Jimmy.

Laura did have a few minutes of happy smiles:

Sunday we grilled hamburgers after church and then on Monday Michael took the kids to another parade while I did my homeschool planning.

And then we joined friends in the evening for yet another cookout with amazing food. It was a full and fun weekend.