Carnival of Beauty--January 17, 2007

This week's Carnival of Beauty is on the Beauty of Bread and it just so happens to be a Share-A-Recipe Week. I hope everyone enjoys the recipes submitted by our participants. I know I will. Thanks Everyone!

Veracity from Veracity-The Way shares two delicious breads-one done the old fashioned way, one for the bread machine.

Allison from Simple Christian Living gives a wonderful recipe for Sourdough Starter and Bread. Looks Lovely! I've been wanting to try homemade Sourdough. Thanks, Allison!

Sallie from A Gracious Home (Our Carnival of Beauty Sponsor) tells us about a Garden Herb Bread that smells heavenly while baking and tastes just as good. It is made in the Bread Machine to boot!

A Honey-Whole Wheat Bread made in the Bread Machine is provided by Beckie at A Child of God.

Patricia at Pollywog Creek lets us in on her recipe for a very satisfying and sweet Blueberry-orange bread in her post, "The glory of bread is that it satisfies", John Piper

Jennifer at Wonderful Pages shows us how she makes four loaves of bread in an hour with her Bosch Concept Mixer.

Beth at Ebenezer Stories shares her recipe for Rosemary Whole Wheat Bread and shares a story of the first loaf of bread she made with her husband.

Revka at The Porch Light gives us her recipe for Basic White Bread in the Bread Machine. You sure can't beat good White Bread.

Ashley from Onward and Upward shares her recipe for Homemade Banana Bread because "Banana bread to me is a symbol of hospitality and welcoming new neighbors."

Sandy at Simply Sandy shares her No Guilty Beer Bread Recipe. She says it is a quick bread that is very easy, very yummy, and very low in fat!! All those are reasons enough for me to try it.

Julie at JulieD's Blog shares a delicious and very pretty cinnamon loaf with us and says "When I want to bake something for family, dear friends or neighbors; this is the bread I make."

Kim at Mother-Lode shares here recipe for Cheese Bread Knots and tells us to "recognize the marvels and mysteries unlocked in breaking bread."

Finally, a delicious recipe for Amish White Bread is provided by Sarah at To Motherhood and Beyond. That's me!

You Gotta Love Homemade Bread!

I LOVE BREAD! But, I guess you could say that I am a bit of a bread snob. I really don't like the sliced bread from the store and for the first part of our marriage I just didn't buy it. We have a bread machine and it is wonderful. I used to use it for our only source of bread. A few weeks ago I got brave and I decided to branch out and try making the bread completely by hand. Now, I am addicted. The bread machine is collecting dust and wondering if we still love it. I am still very new to this handmade bread thing and I've only mastered one recipe. I try to make it often enough to keep bread in the house. It makes two loaves and I usually freeze the extra loaf. I would like to share this wonderful recipe with everyone. I got it from allrecipes.com.

Amish White Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 cups bread flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in wamr water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a ligh floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, andplace into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 3 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

YUMMY!

The Carnival of Beauty is Coming Here!

I am so excited. I am hosting The Carnival of Beauty this week. The topic is the Beauty of Bread. Yum! This is going to be a Share-A-Recipe time. So, please send me your take on the Beauty of Bread and your favorite recipes by Tuesday at 3 pm and I'll post all your lovely recipes on Wednesday. I can't wait!

The Beauty of Salvation

This is my second week participating in The Carnival of Beauty. I'm loving it so far. This week's carnival is on The Beauty of Salvation and it is being hosted by Allison at The Autumn Rain. Go visit her and see what other people are saying about the most beautiful gift of all, Salvation. Thanks!

We Will All Be Together Someday...

SALVATION...What a beautiful and yet elusive word. What is there to say about salvation? I could talk about how Jesus is the source of true salvation and it is through my complete acceptance of him and his forgiveness that I am SAVED. I could talk about the peace that comes with knowing my sins are truly forgiven and that I have Christ's grace to cover me whenever I mess up (...which is plenty). I could talk about how there are so many people everyday who are experiencing the same thing as me and starting on the wonderful journey called SALVATION.

But, those truths are sometimes very hard to grasp. It is so hard to understand what it means to be saved sometimes. When those times come I have to remind myself of what Jesus did for me and that it what HIS sacrifice that made SALVATION even possible. That is such a daily process and it can be so hard and tiring. There is peace in it but there are some battle scars to go with it.

Let me tell you what is the most BEAUTIFUL thing about SALVATION is for me. It is that "We will All Be Together Someday." Every single person who is in Christ's family will meet together and stay that way forever. It makes my heart warm up knowing that someday I will see my Mom again. I will meet my big brother whom I never met because his little life died way too early in the womb. I will ask him what it was like to be with Christ from Day One. I will get to walk the streets of gold with old friends and new friends. I will be able to meet people long past who's lives I have studied. I will sit and talk to the likes of C.S. Lewis, Hudson Taylor, John Wesley, and Jim Elliot. I will shake hands with Stephen, the first martyr, and I will discuss with the Apostle Paul what it was like to write the book of Romans. I will never have to say goodbye or farewell to my new friends because we will be a brand new family. There will be no curfew. So, I can talk to, sit with, and embrace whomever I please, whenever I please, and for however long I please.

Life will be perfect and our time together will be perfect too. I love to be with people a lot of the time. I guess you could say that I am a "people person." Sure, I can be pretty shy around new people but that goes away with time. I guess you could say that FELLOWSHIP is my favorite part of being a Christian and being part of such a wonderful church. I have learned that my faith grows the most when I am around people who can build me up and I can build them up. For this reason, the idea that I will be able to be with all my friends and family, old and new, for ETERNITY is best part of Christ's grace and salvation.

That is THE BEAUTY OF SALVATION.

The Beauty of Christmas Music

I just wanted you to know that I participated in the Carnival of Beauty. Go visit Susannah at Through a Glass. She is our gracious host this week. I wrote about my experience Christmas Caroling this past Saturday night. The post is directly below this one. Let me know what you think. :-)

An Evening of Caroling and Worship

I had a wonderful weekend. The best part of it was most definitely going to REVIVE. For those who don't know what REVIVE is, it is a get together hosted by my good friend and Mentor, Barb. She opened her house up a year ago for young, single women to come and have a wonderful time eating, fellowship and worshiping Jesus. I was never part of the single population when I started attending but I have been welcomed just the same. All the girls have loved on Caleb whenever he has attended as the only allowed male. I always leave REVIVE feeling just that, revived. Yes, I have to give up my Saturday night with Chris, but I know I come back a better wife and mother.

This past REVIVE was, of course, of a Christmas theme. We started gathering around 5:30 and had fun talking and snacking. Around 6 pm we headed out into Barb's subdivision, carrying candles, and singing Christmas Carols. I can't remember the last time I went Christmas caroling. I know I don't have the best voice and that voice was made even worse by the super cold temperatures. But, you know, we were kept warm by the love in the group, our common love for Jesus, and for the love we showed all the neighbors. Some of the people came outside and enjoyed the music. Others didn't know what to do with us. One couple even went inside and rummaged for some change to pay us.Geez ! We serenaded some dogs who were the only occupants of one house to greet us. There was one couple that came outside and sang and danced right alongside us. The joy in people's faces was quite plain. We ended our evening of
caroling by stopping at an older couple's house. The wife was newly
home from the hospital and she was quite frail. They couldn't open the door and let in the cold air, but they stood right there and soaked in the music and our love for them. Christmas music sure does take on a deeper meaning when you can see how singing carols can lift someone else's spirits. It helps to remind us all of why we sing them in the first place.

After caroling at about ten houses, we returned to the house and warmed up with coffee, hot buttered rum, hot chocolate and other goodies. We even made homemade pizzas. After everyone was full of food, we gathered in the living room and began to re eive our fill of our Lord. We sang worship songs, prayed, and read scripture. It was wonderful. I fell sleep on the couch like I always do but that sleep is always so sweet and peaceful. I can feel Christ's arms around me, comforting me. It is like a warm blanket. We ended the worship time singing "O Holy Night." That has always been my favorite Christmas carol and singing it in such setting made it that much more wonderful and meaningful.

Finally, around 1 am we started decorating our Gingerbread houses. I have never done that and mine was so cute. They called it the "Hansel and Gretal house" because it was covered with all kinds of candies. I climbed into bed around 2 am and talked with my friend Brandy for awhile. (I spent the night there while Chris and Brandy's husband took Caleb for the night...ultimate Non-Mommy time.) I drifted off to sleep around 2:30 and slept well until I woke Sunday morning. Brandy and I drove home and
greeted our husbands. I was so happy to be home with Chris and Caleb. I was REVIVED and ready to be a better wife and mother. I also listen to the Christmas music on the radio and I think about all those faces of the people we touched by a fun evening of caroling.