Celebrating the Baptism of the Lord

As the girls are getting older, we are trying harder to incorporate and celebrate the liturgical year in our home. Not only to increase their knowledge of our faith, but also to encourage them to live it, enjoy it, and celebrate it!! Their young ages still limit the amount of information you can give them or activities you can do, but is allowing me to start forming traditions and gather ideas for the next years!! Here are some things we enjoyed yesterday to help us remember this special day all day long!!

Angel enjoyed coloring THIS PAGE of Jesus being Baptized:

We all enjoyed working this Baptism Crossword Puzzle...and even got stumped on how to spell anoint or annoint....hehe

(thanks Jessica for the links for these activities)

Since the Christian symbol for Baptism is a shell, I bought some fun shell necklaces to wear (although the guys opted out of this)...decorated the table with shells...and made this yummy Nacho Stuffed Shell recipe for dinner (with Marmee and Alli). The recipe definitely is a keeper and we garnished with sour cream, salsa, cheese and fresh avocados. For dessert, I made Christ's Diapers and they were yummy and MAKE A LOT!! It was an interesting dough that I have never done before...so if you like to knead, try it out. It was amusing asking people if they wanted to eat Christ's diapers...Angel was a little confused!! But, most of them did look like a diaper...except for the ones that exploded when dropped in the fryer.

And since this day is a good time to also talk about and remember our own Baptisms...I made the centerpiece of the table be Angel's, Emma's and my baptismal candle. (Jason's is still in VA...note to self we need to get!). (see picture above of table). It looked really beautiful...and I just used an advent candle holder for it. I also made books for Angel's baptism and Emma's baptism, so it is always fun to pull those out and look at them as well.

Almighty, eternal God, when the Spirit descended upon Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, you revealed him as your own beloved Son. Keep us, your children born of water and the Spirit, faithful to our calling. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Holiday Treats

My little Baker Elf has been helping me FINALLY make some of our favorite holiday goodies, plus some new ones. With all these snow storms, we have been home bound and happy cooking! So here are some of the ones we have made (click on pics for recipes) and hopefully a few more to come!! PLEASE feel free to leave a comment with any of your favorites as I am always up for adding to our list and trying something new and yummy!! Hope your holiday baking and goody making is coming along as well!!

Recipes below (click on pic)

Christmas Pretzels
Holly Cookies

Chocolate Mint Sticks

Puff Balls

Peanut Krispies

Peppermint Bark

So good!!

Must try this Chocolate Eclair Dessert, click on picture for recipe.

Yummers

Last night I made some homemade applesauce from apples my mom had given me. She had made some earlier in the week and it was so good!! We loved eating it while it was still warm too...and it looks so pretty. The recipe was easy (thanks mom)..core apples and cut into pieces. Then put in a pot with about 1-2 cups water and boil until very soft. I boiled with a cinnamon stick in water. Then take stick out, and blend apples in blender until smooth and no skin pieces remain. It turns a pretty pink color. Then add about 1 cup sugar, couple teaspoons of cinnamon and fresh grated nutmeg to taste. IT IS SO GOOD.

Happy Birthday Hon!

Today is Jason's 29th Birthday!!! We love you so much Jason and thank you for all the love, time and hard work you do to support and take care of our family. Can't believe you are almost 30!!! (I can tease you about that for a few months at least!) We hope you had a good birthday even though this year has been a tough one, I pray that God will bless you with a wonderful year ahead and continued health and happiness. We love you...as Angel says....bunches and bunches...up to the moon and back!! (Jason is a cheesecake man....so every year since we have been married I have made him a different cheesecake that he picks out. This year, it was a huge winner...click on picture to get the recipe for the Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake...and enjoy!!)

Tiramisu

I hope this is the right recipe, I have used four of them to create my own and never wrote it down until now. Every time I have made this, it is a huge winner!! Very yummy and better than any I have ever had in a restaurant. Click on picture to get recipe and give it a try....people with love it!

Homemade Baby Food

Well, last week was the first time for Emma that I did my BIG homemade baby food day. It is so nice to get this done and have the flexibility of grabbing whatever cube of food I need from the freezer. Not only does this save a ton of money and not having to get overloaded with empty baby food jars, it is healthier with no preservatives and gives you the ability to give small portions at a time and mix all kinds of food combos together. I mostly steam everything, but I did bake the squash and boil the peas. I use THIS website for tips and tricks. I then blend everything and pour the purees in ice cube trays because each cube is about one ounce of food. Then I freeze and put in labeled Ziploc bags. Here is what I was able to make out of everything:

2 sweet potatoes = 30 ounces

1 butternut squash = 38 ounces

1 acorn squash = 13 ounces

6 pears = 26 ounces

4 peaches = 26 ounces

11 carrots = 18 ounces

1/2 bag peas = 25 ounces

Recipes to Share

This is our FAVORITE chicken wing recipe: Cindy's Tasty Wings

I think I have given this recipe before, but here it is again and I added about 2 cups of lentils last time and it was EVEN BETTER and really filled out the flavor and soup: Italian Vegetable Soup

And I tried these for dessert the other day...click on picture for recipe. They were yummy, although I think made mine too big so they were not as chewy and that is why I had a lot of filling leftover as well. Will just have to try again!!