Sunday, October 17, 2010

Masquerade: A Review

image

Masquerade, by Nancy Moser, reminded me of an old Disney movie, The Parent Trap.  Two good friends, Charlotte Gleason (who came from a wealthy family) and Dora (Charlotte’s maid), trade places or rather lives, on their boat ride to America – each to escape their old life.  However, both don’t end up getting what they want.  Through a series of twists and turns, they discover that in America awaits an even better path than they could have imagined!

Truly a very fun and entertaining read.  It was interesting to see the characters perspectives and paradigms change as they learned about what kind of women they were really created to be.

Two thumbs up!

Thank you to Bethany House for sending me this book to read and review.  I was not paid for this post, nor do I have to return the book!

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Somewhat Healthy Sticky Buns

Women have influence.  Remember what I talked about the other day?

Well, recently Mama Jenn blogged about her sticky buns.  But I couldn’t talk her into getting on a plane and traveling to my house to personally deliver them.  She influenced my taste buds, though.

It was imperative that I have one.

My mom and I couldn’t find a bakery nearby.  (And I realized too late that Jenn already had a recipe for Sticky Buns on her blog.)

I decided to make a healthy version of the delicious sticky bun.

review toys 028

OK . . . sticky buns minus the oozing, warm, melt-in-your-mouth icing.  I had no patience to  wait for icing.   I never found a good recipe for icing that LACKED powdered sugar. 

review toys 030

The recipe (since Theresa was asking for it . . . )

Jodi’s Sticky Bread that Isn’t So Sticky

  • 4 - 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 pkg yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, 1 tsp sugar)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup honey (or maple syrup)
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • and find your own icing recipe!

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour and yeast. 

Meanwhile, heat and stir milk, 1/3 cup honey, 1/3 cup butter and salt until just warm.  Add milk mixture to dry mixture, along with eggs.  Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl.  Beat on high speed for 3 minutes, adding as much of the remaining flour as you can. 

(There are a few other steps that you could do . . . but I skipped these!)  Gotta love me!

Shape dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl.  Cover and let it rise in a warm, cozy place (preferable out of your dog’s reach). 

If you are in a foul mood, punch the dough after it has doubled in size.  Otherwise, tickle it down and allow it to rest 10 minutes. 

Spank  the dough into a rectangle, preferably on a clean and floured countertop.  Mix cinnamon, honey, and melted butter together and then brush over dough.

review toys 007

Roll up the dough into a cocoon, starting with the long side of the rectangle.  Slice each roll according to how large of a sticky bun you would like to eat.  Place in a greased pan (8x8 or 9x13), cover, and allow to rise nearly double.

review toys 023

Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or till golden.

Enjoy!

review toys 032

Friday, October 15, 2010

Preschool Corner

Ever wonder what homeschool children do when their pregnant mom falls asleep for recess?

pumpkins 014

Why, they build a race track (with books)!

We have had a lot of recesses this week.  The weather has just been too nice not to. 

pumpkins 013

We painted pumpkins, thanks to Carisa’s pumpkin post earlier this week.

pumpkins 008

Caps for Sale, a FIAR book, has been read many times at our house followed by an activity to further reinforce the book.   I must admit that most of my ideas came from Michelle, over at Delightful Learning

review toys 022 

The peddler wore 17 hats (total) on his head.

Caps for sale 007

So, we wanted to see how hard it would be to hold all of those hats on your head!  Sure is a lot to cut out!

Caps for sale 001

After painting the tree we filled it with thumbprint monkeys.

Caps for sale 010

Nana helped Sir Honey do coin rubbings.  We counted out $.50 in many different ways.

Caps for sale 004

And we finished with impromptu monkey tails!

This was also Letter C week. 

Caps for sale 012  

Caps for sale 014

Mommy’s Favorite:

Caps for sale 011 

For more Preschool Corner posts head on over to Homeschool Creations!

preschool corner

Love is a Flame: A Review

image

 Love is a Flame, compiled by James Stuart Bell, is an easy book to read filled with hopeful stories of marriages overcoming seemingly insurmountable circumstances.  Though I have a happy marriage, I was still encouraged by the resilient couples who faced trying situations and with God’s help tackled their problems and won. 

This book contains 43 vignettes, that can quickly be read as stand-alone stories.  Great to read before bedtime or with your spouse. 

Published by Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, this book can be purchased through Amazon for $11.69.

Thanks to Bethany House for sending me this book to review.  All opinions are mine as usual! 

HomeSchool Blog Awards

I just wanted you to know that the HomeSchool Blog Awards are up and running (hint . . . hint).  Now is the time to nominate your favorite blogs! 

Click on the button below to take you to the information page. 

image

There are some really cool prizes . . . so give a big shout out about this friendly competition, and maybe you could be a winner, too.

So head on over to the Homeschool Post!