JOYMAKING
Create A New Year’s Retreat at Home
Gather blank paper or index cards and pens. Each person should have three pieces of paper.
Pour a glass of your favorite hot cider or cocoa, flavored water, wine or sparkly something and create a plate of holiday goodness.
Get cozy by a fire if you can find one, make one or imagine one—lighting candles works too.
*On the First Paper
Side one: Write down as many silver linings or lessons learned from the past year that you can recall.
Back side: Write down as many hopes for the coming year as you have in your head and heart.
*On the Second Paper
Brainstorm and record all of the mistakes, regrets and misfortunes from the past year.
Read and reflect, crumple the paper up and toss it in the fire. Let the fire consume the heartache and regret, offering it as a prayer for lessons learned and better things to come.
*On the Third Paper
Select a Word for the coming year to guide your intentions, hopes and goals. If you haven’t done this exercise before, below are two great resources/reads:
Blog:
The Benefits of Choosing a Word for the Year‑Instead of Setting Goals
Book and website:
One Word that will Change your Life by Jon Gordon
https://jongordon.com/books/one-word/
You can choose to do this on your own or with family and friends—an excellent Zoom Activity. You can keep your thoughts private, or share any or all of your reflections on the past year and intentions for the new one with others.
Note: Sharing your Word and hopes with others keeps you accountable and invites encouragement...Take a risk.
Blessings on this new year to come....
“How heavy the empty heart. How light the heart that’s full. Sometimes I have to trust what I can’t know”. -Beth Nielsen Chapman
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Both my Gram Hattie and Grandma Bea were baking queens, but Bea was the pie expert. This pie experience is a combination of their recipes with a twist: A few years ago my good friend, Mary, shared their treasured family pumpkin pie recipe. I noticed it was so similar to Bea’s with one important difference: her spices were doubled! We made the change and have never gone back.
Grandma Bea’s Spiced-Up Pumpkin Pie
1 can of pumpkin (1 1/2 cups)
1 cup sugar (half brown and half white)
1 ½ t. cinnamon
½ t. each:
salt
all spice
ginger
nutmeg
cloves
2 eggs
1 can evaporated milk (1 2/3 cups)
Combine pumpkin, sugars, salt and spices. Blend in eggs and milk by hand. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and 350 for 40 minutes more or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. I put a pie ring or crimped foil over the crust the last half of baking to prevent burning.
One pie crust: Ready-made or from scratch—your choice. Seriously, do not stress about the crust! If it prevents you from making a pie, buy ready-made!
Gram Hattie’s Crust:
3 cups sifted flour
1 t. salt
1 cup lard
5 T. water
1 t. vinegar
1 egg
Blend flour, salt, and lard until crumbly. Whip water, vinegar, and egg together and add. Stir until blended—until it clings away from the bowl. This recipe makes one double crust and a single; lots of room to play with, cutting out fall shapes and decorating the pie after it is baked. I just sprinkle cinnamon sugar on my crust decorations and bake on a greased cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven.
Pair your piece of pie with one of our favorite family cider recipes. (Listed below straight from the inside of our kitchen cupboard doors!?) We love apple cider in the fall but transition to a more holiday-ish cider after Thanksgiving...Enjoy!
Dip Dip Hooray!
Cool and Refreshing...Cucumber Dip
Two 8 oz. packages cream cheese (low fat)
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. minced sweet onion
2 T. low fat mayo
2 cucumbers—peel, remove seeds and dice
½ to 1 t. dried dill weed
Mix all together and sprinkle a bit more dill
weed on top. Chill. Serve with Ritz crackers, Fritos or Wheat Thins.
Warm and Spicy...Hot Sweet Onion Dip
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
2 cups low fat mayo
2 cups chopped sweet white onion
cayenne pepper
Mix the first three ingredients and put in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with cayenne pepper. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Serve with Triscuits or Wheat Thins.
Dad’s Home Made Ice Cream
4 cups milk
2 T. flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
¼ t. salt
4 t. vanilla
4 cups thin cream or half and half
Mix flour, sugar and salt. Add egg, slightly beaten, and milk gradually. Cook over hot water 10 minutes, stirring constantly at first. Should custard have curdled appearance, it will disappear in freezing. When cool, add cream and vanilla and freeze in electric ice cream freezer. Makes 3 quarts.
Grammy Barb’s Heavenly Hot Fudge
½ cup butter
4 ½ oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 cups sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
½ t. salt
2 T. Karo syrup
Melt butter and chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Stir sugar in gradually. Add salt and slowly stir in milk a little at a time. Add Karo syrup. Heat well so it doesn’t sugar. It will not come to a full boil but it will thicken slightly and more so once cooled.
Easter Egg Hunt Thumbprints Cookies
For 23 years we have planned and anticipated a Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt—complete with a visit from the Easter Bunny—inviting neighbors and friends from near and far to join in, collecting condiments for Matt Talbot Kitchen. Rain, snow or frigid temperatures did not ever cancel our celebrations!
Even though we cannot have a community hunt this year, we can focus on pieces of the adventure that still rest in our hearts. We can have private hunts in our back yards, and we can donate resources to those causes that are helping those in need. And, nothing is stopping us from baking a bit of bright light and goodness. Below I share our family recipe for Thumbprint Cookies.
Dough: ¾ cup sugar, 1 ½ cups butter, 2 cups shortening, ½ t. salt, 2 t. vanilla (sometimes we use almond flavoring instead), 1 egg, and 8 cups of flour
Frosting: 3-4 T. water, 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ t. vanilla (or almond flavoring), pinch of salt, various food coloring choices
Beat sugar, butter, shortening, salt, and vanilla until creamy. Mix in egg. Slowly add the flour, mixing just to combine. Divide the dough into parts the size of a baseball, and then form into long log rolls about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap individually in wax paper and chill one hour or more. Cut into ½ inch slices and have kids press their thumbs in the center of each cookie.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are slightly golden. Cool. Make the frosting, adding the water one tablespoon at a time until the mix is thick enough not to run and thin enough to flatten in the center. Divide into bowls and add food coloring to each. Dab frosting in each indention. Makes a zillion cookies! They freeze well too.
Children’s Book Nudge:
The Tale of the Three Trees by Angela Hunt
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
"Find a small moment of joy in a blue sky, in a trip somewhere not so far away, a long walk an early morning in December, or a handwritten letter to an old friend simply saying 'I thought of you. I hope you’re well.' —Charlotte Eriksson, Author
The Handwritten Note
Staying connected to those we care about brings joy to both the sender and the receiver. A simple way to connect is by dropping a note or card in the mail. Now is the perfect time to bring back the lost art of the handwritten note, using snail mail.
It can be as simple as a piece of notebook paper in a plain business envelope, or jot a greeting on the back of a photo to share. My favorite coffee shop, the Foundry, has postcards you can write on, address, and they will mail them for you. Genius! Trader Joe’s is the best bang for your buck to purchase cards—literally, only a dollar a piece! They have so many fun greetings to choose from...
Go ahead, make time to sit down and craft a message or three for those you love, to someone who might be alone or need some reminding of their goodness. Tell them a story, revive a memory you shared, inspire them with a quote...just send out a little bit of love.
GRAM BEA’S CHOCOLATE CHIPPERS
Grandma Bea’s cookie recipe is a staple in our family—State Fair Blue Ribbon worthy! Shared with friends, neighbors, many a sports team…show choir kids; the cookies have made a showing on many rainy days and in containers mailed to college campuses and newly settled apartments near and far. The cookies scream comfort and I joyfully share the recipe with you. The one secret ingredient: coconut! Even if you don’t like coconut, you will love these cookies. Trust me.
The recipe with the base of coconut and oatmeal is written on the inside of our kitchen cupboard door for quick reference. Traditionally, we add chocolate chips, but raisins or other sweet pieces of goodness can be substituted. Think tiny jelly bird egg jelly beans for Easter or dried cherries and white chocolate to take somewhere fancy?! Maybe caramel bits and pretzels with some coarse salt sprinkled on top before baking for a new twist. My favorite thing to do is double the recipe, using my favorite humongous metal bowl! In baking them, freeze some, mail some, share some but leave the cookie jar full!
“The earth laughs in flowers.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of my favorite things to do in late February all the way through the month of April is to grab inexpensive bouquets of flowers at the grocery story—usually in buckets of water as one walks in the door. Daffodils and Tulips are my favorite and you can sometimes get ten Daffodil stems for $1.50. Such a deal! I buy several and put them in my fridge in a glass of water until I am ready to divvy them out. It slows their blooming.
Pull three to five out and tie a tulle bow around them—or not because they are colorful and bright enough as is! Bring them to lunch with a friend, drop off at the neighbors or share with the person you’re meeting with for coffee. Think MAY DAY all day every day through most of spring!
I will share more about my flower ministry next fall when the zinnias are in abundance. Meanwhile, scatter some blessings and joy!
Children’s book nudge: Sidewalk Flowers by Sydney Smith
The Summer Snowman
In our “Honestly, It’s Not for Everyone” Nebraska winter, I believe (hope) there is always one more “snow day” worthy storm! I challenge anyone living a snow-filled life to pay attention to the optimal temperature when snow is good for rolling and consider creating a snowman for summer savoring…
Ten Steps to your own Summer Snowman
1. After a gentle wet snowfall, roll three snow balls of varying sizes.
2. Wrap them in heavy duty foil and store them in your freezer.
3. Pick the hottest summer day.
4. Invite friends and neighbors for backyard fun.
5. Make homemade ice cream and hot fudge.
6. Gather items to adorn your snowman.
7. Pull the balls out of the freezer.
8. Spray water on the balls to help them stick together.
9. Decorate and set outside.
10. Raise a sticky cup of cream and fudge—Cheers to summer, friendship and silliness!
Other Suggestions:
-Check your freezer space to determine size.
-Slightly flatten out the bottom and top of the two largest balls and the bottom of the smallest ball, so they will all sit well on top of one another.
-Take a vegetable skewer and poke some holes where arms and facial features and buttons may come into play—so much easier to decorate when pulling out of a cold freezer!
-Sharing your snowman with your immediate family, a gaggle of grandkids, the neighbor kids or a large group of friends provides a light-hearted way to connect with one another.
Our summer snowman, Will E. Melt, comes out annually to welcome our neighbors for a late summer Rice Cream Social, complete with homemade ice cream and Grammy Barb’s hot fudge sauce. We ask friends to bring donations for our good friend, Willie Shafer’s nonprofit—Willie’s Underwear Project, which provides fresh clothing to local schools for students who have accidents during the school day.
Children’s book nudge:
The Summer Snowman by Gene Zion
Snowmen All Year by Caralyn Buehner