That is when the best laid plans fell apart.  After a 25 minute drive to my house, she arrived without the coveted recipe in hand.  No problem, we searched Allrecipe.com and found a Pecan tart recipe just like her mama’s.

My job was to make the crust part of the recipe, her’s was to make the filling part.

Well, yours truly didn’t really read the recipe all the way through, and sure enough, before I knew it I had assembled the crust with all the eggs, butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar.  A double batch to boot!

Suddenly we both realized our best laid plans had fallen apart when I was suddenly confronted with the sad reality that I was responsible for wasting 8 eggs, 6 cups brown sugar, a pound of butter, 12 oz of cream cheese in making the “crust” which looked more like a cake batter all because I had not read the recipe carefully!

I think I remember telling my children over and over and over again something like  “Read, read, re-read your recipe several times before starting, please!”

Patty teases me about being a perfectionist, but truly folks, I just didn’t want to waste the ingredients.  I felt sick about one little cooking booboo.  SERIOUSLY!

Amazingly, Patty said, “We’re not throwing that out.”   I said, “So what are we going to make?”

My dear friend Patty took my slogan “Use what you have” to a new level, and it worked!

Yes, I turned all this flour, sugar, butter, and eggs into a clone of my family favorite blonde brownie recipe yummy enough to be suitable for sharing at church fellowship time.

That little “experiment” was followed by successful tart making.  

Then another flub-up by yours truly with my family favorite tried and true Microwave Munching Peanut Brittle recipe!  I won’t go into details but suffice it to say, I had to practice my bread baking motto,”There are no failures (in making peanut brittle) just learning experiences.”

The next four batches of peanut brittle turned out great followed by success with the Enstrom’s Style Toffee Recipe I love so much.

All in all – it was a very good day.  We didn’t come near to completing the volume of goodies as I dreamed of, but much more importantly we had a great day together building our friendship, having fun, teasing each other, being silly and making a few memories.

When we settled down to pizza and a movie I knew the satisfied but exhausted feeling I had came from a day of hard work and good life lessons (re)learned in the kitchen.

So what lessons have you been learning in your kitchen with your children or grandchildren this year?  What tried and true family favorite recipes can you share links to?

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Click here to download  this FREE ebook about celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas today…my gift to YOU!

{Download will be available until December 31, 2011.}

My goal, this Christmas holiday season, is to focus on the simple, memory making activities that are short on expense, and long on memory making.  Sometimes it just takes a little perspective to just see how well off  we are.   Remember to slow down, enjoy the season, take lots of pictures and enjoy the memories.

Here are some fun and frugal activities to consider this holiday season:

1. Read one Christmas, holiday, or winter-themed book each day for the week leading up to Christmas. You could wrap the books up, in tissue and have one child unwrap one book per day starting around December 17th. The same books can be re-wrapped from year to year. This tradition can be expanded by borrowing library books or purchasing Christmas books at thrift stores.

Our favorite Christmas stories are

• The Night Before Christmas
• The Legend of the Candy Cane
• The Story of Holly & Ivy
• The Real 12 Days of Christmas- The story behind the Song and
• A Little House Christmas Volume 11 which contains the Christmas stories from the original books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
• My favorite Little House Picture Books with wintery and Christmas Themes are Christmas in the Big Woods, Sugar Snow, and Winter Days in the Big Woods. I think any of these books are available in the library.

2. Celebrating the season of Advent keeps us focused on the most important reasons we celebrate Christmas. A Family Advent presents guided heartfelt and thought-provoking devotionals with fun facts, journeys back in time, activities, and much more.

And until December 31, you can download a copy of A Family Advent absolutely FREE.

3. Attend a Christmas Cantata, Parades of Lights, or Christmas Eve Service in your community. Check your local paper for details. Then drive around the neighborhoods to view Christmas lights and well decorated homes on your way home. In our area, the addresses of the best lit homes are organized by neighborhoods and listed in the newspaper. When you get home have hot chocolate and home made cookies.

4. Have a family slumber party or movie marathon in the family room or living room. Pull out sleeping bags. blankets, afghans, pillows. Turn out the lights except for Christmas lights or candles. Enjoy popcorn or a snack with a Bible story, book or Christmas movie. Our favorite Christmas movies are:

• The Nativity Story
• Christmas with the Kranks
• The Christmas Story.

5.  With small children you can make a paper chain with colored construction paper to count the days until Christmas. Alternate green and red construction paper. Take a link off the chain each night before bed time.  Here are some other great links to making your own economical and beautiful ornaments:

• Cinnamon Ornaments
• Citrus and Star Ornaments
• Christmas Card Garland
• Cookie Cutter Ornaments
• Christmas Card Ornaments

6. Set up a card table or coffee table to do a jigsaw puzzle together during the holidays. Work at it every now and then with family, relatives or neighbors until it’s done. Do a different puzzle every year. Inexpensive puzzles can be found in thrift stores.

7. Bake rolled out old fashioned sugar cookies cut into Christmas shapes and decorate. My children, now older, still enjoy making sugar cookies together every year without my help. OR make candy. Our favorites are fudge, peanut brittle, and toffee. OR make a Gingerbread House. Kits are inexpensive in craft stores. I usually buy one in the after Christmas sales for the next year.

8. Cut your own Christmas tree. In Colorado you can buy a permit to go to a designated place in the forest to cut a tree for $8.00. My children absolutely insist on having a real, live tree preferably one they cut themselves with Dad every year. The oldest is now 23!

9. Hold a Holiday Open House or invite some friends or family over for dinner. My favorite company recipe is Beef Burgundy. Your event can be simple and casual. Have everyone bring a dish or appetizer to share. Enjoy the company and tell about favorite family traditions or memories.

10.Make package opening time special by allowing only one gift to be opened at a time. Start by having the children give out their gifts first.

BONUS IDEA: Make a special Christmas breakfast with homemade Pecan Sticky Cinnamon Rolls. You won’t even need to get up early to do it. All the Christmas breakfast recipes and stress free instructions are complimentary.

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To do or not to do, that is the question!  To get a real tree or an artificial tree was the choice Mary and I wrestled with over the Black Friday week-end.  My late husband, Duane, insisted we decorate for the holidays with a REAL Christmas tree each year.

So one of our favorite family traditions, was Duane’s willingness to take the children into the mountains, hike around in the snow until the “perfect” Charlie Brown tree was spotted, sawed down, dragged out of the woods and brought home.  After Duane was gone, my son Stephen and Mary took over the Christmas tree tradition.

However, this is the first year Mary and I had to figure out how to get a Christmas tree ourselves and without Stephen’s help and the use of our beat-up, trusty old truck.  So we settled on scouting out the Black Friday bargain priced artificial pre-lit tree choices despite the feeling we were betraying tradition.

Mary found her ideal tree at twice the cost of our budget.  I found the best option that fit within our budget constraints was a much shorter tree than we had grown accustomed to.

I’m not going to lie, as my children say, I really wanted the “big tree” the closest thing to our real, tall, Charlie Brown tree of year’s past.

Yet, I also felt desperately committed  to reconciling myself to live within our means and obtain a tree that I could actually lift the box by myself.  DECISIONS!  Little did I think this decision would create such an agonizing conflict within me that nearly caused me to turn around and march out of the store empty handed.

I have learned in the last few years, that after the loss of a loved one, life is not the same and I need to adjust to a “new normal”.  This is much easier said than done.

My dear patient daughter Mary, graciously allowed me to discuss the pros and cons of the tree options even though her choice was clearly the opposite to my inclination.  And what mother doesn’t want to please her children?

Finally I placed the budget pleasing choice into the buggy and trudged to the check out lane still not convinced I had made the best decision.  Surprisingly this tree’s cost came to within six cents of my most optimistic expectation including the tax and barely fit into our car.

As Mary and I together slid the cumbersome box into the already loaded van for our long trip home, I marveled at God’s goodness to provide the right tree, and the right price, at the right time.

As we got in the car, peace and gratefulness encircled my heart as I realized God had enabled us together to wrestle through one more “new normal”.  God is so faithful and I praise him for that.

Perhaps your family is facing much bigger and more agonizing decisions this holiday season.  Let me encourage you to hold on to his precious promises of faithfulness.  Friend, you can count on Him.

“For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.”  Psalm 100:5

Front Cover of my Book of Wisdom

Ed Note:

The following article is written by my daughter Laura Coble, a young mom expecting her second baby in March.  You can read her blog at The Coble Column.

As a Grandmother, I  think it would be great to get started with a book of Wisdom to pass on to my grandchildren from Gramma.

Life Manual

The other day I was reading about how a mom wished that there was some kind of “life” manual that could be handed down from mother to daughter, through the generations.  In it would be favorite recipes, budgeting tips, medicinal remedies, child training recommendations and so on.  I know for myself I have often wished that I had a manual for life.  It seems there ought to be some kind of Book of Wisdom filled with practical advice, such as, “when your child does x, implement y“.

I like to think that back in the “good ole’ days” when families weren’t so spread out, knowledge and wisdom about life skills was handed down both verbally and through personal experience.  During family get-togethers, probably at least a dozen people held “baby Susie” and at least a great-grandmother, grandmother, aunt, and aunt-twice-removed gave the new mother, and any young girls present, advice on soothing a fussy baby.

At first this could sound like a nightmare, we all know about mother-in-law jokes, and probably many of us have such a mother-in-law, or mother, or aunt-twice-removed who likes to give unwanted advice.  But my point is that people long ago, when generations of a family all lived in the same town, probably didn’t go running out to Barnes and Noble for a self-help book on child training, they had the knowledge and wisdom of the ages passed down to them already.

Create Your Own Book of Trials, Errors, and Lessons Learned

So when this woman was wishing for a book that held all the life lessons learned by her ancestors, I thought, why not?  Why not create such a book that I could pass onto my children some day, and Lord willing, they will continue to add to and then pass onto their kids.  Thus the “Big Book of Trials, Errors, and Lessons Learned” was inspired.

You could make such a book as simple or elegant as you want.  I just bought a three-ring binder at Wal-Mart, scrapbooked a cover page, and then inserted dividers.  I broke the book down into six categories, marriage, family, kids, household, finances, and faith, with two extra tabs for future categories.

My plan and hope is when Brandon or I, or both of us, learn something in any of these categories, we will quickly jot down a note about it.  The note doesn’t have to be a whole essay, just a couple of sentences on what we learned.  For example, under kids I’d like to write down some of the things I’ve learned about helping Job sleep through the night, under household I’d like to put some tips for organizing that I’ve learned lately, and under marriage, well I could definitely put a lot down for that category (not because I’m so smart but because there is so much I’ve had to learn!)

Hopefully Brandon and I can be faithful to fill out short little notes in our book so that one day this book will be a valuable tool of insight for our children and even children’s children.

About two years after Duane’s death I hit a wall and fell apart and could barely keep going.

What I learned in this journey is that I couldn’t keep doing the “right” thing under sheer willpower.  I had become lonely, cynical, and perhaps too religious.  I was out of steam, out of power, exhausted and discouraged.

Being at the end of my rope with disappointments in this life helped me to start to really see that the love of God is enough.

Literally God had to undo me.   I can say, now I am glad!  Because God is really good.

When I heard the words of the prayer (below) this morning on K-love radio, it touched me deeply and I wanted to share the words with everyone because it so beautifully states what I could not put in words.

Please read on:

Lord Undo Me

I  I don’t really worship these days
I don’t really stand up to praise you with songs
Or prayers or actions
or with anything
I am full of all the right moves
I am full of all the right words
I am full of all the right religion
But it is all just illusion
I am really
Lonely
Lost
Calloused
Jaded
Cynical
Too religious
Too realistic
and well really just to lazy
to worship you anymore
I have lost my first love
I have lost the joy of your presence
But most of all I have lost the fear of your glory

Father I need to see you again
Like Isaiah I want to stand in awe of your glory
To fall down at your feet
To come face to face with your
Perfection,
Radiance,
Goodness,
Holiness,
Awesomeness
I want to stand before you and see you for who you are
and me for who I am
I want to be undone

I want to know me for who I really am
I want to see the depths of my heart
And know that you are the only way
You are the only truth
You are the only life
I want to see me and understand
What it really must have taken for you to
Love me
Care for me
See me
Speak to me
Want me
Communicate with me
Die for me
Die for me
Die for me

Lord, I want to stand in that place where all I can see is your glory
And my sin
Because in that place I can’t help but worship you.
Lord let me come undone
Undo my heart
Lord, undo my heart break down these walls that I love so much
No, wait don’t,
I’m scared I don’t know if I can handle this don’t
But I can’t live this way anymore
I can’t stand here in this half-life
this going through the motions life
this not really alive life
Father, I need you so come in and do what you must
Cut out the tumor on my heart
Break down the walls that I love
Lord let me come undone
Undo my heart
Let me worship you again

*Blake Williams

I hope you are blessed.  The words of this page come from JD Chandler’s blog page at K-Love.

I don’t know if its okay to review and recommend a book before you’ve finished reading it, but I’ve been so encouraged by this book so far that I couldn’t help myself!

The book “The Busy Mom’s Guide to a Happy Organized Home” by Kathy Peel has a lot of practical solutions to everyday household managing issues such as finances, menu planning, cleaning, and relationships.  As a Christian woman, she gives godly perspective and encourages moms to consider what is most important in life.

I originally picked this book up at the library because I was looking for a book that would tell me how to “do it all” during the day.  I feel like I always have so many things that I want to get accomplished during the day…make breakfast, go to work, keep the house spotless, work on a craft project, play with Job, make dinner, go to the gym, run errands, have a quiet time…. I know that for me I feel like there are so many different ways to use my time, and that if I don’t successfully juggle kids, husband, household, career, volunteering, etc, then I’ve failed, and I know that a lot of other women struggle with this as well.

What is more frustrating is that when I look around and see other women who seem like they are doing it all, and then I wonder, what am I doing wrong that I can’t get it all done during the day?  Recently I assumed that my problem was that I wasn’tgood enough at organizing and scheduling.  If I was better organized, then I’d be able to get it all done, I thought.

Hence why I began reading this book.  But instead of detailed instructions on how to become a super multi-tasker and Mrs. Efficient, I was so refreshed when I read Peel’s encouragement to become okay with the fact that we can’t do it all and that it’s okay if we don’t finish every detail on our to-do lists.

She encourages mom to evaluate what is most important to you and organize yourself accordingly.  She also states that our goal should not to become more organized so we have more time to do more stuff, but rather to become more organized so that we have extra time to spend on what we love, like our kids and husbands.

By the way, if you are also struggling with feeling like you need to be Super Mom, I was also encouraged by Focus on the Family’s 3 part podcast “Thriving as a Modern-Day Woman.”  This series helps women discover what God is really calling them to and encourages women to seek after what they feel their calling is, not just what they feel like they should be doing.  This podcast was really encouraging to me that just because other women seem to be doing it all, that doesn’t mean I have to try to do it all.

My attitude definitely didn’t transform overnight from being rigid to relaxed about my to-do list, but I feel a lot better with Peel’s practical everyday wisdom and encouragement to just do what I can reasonably do.  There is no Super Mom after all, so I shouldn’t try to be one.

What do you say readers?

MarilynMoll.com is back! I am very excited about re-connecting with you my faithful friends, readers and customers!  After passing the baton from The Urban Homemaker to the Marsh family in April, my passion for homemaking remains but with a new twist!

My Mission

My mission at marilynmoll.com will to continue to fill this blog page with fresh, relevant information, tips, recipes, food-for-thought, and resources for homemakers of all ages and in all seasons of life and occasionally with a more eternal perspective and use of scriptures.

Although I have experienced many changes and many losses in the last three and half years, I have come to accept that change is inevitable.  I like this quote:

There is no growth without change.

There is no change without loss.

There is no loss without grief.

There is no grief without pain.

Family Updates

Since passing the baton to the Marsh Family, I have spent many weeks taking care of my aging parents and getting them moved to assisted living in Florida.  The highlight of my summer has been connecting with oldest daughter Laura, one-year-old grandson Job, and son-in-law Brandon while they spend their summer on the Western slope of Colorado.

Laura is now expecting a new baby in March 2012.

Son Stephen is now commanding a platoon at Ft Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Youngest daughter Mary just began her busy senior year of high school and I now have a part time job a personal care provider.

“Like” my Facebook Page

One thing hasn’t changed – my passion for homemaking in all seasons of life, so that is what we will talk about here.  Please tell your friends and “like” my new facebook page.

I’m excited because I have lots of new recipes and resources to tell you about. 

Next week’s Kick off will include some valuable Give-Aways which will include an American Harvest dehydrator, Norwex Superior Mop, and other goodies.

Lastly, if you would like to correspond with me, I’d love to hear from you.  Email me at marilyn@marilynmollsnorwex.com.

Give Away:  Magnet Ball and Ultra Power Plus Combo – $64.98 Retail Value

The Magnet Ball softens hard water without the use of any chemicals or other consumable products.  Softened water will enable you to cut the amount of detergent needed by 50% in your washing machine or your dishwasher.  The magnet ball will eliminate mineral deposit build up on appliances, clothes, and dishes.  If you use this in your dishwasher it eliminates the need for a rinse agent.  This product has a five year warranty.  I’m on year three with my magnet ball and it does fantastically in my dishwasher.

Ultra Power Plus is filler free and unscented and will not leave any residue in your clothing.  It has superior stain removing properties, whitens whites, brightens colored fabrics, cuts through grease.  Since this detergent is ultra concentrated you only use 1 tsp of detergent for a front  loader or 1 Tbsp for a top loading washer.  Use it with the Magnet ball in a top loading washer and you can cut the amount of detergent needed some more.  You will get at least 140 loads at a cost of about 15 cents per load in a top loader and 3 times as many loads in a Front Loader.

I also use Ultra Power Plus as my stain remover by dissolving 1 Tbsp in 1/2 Cup of  water and spraying it on stains before laundering.

Here is how to participate in future Urban Homemaker Contests.

This contest will end Monday March 7, 2011 and the winner announced on March 8.

There are up to five ways to enter the contest!

You get one contest entry for each of the following steps you take and you post that you did it in  the comments section of this blog page below:

1.  Post this article to your Facebook page and tell me you did so in the comments section below.

2.  Post this article to your Twitter page and tell me you did so in the comments section below.

3.  Sign up for receiving The Urban Homemaker blog posts by email above, and tell me you did so below in the comments.

4.  Mention this contest in your blog posting and link back to this page and post your blog link in the comments section below.

5.  Sign up to receive The Urban Homemaker Enewsletter, and tell me you did so below in the comments.

Follow me at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/urbanhomemaker

Follow me at Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TheUrbanHome

Mary came down with a sore throat on Sunday, right after I thought we had missed the cold and flu season.  After applying some of the below tips, she said her throat was almost better a day later.

Here are some of my best tips for Avoiding and Overcoming the Flu Naturally that have worked for our family:

1. First of all, drink AT LEAST two quarts of filtered water a day. Moist mucous membranes are less likely to allow those little flu bugs to get a foothold. May I suggest that you consider investing in a drinking water purifier as low cost “health insurance”? The Multipure system costs eight cents per gallon of purified water and produces much higher quality of purifie water and is much more convenient than bottled water.

2. Frequent Hand washing for AT LEAST 20 seconds to get your hands really clean and germ free. Since hand washing is always important in avoiding colds and flus, be sure to wash and rinse for at least 20 seconds to be effective, and teach your children to do the same.

3. Consider using the Neti Pot type of apparatus that rinses the nasal passages with a saline solution.  I did this last winter twice a day routinely and avoided colds.  I forgot about it this year, and just started in again.

4. Did you know that many herbalists are now recommending a maintenance dose of Elderberry to gently stimulate the immune system from catching those nasty bugs instead of echinacea?

5.  In addition, I always start taking extra Vitamin C or Emergen-C – the fizzy flavored Vitamin C/mineral packets mixed in water.

6. If you find yourself coming down with the flu symptoms, such as achiness or overwhelming fatigue, increase your choice of Echinacea/Elderberry combination product to at least 6 times a day or as often as every two hours since the immune system stimulation lasts for about 2 hours, plus the hot baths, and drinking extra water and tea.

7. If you try all of the above strategies and still find yourself or children coming down with a full case of a cold or flu I have found eating very lightly, or fasting from solid foods (not liquids) and using a combination of Ginger, Capsicum, Echinacea,Peppermint, Lemon, Garlic or Golden Seal in a tea form coupled with extra rest is very effective.  The herbs can also be encapsulated, but I like to make a tea of fresh ginger and or peppermint and a little cayenne, plus lemon and honey and drink lots of it.

8. Spicy foods like jalapeno’s, salsa, or homemade Chicken Soup with a little cayenne are great natural remedies often known as Jewish Penicillin but it works! My recipe for Chicken Soup for Colds and flus contains homemade chicken stock loaded with trace minerals, plus ginger, garlic, and  cayenne.

9.  Try the wet sock home remedy. I learned this from my neighbor Linda who has been using this method to avoid illness for years.  So I tried it last night when I thought I was getting a sore throat.  This morning I don’t have a sore throat!  Simply put cotton socks in warm water and wring them out thoroughly and put the damp socks on your feet, and then put a pair of wool socks over the damp cotton socks.  Go to bed.  Your feet will feel cool for awhile but the wetness/coolness draws blood and toxins to the feet while you sleep and you will wake up with dry socks and possibly avoid that cold altogether.  I love home remedies that are virtually free and work!

10. For more information about how to ferment any type of foods and how they benefit our immune system, join our phone seminar on Friday, February 18, 2011 at 12:00 noon Mountain Time. Jenny McGruther, of Nourished Kitchen will be my guest.

Last Day for Old WonderMill Prices – $239.95 today, $259.95 tomorrow – February 15, 2011

Last day for Old Wondermill Junior price – $199.95 through February 14, 2011 – $219.95 starting February 15, 2011 -Includes free shipping, new auger, clamp, stainless steel burrs – the complete package!

This recipe is courtesy of Cooking Traditional Foods, the longest running menu mailer based on the work of Weston A Price.

This pudding recipe comes out thick and rich.  It’s great as a cake filling or in a custard cup.  You can change out the extract for different flavors.  When my kids want pudding, this is the recipe I use.

4 egg yolks

1 Tbs cornstarch

1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk

½ cup chocolate chips

1 tsp peppermint extract

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and chocolate over medium heat until the chocolate is completely dissolved. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and cool briefly.

Whisk ¼ cup of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk in the remaining milk in a slow stream. Return to the saucepan and heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Do not boil.

Remove from the heat and cool, whisking regularly to avoid a skin forming on top and keep the fat incorporated, until only slightly warm. Stir in the peppermint extract. Chill thoroughly in the fridge before serving, or use as a cream filling for cakes, cupcakes or the like.

If your family likes sweeter desserts, you can stir in plain or chocolate flavored stevia with the peppermint extract. Unsweetened chocolate and a little rapadura or your favorite chocolate bar can be substituted for the chocolate chips. Orange, vanilla or another extract that would match chocolate can be used in place of the peppermint.

Kerry Ann Foster is the owner of Cooking Traditional Foods Menu Mailer

Penny Pinchin’ Mama e-book, Jill Cooper, who raised two teenagers alone while making only $500 per month, shares practical hints and strategies she used to make the most out of every dollar. The regular price is $12.95 and this week only it is 50% off or $6.48.