A Winner. A Recipe. Or Two.

Word Escapees

The winner of "our" (the royal we) Word Escapees submission contest is Sara Turner. Here is her submission, very certainly one apropos to motherhood.

Dehelping (verb) To actively NOT help, or, to do the opposite of helping.

"Rather than help mommy wrap Christmas gifts, Jacob was 'dehelping' by jumping on the bed, wrinkling the paper and unraveling the ribbon."

See also dishelping or unhelping, also used regionally.

Congratulations, Sara!

A Recipe. Or Two. Or Three.

In response to my appetizer blog, a few people submitted recipes for munchies, dips, and such. However, most did it via e-mail, so I will re-print some of these delectable-sounding recipes below! Thank you for your ideas! (More FONT funniness going on in this blog. As one Redd says, "Don't blame me, I just work here.")

By the way, the table is still open for more recipes, so hit Post Comment below if you want to share any more recipes!

Wanda's Biscuit Snacks

1 tube Grand biscuits
4 ounces or more of crumbled blue cheese
1/2 stick of melted butter
"Cut each biscuit into four parts. Place all in a pan. Sprinkle with blue cheese. Pour melted butter over all. Bake 350 for 20 minutes. Sprinkle paprika and parsley over top."

Wanda's Onion Appetizer

Wanda Assures me that though this recipe sounds strange, it is very tasty.

3 cups of chopped SWEET onion
3 cups Swiss cheese
2 cups Hellman's mayonnaise
"Combine and bake in 8 inch square dish at 350 for 30 minutes or until golden brown."

Inspi (red Salsa)
Brittany's 7 Layer Dip for U2 Fanatics*

10.5 oz can bean dip (spicy)

16 oz can refried beans (can use black or brown beans)

2 T jalepeno peppers, chopped (can use fresh - can add lots more!)

10 oz shredded sharp cheddar

10 oz shredded Mont Jack

1 pack of McCormick's original taco seasoning

2 c sour cream

8 oz picante sauce (medium)

2 ripe avacados, chopped, mixed with juice of one lemon

6 roma tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch green onions, don't have to use them all

1 small can sliced ripe black olives

"Spread bean dip and refried beans in bottom of 9 by 12 inch dish. Top with chopped jalepenos and sprinkle both cheeses on top. Combine taco seasoning and sour cream and spread on top. Seal layers with picante sauce (can stop and refrigerate now if trying to make ahead and do last layers right before serving). Then top picante sauce with avocados, romas, onions and black olives. Seal with Saran Wrap and foil if you need to wait a little while or transport. Serve with chips."

*I gave it that name to tease the lovely Brittany.

Family News: Lucy Speaks Up

The Indignities of the Season

by Lucy Chamberlin
Canine in Residence

A time of joy and merrymaking. A time of wassail and wine. A time of love and family.

But for me, a time of woe.

My story begins a few short weeks ago, when Daddy and That Woman put up, in the center of our family area, a large tree, and hung lights and dog toys all over it. Jingling toys, balls hanging from string, little merry figures clearly made for chewing. A veritable monolith of dog delights, and some edible candy canes thrown in. Then under the tree they lay more toys: colorful, rattling boxes covered in crinkly paper and ribbon.

Oh, what a joy!

And then they told me not to touch it.

But I knew they were joking, so I ate a few of the jolly toys hanging down for me and one of the presents, just a small one in a little velvet box.

Did that garner a zealous response! I was, in a manner of speaking, in the dog house. I heard Sarah say -- referring to Santa's well-known catalog of nomenclature -- "Lucy is not on the Good List."

This is only the latest in the Sad Chapter of Indignities suffered by Yours Truly in this House of Melancholy. All of the other puppies, bipeds, get to sit at the table and eat such foods as the beef, the pork, and the turkey, the eggs and b. (to steal a phrase), and the bread and fine cheeses. I eat dry kibble from a tin bowl on the floor in the corner. When I seek to join the family and contribute to the domestic communion, by resting my front paws on the kitchen table and burrowing my snout in the nearest soup bowl, I am roundly scolded and sent to the garage. I even have heard That Woman referring to me as "a maniac." A person of my careful breeding and woolly beauty!

I love dearly to eat the delicious snacks Mother Nature has provided off of the wild Southern Pecan tree in the back yard, I so enjoy the dark and moldy shells and bitter innards. (No matter that I later leave the contents of my stomach on the cream-colored shag carpet in the master bedroom, you and I know that small discomfort is well worth the crunchy delight of such dainties.) That Woman apparently doesn't agree or share my passion for pecans or my sanguine view of those gastronomic leavings, and has been keeping me from eating the pecans, going so far as to sweep them right out of my mouth. Oh, I hear her talking about it being "for your own good," but I know better. Where is the love?

Ah, my friends. I know that my lot is not a lonely one, for when we go to the dog park, we all reference the same sad story... the favoritism for the two-legged puppies, the torturous trees of untouchable delight erected in the homes at Christmas, the lack of beef.

Stay strong, Canine Companions. It is a hard lot, but....a walk?

Did she say "walk?"

Yes, yes, yes!...I love walks!...happy happy happy happy...

Poem of the Week (about Autumn)

Going for Water
Robert Frost

The well was dry beside the door,
And so we went with pail and can
Across the fields behind the house
To seek the brook if it still ran;

Not loth to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though chill), because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there.

We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly danced behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze.

But once within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new,
With laughter when she found us soon.

Each on the other a staying hand
To listen ere we dared to look,
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook

A note as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
Like pearls and now a silver blade.

This is why Frost is so good, lines like these:

...And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook

Grace and Peace: Poems and Songs for Mothers

Sweet Afton
Robert Burns

Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes!
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream --
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream

Thou stock dove whose echo resounds thro' the glen,
Ye wild whisting blackbirds in yon thorny den,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear --
I charge you, disturb not my slumbering fair!...

Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
And winds by the cot where my Mary resides!
How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
As gathering sweet flowerets, she stems thy clear wave!

Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes!
Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays!
My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream --
Flow gently sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.

Friday Night Lights

Texas is a lot of things, and one of those things is Football.

The Frisco High School Raccoons played the North McKinney Bulldogs last night at Pizza Hut stadium, and we were there! A Friday night football game is a community event in Texas, attended by grandparents, parents, yuppies, toddlers, and various and assorted locals who have nothing to do, otherwise, with football. You get your tickets early. You put on makeup, your best jeans, and you curl your hair. You bring a wad of cash for the concessions, and you sit down for the show.

Our next door neighbor is a defensive teams coach for Frisco High School. (They have multiple coaches for their high school football team, and headsets, and a booth up high for the Head Coach!) My sweet friend, his pretty blond wife, graciously offered to take us on their guest passes. I think she just took one look at us -- pasty, bland-looking people, no lipstick or sparkle to speak of -- and knew what we needed: an introduction to the Wide World of Texas High School football.

Folks, these people know how to do football! The jumbotron registered the general delight of the crowd; the cheerleaders were sunny and spirited and did towers and jumps; the half-time show was impressive; and the Raccoons won! The marching bands were big, had amazing uniforms and marched and played excellently, accompanied by elaborate color guard routines and twirlers, and followed by the drill team, dressed up as star-spangled cowgirls in red, white, and blue. I was impressed at the wholesome show-tune routines and cute but appropriate outfits of the drill team. We had such a fun time cheering for the Raccoons and just absorbing the fun into our drab, boring un-Texan souls.

Sarah and I feel we came home with a little more sparkle and pizazz in our hearts. Maybe we'll pick up some of this good Texas spirit after all!

Surrounded by the Good Stuff

I have found a good way to introduce younger children to skilled musicians and complex music is through Bluegrass. My kids love to hear the sad tale of sweet Molly Ban as sung by Allison Krauss, or that famous Fox [who] Went Out One Chilly Night as sung by the talented and young band, Nickel Creek. Along the way they are slyly introduced to skilled guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and banjo playing, among other instruments.

Nickel Creek is a great band for beautiful, complex instrumentals and songs that tell stories or recite poetry: fun and lively music, rollicking melodies and mournful, poignant ones as well -- great depth opens doors in the minds of little children. The Hand Song is a story of a young hero who goes to war for the love of his country. They sing a beautiful ballad with the words entirely composed of the Burns poem above.

It takes a little time and getting used to, and you do need to stay away from or downplay the despair fare that sometimes creeps into a Bluegrass song. But explain the story a bit, and you'll be surprised what the kids might pick up. Allison Krauss and Union Station's story of The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe His Corn is another favorite in our house -- a fancy way also to discuss not procrastinating. (He does and loses his crop and his girl.) These songs are full of jokes and lessons. Bob Dylan even has a great version of Froggy Went A-Courtin' out there that I have on a mix tape (CD mix from Starbucks).

I think, at least I hope, good music is like anything else...introduce them early and you sow the seeds of love for beauty and appreciation for creativity and skill.

ARC

Hymns and Songs: A Mighty Fortress

A mighty fortress is our God
A bulwark never failing
Our Helper He amidst the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing

God is a mighty fortress for those who stand behind his impenetrable walls. Do not stand behind the rickety wooden fence of possessions, people, pride in your own skills and power of your own efforts.

In His grace He has shown us the place to stand, behind the mighty, unshakable stone walls that will not be compromised -- no, not even chipped or burned, never trembling in the slightest -- by the floods or arrows or cannons or even bombs of persecution, distress, tribulation, famine, nakedness, peril or sword. Not a one will pierce the mighty bulwark of our God. His everlasting love which stands around you and which is tender and strong, knowing and forgiving, and long and wide and high and deep. Ephesians 3:17-21

Pray for Chase

I would like to make an earnest plea for prayers for a little boy named Chase and his family, who are friends of mine. They are missionaries in a remote region of Africa (I have quoted them before on this site) heading back post-haste to the US to see doctors. Eight-month old Chase is demonstrating significant developmental delays that are of great concern and resemble symptoms of cerebral palsy. Chase has two older brothers, one of whom was born without thumbs and who therefore has undergone significant surgical work to his two little arms and hands.

Please intercede for this courageous and sacrificial family, for all of their spiritual, emotional, and physical needs to be met here and on the way to the US, and for Chase's condition to end up not being serious. It will take you a minute or two to pray for him, and please consider also putting him on your regular prayer lists. Please pray for God's comforting hand to be with them and to protect this little one.

Thank you!
Anne

C.S. Lewis on Pain, Adversity

David sent me another great quote today (I am not sure of the paragraph divisions):

"If the first and lowest operation of pain shatters the illusion that all is well, the second shatters the illusion that what we have, whether good or bad in itself, is our own and enough for us.

Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We 'have all we want' is a terrible saying when 'all' does not include God. We find God an interruption. As St. Augustine says somewhere, 'God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full--there's nowhere for Him to put it.' Or as a friend of mine said, 'We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it's there for emergencies but he hopes he'll never have to use it.'

Now God who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call 'our own life' remains agreeable, we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make 'our own life' less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible sources of false happiness?"

Quotes: How Firm A Foundation

Author unknown

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.