Spring in Central Virginia

I don't need to say much... these photos speak for themselves!

A Rich, Delicious Cake...

Super-Awesome shares his birthday with St. Patrick's Day and so this year I tried to combine the two things... a birthday cake with an Irish theme.   Where do I go when I need a recipe that won't let me down?  You know it...  The King Arthur Flour Website.  I always do well when I try one of their recipes and this time was no different.

The Chocolate Stout Cake is what I ended up making.  Chocolate + Guinness Stout = amazing!  Who knew?
Baking Banter, the King Arthur Flour blog also has a post depicting this Chocolate Stout Cake recipe step by step with photos and you can find that post here.

Here are my photos:

I had a shamrock cookie cutter, plunked it down in the middle and then poured the sprinkles in.  Pressed them down and carefully removed it.  Most of them stayed within the contours of the shamrock.

A dense dark cake!

Shared at our neighborhood potluck & with our small group on Sunday!  A cake like this needs to be shared, for the good of all waistlines ;-)

Welcome to the clan, Loveda!

A little over two weeks ago, on February 24th,  Compassion posted on its Facebook page that they had secured financial sponsorship for 150 children and  needed correspondence sponsors for those 150 children.  Well, I signed up for one more child.  How could I not?   Apparently, I was not the only one.  They later posted that all 150 children were spoken for in about 2 hours!  Praise the Lord!

• Correspondence sponsorships often occur when a corporation or business sponsor children, but do not have the ability to write to those children.  If you have always wanted to sponsor a child but for whatever reason the financial aspect isn't possible, correspondence sponsorship may be for you. 
• You commit to writing to the child at least 3 times a year (please, please, please write to them more than that...  try once a month if possible... set yourself a goal before you decide to sponsor and do your best to stick with it).
• If this interests you call Compassion at (800)336-7676 and request to be put on the list to become a Correspondence Sponsor!

Last Tuesday morning (and every day before that... patience a bit lacking...), I signed into my account and there she was!  Loveda from Haiti!

 She is will turn 12 this year.  We are excited to get to know this sweet girl.  On Saturday, her profile arrived in the mail and I have to say I really like the new profile booklets that Compassion is sending out.  There are lots of great resources to encourage sponsors to write & pray for these kids.  Bookmarks with daily prayer items to pray for, a Jan-Dec list to mark off when you've written or when you need to write so that they will receive something (Christmas card, birthday card, etc.), places to connect online for more information.  It's great!

FMF: Delight

Joining up with Lisa-Jo today.

On Fridays we just write without worrying if it’s just right or not. It’s such a relief, I promise.

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & leave an encouraging comment.

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Delight

Go:

Delight is knowing you have a washing machine for the 3rd day in a row that your son has had issues with/in his bedding.

I am NOT kidding.

I could have gotten frustrated and even angry because it was the  3rd day in a row, and today may be the fourth...  and I did call Super-Awesome with a hint of frustration in my voice at the beginning of the call but by the end I was understanding that these days of "trials" remind me of what I do have.  I have a little boy who is healthy and active.  We have a bed for our son to sleep in, though the flimsy mattress cover to protect it from these "issues" is held together by duct tape, since said healthy & active boy likes nothing better that to play with the mattress cover...  that we have two sets of sheets to cover that bed, so that we can rotate out the nasty and replace with the (hopefully, if mommy or daddy is on the ball) clean dry ones.

You may be thinking... is she nuts?  Delight in a washing machine and sheets?  I spent Wednesday volunteering for Compassion International and manned a table with numerous children who live in abject poverty, but whom Compassion is helping to be released from poverty. Hearing Shaun Groves  speak, seeing those photos, and remembering my trip to Ecuador (ten years ago) and reading letters from my sponsor children, help me to delight in my washing machine and sheets.

Stop!

From Shaun Groves' World Dictionary:  Kenyan for Washing Machine

Staple Foods in Our Sponsor Children's Countries

Here are a list of staple foods that our sponsor children would have access to (by country):

Dominican Republic
Rice, black beans, bananas, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, chicken, citrus, fruits, sugarcane

Ecuador
Rice, potatoes, chicken,  cheese soup / potato soup, avocado, corn tortillas, fish

Guatemala
Black beans, corn, tortillas, rice, eggs, white cheese, chicken, tamales, corn chips, taquitos (rolled tacos with meat), tomatoes, avocados, onions, bananas, oranges

Haiti
Rice, black and red beans, corn, sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, pumpkin or other squash, mango, coconut, sugarcane, chicken, goat

Nicaragua
Corn, black or red beans, corn tortillas, chicken, eggs, cabbage, tomatoes, bananas, avocado


The original list (with foods for 26 Compassion International countries) can be found here.

"A Place at the Table"

Have you heard about this yet?  It's definitely buzzing around the internet these days and copies are flying off the internet bookstore shelves (only shipping in 7-9 days at Amazon)...

Visit these places to learn more:

Resources:
www.chrisseay.net 

Compassion Chapel Session with Chris Seay (35 minute video)
http://blog.compassion.com/will-you-take-a-place-at-the-table/

Interviews:
http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/02/video-blog-what-a-40-day-fast-from-excess-might-look-like-for-your-family.html

http://lysaterkeurst.com/2012/02/why-i-dumped-my-mealtime-prayer/

The last part of our CSA year...

Back in June I posted about our CSA experience so far here.  We enjoyed so many yummy meals as a result of our participation with the Firsthand Farmers Cooperative.  Thank you so much to all the farmers and farms who were involved!

Here are the photos from the rest of the season (not every week, I didn't always remember and/or we away).

June 30, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  Carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, kale, basil, potatoes

July 7, 2011 Clockwise from bottom left:  garlic, fennel, leek, rosemary, carrots, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, raspberries.

August 11, 2011 Clockwise from left: zucchini, green pepper, eggplant, mini tomatoes, garlic, basil, large tomatoes, okra, summer squash (yellow zucchini)

August 18, 2011 Clockwise from bottom:  tomatoes, butter, eggs, baby turnips, lettuce, summer squash, potatoes, green peppers, onions, hot peppers

August 25, 2011 Clockwise from bottom:  Tomatoes, butter, lettuce, eggs, jalapeno peppers, carrots, green/red peppers, eggplant, onions, summer squash,

August 29, 2011  Clockwise from bottom:  summer squash, eggs, plain yogurt, carrots, onions, red peppers, lettuce, tomatoes.

September 5, 2011 Clockwise from bottom:  lettuce, serrano peppers, jalapeno peppers, eggplant, basil, moogurt, eggs, watermelon, zucchini, onions.

September 12, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  zucchini, eggs, moogurt, parsley, green beans, delicata squash, jalapeno peppers, potatoes, garlic & green peppers.

September 26, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  Butternut Squash, garlic, scarlet turnip, radishes, collard greens, parsley

October 3, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  Sweet Dumpling Winter Squash, eggs, moogurt, sweet potatoes, turnips, lettuce, salad mix, green & yellow beans.

October 13, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  Bok Choi, eggs, green peppers, radishes, moogurt, lettuce, arugula.

October 17, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  Broccoli, eggs, raspberries, butter, cooking greens, salad greens, winter squash, green peppers.

October 24, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  garlic, green peppers, sweet potatoes, eggs, mixed salad greens, butter, carrots

November 14, 2011. Clockwise from bottom:  Jerusalem artichokes, butter, eggs, sweet potato, beets, lettuce, turnips

November 21, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom: fresh ginger, daikon radishes, carrots, butter, eggs, luttuce, turnips

December 5, 2011.  Clockwise from bottom:  beets, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots & cooking greens.  The 1/2 bushel of apples was an additional purchase.