11.3.13

Hi All,

If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it again, “I LOVE FALL!”

The cooler temperatures, relief from humidity, the changeable weather, and of course the foliage all conspire to lift my spirits. Even cloudy days are exciting with rain and snow showers and gusty winds. I have been steadily clearing out the garden and harvesting the last things: some puny peppers, raggedy looking but excellent tasting beets, some random greens, and all the flower seeds I can gather for next year.

I wanted to give thanks to God.  This past week or so I received several phone calls and emails from friends calling to pray with or for us. I never cease to be amazed at God’s perfect timing as this last week involved some highly stressful moments, I will not go into details but please pray for our kids as high school and life are challenging them and their faith. I was honored as once again God motivated the body of Christ to offer us love and support.

Halloween was this past week and we celebrated community and giving, rather than darkness and taking. When the kids were little we decided that the only way we would participate in Halloween was to find a way to redeem the increasingly ugly “candy grabbing” celebration of evil that it seemed to be becoming. To that end we created a family tradition of making pumpkin muffins and having the kids give out muffins at all the houses we visited. 

We saw the evening as a way to say, “Hi!” to as many neighbors as we could, stop by and take time to visit, and not just rush pell mell from house to house bagging all the loot possible. We have enjoyed visiting friends on Rippey St and then driving back to Jackson St where we used to live to see our old neighbors, but this year the rain defeated us.

On Rippey we gather and have a pizza potluck, take some group photos, and then en mass we move out visiting various neighbors.

I will leave you with a discussion of pumpkin muffins, see below

Be blessed.

Xoxox Nicole

p.s.  I love these muffin papers.  They are economical, non stick, and biodegradable so they can go right into the compost. 

I  made pumpkin bread at L’abri in Southboro MA for the first time in 1994.  I was supposed to mix up a big batch for supper. As I was cleaning up and honestly thinking that pumpkin bread sounded kind of yucky, I decided to lick the spoon I was about to wash…WHOA! It was amazing.  I sadly did not get the recipe and this was before the internet entered my life, so I kept an eye and a tongue out for a recipe that tasted as good. A few years later I found one that was close and with a  bit of tweaking it tasted like the batter from so long ago. Here it is for your enjoyment.

Recipe for pumpkin bread/muffins:  350 degrees    time: 20min. -1 hour+ depending on if you are baking loaves or mini muffins or muffins

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

1 c. oil

4 eggs beaten

1 t. vanilla extract

1 can/1lb pumpkin

2/3 c. water

3.5 c. flour (white or white/ wheat blend)

1 c. walnuts (op)

2 t. baking soda

2 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. allspice

1 t. cinnamon

.5 t. cloves

1. cream oil and sugar 2. add eggs and pumpkin mix well 3. sift dry ingredients together 4. add to moist ing. alternating with water 5. blend until smooth 6. pour into greased and floured loaf pans or muffin papers 6. bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean        options: you can add nuts and/or  you can sprinkle a bit of brown sugar when pan or cups half full and then finish filling for a sweet gooey center (makes about 2 dozen muffins give or take 🙂