Christmas Recipes from Melody Durant

CANDIED WALNUTS

1 ½ c. sugar	1 t. white corn syrup
½ c. milk	1 t. vanilla
4 drops red food color	2 ½ c. walnuts or other nut
¼ t. salt

    In a 2 quart pan add sugar, milk, color, salt & syrup.

2.  Look at your candy thermometer to see where ‘soft ball’ is located.  Place your candy thermometer onto the side of the pan.  Cook to soft ball.  This takes awhile.

3.  Add vanilla & nuts.  Stir until creamy.

4.  Quickly turn out on waxed paper & separated with fork.

You SOOO cannot eat just one!  This recipe came from my Aunt Delores Nixon.  When I asked Jesus to be my Savior at age 25 she was the first one I called.  I KNEW she’d understand – she was always a Christian witness in my life.  

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RED VELVET CAKE

2 c. flour	1 c. buttermilk
1 t. baking powder	2 eggs
1 t. salt	¾ c. oil
1 t. baking soda	1 t. vinegar
1 t. cocoa	1 t. vanilla
1 ½ c. sugar	1 oz (bottle) red food color
GLAZE	FROSTING
¾ c. milk	8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ c. sugar	½ c. margarine or butter, softened
	1 # powdered sugar, sifted
	1 t. vanilla
	¾ cup coconut

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.

2.  In large bowl combine the dry ingredients.

3.  Add buttermilk, eggs, oil and vinegar  Beat at low  speed for 1 minute until combined.

4.  Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.

5.  Add vanilla and food color and beat at low speed till blended.

6.  Pour into a greased 9x13 or two round cake plans.

7.  Bake for 25 to 28 minutes.

8.  While cake is baking, in a small saucepan, combine the milk and sugar.  Heat on low until the sugar is dissolved.

9.  After cake comes out of oven let cook for 5 minutes.
Pour milk/sugar mixture over the WHOLE cake.

10. Let cool and then place in fridge until cold.  This will make it extremely easier to ice.

11. FROSTING – In a large bowl cream the cheese and margarine. 

12. Stir in powdered sugar.  Beat with an electric mixer  until creamy.

13. Add vanilla and coconut, stir thoroughly.

14. Frost cake when cold.

    Every Red Velvet cake recipe calls for two bottles of food color but I have found that one is just fine.

    If making a two layer cake I always make a double batch of frosting.  There is more area to cover and you certainly do not want to cheat anyone!

Many, many years ago a favorite restaurant in our home town sold this most delicious cake.  I experimented with many recipes looking for the reason why the cake at this restaurant was so moist and sweet.  Every Red Velvet I have ever tasted is dry……sure folks brag on them but who wants to eat a dry cake?  After begging the dessert baker for a couple of years she finally got tired of me asking and gave me this recipe.  IT’S THE GLAZE!  Though I shared this new found cake with many, the recipe I kept under lock and key.  My husband would try the old guilt trip but even that wouldn’t work.  Eventually I shared it with just a few, one being my mother-in-law.  Years later I find out that she turned it in for their church cookbook – much to my dismay.  Well……there you have it – I guess I might as well share it with you!            

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TO DIE FOR UNCOOKED ICING 

1 stick margarine	3 T. flour
½ c. shortening	2/3 c. milk (room temperature)
1 c. sugar	2 t. vanilla

1.  In a medium bowl cream together the margarine, shortening and sugar.

2.  Stir in milk and vanilla.

3.  Using a mixer begin beating while adding one spoonful of flour at a time.

4.  Beat at least ten minutes. 

I feel like I’m confessing my sins.  I’ve never used this on a cake.  It goes in a bowl and lives in the refrigerator.  When I need a BIG spoonful, I don’t guess I need to tell you anymore.  I’ve thought that if I had a restaurant I would serve a cup of this as a dessert.  Light, fluffy, yummy!

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COCONUT CREAM DELIGHT

LAYER 1	LAYER 2
1 c. flour	8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c. butter	1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. pecans, chopped	1 c. whip cream
LAYER 3	LAYER 4
3 c. milk	Rest of large whip cream
2 small instant vanilla pudding	2 c. toasted coconut
1 c. coconut

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread 2 cups coconut on a flat baking pan. Toast in oven, checking every 5 minutes. Stir.  You’ll wait a few minutes for it TO HAPPEN, and BANG…it’s almost too toasty….so watch it!

LAYER 1

    Cut flour into butter (smoosh together).  Add pecans.

    Spread in 9x13 pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Cool.

LAYER 2

    In a medium bowl cream together cheese and sugar. Gently stir in whip cream.

    Spread over cooled crust.

      LAYER 3

    In a medium bowl whisk together milk with puddings.  Let set for 30 minutes or till thickened. 

    Stir in coconut.

    Spread over cheese mixture.

       LAYER 4

    Top with remaining whip cream from a large container.

    Sprinkle toasted coconut over top.

    Refrigerate several hours.

  

* For my personal preference….I double the crust recipe!

This is a different version of the Chocolate Nut Delight….just think of what you can do with this recipe!  My friends have decided this is their favorite dessert that I make!

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BROCCOLI SALAD

2 bunches broccoli, chopped	1 c. Miracle Whip
1 large red onion, chopped	½ c. sugar
1# bacon, crumbled	2 T. white vinegar
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded	Black pepper to taste

                            

1.  In a large bowl combine broccoli, onion, bacon and cheese.

2.  In a medium bowl combine dressing ingredients.  Stir till                                          blended.

3.  Just prior to serving pour over salad and stir.

This recipe was a contest winner for me in the 90’s.  I like doing things the hard way….shredding the cheese, frying and crumbling the bacon, chopping the veggies…it takes awhile but you could take some shortcuts!

I have seen some variety’s of this recipe but my family likes this one best!

Review of A Light in the Window by Julie Lessman

A Light in the Window by Julie Lessman

A Light in the Window

by Julie Lessman 

 Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels   

                          

                                My Daughter's and My Names are in HERE!!!!

Bibliotherapy galore! We have alcohol abuse, child abuse, faithfulness in marriage, emotional abuse, single child homes, sibling rivalry, death of a parent, competition and jealousy, etc., etc.  We have Patrick's full background finally revealed to us.  And somehow I never picked up on Marcie's history although I feel sure Julie dropped her backstory into her two series The Daughters of Boston and The Winds of Change. 

We have two womanizing carousers (despite it being 1895!) who spend more time at the bars than in church. Marceline Murphy daydreamed most of her life about her friend, Julie O'Rourke, and her family--especially about her older brother, Sam. 

Patrick O'Connor has his own daydreams, and they don't include a wife--that is until he fall for the new "angel of mercy" in town--Miss Murphy. Sam succumbs, too, but more so to his own inner demons and what had been a seed grows into a full blown tangled vine of competition and deceit.

The story revolves around a drama that Marcy directs for the parish. Julie Lessman gently shows us Marcy's grit and determination as well as her blind spots. This book does not follow a typical romance's story arcs, so romance readers might be a tad thrown off, but I believe the twists and turns were needed to contrast the differences between the two men in love with Marcy and what might have happened to her if she had made the wrong choice.  

The children in the story are adorable (especially the cameo spot by Carrie Pagels and her baby sister Cassandra Rose!!!)  The Christmas custom of placing a light in the window, is also the name of the play and of this book.  Marcy had to learn that what she thought she was looking for was right there in her own home--I loved that little nugget in the story because so often in life we don't learn those lessons until much much later. 

I initially thought this might be the first book to read if someone hadn't read any of Julie Lessman's novels, but when I finished, I wasn't sure.  It is quite different (except all the kissing, lol!) from the other stories.  So I am 50-50 on that. This is a story that needed to be told and I am very glad to have read it.  Somehow, I lean just a tad toward reading it afterwards. Somehow, it is though a big Christmas bow has been tied around the book.  Maybe because this final story in the series DOES feel like a fabulous Christmas present! THANK you Julie for including our names, too--very cute and touching!!!

A Light in the Window can be purchased in e-book format through Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Giveaway:  This ebook will be given away to three commenters. You must be one of Julie's Facebook author page followers to win.  Simply go to her FB author page and click "Like" (Here is the link to her page.) Just put JL in your comment so we know! Thanks!

Question: Have you ever read a book (other than the Bible!) that felt like the best Christmas present?  Do tell!

Bibliotherapy Review of Kelly Long's A Marriage of the Heart

A Marriage of the Heart
by Kelly Long
(Thomas Nelson, 2012)

Five Stars *****

I have read and previously reviewed two of the novellas in this three Amish novella collection.  I purchased my book in CD format.  Excellent narrator.  The two novellas I already reviewed were my favorites in those books.  Following is my review of the last novella in the series--A Marriage of the Heart.

Abigail Kaufman, the most beautiful girl in her Amish community, is also a lonely girl whose mother died leaving the only child with an uncommunicative father.  Joseph Lambert has demons of his own and has only just returned to the community and has only just been received back as a member, staying with physician friends.

SPOILER ALERT
Desperate to leave the emotional neglect she receives at her father's hands, Abigail claims that the handsome bespectacled Joseph has compromised her. Hauled before the church elders, by her father, and confronting Joseph, she is shocked when he submits to marrying her despite him having done nothing wrong.  In fact, it was his deliberate attempt to ignore the beautiful girl that piqued her interest in him. Abi gets another surprise when Joseph offers to come help Mr. Kaufman with his farm.

The married couple now live in the same stifling household Abi has sought to escape.  But little by little, Joseph brings light and love to the farmhouse--from the tiny kitten to engaging his father-in-law through side-by-side work, help the man has solely needed. 

In her characteristic style, Kelly brings thrilling romance to the pages of the novella, too!  But just as Abi and Joseph are really falling in love with each other, his old flame shows up.  And she has something with her straight from the pits of hell.  You can smell the smoke on all this gal's scenes.  Only by submitting to God's will and with the love of his wife does Joseph resist the allure of dropping back into drug use--which almost killed him previously. Addiction is addiction, whether you are Amish or whatever, and Kelly does a great job of describing the pull that drug addiction can have.

Lovely job of weaving a redemptive thread of the relationship between father and daughter and Kelly drops in just enough information to help show how Abi never got to be a child because she took her mother's place around the farm. Many elements in this book that could be used for bibliotherapy. And it is a great read!  Highly recommended.

Kelly's books can be found on CBD, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.

Question:  Have you had to deal with drug abuse in your extended family?  How have you coped?

Giveaway: Poor Teresa was sick with flu last week for her own party.  Answer the question and put T by your name if you left her an encouraging comment on her anniversary with OWG post or go leave her a message now and come back!  This book or any of Kelly's books, choice of format to the winner. (Ebook only outside of the U.S.)

Guest Post by Melody Durant, Author of “& You’re A Preacher’s Wife?”

Melody Durant

“& You’re A Preacher’s Wife?”

Finger Lickin’ Good Cookbook
By Melody Durant

Join us in welcoming Melody Durant this week  Melody describes herself as: an Okie from Missouri who graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in Home Economics Education.  Not long after while ordering lamb fries at a restaurant, someone at the next table got her attention with "a woman after my own heart."  Three months later they were engaged, soon following with both coming to know the Lord and surrendering to the ministry.  Teaching Home Economic high school classes and becoming a 4-H Agent followed with a standstill of 14 years between the jobs which allowed her to raise four kids. 

 Recipes included in her cookbook were not created by her but collected through the years and served as family and friend favorites.   Recipes have been broken down step by step with many tips to make your life easier.  If it’s a good place to lick your fingers, that’s there also!  Humor is sprinkled throughout  the recipes along with her explanation of how God can use anyone, even someone with spikey hair and a  loud personality, for His purpose. 

As popular as the recipes are the many stories from her preacher and missionary wife days.  “Be prepared to have hankies close by when attempting to read through the book  as you will be laughing till you cry,” many have commented.   Upon leaving their last pastorate, Melody and her husband went in 2004 to serve in the missionary field of Mexico and Nicaragua, where they still serve today. Her Elijah Ministry website link is ww.likeelijahministry.com.

As the pastor’s family, our gift every year to the church was an OPEN HOUSE at the parsonage where EVERYONE was invited to fellowship and feed!   For 2 weeks I would mix, roll, bake, shred and hide the goodies for the big night.  Crawling through the house I would dust the baseboards (I was sure the little charter members would bring their white gloves), hang up the stockings with care and perfect the Christmas tree that my daughters had put up on Thanksgiving (my birthday gift to me).   Once, I called my husband to bring home punch from the store that would be made into a delicious concoction.  Now if YOU were shopping for punch for Christmas – what color would you get?  Well, it never even occurred to my honey bunny to coordinate the colors – as he brought home ORANGE!  You try disguising orange into green or red….it took some doing, and fortunately everyone was more concerned with the food rather than the drink!

Open House for the Durants in the 1980's

On that note…these were the goodies I always prepared for our OPEN HOUSE.

*Bon Bons

*Melody’s Pink Cookies (have won contests with these babies)

*Butterhorns (made with ONLY 3 ingredients)

*Cheese Ball

*Sausage Balls (have to make oodles of these as hubby expects a personal supply)

*Firecrackers

*Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows (think Russell Stover Santa Clause)

And You're a Preacher's Wife?

THANKSGIVING

*Crockpot Dressing (of course…the one that takes 5 hours to prepare is better, but in my random

sampling of female participants..this rated quite high).

*Easy Pumpkin Ice Cream

*Old Fashioned Sugar Cream Pie

*Not Another Pumpkin Pie (We were traveling with our pastor to do a revival, had time to freshen up at his inlaws and laying on the table were 2 warm pies, asking to be eaten…and we did.   While one can of pumpkin normally makes 1 pie, this makes 2!

*Aunt Deloris's Cranberries

*Sweet Potato Casserole

You can find several of these recipes on Colonial Quills (click here.)

CHRISTMAS

*Red Velvet Cake (You think you’ve tasted a good one, don’t say anything till you try this one)

*To Die For Uncooked Icing (Use this or the Cream Cheese for the cake.  Some want the heavy-- 

others want the light.)

*Aunt Deloris's Ham

*Really Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs (We did this for last Christmas)

*Broccoli Salad (won some contests)

*Christmas Cake (You won’t wonder anymore about the title of the cookbook)

*Candied Walnuts

THESE GO WITH EVERY HOLIDAY!

*Canned Bread

*Toilet Rolls

*Coconut Cream Delight

*Loaded Mashed Potatoes

*Homemade Root Beer

Melody's recipes will be posted on Saturday and they look awesome! You can purchase her cookbook via Melody's Facebook page.

Giveaway: We are giving away a copy of Melody's cookbook this week on OWG. You can get extra counts by reading any one, or all, of the serial stories in the Frontier Forted Holiday Anthology on CQ AND by answering WHICH one of Melody's Christmas recipes are you MOST looking forward to having?  Leave your comment with FFH# to indicate you read (# put the number) of the serial stories and tell us the recipe you want to know!  So if you have read ALL five serial stories you can count SIX times in the giveaway!

Prayer Request

This prayer request is for Diane T. Ashley, who we had planned to feature this week.  We are postponing our interview and reviews until late January/early February. 

Please lift Diane up in prayer. Comments are closed today--pray instead.  Thank you. 

Teresa Mathews' 1 Year Anniversary on the Blog!

Overcomers Teresa Mathew,  Diana L. Flowers, and Carrie Fancett Pagels with CQer and  author Susan Craft.

We are celebrating Teresa Mathew's official one year tenure on the Overcoming With God blog!!! And we are announcing our new name--yes, that was it!  Previously known as Overcoming Through Time - With God's Help, we have shortened our moniker!  We hope you will like the new name! Carrie's tagline as a writer has always been Overcoming Through Time and it was suggested that since her new website it launching, now was the time to rename the blog to differentiate the two sites!

Here is a video of Teresa that gives a little insight into her delightful character!  she really is a hoot!

This one is a message from Teresa sharing about her first year on OWG.

We have goodies (including chocolate!) to give away to a commenter who celebrates with us! Leave a comment on Teresa's video (and your email addy) to enter giveaway. Come on in, take a chair and we'll serve up frosted spice cake and gingerbread tea while we enjoy our party! WELCOME!!!