Part 2 Gingerbread with Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sister-in-law gave me this nifty mini rolling pin. I used it to make little gingerbread pumpkins which I filled with the pumpkin ice cream.

Hudsonville Pumpkin Ice Cream

Hudsonville Ice Cream comes from Holland Michigan. It is some of the yummiest, creamiest ice cream available. They have a few limited editions available at the moment. Including this wonderful Pumpkin Ice Cream. The ice cream begs to be served with imagination. I put some of mine between my special gingerbread. My gingerbread is ultra soft and soulfully spicy.

I'll report later if these autumnal ice cream sandwiches make the grade during this true Indian Summer. It was in the low 60's today, and down-right hot in the sun if you were working.

This is a pic of Randy and me with Jeff at his LAST home game on November 6. It was a sad day for us. He isn't a starter, but he played. He hopes to be a coaching assistant next year. He has an analytical mind and understands the esoteric nature of the game. Yes he has a mullet. His hair was in cornrows, a fro etc. He likes to keep it interesting. I say get wild with it while you can you'll be growning up soon enough.

The Veteran I Knew was a Loyal Soldier to . . .

This year marked the tenth anniversary of my father's death. He has been on my mind a lot.

My family takes a lot of pride in my father's military career. They went with him as he zigzagged across the country and to Europe as he served and pursued a military career. Beyond visits to the post to buy groceries at the commissary and goods at the PX, I have no memories of life connected to military service. But I feel better off for knowing the man my father became after his military service and I know that his time in the Army helped to form the man he became.

When I think of my father I think of loyalty.

He was fiercely loyal to his country. In addition to his military service he was active in politics and served on the boards of many community organizations.

I knew him to be a soldier for Christ. He was fiercely loyal to his church and dedicated himself to cultivating a spiritual life. While he was a man of unique character (too few like him these days) he had his foibles. He had his sorrows and struggles which he owned with humility, and then tried to correct in the ways he knew best.

In the last years of his life he took the time to babysit my children. Those moments allowed us to have some spontaneous and soulful discussions over those things troubling me or him. Sometimes after bearing his soul he would apologize for burdening me with his concerns. I suppose I might have had a surprised expression on my face, only because I was feeling honored by his willingness to disclose his thoughts to me.

Kadie was only person I talked to on October 21. She quietly sent love to me. Like her grandmothers she remembers the important dates (I'm still a fledgling in such matters). Like her grandfather, Kadie is fiercely loyal to friends, family and God. Like him she is competitive, hardworking, and holds a deep abiding faith.

My father was given religious training growing up, and I once thought his military service, helped him to be courageous for Christ. It made him able to confront the spiritual enemy. Perhaps it was the other way around. Perhaps it was his faith in Christ that helped him to be a good American soldier. Certainly he was a better soldier at the end of his life, following his Commander courageously into death, knowing the battle was ending and that peace waited ahead.

HA HA HAlloween

Kids if I embarrassed you, well I'm sort of sorry . . . I'm over it.

Go have some scary flashbacks here.

I have been thinking a lot about fears lately. Fear is beneficial in that it protects us from harm. But some fear is irrational, can result in stress, anxiety, phobias, avoidance, neglect.

I have a fear of Numbers - Measuring and sums or bottom lines seem constricting. I do have a favorite equation that is considered a paradox. In the equation one can see our relationship to GOD. It is a sacred equation.

I have a fear of Wasting Food - It seems unconscionable to waste food. However, sometimes throwing away food points to the Divine. There are times when food seems so miraculously abundant that it reminds me of Jesus feeding the five thousand. We seem to throw away more scraps than food brought in to share.

I have a fear of Wasting Time - I think people don't have a healthy respect for time.

I have a fear Appearing Ostentatious - I abhor inflated ego and appearing like I care more about stuff than people.

Snapshots of the Prosaic

Yeah, I know this blog looks like a lot of fluff. I don't spend a lot of time ruminating over deep philosophical issues, hashing over my griefs, and voicing my concerns. I do that off the page - in small doses. Fact is God has given me the eyes and heart to appreciate the little things. There is only now and NOW provides me with sweet moments.

Today I took a walk with Jake and Aireanna down Front Street. It is the prettiest street in town this time of year.

On our walk we saw Kitler. He's not very friendly.

Jake brought over one of his new belt buckles for me to see.

My cat must have had some guilt because she jailed herself in my planter.

I forgot to share that I went raspberry picking a few weeks ago. So I can have raspberry, Asian pear, candied walnuts, and blue cheese on my salad. Yummmmmm

I found some old lunch sack puppets I made of a Pharisee, Timothy, and Paul. I love their feet.

I painted these old gears to use as bases for my bowling ball "jack-o-lanterns." These make me happy!

Gwen gave me the coolest decorative eggplants to hang on my porch. They are really elegant.
Yay for fall.

Paw Pawesome

This entry is dedicated to Mikki the fearless eater.
Last week Jen showed me a paw paw. She bought it a farmers market. It has a floral quality, slight banana taste, and a custard texture. The skin is tough like an avocado, but not as thick. I was so impressed by them that I went and bought some this weekend.

There are several seeds in the fruit that are like a fave bean.


The flesh is golden yellow and can be mashed and used in cookies or muffins.

The fruit is native to North America and is high in protein. Go to here to learn more. There is even a paw paw festival in Ohio. The graphic advertising the festival is very nice.
The fruit reminds me the life is full of surprises if your eyes are open. Also, it is an odd and sad truth that we live unaware of richness of our environment. I realized this a few years ago when I learned about Michigan's lizard the Five-lined skink, the Marble salamander, and the spotted turtle (all endangered).

Paw Paw Cookies
Pre-heat oven to 350.

3/4 c mashed paw paw flesh (seeds and skin removed)
1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 coarsely chopped walnuts

Mix butter and sugar. Blend in egg. Mix in flour and baking powder. Mix in the paw paw mash. Finally add walnuts. Drop by teaspoons onto greased cookie sheets.
Bake for 12 min.

A rare and wonderful treat!

Sweet September

My one year old Autumn Drift clematis is blooming. The little white stars have a delicate sweetness.

The overcast sky and cool days keep my morning glories blooming for more than twenty four hours (through the night!-I think they enjoy looking at Jupiter. Hope you have you been noticing Jupiter). These longed lived blooms turn a lovely shade of violet in their creases, a quality not seen in those that have a few hours of blooming.

Aireanna (the school kid) came over and collected some buckeyes for her mom who needed "a lot." She intends on feeding them to the squirrels.

Super Wonderful

I went and saw my girl the weekend of the 18-19th. I hadn't seen her play soccor since she was in eighth grade. Although her team lost on Friday it wasn't a demoralizing loss, they weren't expected to do well against St. Scholastica. MLC scored first, but the final was 1-2. They went into Saturday's game feeling pretty good about the close game on Friday, they ended up winning 3-1 with Kadie making TWO of the goals (the first and the last). OH MY GOSH!!!! Such a perfect time for me to go. I miss my girl so much, but she is having fun in Minnesota, which makes me feel good.
Why God can't a decent picture of me be taken?



This is the fancy car I was renting, a Traverse. I called him "Mr. Big." He has lots of nice features including a camera for reverse moves.
Jen gave me a Led Zeppelin anthology to listen to. So the time in my car was nice.
I discovered that Jack White and Robert Plant have a similar kind of verve in their vocals.