Have a truly happy and blessed Thanksgiving! May God continue to bless you today and in the future.
from the entire Godfrey Family: Marty, Susan, Colt & Riley
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. —Psalm 9:1I
I’ve had something on my mind for weeks in regard to the whole “Twilight” phenomenon. Quite frankly I just don’t get it. I haven’t read any of the books, but I did watch the first “Twilight” movie to see what the big deal was and found it inane and dull. First of all I guess I don’t understand why so many Christian women are reading these books and watching these movies. I guess I don’t get why Christians can celebrate and support a book/movie which makes something/someone evil be the hero. Edward is still a demon, he is still evil and while he chooses not to take human life, that still does not make him the ideal hero or even a flawed hero that should be celebrated. And, to top that off, what it’s teaching young women is so off base! I mean a whole generation of young women are choosing sides…hmmm…is it “Team Edward” the vampire or should I choose “Team Jacob” and go with the Werewolves? They are choosing sides, but both are ultimately evil. I think I’ll choose “Team Jesus” thank you very much! These books/movies are also teaching young women a skewed view of love and romance. You know that little Bible school song “Be Careful Little Eyes What You See”? That really does apply in real life. What you watch, read, listen to, etc all that information goes into your brain and never leaves. Once you’ve read it, watched it or listened to it, it stays there. Sure you may not be able to recall it in it’s entirity, but it’s there somewhere in the back of you mind. We, as Christians must be careful what we let into our minds. I try to always apply this verse to things before I watch them, read them, listen to them, etc. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” –Philippians 4:8 I simply don’t think that the “Twilight” books and movies fit in with this verse. Neither do other popular “vampire” themed shows and books, such as “The Vampire Diaries”. No matter how well behaved they are, they are still evil. And yet, thousands of young girls and young women are all aflutter over them. They are putting these ultimately evil creatures up on pedistals and bowing down to them. They all want a guy like Edward, an evil and very flawed creature. They don’t want the nice, polite Christian young man, they want the dark and mysterious bad boy. Why is it that so many women are drawn to the bad boy, do they think they can save them like the heroine does in books? This is where this sort of fiction can be very dangerous, it tricks our minds into thinking that love and romance will be just like it is in the books. The woman with a heart of gold always saves the dark and dangerous hero. The sad fact is, that most of the time this is not the case. As Christians, we should look for mates who exhibit Christ-like attitude and actions. I’ve seen too many cases of where women marry a bad boy thinking they can save them, but instead it ends in divorce, or worse yet, a life long abusive relationship. We can not save the bad boys, only Christ can do that. It’s a choice they have to make and no amount of a woman trying to change them will do it. Sure, pray for them, but as a Christian you shouldn’t get romatically involved with them. Prayer does amazing things and I’ve seen it save people who I thought were totally lost and a hopeless case. As badly as you may want to, you can’t “love” a person into making the choice. Romance is nice, but the romance in books is often over the top and unrealistic and as such it can mislead a woman into thinking that this sort of romance is the norm. Romance is not the by-all-end-all of a good relationship as it’s portrayed in books and movies. I haven’t been married to my husband for nearly 20 years just because of romance. I’ve been married to him for nearly 20 years because of respect, companionship, a bit of stubborness and a lot of love…my husand is not the hearts and flowers type. Yet, everyday, he shows me in some little action or deed that he loves me and respects me. He values my opinion and my companionship.
Here are a couple of good articles to read in regards to the whole “Twilight” phenomenon, written from a Christian perspective. I hope you’ll read them and consider what they have to say.
Stepping down from my soap box now…
Want to know what I’ve been doing this week?? I’ve been canning! I’ve canned 32 jars of pickles and jelly over the past 3 days: 2 quarts & 4 pints Spicy Dill Pickled Green Beans 3 quarts & 5 pints Lime-Cumin Pickled Green Beans 5 half-pints Cinnamon Spice Apple Jelly 5 half-pints Pineapple-Mango Jelly
5 half-pints Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly 1 pint Lime-Cumin Pickled Garlic 1 pint Lime-Cumin Pickled Jalapeno Slices A total of 31 jars of food put up! We’re looking forward to some yummy additions to our meals in the future!
Lime-Cumin Pickled Garlic Makes six 1-pint jars. 4 cups white vinegar 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon canning salt 2 limes, juiced 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin Garlic cloves, peeled, enough to feel 6 pint jars Sterilize six 1-pint canning jars. Simmer lids for 10 minutes. In a medium pot, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, lime juice & cumin. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Mix well to make sure salt dissolves and cumin is distributed evenly. Fill the jars tightly with the garlic, leaving enough room to remove with ease. Bring the brine back to a boil and then pour into the jars until garlic ais fully covered. Put the lids and rings on the jars and tighten (don’t over-tighten). Place the jars into the boiling water canner, which should boiling. Make sure the water in the canner covers the top of the jars by 1-inch. Once water begins boiling again, heat the jars for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and place on a wire rack to cool. Let cool 12-24 hours. Store 4-6 weeks before serving. NOTE: I didn’t make 6 jars, but I had left over brine from pickling green beans and used that to pickle my extra garlic in. I also just added the brine, so this recipe reflects that. You can see the complete recipe for the Lime-Cumin Pickles here.
Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly
1 cup apple juice 4 cups blueberry-pomegranate juice 1 cup sugar 1 to 1 ¼ boxes no sugar needed powdered pectin. In a stockpot, bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add the powdered pectin and stir to mix well. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top; wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 pints & 1 half-pint or 5 half-pints.
Pineapple-Mango Jelly
1 cup apple juice 4 cups pineapple-mango juice 1 cup sugar 1 to 1 ¼ boxes no sugar needed powdered pectin. In a stockpot, bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add the powdered pectin and stir to mix well. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top; wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 pints & 1 half-pint or 5 half-pints.
This weekend we went to visit my brother-in-law, Ben, and his family on their farm…Sand Creek Farm. We had a great time! Marty and Colt helped Ben do some farm chores. Riley played with their girls and Alysha and I kept pretty busy in the kitchen. She had a ton of jalapenos, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans and onions that needed processessing. Golly, their kitchen was full to bursting with all sorts of fresh veggies! We got all the peppers (jalapenos & bell) cut up and were going to make Jalapeno Jelly, but the liquid pectin was old and it didn’t set up right…tasted yummy though! So she decided she’d make Candied Jalapenos instead. We also got all the green beans snapped and cleaned. But we really didn’t have time to do any real canning. She did let me borrow one of her pressure canners so I could can several jars of the green beans. I also brought home quite a few fresh green beans which the boys and I are going to make into green bean pickles (and here), which they love. Next year, I’m going to have to plant a WHOLE bunch of green beans, I’ve discovered that they are my family’s favorite, them along with Broccoli and Cabbage…so I need lots of those in the garden this next year. I had a great visit with everyone and enjoyed seeing all my nieces. We’ll be seeing them again this coming weekend when we go to my Father-in-Law’s house for Thanksgiving. We got home about 4 yesterday afternoon and then I had to run to the grocery store and get groceries for the week, plus the stuff I needed for canning. This evening, I’m going to can the green beans in the pressure cooker, this will be a first for me. I’ve never actually canned using a pressure canner, but I grew up watching my Mom and Grandmother’s do it, so I’m just going to jump feet first into it and give it a try…but I’ll wait until Marty’s home with us…just in case…lol! I’m also going to make the green bean pickles today and MAY, if I have time, make some jars of Apple Jelly. I’m ready to get back into canning now that the temerature has cooled off around here. I need to start getting it done, because I’d like to give some out as Christmas gifts, plus I have a huge standing order for Dr. Pepper Jelly that I need to get out to friends and family. Marty’s having the boys start cleaing up our garden area so he can till it up this weekend. We’re going to start planing some winter crops, like we did last year. Cabbage, broccoli, onions and some other things like that. It was so nice to have fresh veggies all winter last year! Well that’ about all that’s going on here. But here are some pictures I took over the weekend:
The Godfrey Cousins Front Row: Grace, Lily (baby), and Rebecca Back Row: Riley, Emily, Abby, and Colt 
Yes, there was a houseful of silly monkeys this weekend! 
My nieces, Abby and Lily 
Colt and Riley picking green beans. 
Colt, Riley and Marty picking green beans 
It’s been years since I’ve eaten spaghetti squash. I’m not a big squash eater…I really don’t care for it much, I think it’s a texture thing. But when I went to the grocery store, we were walking through the produce aisle and pointing out veggies to the boys. I showed them the spaghetti squash an they talked me into buying one. I’ve never cooked one before, so I thought this would be a fun time to try. One thing I did not know…those bad boys are HARD to cut in half! I was sure wishing I had a hatchet handy instead of a kitchen knife…lol! So I looked around on the internet and looked for some recipes and using them as a jumping off point, I created my own recipe. And let me tell you…it was a hit. I haven’t seen Riley eat that well in a LONG time! Not to mention that it created a HUGE meal that even my fellas couldn’t finish off…I had leftovers! I can’t believe it!! So, I’m going to share the recipe with you.
Spaghetti Squash Ole!
Preheat the oven to 375-degrees. Place the squash on a baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, until squash is tender. Remove from heat and cool. Shred pulp with a fork. Set aside. Reduce the heat to 350-degrees. In a skillet, brown the onion in the butter, garlic powder and black pepper. Add the ground turkey and cook until meat is brown. Add the chili powder, tomato sauce and rotel tomatoes, and stir well. Stir in the spaghetti squash pulp and mix well. Add 2-1/2 cup cheese and stir to incorporate. Pour into a casserole dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Sprinkle on the remaining 1-1/2 cup cheese on top and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Today, I did something that I’ve needed to do since this summer. I laid out and chose the pattern for a nice lap quilt. This summer, while we were in Missouri visiting my brother and his family, my Mom, Sister-in-law (Kathy) and I toured some local quilt shops. Mom bought me this really nice pattern book called “Charm Quilts” by Suzanne McNeill. She also bought be enough charm squares to make one of the quilts in the book. There are 11 beautiful lap quilt patterns featured in this book. So now, I had the patterns and fabric, but I had to pick out WHICH pattern to use…that was SO hard, as they were all beautiful. Well today, I finalized which pattern I’m going to use and laid out the charm squares according to the pattern and took a picture…for some reason, laying it out and taking the picture really helps me to see how it’s going to look. Here’s a preview:
So this is one of the projects I plan on finishing up this winter, as well as a couple of other quilting projects. Most of the quilting I’ve done has only been smallish things, so this will be one of my first bigger projects…working my way up to bed size before too much longer…lol!
Essential Traditions/Real Food Real Frugal 