“It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” -Dumbledore
∇ Roasted turkey using this method
∇ The best make-ahead creamy mashed potatoes (I once made gallons of this for a wedding rehearsal dinner and they were a hit!)
∇ Roasted butternut squash, pureed with a little maple syrup, a dash of salt, and some butter (I used cultured vegan butter to make it dairy-free)
∇ No-knead dinner rolls (dough can be made ahead!)
∇ Broccoli salad (so many delicious versions of this)
∇ Corn Pie (an old family favorite, see recipe below)
New to me recipes this year:
…
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Here are some random things that brought great joy to my life this past summer. Can a cheesy hashbrown casserole actually do that, you ask? Yes, yes it can. Here is the proof which I first made for Father’s Day breakfast and will probably become a fall favorite as well:
∇ Easy Breakfast Casserole with Potatoes & Ham
I owe everything to food bloggers.
∇ Free Panera coffee! If you never signed up over the summer, you can still do so and get your first month free. {Not recommended for coffee snobs; best for frugal ambivalents like me.}
∇ Reading in general and my new-from-Goodwill book Lilac Girls: recommended by literally everyone I asked about it. {It gets over 4,500 FIVE STAR reviews on Amazon, I checked!} I did find this historical fiction piece fascinating. It’s based on real people and is a well researched story of what happened to a group of women who survived concentration camp “experiments” and those who waited for them back home and became their voice, their advocates when they had none. Have you read it? I’m always behind on the popular books as well as basically everything in pop culture.
∇ Our new Target outdoor sectional that I waited and watched for and bought on sale and which we all love so, so much. (it’s frequently sold out-just click the “notify me when it’s back” option!) At least two people nap on it daily. I call it our Napping Couch.
∇ Postable-for when you don’t have just the right card on hand and want to skip the store and send something immediately. In addition to sending cards throughout the summer, I’ve been using Postable for years as an online back-up address book. They have a great selection of cards to personalize and they print, stamp, & ship for you because you don’t have stamps, either! Postable tells me this about referrals: “Send your friends your personal promo code MRQ85DUI and when they sign up and spend $20 you’ll both get $5 of credit!” Also of note: they frequently offer discounts.
∇ Being outside: camping, canoeing, hiking, walking with a friend regularly, and did I mention just simply sitting outdoors on comfortable furniture and reading a book?
These are a few of my favorite things!
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∇ Does anyone remember the Mannequin Challenge of 2016? For your viewing pleasure, I present to you, What the Nails* Do on Christmas Eve:
∇ Believe it or not, I’ve never made Christmas Crack before until now! I found this recipe by Amy Hannon and used it as my foundation. I also added this, this, & this.
∇ When I was prepping food for Christmas (specifically, the four quiches I made with varying degrees of meat, gluten, and dairy) this is the podcast series I listened to: Heavyweight Season 4. Favorite episodes? #27 and #30.
∇ I’ve played two new {to me} games this week that were surprisingly fun in vastly different ways: this board game and this active competition of bizarre coordination: instructions and visual guide!
Happy Christmas week to you! What have you been making, playing, doing?
*my parents and siblings
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(I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post. You can read my disclosure here.)
∇ What I truly want for you is peace and joy. I read these reminders from Morgan Harper Nichols and it was exactly what I needed to be told today.
Please do something for yourself that is self-care. A foot bath. A tub soak. Gazing at your tree with a glass of wine and square of dark chocolate. I got a massage this week, which is the best gift Past Rachel could’ve given December Rachel the week before Christmas. As someone who has dealt with chronic neck pain, this literally saved my neck during a really full week.
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I am in a festive baking mood! How about you? Cooking from scratch or enjoying a restaurant or catered meal this year?
This year we are traveling (just an hour and a half) to spend Thanksgiving with Tom’s family at the Eldredge Farm, only instead of being there for just the day as we have the past couple years, we’re leaving mid-week and staying through the weekend, which means I have more food prep and planning ahead to consider.
We’ll stay at our home at the family farm, while the current occupants (dear family) are traveling, so that means I will have a kitchen to use and space to be messy and also perhaps lazy (Friday morning and pumpkin pie, I’m looking at you).
The actual Thanksgiving day meal is held in my mother-in-law’s home, and each family brings their favorite contributions to the big feast on Thursday. We have the main meal around 1pm and then all the desserts are saved for dessert dinner in the evening. This is the Way of the Eldredge’s, a long tradition dating back decades. I wear comfortable clothing.
…Friday, May 11th
Dear Candace,
Another weekend at the farm! Only this time, instead of passing through, we’re here to help host the biggest event of the year: the Boys’ Jamboree.
An adventure-packed campout for young boys ages 9-13. The boys will be divided into teams with godly young men as leaders, and go through a series of activities designed to challenge them physically and spiritually. It is our desire that this would be a time of fun, excitement, and bonding, that will push the boys to Christ. Activities include:
Giant Rope Swing
Shooting Guns
Hiking
Airsoft
Caving
Throwing Ninja Stars
Field Games
Obstacle Course
Campout
Tom is helping with the rope swing, Caleb is an assistant team leader, Drew is a camper, Hosanna is an assistant to the directors, and I am an assistant to Hosanna. Which makes me an assistant to the assistant.
Here are a couple things I’ve done:
Ferried people up and down the driveway before the event started. Fetched a watch. Fetched a bunch of Kleenex because pollen season, and everyone suddenly has allergies. Brought Hosanna a La Croix. Brought Hosanna sunscreen. Sat and held my 3 month old nephew for two hours. I don’t take my responsibilities lightly, you know.
This past week has been a whirlwind! Every night we’ve had a commitment-mainly having to do with Caleb’s volleyball league. The season is almost over, and while its been fun to watch him play with a great group of guys, I’m ready to have my evenings back. We’ve also not properly celebrated Hosanna’s 17th birthday as a family, so it will be nice to have a relaxing evening to do that.
I just finished: I’ll Be Gone In the Dark, by Michelle McNamara. I waited weeks and weeks for this to become available at the library-there were so many holds-and after the news of the Golden State Killer’s arrest I finally got the notice it was on my holdshelf. Somehow, I managed to read it this past week while waiting at the doctor’s office, for the kids to be done with lessons, during waits in the van or before games…always having a book with me helps to get bits of reading time in. Anyway, reading it knowing the elusive criminal has now been captured made it a) less scary and b) satisfying to know that after 40 years of investigations and research, criminal justice has now been set in motion. I kept googling information as I read the book!
Sunday, May 12
Happy Mother’s Day! Life at the farm is often a revolving door of activity; adding to that is my parents’ move from our farmhouse and helping them unload a U-Haul and begin making the transition to their new home. Everyone is sore and tired from all the jamboree activities plus loading and unloading boxes and furniture. To make breakfast easy on this hallowed occasion, I made two overnight dishes and they turned out delicious:
Blueberry Lemon Overnight French Toast Bake (gluten & dairy free)
Fully-Loaded Cheesy Breakfast Casserole
How have I forgotten how wonderful overnight breakfasts casseroles are? They are life!! The family can make me breakfast in bed another day this week. 😀
My mother-in-law’s beautiful flowers at the farm spring-fed pond!
Love and sunshine,
Rachel
Letter 40 {6 Quick Things On Turning 36}
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