Tidbits and Snippets for December 8th

8 Common Cold Cures That Actually Seem to Work - My favorite is vitamin C therapy. (Mark's Daily Apple)

Why You Should Want Your Kids to Be Bored in Church - "They may appear to be bored.  They may appear to be concentrating on their drawings instead of hearing a sermon.  But, the truth is that they are listening to every word that is being spoken." (For Every Mom)

12 Mainstream Pregnancy Lies You Likely Believe - Excellent information here. (Modern Alternative Mama)

Why Large Family Moms Won’t Tell You What It’s Really Like - Oh, how I love this! It's all so true. (Raising Arrows)


Let's pause for some ADS (Articles on Depressing Subjects)...

Women in Combat and the Undoing of Civilization - I am more disappointed than I can express in this latest top-down decision in our nation's leaders. (Denny Burk, hat tip to challies.com)

See also All Combat Roles in Military Open to Women (Always Learning)

"If I were the last man on the planet to think so, I would want the honor of saying no woman should go before me into combat to defend my country. A man who endorses women in combat is not pro-woman; he’s a wimp. He should be ashamed. For most of history, in most cultures, he would have been utterly scorned as a coward to promote such an idea. Part of the meaning of manhood as God created us is the sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of our women." - John Piper

The Paris Horror: Real and Explicable - Even if I didn't agree with the author's points, I would read his writing just for sheer pleasure in his razor-sharp wit. (Crisis Magazine)


And now back to happier topics...

Enjoy the Holidays with Young Children - Excellent. (The Humbled Homemaker)

Superwoman Doesn't Exist - Preach it, sister. (Truth at Home)

Also, Do You Know What Causes That? - "So, really, the answer to “Do you know what causes that?” is that GOD causes that!" (Truth at Home)

Recipe Corner

This year we read a new Thanksgiving book, Cranberry Thanksgiving. It was an instant favorite! And of course, we had to try the recipe at the end for "Grandma's Favorite Cranberry Bread." It was absolutely terrific, and far better than my usual cranberry bread recipe (which I never make). We used the freshly-ripened oranges from our neighbor's tree, and I happily added several tablespoons of the zest (rather than the one teaspoon. the recipe prescribes). We also used dried cranberries instead of raisins. We highly recommend the book and the recipe!




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As we are currently going through Revolutionary War history, we - of course! - had to pull out George Washington's Breakfast. (I highly recommend all of Jean Fritz's Revolutionary War books. They are awesome.)

And that, of course, meant... making George Washington's breakfast! We had previously tried the recipe in the book and found it somewhat lacking, so this time I just made fried cornmeal mush. It was awesome, and a huge hit. I think we'll be making it often. I simplified the recipe by stirring the grits (cornmeal) into boiling water instead of making a cornmeal/water paste to stir into boiling water.

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This Low-Carb Baked "Potato" Soup was absolutely the best soup ever - even though I forgot the cheese! Wowza. You have to try this one.

* I used stock instead of water/bouillon, regular bacon instead of turkey bacon, and omitted all of the extra spices. 

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This recipe for Dark Chocolate "Puppy Chow from The Modest Mom was an answer to prayer - literally. I love making Christmas treats for our neighbors, but our growing number of neighbors (as empty lots were built up this year) and a certain lack of time (four children, anyone?) plus extras (one neighbor is gluten-free, etc.) was making me bite my nails with "how on earth am I going to get this done??" stress.

This candy/snack is my answer for this year! I'll be making it this week.


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For Reformation Day, I made Taste of Home's Dirt Cake (also known as our "Diet of Worms" cake). Healthy no, fun yes. And delicious! Next year I hope to find an all-natural recipe, but this one was easy and a ton of fun.

From the Bookshelf

Sorry, folks - no time for pictures this time. 

The Penderwicks on Gardam Street - I spend part of my free reading time catching up on all the great children's literature out there. This is my newest! I have no idea where I came across the title, but it's great so far. I was surprised to find this book of recent vintage (2008), because it reads more like an early-twentieth century, maybe an E. Nesbit or an Elizabeth Enright (possibly Edward Eager). Except for a couple of recent references, the style is of an earlier era. I love the delightful combination of new and old.

Ben and Me - Our latest history read-aloud. The tale of Ben Franklin's life, as told by his good mouse Amos. A classic and screamingly funny at the same time. During history reading time, I'm also catching the sequel...

Mr. Revere and I - Also intensely funny, written by Ben's horse! I can't wait to read more.

Sugar Nation - Some complaints about this book (language, attitude, morals), but lots of great stuff too. A detailed treatise on the connection between sugar and the currently exploding diabetes epidemic in America. The most important part of the book to me, though, was the moral of the important of parenthood done well (the author weaves the story of his diabetic father through the story). If we fail at parenthood, as the author's father has, then not much else matters.

Keeping Our Children's Hearts: Our Vital Priority - I started this book, realized that it was too insanely awesome to keep to myself, and asked my husband if we could read this book together. He agreed, so we began again last night. I am so excited about this book. To date, I have not yet met a Maxwell book that I didn't love. (See their complete listing here.)

Trim Healthy Mama Plan - Yes, I've finally taken the plunge. Having begun, I can't wait to read more! This book is screamingly funny and very well-written, and I'm already learning. Even if I don't adopt this plan, I know I'm going to learn a lot from this awesome material.


Follow-up on Previously-Mentioned Titles

George Washington's Spy - So good that I'm using it as a history read-aloud. The 9yo listens intensely and requests more. Today we read three chapters!

The Science of Skinny - So much good material! I plan on reading this one again to catch all of the new concepts.


Dear readers, have a wonderful week!