A grandmother's legacy

I had two amazing grandmothers. They were both from a different time entirely. My mom's mom, H'y was absolutely incredible in the kitchen. My mom says she was awesome domestically, but on my visits I mainly got to experience the kitchen-side of things, so I will stick to that and leave the rest for my mom and her siblings to brag about. My dad's mom was also a domestic genius and always had food prepared just the way we all loved it to be. Thanksgiving at Grandma and Poppy's was always the best. You knew what you were getting and it was always fun to watch and "help" get things ready. I was always trying to learn her turkey recipe and how she always managed to make the gravy just so incredible.

Enter me, a girl who loves to create and use her artistic nature for everything coming after these two amazing cooks. I have always felt a great responsibility to carry on this legacy of amazing cooks, but do confess I often give in to easier to prepare meals and recipes over the good ol' fashion way of doing things. On occasion I get the urge to be adventurous and then it almost feels like these women are in the kitchen with me.  The other night we did home-made pizzas and I made the dough from scratch using my mother's kitchen aid mixer which we flew over from the states. She got this mixer for her wedding(even what every bride wanted in the '70s, not much has changed). The dough came out great and so did the pizzas. I got the dough recipe from here and have copied it below. I doubled it for three good-sized pizzas just to give you an idea of how much a batch could make; it also will vary on how thin or thick you want your pie, we like ours on the thinner side of life.

3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast

2 cups (or more) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

 

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.
Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. KNEAD dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. PUNCH down dough. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Store in airtight container in refrigerator. ROLL out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Jeff's regina (ham & mushroom)

My, little bit of everything creation

Casey's, play it safe pie.

For thanksgiving this year I will be making my grandmother's awesome turkey and my H'y's pumpkin and pecan pie. These pies are famous and top secret. I cannot wait to indulge.

Anyone have great things their grandmother's passed down to them? Any holiday treats you are making in memory of loved ones? Please share :)

Problem solver!

A very cute video of Asher using this game cube thing to get a better look at things. He thought this up all by himself. I think I will have to be on the lookout for a step stool for him now. :)

12 years later and still got Passion!

On the 26th of September this year I attended a Passion World Tour event in Centurion.  I was first introduced to Passion ministries in college at Elon University through some friends in Campus Outreach. I actually remember listening to one of their first CDs in Carrie Pitkin(Russell)'s car. I was moved greatly by the music. This introduction was the start of something beautiful. In 1999 with some friends, we traveled to a worship event in Charlotte, North Carolina which was a gear up for One Day 2000. We thought it couldn't get much better than that event and then we went to One Day. We piled into a few cars and drove across North Carolina and Tennessee to get to a small town and a field where One Day was happening. God did incredible things in our hearts during those few days together. He did things in all of us that would prepare us for what we would give our lives to in the next ten years(maybe longer, I will let you know :) ) For me, it was at One Day that I first heard John Piper talk about not living for the American Dream and not coming to God with my shell collection-a statement and idea he would later incorporate into Don't Waste Your Life. At One Day I heard Louie say; "you can give your life away for the Lord on the mission field for a few years, what is a few years in the span of your whole life?" I thought, what is a few years, I can do that. Little did I know how much bigger God was planning for me than a few years.  Ten years into life on the field in South Africa, I can say it feels like only a few years still.

God did much in my life through Passion over the next few years and I was so excited when they were first coming over to South Africa in 2008. I was able to take girls I had been investing in and sharing their music with to a similar event that had major ramifications on my own life several years before. Would God do it again in me and in them for the first time? He did. We were blown away. Now four years later something amazing happened at that September gathering, I got to take Casey with me. My cousin, my daughter, the young woman God had placed in our lives permanently only three years before and had cemented legally earlier this year. My fourteen year old who has heard me talk about Passion and heard loads of the music produced from their events, this was a time for her to see and experience all the hype I had I been talking about.

We got there and the place was buzzing. When Chris Tomlin opened with his first song, Sing Sing Sing, we all started singing. Casey started singing and then I started crying. I was overwhelmed! 12 years after One Day God was still moving in major ways and in the hearts of many through this rag tag group called Passion. I never dreamed this life for myself when I was at One Day imagining all God could and would do through me in the next few years. I hope and pray the experience was encouraging for all who attended in Centurion, Durban, Kampala and Cape Town. For me I can say, God has done much but greater things are yet to come for Casey and myself and many more like us.

Casey & me after the party

Granny's birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated Jeff's mom's birthday. What a time it was. Jeff was cooking the meat outside and then we all had cake inside. Jeff's brother Eamon is now 15. He and Casey are already outgrowing Cathy. They have also long surpassed me.