April's Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Each month I post one of our family's favorite recipes, and for April I am posting my chocolate chip cookies.  

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 Crisco Stick

3/4 C granulated sugar

3/4 C packed brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven at 375.  Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.  Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract with mixer until creamy.  Add eggs.  Gradually beat in flour mixture.  Stir in morsels.  Wrap cookie mixture in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.  Then drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; cool completely on wire racks.

Some of you might notice that this is a variation of the famous Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Two alterations that I made to the Tollhouse cookies are (a) using Crisco Sticks instead of butter, and (b) chilling the dough in the refrigerator before baking.  I find that both steps produce a more substantial cookie that holds together well during the baking process.  Also, if you choose, you can add 1-2 cups of walnuts to the cookies when you add the chocolate chips.  In my house, we have a never-ended nuts vs. no nuts debate when it comes to cookies.  

-Kara

Hiking the Smokies

Our family just returned from a wonderful few days away in the Great Smoky Mountains, where we enjoyed our kids' spring break and celebrated my 41st birthday.  Our activity of choice when we visit the Smokies is to hike, and this time we did something we've aspired to do for a long time: we hiked Chimney Tops!  Chimney Tops is the steepest hike in the Smokies and scales 1300 ft. in two miles.  I was grateful for good weather for the hike, and I was equally grateful for good Advil when I came back down the mountain.  Ha.

Yes, it is four days later...and yes, my calves still hurt.  :)

For those grandmother-types who are reading this post... don't worry.  We kept the kids safely off the rock summit at the top of the trail.  There was a nice shady spot under some trees where they rested and snacked while Tim and I explored the rocks.  And Tim was brave enough to make it higher up the rocks than I did!

Chimney Tops was undoubtedly the steepest trail we've ever done.  But the kids were amazing.  As much huffing and puffing as Tim and I did, the kids just walked and talked the whole way up.  And the kids didn't need any Advil after the hike. :D

Chimney Tops has been closed for 5 months for renovations.  Volunteers have been working with the National Park Service to build some steps in spots that are especially steep and prone to erosion.  The steps were really helpful, although one did feel like she was on a stair climber for the 2 hours it takes to climb to the top of the mountain.

Anna was extremely happy to find flowers along the trail.  Spring is wildflower season in the Smoky Mountains, and Anna LOVES pretty flowers!

http://www.protrails.com/trail/432/great-smoky-mountains-national-park-chimney-tops

Of course, Chimney Tops was not the only exploration we did in the Smoky Mountains this week.  There were all kinds of other fun adventures, as well....

"The mountains are calling and I must go." 

-John Muir

Happy Easter!

"He is not here!  For He has been resurrected, just as He said.  

Come and see the place where He lay." -Matthew 28:6 HCSB

Celebrating this most glorious of all holidays!  I took the kids' Easter pictures in the magnificent Elizabethan Gardens of Manteo, North Carolina.  

 John, age 10

Anna Jean, age 7

Christopher, age 12

Thank you, Lord, for dying on an old rugged cross to save me from my sins.

Thank you, Lord, that You did not stay dead, but that You rose again and conquered the grave!

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of spring and the joy of Easter.

Thank you, Lord, for three children and a husband whom I love more than life itself.

And thank you, Lord, that I am filled with a renewed sense of hope

that you are working great and awesome plans for my family!

-Kara

March's Recipe: Southern Creamed Corn

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.  If so, this is a sure-fire interstate to Tim Barnette's heart.  He LOVES this dish.  I hope you do, too.

Southern Creamed Corn

Recipe Courtesy of Paula Deen

8 ears corn, husked and cleaned with kernels removed

"Milk" from corn cobs

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup cold water

2 Tbsp. bacon grease from...

3 pieces cooked bacon 

(we use thick-cut Applewood bacon, but you use your family's favorite)

1 Tbsp. butter

Directions: Fry 3 pieces of bacon.  Remove the bacon from the pan, but reserve the grease in the pan.

In case you folks haven't noticed, between the bacon, the bacon grease, the heavy cream, the butter and the sugar...this is not so much a healthy sidedish!  That's why in my house this is categorized as a "sometimes treat." :)

 Meanwhile, in a large bowl, cut kernels from cob.  Then "milk" the corn by running down cobs with the back of a knife.  If you've never "milked" a corn cob, you've missed-out on a treat!  The thick liquid that comes out of a fresh corn cob is sweet and delicious.

 Mix together sugar, flour, and salt and pepper.  Combine with the corn.  Add the heavy cream and water.  Mix well.

 In a large skillet over medium-low heat, add corn mixture to bacon grease.  Heat for about 30 minutes. Before serving, add bacon pieces and butter.  Enjoy.

-Kara

Passover Seder

Our church tremendously enjoyed an explanation and demonstration of Passover last night by our Messianic-Jewish church planters, Howard and Melissa Taylor.  Howard and Melissa have planted Messianic-Jewish synagogues in Nags Head, Greenville, Ahoskie, and at our church here in Rocky Mount.  Howard himself is Jewish but is now a Christian.

For those unfamiliar with the concept...a Messianic Jew is someone who practiced Judaism but who has accepted Christ as Messiah.  Because the traditions of Jewish culture differ greatly from those of Protestants, Messianic Jews often struggle to assimilate comfortably into Protestant churches.   Howard and Melissa plant churches that serve newly-saved Jews by offering them the same formality of worship, music, and practices of the Jewish synagogue BUT that teach the New Testament and salvation through Christ.  These church plants also target Jews for evangelism and have the opportunity to lead Jews to Christ.

At the end of their demonstration, Howard and Melissa offered those interested in the opportunity to taste Passover foods such as horseradish and bitter herbs.

-Kara

"Marsh at Noon"

"Marsh at Noon" by Christopher Barnette, age 12.  

16x20 oil on canvas.

Teacher: Melody of Melody's Art World

Goose Creek State Park

This week we made a little field trip to the Goose Creek State Park in Washington, North Carolina.  What a beautiful state park!  The "creek" is actually a waterway that looks much larger than many rivers we've seen.  And there are plenty of hiking/walking trails that wander through the pine forests...

So here's what we saw at the state park:

FOSSILS

RACCOON TRACKS

FROGS

 GIANT TADPOLES, some about the size of a human hand

RED-BELLIED WATER SNAKES

FISH

(this one was about 14" long)

TURTLES

With all this exciting wildlife to see, Tim couldn't possibly be expected to stay on the safe and lovely boardwalk that was provided by the park service.  Nope, he had to venture off here and there to see what he could find...

And in the visitor's center, Anna gave a bear a....bear hug.  :)

There were lots of stuffed animals to investigate in the visitor's center, many of which having been captured within the park.  I would recommend the Goose Creek State Park to anyone in the area who loves nature as my family does.