Menu for the week

Wednesday: Find what you can….
Thursday: Enchiladas…
Friday: Chicken broccoli chowder, bread
Saturday: Shepherd’s Pie
Sunday: Leftovers
Monday: Pepperoni/meatball pizza pockets, salad
Tuesday: Potato soup, bread

Our Solar Water heater

We have had workmen, tools, equipment all over the house for the last couple weeks. It has been a beehive!

Starting work…

The solar panels laying on the roof

All the tools

There are always lots of observers!

I think we are in the home stretch! We had two inspectors who came through this morning!

The massive amount of pipes in the basement…

The solar panels on the roof…

It is all operational and does not look quite as ugly as it was before, now with all the pipes wrapped. It is cloudy and cold today and the water is almost 60 degrees in the panels.

Spring…

Spring is here! Which means it has been filled with snow, (this winter decided that winter and spring might change places), walks, hikes, school and bike rides. I am planning the garden area out and hoping to get a small green house built out of old windows!

T. and his “passport”

We have been studying the Ancient world and this is one of the books that we have been using along with several others in our My Father’s World From Creation to Greeks. We have really enjoyed it! We are nearing the end of the school year with it and have had fun with it!

I have been making time to go and have tea with a friend almost weekly. We make some small thing to share with each other for tea and visiting for about 2 hours or so, the boys play, and it has been so encouraging for me! These were those Cheddar Black pepper biscuits that I made and served with Virginia Ham. She had some sharp white cheddar that was amazing on them!

She always does such a beautiful job of setting up the table!

She also has this lovely shelf (above) that I would love to copy and build for my dining room wall!

Last weekend, I went to a writing conference and it was a lot of fun!
I learned a lot from it!!

This was in one of the main sessions!

This woman spoke on organizing your time as a part time writer. She was excellent!

She wrote a book called Two scoops of Grace with Chuckles on top which I am looking forward to reading! She was funny, engaging and had some very practical tips!

They served us a really yummy dinner of lasagna, salad, and breadsticks with some dessert and the next day, had a great lunch with really yummy wraps.

They had a couple of book tables….this is my friend Angie at her book table.

I met a lot of great people and came away encouraged to work on my writing!

Stand By me by Neta Jackson

Stand By Me is a Souled out sister’s book, which is a spin off of the Yada-Yada group books by the same author. You will meet some of the same characters in this book, but also new ones. If you have never read a Yada-Yada book, this one can easily be read as a stand alone.

Kat Davies is a med student when she makes a decision that will change her life. Christianity is new to her, but she leaps in with both feet to change her major and her college. Her family is not supportive of her decision and she faces a lot of struggles as new school, new friends and trying to figure out where she fits in with her determination to save the planet and educate people on nutrition.

Avis and Peter have not been married long, but their relationship has some strain when it comes to Avis’s daughter and grandson, whom seems to get herself in one scrape after another. When she vanishes from their lives, Avis tries to hide her worry, but instead finds it manifested in irritation with another young woman, her own daughter’s age.

I have enjoyed all the of the books in these series that Neta Jackson wrote. They are real, down to earth and full of real life struggles. I especially liked how she showed the struggles that Kat was having with all the changes she did all at once! Avis was hard for me to get…and I struggled with the lack of issue that other members of the church took with the racism in their midst.
I loved Kat’s dumpster diving…but would love to point out that most trimmings from produce is not moldy….most people would never know a lot of it came from a dumpster.

I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend if you did as well, to check out the other books by this author. – Martha

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card author is:

Neta Jackson

and the book:

Stand By Me

Thomas Nelson (March 13, 2012) 

***Special thanks to Rick Roberson The B&B Media Group, for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

As a child growing up on the campus of a Christian school where her parents taught, Neta Jackson began creating imaginary worlds at a young age. Loving horses but not having one, she wrote stories about them instead. By the time she reached high school, she had so honed both imagination and writing skills that when her English teacher submitted one of her stories to a Scholastic magazine writing contest, it won first place. With that first win, Jackson knew beyond the shadow of a doubt she wanted to be a writer. She’s been writing ever since.

After marrying the love of her life, Dave Jackson, the couple chose to settle in the Chicago area where Neta had attended college. Throughout their marriage, the Jacksons have worked together as a team, writing a multitude of books together on topics ranging from medical ethics to stories of gang kids, sometimes sharing the task with other experts who have served as co-writers. Together, they have also penned forty historical fiction accounts of Christian heroes, called the Trailblazer Books, along with another five-volume series called Hero Tales: A Family Treasury of True Stories from the Lives of Christian Heroes.

These days, both are busy penning their own works of adult fiction. Jackson began her individual effort in 2003 with the Yada Yada Prayer Group series, inspired by her real-life Bible study group, a multi-cultural gathering of dynamic women who have played an important role in her life for over fifteen years. Since publication of the first Yada Yada Prayer Group novel, the seven-book series has sold over a half-million copies and given rise to countless prayer groups across the country and the publication of a personal prayer journal for prayer group participants. In 2008, Where Do I Go?, her first book in the four-book House of Hope series, was published. The second book in the series, Who Do I Talk To?, won a Christy Award in 2010 for excellence in Christian fiction. Recently, the fourth book of the series, Who Is My Shelter?, was nominated for Best Inspirational Novel for 2011 by RT Book Reviews. Stand by Me is the first in Jackson’s new SouledOut Sisters series.

The Jacksons have been married 45 years and have raised two children plus a Cambodian foster daughter. They continue to live in urban Chicago where, together, they enjoy writing, gardening and spending time with their grandchildren.

Visit the author’s website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

How does God expect us to get along with those people who are always causing us pain? Are we supposed to keep helping those who repeatedly take advantage of us? Exactly what is the key to living in peace with difficult people? These are the questions award-winning author Neta Jackson addresses in her latest novel, Stand by Me (Thomas Nelson), the first book of her newest series, SouledOut Sisters.

Inspired by her own Bible study group, Jackson began several years ago to write about a multi-cultural gathering of dynamic women in a collection of books known as the Yada Yada Prayer Group series. Since publication of the first Yada Yada Prayer Group novel in 2003, the seven-book series has sold over a half-million copies and given rise to countless prayer groups across the country. Jackson followed the Yada Yada novels with the four-book House of Hope series. Though the series is not dependent upon its predecessors for understanding, Jackson has used the individual lives of familiar characters to introduce some of the more complex issues prevalent in our modern society. By allowing her characters to lead the way, Jackson has shed light on issues like drug addiction, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and even the racial conflicts that can so easily arise within any culturally diverse group.

In her newest work, Stand by Me, Jackson introduces her readers to Kathryn Davis, a young college student who has left her prestigious Phoenix family behind to move to Chicago after dropping out of medical school against her father’s protests. Her newfound faith in Christ helps temper the realization that she has stepped out of her family’s good graces, but does little to alleviate the pain of their rejection.

When Kat discovers the dynamic multi-cultural membership at Souled Out Community Church, she longs to be part of it. But her unconventional behavior and brash eagerness have not helped her win favor with the church members. And, much to her dismay, Avis Douglass, the one woman in the church whom she most admires and would love to know better, is the one who is the most aloof.

Kat has no idea that, after being confronted by a number of serious problems all at once, Avis and her husband, Peter, are beginning to question God’s will for their lives. Having been recently estranged from her HIV positive daughter and being worried about her welfare, Avis would like nothing more than to quietly retreat into the recesses of her faith and find the answers she seeks. Her attempts to do so, however, are thwarted at every turn by the flamboyant Kat, who has apparently decided to foist herself on their lives whether they want her to or not.

Product Details:
List Price: $15.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 13, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595548645
ISBN-13: 978-1595548641

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

PROLOGUE

Midwest Music Festival, Central Illinois

Kat Davies ducked into the billowing exhibition tent staked down in a large pasture in central Illinois like a grounded Goodyear blimp. She’d been at the Midwest Music Fest three days already—didn’t know it was a Christian festival until she got here—and needed a little respite from the music pulsing morning-till-night on the Jazz Stage, Gospel Stage, Alternative Stage, Rock Stage, Folk Stage, and a few more she’d forgotten.

Besides, she’d be heading back to Phoenix in two days, and sooner or later she needed to figure out how to tell her parents she’d  “given her heart to Jesus”  after the Resurrection Band concert last night. Maybe this tent had a quiet corner where she could think. Or pray. Not that she had a clue how to do that.

Kat had a good idea how they’d react. Her mother would f lutter and say something like, “Don’t  take it too seriously, Kathryn dear. Getting religion is just something everyone does for a year or two.” And her father? If he didn’t blow his stack at what he’d call “another one of your little distractions,” he’d give her a lecture about keeping her priorities straight: Finish pre-med at the University of Arizona. Go to medical school. Do her internship at a prestigious hospital. Follow in the Davies’ tradition. Make her family tree of prominent physicians proud.

Except . . . she’d walked out of her biochemistry class at UA one day and realized she didn’t want to become a doctor. She’d tutored ESL kids the summer after high school and realized she liked working with kids. (“Well, you can be a pediatrician like your Uncle Bernard, darling,” her mother had said.) And the student action group on the UA campus sponsoring workshops on “Living Green”  and “Sustainable Foods” had really gotten her blood pumping. (Another one of her “distractions,” accord- ing to her father.)

Was it too late to pursue something else? Her parents were already bragging to friends and co-workers that their Kathryn had received her letter of acceptance into medical school a few months ago. Feeling squeezed till she couldn’t breathe, she’d jumped at the chance to attend a music fest in Illinois with a carload of other students—friends of friends—just to get away from the pressure for a while.

What she hadn’t expected was to find so many teenagers and twenty-somethings excited about Jesus. Jesus! Not the go- to-church-at-Christmas-and-Easter  Jesus,  the only Jesus  she’d known growing up the daughter of a wealthy Phoenix physician and socialite mother. That Jesus, frankly, had a hard time com- peting with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.

But these people talked about a Jesus who cared about poor people. A Jesus who created the world and told humans to take care of it. A Jesus who might not be blond and blue-eyed after all. A Jesus who said, “Love your neighbor”—and that neighbor might be black or brown or speak Spanish or Chinese. A Jesus who said, “All have sinned” and “You must be born again.” The Son of God, who’d died to take away the sins of the world.

That Jesus.

That’s the Jesus  she’d  asked to be Lord of her life, even though she wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. But she desper- ately longed for something—Someone—to help her figure out who she was and what she should do with her life. The guitar player in the band who’d challenged the arm-waving music fans last night to be Christ-followers had said, “Jesus came to give you life—life more abundantly! But first you must give your life to Him.”

That’s what she wanted. Abundant life! A life sold out to something she could believe in. To give herself to one hundred percent. So she’d prayed the sinner’s prayer with a woman in a denim skirt whose name she never learned, and a “peace like a river” f looded her spirit.

Last night, anyway.

But by the light of day, she was still heading in a direction—medical school—that she didn’t want to go.

Big fans circulated the air in the large tent, though mostly it just moved the stif ling July heat around. Thick, curly strands of her long, dark hair had slipped out of the clip on the back of her head and stuck in wet tendrils on her skin. Redoing the clip to get the damp hair off her neck and face, she wan- dered the aisles, idly picking up brochures about Compassion International, Habitat for Humanity, and YWAM. Huh. What if she just dropped out of pre-med and did something like this Youth With A Mission thing. Far from Phoenix and the Davies Family Tradition. Go to Haiti or India or—

“Nice boots,” giggled a female voice nearby.

Kat glanced up from the brochure. A cute brunette with a shaggy pixie cut grinned at her from behind a booth that said Find Your Calling at CCU! Kat self-consciously looked down at the Arizona-chic  cowboy boots peeking out beneath her designer jeans and f lushed. Ever since she’d arrived at the fes- tival, she felt as if she’d walked into a time-warp—girls in tank tops, peasant skirts, and pierced nostrils, guys wearing pony- tails, tattoos, shredded jeans, and T-shirts  proclaiming Jesus Freak. Kat had felt as conspicuous as a mink coat in a second- hand store.

“Thanks. I think.”

The young woman, dressed in khaki Capris and a feminine lemon-yellow tee, laughed. “This your first time to the Fest? Where’re you from?”

Kat felt strangely relieved to be talking to someone else who didn’t look like a throwback to the seventies. “Phoenix. First time.”

“Wow. You came a long way.” 

“You?”

“Detroit. But during the year I’m  a student at CCU in Chicago. I get a huge discount off my festival fee if I sit at this booth a couple hours a day during the Fest.” The girl grinned again and extended her hand across the stacks of informational literature. “I’m Brygitta Walczak.”

Kat shook her hand. “Kathryn Davies. But my friends call me Kat. With a K.”

“Like ‘kitty kat’ ? That’s cute. And . . . blue eyes with all that dark, curly hair? Bet the guys love that.”

Ignoring the remark, Kat glanced up at the banner above the booth. “What does CCU stand for?”

“Chicago Crista University. Usually we just call it Crista U. Located on the west side of Chicago. I’ll be a senior next year. Christian ed major.”

“Christian ed? What’s that?”

“You’re kidding.” Brygitta eyed her curiously. “Mm. You’re not kidding. Uh, are you a Christian?”

Kat allowed a wry smile. “For about twelve hours.”

The pixie-haired girl’s mouth dropped open, and then her amber eyes lit up. “That is so cool! Hey . . . want a Coke or something? I’ve got a cooler back here with some soft drinks. Wanna sit? I’d love some company.”

Brygitta dragged a folding chair from an unmanned booth nearby, and Kat found herself swapping life stories with her new friend. Unlike Kat, who had no siblings, Brygitta came from a large Polish family, had been raised in the Catholic church, “went Protestant” at a Youth for Christ rally in high school, planned to get a master’s degree at Crista U, and wanted to be a missionary overseas or a director of Christian education somewhere.

“Sorry I’m late, Bree,” said a male voice. “Uh-oh. Two gor- geous females. You’ve cloned yourself. I’m really in trouble now.”

Kat looked up. A young man about their same age grinned at them across the booth. He was maybe six feet, with short, sandy-brown hair combed forward over a nicely tanned face, wire-rim  sunglasses shading his eyes. No obvious tattoos or body piercings. Just cargo shorts and a T-shirt that said CCU Soccer.

Brygitta jumped up. “Oh, hi, Nick. This is Kat Davies. She’s from  the University of Arizona, first time at the Fest. Nick Taylor is my relief. He’s  a seminary student at Crista—well, headed that way, anyway.”

Nick slid off his shades and flashed a smile, hazel eyes teasing. “So, Miss Blue Eyes. Has Brygitta talked you into coming to CCU yet?”

Kat laughed and started to shake her head . . . and then stopped as her eyes caught the logo on the banner across the booth. Find Your Calling at CCU.

Transfer to Crista University? Why not?

52 Small changes

This interesting book gives you 52 changes to make in a year. That is only one a week. They include dietary changes, exercise, starting hobbies and helping others. I thought it was an interesting and well laid out book with some good nutrition and exercise details.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

Another Titanic novel on board here! Tess really wants to use her talents as a dressmaker and designer, so making a rash decision, she quits her job as a maid and attempts to get hired on the Titanic. It is not as easy as she thought, and after surviving the horrible ordeal of the sinking, she finds life in America is not as dreamy as she imagined it would be. The court cases surrounding her benefactor, whose selfishness cost the lives of many more passengers is heartbreaking.
I was especially impressed at the reality that this author conveyed through the pages and through the simple maid, with talents for dressmaking. You feel the panic, and care in Tess, while the coldness and selfishness in Lucille is so clear you can taste it. She really knew no other way to survive, except by only preserving herself.

This book is a fictional tale of those things that surrounded the Titanic sinking.

By the light of the silvery moon by Tricia Goyer

By the Light of the silvery moon
By Tricia Goyer

Reviewed by Martha Artyomenko

Amelia Gladstone is headed to America, to a new life, hopefully as a newly married woman! She is thrilled to be aboard the maiden voyage of the newly built Titanic. She has always been a watchdog for the mistreated and unwashed masses, so when she sees an unkempt man hauled off the ship, her heart is touched and she offers him the extra ticket she has unexpectedly.
Quentin Walpole is desperate for almost anything. He was not expecting to be able to travel on the Titanic, and when the chance is offered him, he accepts it, but with reservations, hoping to not see the family whom is seeking him as much as he wants to avoid them.
This story was written among several other authors, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. We all know the stories surrounding the Titanic, but this 100th year anniversary can be a good excuse to pull out the stories and read a few of these new novels written on the topic.
Tricia weaves this story with skill and finesse, even though you “know” the ending (the ship sinks); she keeps your wheels turning as you turn the pages. I especially liked her references to scripture, without using scripture in the story of the Prodigal Son, aligning with Quentin’s. She does such a wonderful job of weaving history into a novel; this will be a book that is excellent for a high school student needing a history reading assignment for the month.
The local library does have this book, but it is also available from many booksellers.

Cheddar black pepper biscuits

I made these biscuits this morning for MOPS, I served them with sliced ham and some extra cheese if you wanted on them.
The boys loved them! They love pepper though! I wished I would have taken my own picture, but I forgot before they all got snatched up.

This is kind of like what they looked like.

Cheddar black pepper biscuits
Martha Artyomenko
2 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour (or 3 c. white flour)
2 Tbsp. sugar
4-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. butter
1 egg
1 c. milk
1/2 c. finely shredded cheddar cheese
dash of garlic powder
1/8 t. black pepper
(Some dill weed would have been good too)

Mix dry ingredients; cut in butter. Add egg and milk. Stir until moistened and knead about 10 times. Pat out and cut into circles. Bake at 450 degrees until golden brown.
Serve with sliced ham and cheese.

The Heart’s Frontier by Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today’s Wild Card authors are:

Lori Copeland

and
Virginia Smith 

and the book:

The Heart’s Frontier

Harvest House Publishers (March 1, 2012) 

***Special thanks to Karri | Marketing Assistant | Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lori Copeland is the author of more than 90 titles, both historical and contemporary fiction. With more than 3 million copies of her books in print, she has developed a loyal following among her rapidly growing fans in the inspirational market. She has been honored with the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books’ Best Seller award. In 2000, Lori was inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame. She lives in the beautiful Ozarks with her husband, Lance, and their three children and five grandchildren.

Visit the author’s website.

Virginia Smith is the author of more than a dozen inspirational novels and more than fifty articles and short stories. An avid reader with eclectic tastes in fiction, Ginny writes in a variety of styles, from lighthearted relationship stories to breath-snatching suspense.

Visit the author’s website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

An exciting new Amish-meets-Wild West adventure from bestselling authors Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith weaves an entertaining and romantic tale for devoted fans and new readers.

Kansas,1881—On a trip to visit relatives, Emma Switzer’s Amish family is robbed of all their possessions, leaving them destitute and stranded on the prairie. Walking into the nearest trading settlement, they pray to the Lord for someone to help. When a man lands in the dust at her feet, Emma looks down at him and thinks, The Lord might have cleaned him up first.

Luke Carson, heading up his first cattle drive, is not planning on being the answer to anyone’s prayers, but it looks as though God has something else in mind for this kind and gentle man. Plain and rugged—do the two mix? And what happens when a dedicated Amish woman and a stubborn trail boss prove to be each other’s match?

Product Details:
List Price: $13.99

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (March 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736947523
ISBN-13: 978-0736947527

AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Apple Grove, Kansas

July 1881

Nearly the entire Amish district of Apple Grove had turned out to help this morning, all twenty families. Or perhaps they were here merely to wish Emma Switzer well as she set off for her new home in Troyer, fifty miles away.

From her vantage point on the porch of the house, Emma’s grandmother kept watch over the loading of the gigantic buffet hutch onto the specially reinforced wagon. Her sharp voice sliced through the peaceful morning air.

“Forty years I’ve had that hutch from my dearly departed husband and not a scratch on it. Jonas, see that you use care!”

If Maummi’s expression weren’t so fierce, Emma would have laughed at the long-suffering look Papa turned toward his mother. But the force with which Maummi’s fingers dug into the flesh on Emma’s arm warned that a chuckle would be most ill-suited at the moment. Besides, the men straining to heft the heavy hutch from the front porch of their home into the wagon didn’t need further distractions. Their faces strained bright red above their beards, and more than one drop of sweat trickled from beneath the broad brim of their identical straw hats.

Emma glanced at the watchers lined up like sparrows on a fence post. She caught sight of her best friend, Katie Beachy, amid the sea of dark dresses and white kapps. Katie smiled and smoothed her skirt with a shy gesture. The black fabric looked a little darker and crisper than that of those standing around her, which meant she’d worn her new dress to bid Emma farewell, an honor usually reserved for singings or services or weddings. The garment looked well on her. Emma had helped sew the seams at their last frolic. Of course, Katie’s early morning appearance in a new dress probably had less to do with honoring Emma than with the presence of Samuel Miller, the handsome son of the district bishop. With a glance toward Samuel, whose arms bulged against the weight of holding up one end of the hutch, she returned Katie’s smile with a conspiratorial wink.

Emma’s gaze slid over other faces in the crowd and snagged on a pair of eyes fixed on her. Amos Beiler didn’t bother to turn away but kept his gaze boldly on her face. Nor did he bother to hide his expression, one of longing and lingering hurt. He held infant Joseph in his arms, and a young daughter clutched each of his trouser-clad legs. A wave of guilt washed through Emma, and she hastily turned back toward the wagon.

From his vantage point up in the wagon bed, Papa held one end of a thick rope looped around the top of the hutch, the other end held by John Yoder. The front edge of the heavy heirloom had been lifted into the wagon with much grunting and groaning, while the rear still rested on the smooth wooden planks of the porch. Two men steadied the oxen heads, and the rest, like Samuel, had gathered around the back end of the hutch. A protective layer of thick quilts lined the wagon bed.

Papa gave the word. “Lift!”

The men moved in silent unity. Bending their knees, their hands grasped for purchase around the bottom edges. As one they drew in a breath, and at Papa’s nod raised in unison. Emma’s own breath caught in her chest, her muscles straining in silent sympathy with the men. The hutch rose until its rear end was level with its front, and the men stepped forward. The thick quilts dangling beneath scooted onto the wagon as planned, a protective barrier from damage caused by wood against wood.

The hutch suddenly dipped and slid swiftly to the front. Emma gasped. Apparently the speed caught Papa and John Yoder by surprise too, for the rope around the top went slack. Papa lunged to reach for the nearest corner, and his foot slipped. The wagon creaked and sank lower on its wheels as the hutch settled into place. At the same moment Papa went down on one knee with a loud, “Ummph.”

“Papa!”

“Ach! ” Maummi pulled away from Emma and rushed forward. Her heart pounding against her rib cage, Emma followed. Men were already checking on Papa, but Maummi leaped into the wagon bed with a jump that belied her sixty years, the strings of her kapp flying behind her. She applied bony elbows to push her way around the hutch to her son’s side.

She came to a halt above him, hands on her hips, and looked down. “Are you hurt?”

Emma reached the side of the wagon in time to see Papa wince and shake his head. “No. A bruise is all.”

“Good.” She left him lying there and turned worried eyes toward her beloved hutch. With a gentle touch, she ran loving fingers over the smooth surface and knelt to investigate the corners.

A mock-stern voice behind Emma held the hint of a chuckle. “Trappings only, Marta Switzer. Care you more for a scratch on wood than an injury to your son?”

Emma turned to see Bishop Miller approach. He spared a smile for her as he drew near enough to lean his arms across the wooden side of the wagon and watch the activity inside. Samuel helped Papa to his feet and handed him the broad-brimmed hat that had fallen off. Emma breathed a sigh of relief when he took a ginger step to try out his leg and smiled at the absence of pain.

“My son is fine.” Maummi waved a hand in his direction, as though in proof. “And so is my hutch. Though my heart may not say the same, such a fright I’ve had.” She placed the hand lightly on her chest, drew a shuddering breath, and wavered on her feet.

Concern for her grandmother propelled Emma toward the back of the wagon. As she climbed up, she called into the house, “Rebecca, bring a cool cloth for Maummi’s head.”

The men backed away while Katie and several other women converged on the wagon to help Emma lift Maummi down and over to the rocking chair that rested in the shade of the porch, ready to be loaded when the time came. Maummi allowed herself to be lowered onto the chair, and then she wilted against the back, her head lolling sideways and arms dangling. A disapproving buzz rumbled among the watching women, but Emma ignored them. Though she knew full well that most of the weakness was feigned for the sake of the bishop and other onlookers, she also knew Maummi’s heart tended to beat unevenly in her chest whenever she exerted herself. It was yet another reason why she ought to stay behind in Apple Grove, but Maummi insisted her place was with Emma, her oldest granddaughter. What she really meant was that she intended to inspect every eligible young Amish man in Troyer and handpick her future grandson-in-law.

Aunt Gerda had written to say she anticipated that her only daughter would marry soon, and she would appreciate having Emma come to help her around the house. She’d also mentioned the abundance of marriageable young men in Troyer, with a suggestion that twenty-year-old Emma was of an age that the news might be welcome. Rebecca had immediately volunteered to go in Emma’s place. Though Papa appeared to consider the idea, he decided to send Emma because she was the oldest and therefore would be in need of a husband soonest. Maummi insisted on going along in order to “Keep an eye on this hoard of men Gerda will parade before our Emma.”

As far as Emma was concerned, they should just send Maummi on alone and leave her in Apple Grove to wait for her future husband to be delivered to her doorstep.

Rebecca appeared from inside the house with a dripping cloth in hand. A strand of wavy dark hair had escaped its pins and fluttered freely beside the strings of her kapp. At barely thirteen, her rosy cheeks and smooth, high forehead reminded Emma so sharply of their mother that at times her heart ached.

Rebecca looked at Maummi’s dramatic posture and rolled her eyes. She had little patience with Maummi’s feigned heart episodes, and she was young enough that she had yet to learn proper restraint in concealing her emotions. Emma awarded her sister with a stern look and held out a hand for the cloth.

With a contrite bob of her head, Rebecca handed it over and dropped to her knees beside the rocking chair. “Are you all right, Maummi?”

“Ach, I’m fine. I don’t think it’s my time. Yet.”

Emma wrung the excess water from the cloth before draping it across the back of Maummi’s neck.

“Danki.” The elderly woman realized that the men had stopped working in order to watch her, and she waved her hand in a shooing motion. “Place those quilts over my hutch before you load anything else! Mind, Jonas, no scratches.”

Papa shook his head, though a smile tugged at his lips. “Ja, I remember.”

The gray head turned toward Emma. “Granddaughter, see they take proper care.”

“I will, Maummi.”

Katie joined Emma to oversee the wrapping of the hutch. When Samuel Miller offered a strong arm to help Katie up into the wagon, Emma hid a smile. No doubt she would receive a letter at her new home soon, informing her that a wedding date had been published. Because Samuel was the bishop’s son, there was no fear he would not receive the Zeungis, the letter of good standing. Rebecca would be thrilled at the news of a proper wedding in tiny Apple Grove.

But Emma would be far away in Troyer, and she would miss her friend’s big day.

Why must I live there when everything I love is here?

She draped a thick quilt over her end of the hutch and sidled away while Papa secured a rope around it. The faces of her friends and family looked on. They filled the area between the house and the barn. She loved every one in her own way. Yes, even Amos Beiler. She sought him out among the crowd and smiled at the two little girls who hovered near his side. Poor, lonely Amos. He was a good father to his motherless family. No doubt he’d make a fine husband, and if she married him she wouldn’t have to move to Troyer. The thought tempted her once again, as it often had over the past several weeks since Papa announced his decision that she would live with Aunt Gerda for a while.

But she knew that if she agreed to become Amos’s wife that she would be settling. True, she would gain a prosperous farm and a nice house and a trio of well-behaved children, with the promise of more to come. But the fact remained that though there was much to respect about Amos, she didn’t love him. The thought of seeing that moon-shaped face and slightly cross-eyed stare over the table for breakfast, dinner, and supper sent a shiver rippling across her shoulders. Not to mention sharing a marriage bed with him. It was enough to make her throw her apron over her face and run screaming across Papa’s cornfield.

He deserves a wife who loves him, she told herself for the hundredth time. Her conscience thus soothed, Emma turned away from his mournful stare.

“That trunk goes in the front,” Maummi shouted from her chair on the porch. “Emma, show them where.”

Emma shrank against the gigantic hutch to give the men room to settle the trunk containing all of her belongings. An oiled canvas tarp had been secured over the top to repel any rain they might meet over the next week. Inside, resting on her dresses, aprons, bonnets, and kapps, was a bundle more precious to her than anything else in the wagon: a quilt, expertly and lovingly stitched, nestled within a heavy canvas pouch. Mama had made it with her own hands for Emma’s hope chest. The last stitch was bitten off just hours before she closed her eyes and stepped into the arms of her Lord.

Oh, Mama, if you were here you could convince Papa to let me stay home. I know you could. And now, without you, what will happen to me?

Yet, even in the midst of the dreary thought, a spark of hope flickered in the darkness in Emma’s heart. The future yawned before her like the endless Kansas prairie. Wasn’t there beauty to be found in the tall, blowing grasses of the open plain? Weren’t there cool streams and shady trees to offer respite from the heat of the day? Maybe Troyer would turn out to be an oasis.

“Emma!”

Maummi’s sharp tone cut through her musing. She jerked upright. Her grandmother appeared to have recovered from her heart episode. From the vantage point of her chair, she oversaw every movement with a critical eye.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Mind what I said about that loading, girl. The food carton goes on last. We won’t want to search for provisions when we stop at night on the trail.”

An approving murmur rose from the women at the wisdom of an organized wagon.

“Yes, ma’am.” Emma exchanged a quick grin with Katie and then directed the man carrying a carton of canned goods and trail provisions to set his burden aside for now.

A little while later, after everything had been loaded and secured under an oiled canvas, the men stood around to admire their handiwork. Samuel even crawled beneath the wagon to check the support struts, and he pronounced everything to be “in apple-pie order.”

Emma felt a pluck on her arm. She turned to find Katie at her elbow.

“This is a gift for you.” Her friend pushed a small package into her hands. “It’s only a soft cloth and some fancy-colored threads. I was fixing to stitch you a design, but you’re so much better at fine sewing than I am that I figured you could make something prettier by yourself.” She ducked her head. “Think kindly of me when you do.”

Warmed by her friend’s gesture, Emma pulled her into an embrace. “I will. And I expect a letter from you soon.” She let Katie see her glance slide over to Samuel and back with a grin. “Especially when you have something exciting to report.”

A becoming blush colored the girl’s cheeks. “I will.”

Emma was still going down the line, awarding each woman a farewell hug, when Bishop Miller stepped up to the front of the wagon and motioned for attention.

“It’s time now to bid Jonas Switzer Godspeed and fair weather for his travels.” A kind smile curved his lips when he looked to Maummi and then to Emma. “And our prayers go with our sisters Marta and Emma as they make a new home in Troyer.”

He bowed his head and closed his eyes, a sign for everyone in the Apple Grove district to follow suit. Emma obeyed, fixing her thoughts on the blue skies overhead and the Almighty’s throne beyond. Silence descended, interrupted only by the snorts of oxen and a happy bird in the tall, leafy tree that gave shade to the porch.

What will I find in Troyer? A new home, as the bishop says? A fine Amish husband, as Papa wishes? I pray it be so. And I pray he will be the second son of his father so that he will come home with me to Apple Grove and take over Papa’s farm when the time comes.

A female sniffled behind her. Not Katie, but Rebecca. A twist inside Emma’s rib cage nearly sent tears to her eyes. Oh, how she would miss her sister when Rebecca left Troyer to return home with Papa. She vowed to make the most of their time together on the trail between here and there.

Bishop Miller ended the prayer with a blessing in High German, his hand on the head of the closest oxen. When the last word fell on the quiet crowd, Maummi’s voice sliced through the cool morning air. “Now that we’re seen off proper, someone help me up. We’ll be gone before the sun moves another inch across the sky.”

Though she’d proved earlier that she could make the leap herself at need, Maummi allowed Papa and the bishop to lift her into the wagon. She took her seat in her rocking chair, which was wedged between the covered hutch and one high side of the wagon bed. With a protective pat on the hutch, she settled her sewing basket at her feet and pulled a piece of mending onto her lap. No idle hands for Maummi. By the time they made Troyer, she’d have all the mending done, and the darning too, and a good start on a new quilt.

Emma spared one more embrace for Katie, steadfastly ignored Amos’s mournful stare, and allowed the bishop to help her up onto the bench seat. She scooted over to the far end to make room for Papa, and then Rebecca was lifted up to sit on the other side of him. A snug fit, but they would be okay for the six-day journey to Troyer. Emma settled her black dress and smoothed her apron.

“Now, Jonas, mind you what I said.” Maummi’s voice from behind their heads sounded a bit shrill in the quiet morning. “You cut a wide path around Hays. I’ll not have my granddaughters witness the ufrooish of those wild Englischers.”

On the other side of Papa, Rebecca heaved a loud sigh. Emma hid her grin. No doubt Rebecca would love to witness the rowdy riots of wild cowboy Englischers in the infamous railroad town of Hays.

Papa mumbled something under his breath that sounded like “This will be the longest journey of my life,” but aloud he said, “Ja, Mader.”

With a flick of the rope, he urged the oxen forward. The wagon creaked and pitched as it rolled on its gigantic wheels. Emma grabbed the side of the bench with one hand and lifted her other hand in a final farewell as her home fell away behind her.

Ways with Cabbage

This week across the nation cabbage, a wonderful vegetable, is on sale! This week one store has it for .18 a pound!! That is cheap! I remember though it used to be like .09 cents….Listen to me talking like an old timer!

Cabbage is a vegetable that many people struggle to think of things to do with…but there is so much more than coleslaw to it!

Last Sunday we had a cabbage salad that was amazing!!
It had finely (very finely) shredded cabbage, like paper shreds cabbage, some purple cabbage, a shredded carrot, an english cucumber (not peeled) washed, quartered and thinly sliced into the salad.
She added one spoon of a mixture of finely diced green onion and dill weed that she had frozen in the freezer, drizzled with olive oil, salt, some Mrs. Dash, and fresh squeezed lemon juice… She stirred it and let it sit for an hour or so. It was so good!!!

We also had some cabbage rolls which was very simple as well.

Cabbage Rolls

1-2 heads cabbage heads, steamed and cored (Use a sharp knife and cut out the stem and the hard part of the cabbage, steam the cabbage in a covered glass bowl in the microwave or on top of the stove, until the leaves are pliable, cool slightly)
1.5 lb. ground meat
1 onion (blend in blender with a little water so you have onion puree)
1 cup rice, partially cooked….(Mix 1 c. rice 1.5 c. water, heat to boiling, turn down to low and simmer on low for 10 minutes)
Salt, pepper, seasoning salt whatever you want.

Mix the meat, onion,and rice together with seasoning. You have to eye how much you think it needs, about a 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper etc.
Place about 2 T. in one cabbage leaf roll and make small tight rolls that look kind of like egg roll size. You can make big ones, but they are messier. On the bottom of a crock pot that is lightly greased, place layers of these until the cabbage leaves are gone or crock pot is full.

In a frying pan heat 1 c. heavy cream and 1 16 oz. tomato sauce until hot. Add salt to taste. Pour over top the cabbage rolls and cook on low for 4-6 hours. If your crock pot cooks hot, you may want to add some beef broth.

Serve with mashed potatoes or plain with salad.

One of my husband’s favorite soups is Borcht…
Here is how his family taught me to make it!!
RUSSIAN BORSCHT
Start with a pot according to the amount you want to make.
I usually make about 2 gallons so I’ll tell you that size. You can boil a bone to get broth or add cooked meat and bouillon or you can make it meatless. Fill pan 1/3 full of cubed potatoes (about 1-1/2″ cubes) and fill with water or broth. Add salt to taste. Simmer until potatoes are soft; add 1/2 head cabbage very finely sliced. Meanwhile in a frying pan brown 1 diced onion
in 1 Tbsp. oil, add 1 grated carrot when onion is yellow, and fry a little. Add 1 grated fresh beet or about 5 small canned beets grated. Fry a while. Add 1 small (8 oz.) can tomato sauce and 1-2 cans water. Simmer about 5 minutes. Add to large pot. Simmer about 15 minutes. Add a bay leaf and 2 tsp. dillweed.
Serve with sour cream on top.
NOTES:
Some people also put a little rinsed sauerkraut in instead of some of the cabbage.

Here is a more American way to use cabbage…
LAYERED DINNER

1 lb. ground beef, cooked
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked & diced (save grease)
carrots, sliced
cabbage, sliced
potatoes, sliced
canned green beans (if you want)
salt
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
Layer beef, bacon, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and green beans in a roaster pan. Salt each layer lightly. Add flour to the bacon grease and stir until smooth. Add milk slowly, bring a boil and cook 1 minute or until thick and smooth. Salt and pepper to taste; pour over top of casserole. Bake at 350 for about one hour or an hour-and-a-half, until potatoes are tender.
NOTES:
You can basically use any vegetable you want to, I have done it without the bacon, but I like the flavor the bacon gives. You can also do it with cream of mushroom soup if you would like to instead of the bacon/white sauce.

So, there are a few different options for you as you are going to go and use up cabbage this week!
Also, remember, if you keep it cold, it will store for a very long time!!

When we lived in MN, we were given a bunch of canned cabbage, and although I do not recommend that, it did taste fine and we used it in this amazing cabbage casserole that had a cheesy sauce and bread crumbs. Even people who hated cabbage loved it!

Cabbage is a more versatile vegetable than you think….and if you don’t want to eat it, but are having trouble with engorgement while breastfeeding or infections, a leaf in your bra can help relieve that, but don;t leave it too long or you can loose your milk.