SNAP THAT

Dear friends, I hope you are all doing well. I have had a slow March in many ways compared to the norm. I've needed to get caught up on my rest this month. But alas it is that time of year when major bills must be paid and taxes must be prepared so that wakes me up a bit, lol. This month I tried a few new bread, soup and banana bread recipes. I had good success. It has been raining a lot here and still a bit chilly. But the sunshine is starting to return at long last. These mosaics give a hint of the month of March around these parts.  I hope you like them.   We had a lot of rain this month and snow on the mountains but the sunshine is returning.  Have a wonderful week. By the way I invite you to read my sidebar "Go Fund Me" project to help Elvis in Kenya. Would you keep him in prayer? Thanks so much! Joining in with My World Tuesday   Mosaic Monday this week.

On a recent walk to the local library I captured these photos of a church cross. These were the best night photos I could capture on a cell phone. One day I might have a good camera to capture the illuminated cross at night much better. For now these will have to do. The cross reminds me of the price God paid for my soul. It also reminds me of the two greatest commandments set out in Matthew 22: 37-40 37 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38  This is the first and greatest commandment. 39  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” These form the basis of my love for helping people in general and my love for missions in Africa. It explains why I help people like Elvis who is hoping to finish medical studies in Kenya this summer. There has been a hiccup in his studies due to recent striking and rioting at universities in Kenya but

What would you buy if you had a "free" money to spend at a pharmacy to the tune of $60 (Canadian, 582 SA Rand, $58 Australian, 32 pounds sterling, 38 euros, $53 American dollars, 124 Brazilian Reals)? I shop at a pharmacy where you get points for buying certain items. The points accumulate each time you shop and sometimes the store promotes specific items giving you more points to get to certain spend levels more quickly. This money is like "free money" (of course the store is not losing money but they ensure some of their profits goes to these rewards programs to build customer loyalty).  As a consumer, this kind of thing only works like free money if you are careful not to purchase things you don't need just to get points. Sometimes you get lucky and are able to get 20x the points on something you really need. This is the only way to build up points quickly.  Otherwise it can take some time. I don't like my point levels to get too high because then

Hi friends, There are certain recipes I continue to search for and refine. One of them is Banana Bread. For something so seemingly simple, I still haven't found a Banana Bread recipe I really like. Most of them seem to be too moist. I want a dense loaf that is more like a bread but with banana taste.  I don't want a loaf so moist that it is like pudding.  I also don't like big chunks of banana in my loaf though I do like to see the seeds. I'm also looking for a recipe that doesn't use such a lot of sugar and oil. I tried this recipe tonight. BANANA BREAD Ingredients ¼ cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup) 2 eggs 1 cup sour cream (I use Greek style plain yogurt instead) 1 cup mashed fully ripe bananas (I used 2 bananas because that is all I had today) 2-1/4 cups flour 1-1/2tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 cup chopped walnuts (I meant to add the walnuts but forgot) Instructions HEAT oven to

It's trying hard to be Spring here but it isn't quite coming together yet. Every other day it is raining heavily, alternating with days that are very gray and then windy and sunny.  I see some of the trees are blossoming. That means the weather has warmed up quite a bit though at night it is still quite chilly. The best thing for me when the weather is so unsettled is to have home baked bread and made from scratch soups.  This week I've had more home made soups than usual. Sunday I made hamburger (minced meat) soup.  I usually make it like my mom used to make it but from time to time, I like to mix it up.  For the first time I made it with eggplant, butternut squash and chickpeas all added to the usual base of cooked hamburger pieces, celery, onion, carrots and seasonings. It was quite yummy. Monday I skipped the soup making because I went to my cooking session where we made sushi with celery, avocado and mango. It was quite good but I confess I will need a lot mor

 It was so lovely to see clearer skies and enjoy warmer temperatures recently. Skywatch Friday

The church steeple has been under construction for a very long time; at least a year or more. They moved the steeple from one corner to the other, raised it by several feet and added light to the cross so that it shines in the night. The cross has not been lit up all week and I was wondering why. Perhaps it just needed some bulbs or something. Whatever the case, it is illuminated once again. I like looking at the cross light up against the night sky.  I also like seeing the lights on the ski slopes. After what seems like a very long and cold winter, the sun has returned and warmer temperatures are here.  Spring is definitely in the air this week. ~~~~~~~ I've been keeping busy assessing my mother's transition to the new care home and providing feedback to the facility.  This will be an annual process and our one big opportunity to make important changes if needed so I've been stressed about making sure I give the right messages without seemin

I used this bread recipe for the first time today. The recipe makes only 1 loaf of bread. I decided to make two loaves but mixed them up separately.  I don't want to stress my electric mixer too much.  My mixer handles about 5 cups of flour. The loaf on the right was mixed first so has been rising longer. One loaf of bread will be for me and the other loaf for a friend I will be visiting on Tuesday.   This recipe is quite good so am going to make another loaf or two for an elderly friend and her neighbour soon.  I've been promising her that I will do that. I've been looking for a great bread recipe for a long time and have tried many recipes.  I am usually disappointed by the size of the loaves. I like a more substantial loaf and a good, crusty top as well as a moist interior.  This one delivered on all the above.  The finished loaf has quite a strong taste of yeast. I may experiment with the amount of yeast for the next loaves.  After the loaves cooled I sl