Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Pie Spectacular

Had this last night at a friends house. Best version of a pumpkin pie I think I've ever had. Can't wait to try it! Pumpkin Pie Spectacular

Thanks for expanding my horizons Melissa and JR!

He Does Love Me

In my husband's defense, while he may not be the best at clearing clogged pipes...he can make a mean pizza and I was welcomed by the aroma of a freshly baked pizza last night after coming home from worship practice. Not only did it have all my favorite toppings...he whipped up a pizza crust from scratch. So all things considered, I think he's a keeper.

Fall 09 Ministry Update

Fall seems to be leaving all to quickly, especially now that snow keeps popping into the weather forecast. Luckily our work has not brought as drastic of a change as the weather has. Overall summer and fall have gone well work wise. Much of our focus continues to be on Urbana but we've also been mindful of the start of a new academic year and all that brings. For ways you can be praying for us, click on the image and check out our newest update letter.

If you ever want to receive these by email or mail, just let us know!

Garden Officially Done

Well it's official. I pulled everything up out of the garden last week. I have to admit it was a bit sad to do this this only because it makes the transition to winter a lot more official. But overall, my first garden experience was worth it and I was surprised by how much a 10 by 10 plot actually holds. I think in total we got about 6 quarts of pea pods, 9 quarts of beans, a few bell peppers, 4 quarts of carrots and a decent number of onions. More than enough for two people (one of whom doesn't eat to many veggies).

What will I do differently next year? I think I'll only plant one time. I tried planting a second time late July but I didn't have as much time later in the summer to take care of the plot and it's to much of a gamble with frost and snow. I also think I'll forgo the peppers and spinach which didn't do so well and try squash instead.

Recipe of the Week: Puffed Apple Pancake

So in honor of it being apple season and having gone apple picking this past weekend:
Puffed Apple Pancakes! (originally in the 2002 September Bon Appetit magazine)

1 cup whole milk
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
12 ounces Golden Delicious apples (about 2), peeled, cored, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425°F. Whisk milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in large bowl until well blended. Add flour and whisk until batter is smooth. Place butter in 13x9-inch glass baking dish. Place dish in oven until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Remove dish from oven. Place apple slices in overlapping rows atop melted butter in baking dish. Return to oven and bake until apples begin to soften slightly and butter is bubbling and beginning to brown around edges of dish, about 10 minutes.

Pour batter over apples in dish and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake pancake until puffed and brown, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Serve warm.

The Global Conversation - Intro October 2009 from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

I'm off to four days of meetings...but wanted to post this because it looks like it'll be an interesting series to watch. The videos for this series were done by people who we know/work with who started a production company called Fourth Line Films. Matt even got to help on one of these upcoming videos.

All together it's for a series that Christianity Today is doing on mission's in today's context. Check it out here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/globalconversation/