An Attitude of Thankfulness

Decorating our Christmas tree always makes me thankful.

We have "filler" ornaments, sure, but the majority of our ornaments hold special meaning for us.  When we travel, we often buy an ornament to commemorate it.  Additionally, in our now nearly 8 years of marriage, we have been through quite a few milestones - not to mention the ones from before that.  Many of which are immortalized in the form of ornaments.

Every year, as we search through the crumpled paper towel sheets we use to protect this precious cargo, I am reminded of so many - good, but also sometimes hard - things that the Lord has brought us through.  We, as missionaries literally live off of the generosity of others - and thankfulness is the overarching emotion I feel.  Especially this time of year.  These ornament are tangible reminders of that.

Here are some of the ornaments that hold special meaning.

1. Baby's First Christmas Ornaments 

There will never be a day that I won't get teary pulling these out! Those teeny-tiny fingers and toes... I can't even stand it!  I even made sure that when we made these, I made an extra, so that if/when the kiddos ever want one for their trees when they're adults... I can still have mine.  #momwin

These ornaments make me so thankful for the little lives God has entrusted to us!  

2. Felt Cupcake

This ornament.  This was the year that finances were so tight, that these handmade felt cupcake ornaments were the only gifts we could afford to give.  I'm thankful for this year.  This was our first year as a married couple.  This was the year of Arby's chocolate turnover dates, Ramen noodles, no health insurance, not being sure if we had enough gas in the car to run errands, getting signed up to bring food to an event - and then not having enough to make dinner for us... It taught us to economize, to appreciate what we have, and enjoy the REAL spirit of Christmas.

3. Travel Ornaments  

I am so thankful for the ability to travel, and see new places.  These ornaments remind me of all the fun family memories we've shared.

4. White House Ornaments

My dad's dad, my Gramps used to buy my mom these ornaments that the White House Society puts out every year - and then when I got married, he did for us too.  In 2016, I lost three of my grandparents - one of them being my Gramps.  Dan's grandma also passed away that year.  Aidan, our 2 year-old (at the time) attended 3 funerals that year - and was an absolute dream.  I was a pall-bearer in my Gran's funeral.  When Gran passed away, we put together pictures for the reception afterwards, and numbered them for the slideshow.

3 months later, we were putting together a slideshow for Gramps' funeral.  The next number in the slideshow would've been 12, but I was looking at a picture that was already numbered 13, and was wondering where I went wrong with the numbering, when I realized - I hadn't gotten it wrong, it was just still numbered from Gran's funeral.  

After they passed, my mom continued the tradition.  Every year, when I take them out, I am thankful for my extended family, and the time we had together.

5. The Coolest Ornament

One year, I sent my mom a random picture of an ornament that I LOVED.  Somehow she found it, and I got it for Christmas that year! It's an urchin and a spindle - it's amazingly fragile and beautiful, and somehow made it across the ocean.

I'm so thankful for a mama who knows my heart.

6. Coffee

Coffee.  I'm not even kidding.  I'm thankful for coffee.  

7. My Oldest Home

Hungary.  

8. My Last Home

USA - Jacksonville.

9. My Current, and Beloved Home

Slovenia.  I love it here so much!  It has felt like home since the moment we got here.  I am so thankful that we get to live and thrive in Slovenia.

This is from when we went hiking a couple months after we moved here. <3

10.  The Person With Whom I Will Be Home No Matter What

I am so thankful for Dan.  So many of the wonderful things in my life are because of who I get to spend that life with.  

So, this holiday season, I encourage you to take the time to reminisce over the moments that your ornaments represent.  When you think about those memories, take the time to thank God for the good... and also the hard things He's brought you through.  Often times we wouldn't get to the happy memories, if it weren't for the tough ones.

DIY Baby Girl Headband

I'm neck deep in girl-world, and unapologetic about it!

I fully embraced boy-world the first time around, but I'm really excited that I get to dive into bows and flowers!

I really liked these soft hairbands I found all around Etsy, and bought a bunch.  But then, I wondered if there was a way that I could make them!  My mom gave me some cute flowers she bought, in the off-chance there was ever a girl our lives, haha!

So, I searched around for instructions, and found a few and thought I'd share it with you!

Here's what you'll need:

- 1 pair of pantyhose

- Flower, bow, whatever

- Hot glue gun

- Scissors 

1. Cut the leg part of the hose into 1 inch strips.

2. Stretch them a little until they roll on either side (like in the middle of the picture), creating the band.

3. Glue flower or bow on the band.

4. Allow to cool, and voila!

This way, you can always make a hairband to go with a particular outfit!  Also, these are not at all tight, so you don't have to worry about it hurting their little heads. 

Perfectly delicate, just like your little girl!

Homemade Biscuits, Yes Ma'am!

Biscuits are ALWAYS a good idea.  Depending on where you're from, you eat them with jam, or gravy, or butter... but everyone agrees that biscuits are amazing.  So, as I've been delving into the world of bread-making, I knew biscuits were one of the first things to try.

I found this original post at Broma Bakery.  Her instructions were easy to follow, but I will write them out here for you, along with some photos.  These are great for breakfast, or for an easy dinner roll.  (If you read all the way to the end, I'll have a surprise bonus recipe for you!  Trust me, you'll want it if you make these biscuits!)

Here's what you'll need:

- stand mixer + whisk attachment and bread hook attachment

- rolling pin

- baking sheet

- baking paper

- biscuit cutter (or a round cookie cutter - you CAN do shapes, too. I made Aidan one in the shape of a Christmas tree - super fun!)

- kitchen brush

- I have found a digital kitchen scale really helpful, especially when making something off of an American recipe, but my tools/instruments are European.  Just remember, when you're Googling the conversion, especially when it's volume to weight (cup to gram, for example) that you Google specifically for the ingredient, because it will vary.  Like, "8 tbs butter in grams", etc. 

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp sugar

1 tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

8 tbs chilled butter (113.6 grams), cut into squares

3/4 cup buttermilk (if you're in Slovenia, it's called pinjenec, and one container is 3/4 cup, woohoo!)

1 egg beaten

optional - 1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Makes about 10.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425 F / 218 C (or 400 F / 204 C for convection oven).  Take out your baking sheets (you don't want them to get hot in the oven), and line them with baking paper.

2. Put the whisk attachment on your mixer, and on a low speed, mix together your dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3. Turn mixer on to medium speed, and cut in butter.  (If your mixer has a splash guard, be sure and put it on.  I forgot to, and got flour everywhere.  Not only is it a hassle to clean up, but it can mess up your ratio too, if enough flew out!)  Mix until mixture resembles cornbread.

4. Stop your mixer.  Take the whisk off, and replace with bread hook attachment.  Turn mixer back on, bring to a medium speed, and gradually add buttermilk (in 3-4 stages).  I left out my 1/4 measuring cup, and used that to add the buttermilk.  Worked like a charm!  Mix until dough just comes together.  (If you're adding cheese, put that in now, too.)

5.  Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin.  (Our apartment is a little short on kitchen workspace, so a great "hack" that I've found, is a plastic table cloth, that I can put on our dining room table - which is also an easier level for kids helping out.  That way I can clean it, and put it away until I "knead" it again.  Get it? :) )

6. Turn your biscuit dough out on it, and roll it until it is about 1 inch in thickness.

7. Flour your biscuit cutter (dip it in flour before each time you use it), and cut your biscuits out.  If you have excess dough left, you can knead it together to recreate a "ball", roll it out again, and cut more biscuits out.

8. Place them on your baking sheet.

9. Using the kitchen brush, brush the tops of them with the beaten egg - it will make a nice golden brown finish.

10. Bake for 15 minutes.  (Or 11 for convection oven.)

We had them for dinner... and dessert.  

For dessert we had them with apple jam, that Aidan's kindergarten/vrtec made (and sold as a fundraiser - we bought 5 jars of jam.  They were that good!)

But for (breakfast for) dinner, we had them with...

bacon gravy.  

And that's the surprise bonus recipe!

Dan's bacon gravy!!

Ingredients:

6 strips of bacon

1/4 cup flour

1-2 cups milk

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2-1 tsp cajun seasoning (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Fry bacon strips.  (You can do strips or, the second time, he cut the bacon into chunks, and added them back in at the end - that was also REALLY good!)

2. Take the bacon out, keep grease in pan. 

3. Add flour, brown flour in grease, make sure it's nice and browned.

4. Add milk, whisk until no lumps are left.

5. Add more milk, until you reach the desired consistency (some people like it thicker, some like it runnier).

6. Add salt, pepper, paprika and (optional) cajun seasoning.

Et, voila!

Yumm-o!!! Enjoy!

1 Bonus Tip:

To heat up the next day, wrap them individually in tin foil, and place them in the oven at 300 F/ 150 C for a few minutes.  Nearly good as new!

Texas Roadhouse Copycat Rolls and Honey Cinnamon Butter

For the first time in my life, I own a standing mixer!  I am beyond excited at all the new recipes that have opened up to me.  Namely - bread.  If I could eat bread all day and not get fat, believe me, I wouldn't eat anything else again!

I was hoping that my first couple attempts would go really well, so I'd have the confidence to keep trying - thankfully, they did!

One of the first things I attempted was these Texas Roadhouse Copycat Rolls.  I have to be honest, the original post is AWESOME!  The lady gives step-by-step instructions along with pictures.  I baked mine in the evening, and it was already dark, so I don't have any pictures of the process.  So, if you're totally new at this (like I am), you should go check out her pictures.  

If not, keep reading, I'll give you an overview. :)

Ingredients:

For the bread:

• 1 packet (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast (FYI, the ones in Slovenia have the same amount)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup whole milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm (Do this first.)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
• 1 large egg (beaten)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups (437.5 grams) all-purpose flour

For the butter

• 1 stick (1/2 cup or 113.6 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

For the rolls:

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the dough hook attachment, stir yeast, water, milk, sugar, 2 tbs of the melted butter, egg, and salt until well combined.

2. Gradually add the flour and knead on medium-low speed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.  You may need to stop the mixer and help the flour off the sides and bottom a couple times.  

3. Turn off the mixer, and let the dough rise for 3-5 minutes.

4. Knead on medium-low speed for another 5 minutes, until dough is shiny and soft.  The original post said if you needed (if it was still sticky), you could add more flour a tbs at a time.  I didn't find that I needed more.

5. Transfer dough to a large greased bowl, then flip it upside down, so butter/oil gets on both sides. (I used butter.)  

6. Cover bowl with plastic wrap (making sure it is sealed), and allow to sit and rise for about 45 minutes to an hour, until dough has doubled in size.

7. Punch down dough (I always wanted to do that!), and roll out onto a lightly floured work space.

8. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out, until you have about an inch thick rectangle(ish).

9. Cut dough into approx. 2x2 inch squares.

(Note that excess dough does NOT shape back into a useable ball, so try your best to not leave any left over.)

10. Line baking sheets (probably two large ones) with baking sheets.  Place rolls on sheets, about 3-4 inches apart, and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rise again for 45 minutes to an hour.

11. Preheat oven to 350F or 180C (325F or 170C for convection oven).

12. Take plastic wrap off rolls, and place in oven.  Bake for 15 minutes (or 10 in convection oven).

13.  Take them out of the oven, and brush them with leftover melted butter.

Makes about 22-24 rolls.

For butter:

1. Using the whisk attachment of your mixes, beat your butter for 30 sec on medium-high (getting to that speed gradually).

2. Add powdered sugar, honey and cinnamon, and beat for 1-2 minutes.

3. Serve with warm rolls, or store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Now, I haven't been to Texas Roadhouse in a really long time, so I can't attest to their authenticity, but these rolls were amazing!!!

Also, wrapped up in tinfoil and heated up in the oven the next day, they make for great little sandwich rolls!

There you have it! Very easy, nearly fool-prof rolls!

Enjoy!