Grace like rain is falling now, falling constantly and quietly, yet falling still.

There is grace for today and He will not let anything our way which we can not handle.

The grace I have gathered this morn, much like the manna that needed to be gathered every day, every morning:

Shelter in the raging winds

A warm bed to share with my husband

Electricity

Courage for Tirzah with her swollen lip after a big fall

Running warmth through the faucet

A baby girl

Rice and beans

Grace, healing, and hope for my two Mama-friends

Excitement for the arrival of Greg and Marlene tomorrow afternoon!

What goodness have you gathered this morn that will nourish you through the rest of the day?

This week we will be nourished by the Lord's grace and by the friendship and presence of Daniel's parents!  They arrive tomorrow and will stay with us until Sunday. 

 We are so thankful for their visit!  We will nourish ourselves, all gathered around the table, with the following meals:

Monday: Honey Butter Pork Tenderloin, rice, green salad

Tuesday: Leftover Spring Vegetable and Lentil Soup, grilled cheese, salad

Wednesday: Roasted vegetables served over whole grains (either barley or wheat berries)

Thursday: Country-style pork ribs in the crockpot (see below), cast-iron cornbread, salad, and a vegetable

Friday: Fish (perhaps tacos or a new recipe with capers and lemons?)

Saturday: homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and homemade pizza night for dinner

Sunday: Venison chili

Country-style pork ribs (I found this recipe while at Greg and Marlene's and have used it twice: both times with delicious success.  Most definitely a crowd pleaser, and a meat-lover pleaser!)

4 lbs of boneless country-style pork spareribs

Prebake ribs in a single layer of a baking dash at 450 for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile combine: 1 1/2 C bbq sauce

1/2 c apricot-pinapple jam (they do indeed sell the 2 flavors together!  Who knew?!)

1 T soy sauce

After removing the ribs from the oven, place on layer of ribs in the slow-cooker.  Pour 1/3 of sauce on top. Place another layer of ribs and then another of sauce... so on!

Cook on low for 8 hours

And this is our homemade bbq sauce: we just usually kind of wing it (Daniel is the pro), and it is delicious as well!

1 onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

Dash of paprika and chili powder

Dash of dried parsley

1 C ketchup

1/2 of a beer bottle

4 T Worchestire (forgive my spelling...) Sauce

4 T cider vinegar

2 T mustard

Sautee onion and garlic in a sauce pan over medium heat until translucent.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat about 30 minutes.  

Last week I began "bulk baking" and I am loving it!  I would truly recommend it to anyone.  It takes a little more preparation and time at the beginning, but it is well worth the effort!  This past week I made a double batch of Blueberry Crumb Muffins on Tuesday and was able to pull out muffins for a quick and easy breakfast on Sunday morning.  I baked Oatmeal Raisin cookies that were frozen as dough-balls on Wednesday for a mid-week treat for my husband that is a sweet-tooth at heart.  Friday we baked (actually Daniel baked) a full batch of Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies. We ate 1/3 and the rest are in the freezer for a quick treat during the visit.  Truly, I LOVE stocking the freezer now-a-days and just reaching in to pull out a delicious treat.

This week, with the cooking prowess of Marlene, we will be baking:

2 loaves of sandwich bread (was able to check that off this morning)

2 loaves of gingerbread (will have that awaiting their arrival tomorrow afternoon, with a cup of hot tea and some fresh yogurt for on top.  This is how we were greeted at Michael and Danae's house for Christmas and how it blessed us!)

2 batches of Cranberry Walnut Cookies

Be nourished today with His lavish grace.

Taste and see the He is good!

What's Baking Today

Internet!  Finally!  Promises to post each and every week!

Thank you for your patience with us, with me, through the whirlwind of transitioning, moving, Christmas-ing, and settling-in.  Indeed, all are complete and the dusts of transition are settling in to their proper places as today begins the new melody with which our life will hum.  Daniel is off to work after a beautiful time off.  What a blessing these days have been for our family. Such wondrous provision from the Lord.


On provision...
A new weekly tradition of posting has begun to stir in my heart.

Manna Monday

Marlene hand burned these words into wood from their yard, as a symbol of all the Monday nights that Anna, Meredith, Tirzah and I spent together while the Soldiers were away.

Manna.  The food the Lord provided while they wandered in the desert.

Manna.  A word combination of the names Anna and Meredith.  Friends the Lord provided during the first leg of our military journey.

And although the Manna Monday dinners with those two very dear friends have ended, Manna Mondays continue as we feast on the Lord's provision everyday, but most especially as we begin a new week.  On this Monday, we have feasted upon the Lord's provision:

a full night's rest

All good things for our enjoyment

Beauty that surrounds

Coffee

Walking trails

UPS man to take a package

Daniel's found dog tags

Daniel home for breakfast! and then home for the day at 2:15!

(From Genesis 1 Reading this morning)

Separation from light and darkness

from land and sea

Seed-bearing plants and trees

Lights in the sky to govern

Mondays will also be, a favorite in the Shear household, for they will be the week's baking day!  Tirzah and I have created a new system with baking.  She, the little Delight that she is, desires to be in the middle of absolutely everything Daniel and I do.  In the kitchen, it can become quite complicated.  But now, we pull her homemade high chair up to the second drawer by the sink and place all of her kitchen utensils inside.  Mama's recipe needs a little bit of flour, so Tirzah gets a little bit of flour in her bowl too.  Mama needs some sugar to make the treats real nice, well Tirzah does too.  And goodness how she loves to put her hands in and get them deliciously dirty!

What's baking today:

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

 a recipe from my Apples of Gold class

preheat to 350

Sift together:

2 C flour

3 t baking powder

1/2 C flour

1/2 t salt

Add and stir only until moistened:

1 egg

1/4 C oil

1 C milk

Stir in: 

1 1/4 C blueberries

Spoon batter into greased muffins pans and sprinkle topping:

3 T melted butter

1/3 C brown sugar

1/4 t cinnamon (I use a teaspoon or so...)

1/2 C flour

Bake for 25 minutes or until a deep golden brown on top

Best Brown Bread

a recipe from my childhood friend Jen Jorgenson

Preheat to 350

Sift together:

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1 C all purpose flour

2/3 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C old fashioned oats 

1/3 C ground flaxseed

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

Stir in:

1 2/3 C buttermilk (or I have been using 1 C plain yogurt and then 2/3 c milk and it works great!)

Spoon batter into greased bread pan and then sprinkle with 1 T old fashioned oats.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean

And as an add-on to my last post, the one outside of Starbucks (thanks Aunt Carol for the gift card!! ), here are more pictures from our adventure down to the Sound.  Since then we seen 3 or 4 Bald Eagles and have done even more adventuring.  Needless to say, we are loving it here in WA!

Olympic Mountains from a trail by our house

Mt. Rainier just down the street!  Yesterday was ALL sunshine and gorgeous!  

More Olympic range across the water

This is the rock where we see the seals 

Mama... I don't like dirt!

Tirzah loves to watch the kiddies at the bus stop each morning!

And as promised last post, here is an incredible gingerbread recipe from Danae.  She and Michael had a loaf of this waiting for us with hot cider and fresh whip cream when we arrived for Christmas.  It is SO good!  We have made it for several neighbors surrounding us and everyone has enjoyed it!  We hope you will too

Gingerbread

Preheat 350

Mix wet:

3/4 C dark molasses

1 C yogurt or buttermilk (we use yogurt)

3 T oil

Sift together dry:

1 1/3 C whole wheat flour

1 C flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t dry powdered mustard (seriously!  The "secret ingredient")

1 t ginger

1 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground cloves

pinch of salt

Grease a 7x11 pan (for thicker pieces) or a 9x13 for thinner pieces

Mix wet into dry and spread in pan.  

Bake 30-35 minutes

May the rest of your Monday be filled with delicacies of the Lord's provision.

Blessings

Quilted Provision

Our family's menu plan for this week in March (can you believe it is indeed already March?)

Monday: Lentil wheat berry soup, leftover from the Sabbath, along with grilled cheese and green salad
Tuesday: Roasted whole Chicken with apple, celery, and onion stuffing, rice, salad
Wednesday:  Veggie pasta (with our new veggies from the CSA pickup)
Thursday:  Chicken sandwiches (leftover chicken with homemade rolls), green salad
Friday: Fish tacos and apple salsa
Saturday: Homemade scones for breakfast and homemade pizza night
Sunday: Soup (have yet to find a recipe!)


Over the course of the week, Tirzah and I will spend delightful moments together in the kitchen, baking away.  I just recently created a "baking menu" for each week (can you tell I am a routine-type person?!  Sometimes to a fault...).  And, I have just discovered my new love of "bulk baking!"  I just started last Friday.  I simply baked 2 batches of Oatmeal Raisin cookies.  1 batch I baked for over the weekend (sad to say, they were gone by Saturday afternoon!), while I put the other batch in the freezer.  Daniel had a great idea to freeze the dough (I was going to bake them and then freeze them).  So I scooped out the dough by the teaspoon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and then placed it in the freezer.  Once it was fully frozen, I place the dough-balls into a Tuper-ware container.  This week, I can simply bake a few cookies at a time, my husband and daughter are thrilled with the treat and I am thrilled with the house smelling so delicious!

So this will be the first week of the bulk baking plan: details of success or overwhelming feelings will be shared next week!

Monday: 2 loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread for Daniel's lunches
Tuesday: This week we will be making 2 batches of the Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Thursday: Homemade whole wheat tortillas  from Passionate Homemaking to use with fish tacos and also to make leftovers into tortilla chips
Friday: 2 batches Whole Wheat chocolate chip cookies



As I sit today, this Monday, and look at the week ahead, I am astounded at His provision: for what He has done and what He will do this week.

I am so thankful for the provision and abundance of healthy food for our family

I am thankful for the provision of wisdom with my headaches!  I went to the doctor on Friday and these headaches are "tension" headaches, caused by the stress and tension I am carrying in my upper back/neck area.  Due to.... flour grinding!! Truly, it was as simple as that!  So now while grinding, I use much more of my whole body... more of a circular squat in which I feel completely silly but have noticed a difference already.  Daniel has been sweetly offering neck massages and I have been using a handmade heating pad (given to Tirzah by a dear friend and her daughter... but I have borrowed it for a while!)  Praise God for the relief!

I am thankful for the provision of friends.  As I look back, the Lord has provided an abundance of beautiful, Godly, and wonderful friendships in my life.  Truly, this is an area of complete provision from the Lord in my life.  Even today I am blessed by His provision of friendships as Tirzah and I have a fabric-store shopping date this afternoon.

And as I dream about fabric, I am reminded of His provision in every moment, every detail.  Like a quilt.  Every stitch, every piece of fabric laid with intentionality and purpose.  What a gift of time and beauty is a hand-stitched quilt!  It is unmeasurable!  It is creativity that catches the breath and makes you stand long to see every stitch and every splash of color.

"You knitted me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139)

Much like a quilt, my days are etched with recurring themes: days of this color and days of that.  And in that specific day, the color might just be a dull brown or even a dark gray.  But then you take a step back to see the full design

Scraps of days stitched together, carefully, perfectly placed in redemption, in wholeness.

The Quilter's design.