Rebekah's Insights

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"Cooking and cleaning can wait 'til tomorrow,
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep."

Author Unknown
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A couple of weeks ago we learned that it is a new little BOY whose arrival we await in late February/early March. Most importantly, we were told that development looked good on our scan at twenty weeks. Liam and Aine were like two little angels during the scan and were consequently allowed to stay for the duration. :) They are VERY excited about their new little brother. They spend a great deal of time talking to him, kissing and hugging him, and planning for what they will do with him after he arrives. I believe our new little boy's social schedule will be fully booked for some time. ;)

Our dear little Aine has quite a fever today, so many of my plans for the day will be "adjusted" to accommodate her needs. It is certainly the time of year for sickness, and with the Swine Flu concern, we are trying to get as much sleep and healthful foods as possible, along with our vitamin supplements.

At long last, we are making plans for a puppy, so researching this and locating appropriate candidates for us to visit has occupied much of our time lately. We are all looking forward to this other new addition to our family and are hoping to find the right one soon, to allow ample time for adjustment and house training prior to the birth of our second son in late Winter.

This is all for now--hope all are well!

Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
neither shall fruit be in the vines;
the labour of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no meat;
the flock shall be cut off from the fold,
and there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The LORD God is my strength,
and He will make my feet like hinds' feet,
and He will make me to walk upon mine high places.

From The Word of God
The Book of Habakkuk
Third Chapter
Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Verses

1 cup dried tart cherries (I use Welch's. They are sweetened.)
2/3 cup soy flour
2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 Tbsp demerara sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
5 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
(OPT.) 1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 Tbsp demerara sugar

Combine cherries, flours, baking powder, and soda in bowl. Combine sugar, egg, buttermilk, butter, and extracts in separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients until blended and spoon into greased muffin tins. Before baking, sprinkle final Tbsp of sugar evenly over twelve muffins. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for twenty minutes or until brown.

Yields one dozen muffins.

Serving Suggestion: Serve for breakfast with yogurt.

A FEW NOTES ON THIS RECIPE:

I originally tried this recipe with lemon flavoring and decided that I really don't care for lemon flavored baked goods much anymore, so I went with almond--an excellent pairing with cherries. :) If you like lemon, substitute lemon extract for the almond variety and add a bit of lemon zest. It is great if you like lemon.

These are intended to be HEALTHY muffins and to provide between 4 and 5 grams of protein per muffin. If you're looking for the type of muffins made entirely with refined white flour to be eaten as a dessert/treat, you may well find the texture a tad on the grainy side (due to part whole-wheat flour) and may find them not sweet enough if you're expecting them to be more like a cup cake.

(I find them sweet enough, but I generally cut the sugar down in recipes, finding many of them too sweet--like a cake. I happen to really LIKE the texture created by refined white flour, but like to do a mix with whole wheat to create a breakfast treat that I can feel good about feeding to my children. I am told that if you can find whole wheat PASTRY flour, it allows the texture to remain much more like refined flour. I, at the present time, I have no access to such a delightful-sounding flour.)

One-third of the flour in this recipe is soy flour--making the muffins MUCH higher in protein than if you used entirely standard wheat flour. The soy flour will also enhance the browning of the bread, however, the already short baking time required for muffins should prevent them from browning before the muffins are fully cooked. If you attempt to bake this batter in bread pans instead, you may need to lower the baking temperature some or shorten the baking time. Mine were perfectly brown when perfectly done, but everyone's ovens vary!

Let me know if anyone tries these!

Sweet are the branches--growing the fruit that comes from the vine.
But these are just branches--blown by the wind holding on to life.
I want to be like them--holding to the One whose Life is mine.
And I know as I follow Him--His Life will surely show in me.

He said you will show yourselves to be
The ones who follow Me
By the evidence you leave along the way.
They'll know that you are Mine
Like the branches on the vine
If you show yourselves to be--following Me.

Faith joins our hearts to Him--it's not a result of anything we do.
But if we are part of Him--there will be reasons to believe it's true.
The fruit cannot help but grow--if the branch is joined into the tree
And love cannot help but show--in the one who goes where Jesus leads.

He said you will show yourselves to be
The ones who follow Me
By the evidence you leave along the way.
They'll know that you are Mine
Like the branches on the vine
If you show yourselves to be--following Me.

Planted in the fertile soil of quiet times.
Watered by the rains of trouble, growing toward the sun that shines.

They'll know that you are Mine
Like the branches on the vine
If you show yourselves to be--following Me.

by Steven Curtis Chapman

Just a note to report that our main computer has been down for a while. Finally tracked down a component to get it up and running again! :) So updated photos and info are forthcoming!

Hope everyone is well!