Pistachio, Dried Cranberry, and Toasted Coconut Bark

I saw this on Pinterest the other day and I said "YES! That's it!" I like to make simple goodies for the neighbors and friends for our Christmas Eve deliveries, this recipe looks easy enough and definitely is gorgeous enough to package in a clear bag with cute ribbon and tag! 

It also sounds divine with the combo of green pistachios, deep red cranberries and toasted coconut for a twist! So if you are looking for a quick, easy and pretty edible gift to give, this is the ticket! I think this will give a lot of bang for your buck, or rather a lot of merry for your money :) Merry Christmas!! Xoxo Katie

--Katie Hanchinamani

Pistachio, Dried Cranberry, and Toasted Coconut Bark

• prep: 15 mins
  total time: 1 hour 15 mins
• yield: Makes one 9-by-12 1/2-inch sheet or six 2-1/2-by-5-inch bars

Ingredients:

• 1 pound white chocolate
• 1/4 cup salted pistachios
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup toasted large unsweetened coconut flakes
• Basic Bark or Bark Bars

Cook's Note

Bark can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Directions

1. Step 1

   Coat a 9-by-12 1/2-inch rimmed baking sheet or 6 small loaf pans (2 1/2-by-5-inches) with cooking spray, and line with parchment, leaving an overhang on long sides. Pour melted chocolate into baking sheet or divide among pans (3 tablespoons each), and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle toppings over chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Peel off parchment, and break bark into pieces.

Recipe can also be found here!

Restaurant Pick--Dickie's Barbeque Pit

Dickie's Barbeque Pit

If you've ever seen Steve Martin's "Father of the Bride", then you may recall that you don't want to have the word "pit" on your wedding invitation. However, weddings aside, this is a "pit" worth checking out! You can make up your own meal combo out of the wide variety of both meats and sides that they have. My favorite? Turkey breast and chicken breast - the two meat combo! Along with the sides, this gives me plenty to share with my youngest child. And, speaking of children, on Sundays you get a free kid's meal for every adult meal purchased. Score! Our family has visited the Lynden and Auburn locations but never fear - there is now a location right off 128th in Everett and one coming soon in Bellevue!

Some people have lamented that out of all the sides available it's a crime that cornbread is not one of them. Perhaps...but I'm also completely in love with the dinner rolls that come with every meal. Addicting, to say the least. I'm not missing the cornbread. Another little perk is that they have a soft serve vanilla ice cream machine that is open to all their customers. If you actually have any room left in your stomach that is! I've been known to get some soft serve ice cream and root beer in my cup to go. Hard to go wrong with a root beer float, my friends.

Visit the website here:)

4.5/5 stars

--Emily Hoornstra

When Christmas Loses its Magic

When I was growing up, Christmastime always had this magical element to it. There was just something whimsical in the air that made everyday exciting. The lights, the tree, helping mom put the ornaments on. The possibility of trading school days for snow days. The Christmas outfits and cookies for Santa. Knowing he wasn't real but still kind of hoping maybe he was. Family time, board games.Sleeping in sleeping bags out in the living room and watching Christmas movies with my brothers. There was always this cozy, secure, protective feeling the holidays brought. As if life wrapped me up in a giant-sized, holiday down comforter that I just cozied my way into and wanted to stay forever.

I don't remember how old I was, but I was still fairly young on that Christmas morning when my grandfather died. I didn't know him. He lived in India and at that point in my life I had met him twice and once was when I was too little to remember. So, my memories of him aren't many, if any. But, that Christmas morning was the very first time I saw my indestructible dad and uncle cry. It was the year Christmas kinda lost its magic and I thought it might never come back.

It took a few years before Christmas went back to the way it was, but ever since then, my heart gets a little heavy around the holidays because I know that it's not always all it's cracked up to be. This expectation of magic is hard to hold up when you're in the middle of the things of life. Pain doesn't pause when Black Friday starts. This year, I'm thinking of a friend who is celebrating his first Christmas without his dad, a wife without her husband. I'm thinking of a friend who just went through traumatic, physical pain and is learning to live and function through that. I'm thinking of friends who are watching their families fall apart and others who have shattered, broken hearts.

There is all this pressure to join in with the glamour of the 'holiday spirit' when reality might be the next carol-er at your door is gonna get punched in the nose or you have to change the station when you hear "Joy to the World" because it's just so hard to find joy in your world right now.

And yet, the real Christmas story was not a glamorous one. An unwed mother gave birth in a barn and a king wanted to kill her baby--who happened to be the Savior of the world. The real beauty of this season is that it reminds us that grace stepped into a world of pain and suffering so we wouldn't have to endure it alone. We have a God who brings comfort and peace when Christmas lights and songs cannot.

The one who created the world didn't come with glamorous, flashing lights. He chose to come in a posture of humility and vulnerability. He created a place for all of us to fit.

So, whether this is a magical season or a difficult one---you fit beautifully in it, just as you are.

--Lisa Barton--Til Kingdom Come

Recap of Meeting--11/26/2013

In the midst of an unusually busy week we had MOPS. Did you miss it? Do you remember it? :) That’s how I’m feeling tonight, recovering from the insanity, I mean joy, of decorating for Christmas, enjoying Thanksgiving festivities, combing the Internet for deals on gifts, and still battling sickness in our house. Our MOPS meeting from last week feels more like last year!


Before we even got to hear from our speaker, we had an ice breaker activity to help us meet the other MOPS moms in our neighborhood. In the adjoining room, we created a “map” of the neighborhoods and cities near Westgate Chapel and asked each mom to stand where she lives and meet her three closest neighbors. I loved seeing where everyone lives and getting to meet moms who aren’t at my table, but nearby. 

This activity tied in so nicely to our speaker for the day, Brenda Vladyko, and her talk on Friendship: The Importance of Living in Community. Brenda covered a number of different issues about friendship, but since I only took notes on the ideas that struck me, I apologize for a very slanted recap this time. She began talking about how difficult it can be to make friends as adults, especially if you are not living in the area you grew up in. She likened finding friends to dating, which I thought was so hilarious and true. She continued to describe the difficulties us moms have in friendships, because not only are we looking for other women we enjoy spending time with, but then there is also the dynamic of our children and how they get along, and do our parenting styles correlate enough to be friends with our children around too. That’s why MOPS is such a great platform for building community and finding those women that we can make friendships with that last beyond our MOPS table group or beyond a playdate at the park.

Once you are ready to make new friends, Brenda’s best advice is to remember to be vulnerable. Being vulnerable is hard, because it’s not always pretty and can leave you open to hurt. Just thinking about my own friendships, the women that have showed me they don’t have it all figured out are the women I want to spend more time with. It’s intimidating to be friends with someone who seems perfect. This advice was a good reminder because with all of our social media it is so easy to hide ourselves and put out an image that doesn’t reflect who we truly are.

The last topic about friendships that Brenda covered was that not all friendships are meant to be bffs. There will be women in your life that you will create friendships with that will survive time, distance, family dynamics and all sorts of other situations. Hold on to those friendships and cherish them. But some friendships are specifically created for a season of your life. Especially while we are “in the trenches” of mothering young children, sometimes a friendship will happen very quickly and deeply. This friendship is new and exciting, but also feels like you have been friends forever. When the day comes that someone moves, or commitments draw you in other directions, that super close friendship will fade. As tough as times like these can be, they help us through seasons in our own lives and help us move on too. I also appreciate the idea that the I don’t have to be best friends with all the women I meet, and it’s okay when I am not close friends with some women anymore.
So many great reminders Brenda shared with us about being in community with one another and developing friendships. I hope this crazy, busy holiday season is also a season of cultivating new friendships in your own lives.

--Kristine Manz

MOPPETS

“Shapes” is the next theme for BOZ Treehouse Time at MOPPETS. To introduce this topic, please help your child identify circles, triangles, rectangles and squares during everyday activities. For example, your child might feel the circular quarter in your pocket, eat a triangular piece of pizza or rectangular granola bar and use a square napkin. Have fun exploring the world of shapes with your child!

Books in Abundance--Thankful for Good Books

Happy November, MOPS moms!  Now is a great time to start thinking about finding meaningful books to read to your kids about Thanksgiving so they feel more connected to this special holiday in our American tradition.  While most public school children will have some of the history of this day drilled into their heads over the years while they make their construction paper turkeys and pilgrim hats, preschool children may not have had the opportunity to build the background knowledge yet.  Enjoy this selection of Thanksgiving related books with your little ones this month and beyond!

Spot's Thanksgiving by Eric Hill, 2003.

This board book is great for the birth to 2 year crowd with familiar characters and a simple plot.  Spot helps make a pumpkin pie for his family's Thanksgiving family gathering.

1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving by W. Nikola-Lisa, 1991.

This book combines beginning counting skills with relating what goes into preparing a Thanksgiving meal.  I like the happy family represented here.

Thanksgiving Mice! by Bethany Roberts, 2001.  There are several books in the "Mice" series, talking about different holidays.  In this story, the mice put on a play to tell a little Thanksgiving history.  The text is brief, and the illustrations are charming.  There is plenty of room for discussion about what is happening on each page.

Over the River: A Turkey's Tale by Derek Anderson, 2005.  Using the text for the familiar song "Over the River and Through the Woods," a family of turkeys scramble through the woods on their perilous journey to the grandparent turkeys' house, avoiding the hunter and his dog.  The illustrations really help tell the story well.

This is the Turkey by Abby Levine, 2000.  Following some of the repetition of the "This is the House that Jack Built" poem, this story rhymes its way through describing the preparations of a Thanksgiving dinner with a large happy family and a table full of food.  But when "the turkey to shout about" is suddenly ruined, the family finds more to be thankful about than the main entree.

Thanksgiving Day by Anne Rockwell, 1999.  This is my favorite preschool / early elementary information Thanksgiving book I have reviewed.  A group of young school children put on a play to relate information about the first Thanksgiving.  I like the inclusion of the African American family celebrating together, as well as the less stereotyped depiction of the Native Americans that the Pilgrims encountered.  Thankfully, however, the information is not too deep, so younger readers will not lose interest.

I hope you all will find many things to be thankful for during this season, whether you have large families to celebrate with or small intimate dinners instead.  We have many things going for us, if we look hard enough.  Let's help our kids remember those good things, no matter our current circumstances.  

Tune in for my next blog entry, when I will review some of the fun Christmas books available on the market today!

--Emily Hawkins

Slow Cooker Beef Stew IV

This recipe is similar to one I made the other day! The men or meat eaters in your life will love this comforting and hearty dish! Serve with warm crusty bread and butter and a side salad and call it a day! If you don't have red wine, white will work as well or cooking sherry.  Let the slow cooker work for you all day and throw everything together when making breakfast! Enjoy! Xoxo Katie 

Ingredients 

Original recipe makes 12 servings

• 3 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 4 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 onions, sliced
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1. Place meat in a large plastic bag. Combine 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt; pour into the bag with the meat, and shake to coat.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, and cook until evenly browned on the outside. Transfer to a slow cooker along with the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper. In a small bowl, stir together 2 cups of boiling water and dry soup mix; pour into the slow cooker.
3. In the same skillet, melt butter and saute onions until softened; remove to the slow cooker. Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Remove from heat, and pour into the slow cooker.
4. Cover, and cook on High for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low, and cook for 6 hours, or until meat is fork tender. In a small bowl or cup, mix together 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir into stew, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until thickened.

(Recipe can be found here)

--Katie Hanchinamani