Another Haiti blog to read

Our friend Jocelyn is in Haiti with the Clays for a short time. She has written a blog/journal that covers most of the week. It is a very long read, and at times, very hard to get through, but well worth the effort. Warning: You may need tissues reading it.

http://acarydcross.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/a-journal-entry-to-share-port-au-prince-haiti/

Friends in Haiti

For those who read this who aren't on facebook, I want to share about some of our friends, Corrigan and Shelley Clay. They are missionaries in Haiti, running a non-profit aimed at helping families stay intact. (Many children who are in orphanages in Haiti have living parents who can not afford to keep them.) We have been praying for them since news of the earthquake came out. After a long, prayer-filled night Tuesday night, we found out they were alive and unhurt on Wednesday morning. They have been taking care of people in their front yard, as their house is iffy on how safe it is to be inside. Without medical training, they have been running a makeshift clinic, helping to clean out wounds and bandage them.

They posted a blog today about how to help best in the aftermath of the earthquake. I know everyone is saying "Give here, give there", but this comes from someone who is on the ground and sees how needs are (or aren't) being met. Please take a few minutes to read their blog and at least pray for them as God uses them to minister to their friends.

http://apparentproject.blogspot.com/

Warning: Huge Bragging Post

This is a huge bragging post! Grace got some paints for Christmas. She got some regular water colors and some of those new paints that are brushes and paints all in one. I finally let her use them. We set everything up on her picnic table, put on her painting apron (another present), and got started. She had a blast painting. Most of it was normal 2-year old stuff, with dots and lines and no real shapes anywhere. She was doing mainly abstract art. Then she said, "I want to paint Frosty the Snowman." She drew a circle (which I knew she could do). Then she shocked me by adding eyes and a mouth! First time I've seen her do that! I was amazed. But she didn't stop there! Here's the finished painting.

I'm still amazed at how well she did! (On the left side, the arm is very, very light, but it's there too!) It's the first time I've seen her do anything more than random stuff. Even with pens and markers, she doesn't really draw things. She was so proud of her "Frosty the Snowman."

She painted several other paintings, including one for each set of grandparents. She was so excited to give my parents theirs today when we met up with them. We'll have to mail the painting to John's parents soon. I'm sure she'll have a huge stack of paintings soon! She loves painting now!

Ok, I'm done bragging... for now. :)

New recipe

I got a new cookbook for Christmas. My grandmother gave me "The Ultimate Ground Beef Cookbook." (She bought me and my siblings each a cookbook and wrapped them without knowing who got what.) Earlier in December, John went hunting and came back with a deer. (He didn't shoot it, but the guy who did didn't want it, so John got it.) We have a lot of venison burger in the freezer. I decided to test out a recipe from the ground beef cookbook. It's for "Cheeseburger Buns." They were pretty good! I'd make some changes to them next time, but I'm thinking these will be good to throw in the freezer and take to work for lunch.

Cheeseburger Buns

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

3/4 cup milk (110-115 degrees)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup shortening

1 egg

1 tsp salt

3-1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 pounds ground beef (or venison or whatever ground meat you have!)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

8 slices Process American Cheese, quartered (I used just 4 slices and used shredded mexican blend cheese in half of them.)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, shortening, egg, salt, and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. (I used all 4 cups.)

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 4-6 miutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.

Punch the dough down; divide in 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out and stretch each piece into a 5-in circle. Top each circle with two pieces of cheese and about 3 tbsp beef mixture. Bring dough over filling to center; pinch edges to seal.

Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 20 minutes. Bake at 400 degrees for -12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield- 16 sandwiches.

My notes: The burger needs some seasoning in it. There was no salt in the recipe, and I almost added it, but I didn't. It definitely at least needs salt, if not more flavors (maybe garlic). It might be good to flavor the bread too. It's definitely a keeper recipe with some changes!