Mulberries are in season! We have a sweet family in our neighborhood who have generously shared their mulberries with us along with a fantastic recipe for fruit crisps. And since it’s still Easter season and we’re still feasting(!), we celebrated by making a giant mulberry crisp this morning! We also celebrated by eating it at lunch instead of dinner! Super fun! What fun things are you doing/making to celebrate this Easter season? https://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-blackberry-crisp/

“What extraordinary energy there must be to transform this little seed into a tree, or into a full ear of grain, or a small handful of flour and water into a swollen lump of dough! Would we know how to do this ourselves? Is there any person who can do such a thing? We can make big things, too, but only by putting many small things together. But the tree is not the sum of many seeds, it is the growth of one seed! Where does such mysterious energy come from?” From my favorite Children’s Church teaching - The Mystery of the Kingdom of God by Sofia Cavaletti

Now that the temperature is below 90 degrees (I live in Florida), it’s time to embrace fall! One of our family’s favorite ways to incorporate fall into our home is with this simple trick - we fill a saucepan with water, orange slices, whole cloves and cinnamon sticks. Simmer on the stove and it fills your home with the best fall scent. So much better than a candle or sprays! Fall Stove Top Scent 1 orange, sliced 2 cinnamon sticks 1 TBL whole cloves Add the sliced orange, cinnamon sticks and cloves to a saucepan filled with water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Your house will smell amazing!

I don’t know why, but as soon as school starts I move full on into all things fall. Even though it's still blistering hot outside (I live in Northwest Florida), I’m bringing out blankets that no one is using, I’m firing up the grill and immediately regretting it and I am making hearty hot stews that no one in my family is excited about. Case in point - my beef stew. Don’t get me wrong, everyone in my family agrees that they love the taste of it, it's just the time that I choose to serve it. I know it’s weird but they don’t want to come in from a virtual steam bath outside and be fed a big bowl of hot beef stew. I know all of this, but I can’t help myself. The temps are below 90 degrees and it’s September, people! So here I am, once again, cooking it up! If you are in cooler climes, I really do recommend this beef stew recipe! It is so easy to make. You can make it in a dutch oven, a slow cooker or an instant pot. The beef stew recipe is really flavorful and the meat ends up being super tender because it is sauteed and browned first. Beef Stew Recipe 2 to 3 lbs stew meat 1 cup flour or almond flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 2 TBL olive oil 6 slices of bacon, cut up 1 large onion thinly sliced 2 cups celery, sliced 2 cups carrots, sliced 2 32 oz. cartons beef stock 2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce 2 bay leaves 1 TBL oregano 1 tsp Worcestershire 1 cup red wine (optional) Toss stew meat in flour, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven, slow cooker or instant pot. Saute the stew meat and bacon until golden brown. Remove the meats and set aside. Add onions, celery and carrots to the oil. Saute until onions are soft. Add meat back, beef stock, tomato sauce, bay leaves, oregano, worcestershire and optional red wine. If you are using a dutch oven, bring to a boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour or all day. For a slow cooker, choose “low” and cook all day. For an instant pot, choose the “sealing” option and “manual” 40. Allow to naturally release before serving.

September is here! School has started and we are returning to the rhythms of schedules again. I’m always trying to think of ways to make celebrating the seasons of the church year more accessible. One of the things that I wanted to offer this year was an overview of each month with all of the special days that the church will be celebrating. I wanted to give you more time to look forward to the special days and more time to plan. I intentionally made a list of special days instead of a calendar with the dates already on it because I think there’s something special about adding the dates ourselves. Adding the dates ourselves creates a sense of agency and builds a sense of anticipation within your family. Either print up the list and hang it by your calendar or gather as a family and add the dates yourselves. I hope this helps you and your family in the celebration of the seasons of the church within your home!

"For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25 I have a weary and languishing soul, y'all! I know it. I feel it deeply. But, I am so thankful that the Lord sees me in my condition, that He cares and that He promises to satisfy and replenish. Here are things that God is using to satisfy and replenish my soul right now: Working in my garden. Rolling the window down while I am driving. Eating dinner as a family. Reading the bible. Reading anything by Wendell Berry.* *I've always heard people rave about Wendell Berry but this is the first time I have read anything by him. I am reading his fiction right now and it has been excellent. There is such goodness, sweetness and holiness in everything I've read so far. I highly recommend Hannah Coulter; such a beautiful book!

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29 I needed marigolds to keep pests away in my garden. I had no idea that African Marigolds were not like ordinary marigolds! They rise to my shoulders with huge, frilly heads in a riot of oranges and yellows. They were a total shock! Utility and practicality are all fine and good but I think God really wants us to have beauty as well.

Tomorrow summer will end for me. I know that technically we still have over a month left but we all know that regardless of how beautiful it still is outside, once school starts, it’s really over. One of my favorite things that we did this summer was to make our own fig preserves. We have sweet neighbors down the street who share their figs with us and for about two weeks we climb their trees and pick as many figs as we can. Then we bring them all home where we cook them down in lots of sugar and turn them into preserves. Fig preserves are a big deal in my family. I don’t know if it's a southern thing or just my family but we don’t make strawberry or raspberry, we only make pear and fig. My grandmother always made the fig preserves. She never chopped them into bits like you find in the grocery store. They were preserved whole in a thin golden syrup and they were divine! Every summer, my cousin and I would go and stay for weeks in my grandparent’s house in northern Alabama and every night, before bed, my grandfather would always announce that it was time for a snack. We would all squeeze into their little kitchenette and wait while my grandfather set to work. After a few minutes of opening cabinets, he would set out plates, Peter Pan peanut butter (creamy, of course!), a sleeve of saltines, and a jar of my grandmother’s fig preserves. The method was precise; he would smooth just enough of the peanut butter onto the cracker and then would very carefully place one single fig on top. I look back now and realize what simple, common ingredients they were but, served with a glass of cold milk, those common ingredients combined into the best thing I had ever tasted! And to this day, it's what I prefer. It reminds me of them, of those sweet times and of summer itself. So, here’s to the end of summer and to all of our traditions that go along with it! What traditions do you have that remind you of summer?

This bed. I pass by this bed a dozen times a day. It is so common a sight that it has become background to me, a blur of white. It gets made. It gets unmade. And then it gets made again. It is one chore to be done in a very long list of chores. Let the marriage bed be undefiled. The marriage bed. Like a match struck in the dark, I see. No, not just a bed piled with laundry or children who are scared in the middle of the night. Not just a bed with sheets to be changed and pillows to be lined up just so. The marriage bed. A holy thing. A sacred thing. A thing to be mindful of. A thing to look on with awe. Moses led his flock to the far side of the wilderness and an ordinary bush became extraordinary. The bush burned with a flame yet was not consumed. The marriage bed. Take off your shoes for where you are standing is holy ground. “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled”                  Hebrews 13:4a

The most delicious Chicken and Sausage gumbo you will ever taste! This is a regular dinner in our house. It's just one of those rare meals that everyone in my family loves. Gumbo has always been a go-to easy dinner for me. It's a one pot meal that always turns out well. I pair it with a big pot of steaming rice, a crusty bread and, of course, Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning. I love doubling the gumbo recipe and keeping the leftovers in the freezer. It makes my nights so much easier when I can just pull it out, defrost, heat and serve it! We love it and never get tired of it. It is also really easy to adapt to a gluten free or low carb meal. Chicken and Sausage Gumbo 1/3 c flour 1/4 olive oil 1/2 c chopped onion 1/2 c chopped bell pepper 1/2 c chopped celery 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 14 1/2 oz can chicken broth 1 1/4 c water 1 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes 1 1/2 cups boiled chicken breasts, chopped 1/2 package of kielbasa sausage, sliced 1 1/2 c sliced fresh or frozen okra 2 bay leaves 3 c hot cooked rice Note: For gluten free gumbo, substitute almond flour for all purpose flour. My son is gluten free so this is what I have done for years and it works perfectly. To make it low carb, substitute almond flour for all purpose flour and omit the rice. To make the roux, combine flour and oil in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the roux turns the color of a copper penny. Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic and bay leaf. Stir for five minutes. Stir in chicken broth, water, diced tomatoes, chicken, sausage and okra. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for as little as thirty minutes or for hours. Discard bay leaves before serving. Serve over hot rice or by itself. Sprinkle with Tony Chachere's for an extra kick.

I’m new to gardening so I am still trying to figure it all out - what grows well, what doesn’t. I have had some success but I’ve also had lots of failures. One thing that has grown so well for me this year is basil…lots and lots of basil! I’ve been adding fresh basil to everything I can think of and I am starting to get tired of it. 😂 Lately I’ve been wracking my brain, trying to figure out what to do with all of this basil and then it occurred to me…I could slow dry it in the oven, finely chop it and store it as, wait for it, DRIED BASIL! 😂 It’s funny how we are so used to purchasing things that it doesn’t even occur to us to just make it! All that to say, I don’t think I’ll need to purchase dried basil for years! To slow dry herbs: Wash the herbs and let them dry. Pick the leaves off of the stems and discard stems. Place your oven on its lowest setting which is usually around 170 degrees. Place herbs on a cookie sheet and dry them in the oven for four hours. Pull pan out and allow herbs to cool. Pour herbs into a food processor and pulse until the herbs are finely chopped. Pour chopped herbs into an airtight container and store with your other herbs. To freeze herbs: Wash the herbs and let them dry. Pick the leaves off of the stems and discard stems. Place herbs in a good processor. Add 1 to 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Pulse until finely chopped. Scrape the herb/oil mixture into a Ziploc baggie. Remove all air, seal and freeze. Simply break off desired amount and add to whatever you are cooking that calls for the herb.

Tomorrow is the Nativity of John the Baptist so beginning at sunset tonight, we will be celebrating the birth of John the Baptist. We don’t celebrate the nativity of John the Baptist much anymore but we should and here’s why: Jesus himself says in Matthew 11 that “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist”. He is the greatest of the prophets for he was chosen to prepare the way for our Lord and Savior, Jesus. The birth of John the Baptist is so important that the gospel author, Luke, weaves his birth story with the birth story of Jesus. His own birth story is given a prominent position in Jesus’ nativity story. Some cool things about the Nativity of John the Baptist: The day that we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist occurs six months before the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. When Mary asks the angel Gabriel how it is possible that she would bear God’s son, Gabriel answers that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her and that her cousin Elizabeth is already six months pregnant with John. The Nativity of John the Baptist occurs right after the summer solstice which is the longest day of the year. After the summer solstice, the days begin to grow shorter as we move towards Christmas just as John the Baptist said that he must decrease so that Jesus can increase. Ways to celebrate +Read the birth story of John the Baptist in Luke 1:5-25,39-45,57-80 +Light a bonfire - tradition has it that Elizabeth lit a bonfire to announce the birth of her son. All over the world, Christians light "Saint John's fires" on mountains and hilltops on the eve of his feast. In Ireland, the blessed ashes from the St. John’s fires are sprinkled over the fields to ensure a good harvest. +Eat something made with honey. Since John the Baptist is known to have eaten locusts and wild honey as an adult, make something with honey or locusts or both! We choose honey! +Make things easy by celebrating with a fire and smores using honey graham crackers. +Throw water balloons or have a water war with your kids. Since John the Baptist is known for baptizing those who repented, include water in your celebrations.