Closed Doors, Open Windows

Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!

Showing posts with label Psalm 13:6. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Cookie Baking is Male Bonding Time -updated

Go to this link written on 7-10-2011 and read the original story of family cookie baking time... http://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2011/07/rainy-days-are-meant-for-family-time.html

then come back here for the update:

"I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6

2/20/2015: UPDATE: Four years later, the family tradition continues, only this time it is my son Scott showing my grandson (his nephew) Noah how to bake Grandma Mursch's Orange Cookies. (Go here for the recipe and history) Pictures to follow. This is especially poignant because Noah's father, our son Matthew, passed away last year after a four year battle with cancer. Noah is now 15 years old, and this was his first airplane trip to visit us all by himself...and to spend some much needed Steiner family bonding time with his uncles and grandparents. My thanks to his wonderful mother Nicole for sharing him with us this past week. What a blessing and time of healing this was for all of us.

One of the things on Noah's bucket list for this week was to learn how to bake Orange Cookies with Uncle Scott teaching him, Yes, he did some fun "manly" things with his uncles too, like riding every roller coaster ride at Busch Gardens...some even twice....

And goofing around with the Uncles, laughing, eating, playing cards, video games, eating...laughing...

Celebrating Grandpa's Birthday...(no, he isn't really 661 years old...that's just a creative

way to say 67 when you don't have a # 7 Candle!)

Taking "selfies" with Grandma

More Eating with the extended family tree...

Standing Tall with his Uncles and Grandpa...

I can't believe our "little grandson" is now as tall as his uncles (6'1") and almost as tall as his Grandpa...
His daddy Matthew was a little bit taller at about 6'3"...but Noah is almost there...and definitely still growing...

But, back to the Orange Cookies:

First, Uncle Scott explains to Noah the importance of careful measurement and mixing things in order...

Then he shows him the secret information: FOLDING in the buttermilk correctly...

Then comes the icing on the cookies...and the taste test...

That's where Uncle Benton comes in....and he declares the cookies perfectly delicious!

To sum it all up...

"I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6

That was my choice verse back in 2011 when I first wrote about our son Scott coming home and baking cookies....and now 4 years later, after much family sorrow, trials and tribulations...I am still able to "sing to the Lord..." because "He has dealt bountifully with me." Yes, we have lost one of our precious sons, but we have gained a measure of his spirit and presence in the gift of his wonderful son Noah, who is growing up into a very fine young man who would make his daddy very proud....and who is also making us very proud.

Thank you, Lord...for dealing so bountifully with me. Amen.

2-21-15: Postscript: I was thinking about the time that Scott baked these orange cookies especially for his brother Matthew, back in 2012, when Matthew had come to visit us for a week by himself in between his chemo treatments for cancer. Scott woke up extra early to bake the cookies so that Matthew could take them home with him on the plane. Here is a picture of this special time:

Now maybe you can understand why this is such a special bonding thing for our family. Precious memories.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Rainy Days Are Meant for Family Time UPDATED 2-20-2015

SEE THE 2-20-2015 UPDATE AT THE END OF THIS ORIGINAL POST, WRITTEN ON 7/10/2011

"I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6

July 10, 2011:

I love rainy afternoons...and it seems like we've had a few here recently...which is much appreciated after a season of drought.

What do you like to do on a rainy afternoon? When I am at home and not working I love to do several different things when it is cloudy and rainy and cozy inside my house. One, I love to cook and bake.
Two, I love to read and sip hot cups of tea and stay in my comfy pj's. Three, I love to write this blog...

What is even more fun is when the family is home with me and we can do things together on a rainy afternoon...like play a game, or watch a movie, or bake cookies together!

Now, you must understand that I live in a house full of men...having a husband and three sons I have always been outnumbered. And now, even though one of my sons is married, they had a son also...so the men still outnumber the girls. Oh well, I am very thankful for ALL the wonderful men in my life...and the one daughter in law as well!

Recently our #3 son decided to move back home from New Hampshire...said he didn't want to face another winter up there living in the cold basement of his friend's apartment with barely enough work (as a cook at a restaurant) to survive and keep warm...so he took his chances and came back home. Fortunately, he found a job the first day he got here and so far so good! One of the benefits of having son #3 back home is that he loves to cook and bake in addition to working on his car, doing lawn maintenance for a living, and fixing things very creatively...(but that's another story).

So today, being a rainy afternoon, he suggested that we make Grandma Mursch's (my mother) famous Orange Cookies! Now, this is a family treat that my mother lovingly made for her family (and especially the grandkids) every chance she could. It was her special recipe that was always in demand for bake sales, parties, and just because. Many people have requested her recipe (and actually, it originated from a bakery in Pennsylvania, but it was given to her when we moved to Florida in the 50's), but few people have been able to duplicate it as perfectly as she. You see, Mama always said the secret to making good Orange Cookies was in the way you "folded in the buttermilk". If you didn't "fold in the buttermilk" just right, the cookies would go flat.

Me and My boys baking cookies...circa 1979
Front to Back: Matt, Benton, Scott, Me

I was, of course, delighted to have my old cookie-baking son-buddy back home again. We have baked cookies together ever since he was old enough to lick the batter from the beaters...but this was the first time he had ever asked to try his hand at this particular recipe.

I will post the progression of our baking time together here...and you can judge for yourself if this was a worthy way to spend a rainy afternoon with one of my handsome, sweet sons...