Domino Effect

Sometimes weird things happen.  For instance, I put on this hat for warmth and start to feel fashionable.  I look in the mirror and feel like I should be in Mongolia.  I dream about Mongolia all weekend long and blog about it.

 

 

This is the very fashionable me pretending I'm in Mongolia.  Yep, I'm running away from men on horseback hunting for gazelle.  They have spears.  By the way, I just bluetoothed this from my phone to my computer.  What?!?  Technology these days.

 

Back to Mongolia.  It's right north of China.  Run across the Great Wall of China and wha bam you're there.  When I think of Mongolia I think cold, frost bitten cheeks.  Come to find out it has more the climate of Oklahoma with summers that aren't so hot and winters that are a little more cold.

 

Not to mention it's official website has hiking as an activity.  I am a wanna be hiker so this makes my heart go pitter patter.  There is also camel riding and wildlife watching. 

 

Most Mongols are nomadic and wander from pasture to pasture with their sheep.  Some have become permanent farmers and other live in cities due to the influence of the Soviet Union. 

 

They eat fat (yes straight up fat) and mutton (sheep) most of the time.  They live in these tents that look like yurts.   I love these things and plan to stay in one eventually.  It's on my bucket list.

 

Their two main religions are their ethnic religions with medicine men and Buddhism while the rest are classified as non-religious.

 

The Joshua Project lists these ways we can pray for this man and his countrymen.

* Pray that Christian workers would have unity as they reach this large unreached people group for Jesus.
* Pray that the Mongol men would rise up to become strong in the Lord.
* Pray that God will open the hearts of the Khalkha Mongol government leaders to the Gospel.
* Ask God to set the Khalkha Mongol free from their bondage to occultism and Shamanistic beliefs.
* Pray that the doors of Mongolia will soon open to Christian missionaries.
* Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Khalkha Mongol through dreams and visions.
* Pray that alcoholism, violence, and divorce will be wiped out.
* Ask God to raise up teams of intercessors who will faithfully stand in the gap for the Khalkha Mongol.
* Pray that Christians will have opportunities to introduce the Khalkha Mongol to the Prince of Peace.

Come One Come All

Instead of telling you all about me decorating for Christmas (because our lights don't work and I can't find our stockings) I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  The Cushing band is having its annual Christmas concert this Sunday December 9!  This proud sister is going and you should too.

The concert starts at 2 pm in the auditorium by the high school, but if you want a little something to eat before hand you can attend the pork chop dinner in the field house at noon.  Both the concert and the pork chops are guaranteed to be wonderful.

So, grab your family members and friends and join me as I'm serenaded in lovely Christmas jingles by an amazing jazz band.  Okay, so there is more than just a jazz band.  That's just my favorite part so it gets a special shout out.

Heart of a Farmer

A Sunday morning tradition around the Morris house is to watch CBS Sunday morning.  I have missed this tradition lately, but occasionally dad fills me in on stories I may like.  Just this evening he told me about a story on chocolate or rather cacao from Congo.  To watch, click here. 

I needed to know more.  My heart has an unmistakable and sometimes unexplainable need to help those farmers in countries such as Congo and Honduras.  They have a commodity we as Americans love and occasionally think we can't live without.  Okay.  I know I can't live without chocolate.

I've seen first hand how developed countries (U.S., Canada, Great Britain) have given handouts to developing nations to the point they expect us to keep giving.  Why do it themselves when someday a North American will come and do it for them?  For the longest time we have been inadvertently telling them they can't do anything without our help.  They are poor, uneducated, and need our benevolence.  Right?

Maybe that's true, but I would like to propose we're going about it the wrong way.  Instead of giving them handouts, maybe we should teach them how to do it themselves.  Oh, you need a chicken coop.  Well, instead of shipping all the parts from Texas, lets go to your local ag store and see what they have.

Your corn isn't producing enough to supply your family with food for an entire year?  Let's see if we can plant it closer together, or add some fertilizer to get the yield up.  That would have a greater long term impact than shipping them a five pound bag of rice.

What Theo Chocolate is doing is paying the hard working farmer what he deserves to get for his cacao crop.  Rewarding him for trying to provide for his family.  So it may cost twice as much, but why not spend the extra  2 bucks?  That's less than a drink from Starbucks, a six pack of Dr. Pepper, a bottle of nail polish, a combo meal at McDonald's.

I buy chocolate anyway, why not buy from a company dedicated to the well being of the cacao farmer?

Oh, and this week I tried 72% cacao for the first time.  It's healthier and has fewer calories.  Love it! 

And if you are at all interested in donating to a ministry dedicated to reaching the hearts of people by sharing the Gospel and teaching them about agriculture rather than giving them handouts check out 61 Isaiah Ministries.  I've worked with them personally and LOVE what they do and the way they go about doing it. 

Love of Candy Canes

I love just about everything about Thanksgiving: the fall leaves, pumpkin decorations, harvest time, being thankful, eating off dinner plates with colors of amber, yellow, orange, and green.  This week I had to put up all the thanksgiving decorations...and the plates.  Can you tell I really loved the plates?  Oh, we have Christmas plates, but holly just doesn't seem to compare to the hues of Thanksgiving.

One thing I don't particularly like about Thanksgiving time is that everything is flavored like pumpkin.  Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies.  I could live my entire life without eating anything flavored like pumpkin. 

Now peppermint is where my true holiday favorite flavor is found.  Peppermint hot chocolate, peppermint chapstick, peppermint kisses.  Usually my house has mint tea too.

 

So, to jumpstart my Christmas cheer, I made peppermint cookies shaped like candy canes!  Now the fun part about this cookie recipe is that the peppermint flavoring can be substituted for the flavoring of your choice. Almond, citrus, and rum are just a few I have on hand. 

Background:
I got this recipe from my magical book of recipes.  Okay, basically that means that somewhere down the road my mom or I cut it off a box, printed it off, or found it in a magazine. 

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup softened butter
3 oz. package of soft cream cheese
1 tsp. peppermint or favorite flavoring
2 egg yolks (reserve whites)
2 1/2 cups flour

In a large bowl, place sugar, butter, cream cheese, peppermint and egg yolks.  Beat until blended.  Then mix in flour.  Cover and refrigerate at least 2  hours or overnight.  On a well floured board roll out dough 1/4"-1/2" thick.  Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on cookie sheet.  Brush top of cookie with egg white sprinkle with colored sugar or leave plain for frosting later.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake for 7-10 minutes or until lightly brown on bottom.



Rating: [***]
Very peppermint-y, which was my goal.  They are a little crumbly, but I guess that's better than being hard.  They are definitely a cookie that shares the Christmas spirit, but not one that you would want to snack on all day long.  Plus the recipe makes plenty to share with all your friends and co-workers.

Change it up:
I ran out of time to decorate them how I wanted.  Here are some ideas I came up with.  Instead of using sprinkles you could crush up some peppermints to put on top, make it interesting by frosting them, or dip an end in chocolate because chocolate peppermint goodness is twice as good at just plain old peppermint goodness.

So share your Christmas spirit by baking these cookies for your friends!  And you non-peppermint lovers, remember you can change it up by using the flavor of your choice.  If you plan on making them citrus cookies, I would hold up until I make my citrus butter cookies.  They are to die for.

Traveling the World

One of my best friends is now blogging!  She has a wonderful idea of sharing her year 22 bucket list.  Check out all 22 items here and follow along with her on her journey.  Item number 16 has inspired this new part of my blog: discover a new country via the internet.

I'm reluctant to change my current address on facebook back to the U.S.  And since I don't think I'll be using my passport anytime soon, this seems to be a good way to get my need to travel out of my system.  Or just make it worse.  Probably make it worse.

Instead of throwing a dart at a map or spinning a globe to see where my thumb lands (I've considered both) I'll be using the Joshua Project as a starting point in exploring the world.  For those who aren't familiar with this organization one thing they do is put together a collective list of unreached people groups and update it when they have new information.  An unreached people group is an ethnic group that has not heard the Good News of Jesus, or one that has very few Christians.

I have added a gadget to the bottom of my blog to help you keep track of unreached people groups daily.  I'll try weekly to highlight one in a post.  The website has information such as obstacles the people face, outreach ideas, and how we can pray for the people of that group.



Ahar of India taken from the Joshua Project.

Today it is the Ahar of India.  The caste system was officially outlawed several years ago, but most people in India still practice it.  They belong to one of the higher castes, which can work against them when it comes to accepting the Gospel.  According to the Joshua Project they may not see the need of a Savior like some of the lower caste people do.

Some interesting facts...mango is the national fruit.  I just happen to be allergic to mango.

They have an Indian version of Hollywood called Bollywood.  I've seen one of their movies and it was actually pretty good.  I would suggest you find one that sounds interesting and watch it.

And for weddings and other special occasions they decorate themselves with henna which is a substances made from tea leaves.  Do it.  Just make sure it's real henna and not the fake stuff at county fairs that burns your skin.  I'll post my picture as soon as I can find it.

One of the favorite tourist cities and one that holds great importance to Indians is Agra which is also a small town in Oklahoma.  Tell that to the international student at OSU.  They find it odd.  So do I.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

This weeks baking adventure is a chocolaty twist on the old fashioned Thanksgiving favorite pecan pie.  Pies are not my forte, so I'm a little scared about how this is going to turn out.

Background:
My mom found this in a magazine (one of my favorite places to find recipes) a few years ago.  She's the one that always made this for Thanksgiving, so I thought I would give it a try this year with the prior knowledge that when I went to bake it last year with my Vietnamese friend I had problems.  But with a positive mindset, I thought I would give it another try.  Oh, and Nestle sponsored this recipe.  You can find this more Nestle favorites here.

Recipe:

1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie shell
3 large eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in medium bowl with a wire whisk.  Stir in pecans.  Sprinkle chunks over bottom of crust.  Pour pecan mixture into pie shell.  Bake for 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted 2 inches from center comes out with little bits of filling attached.  If browning too quickly, cover with foil.  Cool on wire rack for 2 hours; refrigerate until serving time.

My notes:
When you use the pie shell, make sure you coat it with flour first.  The directions are on the side of the box.  Also, I changed the type of chocolate to dark chocolate chips to tone down the sweetness and to make me feel better about eating something with so much sugar.  Everyone knows dark chocolate is good for you.  Also, my mom always told me to wrap foil around the edges of the pie pan to cover the crust.  This helps to keep the crust from getting dark/burnt when the rest of the pie is still cooking.

How it turned out:
My crust looks great...I think.  Any crust experts out there?  The middle looks to be a few shades darker than golden brown (better than the plain dark brown of the center last time I made this).  The directions say to keep it in the oven until little pieces of filling come out with the knife.  That never happened to me.  After 10 extra minutes on top of the 55 the recipe called for, I took it out so it wouldn't get too dark. I even put foil on top of it at about the 55 mark to prevent the darkening.  This being said, I might have me a runny pecan pie. 

Sidenote: Dad just came in and said everything was going to be okay.  It will thicken up as it cools.  I'm feeling a little bit better about all this.  Maybe I should have just taken it out earlier if this is the case.

***Update.  The pie was good.  I received several complements.  It wasn't runny at all.  I think in the future I'll disregard the knife part of the instructions and just take it out at 55 minutes***

I know I promised you a picture.  I took pictures.  But this here computer doesn't have a place for me to put my camera card.  Can't win for losing, now can I?

As soon as Thanksgiving dinner is over, I'll give you an update on how it actually tastes.

Up next:
I'm back to cookie baking.  I've baked enough pies for a lifetime.  Grand total: 2.

Cookie Time

Okay, so I mentioned in my last post about not really having anything to blog about.  Well, that problem is now partially solved.  My goal is to bake a different kind of something every week and provide you with the recipe and my reviews.  I like to change things up a bit when I'm in the kitchen so I'll cite where my inspiration came from and then tell you the changes I made.

I LOVE cookies; they are so easy to grab, easy to store, not messy, and they can keep awhile too.  Most of my baking will be different kinds of cookies.  If I had all the money in the world, I would open up a cookie/coffee/book shoppe.  Flour from the middle east, cane sugar from central or south America, coffee from Africa.  All ingredients from small farmers just trying to survive. 

Maybe when I retire.  For now I'm supporting my local grocery store.

First cookie up: White Chocolate Mocha

Background information:  Original recipe found here.  I just want you to know I had to search for like 30 minutes to find where I got that recipe.

My recipe:

2 eggs

2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
2 tablespoons coffee-flavored liqueur
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).

In a small bowl, dissolve instant coffee crystals into the coffee liqueur; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.

Gradually add eggs and coffee mixture while mixing.

Sift together the flour,cocoa,baking soda,and salt,Stir into the creamed mixture.

Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.

Cookies should be at least 2 inches apart.

Bake for 23 to 25 minutes.

Immediately transfer cookies to cooling rack after baking.

These keep well at room temperature or refrigerated.

My notes:
Instead of using semi-sweet chocolate chips like the recipe called for, I used white chocolate chips.  Mainly so that I could name it White Chocolate Mocha.  And it gave the cookie some contrasting color.  For the coffee liqueur I used Kahlua.  I tell you this because buying coffee liqueur was my first experience in the liquor store and knowing a brand name would have made the experience less intimidating.

My rating: [*****]
I don't want you thinking just because I blog about a cookie that it came out perfectly.  Sometimes my changes don't turn out so good.  So, from now on I will rate the cookie.  Flavor was rich and chocolaty with a hint of coffee.  The texture was soft.  This will hit a home run for the chocolate coffee lovers out there.

Sorry for the absence of a picture.  I'll get you one next time.  If you want some of my cookies let me know!  I have plenty to give away each week.  Unfortunately these are all gone.

Up next:
Okay, I still have not decided.  It has the potential to be great, though!