Why We Let Our Kids Go Trick-or-Treating... and other thoughts on Halloween

 Halloween is a very controversial topic among Christians.

*I am not suggesting that this should be the standard for your family. I believe that each Christian should ask the Lord what he/she should do and should base their actions on that.*

My husband and I have done that. We are comfortable with our decision.
I will not judge you for your decision... please offer me the same level of respect.

So, with that said, here's our thoughts on Halloween.

I personally am quite uncomfortable with most Halloween decorations. I place pumpkins around my home, but it pretty much stops there. I don't believe in ghosts or zombies and I don't want my home to be covered in those things. I want my home to always be inviting, warm, loving, and traditional Halloween decorations do not reflect those things.

While we obviously don't want to train our children to participate in evil, we do want to train our children to get in there and actively fight it.

And, while you can make a point by standing on the sidelines, you're not truly in the fight unless you're IN the fight. You can't win a battle if you don't participate.

Jesus didn't sit on the sidelines. He called out the demons. He ate dinner with hookers and corrupt tax collectors. He looked evil in the face and, when it seemed all hope was lost, he rose again and conquered it forever. 

He got his hands dirty.

I was the kind of kid who, if kept away from something "bad," began to fear it. I still fear the unknown. I wish that instead I had someone walk me though scary or controversial situations to show me how to handle it and how to stay above reproach in the midst of it.

Fear and lack of understanding is NOT how I want my kids to face unknown or new situations.

We will accomplish so much more by taking our small children around and showing those who hoped to scare them that our kids are already wise enough to know there is nothing to fear by their decorations and costumes because they have Jesus on their side.

I want my kids to be able to walk into every situation armed with the power of Christ and the ability to bring light into it. And, I want them to show others that we can always have fun and experience joy with them.

I will not send them into situations unarmed or alone. But, my husband and I can walk with them through this and teach them how to be "in the world but not of it."

It's possible.

And, I don't think I'll do it perfect every time, but thankfully God shows me grace and I trust that He can protect my kids even when I fail.

I know that as they grow, situations are going to be a lot harder to discern than 'should I let my kids put on a cute costume and get free candy?' But I believe the principle will remain the same.

Instead of staying in our own little bubble to make a point, we can go out on a night where most of our neighbors are outside, walking around, open to talking and getting to know others. We can introduce ourselves and let them see that we're humans, too. We can be friendly and kind and compliment their children's costumes. We can laugh with them and share some sweets. We can make memories with them. We can set a good example by having fun and creative costumes without the scary/gory aspect. We can "do life" with our neighbors.

We can get our hands dirty. 

What if Jesus had said, "Oh geez, that guy is demon possessed! That's too much darkness and I won't take part in that, because that's just too much! Obviously Satan has won this round..."? I don't ever want my kids to think there is so much bad that the good they can bring isn't worth getting into it.

I don't believe that by trick-or-treating I'm being passive and exposing my children to evils that they don't yet understand. I KNOW I'm being intentional and using this to teach them spiritual principles... and letting them have a little fun and a little sugar-rush along the way is a plus.

If we don't stand up and fight evil, bring light into it, show it that it cannot win, who will?

I believe that by ignoring it or fearing it, we give it more power. We need to get involved. We need to participate. We need to go in armed with God's power and spread His light. We won't be able to share our opinions about the origin of this day if we aren't around anyone who will hear it. And, we'll never be able to speak to someone on a heart level when they are feeling judged. Do life with people. Love them where they are. Stay above reproach in the midst of controversial situations. Be the light that Jesus wants us to be. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Hide it under a bushel? NO! Let it shine.

-kt

Cherry Scones

Let me start by saying this...

I don't like cherries.

There, it's out there now.

But, I really don't think it's my fault.

I blame cough syrup manufacturers.

Cherry-flavored medicine was one of the WORST ideas.

Although, I was very fond of playing Hi-Ho-Cherry-O upstairs at my grandparent's place.
Anyone else grow up playing that game?

Well, now that it's out there, I will tell you that my husband loves them.
A sweet friend brought us a bag that she got at a fruit stand and, I kid you not, he'd have eaten the whole bag (if his stomach wouldn't have argued with him about it later).

TMI?

ANYWAY, one of my favorite memories from my childhood was making scones with my dad. Our family recipe has worked for Chocolate Chip Scones, Blueberry Cinnamon Scones, Cinnamon Raisin Scones, and Cranberry Scones (sometimes with White Chocolate Chips, too - YUM!).

So, I thought I'd see what would happen if I tried Cherry Scones.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can add ANYTHING. I think the cherry scones would be great with dark chocolate chips added in but since I didn't have any, I used white chocolate chips.

Here's how it works:

Rinse off some fresh cherries.

Chop and pit the cherries until you have a cup and a half of chopped cherries. (At this point, I set them out on a paper towel to dry a little bit... it'll help later)

Place flour, sugar, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and cream of tarter into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to combine.

If you're not familiar with cream of tartar, here's a picture. (You find it in the spice aisle. A certain husband, who shall remain nameless, might have thought that I was asking for a kind of cream and spent some time in the dairy section. Oops.)

Dice 2 sticks of butter and add to the flour mix.

Now, the way we used to do this when I was a kid was by using a pastry blender and combining it by hand. However, I use my fancy stand mixer with the paddle attachment to blend it all together.  It should resemble small crumbs.

Beat one egg and one egg yolk and add that to 2 tsp of vanilla and 1- 1 1/3 C half & half. (This is where it gets tricky - Use 1 C for fruit scones and 1 1/3 C for scones with things like raisins, chocolate chips, etc - or if you live in a drier climate.) Set this aside.

Add the cherries and cinnamon (and I might have added some white chocolate chips, too) to the dry ingredients and gently fold together. (I only use the paddle attachment on my mixer when making scones with hard ingredients like chocolate chips. For the fruit scones, use a spatula and be gentle!)

Make a little hole in the middle of the dry ingredients to pour the wet ingredients into.

Gently fold together until mixed... It doesn't have to be super well mixed. And, having a few little chunks of butter is ok. Scones are very forgiving.

Cover the dough and put it in the fridge overnight (or if you make the dough in the morning, you can bake them that night). DON'T SKIP THIS STEP. It makes the next part WAY easier and you'll want the butter in the dough to be chilled again.

When the dough is fully chilled, turn 1/4 of the dough out onto a floured surface. There's no kneading necessary. Sprinkle a little flour on the top and gently pat into a circle until the dough is between 1/2 and inch and 3/4 of an inch thick.

Use a large knife to cut the circle into 8 triangles.

I use a spatula to lift them onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (Let's hear it for parchment paper! WHY DIDN'T I START USING THIS STUFF A LONG TIME AGO?!)

In another tiny bowl, beat an egg with 3 tablespoons of water and lightly brush the tops of the scones with this egg wash.

Sprinkle on as much sugar as you're comfortable with. ;)

Here's what they look like on the pan before baking:

And, after being in a 425 degree oven for 13-15 minutes:

That, my friend, is a beautiful picture. A delicious, beautiful picture.

Serve them warm with a little butter melting over the top.

I often try to convince myself that these count as breakfast, when, let's face it, they are definitely a dessert... or snack... or anytime sort of yummy treat.

I did bring a few over to the friend who brought me the cherries and she gave me her seal of approval, so now I feel comfortable sharing the recipe with YOU!

Click HERE to download a PDF of this recipe card.

***I live at a very high elevation, so to adapt this, I only use 3 tsp baking powder, I used 1 1/4 C half & half, and I did a slightly heaping cup of flour for the 4th cup of flour added.***

Enjoy!
-kt

Christmas Snippets...

Well, even though we're already into late January (!!!) I thought I might post some of the highlights of our Christmas break.

Most blogs are all about Valentine's day. With moving, and traveling, and neurology appointments, we've been a little busy. So, here's a recap of our trip home....

Here's what we thought was going to happen:
-Drop off a horse in Denver
-Take the trailer back to WI
-Celebrate the holiday with our families
-Head up to GB to do some support raising
-See my bestie's new baby boy
-Trailer a cabinet my hubby and FIL made together back to CO

Here's what really happened:
-Drop off a horse in Denver
-Have our transmission die just over the border into IA
-Leave the Suburban and trailer in IA while we rent a car to get to WI
-Celebrate the holidays with our family
-Hang out with my dad who was trying to recover from surgery
-Witness the peaceful passing of my hubby's grandfather
-Hang out with my hubby's family who came for the funeral
-Attend the funeral
-Postpone leaving because of the record breaking cold and vehicles that wouldn't start
-Rent a vehicle to get back to our repaired Suburban
-Return back to CO without the cabinet

I mean, really.

It didn't go at all how we had hoped.

But, we still had some good times.

We, of course, ate well...

A little post-birthday celebration

We ALWAYS love Papa's pancakes

And Nana's coffeecake

We got to play in the snow a bit...

We even tried making gingerbread houses (from scratch - no store bought kit for us! This is something I always wanted to do)...

We celebrated the life of sweet Grandpa Great...

And, I enjoyed some time with my sweet Grandpa...

And then came the presents...

and the frenzy that gift opening with kiddos is...

I love having the cousins together. 

One of the best parts was the Little Mister building something special for his daddy and me with Papa Eddy...

And, hey, we even wound up with a great new photo of the two of us! (Thanks, Wizbang Photography!)

Eventually, we made it back here...

...where our days are filled with snow, sun, mountains, kiddos making messes, me cleaning up those messes, trying to get a house settled, making neurology appointments and trying to enjoy the chaos that is life with littles. 

We cannot express enough gratitude to those of you who helped get our Suburban up and running again. I'm so grateful that the transmission went out while we were all together (as opposed to when the kids and I were by ourselves going to get groceries an hour and a half away with no cell reception). 

It was a rough situation, but God took care of us through it... He always has.

Thanks for being a part of this journey...

-kt

MY Pumpkin Scones

Scones are kind of a big deal to my family.

They have been a staple at nearly every family function requiring breakfast. Or a mid-morning snack. Or a mid-afternoon snack.

And when we don't have them, someone is sure to ask why!

We even make different kinds.

My dad's famous (ok, well, they're famous in my mind since we used to sell them at the Burlington Chocolate Fest) Scotty's Scones were big, moist, and baked full of yummy things. Sometimes blueberries and cinnamon, sometimes cranberries, sometimes chocolate chips (my fav's!).

Grandma's scones, on the other hand, were carefully shaped into triangles and cooked up on a hot griddle. They were perfectly browned on the outside and warm and wonderful on the inside. She put raisins in her's, and while that was fine, once we started making them for ourselves, we switched it up to chocolate chips… or when we're feeling sassy, white chips and craisens. Yum. Talk about melt in your mouth!

Anyway, I've always enjoyed the pumpkin scones at Starbucks in the fall.

I mean, who doesn't?!

The problem is, the recipes circulating on the internet, Pinterest, etc don't do the real ones justice.

And, while I'm not claiming that mine are as good or better as theirs, I gotta say, THIS will be my go-to pumpkin scone recipe from now on.

I combined my dad's, my grandma's and my idea of what should go into a pumpkin scone and this is what I came up with.

(I just ate one and THOROUGHLY enjoyed it!)  ;)

My Pumpkin Scones
     *makes 8

For the Scones:
2 C flour
1/3 C sugar
2 T brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp ginger
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tarter

6 T cold butter

1/2 C pumpkin puree (slightly heaping)
1 large egg
1/3 C plus 1 Tablespoon half and half
2 tsp vanilla

*NOTE* If you want your scones a little more spiced, make your cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger measurements slightly heaping.
You could also use 1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in place of these four spices.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Cut in 6 tablespoons of cold butter with a pastry blender (or stick the dry ingredients and butter in a food processor until crumbly)

Mix together the remaining wet ingredients and add to the dry/butter mixture until just mixed.

Pour mixture onto a floured surface and sprinkle flour on top.

Pat down into a flat circle (about an inch thick).

Using a large knife, cut circle in half one way and then in half the other way… do this one more time to make 8 equal triangles. (See picture)

Place on a greased cookie sheet or a sheet lined with parchment paper.

Tip: I've found it's way easier to move them front he counter to the cookie sheet with a spatula!

Back in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until starting to brown. Don't let them get too brown! Watch closely!



Now for the fun part.

Instead of plain frosting or a totally spiced frosting, I decided to go with Cinnamon frosting. I'm so glad I did. I just winged this and it turned out yummy. Just enough spice and paired with the scones, it melts in your mouth.

You can decide if you want it to be more of a frosting or more of a glaze. It's your preference.

For a glaze, mix together:
1 C powdered sugar
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 T milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

For frosting, mix together:
1 C powdered sugar
scant 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 T milk
1/4 tsp vanilla

*Adjust measurements as needed to reach desired consistency and taste. Add more milk to thin it out. Add more powdered sugar to thicken it up. Add a tiny bit more cinnamon (or any of the spices used in the scones) to make it have a little more of a kick. Or, for a plain frosting or glaze, leave out the cinnamon!

Personally, I store them unfrosted and make the topping as needed… that way you don't have to worry about the frosting melting off if you heat them up a little or thaw them in the microwave after freezing.

Light your favorite fall candle and enjoy!
-kt