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A good read for fifth grade students is The Terrible Wave by Dahlstedt.  This easy to read book is a wonderful guided reading book that will also tie in the current event of the Oroville Dam overflow last week.  A written assignment may be assigned to followup the reading with a compare and contrast of the current Oroville Dam overflow to the past dam failure in Johnstown, PA.  You may want to use a thinking map diagramming cause and effect or a double bubble to find similarities and differences in the dam failures.

Click to access Thinking-Map-Templates.pdf

Many churches today are “out to lunch”.  I do not blame people for not wanting to attend.  As a person who left the “Catholic” belief for the true holy Catholic church 30 years ago, I began a journey through a literal war zone of false doctrines.  My journey began by listening to Christian radio ministries because I was eager to learn the truth.  I quickly realized that popular ministers lacked sound doctrine and sanctification in the truth.  Ministers must learn to be Christians first before standing behind a pulpit.  Just because they graduate from seminary with a degree, does not qualify them to be pastors.  Their theology was askew to say the least.  My listening time was quickly diminished to two radio programs and eventually one by RC Sproul.  Even so, over these 30 years I have been challenged and distracted by ministers who very persuasively taught their understanding of Scripture and, me, naively trusted their teaching.  I wished that I had been more of a Berean (Acts 17:11).  Today, my family is listening to Calvin’s Institutes taught by Greg L. Bahnsen.

http://www.cmfnow.com/calvinsinstitutesofthechristianreligion.aspx

I sighed last night when going to bed while telling my husband that I wish I had started my Christian faith by studying Calvin’s Institutes.  I am also simultaneously studying Confessions by Augustine.  What a wonderfully rich book.  “Friendship…is born at the moment one man says to another “What!  You too?  I thought that no one but myself…” (CS Lewis)  Finally, a third book, that our school is enjoying during read aloud time is Pilgrim’s Progress by Bunyan.   We have hit a “home run” during this time of study and learning about Christianity and the church.

After completing the McGuffey’s Reader series, we have started this book.  This book benefits all its readers by teaching them relevant moral principles to succeed in life.

Barbecue tri-tip:  grill to your preference with salt and pepper.  Let rest at least 10 minutes.  Cut into bite sized pieces and serve on platter.

Make several quesadillas and cut into wedges (eighths).  Make a homemade guacamole dip or buy a good quality one from a reputable store.

Chinese chicken salad:  For the an easy salad you may purchase a whole chicken and shred into bite sized pieces, buy a package of romaine lettuce, and some Asian or sesame dressing.  If you enjoy cooking then cook your own chicken, buy some whole heads of lettuce and shred them yourself and make your own Asian dressing.  I like to use Ina Garten’s dressing recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chinese-chicken-salad-recipe.html

Acai Sorbet Bowls-These may be purchased at Costco in the freezer section (Sambazon Acai Sorbet cups) with the frozen fruit.  Have some granola and shredded coconut as garnish on the side.  You may also want to have bananas, chocolate chips, etc.

Happy eating!

*We do our best to buy organic and pastured meats from sustainable farms.

We recently discovered this broadcast from Djuma Game Reserve in South Africa.  The safari guides take you, the viewer, on a real safari.  This is very real and you will see all kinds of animal and plant life, some of which may be very disturbing to the faint of heart.  Leopards, lion prides, birds, elephants, buffalo, hippos, geese, storks, insects, trees, baboons, and much more will be brought to you from these brave safari guides who go straight into the African bush to the animals.  Questions can be answered while it is live streaming.  We have had three of our questions answered that were directly related to what the guide was talking about.  They will address you by name, and quite honestly, you feel like they are talking straight to you even though they cannot see you.  This program is very personal, scientific, and live.

Last November 2016, our sweet potatoes managed to reach fruition after a year of attacks.  Ultimately persevering the foraging of skunks, raccoons, and opossums, we managed to salvage a small harvest.  Our harvests in the past had been three times larger, but we were thankful for our remnant that are very delicious.  Our soil is a mix of organic compost and manure.  We prefer chicken manure from our backyard chickens, but recently retired them to a nearby farm.  We miss our hens for many reasons.  Recently, we have discovered that laying chicken wire over the sprouts in a raised bed using bamboo stakes along the edges is a great deterrent for diggers.

Organic dried fruit is wonderful for snacking, prepping, and having that emergency stash of food when the need arises.  The organic dried cranberries were purchased at Trader Joe’s; the organic cherries, apples, and blueberries at Costco.  All are delicious and are great for any situation.

Pictured in the bottom right is a Christmas present to my husband.  It is a fig tree from Stark Brothers.   https://www.starkbros.com/    This company has been around for 200 years!  We also purchased a blueberry plant and a few years ago an Arkansas Black apple tree, which is now thriving.  You probably will not have it delivered by Christmas, but take a picture of it and put it under the tree.  This is a gift that keeps on giving in multiple ways.  We gave our dad a bottle palm decades ago for Father’s Day.  It continues to live and brighten up what was a dull spot of his yard.  Living trees and plants make wonderful gifts!

A dear old southern friend gave me this easy fudge recipe years ago.  I decided to try it out last week after another, more difficult, recipe failed and turned into a slightly grainy runny chocolate fudge sauce which will be ideal for ice cream/dessert topping.

1 14 oz. can evaporated milk

1 lb. Hershey’s milk chocolate bar broken into pieces *I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus milk chocolate bar broken into pieces while estimating a pound

2 cups chopped nuts *I skipped this

41/2 cups sugar *I used 4 cups

1/2 cup butter

2 (6 oz.) packages semi sweet chocolate chips *I used Trader Joe’s Pound Plus dark chocolate broken into pieces and estimated 12 oz.

1 pint marshmallow cream (I used Toonie Moonie, a GMO free fluff)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Boil milk, sugar, and butter.  Add to marshmallow cream in large cooking pan and bring to a boil over low heat.  Boil for 41/2 minutes while stirring constantly.  Add vanilla extract.  Pour over broken pieces of milk and dark chocolate in a separate mixing bowl.  Add nuts and thoroughly mix.  Spread into a buttered 15×10 glass dish with an off set spatula.  I used a 9×13 dish which worked fine.  Let cool completely.  Cut into bite size pieces.  May be wrapped individually and can be stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks or frozen indefinately.  Makes 5 pounds.  Modified recipe from:    ACPC Cookbook:  Feeding the Flock from CM