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How has your week been?

Here in the Mitten, we are on our second week of most days' temps being above freezing. Wow! It feels fairly tropical. And a couple days even flirted with 60. I have had my windows open several days. Out with the old, and in with the new. Big sigh...

I have fresh green growth were my bulbs lie buried. That is encouraging. Spring is showing it's face in many, many ways. I have yet to see any crocuses, but I know others have in my area. I'm looking...

I have been running outside, in the early mornings. Spring training is in full on mode. I ran two 7 mile runs this week, plus a 4, a 3 and a 2. Every week the miles are increasing, as is the speed of said miles. One of my routes includes a 1/2 mile span that overlooks our city. That scenic view was topped with a colorful sunrise this morning. It was a reminder of why I love early mornings. And why I love to run in the early mornings. I'm not going to say that I love running...

I spent a fair bit of my week doing spring cleaning. The boys' room got the run down, and then I washed my own bedroom walls. And all the linens. Everything looks and smells fresh. Spring cleaning is kind of a funny thing. I always can tell when I've done it, but if you'd asked me before, I would have said my house was clean. All that sunshine and fresh air emphasizes all the licks and promises of the winter.

We are counting down the weeks until summer break. And we hit a milestone this week. Only 9 more to go! Which is almost a quarter of the year, but still. It is so close I can taste the freedom! On the one hand, I want those weeks to fly by. On the other hand, the 9 weeks corresponds pretty closely with our 25k race, and I want every single one of those weeks to crawl by. I'm not in panic mode about training, but I still have a lot of miles to pick up in 8 weeks.

Here are a few things I've been reading around the web this week...(when I wasn't cleaning or running)

A Stay at Home Parent is Not a Luxury "So in some ways, yes, we are lucky that I can stay home. But a luxury is a nonessential item. An indulgence. What I do is essential, and certainly not self-indulgent."

How the New Christian Left is Twisting the Gospel. Very thought provoking. "In order to safeguard the trajectory of young evangelicals, we must uphold the authoritative Word of God. It is imperative that those in a position to influence millennials have transparent and honest discussions about the culture wars evangelical youth are already engaging. Otherwise they will be silent and accepting in the face of persecution and false doctrine."

What is Spiritual Abuse? "It is not a coincidence that these abuse prevention policies are often known as safety policies. Because if shepherds are doing their job right, the sheep are safe. They are protected. They feel secure. And they don’t leave the church en masse."

I am on Day 20 of No Chocolate! Whew! Some days I miss it. Most days I don't. I need to have a game plan come April 1. Something realistic. Dessert one weeknight and one weekend day. That's it. I've been holding pretty close to that this month, and I think it is good.

While I am abstaining from chocolate, I know you aren't, and so I decided to share one of my most favorite and most consumed forms of chocolate.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I know that everyone has their favorite recipe. Mine is a bit different. I use butter, shortening, and peanut butter. But, not a lot of peanut butter, because they aren't peanut butter cookies. They are chocolate chip cookies. I also use real vanilla. The cookies are melt in your mouth soft straight out of the oven and good dunkers on the subsequent days. I also love to freeze my cookies, and then dunk them. I love the frozen chocolate-ness, and the way they still soak up the milk and get kind of chewy soft.

I generally make cookies every week or two. My kids aren't thrilled when the cookie jar is on empty.

Okay, I've got to stop talking about these or I am going to highjack my own resolve.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp water
4-1/2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups (12 oz) chocolate chips

-Heat oven to 375 degrees.
-Cream the shortening, butter, peanut butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and water, and beat well.
-Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and stir in, scraping the bottom of the bowl, until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.
-Place teaspoons full on a greased baking sheet about 2" apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes, until lightly golden on the edges.
-Cool on the sheet for 2 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Have a magnificent start of Spring weekend!

Christmas Cookie Recipe Round Up

It is Christmas time. And in the Barefoot Hippie household, Christmas is synonymous with cookies. Biscotti, lemon bars, toffee bars, sugar cookies, goodie bars, gingerbread men.

We go whole hog and bake them all. Usually on the same day. Check out my last Christmas Baking Day Bonanza. It is my second most popular post. Craziness personified.

In the interest of less harried-ness, I am actually considering NOT doing one BIG baking day this year. Whoa! That is unheard of!

I made a batch of biscotti on Tuesday and I am making sugar cookies after school today. I whipped up a pan of lemon bars Wednesday and toffee bars and goodie bars yesterday. It seems like I have decided by default to spread out the baking goodness over a week or more this year. It is working better with our school and life schedule.

But, since I usually make multiple batches of goodie bars and toffee bars and biscotti and sugar cookies, I might still have a baking day in my future this December. We'll see.

Lemon Bars, Toffe Bars, Goodie Bars (recipes here) French Bread (recipe here)

Chocolate Dipped Walnut Biscotti (recipe here)

Frosted GingerBread Men
1 cup shortening
5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
2 eggs
2 T vinegar
2 t baking powder
2 t ginger
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t cloves
Buttercream Frosting

Cream together the shortening, sugar, egg, molasses, and vinegar. Add the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger and mix well. Cover and chill for 3 hours.

Divide dough into half and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack. Ice when cool.

For the icing, make the Buttercream Frosting below, but use additional milk until more a drizzling consistency. Dip top side of cookies into icing, and let extra icing drip off into icing bowl. You can add decorations for buttons, etc. Let icing set before storing. Makes 3-4 dozen gingerbread men.

these really are the best tasting sugar cookies I have ever had. They don't taste pasty or flour-y.

Sugar Cookies
4-1/2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 cup shortening
2 c sugar
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 T milk

Cream together sugar and shortening. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, salt and milk and mix well.

Divide dough in half. Roll out on a lightly floured surface until a scant 1/4" thick and cut into shapes. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other decorations OR leave plain and frost with Buttercream Frosting after baking. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes (decorated) or 9 minutes (undecorated) or until golden.

Cool and frost and decorate if desired. Makes about 6 dozen, depending on the size cookie cutters you use.

Buttercream Frosting
1 pound powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1 t vanilla
2-4 T milk
dash of salt (optional)
food coloring (optional)

Cream together, adding enough milk to make easily spreadable. Add food coloring after everything else is well combined.

Well, I'm off to bake my family (and church family) some sugar cookies. Tell me, what are you favorite Christmas cookies or treats?

A Case for Baking Cookies

Alternately Titled:

Oh, way back around Christmas, and then again at Easter time, there was a Sugar Cookie Bar recipe on Pinterest being pinned and re-pinned and pinned again. It claimed to taste as good as frosted sugar cookies, but with way less effort.

And, I totally get the way less effort, time saving-ness of bar cookies over drop or rolled and cut cookies. Spread the whole batch in one pan with one fell swoop, or painstakingly drop mound after mound on multiple pans over the course of hours.

As a matter of fact, I used to be a huge proponent of bar cookies. And I still have a few recipes that I do on a regular basis that are bars. But cookies that are supposed to be cookies? Those I make as cookies.

And for several good reasons...(at least, I think they are good reasons)

I bake cookies as an act of love for my family. Chocolate is my love language, as is sugar. And I generously share the love. I joke that they will all be on the Biggest Loser someday having a heart to heart with Jillian about how they ended up in this place because their mom made them eat cookies. So, yeah...

I bake cookies because is it very relaxing for me. It forces me to be tied to my kitchen for an hour or two. And it puts me in a very chilled out, content, "this is the life" place. (except for Christmas baking day once a year. It's a marathon. There is nothing chilled out or relaxed about that day.)

I bake cookies because it allows me time to sit on my stool and read between batches-online reading and paper and ink books. I read novels and things that stretch my mind. It is relatively uninterrupted 6-7 minute chunks. You can make headway when baking cookies.

I got this puppy at IKEA for $25. Probably the best $25 I have ever spent-there.

I bake cookies because it gives me time to weekly (optimistically) or bi-weekly(realistically) scrub my sink between a batches. It is the perfect time to powder it down with cleanser and give the sink a nice clean aura.

I bake cookies because it gives me time (if I'm feeling ambitious or simply grossed out) to clean the stove top and counter tops and cupboard fronts. Since I have to be in the kitchen for the period of time anyway, I may as well use the time to keep grease splatters, and food spills, and dirty finger prints down to a dull roar.

I bake cookies because I love to eat them. And individual cookies are good portion control-if you stick to one or two. Fresh with milk, or not so fresh-with milk.

I bake cookies because I am an individualist. I believe in the moral worth of the individual. And in equal opportunity for all. And...

Are you a bar cookie person or an individual cookie person? Why? Let's discuss cookies in the comments.

Barefoot Biscotti

Biscotti. Twice baked cookies. Originally from Italy, and dating back to Medieval times. Twice baked made it fairly imperishable. One person even claimed biscotti could last for centuries.

In a way it has. Centuries later, it is now sold by everyone from Starbucks to Olive Garden to Meijer.

There is even a Bernadette's Biscotti brand. (which is cool, because that is my name-when I'm not writing a blog.)

The first time I had biscotti was when the BFF made me a great coffee themed gift package for my birthday or something. It was amazing.

I am actually surprised that I like it so much. I like my sweets to be sweet. Over the top rich, you know? But there is something about biscotti that speaks my love language-food.

I am a cookie dunker. This is the perfect hard cookie to dunk. Into coffee or tea. Or if you live in Italy or Spain, you just may dunk it in vino.

Chicken pot and biscotti jar

I collect ceramic pitchers for my kitchen. The second piece in my collection was a Tuscany looking biscotti jar. It was a win-win-win situation. 75% off after Christmas, filled with chocolate dipped biscotti, packaged in a gorgeous jar. Be still my beating heart.

My first attempt at still life painting. Not the best photo of me or the best painting, ever. But, I tried.

Biscotti is much easier to make than painting still life of a biscotti jar. I enjoy making it for gifts. It packages up really nice in clear plastic wrap or baggies, and tied with a pretty ribbon. Tuck it in a coffee mug with one of those one pot of coffee packets, and voila', the perfect gift for a coffee lover.

Biscotti is traditionally made with almonds, but my recipe uses walnuts. I think the important factor is nuts. Of whatever kind. Hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pistachios. You get the picture.

Toasted Walnut Biscotti
2 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 cup walnuts-toasted and chopped (350 degrees for 8 minutes)
12 ounces chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening

-Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat well. And flour, baking powder and salt, and mix well. Stir in walnuts.
-Divide dough into half. Shape into 2 1-1/2" logs.
-Place on a parchment lined baking sheet (not too close together), and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.
-Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Slice into 1/2" slices diagonally. Lay cut side up on parchment lined cookie sheet.
-Bake 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp.
-When biscotti are cooled, melt the chocolate. Dip the edge into the chocolate. Let chocolate set, then package.
-Makes about 3 dozen and the recipe doubles well.

Maybe I should have some Bernadette's Biscotti with some Barefoot Wine...
Are there any brands that share your name? Tell me in the comments.

Bar None

I bake cookies on a regular basis for my little family. They think it is a major crisis when both the cookie jar, and the freezer stash, are empty.

So I was trying to get a picture of my really awesome hippie shirt-flowy sleeves and all.
I can't figure out how people do these mirror pics.

Christmas time is no different. I make many different varieties that only see the light of day at this time of year. The past few years I have made

Goodie Bars
Toffee Bars
Lemon Bars
Biscotti
Gingerbread Men
Frosted Sugar Cookies
Sugared Sugar Cookies
Sandies

*double batches of all except for the Sandies.

I pick one day usually in the second week of December, and that is my baking day. I start early and end late. I'm elbow deep in flour, sugar and butter, chocolate, nuts and buttercream. It is a great time.

When I am in the midst of my baking marathon, I miss the years that I used to bake with my sisters before I got married. The conversation, and spreading out the chore of rolling, cutting and decorating sugar cookies. Many hands make light work and all that...

Now we are spread throughout three different states. And none of them are closer than a 16 hour drive. Kind of a bummer.

My sister Bek is on bed rest this Christmas season. She is expecting twins in January. My sister Lyd is working. And Kathryn is going to college. Though she is coming to visit me-after the cookies are all done.

Anyway, off the nostalgic, home sick wagon...

we have the same hairdo!

The recipes I use, are recipes that have always been in my life, for as long as I can remember. (all except the biscotti-that's newish) They are recipes that my mom would haul out in December. That her sisters would make in December. These are the real-deal Barefoot Hippie recipes rooted in my tradition.

The three recipes that I am going to share with you today are all bars. Bars are nice. One pan-in and out of the oven. Done.

I like cutting my 9 x 13 pan of bars into 24. And if I am making up a sample plate for church or a potluck, I cut those 24 into diagonals. They go farther, and they look nice.

These three recipes all have a minimum of ingredients. They are all delicious. They are all favorites of my little family. I hope you add one, or more, to your Christmas baking repertoire this year.

Lemon Bars
1 plain yellow cake mix (I use Aldi brand-works great)
3 eggs, divided
1 stick butter
1 pound powdered sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 T lemon juice

Mix cake mix, butter and 1 egg. Pat into the bottom of a well greased 9 x 13 pan.
Beat together the 2 eggs, cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread over the crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes until golden brown.
Hippie Tip: Cool 10 minutes on a wire wrack, then run a sharp knife carefully around the edges to loosen. You will be glad you did. Refrigerate when cool.

Goodie Bars (with a name like that, how can't these be amazing?!)
1 stick butter
1-1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1-1/2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk.

Melt butter. Pour into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle crumbs on top to cover butter. In order listed, sprinkle the next 4 ingredients evenly over the crust. Drizzle the milk on top of all, and then let sit for 10 minutes. This allows the milk to soak in and coat all the layers nicely.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool, and again run a sharp knife around the edge about 30 minutes into the cooling process to loosen for later.

Toffee Bars
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1/4 t salt
2 cups flour
6 bars of Hershey's chocolate (dark or milk chocolate)
1/4 c chopped walnuts

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour. The dough will be stiff. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes-until golden. Top with chocolate bars, broken into sections, and put bake into the oven for another minute or two. Spread the melted chocolate over the bars, and sprinkle with walnuts.

Fyi, on my baking day, to maximize my time, and get started off on the right foot, plus look like I am accomplishing a lot, I get the Toffee Bars started and baking, then I assemble the Goodie Bars. While those are baking, I make the Lemon Bars. Hands on time is usually less than an hour.

What cookies or bars on traditional favorites for your family? Share in the comments. Leave a link to the recipe if you so desire. I'd love that.

Garden Fresh Blessings

Produce Picks
This week, upon my return from our trip, was the first time this summer that I got to experience my garden's abundance.

I had picked a few cherry tomatoes before we left, as well as a handful of beans. I have been enjoying my herbs all along.

But, Tuesday, the sight that greeted my eyes was an explosion of color and fruit. I was able to pick almost 1/2 a bushel of green beans, and a big bowl of tomatoes that I turned into fresh spaghetti sauce yesterday.

some kind of hot pepper. those distress marks mean it is really hot

Let me tell you-that sauce was amazing! Fresh tomatoes, and fresh herbs, plus I borrowed an idea from OG and poured in a bit of white wine. Good enough to eat with a spoon. You can keep your pasta.

herbs washed and drying for the marinara sauce

I also did my favorite green bean sauté. Steam the beans in a tiny bit of water and olive oil in a fry pan until crisp tender, then remove the lid. Add 1-2 minced garlic cloves, salt and pepper, and fresh basil, and sauté until the liquid is gone. Wow!

look out OG!

I truly love all the fresh vegetables. They are delicious and healthy. We ate great food while we were gone. But I am craving the basics of lots of fruits and veggies, less pasta, more chocolate. (I just threw the chocolate on there for kicks. I always crave chocolate.)

yesterday was also baking day

One of my favorite summer dishes involves a summer garden staple-zucchini. Who hasn't ever been overwhelmed by an overabundance of zucchini? It seems like one day the tubers are tiny, and the next day they have grown to the size of baseball bats.

cookie jar is empty no more

Here is a recipe that uses a lot of zucchini. Unlike a lot of zucchini recipes, it is savory-not sweet. This recipe is hardy enough to be a main dish. It is vegetarian. If you have a lot of zucchini-seed it, then grate it. If you don't have tons-then use the whole zucchini.

Mr. Hippie's heart cookie

Zucchini Skillet
Zucchini, seeded (if desired) and grated, to make 12-15 cups
olive oil
1-2 large onions, chopped
1 15 ounce can Mexican style chili beans
1 15 ounce can of stewed tomatoes with green chilies
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Saute the zucchini and onion in 1-2T of oil until both are tender, occasionally draining extra juice. Add beans and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Top with cheese, and leave on heat until melted.

And that's it.

Sneak Peak
Check back on Monday for a post about Voice. Its a popular, resounding theme, in the current blogging world. I will be adding my two cents. God's voice, my voice, Meres' voice, our voice. What's being heard?

View from my front porch last evening. God paints a gorgeous picture!

Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy your last few days of summer. The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting crispy, and the start of school is looming-if not already begun.

Oh, and Mr. Hippie said the "June Cleaver."

Linking up with

Fantabulous Friday
TGIF
madeinaday
Weekend Blog Walk
Serenity Now
Mercy INK
Try a New Recipe Tuesday
bloom designs
Homemaid Simple

Summer Fridays
Weekend Wanderings

Oatmeal Cookies and Plethora Revisited

I made the most amazing Oatmeal Cookies yesterday! Seriously. And considering that I really don't like oatmeal cookies, this a doubly amazing thing.=) I couldn't tell you the last time I made oatmeal cookies. It would be sometime between forever and never. The thing I dislike most about oatmeal cookies is biting into one expecting a smidget of chocolate and ending up with a raisin. How absolutely disappointing!
That's not to say that I don't like raisins. I do. I just don't like raisins when I am expecting chocolate.
But, I've had an idea I've wanted to try out for a while...a marshmallow cream filling sandwiched between oatmeal cookies. I have a great marshmallow cream recipe that I frost hearty molasses cookies with. Plus, I like those oatmeal pies from Little Debby.
So, I mixed up a double batch of the Red Check oatmeal cookie recipe, using raisins. I made the cookies small. I probably used about one tablespoon of batter per cookie. They came out of the oven a bit thicker than I wanted. Next time I will flatten them a bit before baking. Then I mixed up my marshmallow cream, and frosted the rough side of half the cookies, sandwiching each with another cookie while the frosting was still moist. Ummm...amazing! My kids and husband were impressed. Here is the filling recipe.

Marshmallow Cream
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon of vinegar
1/2 cup water
Combine in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a boil. Remove lid, insert a candy thermometer, and bring to 234-240 degrees. Remove from heat.

1 cup mini marshmallows
Add to syrup, and stir until melted.

Meanwhile, beat 2 egg white until frothy. Turn mixer onto high, and slowly add syrup, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.

I want to revisit our WWoW, plethora. I was working on my Bible study today, and here is an awesome verse I came across-
Ephesians 4:16-20-that He would grant you, according tho the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think....
Did you catch that last line? "Exceeding abundantly above." That's the definition of plethora. Plethora has extreme connotations. It is not usually considered a good thing. It is too much-and then some. But, when it comes to God, plethora is a wonderful idea. God can and does do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think. Wow!

In the words of Francis Ridely Havergal,
"O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord, until my very heart o're flow.
In kindling thought and glowing word, Thy Love to tell, Thy praise to show."

I just can't get enough of her!

O, use me, Lord, use even me...

My Man Friday

Its Friday, and its a balmy 50 degrees here in Michigan. Does the term "January thaw" fit, when it hasn't really gotten that cold yet? Or when our snowfall has been much less than 10"? Ironies...you got to love them. My kids will go outside during the winter, then come in and ask for hot cocoa to warm up. I make it for them, and they ask for ice cubes to cool it down.
Its Friday, the last day of Christmas break, and my floors have not been washed in two weeks. At least. But we don't stick to them while walking over them. And I really don't like cleaning on Fridays. So, should I whoop it up, and do what I want to do-bake cookies and read all afternoon? Or should I do what I should do? Though, maybe what I should do is relax, because we don't have another school break scheduled until May. What would you do?
I wrote a letter today. And I played a game with the boys-Liar. They aren't very good at it, for which I am very thankful. It makes me hopeful that if they are ever not really telling the truth, the same body language will appear. And I tried a new recipe this week.  Everyone seemed to like the Chicken Provencal, but the potatoes needed more cooking time. I followed the directions, even cooking the dish an extra half hour, but they were still a bit hard. When a new recipe doesn't turn out really well, I am not inspired to make it again. If something turns out good, I may tweak it a bit, and and make it again. We'll, see if this one makes that cut. And I've run three times this week already. Nothing spectacular. But, a run is a run, at this time of year. And I had family over last night, and friends are coming tomorrow. I think I've got a good start on my resolutions. The thing is, you have to do them now. Not put it off until tomorrow or next week.
I am elbow deep into A Team of Rivals, a book about Lincoln and his cabinet. It is well written and interesting. I am enjoying it-when I get around to it.
What are your favorite books? I have favorites, and I have "life-changers". The favorites I return to over and over again. Whenever I have nothing to read, I will pull out one of these. They are old friends, and they are wonderful. This is my Top 10 list of each.
Favorites:
1. Pride and Prejudice-love the irony
2. The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel
5. Boleyn novels by Philipa Gregory
6. Oregon Files and Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler
7. Harry Potter-okay, I said it. I love them.
8. The Hobbit
9. Cleopatra by Margaret George
10. Jason Bourne Novels
 As you can see, my taste runs to adventure and spy novels, some mysteries, and historical fiction. I am not really into Christian fiction.

Life-Changers
1. Hudson Taylor, the double volume set-taught me the importance of living by faith
2. George Muller of Bristol-faith and giving
3. Passion and Purity, Elizabeth Elliot-it helped me learn contentment as a single, and encouraged me in a yearly read through the Bible
4. Prayer, Dr. Rice-practical, believing prayer
5. My Utmost for His Highest-devotional, with such high thoughts you can get lost. But wonderful!
6. Borden of Yale-I read this before I was a teen. It really challenged me to live for God now, because I might die young, and what would I have done for Him?
7. How to Win Friends and Influence People-just a good book about relationships.
8. John Adams by David McCoullough-a great book about one of our Founding Fathers, and his wife.
9. Schindler's List-horrible, but inspiring
10. The Bible-it changes my life, day by day, year by year

When I had my milk and cookies, and when Ethan said he
hoped I was making chocolate chip cookies, as opposed to
Christmas cookies, I knew I had made the right choice.

Definitely worth picking up a book, not a bucket.

Part of today's labor too! Deliciousness!