Thoughts on 2012

Happy New Year! What a year 2011 has been: 5 weddings, including Colleen and Luke Basler's in St Louis in March and my brother, Jason, and Angela's in Cali, Colombia, on October 1st; 2 international trips, to the States in March, including a day in New York City on the way back to England, and the trip to Colombia at the end of September; finding out in early August that I am pregnant with BeeBee; a move to Shrewsbury in September and the change of workplace, church, friends and surroundings that come along with it; and the passing of my grandpa at the end of October.

Jeff and I ended the year by relaxing at home; we watched the movie "UP" - was I really supposed to cry 4 times during it?! (and this was even the second time I've seen the movie) - while noshing on strawberries, sliced bananas, pretzels and cubes of cake dipped into chocolate fondue. Just before midnight we turned to the live New Years Eve celebrations in London, counted down the clock and watched the amazing fireworks display around the London Eye - simply spectacular.

This morning's message by our pastor, Paul Yeulett, was titled "The Word of Our God Stands Forever". I want to share the main points (from the notice sheet) with you, not only because I care for you and your walk with the Lord, but because as a new year begins and some view the coming year as another year to "exist" or "lose hope", we can rest in the hope of our Lord through the dependence on his Word for guidance.

The reading was Isaiah 40:1-8, focusing on verses 6-8: "A voice says, 'Cry out.' And I said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.' The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.'

1. The grass withers - we know that plants wither and die, more quickly in hot climates, but the point here is that 'flesh', that is people, are frail and temporary. Think of all the people who have died in 2011. We are all a year older than we were on 1 January 2011. We should not be surprised to see frailty and failure around us.

2. The flower fades - Human beings, and the things they set up, may be glorious and beautiful for a time, but they fade and vanish. Are we guilty of worshipping these things rather than God? But God himself "blows on" these things so that they are gone. Only God is eternal and worthy of all our worship.

3. The word of our God stands forever - Modern science believes that the world and the whole human race will wither and die, but it has no message of eternal comfort. Throughout the Bible, God's people are urged to put their trust in God's word. Jesus said that "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Matt. 24:35). Wicked men have tried to destroy God's word, but they cannot succeed. Do we prize the Bible for what it is, "the living and enduring word of God" (1 Pet. 1:23)?

I made note of something that struck me from what our pastor said during the 3rd point which was "because of the Word of God, we can put our hope in something, rather than nothing." On what is your hope built? In what do you find security? What are your New Year resolutions focused on? Yourself or God? I don't plan on "preaching" to you in every blog I write, but I do urge you, dear friends and family, that if you don't have a living relationship with our Lord and Saviour, NOW is the time to begin. Ask Him for forgiveness for being distant from Him and He will open His loving arms to you... I know this from experience and from the promises stated in the Bible. Read from His word daily, even if it's just a few verses, and pray (just talk to Him) throughout the day.

As 2012 begins, we look forward to what we believe the Lord has planned for us in 2012: visits by friends and family throughout the year starting with Bronwyn (tomorrow for 2 days) and Robert and Beverly (Wednesday for 6 days); the sale of our house in Gloucester on January 12th and perhaps the purchase of a new one by the end of the year; becoming members of Shrewsbury Evangelical Church in the weeks to come; the birth of our first child in March along with the birth of many friends' babies - Baby Lehmann #2, Baby Bolme #3 and Baby Berber #1 in May - and my cousin, Michael, and his wife, Kayleigh's, first baby in July; exploring the hills and vallies of parenthood; and finally a trip to Ohio at the end of the year to spend BeeBee's first Christmas in Ohio.

We hope that you live 2012 to the fullest and thank the Lord for all He has blessed you with.

Christmas Day

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6

Today we celebrated the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with our friend Matt Van Matre. His wife, Tanja, spent Christmas at home in Hamburg due to family reasons. Our morning started with oatmeal for breakfast, then PRESENTS!!!

Matt and the flavored olive oils, Haribo sweets and bar of chocolate from us.

After the 10:30 church service, I fixed Christmas lunch: stuffed turkey breast, mustard-glazed ham, roasted vegetables, roast potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and stuffing (dressing, actually).
At 3:00, we sat down to watch the Queen give her 7-minute speech, mainly about the natural disasters in New Zealand and Australia at the beginning of the year, the weddings of her two grandchildren (quite understated!), her visit to the Republic of Ireland, and then, to our surprise and delight, talked about the birth of Jesus and God's love.

Jeff and I went to the 4:00 church service, then came home to enjoy a slice of the Bolton-family Christmas cake... then a couple hours later, a sliver of Matt's apple pie.

The Bolton Christmas cake - a dense fruit cake, spread with apricot jam, a layer of marzipan and covered with orange-scented icing.

Week 28 Bump

No, this isn't a belly full of food (yet), but my bump at 28 weeks. My grandma gave me this shirt specifically to wear on Christmas... ta da!

Mini Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies

I was really looking forward to baking these cookies this Christmas. It has been years since I last made them, and they are sooo yummy. A cross between normal chocolate chip cookies and soft short bread, they are simple to make, though the mini chocolate chips do require a bit of effort to get folded into the dough. Oh, and just a warning - the cookie dough is seriously more-ish!

Mini Chocolate Chip Snowball Cookies
Source: http://www.verybestbaking.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I used ground almonds)
  
• Powdered sugar

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

BEAT butter, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour; stir in morsels and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4-inch balls (I used a medium ice cream scoop, which yielded about 38 cookies - probably would have been more, but I sort of got going on the cookie dough! Place on ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Sift powdered sugar over hot cookies on baking sheets. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Sprinkle with additional powdered sugar, if desired. Store in airtight containers.

Week 26 Bump at Attingham Park

On Sunday afternoon we went to the nearby Attingham Park for its "Victorian Christmas". This was the first time we've been inside the house (or mansion), and although we didn't see too many Victorian Christmas-like objects or decorations, the house was still beautifully decorated and restored. Oh, and the volunteers working in each room were more than happy to not only answer our questions, but tell us everything they know... they like to talk!

Week 26 Bump

In the picture gallery. The choir were warming up in the back of the room.

The kitchen was completely decked out with Christmasy goodies, and the scent of mince pies was noticeable when we entered.

Did you know that the yeast extract spread Marmite got its name from the from the French word "marmite", which is a a large, covered earthenware or metal cooking pot... such as the one just behind the pie? You never know what you might learn during an afternoon out.

Cream Cheese Cranberry Muffins

These muffins went down a treat this morning at the Mum's Bible Study at our house. The muffins turned out dense, yet airy, and moist, but not over greasy. I think the batter (all of the ingredients before adding the cranberries and pecans) would make a very good base for any muffin recipe - just add in whatever berries or nuts you'd like.

Cream Cheese Cranberry Muffins
Makes approx. 24 muffins
Source: Taste of Home Annual Recipes 2008 cookbook, pg. 87

1 C. butter, softened
1 pkg. (8oz.) cream (soft) cheese, softened
1 1/2 C. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 C. all-purpose (plain) flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 C. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in cranberries and pecans. (There's no need to thaw the frozen cranberries.)

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. (I used silicon muffin cups and used a large ice cream baller to scoop the batter into the cups.) Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes before removing from pans to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Birthday Weekend

Because Jeff's 39th birthday falls on a Monday (the 5th) this year, we decided to celebrate a day early (don't tell any Germans!). Actually we began his birthday weekend on Friday afternoon when we went to the Mama's and Papa's baby store - how else would he want to spend a free Friday evening?! - outside Birmingham, then went to the Frankfurter Christmas market in the Birmingham town center, which is supposedly the largest Christmas market outside of Germany, or at least in the UK.

Upon arrival we made a beeline to the pretzel stall and bought a Butterbrezen (butter pretzel) to share.

Then we followed our noses to the next stall that was grilling up red and white bratwursts.

Berliners, or Krapfen... thinking of my Mom and Norm! (We didn't have one, though).

We continued down the long row of stalls until we decided it was too cold, and we needed to warm up. We went into the Bullring shopping mall, had a nosy around the ground floor of Selfridges and were amazed at the long queue at the Krispy Kreme counter in the store - remember this was in the evening! We sat at a cafe inside the mall and had a latte (Jeff), hot chocolate (me) and shared a slice of chocolate cake. Get this... the cake was so rich, even between us, we left a couple bites of cake on the plate!... gasp! We ventured out in the cold and crowds again for a while longer then headed home. It was so nice to experience a Christmas market again, albeit slightly different than in Germany, and spend a Friday evening together.

Jeff requested French toast, sausage and bacon for breakfast. Notice the tank-shaped card on the table? I bought him this earlier in the year, since he works with tanks on a daily basis. Little did I know that the tank on the card is one of the same tanks that his team is working on! Then he goes on to quiz me on which variant it is. A Samaritan? No, too small. A Samson? No, too small again. A Sultan? Nope, haven't heard of that one. A Spartan? Could be. A Scimitar? Yep, that's it! See...I listen! The card continued to distract him through breakfast as he was picking out the errors of the tank's design on the card... at least the artist's name is also on the card so he can contact him to inform him of this.

Today after church, we went to the Loch Fyne (website) seafood restaurant in Shrewsbury for lunch, where, disappointingly, they didn't have the lobster bisque I so wanted to have. However, our meals were really good and are looking forward to going there another time.

I finally got up the courage to try a cake recipe that I found over 3 years ago in a Redbook magazine and have been meaning to bake for Jeff's birthday cake since. I was (still am) daunted by the whole caramelizing the sugar process, since I know it can be sticky and tricky to get the temperature right. The chocolate cake was quite easy to make and turned out moist and very chocolatey. The icing also turned out very tasty (thank goodness), but it the most difficult icing I've ever made (but that's not saying much, since I haven't made too many icing recipes). The icing cooled too much while it was whipping in the mixer, but it did loosen up when I added a bit of boiling water to it before spreading it on the cake - but again cooled and thickened quickly, which is why it's not too beautifully iced in the picture. Nevertheless Jeff was very pleased with his birthday cake and all of the hard work put into making the caramel icing paid off.

Old-Fashioned Cocoa Cake with Caramel Icing
Source: Trisha Yearwood's "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen" cookbook, Redbook Magazine, September 2008.

Ingredients
2 C. all-purpose flour
2/3 C. cocoa
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 C. (1 1/3 sticks) butter
1 2/3 C. sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/3 C. water

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and lightly flour 2x 9-in. cake pans. (I always cut out non-stick parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pans, lightly oil the bottom of the pans, then fit the round papers into the bottom of the pans.)
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, and salt and set aside. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Add flour mixture alternately with water, beginning and ending with flour.
3. Divide batter evenly between pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Turn layers out onto cooling racks (you may want to spray the racks with cooking spray first.)

Caramel Icing Ingredients
4 C. sugar
1 C. milk
1 stick (1/2 C.) butter
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix 3 C. of the sugar and milk in a heavy 3-quart saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil and keep hot. Caramelize the remaining 1 cup sugar in an iron or heavy-duty enamel) skillet by cooking over medium heat and stirring and scraping the pan with a flat-edged spatula as the sugar melts. Cook until the syrup turns to medium or dark brown in color (this occurs at about 320 F to 350 F on a candy thermometer). Do not scorch syrup. Stream syrup (add VERY slowly) into boiling sugar and milk mixture and cook to the soft-ball stage (when the syrup forms a ball when dropped into cool water but is still soft), about 238 F. Add butter, baking soda, and vanilla.
2. Pour hot mixture into the metal bowl of an electric mixer and beat as it cools, until the icing is creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Spread on cake layers while icing is still warm. If it becomes too stiff, add a few drops of hot water. Serves 12.

Week 24 Bump

It's Week 24, which means I've reached the 6-month mark! BeeBee has been more active this past week, which is not only a thrill to feel, but also such a relief! Jeff even felt her kick for the first time on Sunday morning. I hadn't been feeling her move very much for a couple weeks, so naturally, I began to worry. Luckily when I called about scheduling my 25-week appointment with the doctor about 2 weeks ago, the receptionist informed me that the new midwife assigned to our doctor's office, Zoe, would be starting last Monday and offered me an appointment with her. It gave me such peace of mind to finally meet the midwife responsible for caring for me and our baby and to know that BeeBee is growing well. At the appointment I got to hear BeeBee's heartbeat and Zoe measured my bump, but it was also decided that I should have a blood test done, which is scheduled for Thursday. I won't be seeing the doctor next week, since I saw Zoe last week, but Zoe will be coming to our house for a "home visit" on December 20th, when I'm 28 weeks.