SNOW DAY!

One of my favorite things about living in the Midwest is being able to experience the fullness of the four seasons: luminous indelible autumnal colors, winter's snows, shoots of green in spring, and the sprinkler days of summer. Since we're in the full blast of winter, I'm embracing all that comes with our coldest season: time by the fire, hot chocolates, walks in the snow, mornings sledding on a hill in the park by our house, reading lots and lots good books 'neath old quilts, getting an automated call from the school district at 5:30 a.m. with an announcement that we're having a SNOW DAY!!!!!!

This year, we had our first Snow Day on February 1st. The kids stayed in their PJs 'til noon, we took a friend sledding, and made Snow Ice Cream.
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SNOW ICE CREAM

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Beat together until creamy.

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk (we use 1/2 and 1/2)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Add this to egg mixture and beat together.

Pour above combination mixture over 12 cups of fresh clean snow. Fold together and eat quickly! (If you're concerned about raw eggs; you can make the same recipe omitting the eggs.)

I think what I love the most about experiencing the seasons is that they're full with metaphor and symbol for the cycles of our lives. They speak so strongly, graphically, sensually of death, rebirth, love and loss, grace, and beauty that comes after pain. Shel Silverstein says it wondrously in his poem about a snowman who doesn't want to melt:

Chirped a robin, just arriving,

"Seasons come and seasons go,

And the greatest ice must crumble

When it's flowers' time to grow.

And as one thing is beginning

So another thing must die . . .

It isn't a coincidence that flowers come after the white frigid deep-freeze . . . that my second son was born the week my paternal grandmother died . . . that healing came in my family while I was suffering inexorable, incapacitating back pain . . . that "unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies . . . "

How do you feel about the seasons? Do you have a story to share about the way seasons have symbolized the life and death cycles in your own experience? Feel free to share a story, poem, song, or idea as a comment!

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Perhaps Silverstein's entire poem and the glorious illustration by my second-grade son, Ben, will inspire you.

SNOWMAN

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love love 'Twas the first day of the springtime,

And the snowman stood alone

As the winter snows were melting,

And the pine trees seemed to groan,

"Ah, you poor sad smiling snowman,

You'll be melting by and by."Said the snowman, "What a pity,

For I'd like to see July.

Yes, I'd like to see July, and please don't ask me why.
But I'd like to, yes I'd like to, oh I'd like to see July."

Chirped a robin, just arriving,
"Seasons come and seasons go,
And the greatest ice must crumble
When it's flowers' time to grow.
And as one thing is beginning
So another thing must die,

And there's never been a snowman

Who has ever seen July.

No, they never see July, no matter how they try.

No, they never ever, never ever, never see July."

But the snowman sniffed his carrot nose

And said, "At least I'll try,

And he bravely smiled his frosty smile

And blinked his cola-black eye.

And there he stood and faced the sun

A blazin' from the sky -

And I really cannot tell you

If he ever saw July.

Did he ever see July? You can guess as well as I

If he ever, if he never, if he ever saw July.

MIND-BLOWING MUFFINS!

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The other day I made some muffins that were soooooooooooooo good. I think what made them special to me is that the base recipe was my Gramma Norberg's. The rest consisted of add-ins I had on hand in my fridge, pantry, etc.
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I'm a lover of layered flavors . . . maybe that's some kind of metaphor for the way I enjoy a multi-layered (sometimes crazy) life! All I know is that the banana mixing with chocolate and citrus was a delight to my taste buds.

Try 'em! If you like layered-flavors, you'll definitely like these!

Gramma's Banana Bread Muffins

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1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
2 eggs

2 cups flour (1 cup cake/ 1 cup bread) - (I use all purpose)

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 bananas (mashed)

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Cream first three ingredients in a medium sized bowl with an electric mixer. Gently mix in the the remaining ingredients. Pour into greased muffin tins, dust each muffin with a teaspoon of granulated sugar and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

My Add-Ins:

1/2 bar of Ghirardelli chocolate bar, cut into chunks (chocolate chips would be fine, too)

Rind from one orange (grated on a rasper)

Juice from same orange

1 small package of Macadamia nuts (or whatever nut you have on hand)

After mixing ingredients for the standard recipe, stir in the following, then follow the rest of the above directions.

(I've also added a can of crushed pineapple with the nuts. Yum!)

Meet My
New
Public Relations Assistant



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Julie MacManus

Julie MacManus, a wife and mother lives in Allen, TX. She's a Wheaton College Graduate with a Bachelors in Music Education. For several post-graduate years she traveled around the globe doing employee training in exotic and off-the-beaten-path places like Jakarta, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and her favorite, Cambridge, England. After marrying Jim, Julie served for 2 1/2 years in Care Ministries of Stonebriar Church. There she ministered to congregants celebrating weddings or funerals, church members in financial need, those needing visitation during hospital stays or with home-bound illnesses.

Julie is musical, extroverted, mercy-bearing and a hoot to be around! She gives generously, loves easily, and is always open with a listening ear. If she's looking for a special treat, Julie heads to Marble Slab for cheesecake ice cream with mini chocolate chips. If she's watchin' the tube, she tunes in to Lingo, Law & Order, The Amazing Race or Barefoot Contessa. When she's not busy with her one-year-old, Jillian, Julie also likes to sing at her church, spend time with good friends, and read. Her favorite author is Madeleine L'Engle. You'd find L'Engle's first novel, A Small Rain is waiting on her bedside table if you looked today.

A couple favorite meals at Julie's home home are Pepperoni Pizza with Digorno’s Harvest Wheat Rising Crust, homemade tomato soup, and lentil soup. Here's a favorite recipe from the MacManus Kitchen:
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Chicken Tortilla Soup
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2-4 Tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 cans Rotel Tomatoes (10 oz., mild)
2 cans chicken broth
1 can beef broth
1 Tbsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2-3 chicken breast, fully cooked and cubed
¼ cup rice

Heat oil, sauté onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper cook for 4-5 minutes until tender. Add tomatoes, broths, cumin, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, and cooked chicken. Simmer for 40 minutes then add rice and simmer another 20 minutes until rice is cooked.

If you need information on my books, or if you're interested in inviting me to speak at one of your women's retreats or other gatherings, Julie MacManus is the person to contact. She'll readily answer your questions, provide you with public relations materials, inform you of radio broadcasts, book signings, and other note-worthy happenings.
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To contact Julie, please e-mail her at jmacmanus@tx.rr.com or call (972)679-1655.