Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This is the easiest cake I have ever made; one pan and ten ingredients.

2½ cups flour

1½ cups sugar

½ cup cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups brewed coffee (I used hazelnut)

Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350º

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in ungreased 13x9x2 inch metal baking pan.  Stir together until mixed and then form three wells in the flour mixture.  Put vegetable oil in center well and vanilla and vinegar in outside wells.  Pour coffee over top of mixture and stir crazy with a fork until well mixed.  (Do not use mixer).  Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top.  Bake at 350º for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

© Crackerberries 2011

The Christmas Sweater

The Christmas Sweater

          December is that time of year when we dig out all of our stuff: Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas recipes, Christmas cards, Christmas movies, Christmas books, and my favorite Christmas sweater.  Some people spend a lot of money on Christmas shopping buying Christmas gifts and clothes to dress up in to go to Christmas parties and food to make Christmas candy and Christmas cookies.  As I dug my sweater out of the storage box and smiled at how it made feel to wear it at Christmas time I recalled a story about these two brothers name John and James.

          John, the older of the two, and James played on a little league baseball team many years ago.  Even though the two played on the same team they both were in competition with each other always trying to be better than the other one.  James could hit a home run like it was nothing and John could pitch strikes all day long.  James couldn’t run and John couldn’t catch, but the coach always did his best to help them each excel at what they did best. 

One Saturday afternoon game it was the bottom of the ninth and the brother’s team was down by two runs.  There were two men on and James was up to bat.  John was coaching at third base.  If James could hit the ball far enough into the outfield he could have plenty of time to run the bases and make it home.  He stepped up to the plate and the crowd was cheering him on while others were making fun of him because they knew he couldn’t run that fast.  He whacked that ball hard and it flew right out into the bushes at the edge of the outfield.  “Run! Run!” everyone was yelling.  James took off running, tagging first base, and the outfielders were searching frantically in the bushes for the ball.  “Run! Run!”  James kept on running and tagged second base. 

The crowd started yelling more and clapping.  “Throw it!  Throw it!  Run! Run!”  John saw that the outfielders threw the ball into the short stop.  “Run, James!  Run!”  John waved James onto home plate.  James was running and the short stop threw the ball and James was running so fast and the ball was coming so fast.  Instead of the ball going into the catcher’s glove it hit James right in the head and knocked him out cold.  He ended up in a coma and after six days, his parents took him off the life support and he died without ever waking up. 

John grew up always feeling responsible for his brother’s death.  Even though he married and had children of his own, he missed so much of their lives because he spent more time in the bottle than he did at birthdays and other memorable occasions.  Eventually his wife divorced him and he grew into a lonely, grumpy old man.  One Christmas Eve, John was by himself as usual when a knock came on his door.  It was one of his grandsons.  Ironically it was the one named after his brother, James.  He came in with a book in one hand and a thermos in the other.  “Grandpa, I have to share something with you before it’s too late.”  The old man gruffly said, “I don’t want to hear it.”  But James was persistent and he took two mugs down from the cupboard and filled them with hot chocolate from the thermos.  Then he opened his Bible and he spoke.

“One night there was a bright star which guided three men who were the three wise men to the birth of Jesus, who later in life became a carpenter and a fisher of men and souls.  He had twelve apostles who spread the Word of Christ.  But on one black day of hatred, envy and death, He was crucified.  He shed His blood for us to purify and save us.  He rose and is now in Heaven seated with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  He did all of this because of His great love for us.”

“Grandpa, everyone says you’re a mean old man because of what happened to your brother.  What happened to him is not your fault and Jesus loves you and forgives you.  You don’t have to feel like it’s your fault, just talk to Jesus and tell Him how you feel.” 

Of course John, being the grumpy drunk that he had grown into wasn’t going to listen to what anyone had to say and he kicked his grandson out of his house and told him if he was going to preach to him not to bother coming back again.  That night, John died in his sleep.

There is a lot more to that story, but that is enough to make a person contemplate what they are holding on to this Christmas.  As I started to write out our Christmas cards I thought about whom I had to forgive and who I needed to speak a kind word to.  There is so much stuff that gets in the way of our lives that sometimes we lose sight of the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.  It is not about the stuff. 

This little baby boy born in a manger came to live a sinless life only to die a brutal death on a Cross in order for us to have eternal life.  We celebrate His birth for that.  When we get “wrapped up” (no pun intended) in all the other stuff, when we forget to forgive someone, when we over eat or over drink or over spend, when we get so involved in things, we lose sight of what is important.  This year when you dig out your Christmas sweater think about why you are wearing it and remember what the celebration is all about.

© Crackerberries 2011

Oysters

Oyster Casserole

Ingredients

1 pt oysters

2 cups Ritz crackers, (crushed)

½ cup butter, melted

½ tsp salt

¾ cup heavy cream

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup oyster liquor

1 tsp Texas Pete or Tabasco Sauce

Directions

Drain oysters, reserving liquor.  Chop ½ of oysters, keeping the rest whole.  Combine crumbs, butter, salt and pepper.  Spread 1/3 of crumbs in greased 8 inch baking dish.  Cover with ½ of oysters, and spread another 1/3 of crumb mixture over top of oysters.  Add remaining oysters.  Combine cream, Worcestershire sauce and oyster liquor and mix well.  Pour over oysters.  Top with last of crumbs.  Bake in 350° for 45 minutes. 

© Crackerberries 2011

Brandied Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Brandied Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

¼ cup coffee brandy

1 cup raisins

¾ cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 eggs

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

Combine brandy and raisins and soak for at least ½ hour.

Preheat oven 375º

Cream together Crisco, brown sugar until fluffy; add eggs and vanilla and beat until well blended.  Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ground cloves and mix well then add to brown sugar/egg mixture.  Once all blended add oats and raisins and stir just to combine.  Drop by spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375º for 10 minutes.

Yield 57 cookies at 63 calories per cookie

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Cake Roll

Sweet Potato Cake Roll

One more sweet potato recipe...  ☺

¾ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp allspice

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup chopped pecans

Confectioner’s sugar

Combine flour, spices, baking powder and salt in small bowl.  In large bowl beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes and add sugar.  Stir sweet potatoes and lemon juice and add flour mixture and mix well.  Spread into a greased and floured cookie sheet (15”x 10” x 1”); sprinkle nuts on top and bake at 375º for 15 minutes. 

Turn out on towel sprinkled with Confectioner’s sugar and roll starting at narrow end.  Let cool completely and unroll and spread with filling; then re-roll.  Chill, slice and serve.

Filling: 

1 cup Confectioner’s sugar

6 oz cream cheese

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine in mixing bowl and beat until spreadable consistency.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — G

G is for God

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

God is good, God is great and His love we shall not hate. 

God is jealous, God is just and He will punish us for lust.

God is righteous, God is true and He is faithful to me and you.

God is King, God is Lord and His word is more powerful than a two-edged sword.

God is omnipotent, God is wise; our sin we cannot hide from His eyes.

God is foreknowing, God is here; He is Most High, whom we shall fear.

God created heaven, God created earth; He is the reason for our human birth.

God is long-suffering and gives us free will to choose eternal life or to choose evil.

God of the Bible, God has eternal power; His Son will return, which no one knows the hour.

God is unchangeable, He cleans our heart; confession of sin is the place to start.

God Almighty has vengeance and wrath; sin means death when we continue down that path.

God has mercy, He gave us His Son, to die for our sins and the payment is done.

Today is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be Thankful for; our Healthy-Lifestyle after we acknowledged the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Necessity of accepting Him for the Kindness He showed us with His Self-sacrifice.  For the Grace shown us each day when we fall under the chains of Idolatry and forget to remember the Vagabond showing Ignorance to God’s Word. For He is always faithful and true because without Him we are Nothing.  Thank You, God for everything.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — N

N is for Nothing

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

The day before Thanksgiving and I have nothing to write today.  I spent the whole day making nutritious and delicious appetizers and desserts to go with tomorrow’s dinner.  Look for recipes next week. 

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — I

I is for Ignorance

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Ignorance: the state of being ignorant; lacking knowledge; uninformed; being unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to others and having certain other kinds of knowledge that others know nothing about.

Ignorance gets a bad rap.  People use it as a slang term and treat it as though it means people are just plain stupid…goes to show how much ignorance we have in this world.  People strive for wisdom, they want to be smart. Think about how much money is spent every year on further education for people to better themselves with knowledge.  Think about this, the truth is all the knowledge in the world cannot save a person’s soul.  A person has to humble themselves and give up their pride, give up what the world says is true and what they want to believe and live for what the Bible says is true. 

Ignorance is not to be confused with ignoring.  Romans 10:3 for they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God.  True righteousness is a matter of faith.  We cannot pick and choose the parts of the Bible that we like and live by them and ignore the parts that we don’t like.  We cannot determine what parts of the Bible we think are true and what parts we think are not true.  We cannot say yes, we believe there is a God and create the kind of god we want for our lives.  God is a just and righteous God.  He forgives ignorance, but He hates pride and arrogance.  Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent Acts 17:30.  If we are truly living by faith and for God, then we will understand this mystery and not be ignorant.

We come in contact with ignorance every day.  We should be compassionate to these people and their lack of knowledge.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — V

Vis for Vagabond

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Vagabond:  a vagrant, a wandering, homeless person.

When I think of Thanksgiving, typically the four F’s come to mind: family, friends, food and football.  I think of watching the annual Macy’s Day parade followed by the Westminster Dog Show and topping the day off with a win by the Cowboys.  In most cases we eat too much, drink too much, spend too much on the meal and make too much food.

Every Thanksgiving starts the holiday shopping season, which lately seems to start sooner each year.  Commercialization is huge and everyone wants to make a buck and the people that are willing to spend the money have it made because those businesses are going to cater to them.  Personally I believe it is all just hype and they really aren’t saving a dime.  I love the people who go out shopping and come back saying, “Yeah, I saved this much money so I was able to buy this, this and this!”  Hello?  You didn’t save a dime because you spent it on something else. 

My heart goes out to those less fortunate.  I think of the people that cannot afford to buy a turkey and all the fixings.  I think about the people that don’t have a home to cook the turkey and all the fixings.  I think of the people that are alone and have no family to spend the holiday with.  This is a hard time of the year for so many people that are down and out, alone and depressed. 

James 1:27 says we are to visit the orphans and the widows in their trouble.  Deuteronomy 10:19 says “therefore love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”.  God sees no partiality.  We are to provide for the disadvantaged as away of following God’s example.

Too many people will grumble about the company they have coming, the food they have to cook for the company they have coming, the money they have to spend for the food they have to cook for the company that they have coming.  Then after it is all said and done they will grumble some more about all the mess they have to clean up after cooking the food that they spent so much money on to feed the company that came.  Too many people find fault and something to complain about instead of being content in whatever situation they are in.

There is always someone out there that is worse off than us and there is always someone out there that is better off.  Comparing ourselves to someone else is a waste of time and it serves no purpose.  Instead of agonizing over our external circumstances and what we have to do, we need to put our sights on someone less fortunate than ourselves and do something kind for them.  Invite them to join our family for dinner, bake them a cake or a pie, maybe it’s just a kind word or a smile or perhaps a hug.  One small gesture can mean something big to someone who is down and out.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

This concludes the sweet potato challenge.  Thank you to everyone who submitted recipes. 

1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potato

2 tbsp butter

3 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp flour

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp salt

½ cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 400º.  Mix all ingredients together in large bowl and blend with an electric mixer on med/high speed until well combined.  Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 400º for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350º and bake an additional 45 minutes longer.  You may want to cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil if they start to get too brown.  Remove from oven and cool on wire rake.  Serve with whipped topping and garnish with pecans if desired.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — I

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving

I is for Idolatry

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Idolatry: The worship of idols or gods supposedly dwelling in images or represented by them; excessive admiration or devotion.

Ephesians 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

I had to look into myself to effectively write this article.  As I looked around my desk area I was exposed to some of the items that would be considered idols; zebra knick-knacks, a huge pen collection, different colored stationary, to name a few.  They are items I can do without by all means, but they are things that I surround myself with at my desk and I seem to collect and hold value to.  Not something I am in any hurry to get rid of.

It is easy for me to look at people and presume what they idolize.  Men that spend their Sunday afternoons camped out on the couch obviously have a high regard for whatever sport they are watching on the boob tube.  Women that are adorned with oodles of jewelry and smell like they bathed in the latest new scent of perfume either have a self esteem problem or are trying to impress someone.  The teenager following his parents around in the grocery store clicking away at the device in his hand clearly would rather be somewhere else.  The three year old sitting in the shopping cart screaming at the top of her lungs for the green stuffed frog instead of the pink stuffed bear is providing her parents a teaching moment regarding idolatry.  The parent fails the test, idolizes the child’s desire, gives into her demands and thus the little girl learns in order to get her way, all she needs to do is scream.

Anytime we go against the Word of God, we are giving into idolatry.  The second commandment instructs us “You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…” Exodus 20:4-5  I remember when I first learned the Ten Commandments I was so proud of myself for the ones that I hadn’t committed.  Then I learned what Jesus said about the commandments and I came to realize that if we are completely honest with ourselves we have broken every commandment created.  The law was created so that we could see how we are sinners and recognize the need for our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

What do you idolize?   Is it an I-gadget: I-phone, I-pad, I-pod, or maybe it is a television show or a movie star or a singer or an athlete, or maybe its food or a diet or exercise, or how about your job, your car, your reputation in the community, or it could be as modest your spouse, your parents, your children?   Anytime something other than God is put first it is considered idolatry.  God is jealous and hates all types of idolatry.

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — G

G is for Grace

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Ask some people what grace means to them and these are the kinds of answers one might get, “She’s my Aunt from Alabama” or “it’s what you say before supper, ‘God is great, God is good and we thank Him for this food, amen’” and still others, “it’s how a deer runs through the forest, you know, with grace.”  All good answers and all correct in a sense.  I was looking for the definition that most people can’t fully understand and appreciate until they have gone through the conversion process of being born again.  Grace: a delay granted for payment or obligation.

When I really thought about this, I came to realize how truly blessed I am. My payment for sinning is death.  Before my conversion and my relationship with Christ I could have died and spent eternity in hell.  Just thinking about that wipes me out.  When I hear the song, “Amazing Grace” I cry every time because I totally understand how true it is and how amazing God’s grace really is.

I think this song pretty much sums it up.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — S

S is for Self-_________

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident.  Proverbs 14:16

Self: the identity or character of any person; one’s own person as distinct from all others; one’s own interests or advantage.

There are 74 “self-blank” words in the dictionary that I use.  I have incorporated 36 of them in this blog.  That has to say something for how important the word is itself.  Isn’t it so easy to look at a person and see how they are wrapped up in their self-importance?  They talk all about what they’ve done, what they are doing and what they are going to do.  Do you know people like that? 

When I first began this Twelve Days of Thanksgiving challenge I was not expecting the acronym to be so self-revealing.  I have learned so much about myself and now that we are on the “S-word” I don’t think there is a better word than “self-something” to plunge into. 

It is self-evident that I have been self-absorbed with this challenge.  I see how other people are self-occupied with their own self-conceitedness, but once I turned the word around on myself, I am guilty of the same self-centeredness that I blame others for.

I decided to take a look at myself to see how self-involved I was.  Once upon a time I was self-serving and my self-confidence was at a high level.  I was self-aggrandizing and I didn’t care who I stepped on.  I didn’t need anyone; I was self-sufficient and very self-satisfied.  Eventually my self-will and my self-interest became lonely and I realized that my self-made situation was all well if I wanted to spend the rest of my life by myself.  I started to get involved in self-abusive behavior and my self-catering began to take a toll on my self-control.  I was self-indulging more than I should have been and my self-seeking lifestyle was not healthy.  I needed to stop the self-deception and self-justification I created and gain control of my self-respect.

The first thing that had to happen was to lower my self-esteem and practice a little self-denial.  This was not self-acting on my part and although it took some self-determination, it all started with self-reproach.  After that the self-preservation process started and I became aware of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice. 

Today’s “S-Word” is somewhat self-opinionated.  I didn’t want to write it in a self-righteous tone but I think that it is important to step back and look inside ourselves.  We should always remember where we came from and how we got where we are.  And every once in awhile it is good to ask ourselves, “Self, what is your self-confession? What is your self-worth?” 

Deliberating ourselves at all, we should always look to the ONE who gave Himself for us.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross so that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  John 3:16.  That is the ultimate “S-word” self-sacrifice.  Thank You, God.  Amen.

© Crackerberries 2011