Nancy on the Home Front

Book Review: Secrets of Willow Springs

Tracy Fredryshowski is a new author for me, although I have known Tracy for many years in the blogging community. When given the opportunity to read her second book ahead of the release date I jumped right in! It was my privilege to write this book review. Although I was given a copy of the book in exchange for writing the book review the thoughts and opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

If you enjoy reading Amish literature this is a book for you. Although this is the second book in the series you can read it as a stand-alone novel. Tracy does an excellent job of introducing all the characters in the book in the beginning. The main themes in the book are faith, family, love and forgiveness.

I enjoyed the book and once I started reading it I could not put it down. The characters are well developed and the story develops quickly. I don’t want to give anything away in case you read the book yourself but characters in Secrets of Willow Springs struggle with forgiveness throughout the book.

Forgiveness is a hard issue to deal with especially when someone played God with the character’s lives. Will they forgive and more importantly will they trust God in all of it?

Faith also plays a large part in the story, I enjoy reading stories about characters with a strong faith and the issue they deal with. They seem more true to life as they deal with many of the same issues that we ourselves may deal with.

If you are looking for a good book to read this December be sure to check out Tracy’s book, Secrets of Willow Springs, Book 2. Although you can read the book as a stand alone I would strongly encourage you to read Book One as well so you have a full understanding of the depth of the characters. Once you start reading you will not want to put the book down! I certainly hope Tracy Fredrychowski continues to write, she is a wonderful author and I look forward to reading more of her books.

White Chocolate Turtle Popcorn

This scrumptious mix of popcorn, pretzels and peanuts is covered with white chocolate and sprinkled with salted caramel sugar. It’s a perfectly simple recipe that’s great for gift giving, or to bring to your next Christmas gathering. This White Chocolate Turtle Popcorn is so good I can only make it when I know we’ll have company, or I’m planning to give it all away, otherwise I end up enjoying it all myself!

White Chocolate Turtle Popcorn

Ingredients:

60 grinds of Baker’s Secret Spice Blend
2 Tbsp. Salted Caramel Sugar
10 oz. White chocolate wafers (not white chocolate chips)
3 cups of mini pretzels
6 cups of popped naturally flavored popcorn
1 ½ cups honey roasted peanuts
Parchment paper for drying

Directions:

Melt the white chocolate wafers slowly in a double boiler over low heat, about 10-15 minutes. Break the pretzels into smaller pieces, lightly crushed. Pop your popcorn and pour the popcorn into a large bowl. Make sure you do not have any un-popped kernels. Add the peanuts and the pretzel pieces. Add the Baker’s Secret Spice Blend to the melted chocolate. Pour the melted chocolate over the popcorn mixture; use a spoon or your fingers to mix thoroughly. Lay the popcorn mixture in a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with the salted caramel sugar. Chill for 30 minutes and enjoy. Makes about 10 servings.

You can purchase salted caramel sugar from SpiceandTea.com or from KingArthur.com. The Baker’s Secret Spice blend can also be purchased from SpiceandTea.com. Baker’s Secret Spice Blend is a mixture containing cocoa nibs, vanilla turbinado sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

This simple white chocolate turtle popcorn mixture makes a perfect gift to give over the Christmas season. Who wouldn’t appreciate such a tasty treat? I know I would.

Buying Fresh Walnuts

Living in Western Oregon means we have access to fresh walnuts! Buying fresh walnuts is as simple as visiting the orchard just a few miles from our home.

We received an email that walnuts and hazelnuts were available for pickup only two weekends in November. I marked my calendar so we wouldn’t miss it! Years ago my stepsister used to send us fresh walnuts and they were so good.

Our friends in Eugene have their own walnut tree, which produces enough walnuts for their use. We’ve helped them with the cracking and picking stages.

After arriving at the orchard we found an abundance of fresh nuts. These nuts had been husked and dried. The choice was to have them cracked for us or take them home whole. We decided to have the nuts cracked for us which would make picking the meat out much easier.

Ten pounds of nuts filled a shopping bag! It was a rainy afternoon and picking through the nuts to extract the meat took less than a hour with two of us working.

Once the meat was separated we had about four pounds of walnuts! It was suggested that the walnuts be roasted to enhance their flavor and reduce the risk of food borne illness. To roast the nuts I spread them on a baking sheet, in a single layer and baked at 275 for 15-20 minutes. As you might imagine our kitchen smelled wonderful.

After allowing the nuts to cool I placed them in Ziploc bags to store in the freezer. I think we are set on nuts for a while! Hopefully I won’t use up too many over the Christmas holidays.

I can see that buying fresh walnuts will become a yearly tradition as long as the orchards stay in business and the trees are not cut down to make room for more developments!

Goal Setting Updates Week 48

We had a few beautiful days this past week. We took advantage of the sun to explore another park! I am so thankful for the opportunity to post my goal setting updates each week.

Continue to monetize my blog. Thanks to all of you who have checked out my page on Amazon! If you haven’t had the opportunity just click on the link and pay my storefront a visit! I would so appreciate it! Even if no purchases are made Amazon like to see traffic to my storefront! I do appreciate all of your support!

2. Create a cookbook. This goal is not going to be completed this year. Despite all the work I have put into this project I am realizing I have a lot of work still to do. This goal will be moved to my goals to complete in 2020!

3. Have 20 minutes of exercise at least 5 times a week. So nice to have this goal a part of my weekly routine. I’ve been faithful to go to my exercise class three times a week, I just love being able to walk there!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 1 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! Although we explored our tenth park this week I totally forgot to mention that we explored the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Preserve with our grandchildren the other weekend! It was a beautiful day and the perfect place to visit!

5. Incorporate 20 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. COMPLETED! Although this goal is completed I continue to try and focus on healthy eating at least most of the time. It can be a real challenge around the holidays. Recently we enjoyed the Beyond Meat Beyond Sausage with Cabbage. It was delicious. If you haven’t tried the plant based Beyond Meat they are wonderful.

6. Read 35 new books this year. COMPLETED! I am currently reading a book due to be released in December called Secrets of Willow Creek by Tracy Fredrychowski. I applied for and was accepted to the launch team which meant I got to read the book before it was published! Next week I’ll be sharing my review. I am really enjoying the book!

7. Complete ~~Four~~ knitting or sewing projects this year. COMPLETED! Finally finished the back of my latest project!

8. Visit family on the west coast. We’ve sent a lot of time with our immediate family here on the west coast. Next year I hope to visit more o my extended family!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ new museums in the area. COMPLETED! Such a fun goal to have completed! Really have enjoyed my weekly goal setting updates. These are the six museums I visited this year:

Tacoma Art Museum (week 5)
The Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum (week 28)
Shafer Museum (week 35)
The Lan Su Chinese Garden (week 44)
The Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals (week 46)
Columbia River Maritime Museum (week 47)
Guess it’s time to start working on my list for 2020!

10. ~~Find A New Home~~ COMPLETED! Wonderful to have this goal completed! Our new house is finally feeling much more like our home. We are looking forward to celebrating the holidays with our family!

“To reach a port, we must sail—Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.”
Franklin Roosevelt

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For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup

As I mentioned last week we’ve been enjoying a lot of vegetables from our CSA that we have never tried before. Along with our CSA order there are usually recipes included with suggestions on how to use the various vegetables found in our order. Recently one of the recipes was for a roasted carrot and fennel soup. I’ve used fennel in soup before and I love the taste. We also had a lot of carrots on hand so I decided to make this soup. It was delicious!

Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup

Ingredients:

1-2 medium fennel bulbs with fronds
1 pound of carrots, quartered lengthwise
1 medium onion, quartered
1 garlic clove
5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
½ tsp. Sugar
2 ½ cups chicken broth
2 ½ cup water
1 tsp. Fennel seeds

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degree F with the rack in the lowest position. Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1 Tbsp. and reserve. Discard the stalks and remaining fronds. Slice bulbs ¼ inch thick and toss with carrots, onion, garlic, 3 Tbsp. olive oil, sugar, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Spread in a 4 sided sheet pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Blend half of the vegetables in a blender with the chicken broth until very smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Repeat with remaining vegetables and water. Thin to your desired consistency with extra water and simmer for 2 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, grind fennel seeds in a grinder and stir into the remaining 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Serve soup drizzled with fennel oil and sprinkled with reserved fronds.

This soup was delicious and the perfect meal to enjoy on a cool, foggy, Pacific Northwest day.

Washboard Cookies A Perfect Gift

Who doesn’t enjoy a gift of homemade cookies? These old fashioned washboard cookies pack a big coconut and brown sugar crunch. Thin, sweet and crisp, these cookies are prefect with your afternoon cup of tea.

Washboard Cookies

Ingredients:

2 Cups of flour
½ tsp. Baking powder
¼ tsp. Baking soda
¼ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. Ground nutmeg
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. milk
8 Tbsp. butter (one stick)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In a small bowl whisk together the egg and the milk. With your mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg mixture and beat until well combined. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add the flour mixture and coconut and mix until just combined.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and using your well-floured hands shape the dough into a 15 inch log. Flatten the top of the log so that it measures 1 inch high and 3 inches wide. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 45 minutes or for up to two days.

Adjust your oven racks to the upper middle and lower middle position and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and cut ¼ inch slices and arrange the slices 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.

Dip a fork in flour, and then make crosswise indentations in the dough slices.

Bake until the cookies are toasty brown, 15-18 minutes, switching and rotating the cookie sheets halfway through baking. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.For your next gift basket give a container of these cookies, a mug and some tea, a perfect gift for the tea lover in your family.

Not Feeling Thankful?

Thanksgiving is a week away. Are you feeling like you need to work on being thankful? Just not feeling it this year? Sometimes it is so easy to see what we don’t have, but hard to focus on what we do have.

Maybe you are feeling like this has just not been your year and you’re a little depressed, you’re just not feeling thankful. Pull out your Bible and read Luke 22:14-20. This is the last supper, yet here Jesus is giving thanks. It’s the end of his life and He knows what lies ahead. He is gathered with his closest friends, yet he knows one of them will betray him. And here he is giving thanks. In the midst of all that was going on Jesus is giving thanks.

Maybe Jesus is just really thankful and it is so engrained inside of him he can find things to be thankful for no matter what the circumastance? Ultimately he knows the bread and wine come from God and He gives thanks. Knowing that God is at work he is able to give thanks.

There is another story during Lazarus’ death, Jesus arrives late and his friend Lazarus is already dead. What does Jesus do first? He gives thanks. Again he knows God is at work and is present.

As we look at our life we have to ask ourselves what do we believe about God? Do we believe that God is at work in our life? Is He present in the good times and in the bad times? If we believe that He is moving everything toward a good conclusion then that is where gratitude springs. It is not attached to the circumstances in our life.

Tropical Storm Irene's impact on the rivers in Vermont.

If you are wanting to feel more thankful here are a few suggestions.

Manage your expectations. Set realistic goals. If you believe you are owed then you are setting up yourself for disappointment. We have to approach our life realistically. Instead of longing for something you’ll never get understand what you can realistically have. Understand what life looks like for you at this time. Maybe you have kids in college or aging parents? This is where you are at this season of life.

Look down the ladder not up the ladder. There will always be someone who has fancier vacations or a bigger house. If you are always looking up you will never be satisfied. Instead look around you and you will realize just how much you have to be thankful for.

Find something to get your eyes off of yourself. Sometimes all we see is what is right in front of us. We just see our stuff. Sometimes you just need to help someone else. Get into their lives and you will find your life is transformed. Focus on serving someone else. When we serve others it changes us. It can help us feel grateful and at the same time affect other people’s lives.

Appreciate the little things. We often miss the little kindnesses in our life because we are focused on the big things. Instead of thinking you have no time to enjoy coffee with a friend instead be thankful that you have someone that wants to spend time with you!

Put down your phone and engage with real people! Our phones have become such a part of our life, but what is going on in your phone is not more important than the real people in your life. Screen time will not produce happiness, relationships will. Be thankful for the people that are invested in your life. Put down your phone and engage in the people around you.

Count your blessings. Stop for a moment and just number your blessings, start with people, go to things. Remember all the blessings in the past week or month or year. My husband and I have a blessings jar. Everyday we write down a blessing for the day. At the end of the year we pour all the blessings into a pile and re-read them. Talk about feeling blessed. It really changes your perspective on gratitude.

For the next week put a piece of paper on your fridge and for the days leading up to Thanksgiving write down as many blessings as you can think of. Be thankful for a roof over your head, for your family, etc.

When you focus on the blessings in your life you will find that gratitude changes your perspective. Not feeling thankful? Focus on your blessings and on others and change your perspective.

Goal Setting Updates Week 47

It’s been a much quieter week with a little time to actually focus on goal setting updates! We were finally able to visit the Maritime Museum which was well worth the drive to the coast and visit both the museum and Astoria.

Continue to monetize my blog. Thanks to all of you who have checked out my page on Amazon! If you haven’t yet just click on the link and pay my storefront a visit! I would so appreciate it! Even if no purchases are made Amazon like to see traffic to my storefront! I do appreciate all of your support!

2. Create a cookbook. This goal is not going to be completed this year. Despite all the work I have put into this project I am realizing I have a lot of work still to do. Guess it will be moved to my goals for 2020!

4. Explore ~~ten~~ 2 parks or hiking trails in the state of Washington or Oregon! No new hiking trails this week, with only two more parks or hiking trails to explore I’m really hoping to mark this goal completed before the end of the year. Goal setting updates keep me motivated, but I don’t always get the goals completed!

5. Incorporate 20 new recipes into our dinner plans with the focus on healthy eating. COMPLETED! finally made Carrot Fennel Soup this week. I got the recipe from our CSA it was delicious! I’ll be sharing the recipe soon!

6. Read 35 new books this year. COMPLETED! A book I have been waiting for for months finally came in to the library! I have only heard good reviews of Where The Crawdads Sing and I have to say it was a wonderful book. I couldn’t put it down while at the same time I didn’t want the book to end!

7. Complete ~~Four~~ knitting or sewing projects this year. COMPLETED! Managed to get a little more work done on my latest project.

8. Visit family on the west coast. We have been so busy with the immediate family we haven’t had any time to visit any extended family!

9. Explore ~~Six~~ new museums in the area. COMPLETED! Visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It was well worth the drive to Astoria, to visit this museum. If you ever find yourself in Astoria, Oregon I would highly recommend taking the time to visit this wonderful museum.

“Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.”
Brian Tracy, Eat that Frog

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site.

For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting Nancy On The Home Front.

Visiting the Columbia River Maritime Museum

We have been looking forward to visiting the Columbia River Maritime Museum for quite sometime. This past week we took advantage of the beautiful weather and drove to Astoria, Oregon to visit the museum.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum was founded in 1962 to preserve the rich maritime heritage of the entire Columbia River region. The museum has the largest collection of Pacific Northwest maritime artifacts in the country. They even have a boat that traveled all the way from Japan after the tsunami!

Founded by Rolf Klep, the museum showcases much of his artwork as well as an extensive display of the scrimshaw he collected.

I never realized just how violent the weather is at the mouth of the Columbia River. There is a wonderful exhibit that takes a look at the legendary Columbia River entrance, where the forces of the mighty Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean meet to create one of the most dangerous bar crossings on the planet. There is a dramatic interactive shipwreck map, which shows the terrible loss the wind, and waves have caused over the last 200 years.

Included with your ticket price is a tour on the Lightship Columbia, a national historic landmark. Beginning in April 1965 – 1979, the Columbia was stationed 5.3 statute miles from the mouth of the Columbia River. It served as a floating lighthouse, making the approach to the Columbia River.

Another exhibit in the museum is a life-size coastguard boat shown rescuing a person in the water. I am thankful for the coast guard and their diligence in protecting those at sea. I couldn’t imagine rescuing people in such conditions!

If you ever find yourself in Astoria, Oregon visiting the Columbia River Maritime Museum is well worth exploring. There are may exhibits that will interest both the young and old.

Simple Winter Vegetable Soup

Many people neglect the great vegetables of winter. Left to their simplicity in this soup, root vegetables have never tasted so good! I took advantage of the various winter root vegetables that have been showing up in our weekly CSA and made a batch of simple winter vegetable soup that will feed us all week! The recipe makes about 8 cups.

Simple Winter Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. butter
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, quartered and sliced
8 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 turnip, rutabaga or kohlrabi, peeled and diced
1 celery root (celeriac), peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Celery seed
Juice from ½ lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large soup pot; add the onions and the carrots. Cook, stirring often, over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the broth, potato, turnip, celery root, bay leaf, celery seed, and lemon juice and simmer for 20-30 minutes. The vegetables should be nice and tender. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

I imagine this soup would freeze well although we managed to enjoy it without having to freeze any!

Having a CSA has been so much fun. We have ended up trying so many vegetables that we never have eaten before! For example until we received a celery root or celeriac in our weekly order I had never cooked or even eaten one before! Not sure I even had noticed one in the grocery store. Recently I cooked one celery root with potatoes, and then mashed everything up, the mixture was delicious!

You could make a simple winter vegetable soup with whatever vegetables you have on hand. Feel free to substitute what you like or what you have on hand. Don’t be afraid to try something new you might be pleasantly surprised!