Marriage Conversations by Cathy Krafve

/ sandramervillehart / 2 Comments

From Co-existing to Cherished

What a wonderful book about communicating in marriage relationships!

Krafve compassionately tackles tough topics in her book such as divorce, abortion, pornography, self-worth, and the definition of marriage. She writes specifically to women yet men will also benefit from reading the book.

Krafve ends each chapter with thought-provoking sections geared to shift readers’ focus to their own situation: Understanding your needs, Identifying your worth, and Envisioning your future. I was touched by the prayers she has written for her readers at the end of every chapter.

I love the honesty in which the author shares examples from her own family to illustrate her points. Gems of wisdom are sprinkled throughout the book. Insightful advice on how to make small changes to improve communication makes it a great learning book.

I highly recommend this book to married and engaged couples seeking to improve their communication skills.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Cherry Cake

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

I’ve been watching The Great British Baking Show and learning a lot about dishes that are new to me. Even more helpful is The Great British Baking Show Masterclass, where talented bakers Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry demonstrate their own recipes.

Mary Berry demonstrated a recipe for cherry cake. I watched it a couple of times. It looked so delicious that I had to make it.

I didn’t find red glace cherries as suggested by Mary’s recipe so I bought maraschino cherries instead. I found a   recipe to make these candied for use in the cake. This took about an hour.

Once the candied fruit was cool, I sliced about a cup of them into quarters. This took a few minutes. I rinsed the quartered fruit, dried them with a paper towel, and then set them aside.

I had extra cherry juice left over from the maraschino cherries so I added ¼ cup of it to the batter. Otherwise, I followed the  recipe.

Unfortunately, my cake stuck to the Bundt pan even though I had buttered it well. Not well enough, apparently. Also, I think the cake needed to cool a few minutes longer so I’ll give it an extra half hour next time before turning it out.

The lemon icing was delicious with the cherry cake. Everyone who tried it enjoyed the flavor of the candied fruit that didn’t overpower the cake.

A very nice cake! I will bake it again.

I’m so glad I tried it. Let me know what you think if you make it.

Sources

“Cherry Cake,” PBS.org, 2020/11/243 https://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/cherry-cake/.

DIY Candied Cherries, King Arthur Baking Company, 2020/11/24

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/diy-candied-cherries-recipe.

Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week is February 1-7 in 2021. It’s an annual event held in the first week of February.

Authors and illustrators of children’s books from Children’s Authors Network (CAN!) tell stories and teach writing workshops at schools, libraries, and children’s shelters.

They hope to instill a love of books in the young readers.

As a novelist myself, I love this idea! I remember the first time I entered a library with my third-grade class. It thrilled me to see all those bookshelves lined with books in my elementary school’s library. Then I learned that students could check out two books to read and return them in two weeks—what a privilege! I didn’t know where to start. Thankfully, the librarian had suggestions.

If you have a young reader in your life and don’t know where to turn for wholesome, fun stories for them, here are a few suggestions:

Junie B. Jones Series by Barbara Park

Berenstain Bears Series by Jan Berenstain and Mike Berenstain

Otis the Tractor Series by Loren Long

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. Long

Magic Treehouse Series by Mary Pope Osborne

Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis

Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

Trixie Beldon Series by Julie Campbell

Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca

My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara

My Friend Bear by Jez Alborough

 Over the River by Derek Anderson

 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Donna Diamond

The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain and Andrew Glass

 Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy

 

Authors of children’s books:

Tasha Tudor

Max Lucado

Jill Roman Lord

Beverly Lewis

Dandi Daley Mackall

Michelle Medlock Adams

Kathie Lee Gifford

Burton Cole

Eddie Jones (geared to middle-grade boys)

Clyde Robert Bulla

Graeme Base

Roald Dahl

Parents, it’s a good idea to keep a watchful eye on what your children are reading. There may be inappropriate language or topics in books, even those found in the children’s section of the library.

I hope you find some gems for your child!

Sources

“Celebrate Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week,” Read Write Think, 2020/12/14, http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/celebrate-children-authors-illustrators-20675.htmlC.

 

“Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week,” childrensauthorsnetwork!, 2020/12/14, https://www.childrensauthorsnetwork.com/childrens-authors-and-illustrators-week.html.

 

A Rifle by the Door by Dan L. Fuller

/ sandramervillehart

What a great book!

Twelve-year-old Dave Foster is proud of the way his pa stands up to the men threatening him when he refuses to sell their ranch. Then his pa is shot in the back, leaving him and his older sister, Jenny, to face the future alone. They know nothing about surviving Colorado’s brutal winters. Jenny worries they’ll starve.

Help arrives when John Beck, an old friend of their father’s, comes to the ranch. Jenny isn’t certain they can trust the tough man who knows how to fight and handle a gun, but Dave figures they need him.

I love the characters in this book. John is complex, courageous, and keeps to himself. He’s as believable as the brave boy who finds himself in an impossible situation. Jenny is a Christian, and is as spunky as she is beautiful.

Told from the boy’s perspective, this story is filled with one adventure after another … as well as tragedy.

If you love Westerns, you will enjoy this story.

Definitely recommend! I will look for more books by this author.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Bash and the Chocolate Milk Cows by Burton W. Cole

/ sandramervillehart

Beamer stays at his aunt’s farm for a week and Bash, his adventurous cousin, is full of schemes. This just happens to be the week of April Fool’s Day. Bash doesn’t just plan tricks for the actual day and Beamer joins in on some of the planning.

One crazy prank follows the next as the boys and some neighborhood friends edge closer to their biggest trick of all—getting chocolate milk from cows on the farm!

I have to confess that snagged my attention, even as an adult. How were they going to pull off that trick?

This is a fun novel for elementary children.

One of the grils is thinking about getting baptized as the story talks about in the Farmin’ and Fishin’ Book (other folks call it a Bible) and it starts Beamer to thinking about it too.

The book is geared to children 8 – 12. As a chapter book, it also is a great book for parents to read to their children at bedtime.

I will look for more books by this author.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Christianbook.com

 

Keto Chocolate Mousse

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

I planned to make dessert for a family gathering over the holidays. My son-in-law, who has been following the Keto diet for months, asked me to make something he could eat without cheating.

Since I was making a frozen chocolate mousse pie for everyone else, I decided to make a version for him that he felt good about eating.

Searches online revealed lots of possibilities. I settled on a Quick Keto Chocolate Mousse, partially because I had all the ingredients in my fridge or pantry.

I melted unsweetened baking chocolate and used it instead of cocoa powder. My zero-calorie sweetener was Sweet’N Low because the package contained a great chart showing exactly how many packets equaled ¼ cup, 1/3 cup, ½ cup, and 1 cup of granulated sugar. The original recipe calls for ¼ cup powdered zero-calorie sweetener.

To ensure there was leftover dessert, I tripled the recipe.

What an easy dessert to prepare! My son-in-law was thrilled to enjoy chocolate mousse while everyone else ate pie.

You might prefer a different sweetener.

I’m so glad I tried it. Keto lovers, let me know what you think if you make it.

Sources

“Quick Keto Chocolate Mousse,” Allrecipes, 2020/11/26 https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/270598/quick-keto-chocolate-mousse/.

 

 

Winnie the Pooh Day

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Of all the characters in children’s books I’ve read, Alan Alexander Milne’s Winnie the Pooh may be my favorite. This character was based on the author’s son’s teddy bear. In fact, the boy’s collection also included a tiger, a donkey, a piglet, and two kangaroos. Christopher Robin, his son, is the boy in the stories. Owl and Rabbit lived only in Milne’s imagination … and now in ours.

Even the story’s setting is real—the Hundred Acre Wood is patterned after the Ashdown Forest near Milne’s East Sussex home. Milne walked through the woods with Christopher. E.H. Shepard, the books’ illustrator, used Ashdown Forest as inspiration for his drawings.

Readers sense the love and wisdom within the pages of Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner from a “Bear of Very Little Brain.” Christopher Robin is a sweet, compassionate boy with unending patience for the scrapes in which his best friend Winnie the Pooh finds himself.

Poor Eeyore is always gloomy yet lovable. Piglet is often afraid. Roo is always ready to play. Tigger is full of enthusiasm that grates on Rabbit’s nerves. All of them rely on the wisdom of Owl, who is perhaps not as wise as he thinks.

Milne created a lovable cast of everyday characters that live on today. Though he wrote humorous stories, plays, screenplays, poems, and a detective novel, it is his stories for children that have endured.

Yet Milne stopped writing children’s stories as his son, who had been an inspiration for them. grew older. The fame of the real Christopher Robin appalled his father. It was far more publicity than he desired for his young son.

A.A. Milne’s amazingly successful Winnie the Pooh made it difficult to write in other genres. He simply wanted to write whatever he wanted. That door closed.

Upon his death, the family received rights to his Pooh books as well as the Westminster School, the Royal Literary Fund, and the Garrick Club. Over the years, the beneficiaries eventually sold their interest to Disney Corporation.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame gave a star to Winnie the Pooh in 2006, an honor that Milne likely never imagined.

January 18th is known as Winnie the Pooh Day as a celebration of A.A. Milne’s birthday on that day in 1882.

Sources

“A.A. Milne,” Wikipedia, 2020/12/14, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._A._Milne.

“A.A. Milne: 5 Facts About ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ Author,” Biography, 2020/12/14 https://www.biography.com/news/winnie-the-pooh-author-biography-facts.

“Winnie the Pooh,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020/12/14 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Winnie-the-Pooh-childrens-stories-by-Milne.

 

Three Little Things by Patti Stockdale

/ sandramervillehart

Hatti Waltz comes to town to cheer for and say goodbye to local soldiers. It’s 1917, and Arno Kreger is one of the brave men heading for boot camp. She wishes she could forget him as easily as it seems he forgot her.

Arno wants to carry Hatti’s promise to write him. He wants to court her but her father doesn’t like him. He’s been warned away.

The war in Europe is against the Germans. Arno, an American with a German heritage, doesn’t have an easy time with fellow soldiers. His fists have landed him in trouble in the past, but that’s not the way to win Hatti’s heart.

This story highlights the conflict German-American soldiers faced on the home front and the power of letters to connect two hearts that long for one another.

The characters are believable with plenty of surprising twists that are true to the time. What intrigued me most was learning that the story is loosely set on the author’s grandparents.

A good book for lovers of American history and World War I.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Southern Gentleman by Yvonne Lehman

/ sandramervillehart

Book 2 of Finding Love in the Low Country series

Norah Brown just lost her sister in a tragic accident that also claimed the life of her sister’s boyfriend. Grief for both of them pales in comparison for their infant daughter, who must now grow up without them. Norah vows to take care of sweet Camille as she has done since the baby was born three months ago.

Thornton Winter lost his brother in the accident and he’s not about to shirk his duty to the niece he learned of as his brother lay dying. The beautiful Norah isn’t the type of woman his brother typically dated. No matter. He takes both of them into his home until custody is awarded.

Sparks fly as neither wants to give up Camille. Thornton believes Norah is the baby’s mother … why not allow him to keep believing it?

This story is tragic because of the real needs for the care of a little baby who will grow up not knowing her biological parents. It’s also thought-provoking, as both families want to raise her.

The characters are believable and likeable. There are twists and turns that kept me turning pages.

I’ve read other books by this author and she’s become one of my favorites.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Flaounes

/ sandramervillehart

 

by Sandra Merville Hart

I’ve been watching The Great British Baking Show and learning a lot about dishes that are new to me. Even more helpful is The Great British Baking Show Masterclass, where talented bakers Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry demonstrate their own recipes.

Paul Hollywood demonstrated a recipe for flaounes, a new dish to me. With the cheese filling baked with the pastry, it looked delicious. I watched him prepare the flaounes several times and wrote down all the instructions.

Finding the ingredients for this Cypriot pastry challenged me. I found Pecorino Romano cheese at a cheese shop while on vacation. The shop sold a wide variety of cheeses but I didn’t recall the name of the Halloumi cheese at the time. I found it later at a specialty grocery store.

Semolina flour is a new flour for me. My local grocer carries it.

I wasn’t able to find sultanas, which are made from green seedless grapes. I substituted raisins for sultanas.

Mahlepi, a Greek spice, wasn’t available in specialty grocery stores near more so I left it and the mastic powder out of my recipe. I’m certain this made a difference in the flavor, but I have to say it was delicious without them too.

Other than those differences, I followed his recipe. May I say that I appreciated his skills with pastry more than ever after making the dough. There is something to be said for years of experience.

Flaounes are a completely new flavor for me. The Halloumi cheese, a crumbly wet cheese, was also new to me.

The cheese filling really made the whole dish. It’s a filling lunch. I ate several bites before deciding that I really liked it.

I’m so glad I tried it. Let me know what you think if you make it.

Sources

“Flaounes,” BBC Food, 2020/11/23 https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pauls_flaounas_89782.

“Raisins vs Sultanas vs Currants: What’s the Difference?” Healthline, 2020/11/23

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/raisins-sultanas-currants.