0 My "Here Comes Summer " List

Sometimes when I haven't gotten to talk to a friend for a while and we have lots of things to catch up on, I start a list before we get together of topics I don't want to forget to discuss.  I don't know if you are like me when you start talking with people you love, and one conversation leads to another, and you realize that you have 2 or 3 (or 8) conversations going at once.

Making a list prior to getting together is sometimes helpful for me. My brain is too full to have a mental list so I usually have to have a written down list.  These lists usually include things about which I need to hear an update, or things I want to share with a friend (something I learned, or tasted or cooked that I want to pass along), or sometimes it's advice I need about something.  Most of the time it includes sharing, collaborating and passing along.

I've been thinking about this blogging hobby and there are times that it seems pointless in the midst of the 3,000 other food blogs out there and the little amount of "hobby time" that I have.  But one of the main reasons I do this is to share the things from life (and kitchen) and the tips and pitfalls I'm discovering along the way.  This feels fun and purposeful.  This week as I was thinking about what I wanted to write on the Blog, I kept adding to a list of what has inspired me, or things I enjoyed and wanted to pass along.

So, here are a few of the things that are on my mind this week, as I am preparing for the end of the school year and beginning of summer.  (They range from a book I'm loving, to a beauty product I've found, to a summer parenting tool, to yummy treats).

1.  I love that during summer I have more time to read!  I have been reading a book that has been so centering that I wanted to share with you.  It is called  Here and Now: Living in the Spirit, by  Henri Nouwen. I have quoted him on this blog before.  He was an incredible writer, thinker and man of God.  I am continually blessed by his writing.  I find that no matter what I read of his, it is fresh, relatable, honest, deep, simple and yet profound.  I am sad that I am near the end of this book.  Thankfully, he wrote about 40 books!

One quote from the book about Living in the Present is, "God is always in the moment, be that moment hard or easy, joyful or painful."  I need that reminder.







2. I made Brazilian 
Limonada this week for a Fish Taco Fiesta we had.  Zippy and refreshing! Summer in a glass! I posted about it a couple of years ago, but wanted to mention it again.

3.  Summer refreshment makes me think about a great skin product that  I have recently discovered: Origins VitaZing Cream.  Do you know about it?  It's pretty amazing! It is 15 SPF sunscreen, moisturizer AND it is tinted-by-chemical reaction to your skin.  So, it works with your skin. I don't get it, but it is pretty great. (The employee told me it was what other product companies are calling BB Cream - I trust Origins more, and they have a money back guarantee that drug store brands don't).   It was recommended to my friend Amy, when we went to Origins in January, and then for Mother's Day, Dave bought me an Origins gift card with a couple of samples, one of the VitaZing.  I am sold! It's a great product for this time of year!

4. My friend Sharon has been posting on Instagram this month "Milkshake Mondays" at her house.  Every week they make a different flavor.  How fun is that?? Last week was Lemon Meringue, the week before was Chocolate Peanut Butter, I think.   I love it.  This is a tradition my household would really appreciate.  Sharon told me today that this week might be Strawberry because she went Strawberry Picking and has some berries on hand.

4. (part 2) (see what I mean? one topic leads to another topic)

In our part of the country it's Strawberry Picking Time!  I really hope I get to go this week.  I was supposed to go with a couple of friends last week, but one of the friend's sons got sick and we had to cancel.  If you haven't been picking, I encourage you to do it.  I talk about it HERE.  My sister got some and made some fun recipes this week with her berries: muffins and pop tarts!

5.  Speaking of friends with great ideas,  my friend Laura brought these delicious M & M Cookie Bars to a college lunch we had and they were the winning dessert- hands down! I asked for the recipe and she sent it to me.  It is simple and super delicious!  I made them for the end of the year party for my 5 year old's Preschool class - they look like a celebration and are easy to transport.  I then made them again when a friend came for dinner for my family to enjoy.  They were the "Goody on the Cake Stand" or Featured Dessert at our house this week.

5. (part 2)  By the way, this "Goody on the Cake Stand" is referencing the domed cake stand on the end of my counter that contains whatever the baked good of the day/week is.  It keeps the goody covered, and yet visible to those in the house.  My mother started doing this years ago and I adopted it. There are some people (including my father in law who claims to not be a "dessert person") who after coming into the house and exchanging greetings, make their way over to see what's under the dome.

6.  And one last thing. As summer is on our heels, I needed to get a system in place to help manage the pending chaos, positively motivate the troops to do their tasks (chores sounds so dreadful, I like to call them tasks), and do some brainwork this summer.  Lainey has had a system in her class at school this year that has been very effective that we are adopting.  It's a reward cards system and they get a "punch" with each action that is deemed worthy.  When the card of 20 spots is filled, they can choose a reward. We are calling it Summer Rewards.  I made a list of Punch-Earning Items and Rewards.  We will continue to add to the lists, I'm sure.  I unveiled it to them this weekend and so far they are pretty excited and motivated.

I love that they added "pillow fight" to the list of rewards!
(I got the punch cards at the Parent-Teacher store- 35 for less than $4, though you could absolutely make them from card stock.  I just thought the printed ones might make it seem more "official".)

Oh and another thing I forgot...meal planning strategies! I'll have to wait on that one- too much to say! Maybe next week, I'll write about my plan for getting dinner on the table every night.


I'm thankful for the summer days ahead and the change of pace from the breakneck speed, homework, choir, basketball, lunch packing to; more time to be with my kids, read books, cook tasty food, take lots of walks and hopefully, relax.

Detail: My "Here Comes Summer " List

0 Lemon Berry Trifle: A Mother's Day Tribute

I have been baking and cooking a good bit lately and have had a hard time knowing what to post about this week.  I thought maybe a dessert, since it has been a few posts since I’ve written about sweet stuff.  I also thought I might write about something Mother-inspired.  Then it hit me – I have to write about the Lemon Berry Trifle! 

Trifles remind me of my mom.  And the making of this special trifle was done with a young friend who has a great mom.

Trifles are redemptive.  Trifles can be made out of broken brownies or torn apart cakes, or overdone cookies, or dry muffins, (or a freshly baked cake).  But when put in a pretty dish and layered with a little love and yumminess, something beautiful and delicious is created.  Mothers have the ability to do this too.

My mom has a trifle philosophy in life: When your cake sticks to the pan and falls apart, make a trifle; when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When you are feeling left out, include someone else. When you know how to do something, teach someone else (don’t keep it to yourself).

These philosophies have shaped me and on this day, I celebrate the impact that she has had on my life!

I was brainstorming with my friend Amy G. a couple of months ago about how I might could earn some extra money for my upcoming trip to India.  (I am preparing to go see some friends who live there with a small team from my church).  As we were brainstorming she asked if I would be willing to do a private baking lesson with her 10 year old daughter, Mary Grace, as a fundraiser.  I said I would love to do that.  I told her to talk to M.G. about what she might like to bake and to have her email me.  She is very into baking and watching cooking shows on TV (especially the cupcake ones).  When I got her email I was tickled and amazed at her culinary ambition.  She wanted to make red velvet equestrian cupcakes and a fruit trifle with a berry compote, “whatever that is”, she said. 

It was a good thing we had several hours, because we got serious.  We made both of these requested desserts and had a grand time.  Mary Grace is a great cook and was excited to try some new techniques.  (I think zesting was her favorite.  We zested the lemon for the pound cake and she enjoyed it so much she wanted to zest other things.  We ended up using it to shave chocolate for top of the cupcakes. She called it chocolate zest).

For the trifle, I suggested we make a pound cake and flavor it lemon.  She agreed.  So, we used my standard sour cream poundcake recipe and substituted a carton of lemon lowfat yogurt for some of the sour cream, and added the shaved zest of one lemon.  The cake was DELICIOUS! M. G. had seen her mom slice open the cake horizontally when making a shortcake, so we did that, and then broke the cake into pieces.

 

Meanwhile, we made a compote.  We did some researching about compotes and which would be good with this combination of flavors.  We decided on a blend of blueberries, strawberries and lemon. (P.S. it's strawberry season, make the most of it).

Then we made some fresh whipped cream and sliced some strawberries. 

And then we worked together to layer. 

It was a lovely trifle.

My mom’s trifles usually have a layer of pudding.

I have made trifles with a layer of yogurt blended with sweetened condensed milk.  You really can’t go wrong.  You just need some kind of bready/cakey layer, some kind of gooey layer and some whipped cream. It is versatile and beautiful and can be decadent (with chocolate and candy bars) or light (with fruit).  It has lots of textures and its own kind of serving dish.  What’s not to love about a trifle?

When I was talking to M.G.’s mom about this experience, she said as much as she likes to cook and contribute to her daughter’s cooking skills, M.G.  sometimes wants to go “beyond her ”.  She said, that’s where she benefits from having others get involved who enjoy this more and are skilled in a different way than her.  I so appreciate that and agree.  There are times you need another personality or skill-set to come in and invest in your child.  I believe that is a great strength in parenting – when you can see the gaps you have and seek others to supplement.

I am thankful to those women who have done this for me with my kids and continue to do so.  I believe it takes a village.

Happy Mother’s Day! Today I am thankful for my mom, who poured her life out for my sister and me, and continues to generously give us so much of herself.  I am thankful for my grandmothers from whom I learned much about loving and serving people.  I am thankful for Dave’s late mother who taught him how to love and serve – for that my children, I and so many others are blessed. And I am thankful for all the other women who have filled in the gaps and have invested in my life and the lives of my children... even with our broken pieces.

Detail: Lemon Berry Trifle: A Mother's Day Tribute

0 Brazilian Limonada

Do you ever find a recipe that is so tasty that you find yourself thinking about how and when you can fit it into your menus for the week, who you can share it with, or how you can justify making it?

This is the case with this Brazilian Lemonade. My friend, Melissa S., was coming to have pizza with us last spring and brought the stuff to make this recipe.  She had seen it online and had been wanting to make it.  She knew I would love it.  And she was right. 

I need to share my angst about the name of this beverage. When Melissa told me it was called Brazilian Lemonade, but was made with limes, I was perplexed.  I asked her if she was sure it wasn't called Brazilian Limeade.  She showed me the recipe from the blog where she found it, and I told her I couldn't do it!  I just can't call a thing what it is not.  So, I decided to do a little further research.  I googled around and found that in other places online there was discussion about why brazilian lemonade was made with limes.  The information I gathered was that in Portuguese a lemon is "lima" and lime is "limão".  This made some sense to me.  I also read that limes are much more prevelant in Brazil than lemons.  In addition ironically, in Brazil, some people call this recipe "Swiss Lemonade".  Naturally!  One place I found it called Limãnada, (pronounced LEE-mah-na-tha).   This made more sense to me than Lemonade.  So maybe it's not Lemon-ade, nor Lime-ade, but rather, a truer pronunciation of Limonada, reflecting its Brazilian origin.

I felt much better.  Now I call it Brazilian Limonada (or sometimes Brazilian Limonade) and I make it as often as I can justify it.  Now I just have to work on saying it with a straight face, as I shift from my southern accent to my Brahhzzillian accent in one sentence – (from Shelby of Steel Magnolias to Gloria of Modern Family).  "Hey y'all, do ya want me to make some Brazilian Limãnada tonight?" It makes me think of my witty friends Angela and Ray, who lived in Chile for a while after we finished college.  We always laughed as Angela told stories about Chile (pronounced Chee-lay as opposed to our incorrect pronunciation of Chill-E).  She would dramatically flip back and forth between her Tennessee and Chilean accents and we would all die laughing.  

The ingredients to this recipe are super simple but special. Are you ready for this? Limes, sugar, water and sweetened condensed milk (the nectar of the gods).  What is it about sweetened condensed milk? It makes everything better!  My favorite banana pudding calls for it.   Cold Coconut cake, I recently posted, is delicious because of this great ingredient. Coffee is better with it.  [There is a wonderful local coffee spot in downtown Nashville, Crema, that has a coffee drink called a Cuban.  The first time I went there I was told I must get the Cuban- it's espresso, steamed milk and sweetened condensed milk! It is ridiculous! I have been many times in the years since and I can't seem to bring myself to NOT order it.] Simply stated, sweetened condensed milk just seems to make everything better.

Back to the Brazilian Lime Drink.  

It's delicious! 

It is easy, and so creamy, zippy, and unique! 

I wanted to post it this week, in honor of Spring and the upcoming Cinco de Mayo.  It's a great non-alcoholic, warm-weather drink for your mexican fiesta, or just about any event.

Brazilian Limonada

4 juicy limes (ones with thin, smooth skins are the juiciest and the thin skin cuts down on the chance of your drink being bitter)

1 cup sugar


6 cups cold water


6 Tbsp. sweetened condensed milk

Make a “simple syrup” or “sugar water” by mixing cold water and sugar in a large jar or liquid measuring cup very well until sugar is dissolved. Chill until ready to use. (This step can be done ahead of time.)

Wash limes thoroughly with soap. Cut the ends off the limes and then cut each lime into 8ths.

Place 1/2 of the limes in a blender.

Add 1/2 of the sugar water into a blender, place the lid on the blender, and pulse 5 times. Place a fine-mesh strainer over a pitcher and pour the blended mixture through the strainer and into the pitcher. Use a spoon (or your hand) to press the rest of the liquid into the pitcher. 

Dump the parts of the limes left in the strainer into the trash. 

Repeat with the remaining limes and sugar water. Stir together. 

Add sweetened condensed milk. 

Test it. You may want to dilute it with water if it’s too thick or sweet for your liking. If it’s bitter, just add some more sugar and maybe a little more milk. 
 

Serve immediately over lots of ice.

Call it what you want to, attach it to any culture you would like: Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, or the United States. Use a Portuguese accent if you'd like, or a southern drawl.  But whatever you do, don't omit the sweetened condensed milk! 

Detail: Brazilian Limonada

0 'Tis the Season for Wrap-Making

Seasons.  I am so thankful that there are seasons in life.  I know in Tennessee, we really get to experience all of the seasons of the year while in other parts of the country/world the shift is not as obvious.  There is great therapeutic value for me in living life by seasons.  Forming and maintaining rituals in these sections of the year gives me something to look forward to and to ground me.  Robert Fulghum, in his book From Beginning to End: the Rituals of Our Lives states,
"... for everyone of us, there is still an annual cycle of personal seasons.

A productive time and a fallow time.

A time to generate new ideas and a time to make them work. 

A time to invest and a time to sell.

A time to get organized and a time to let go. 

A time to get in shape and a time to be lazy. 

This paradoxical swing of the rhythmic pendulum of life is not to be ignored or disallowed."

Spring is my favorite. I am so thankful for the vibrant green of grass and trees and the blossoming of flowers, the wearing of flip flops, and enjoying being outside.  

This week I have been engaging in some of my springtime rituals. It is April and that means it's time to plant.  So, we have tended our little garden, and bought ferns to hang on the front porch. We have planted some things and we'll see what happens.  (Last year I wrote about my very amateur gardening skills. READ HERE if you want to hear how a not-very-green-thumb gardens.) When I start to feel overwhelmed by the pending weeding and watering of the next few months and am tempted to call the garden thing off, I remember last year and the bounty that our little garden produced.

Having jars of Zinnias and daisies to have in my house, take to people, and even put on a friend's fall birthday cake make it worth it!

and tomatoes for days... 

this bounty was the harvest from our garden before the first fall frost

And Spring also means fun, zippy, fresh food.
This past week
I made my first Key Lime Pie of the season.
When Becca made Baked Alaska for Easter Lunch and used 1/2 dozen egg whites and left a nice bowl of egg yolks for me, I was inspired to make the Key Lime, since it calls for lots of yolks.  (If you are ever in a similar situation, where you have remaining yolks, hang on to them and make a key lime pie!)  Asher and Dave were especially happy.




And I made some WRAPS for lunches, and it made me excited about picnic food.  My sister brought a couple of creative wraps over from a sandwich shop last Friday and we split them: one was a turkey strawberry wrap and one was hummus and veggie.  Lucy loved the veggie one with crunchy lettuce and cucumber being her favorite parts and I especially loved the turkey strawberry one.  It prompted me to make some for lunches this week. A wrap seems much more exciting than an average sandwich, don't you agree?

Dave has been a wrap fan for years! When we would go on vacation, Dave would always ensure that we had tortillas so that he could wrap up whatever was leftover from dinner into a tortilla and heat it up for a midnight snack!  We are believers in throwing all kinds of things into a wrap!

Here's what I do.
Open my fridge and pull out every POSSIBLE thing that I could put in a wrap, look in my fruit bowl and see if there are any fruits of vegetables that could work,
and think about what flavors would be compatible,
and then pile all of those items into a tortilla,
and wrap them up,
and there you have a tasty, convenient, transportable meal!
I tend to like wraps that are like a hand-held salad.

Last summer we were having sandwiches and salads for a dinner meeting at church.  I thought of making wraps because you can make them beforehand without ruining the bread and they seem a little more exciting for a dinner sandwich.  It worked out.  They were a hit – with kids and adults.

You can make them really basic or get creative and more gourmet!
You can make them all the same or custom make them and label them when you pack them up.
You can serve them with different dipping sauces.
You can make big ones and cut them in 1/2 or you can make regular sized ones.

I must give credit to my dear friend Connie who taught me much about picnic-ing.  Back when we would go to the park or go to the YMCA to swim and picnic, Connie taught me.  She picnicked in a big way.  She brought leftover pasta for us to share, and she brought wraps for the kids, often times.  She brought containers of cut fruit: melons, berries, whatever she had.  She brought plates and forks and served the meal.  It was so much more exciting than individually wrapped PB and Js. I adopted her picnicking practices immediately!  It's fun when you picnic with friends and you both do this.  Melissa and I will coordinate as to who's bringing the main dish, who's bringing which fruit, and who has time to make a batch of cookies to bring.  We find that our kids would rather eat what their friends have in their picnic than what they brought (no matter what it is), so we might as well do this "family style".


Here are 4 wraps we love.


1. Smoked Deli Turkey/Havarti Cheese/ Green Leaf Lettuce
with honey mustard on the side for dipping.

2. The Manly Wrap with co-jack cheese, turkey and bacon.

3. The Grilled Chicken Salad Wrap

This week we had some leftover grilled chicken tenderloins from dinner.  I added salad greens, cucumbers, apples and crumbled goat cheese, salt and pepper.  (I tossed the meat with some balsamic viniagrette before putting it in the wrap so that it wouldn't get the wrap soggy by pouring on the dressing, but would add the touch of dressing to the mix. It worked.)

 grilled chicken tossed with vinaigrette 

4. And my PBPB&S (Peanut Butter, chopped Peanuts, Bananas, and Strawberries) – inspired by strawberry season last year! (Or it's delicious without bananas- it's like PBJ on steroids)!

So in honor of spring. Plant something, make a key lime pie, make some wraps, and by all means, have a picnic!  I suggest you look deep within your fridge and start pulling stuff out that looks like the makings of a sandwich: meat, cheese, cream cheese, lettuce, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dressings, condiments, etc. and see what creative concoction you come up with.

wrapped and ready for a picnic

Detail: 'Tis the Season for Wrap-Making

0 Anticipating Easter: Lent and Sweet Potato Biscuits

This wednesday is Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar. It marks the beginning of the 40 days of Lent, which end with Easter.  I didn’t grow up in a denomination that celebrated or honored Lent. We just by-passed all of that and focused on Easter.  We bought new, fancy, spring dresses and white shoes (or sandals) to wear on Easter Sunday when people came out of the woodwork to join us at church.  During college I became aware of Lent and the season of anticipation of the days leading up to Christ’s trial, death, burial and then resurrection!   After college I began attending a church that had a Good Friday service.  This was insightful, in that it was a somber (uncomfortably so) service where we pondered – through song and word– the weight of the death of Jesus.

Easter had never felt so anticipated, relieving, and celebratory. 

So, when I began to consider participating in Lenten practices, I started with daily readings leading up to Easter and attempting to fast, or "give up something” during these days.  I used to say, jokingly, that I would give up smoking…(because I’m not a smoker)! I have had varying success/revelation/failure/struggle throughout the years with “giving up” things for Lent.  I have fasted from chocolate, coffee, caffeine, dessert (the hardest by far), and a “words fast” – fasting from gossip, complaining, judging, etc. 

Some of the past few years, I have felt like my life has been one big LENTEN FAST- with young children and an intense job, and a household to keep.  I feel that my every day life is a sacrifice!

Therefore, it's hard to feel inspired to fast from yet another comfort.

Then I begin to ponder what the point of Lent really is.   In my “researching” I have found that the answer to that can really vary.  Some people seek, through observing Lent, to align with Christ, who sacrificed his very life.  Some people use it as a time to cleanse their lives physically, mentally and spiritually.  Some people use it as a time to LEAN on God in a greater way by making sacrifices personally and meditating on Christ's life. Some people use it as a time to meditate and reflect on their own life in relation to Jesus and the gift of His death.

Fredrick Buechner, a favorite author of mine, beautifully explains the season of Lent from his perspective in his book, Whistling in the Dark:

In many cultures there is an ancient custom of giving a tenth of each year’s income to some holy use.  For Christians, to observe forty days of Lent is to do the same thing with roughly a tenth of each year’s days.  After being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus went off alone into the wilderness where he spent forty days asking himself the question what it meant to be Jesus. During Lent, Christians are supposed to ask one way or another what it means to be themselves.

If you had to bet everything you have on whether there is a God or whether there isn’t, which side would get your money and why?

When you look at your face in the mirror, what do you see in it that you most like and what do you most deplore?

If you had only one last message to leave to the handful of people who are most important to you, what would it be in twenty-five words or less?

Of all the things you have done in your life, which is the one you would most like to undo?  Which is the one that makes you happiest to remember?

Is there any person in the world, or any cause, that, if circumstances called for it, you would be willing to die for?

If this were the last day of your life, what would you do with it?

To hear yourself try to answer questions like these is to begin to hear something not only of who you are but of both what you are becoming and what you are failing to become.  It can be a pretty depressing business all in all, but if sackcloth and ashes are at the start of it, something like Easter may be at the end.

Last year, I wanted to involve my children in the season of Lent without legalistically requiring them to fast from something, when it’s not their choice. (I really don’t want to turn them off from this sacred season).   I contacted my friend Emily, who is always brimming with creative ideas for intentional parenting and celebrating.  She immediately sent me photos and reflections from this crown of thorns ritual they practice in their home.  We did it last year and it was profound.  I expect that the second time around it will be as well. (A little different, but equally stunning).

We placed a styrofoam wreath on the table, to be kept during the 40 days of Lent, with a cup of toothpicks nearby.  Each night at dinner, those at the table had the chance to confess sin from the day.  When they did so, they placed a toothpick in the wreath, symbolizing the thorns in the crown of Jesus on the cross.  It was uncomfortable to do this – on many levels– (being aware of the sin in our hearts, the physical placing of the thorns in the crown, and the admitting of sin out loud).

This is an especially vulnerable feeling when done with guests at the table.  (We warned them that we would be sharing and invited them to participate in whatever way they felt most comfortable…we didn’t want to impose this radical ritual on our guests)!

Last year when we did this we found that as the days progressed, we became increasingly more aware of our sin throughout the day and even began to see patterns of our repeated sins. 

The glorious part of this ritual is that on Easter morning, before the children awoke, I removed all of the thorns and replaced them with spring flowers!  When they came down to breakfast, they found that the thorns of our 40 days of sin had been replaced with beautiful, vibrant flowers!

  

Lucy was so excited she stuck the wreath on her head as a crown!
At first I told her to take it off, and then I realized that she was
embracing the joy of this beautiful redemption.

Another beautiful gift last Easter was that my friend Blair, introduced these lovely sweet potato biscuits to us, at our Easter feast! We host an Easter dinner/lunch each year for people who are in town and need a place to go.  It's a fun and unpredictable event.  I will go into the details more in the coming weeks, and share some of our favorite food traditions of Easter! But as I was reflecting on last year's Easter Season, the wreath of toothpick thorns and the sweet potato biscuits are the two new traditions that were introduced, that we are excited to repeat this year.

In case you came here today looking for a recipe, rather than a spiritual guide, here is a winner of a recipe!  The recipe is from Blair, via her mom, via Southern Living Magazine (always a good sign).

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 large sweet potato

2 cups self-rising flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbsp shortening

2 Tbsp butter, cut up

1/3 cup milk

Bake sweet potato at 350 for 1 hour or until tender; cool slightly. 

Peel and mash; cool.

Combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. 

Cut shortening and butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender or a fork until crumbly; add mashed sweet potato and milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3-4 times.  

Pat dough out into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick; cut into 12 pieces, then gently shape them into a circle with your hand, (or cut with a 2 inch round cutter). 

Place on a baking stone or a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.


Makes 1 dozen

This week, the season of Lent begins, and I am excited to have a focus during these days of winter. Communal confession and sweet potato biscuits are part of what I anticipate might make this season special to me.  What about you??

Detail: Anticipating Easter: Lent and Sweet Potato Biscuits