A Pearl On My Career String

Well it's been an interesting ride here a Liberty... God has blessed me with a job that challenges me on a daily basis and at times I feel like quitting my doggie-paddle and just downing but it's something like this that makes me feel special. My name Candace Lumpkin in a news article about my app... well at least the work i put into creating this app. :) So I'm proud... it's one line but hey!

Read here!

Baby Mae

Oh how much I am in love with new 2^nd cousin… it’s my first time ever meeting a second cousin! Thank you Britt for letting us hold and cuddle with your sweet daughter Mae!

So enjoy some pictures that will melt your heart… she certainly melted mine!

I think I now have a little bit of baby fever but I know that God will give us our own sweet baby when the time is right! Something to look forward to right?! Please give me patience Lord!

It's Complicated

Can I fully recommend It's Complicated with no reservations? No... but off the record YES! So funny, real, and for the cook inside me inspiring. Every time I watch something to do with cooking or a cooking store I get inspired. In It's Complicated Meryl Streep makes Croque Monsieur and Chocolate Croissants - I'm now inspired to be a french chef even more. My pipe dream... to go to Le Cordon Bleu! Yes to crack eggs with one hand, make pastries from scratch, make creamy sauces - and never feel bad about eating it! Like I said it's a dream... so I'll make fun and creative delicious food in moderation.

So this week my cooking challenge to myself is Croque Monsieur! I will NOT feel bad when I partake in this yummy French dish!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• 12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 16 slices white sandwich bread, crusts removed
• Dijon mustard
• 8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small saucepan and add the flour all at once, stirring with a wooden spoon for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the butter–flour mixture and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce is thickened. Off the heat add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, 1/2 cup grated Gruyere, and the Parmesan and set aside.

To toast the bread, place the slices on 2 baking sheets and bake for 5 minutes. Turn each slice and bake for another 2 minutes, until toasted.

Lightly brush half the toasted breads with mustard, add a slice of ham to each, and sprinkle with half the remaining Gruyere. Top with another piece of toasted bread. Slather the tops with the cheesesauce, sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere, and bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and lightly browned. Serve hot.

Halloween Pictures

So they are a little late but here are the Halloween pics! :)

Yummy-ness!!!

Here are some of my favorite recipes as of late.

Favorite discovery of the month – homemade hot chocolate!! I have always used the mix – you know heat up the water or milk and stir in the dry chocolate mix. Easy – still good – but compared to my new hot chocolate I will never buy mix again!!

So here it is – my recipe. I actually made this one up! Believe me you will never want hot chocolate mix again!

1/3 boiling water

1/3 coco powder

A little less that 1/3 sugar

3 ½ cups of milk

1 cup mini marshmallows

Boil the water in a pot. Once is it boiling turn down the heat and add the coco powder and sugar, continue to stir, and bring to a soft boil. Once you have a thick chocolate mixture add the milk, stirring continually. One the milk is very hot – try not to boil – add the marshmallows and stir till the marshmallows are melted into the hot chocolate.

Pour into your favorite coffee cup and enjoy! I like to add more marshmallows and whipped cream to the top. To make it extra yummy stick a peppermint stick in!

Another delicious recipe is Chicken and Broccoli Casserole! Amazingly yummy, filling, and just plain satisfying!! This is an easy to make dinner after work – I recommend it!

10 ounce bag of frozen broccoli

10 ounces of reduced fat cream of chicken soup

1 cup of water

2 tablespoon smart butter

6 ounce of chicken flavored stuffing

2 cups chopped chicken

1/3 milk

Parmesan cheese

Heat over to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan combine broccoli, half of the soup, the water, and butter. Bring to a boil - cover and simmer till broccoli is soft.

Add stuffing and stir to moisten. Spread the mix in a ungreased 2-quart pan. Scatter chicken over stuffing - stir milk and remaining soup together and pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until heated through.

Finally I have been wanting to make homemade pizza lately but cannot bring myself to eat the calories… yes I’m that person! So I discovered a great recipe in my Fitness

Magazine – I tweaked it to make it a little healthier. Instead of using a whole wheat pizza crust I used pita bread – Michael of course had his own two personal pizza dough crusts! J

1 12-inch 100% whole wheat pizza crust (or pita bread)
1 cup prepared tomato salsa
1 1/4 cups shredded reduced-fat 2 percent mozzarella
1 1/3 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 small sweet red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced (about 2/3 cup)
2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place crust on sheet and top with salsa, 1 cup mozzarella, beans, sliced red pepper, and scallions. Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
2. Place pizza in oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes or until mozzarella is melted. Remove from oven and garnish with cilantro if desired. Cut into six slices and serve.

Oswald Chambers

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me . . . —Galatians 2:20

These words mean the breaking and collapse of my independence brought about by my own hands, and the surrendering of my life to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to this point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot push me through it. It means breaking the hard outer layer of my individual independence from God, and the liberating of myself and my nature into oneness with Him; not following my own ideas, but choosing absolute loyalty to Jesus. Once I am at that point, there is no possibility of misunderstanding. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ or understand what He meant when He said, “. . . for My sake” (Matthew 5:11). That is what makes a strong saint.

Has that breaking of my independence come? All the rest is religious fraud. The one point to decide is— will I give up? Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come? I must be broken from my own understanding of myself. When I reach that point, immediately the reality of the supernatural identification with Jesus Christ takes place. And the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable— “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .”

The passion of Christianity comes from deliberately signing away my own rights and becoming a bondservant of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I will not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God’s call would be sufficient for God to have called the Bible Training College into existence. This college has no value as an organization, not even academically. Its sole value for existence is for God to help Himself to lives. Will we allow Him to help Himself to us, or are we more concerned with our own ideas of what we are going to be?

Fall Festivities!

Awe fall… I love you! Michael asked if I would rather have the trees green all year round or the reds, yellows, and oranges of the trees right now… I would have to say I love the trees of fall. Of course come spring and summer I’ll be raving about how much I love the green sprouts! So I have come to the conclusion that I love seasons… though I don’t like the bitter cold of winter I have a soft spot for snow around Christmas time ( I mean who doesn’t). But for now I’m basking in the changing beautiful trees and the delicious smell of fall.

Our mums are not only surviving but they flourishing! YEY! Thanks to new pots and loyal watering they are ALIVE and absolutely beautiful! Take a gander…

We had a fun weekend of fall festivities! Apple picking and Hall-o-scream! Carters Mountain Orchard is just an amazing place – they have a huge selection of apples, gigantic monster pumpkins, and delicious apple food! Our favorite is the apple doughnuts and their apple cider (hot or cold)- now of course these two things are delicious separate but delicious x delicious when you dip the doughnut in apple cider!

So if you ever come across apple doughnuts and apply cider you MUST try them together! Now for the just plain apples – if you want to try the most fresh delicious apples you must pick them yourself! I’m amazed at how delicious they are!

Theme parks – we love them and at the end of the day we want to run to the car to rest our poor aching feet. Just going to a theme park won’t satisfy me anymore… I absolutely love when a park is decorated for a holiday – there is nothing like Ireland decorated with thousands of pumpkins! J Nearly 12 hours in the park – riding our favorite roller coasters, walking through haunted houses, and eat expensive foods – by the end of the day I literally couldn’t walk anymore! We got our money’s worth that is for sure! So our fall festivities are underway!

More to come about our Halloween Festivities! :) Here is a sneak peak!