A Leos Family Recipe

Hey Everybody! Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your house is smelling delicious right now. Mine does. I'm making pumpkin creme pies to take to our little family celebrations. I asked Rachel, our Mama of the Week, if she had a favorite Thanksgiving recipe.



Thanksgiving recipe, this one is actually hard. I am not a huge Thanksgiving food fan, I know, I am super weird. I do just about everything to get out of eating turkey and dressing. And if we eat it at Thanksgiving, we definitely don't eat it at Christmas - we have been doing Mexican the past few Christmases with homemade tortillas, enchiladas, and rice and beans. but for a favorite recipe that we start making at Thanksgiving, it would have to be these cookies. We start making them at Thanksgiving and make several batches through Christmas. 

Cranberry-Pistachio Shortbread

2 1/3 cups  all purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt (add more salt if using unsalted pistachios)
2 sticks unsalted butter , at room temperature
2/3 cup  granulated white sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup  salted or unsalted pistachios
1 cup dried cranberries

I used salted pistachios and Craisens; I loved the sweet and salty combination. I would recommend buying pre-shelled pistachios, it is worth the extra money. We bought the shelled kind when I made them last year and it was a huge pain! Also, I did not chop my pistachios or cranberries. When we sliced the cookies to bake, the knife cut right through the ingredients and this turned out perfectly.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the salt.

In the bowl of your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract, then gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. (Add a couple tablespoons of milk if it seems dry) Fold in the chopped pistachios and dried cranberries, and make sure they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Divide the dough into two equal portions. Place each half on the center of a 14 inch (35 cm) length of parchment or wax paper. Smooth the dough into an evenly shaped rectangle that is about 10 inches (25 cm) long and 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Wrap the shaped logs tightly in wax paper, twist the ends to seal, and refrigerate for at least two hours, or up to three days. Dough can also be frozen for up to two months. If freezing, it is best to defrost the logs in the refrigerator overnight before slicing and baking.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a sharp knife, slice the logs into ¼ inch thick cookies, and place the cookies on the prepared sheets, (I placed the cookies very close together as I was out of parchment paper, they didn’t expand so this was fine). Bake on the center rack for about 15 – 20 minutes, or until the cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Recipe makes about 45 cookies and they taste great with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee in the morning!

You guys, I made them and they were so yummy and Christmasy looking. They're all red and green. And super easy. I'll be making these again. Thanks for sharing, guys! So, speaking of the Leos family, they have had an awesome week on Give1 Save1. You guys must be feeling extra generous with the holidays and everything. The week is coming to a close, so if you haven't made a donation to help bring those babies home (for some tasty cookies), then go ahead and do it now. Before you spend all your money on Black Friday craziness! ;) You guys have an awesome weekend. I'm outta here. Lindsay's kicking off Christmas tomorrow. You remember Lindsay, right? Well, she's a Give1 blogger now. She's actually already done a few posts on family updates. So give a warm welcome to Lindsay, who'll be sharing some fun Christmas pins tomorrow!!! See ya next week.

Lots of Love,

Beth

3 Ways to Pray

Turns out I just love this 3 Ways to Pray thing. Let's just take a breather in the middle of our week here and pray for the Leos family. Here's what's on Rachel's mind:

1. That our children are safe, loved and protected physically and emotionally. That they would have a peace beyond all understanding as they also wait for us, as in order to be adopted, they will have to suffer a tremendous loss that they will likely not be able to comprehend – pray that God would use that loss for His glory and their joy as He promises to us through scripture.

2. For the process itself. We hit an unexpected snag last week. Although I can't share the details publicly and we are moving forward albeit some changes to our original desires, it was a great reminder to us that God is in control (after I had a slight freak out), and we constantly must put this journey, our lives and our children on the Cross. Pray that we rely on God during this time, that we are able to trust in His provision during this process. 

3. For our hearts. We are so excited to meet our kids and cannot wait to be parents, so the waiting is hard. Unexpected changes and lack of control over the process, which, although we know is ultimately controlled by our Father, is still hard. Pray for our hearts during the wait, that we will always remember Christ's love for us and our children and His sovereign plan over every detail. That we would rest in the peace that He will not be surprised as as the process unfolds, and that He is good in all things.

Turns out that there is strength in numbers regarding prayer. So many times we casually toss out an "I'll pray for you", but let's just freeze in our tracks and really do it. It means the world to this family and it moves the Heavens on their behalf. That's pretty darn powerful.

I know tomorrow's Thanksgiving, but finish up your casseroles and everything and meet me back here tomorrow. Mama Rachel is passing on her recipe for cranberry pistachio shortbread cookies and we can just kick off Christmas as soon as your last piece of pumpkin pie is polished off. Have a good one.

 

Super Cool Slings

  

The adoption world tosses around the 'attachment' word a lot. Like alot alot.  Truth is we all need help "attaching" to our kids and keeping that bond strong. I'm reading so many books about how to foster attachment with your adopted child, but honestly I'm finding all this stuff ridiculously helpful bonding with my birth kids. Of course I read all kinds of stuff like this when I was prego with my kids. And everybody under the sun recommends some kind of baby back pack to hold your bambino while you go about your daily business. Literal attachment. :) For babies, there are a ton of options. Wraps, back packy contraptions, and slings... I was a sling girl myself. These slings by Seven make me want a baby all over again. When my babies were small enough to wear in a sling my hair did not look like this and neither did my belly or arms...huh, weird...



Experts recommend that you hold and snuggle the toddlers and older kids as much as possible as well. This one by Ergo is BY FAR everyone's major top dog preference for giant toddlers and preschoolers. They aren't as cute as the slings. I know. But they're practical. I could probably carry my grandma in one of these suckers. And everyone says they're really comfy. And the color's not bad. They even have some Petunia Picklebottom prints. This is the route I'll probably be going.

Then they're a wrap style. There's some serious versatility in these. I love how the African women carry them on their back. Duh! Why don't we do that? How many times have I had awesome intentions to carry around my kid in a sling and then had my household duties nixed because the sleeping baby was in the way. You can't really chop onions with a six month old reaching for your knife. So anyway, those African ladies have one on us with the whole rucksack carry. Here's a good little tutorial on how to pack your baby like a proper Ugandan.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFLhddgIEIQ]

Rachel and Jesse are adopting two bambinos, so they're going to have to get used to using some of these things. Some of those Seven slings are manly enough for a guy I think. By the way, you guys ROCKED OUT day 1 of the Leos Give1 week. That was record breaking wildness. Thank you so much for everyone who has donated. You guys are awesome. Have I told you that lately?

New week. New family.

You guys are going to love this week's family. Go check out their video and stick around for the outtakes at the end.



They are adopting two little ones from Uganda! They even already bought their tiny baby Toms. This Thanksgiving week let's give them something to be seriously thankful for. Seriously. Let's blast them with dollar bills. Ready? Let's do it.

A Perfect Birthday Present

Another week and another Give 1 family has made progress on their adoption journey! Last month you supported the Narunsky family. They have two biological girls, a boy they adopted from Russia, and now they are in the process of adopting a ten-year-old boy, Joel, from Ethiopia.  They got their referral over the summer, and they were so hoping to get a court date before the offices closed in Ethiopia for the rainy season.

Well, that didn’t happen.

BUT, they did finally get their court date. And it coincided with Joel’s birthday. So last week, they were able to travel to Ethiopia and meet their new son...just in time for his birthday wishes. (Gotta love God’s timing.)

In Honor of Sisters

You know what? Two posts today. I had a little idea. I mentioned in my last post that I think we should give in honor of our sisters today. Fitting, to help bring Natalie's sister home. So I made this cute little picture. And let's just play a game here. Give a dollar in honor of your sisters. It doesn't have to be your birth sister. It could be. But the sisters you choose, too. Your girls. And send them an email or post on their wall that you gave in honor of them today. I'm going to! Use this picture if you like and tag them on facebook. Let's start a love fest, shall we? In the comments section tell me the names of your girls and who you gave in honor of!



I love this post that Karen, our mom of the week, wrote about her sister. Ready? Spread some love. To the Bowmans and to your girls.

A Girly Girl Room

 

So let me give you another little update. I know I sound so wishy washy telling you guys all this stuff, but I vowed to keep you posted every step of the way of our adoption. Some people want to see the play by play of how it all goes down. So here's what's new. We finished our home study Monday night. And though we had decided to go younger than our youngest at the suggestion of experts we have decided to open our request to also include older than our youngest, but younger than our oldest. Wrap your head around that. It basically means she might be younger than Abby or she might be in between Will and Abby. So she'll be age 1-5 at the time of referral. And I'm pretty sure that's final because now our social worker will draw up papers and make it super official. SO, that means a girly girl room for my little ones. I imagine they will share a room eventually, though I'm thinking she'll probably be in our room for a while. But I'm still decorating for a shared little girls room. And with that, I'm pretty smug with what I've come up with. I'm not a huge fan of themed rooms, but I can't help myself. Abby LOVES animals and all I know about my Ethiopian child at this point is that she's a little girl and she's from Africa. That's all I got so far. So based on that, I did a theme room. I did. That's so embarassing for me to say. I usually steer clear, but I couldn't help myself. It's African animals inspired by the art at Papaya. The have beautiful, calming colors and plenty of glitter. Here's the pinboard I've got going for it.

When I discovered this rug from Flor and that it matched the art... well, it's a done deal. This room is the final decision. Let the shopping begin.



Speaking of girly girls, I know a set of little ladies that are on my mind this week... Sweet Natalie and her soon-to-be sister. We've raised several hundred dollars so far towards the Bowmans adoption. I have a sweet idea. Give a dollar for all your sisters and daughters. All the girly girls in your life. And then let them know that you gave in their honor today. :)