Homeschooling for His Glory

For those of you who do not know yet, I am a native from the beautiful island of Martinique in the Caraibean. Though we are part of France, we are still islanders and as such have our cool traditional Christmas goodies that fill our tables at Christmas time. Today I am going to share with you one of the most popular and enjoyed by all. Pates de Noel Dough: The dough is a very simple pastry dough. 1 1/2 cup flour 1/2- 1tsp salt 125g ( 1/2 cup) butter 10 cl milk, or water, or a mix of both Mix together  the flour and salt. Cut in the butter until resembles crumbs. Add the milk or water and mix until the dough comes together. Knead just enough to make a workable dough. Filling: 1 lb ground pork salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf 1 lemon 1 onion 3 garlic a couple of green onions scotch bonnet or red pepper flakes or enough of cayenne pepper to spice the lot 1 or 2 slices of bread soaked in milk (optional) Brown the meat with the squeeze lemon and all of the spices...

A few Saturdays ago, our church had a cookie exchange event and I brought these 2 delightful cookies. I thought I'd share one of the recipes with you all, and put it on here for keepsake. Here we go: Swirled Sugar Cookie Ingredients 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, softened 1 1/2 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract ¨Preparation: Measure the flour, salt and baking powder into   a bowl, mix and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and the sugar. Once smooth, add the eggs, vanilla and combine well. Add the flour mixture to the butter / egg mixture a little at a time. Mix until the floor is well incorporated and dough is smooth. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or wax paper and chill in the fridge  for about 1 hour. Overnight is also fine. If you want to freeze the dough, you can do so at this stage. Divide in tree equal pieces and place in three separate bowls. Kn...

I am not much of a tradition kind of girl, but around this time of the year I think it is a very good idea to keep our eyes on what really matters: Christmas is about the coming of Christ fulfilling God's promise of sending a Saviour to the world. To help with that we do what is called "Advent". There is different ways of celebrating and observing Advent, usually in the form of a reflection everyday of the month of December leading up to Christmas. Today I thought I would share with you a few free resources out there that you could use to help you focus on Christ during this season: 1. John Piper's Advent devotions: Good News of Great Joy The Dawning of Undestructable Joy 2. Paul Tripp's Advent Devotion: Come Let us Adore Him 3. Nancy Guthrie: Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room 4 . Make Him Room by Kristen Oliphant 5. Jesse Tree Advent projects. In the past we have use the appendix at the back of the Book: Disciplines of a Godly Family by The H...

Christmas is fast approaching and many have started the search for gifts to give to loved ones. If you have a homeschooling friend or relative, here is a short list of gifts that will surely warm her heart and make her very grateful. *** Of course this list is my personal list,but i have no doubt will work for any homeschooling mom and family. 1.   Gift certificate to a bookstore : Amazon , Chapters/Indigo , Christianbook.com 2. Gift certificate to an educational or office store supplies such as Scholar Choice or Mastermind 3 . A microscope or a telescope . To be honest, any science kit is always very welcome in a homeschooling home. 4. Book, books, and more books . I personally love encyclopedias. On our wish list right now is this particular set:  5. A membership to some kind of Museum . Homeschoolers love going to museums, and zoos! 6 . Games . Educational or board games are very much loved among homeschoolers. Settlers of Catan is one of...

Around this time of the year many are scratching their heads as to what to get family and friends for Christmas. Some are very well organized and stock up throughout the year, others, like me scramble until the last minute. Now, if you are still thinking of what to give to your homeschooling friend, here are some ideas. Books: Encyclopedias and dictionaries: science, history, inventions etc.... The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer Educating the Wholehearted Child by Sally and Clay Clarkson. (Any book by the Clarckson would be a great gift) Sinclair Ferguson Heroes of the Faith Historical biographies  series Car Simonetta Christian Biographies for Young Readers series   Subscripttions: Homeschool Enrichment ,  God's World News Brain Pop ABC Teach SchoohouseTeachers.com Zane Education Quests Magazine  put out by Knowledge Quest   Gift certificates: Amazon Chapters ChristianBooks.com Any educational stores Games and toys ...

Well, really it is the second batch of cookies we've made this week, but the first one  (sugar cookies)got eaten before any pictures were taken. Butter Cookie Christmas Cutouts 1 cup of butter 1 1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon of vanilla 2 1/2 cups of sifted flour 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar 1 teaspoon of baking soda 1/4 teaspoon of salt Cream butter, add sugar gradually and cream until fluffy. Add unbeaten egg and vanilla; beat well. Sift together dry ingredients; blend into cream mixture. Chill dough about an hour. Roll on well floured pastry board to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with floured cutter. Bake on an unbuttered cookie sheet for 610-12 minutes at 325 degrees.  

Merry Christmas to all! "And she will bring Forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."                                           Matthew 1:21 Glitter Graphics , Christmas Glitter Graphics   Have a great day,

Ok, I am in the middle of my baking franzy. Here are some snapshosts. Some occasional help (they were doing more eating of dough, but mom was too busy to get a shot of that) A messy kitchen  Pannetone Pain viennois (french bread) And some more on the way. You can find recipes for some of these at my other blog The Recipe Box . More will be coming. Have a great day ,  

Ok, I got the gingerdread house done. "Boy that is a lot of work!" as my son would say. But we got it done. I do not think it is as nice as I would have liked, but hey, for a first attempt I guess it is ok. Making the dough Eating the dough Eating sugar: Decorating: Trying to assemble: And the finished product Johann is not there too much because he's been sick. I got the recipe and instruction from King's flour website but next year I am going to go for a smaller, more square one. Have a great day,