Chocolate Chip Applesauce Cake

This is a recipe from my mom. It was always a favorite when we were all kids and it remains a favorite when we all get together.

1/2 C Shortening (or oil)
1 1/2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
2 C Flour
1 t Salt
3 T Cocoa
1 t Baking Soda
2 C Applesauce
1/2 T Cinnamon
6 oz Chocolate Chips

Glaze
1 C milk
1 C powdered sugar

• Mix shortening, sugar and eggs.
• Add flour, salt, cocoa, baking soda.
• Add applesauce and cinnamon.
• Pour into a greased/floured 8x10 pan.
• Sprinkle chocolate chips over cake.
  
• Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.
• Pour glaze over cake while still hot.
  

Eden Do Do Flag

Eden says in this first video, "Eden do'd the flag" and then she says "Eden do do do it." What she means is that she does the flag for FHE and then at the end she says, "do do do do" as she rolls the flag back up - as seen in the second video.

My most recent creation

I made this out of a placemat and a dishtowel. Total cost for all materials: approx. $6.




I have to say that I love the green, purple, yellow combo. I totally want to redo my kitchen in these colors but Phil says we can't redo any rooms until we've done all the other rooms and since we've already painted the kitchen, I guess it will stay sea foam mist or whatever until I get the bedrooms and family room painted. But then...

Pay it Forward

My friend and former mission companion posted this and I thought it sounded like fun (and I wanted to WIN!). So, because I'm greedy, you all get a chance to be greedy too! Isn't life good?


THE RULES:

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me. (it will be a surprise but I promise to make it something fun)

2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! (cheeky) If you are not one of the Top Three Commenter's on this post, you can still play along. Please take the button and post it on your blog; start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

Naked Baby's Got Mail

We've had a fun day. Eden hasn't felt great - just kind of grumpy for some reason. I always suspect teeth but who knows...

The weather has been beautiful and so we went out back and picked up the sticks that fell during the storm last week. As I was putting a bunch of sticks in the wheelbarrow Eden said, "good girl, Mommy." She is so affirming of me. She knows that I'm lazy and need all the encouragement I can get.

Here are some adorable pictures of our kiddo. Isn't her hair getting long? Eden saw these pictures and said, "naked baby!" Indeed.






We went on a walk around the neighborhood and had a great time. Eden didn't want it to end until we opened the mailbox and there were TWO packages for her in it! She got some stickers from Punka and this fun Elmo shirt from G&G K. She was SO excited about her "peasants."

Food Friday - Who Needs Manwich?

This is a recipe for Sloppy Joes. It is nearly as easy as buying Manwich, better tasting, and much cheaper.

1 can Tomato Soup
1/4 C Yellow Onion (diced)
1/4 C Green Bell Pepper (diced)
1 lb Ground Beef
1 T Mustard
1 T White Vinegar
1 T BBQ Sauce
1/4 C Brown Sugar

Brown the meat in a medium pan.
Add onion and bell pepper and cook until onion is clear.
Add tomato soup (no water), mustard, white vinegar, BBQ sauce (ketchup can be substituted), and brown sugar.
Cook until the sauce thickens (cooks down) to the desired consistency.

Serve over hamburger buns.

Heidi, I try to do'd it

Just now I was in my bathroom curling my hair (cuz it is like 2:30 and it just seemed like time to do that). Eden had just gotten up from her nap and was in the other room. Then I heard this:

"Heidi, Heidi, Heidi!"

I hollered so that she would know where to find me. In she walked and said,

"Heidi, potty. Heidi, I try to do'd it."

And so she sat on the potty. She watched the poo poo go away and said, "bye-bye poo."

An exciting day!

The fine print is this: she had already poo'd in her diaper and I just emptied the contents into the toilet after she sat on the pot for a minute. She did flush it and wave goodbye to the poo. As I was putting a new diaper on her she said, "I do'd it again, more." I think we are just that much closer to the real experience.

I'm not sure why she called me "Heidi" she does that once in a while...

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I just finished A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner).

I must say that I really enjoy his writing and storytelling style. It is so interesting to learn more about Afghanistan (although I realize it is fiction). Phil asked me if I would recommend this book. I had to think about that. Here is my answer:

If you are looking for a happy story ... don't read this book. The ending does not compensate for the sorrow and horror that must be a reality for far too many people in that area of the world.

If you are willing to face some pretty harsh realities and experience some of the sorrow, you might appreciate this book. It is well written.

So yeah, I would recommend it but with some serious qualifications.

I have realized that the books I like best are the ones that champion the human spirit. I love stories about people doing hard things. I appreciate fiction that is plausible (even if it is "fantasy" - if the author can make me think it is plausible, they get big points). I like to read books about other cultures (either in place or time) than my own. I want a book to inspire me and make me think.

Here are some that I've enjoyed:

Cry The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
Oh Pioneers by Willa Cather
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

With that as a background, any suggestions for my reading list?

A nickel ... or not

"Nickel-sized hail possible."

That is what the weather alert told us.

They were wrong.

Since Phil was not home for the hail storm, he asked me to put some in the freezer so he could see it. These two were randomly selected from among the hundreds on our deck. (Basically they were the easiest for me to pick up while standing in the doorway.)

Weather Event

We have been on Tornado Warning since about 2:30 this afternoon. Exciting. At about 4:00 it began to rain HARD.

Then it began to lightening and thunder.

Then it began to hail.

BIG HAIL.

Our deck is covered.

see...




Eden and I are watching Tarzan and eating cookies. Phil is stuck in the hallway with his class. I made the mistake of taking Eden on to the deck when things cleared a bit. She likes the ice. Now we are having more alerts/warnings so we have to stay inside. She is not happy.

Come on, Tarzan is so cute, work with me Eden.


********************

Before the weather event really hit we went to Hobby Lobby (or "obby lobby" as Eden says). Eden insisted on taking along her For the Strength of Youth book. She showed the ladies there the temple and the picture of Jesus. She cracks me up. She was talking to the woman behind us in line. This is how her "conversation" went:

Woman: "Is that your kitty?"
Eden: "Kitty, meow. Book."
Woman: "Yes, you are smart, that is a book."
Eden: "Head. Eyes, blue."
Woman: "Yes, very pretty blue eyes."

and on it went. It is true, most everyone in these parts seems to comment on her bright blues. I guess she just anticipated the comment.

Black Female Education after the Civil War

Progress
Black females are unlike any other group involved in the various social and political movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Black females represent two segments of society traditionally oppressed. Despite this extreme oppression, black females have found education as a means of elevating themselves and their race.

The first American college to admit a woman did so in 1833. Just fifty-nine years later, there were 198 women's colleges and 207 coeducation colleges. Women of all races were admitted into both the female and male courses. In 1887, thirty black women had earned their Bachelor of Arts degrees.

At the end of the nineteenth century, black education had reached some impressive statistics. By 1893, 25,530 colored schools existed in the United States with 1,353,352 male and female pupils. At this same time there were 22,956 black teachers. As impressive as those numbers appeared, educator, Lucy Laney, realized the work ahead when she stated "but, oh, large as this number seems, it is small when we think of the many hundreds to whom scarcely a ray of light has yet come!"

Obstacles
Just as the black community progressed, organizations formed to prohibit black equality. The Ku Klux Klan worked hard to prevent the education of blacks. Caroline Smith appeared before a Congressional investigation against the Klan. She testified:

They would not let us have schools. They went to a colored man there, whose son had been teaching school, and they took every book they had and threw them into the fire; and they said they would dare any other nigger to have a book in his house. We allowed last fall that we would have a schoolhouse in every district . . . But the Ku-Klux said they would whip every man who sent a scholar there. There is a school-house there, but not scholars.

The Ku Klux Klan was not the only device for limiting the progress of blacks. Jim Crow laws also threatened the future work of black female educators. Individuals attempting to subjugate blacks enacted laws to restrict voing, segregate schools, deny blacks entrance into theaters and restaurants, and force blacks to sit in the back of buses.

Heart and Hand
The Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws were meant to denigrate blacks. Women such as Mary McLeod Bethune (pictured here with Eleanor Roosevelt), however; found that such blatant racism was a catalyst for change. Bethune was perhaps the most influential black woman in the early twentieth century. Strong influenced by Lucy Laney, Bethune continued the work of educating blacks. In the first decade of the twentieth century, Bethune founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial Institute. She found that black religious leaders were eager to assist her. Beginning with five students in 1904, enrollment increased to over three hundred by 1922.

The methods used by Bethune set a standard for black education. She believed in a "heart and hand" education. The "heart" included moral and religious education. It also involved teaching civic understanding and social skills. The "hand" aspect focused on vocational skills such as sewing and food handling. Bethune and her associates believed in a balanced education that also enabled students to successfully contribute to society.

Strength
The evolution of black equality may have seemed slow at times, but it was always progressive. From the time of emancipation, black women have worked to bring greater freedom to their people. In a speech given in 1933, Mary McLeod Bethune praised the work of her black sisters:

The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood. As the years have gone on the Negro woman has touched the most vital fields in the civilization of today. Wherever she had contributed she has left the mark of a strong character. The education institutions she has established and directed have met the needs of her young people; her cultural development has concentrated itself into artistic presentation accepted and acclaimed by meritorious critics . . . she recognizes the importance of uplifting her people through social, civic and religious activities . . . she has made and is making history.

Black women do have a rich history. It is time for their powerful history of hope in the midst of struggle, of power during prejudice and of love in the face of hate to be recognized more widely. Education has been a pivotal strategy toward true equality for blacks. It must continue to be so.

African-American Folklore in Film (Part 2)

Gone with the Wind
During the tumultuous time known as the Great Depression, many people longed for a bygone era when life seemed more romantic and simple. During this period Margaret Mitchell wrote her story of the Civil War, Gone with the Wind.

Starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, the movie version took the United States by a storm. It won the Academy awards for best picture and best actress. Its use of music and color surprised and delighted audiences and critics. It is still considered one of the greatest movies of all time (#4 on the AFI top 100 list).

Although Gone with the Wind did not deal directly with black subjects, it did introduce several black characters. Each of these black characters represented a black stereotype perpetuated by whites at the time.

"Mammy" represented the household servant who submissively ran the house. She did not attempt to change her position but dutifully watched over those in her care, primarily Scarlett. She often became the voice of reason, piety, and morality. Although absolutely necessary to the running of the family, she never posed any threat to them.

"Prissy" was the perfect example of why blacks needed whites to protect them. One of the strongest proslavery arguments was paternalism. Prissy was emotional, unintelligent, and helpless. Even after emancipation, she needed the security of "belonging" to whites. She also posed no threat to whites.

Other black characters such as Jonas, Big Sam, and Pork portrayed blacks who were content with their work, never mind their lack of freedom. They worked a full, honest day with smiles on their faces. As slaves, they were grateful for the protection of their masters, they would never harm them.

The black characters in Gone with the Wind were not threatening but they also weren't accurate depictions of black in antebellum America. They were much more a representation of what depression-era whites wanted to believe and remember about a bygone time of history.

African-American Folklore in Film (Part 1)

I took a class on Folklore and Film. It was one of those classes that one is just thrilled to find will work toward needed credits. Once a week I got to watch interesting films and then discuss them (the class just met once a week). My homework was to watch movies of my choice. The only real assignment was to select a topic and explore films dealing with that topic and then write a paper about it. Don't you love college!?

And so I present to you some excerpts from my paper:

African-American folklore has been portrayed in many films. Often the way this folklore has been represented reflects the sentiment of the public at the time the film was made. As films were first made in America, segregation was the law of the land, black codes ruled the south, lynchings were frequent, and white supremacist groups terrorized blacks without much restriction. With the progress of civil rights came a change in public opinion. As public opinion regarding blacks changed, so did Hollywood's treatment of black subjects.

Birth of a Nation
In 1915 the film industry was in its infancy. Sound and color were still years away. The craft of film making had just been born. During this time, segregation was not only legal in the southern states, but it was also spreading to both the North and the West. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill legally segregating the armed forces. The Ku Klux Klan was at its height in the years from 1915 to 1925. Treatment of blacks was at its worst point since emancipation.

In the midst of this terrible era of racism and violence, director D.W. Griffith created The Birth of a Nation. Representative of the deep racism, hatred, and fear of blacks that existed at the time, The Birth of a Nation treated blacks with complete disdain and horror. Its message was that the Civil War was an unnecessary war brought about by northern radicals. In the film the freed slaves became either helpless or manipulative. The KKK became "the organization that saved the South from anarchy." Blacks were animals to be feared and tamed. Black men were portrayed as vile and a threat to the virtue of all white women and indeed, the entire white race.

After seeing a screening of this movie, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that he found it interesting and entertaining. In spite of its obvious bias, The Birth of Nation is still heralded as an exceptional movie. Griffith's use of camera angles, shots, and scenes, were unique and very effective. He assembled a large cast with hundreds of extras. The story flows smoothly. The use of pantomime and written narrative work well together. In 1998 it was listed as #44 in the AFI list of the Top 100 Movies of all time. It not only reflected the extreme racism that existed in the early 20th Century, it embraced and perpetuated it.

Food Friday - Banana Bread

I adjusted my mom's banana bread recipe (which is so good!) so that it is a little more healthy. It tastes great!

1/2 C sugar
1/2 C honey
2 eggs
2 medium (ripe) bananas
1/4 C oil
1/2 C fat free sour cream
1 t almond extract
1 t vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

Cream sugar, honey, oil, eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla, and almond extract.
Add flours and soda and salt.
Mix well.
Pour into greased/floured bread pans.

Bake at 350
50-60 minutes for standard loaf pan
25-30 minutes for mini-loaf pans

News Flash: She's not PERFECT

Although you wouldn't know it from reading this blog, she really ISN'T perfect. Here is some proof:



But you've got to admit that she is pretty adorable even when she is having a temper tantrum. (I had taken her blanket and put it in her crib, I missed the laying-on-the-floor-kicking part of the tantrum because as soon as it started I had to run for the camera, as any good mother would do!)

Last night was girls' night/craft night and we made tutus. Isn't she cute in hers? If you want to make one let me know and I'll point you in the right direction. Next month's craft project: hair clips, so if you have any great instructions, ideas, patterns, or the like, send them my way.