Pure Maple Syrup, I Mean Joy

It had been a year since we spent a night away (without Abigail) so this past Monday was well overdue.

We kept saying that we were going to take tons of pictures... but this is all we came back with-

The contents of our goodie bag was pretty exciting and edible. Our two year supply of maple syrup was running low so we were simply thrilled by our new glass jug of pure NH syrup!

In February Craig and I joined the North American Mission Board (the North American missions branch of the Southern Baptist Convention) to serve as missionaries to New England. To learn more about why New England needs missionaries and what we do, go here.

Our little retreat was sponsored by our New  England division of NAMB. It was incredible to meet so many other missionaries serving throughout New England. I'm pretty sure we were the only 2 out of 40 people without Southern accents? Y'all the south is on to us. They realize the need for the Gospel here in New England more that most of us LIVING here. As we have faced obsticles, we were encouraged by one thing that these other missionaries have faced... we are from here so we know the area, people and culture. It is a blessing that we sometimes take for granted. God has given us networking skills and being from this area, we are able to stretch our arms wide with connections and communities.

In looking at our schedule for June- September we have about a dozen events. We are continually reminded that we are needed to do this job full time if  we are to do it most effectively. With this busy schedule of events (as to be expect since these are all events with churches who do a summertime outreach event) we are pressed to manage our time for family, friends, and the admin-side of Cwtrials. This is going to be a busy season, right as we start support raising as well. We are desperately in need of your prayers during this upcoming season of our lives. Pray for our family, marriage, ministry and support raising. We can't wait to see what God has in store!

BBQ Farmhouses

Some dear friends made us a bunch of homemade frozen dinners when Abigail was born. One of our favorites was their Farmhouse BBQ Muffins. Having made it several times since, I was looking for a heartier and healthier version. This is what I came up with-

BBQ Farmhouses

Pardon the cell phone picture I had to text to my husband and have him e-mail me from his smart phone.

They are no longer muffins, so that word had to go. And since I made little roofs out of the extra homemade dough on these little mini-loaf sized wonders, I just went straight to what they were- little farmhouses filled with homemade BBQ goodness.


Dough-


1 1/4 C. cake flour
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder 
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 C.. butter, cut into small chunks
3/4 C. buttermilk (Milk + 1 Tablespoon vinegar)


The variation of flours makes it less dense, otherwise I typically do 50/50 all-purpose and whole wheat.


Fluff the dry ingredients together. 
Cut butter into tiny pieces and 'kneed' it into the flour mixture. Of if you are fancy and have a pastry blender that works. Work in the milk until the dough is thick. Use lots of flour for your rolling pin and surface. Cut out the shape and size needed for whatever type of pan you desire. I had extra dough, so it became little roof tops. 


BBQ filling-
1 small onion, chopped.
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C. ketchup 
1 t. chili powder
3 T. brown sugar


Combine ketchup, chili powder and brown sugar for homemade BBQ sauce. (YES it was THAT simple to make it from scratch! And it's delish!) Cook the onion in the the homemade BBQ sauce for a few minutes then add the ground beef. Typically I cook beef then drain/ rinse it before adding sauces, however cooking it IN the sauce makes it more flavorful. Once it is cooked, Drain the excess fat/ liquid from the top. 


Fill up your little muffins/ mini loaves with this mixture, put your roof on it and pop it in the oven at 375 for 18 mins. SO yummy. 


*To add a little veggie to your meal, sprinkle some baby spinach in your pastry lined tins before topping with the BBQ mixture. 


**You can use packaged biscuits but they are expensive and full of ingredients we try to avoid. 

ENJOY!