Crepe Bar: Recipes and Fixings (Siobhan)

~Crepe Bar~

For Ethan and Grandma Z's birthday, we always do an annual birthday brunch. This year Mom decided to do a crepe bar with lots of incredible toppings. We made regular and gluten-free crepes. Unfortunately my pictures didn't come out, but I still wanted to share the recipes and toppings!

Crepes Recipes

For our regular crepes, we used this recipe from Epicurious. The crepes were delicious!

*Click here for our crepes recipe printable

For our gluten-free crepes, we used this recipe from Food.com.

*Click here for our gluten-free crepes recipe printable

Toppings and Combos

Toppings are essential for good crepes! The more toppings you have to choose from, the better! Below I've listed some of our favorite crepe combos and topping ideas.

***Crepe Combos***

Eggs Benedict Crepe (crepe topped with canadian bacon, asparagus, and hollandaise sauce)

Fresh Fruit Crepe (crepe topped with fresh whipped cream, raspberry mousse, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries)

Caramel Apple Crepe (crepe topped with spiced apple pie filling, drizzled with a little caramel sauce)

***Crepe Toppings***

Fresh berries (we used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)

Yogurt

Fresh Whipped Cream (sweetened with a little sugar)

Raspberry Mousse (we didn't have time to make our own raspberry mousse, so we used whipped raspberry yogurt)

Lemon Curd

Jam

Maple Syrup

Chocolate Mousse

Caramel Sauce

Apple Pie Filling (Mom added some spices to ours, and it was so good!)

Cherry Pie Filling

Canadian Bacon

Asparagus

Hollandaise Sauce

Those are all the toppings we had at our crepe bar, but here are some more ideas that we would love to try...

Cream Cheese Filling

Hot Fudge

Soft Cheeses

Fresh Herbs

Sauteed Mushrooms

Spinach

Caramelized Onions

Chicken

Pulled Pork

Sweet or savory, crepes are so much fun to put together! Happy crepe-making! :)

My Wilderness Summer (Megan)

The arrival of our twins brought me into a season of isolation I couldn't have anticipated.  Instead of enjoying a summer of sunshine, invigorating exercise, satisfying projects, and outings with my friends, I found myself marooned on the couch with my nursing pillow and nocturnal infants for company.  Less than two years earlier I had run a marathon, yet there I was unable to sit up or switch a load of laundry without assistance.  My C-section recovery and the lack of a vehicle large enough to accommodate our family of 10 restricted me to the confines of my small house. My living room walls were closing in on me, and my spirits began to wither in that dark place.

 Desperate for any diversion from my gloomy thoughts, I picked up Robinson Crusoe.  Although this story was familiar to me, I had always skimmed over the powerful account of this sailor's conversion.  In my fascination with his travels and ingenuity, I had missed the fact that Crusoe's most significant journey was spiritual.  The cries of his heart, uttered in terrifying isolation as he faced the prospect of a lifetime on his "Island of Despair," echoed my own. 

 "I had great reason to consider it as a determination of Heaven, that in this desolate place, and in this desolate manner, I should end my life. The tears would run plentifully down my face when I made these reflections; and sometimes I would expostulate with myself why Providence should thus completely ruin His creatures, and render them so absolutely miserable; so without help, abandoned, so entirely depressed, that it could hardly be rational to be thankful for such a life" (Robinson Crusoe).

In the weeks that followed, this "wilderness" theme pursued me.  On July 18, I opened my Bible to my scheduled devotional reading, Isaiah Hosea 2:14, where God said "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her."  Spurgeon explained this mystery by saying that "[God] promises to draw us apart, for there he can best deal with us, and this separated place is not to be a Paradise, but a wilderness, since in such a place there will be nothing to take off our attention from our God.  In the deserts of affliction the presence of the Lord becomes everything to us, and we prize his company beyond any value which we set upon it when we sat under our own vine and fig tree in the society of our fellows.  Solitude and affliction bring more to themselves and to their heavenly Father than any other means."  I found comfort in the realization that my experience was not unique.  Christ Himself was called into the wilderness to prepare for His ministry, and countless saints have followed in His footsteps.  Perhaps this loneliness and obscurity was intentional.  Perhaps God was "alluring and secluding" me for the purpose of reclaiming my heart and equipping me for my calling?

I decided that, if I hoped to thrive in my wilderness, I had to quiet my restless thoughts and open my heart to God's lessons. I had to stop staring blankly out of my window, indulging in feelings of loneliness and self-pity. I had to receive those countless hours spent nursing my babies as a gift from God's hand.  From then on, I made use of the time when my older children were occupied to feed my mind and spirit with excellent books and meditate on God's rich promises.  Through the course of the summer, I studied the redemptive sufferings of Job, laughed and marveled my way through N.D. Wilson's Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl, learned Christian doctrine from the pages of Augustine, escaped into the world of Jane Austen's Emma, and delighted my imagination with C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy.  Each evening I would relish a walk in the woods, imagining what it was like for Adam and Eve to meet God in the cool of the evening and thanking Him for loving me enough to meet with me in this lonely place and be my teacher. 

Meatloaf and Manna

 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.
  (Exodus 16:4)

During the end of my high-risk pregnancy, I spent a lot of time obsessing over how I would feed my large family after the babies arrived. When my swollen legs gave out, I propped myself on a stool, where I could manage my false labor contractions, and stubbornly prepared a ridiculous number of meals.  Praising my own industry and perseverance, I imagined how easy it would be to pull a dozen  carefully labeled dinners from the freezer.  A few days after we returned from the hospital, I sent my oldest daughter to retrieve a casserole and was shocked by the announcement that all fifteen pounds of my beef dinners had been left in the unfinished portion of our basement to rot.  There were no words to capture my despair and anger over this loss.  How could God allow this wasteful mishap when our budget and schedule could least afford it?  Like the Israelites in the wilderness, I grumbled and fretted over His providence... 

In the weeks that followed, I learned a powerful lesson about God's provision.  Almost miraculously, our dinners appeared from the least likely sources.  Busy neighbors, friends I hadn't seen in a decade, new acquaintances from a home school group, and even a local church lavished us with delicious meals.  Eventually I was able to laugh about the freezer fiasco. I admitted that, had I lived in the time of the Exodus, I would have been one of the Israelite mothers who doubted God's promise to provide daily bread.  Mostly likely I would have horded manna in every nook and cranny of my tent, only to find it filled with worms the next day.

 As we begin our twelfth year of homeschooling, I must actively recall the spiritual consolations and promises I claimed this summer.  My peaceful weeks of reading are fading into a distant memory.   Now my nursing hours are spent pleading with my three year old to try the potty, supervising Kinetic sand creations by my feet, giving directions for Egyptian History Pockets, clarify reading assignments in Eusebius, hollering instructions to my highschooler whose Calculus CD isn't working, and strategizing how I'll strip wet sheets, prepare dinner, and complete school before soccer practice. Many days I doubt whether I will have the physical, emotional, and mental stamina needed to teach six children while caring for infant twins.  Like Solomon, I cry out to God on a daily basis for "an understanding mind to govern this great people" He has entrusted to me.  When doubts threaten to overwhelm me, I recall the words of St. Augustine I read this summer.  In astonishing humility he wrote, "[This work is]...a great and arduous undertaking, and one that, if difficult to carry out, it is, I fear, presumptuous to enter upon.  And presumptuous it would undoubtedly be, if I were counting on my own strength; but since my hope of accomplishing the work rests on Him who has already supplied me with many thoughts on this subject, I do not fear but that He will go on to supply what is yet wanting when once I have begun to use what He has already given...if [we] use freely and cheerfully what [we] have received...He will add to and perfect his gifts...just as that bread [in the miracle of the loaves and fishes] increased in the very act of breaking it, so those thoughts which the Lord has already vouch-safed to me with a view to undertaking this work will, as soon as I begin to impart them to others, be multiplied by His grace..." (On Christian Doctrine).

In her profound little book, Teaching From Rest, Sarah MacKenzie comments on this same miracle of the loaves and fishes, saying, "...[My family is]... a throng of hungry people in the desert, and I’m supposed to feed them.  On an ordinary Monday, I am in need of a miracle of biblical proportions. It isn’t that I have nothing, exactly.  I have my little basket.  I can read aloud pretty well.  I’m good at organizing things on paper.  I can make a decent pot of chili and I know how to push a vacuum.  I love my children with all of my being and I have a real desire to watch them grow to love and serve Him.  I don’t really have any idea how I’m supposed to tackle everything ahead of me in this day, this year, this decade when that’s all I’ve got.  It’s just a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish. Apparently, that’s all He needs. We are weary because we forget about grace.  We act as though God’s showing up is the miracle.  But guess what?  God’s showing up is the given.  Grace is a fact.  If you are being asked to feed a multitude with a tiny basket of loaves and fish, then bring your basket.  He starts with that.  Just like the crowd in the wilderness, which had been faithfully following Jesus for days, sitting at His feet, savoring His words, seeking Him earnestly, we do the same.  We bring our basket – whatever talents, skills, abilities we have – and we seek Him with everything we are.  He works the miracle…

Remember your true task.  Surrender everything.  Bring your loaves and your fish, even if you think them completely insufficient.  They are insufficient.  You are insufficient.  But His grace is not.  God is not limited by objective reality.  His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”

If I persevere in homeschooling my 8 children through their graduations, my sojourn in this "wilderness" will just exceed the 30 years Crusoe spent on his deserted island.  Although this prospect brings moments of trepidation, I am no longer planning my escape strategy or longing for rescue.

"I gave humble and hearty thanks that God had been pleased to discover to me that it was possible I might be more happy in this solitary condition than I should have been in the liberty of society, and in all the pleasures of the world; that He could fully make up to me the deficiencies of my solitary state, and the want of human society, by His presence and the communications of His grace to my soul; supporting, comforting, and encouraging me to depend upon His providence here, and hope for His eternal presence hereafter" (Robinson Crusoe).

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (Siobhan)

~Thing 1 and Thing 2~

I was so excited when Baxter and Cade fit into their Thing 1 and Thing 2 outfits from Mom's Dr. Seuss Baby Shower. Grandma got the adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies, and Lydia crocheted the hats.

Baxter (aka Thing 1) and Cade (aka Thing 2)

Look at that pout!

Cade

 Baxter

Twins! (Siobhan)

~Twins~

Looking back at Baxter and Cade's newborn pictures, it's crazy to see how much they have changed in only a few months! I've been trying to capture lots of pictures, because they are growing up way too fast...

Cade (left) and Baxter (right)

Baxter (left) and Cade (right)

Ante Studium - This beautiful prayer inspires my teaching.

Ante Studium 

(Prayer Before Study)

By St. Thomas Aquinas

O Infinite Creator, who in the riches of Thy wisdom didst appoint three hierarchies of Angels and didst set them in wondrous order over the highest heavens, and who didst apportion the elements of the world most wisely: do Thou, who art in truth the fountain of light and wisdom, deign to shed upon the darkness of my understanding the rays of Thine infinite brightness, and remove far from me the twofold darkness in which I was born, namely, sin and ignorance. Do Thou, who givest speech to the tongues of little children, instruct my tongue and pour into my lips the grace of Thy benediction. Give me keenness of apprehension, capacity for remembering, method and ease in learning, insight-in interpretation, and copious eloquence in speech. Instruct my beginning, direct my progress, and set Thy seal upon the finished work, Thou, who art true God and true Man, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Our 12th Year at Sylvan Classical School (Megan)

 

As we enter our 12th year of homeschooling, I can't resist posting a picture of the adorable preschoolers who inspired this journey.  I just organized Siobhan's final shelf of curriculum and am amazed to think of all that we have learned as she has progressed from finger painting to Physics.   

 

Willy Wonka Jr (Siobhan)

~Willy Wonka~

I had so much fun participating in Franklin Area Children Theater's production of Willy Wonka Jr. It was my 6th year participating in FACT, and my third year participating as a teen intern. I worked for in Franklin with the other teen interns, teaching kids basic theater skills, designing/building our set, and helping our incredible director pull together an hour and a half show in just two weeks! It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun.

Painting the set

We partnered with Central Sweets Candy Store. The day of our first performance we went down to the candy shop in costume.

 Oompa Loompas

Each of the teen interns gets a younger 'buddy' for the week to look after. Mine was Tristyn :)

 A huge thank you to everyone who came out to see our performances! We had a ton of fun and hope you did too :)

Click here to see all of my FACT performance posts

"Mom Has No Hands"

The title of this post, inspired by Brandan's quote below, is my excuse for falling behind in my posts.  I'm so thankful that Siobhan has captured our sweetest pictures and memories this past month.  Adjusting to life with twins has been a challenge to say the least.  Friends and strangers alike warned me that "I'd have my hands full," but they didn't tell me I'd lose them altogether. I must say that my dear family has pulled together beautifully and learned to serve in countless ways.  Siobhan has run my kitchen, Ethan has painted our house, and Aidan has coordinated creative play for the younger ones so I can nurse babies around the clock.  In the midst of so many adjustments and brutal sleep deprivation, I have never been more grateful for the gift of laughter which my children bless me with every single day...

Yesterday Brandan asked my mom, "Grandma, do you have any hands because Mommy doesn't."  When I was puzzling over this statement, I realized how many times the kids have come to me for help while I'm tandem nursing the twins.  Brandan will even carry a full gallon of milk to plop in my lap, expecting me to pour him a drink from the rocking chair.  It must look to him like I'm just relaxing  and am available to meet all of his needs.  My standard reply is "No, Brandan.  I don't have any hands right now.  Go find someone with hands!" :)

Recently he has used this as an excuse for not obeying.  If I ask him to find something, he'll often say, "Sorry, I don't have any hands..."

When I was planning Brandan's birthday menu, I offered to make macaroni and cheese for dinner (one of his favorite meals).  Brandan replied, "That would be DISGUSTING!"

Ethan scolded Brandan for opening too many packages of crayons.  He retorted, "Ethan, you're just prejudiced!"

Ever since we came home from the hospital, Brandan has asked a staggering number of questions.  Many of them are quite thoughtful, but some are downright ridiculous.  His Grandma Z. gets a huge kick out of this and fires them right back at him.  It has become their little joke to come up with the silliest questions to ask each other, pretending that they genuinely don't know the answers.  The other day Brandan asked my mom what Elim was holding.  When Grandma told him that it was Elim's phone, he replied, "No, Grandma.  That's Elim's Ipod!"

When I ask Brandan if he knows which baby he is kissing, he answers, "Umm, that baby is LIKE CADE." And if I can only manage to carry one crying baby, he'll announce, "Mom!  You missed a baby!"  Instead of asking which twin I'm holding, he'll say, "What kind of baby is THAT?"

Brandan carelessly threw a toy, bumping Cade on the leg and making him cry.  When I told him he needed to be more careful with the twins, he pointed to Baxter and reassured me by saying, "Well, THAT baby isn't hurt!"
 

Frustrated by his lack of success on the potty chair, Brandan decided to fill his seat with spit instead of pee.  : /  He likes to tap his feet on floor while he is waiting to go and informs me that, "This is what PBS kids do when they are on the potty."
 

When I was bathing him, Brandan asked, "Mom, is it cool to have you in here?"

Yesterday I was reminded of the importance of prioritizing the emotional needs of my littlest ones.  It amazes me that they can always detect when they do not have my focused attention.  After a day of projects at the computer, when I was only physically present in our home, Brandan came up to me for some snuggles and said, "Mom, I MISS YOU."

Brandan asked if we could make "chocolate chip flapjacks."  When I looked confused, Shaila explained that "flapjacks are just short for pancakes."


When Brandan notices that I've been crying, he will announce, "Mom!  You have drops on your face!"  Then he will offer to sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep."  When he gets to the part about "The Little Boy Who Lives Down the Lane," his eyes light up and he sings "The Little Boy Who Lives Under the Toilet Tank" and roars with laughter at his own joke.  That makes everything feel okay again.  :)

The other day I presented the kids with cherry-scented play-dough.  Connor, the skeptic, asked, "Mom, is this the poisonous, addictive scented stuff?"

Connor observed about our neighbors, "Mom there are just 4 ladies over there with no kids and no men.  I don't even want to know what goes on over there, AND they SMOKE!"  I gave him a mild scolding, reminding him that we shouldn't judge our neighbors, and  suggesting that they might just be sisters.  Not buying it, he responded, "Mom, they have NO similarities!  At least we have different genders in our house..."

"Mom, can you pasteurize those babies' hands?!"

When Connor heard how Siobhan used to plan our anniversary meals when she was a little girl, his response was, "So HOW LONG has Siobhan been in charge around here?"

Connor, who is incredibly sensitive to my feelings, felt the need to apologize that he had a dream that made me look especially silly.  "Mom, I really didn't mean to have that dream about you.  I wanted to dream about a snake!"

The boys are thoroughly enjoying our study of flying creatures.  The other day Connor announced that he spotted something like a passenger pigeon in our front yard!


Shaila informed us that "The Waltons lived in the Middle Ages when there weren't any seat belts."
On our way to church, she was studying the twins' responses to our CD of upbeat praise songs.  Her conclusion was, "That baby in the blue seat likes rock music, and the one in the green seat doesn't."

For Shaila's sixth birthday, my mom gave her a soft mama kitty and told her that she had to take extra good care of it because she was going to have a baby soon.  Shaila announced this to everyone in breathless anticipation, and set up the kitty in a special basket with blankets.  When she woke up the next morning, sure enough there was a new baby kitty (placed there in the night by Grandma's helper, Siobhan :)!  Shaila and Brandan like to lead their kitties around on leashes.  The other day, Brandan was coaxing his along, saying, "Come with Auntie Brandan!"

As much as she still loves imaginary play, Shaila enjoys following in her teenage sister's footsteps and dressing up in sophisticated clothes.  The other day she met me in a trendy sweater dress and announced, "Mom!  I'm a business woman with mascara!"

"Mom, it's annoying how in Barbie and I Love Lucy, their lip gloss never comes off when they eat."

Shaila commented at lunch time that we "made our macaroni for free."  Her indignant brothers, who just had their first introduction to economics, protested, "Haven't you been listening to any of our book?!  There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!"

Shaila asked Ethan, "Hey, how are you going to pee when you're on crutches?"  When I asked her if she really wanted an answer to that question, she got a look of panic and answered, "Ummm, NO!"

Brandan is certain that "Frosty the Snowman is made of Marshmallows."

He also says, "Our babies look like OCTAGONS!"

Every now and then Brandan will give me a sly look and say that he "wants a new BLACK mother."

We are wrapping up our summer projects, and I am more determined than ever to have our home systems in good order before we add school to the mix.  This morning Stephen said, "So this is your quietest day of the week, right?"  I agreed and told him that "all I had to do was go for a run, clean up the mess from last night's 6 haircuts, bathe Brandan, run 5 loads of laundry, catch up on e-mails, freeze a huge pot of spaghetti sauce, whip up 2 cheeseburger pies, visit the Farmer's Market, type up 2 months of meal plans, order groceries for Hannaford pick up, and spend a few hours nursing the twins..."  It sounded kind of funny when I said it out loud and realized that this was my "day off."  I have enjoyed learning a new organization system called Homeschool Planet and have spent every spare moment creating a detailed account for each of my students.  When I pulled up everyone's schedules at once, the entire program froze up and had an electronic "nervous breakdown."  Perhaps it's a bad sign that a state of the art computer program can't process all that we're trying to accomplish in this home...

Twins' Two Month Update (Siobhan)

~2 Months~

Baxter and Cade are two months old. They are developing such fun personalities. We love their sweet smiles!

*Above picture is of Cade :)

(Cade)

Baxter and Cade