A few missed things!

As missionaries there are many things that we miss living here in Croatia. Obviously we miss our family and friends, that kinda goes without saying but we also have some other loves that are missing from our lives here in Croatia. Sonic, okay who doesn't love Sonic??? I mean you folks in the North really miss out! Sonic is the best drink place around and I really miss it!!

Oh and lest I forget, WALMART, is it even possible to forget Walmart? I would do anything to have an American Walmart here in Croatia. An American Walmart with American products, are you kidding me? I LOVE Walmart!

Oh yea and another fav is Cheddars, this restaurant is wonderful and really inexpensive for today's market. Their prices haven't really changed in the last 10 years and the food is still just as good. Yea, I miss Cheddars too. 

Sometimes there are things or places you miss that you didn't know you even loved until there weren't any anymore. Point in case, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.  Honestly in the states I didn't really crave these little sugar-laden babies but when they're not available they become pretty desirable.  Hey isn't that true about most things. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and the doughnuts are always sweeter on the other side of the big blue wet thing. 

Anyhow, my family loves doughnuts so I decided to try to make some real ones. Not the ones from biscuit dough but real live yeast doughnuts. 

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Copycat Recipe #51199

by Roosie

2½ hours | 2 hours prep

24 doughnuts

Doughnuts

• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages yeast
• 1/4 cup water (105-115)
• 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• canola oil

Creamy Glaze

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4-6 tablespoons hot water

Chocolate frosting

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4-6 tablespoons hot water
• 4 ounces milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Dissolve yeast in warm water in 2 1/2-quart bowl.
2. Add milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups flour.
3. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.
4. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. Stir in remaining flour until smooth.
6. Cover and let rise until double, 50-60 minutes.
7. (Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched.) Turn dough onto floured surface; roll around lightly to coat with flour.
8. Gently roll dough 1/2-inch thick with floured rolling pin.
9. Cut with floured doughnut cutter.
10. Cover and let rise until double, 30-40 minutes.
11. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer to 350°.
12. Slide doughnuts into hot oil with wide spatula.
13. Turn doughnuts as they rise to the surface.
14. Fry until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side.
15. Remove carefully from oil (do not prick surface); drain.
16. Dip the doughnuts into creamy glaze set on rack then when slightly cooled spread chocolate frosting on top.
17. Dip in sprinkles or other toppings after chocolate if desired.
18. Creamy Glaze: Heat butter until melted.
19. Remove from heat.
20. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
21. Stir in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.
22. Chocolate Frosting: Heat butter and chocolate over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat.
23. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
24. Stir in water 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency.

I found this copycat recipe on RecipeZaar and it was great. It was a little tricky after I doubled it but it still made some great doughnut. 

Actually they were really easy conisdering they used yeast and I'm a bum when it comes to making yeast bread. I was amazed that they turned out so good and they were fast too. Anyhow after I dipped them in the glaze they were REAL doughnuts. 

Not just some semblance of those sweet American treats but real doughnuts. I took then to a friend's house and they were gone before too long. 

These were a great treat for the missionary who is a little doughnut-home sick or the mom who wants to give it a go. 

Let me know how they come out of you decided to try them. 

YUMMY, you won't be sorry except for maybe the calories! 

Just Stuff

Well another week has come and gone. It is simply dun-founding that we are already almost to the middle of June. Are you kidding me? Really? Hello, what happened to March or April for that matter, did we just rip those months from the calendar or did I sleep through the whole 8 weeks?

I can't even believe that we only have 6 months before furlough. This term has gone by faster (lightning speed actually) than any term we have ever spent in Croaita. It's like the days are slipping by while we walk around oblivious.
In Revelation 22:12, He wasn't kidding...  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
It's really amazing how as time flys by we are getting that much closer to His coming.  


Anyhow we have had some pretty amazing things happen here in the last several months and I have lots to tell you about but I have to get busy with some of the stuff that needs to be done to help make amazing things happen. Does that make any sense at all?

Have a great Monday y'all!

I LOVE CROATIA post and First fun of the summer

Well Monday we all loaded up in the cars and headed down to see the closest thing to the Garden of Eden that I've ever seen. Plitvička Jezera is one of Croatia's most beautiful national parks. The park is basically multiple lakes emptying into each other as they go down the mountains. It's like something out of a story and I'm so glad it's in Croatia for us to enjoy.

Anyhoo, here is some of the beauty we were blessed to enjoy on Monday.
Oh yea and BTW, I know the photos are hanging off the side of my page, yea it stinks but there is no way I am going to redo this post, so ignore it.   k?   thanks!




Yea, it really is that beautiful.

Is it amazing or what??? YEA, it is.

The girls trekking through hoping for the end sometime soon. It was a long trek but well worth it.

Loved how the cut out just enough tree to fit the walkway.



My 17 year old Cody.







Yes Bro. Sam, our new co-laborer in Croatia always wears this uniform. He's always ready for a soul-winning opp.

Just build me a little shack on that little knoll on the other side of the lake and I would be happy.













Seen this little guy along the path, I don't know if he was dangerous or not but there were lots of his kind around.







This sign shows how the lakes dump into one another. We were way down at the bottom with a few steps left.

Beautiful ehh???
God sure is good to let us live in Croatia, we're so blessed!

Hey look → BAFF

Check this out! Is this a great idea or what? I'm all for new ways to support our troops and I'm defiantly gonna do this. 

bff celebrates the unique and unconditional support friends have for each other through good times and bad. Together with the American Freedom Foundation, we are now able to help America connect with friends in the military! This pair of bff bracelets will create a bond of awareness and appreciation for our baff’s (best armed forces friends)!

http://bff.tv/baffbracelet.aspx

Pass it on y'all!

Sunshine!

Finally after a week of nonstop rain or drizzle it's finally sunny!! I'm so excited about the potential of the sun and if you could see my clothes line you would understand. I think I'm on load number 6 already. I have high hopes of getting it all done.

Honestly I'm not one of those who can get it all done. I'm sure if that were my focus and didn't take any time for family I could manage to keep a perfect home but often I get off kilter. I have never in all of my almost 19 years of marriage been able to balance everything and honestly I can't see it happening any time soon. I'm  a multi-tasker no, I'm not and I'm sure it's too late for me to learn to be.

Anyhow, I'm trying to get it all done today and as I was walking in the kitchen today I noticed the prettiest setting. It was totally on accident but it was so pretty. It gets hot in the house quick on a warm day if you don't let some of thee cool morning air in. So I was, and it made me happy.. :0)

Anyhow, between the laundry and the fridge that keeps calling my name I managed to change out the flowers in the vase on the red buffet. I found the pale pink roses in the yard and filled the vase with some of the red thorn bush that also grows in our yard. I love having any sort of fresh flowers in the house and really it's possible if you look around nature enough to find then for free! Actually I just heard the washer go off so I better hurry this post up. 

In Croatia we can get Nesquik chocolate milk mix but it's about $10 for a bag that lasts about a week in our house. So yesterday stumbled upon a recipe for chocolate syrup and since it was so easy I printed it. Last night Hannah made it and this morning we enjoyed yummy chocolate milk for breakfast and it cost little to nothing. 

I can't remember where I found this particular recipe but there are lots of them floating out there in Blogville. 

Here's the one Hannah used for her syrup. 

1 C cocoa powder

2 C water

4 C sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1. In a large pot mix 1 cup of coaoa wth 2 cups of water and cook over and medium heat stirring occasionally. 

2. Add 4 cups of sugar and stir until completely dissolved. 

3. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium low and let it boil for 3 minutes. 

4. Remove the syrup from the heat and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. 

5. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 

6. Stir the syrup. *the syrup will thicken as it cools*

7. Let it cool for 20 minutes and then transfer it to a quart canning jar. Give it a a day or overnight to thicken and you can enjoy it in the morning. 

You can either print out the actually recipe or here is a nice 4x6 recipe card you can print out and place in that old recipe box of yours.

Anyhow, the washer is nagging so I better get!!! Have a great weekend!

 

Wow, 10 years already?

Ten years! It's really unbelievable. It's already been 10 years since we arrived in Croatia in May of 2000. It seems like an eternity ago and it's hard to remember life before Croatia.

The day we arrived in Croatia, the 23rd of May 2000 I took this picture of our kids outside the airport. They were so little. Cody was 7, Joshua was 4 and Hannah was 2. It seems like a forever ago. Now the kids are all getting ready for birthdays over the next 4 months and they'll be 18, 15 and 13, all teenagers!

I remember when we arrived in Croatia we were determined to stay. A few had gone before us but were never able to last for one reason or another. Life was hard and very lonely here in Croatia. I remember determining in my heart that we would not be quitters. We would not quit! (I understand that many missionaries are forced off the field for very good reasons and or God moves them, please don't misunderstand) We decided that we would remove the Quit word from our vocabulary just as we had the Divorce word from our marriage. 

Call it stubbornness, heard-headedness, luck, or grace, either way, we made it 10 years. All those times when we thought we couldn't stand, He proved us wrong by holding us up when we were weak. We owe all praise and glory to the Lord for nothing good happens without Him. We're so excited and looking forward to the next 10.

BTW, let me throw in what a sheer privilege it is to serve Him in Croatia. Wow, what did we do to deserve His trust? We're not forced to live in Croatia and be missionaries, no, we're allowed and so blessed. 

Our very good friend Pastor James Rasbeary who pastors at Lighthouse Baptist in Wylie, Tx wrote us this super-special poem for our 10 anniversary in Croatia. He is an excellent poet and he posts many of his poems on his poetry blog, Fitly Spoken. If you read anything read The Critic and the Contender, my fav!

TEN YEARS IN CROATIA

By James Rasbeary

June 1, 2010

Nigh onto twenty years ago,

The saving grace of God did find

A man whom sin so long did blind,

And made him a new creature; 

And by that same grace he did grow

And felt God's call to others go 

As His own gospel preacher.

In God's will this new man did go,

But God did not send him alone

To face and brave the storms unknown;

A sweet help meet for His man

God's loving grace did also make,

His own cup of life to partake,

As they pursued God's plan.

Some fields are cold and hard; e'en so,

God sends strong men to work therein;

The Lord needs someone to begin

To plow the hard, fallow ground;

It oft takes years of faithful pain 

'Fore the harvest of golden grain 

And we bring our sheaves in bound.

Ten years - it seems so long ago

When they flew to that far off place

With trembl'ng heart and tear-stained face;

What a journey they began!

Their work has been divinely blessed

And other men have joined their quest-

A team compiled in God's plan.

We are proud of our friends, although 

'Tis hard to be so far away.

Still, we want them to faithful stay

In their own appointed place.

A nation of souls needs them more;

We have eternity in store

When we have finished our race.

Thanks Bro. James, it means a lot.


Anyhow, I just wanted to share this belated anniversary with you folks. I'm so thankful for God's sustaining grace when we needed it and will need it.


Where ever you serve, be faithful!

Raising Homemakers!

Okay so I can't remember where I found this blog but I'm glad I did. I love the whole idea of training homemakers. I think that this is the one part of mothering that the general population is coming up short in.

Not only is this site gonna be great but they have some AWESOME give-a-ways! Lookie lookie at what they are giving away now. I would love to have this collection.

Anyhow, head on over there and check it out and don't forget to enter to win!!

Giveaway will end Friday, June 4th at 8pm EST.