Thoughts From the Home School Conference

June 10, 2008

We had a wonderful weekend at the NICHE Home School Conference! As always, the Lord sent just the things we needed to hear to encourage and motivate us.

Here’s just a small sampling:

  • Todd Wilson: Be real. Show the chinks in your armor and be understanding when others do the same. There is no “perfect home school family”, every one has their share of trouble.
  • Zan Tyler: Kids have to talk. Conversation builds tissues in the brains. My home should be bursting with language.
  • Todd Wilson: If a plant loses some leaves, it can still grow, but if the stem of a plant is broken, the plant will die. My marriage is the stem. I need to cultivate it and be careful with it. Almost everything else (curriculum, money, houses, even home schooling) are leaves, there are just not that important.
  • Zan Tyler: “Fold them the way they’re bent”. I need to adapt the training of my children to the way that God created them, their natural abilities and interests.
  • Sarah Mally: Five goals for our home school: 1. Godliness 2. Wisdom 3. Knowledge 4. Skills 5. Ministry. Spiritual goals always come first!
  • Sonya Shafer: Habits take up 1/3 of education. “The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.” ~Charlotte Mason
  • Jan Bloom: Great books help your children to practice emotions. They should nourish the mind and the hearts. They should broaden our understanding and develop our imagination.

It was just the weekend that both my husband and I needed!

By Country Gal | Posted in Home School | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Time to Feed a Crowd: Chocolate Sheet Cake Brownies

February 25, 2008

Chocolate Sheet Cake BrowniesI love to feed a crowd! I had the opportunity last week end when our home school group got together for an informal potluck and time of fellowship. Since I had a partial package of Valentine’s M & M’s hidden in the freezer, I decided to make a frosted brownie and use them to decorate. ( I know it was a sacrifice, but what’s a mom to do!)

This recipe was given to me years ago when I was student teaching in Kansas City. It’s a classic that I use again and again. Although it isn’t as fudgy as some brownies, the buttermilk gives it a very rich cake-like texture that’s always a huge hit!

Chocolate Sheet Cake Brownies
(or Buttermilk Brownies)

Combine: 2 cups flour, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2 tsp. of salt. Set aside.

Combine: 2 stick margarine, 1 cup water and 1/2 cup cocoa in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and pour over the flour mixture. Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. soda, and 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix together.

Pour into a greased sheet cake pan and bake 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees. (I used a 17″ x 12″ pan.)

Remove from oven and immediately frost with buttermilk frosting.

Buttermilk Frosting

Combine: 1 stick margarine, 1/4 c. cocoa, 1/3 cup buttermilk in sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla and a dash of salt. Pour over warm brownies.

I added a handful or so of the chocolate raspberry chips to the brownie batter for added flavor. You can substitute regular milk for the buttermilk in the frosting, it will still taste great.

The brownies disappeared quickly at the potluck; but the M & M’s on top disappeared even faster! That is until we caught a couple of 2 year olds carefully removing them from the brownies and eating them! But this chocolate lady didn’t mind. I just wish I was young enough and cute enough to get away with it, too!

By Country Gal | Posted in Brownies, Chocolate, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , | Comments (0)