Brownies from scratch

These are my family-famous made-from-scratch brownies. I went to my dad's house last night to bake some for him while he manufactured a support board for the shelf I had to have him cut. My computer desk was not made for a tower, so to have it in an appropriate place without taking away room for my feet on the floor I took out one of the side shelves but hated to loose the shelving space.

Of course, I did get some of the brownies (not letting me take some would be cruel and unusual punishment), and mine are sans-nuts. Any kind of nut gives me sores in my mouth, besides the fact that I'm nutty enough already. So, his has walnuts that I sprinkled on top. Here's the recipe for whoever is interested:

For a single cookie sheet:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/8 cups vegetable oil
2/3 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix the eggs about 3-4 minutes on medium speed (I use a KitchenAid mixer), add the sugar and blend. In a separate bowl (or I use big liquid measuring pitcher) mix the oil and the cocoa. Add to the eggs & sugar mixture and blend. Add the flour (I do one cup at a time so it doesn't make a mess!), and the vanilla.

If you want nuts, we put in walnuts and you can either grind them up to small pieces to mix in with the mixer(about a cup or so, depending on how nutty you want it) or lately my dad has enjoyed having the walnut halves left whole and so then I have to mix them in with a spatula. Don't forget to spray the cookie sheet so they don't stick, and pour out into the cookie sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. With nuts it takes 5 minutes or so longer to be done in the middle.

If you don't have any cookie sheets, I'm pretty sure this batch will fit into 2 9x13 pans and be the right thickness and consistancy. Last night I forgot to mix in my dad's walnuts after pouring out the batter for my stepmom & I's no-nuts pan, so I simply sprinkled them on top of his and kinda pushed them in a little.

We think they are delicious, please comment if you try them out and tell me what you think of them. The recipe is marked "from Grandma Inglenook's Cookbook" on my mom's recipe card that I've used since I was a kid.

Flowers & butterflies cross-stitch

This is the one I made for my mom over 10 years ago, and hoop marks showed up probably a couple of years after I made it. Thankfully it wasn't permanently attached to anything in the frame, so I was able to take it out and clean it with oxi-clean.

Let the countdown begin...

actually I have two countdowns, one sooner...



and one later...

Pink afghan

Posts two days in a row? What? How can this be??? I can laugh at myself, but I really have been wanting to put up pics of various craft projects I've made in the past. So, I uploaded all the pictures last night and saved them as draft posts, and then I can publish them every so often without a lot of work. :-)

I made this afghan for myself over the course of 8 years, because I would just get out of the mood of working on it and then pick it up again.  It got really interesting when I decided to really try to finish it after I got a full-size bed, and the pattern was only for a coverlet.  I didn't have enough yarn, and was so many years after getting the original supplies that there was no way to match the dye lot.  So, I just went with other shades of pink and kinda created other patterns based on the original design.  Probably a bit too pink for some people, but I like pink and it is really nice and warm on my bed.

Messenger spacecraft flies by Mercury

NASA sent up a spacecraft back in 2004 called MESSENGER to go over to Mercury and study it. It just now is doing its first flyby of Mercury, apparently in order to wind up orbitting Mercury at some point it has to go around the sun and fly by several planets (it has gone by Venus twice now) to slow down enough at the right time and not hurtle itself straight into the sun or crash on Mercury's surface. At least, that is how I'm understanding it.

This picture was from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for today, cool huh? If you want to teach your kids about the Moon or if you are as nerdy as I am just to look for yourself, Google Maps has a great website with information about all of the NASA missions to the Moon, including panoramic pictures they took on the surface!

Even cooler yet is the Sky layer on Google Earth, where you can look at tons of pictures all around the universe from Hubble and several other telescopes. They just updated it with more layers of additional telescopes. It has been my new favorite thing to do with my free time the last year, and I easily spend hours looking around and reading about nebulas, quasars, and black holes. It is as good as you can get without being an officer on the USS Enterprise.

I'm really hoping to buy a telescope this tax season that I can take on camping trips with me. The bummer thing about living in Northeast Ohio is that there is WAY too much cloud cover too much of the time. :-(

Some new things

I've been changing around my main website, Beside Still Waters, and so I actually imported these posts into the blog there. It will be my main blog about worship & music and my ministry, but I am going to keep this one for some of my other interests and for funny/silly type of things.

Now, I realize I don't even post here all that much, what makes you think that I am going to post there and here? Well, with my new job at Brimfield Faith United Methodist, I'm hoping to use the main site to share my learning and growing there. Also whatever articles and such I write.

I really have been wanting to post some stuff about my interest in Astronomy and pictures of the various crochet & cross stitch projects I've made. Plus some funny YouTube videos that wouldn't be appropriate for a blog about worship, and who knows what else. This is the place for that now. It is all me, just the different aspects of me. So, my blogroll here is going to change to reflect these other interests, and I might figure out how to delete some of the posts that are about worship since they are over at the website.

I'm hoping this will make it more fun, and that I will follow through now that I feel like I have a place for some other things.

Secular Music Faves of 2007

Honestly, I liked all of these about equally, but for different moods and different reasons. You might be wondering why I did a separate list for these, instead of putting them in with the rest, and honestly I'm not even totally sure why I did but here they are anyway. I, obviously, don't listen to a lot of secular music, though many bands are crossing and blurring the lines between "secular" and "Christian" which I think in all is a good thing.

Call Me Irresponsible by Michael Buble

Songs of Mass Destruction by Annie Lennox - man, I wish I could sing like her

Raising Sand by Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - Led Zepelin lead singer with bluegrass music's queen, who'd have thought how good this would turn out to be.

Who We Are by Lifehouse

Not Too Late by Norah Jones

Long Road Out of Eden by The Eagles - a little disappointing, compared to their old stuff, but enjoyable just the same

Sky Blue Sky by Wilco - I'm just getting into them, based on some other artists I like recommending them.

I also really got into The Fray, Daughtry, and Mute Math this year, but their CDs were released in 2006 and therefore not eligible for this list.

Classical & Soundtrack Faves of 2007

The Painted Veil Soundtrack with Lang Lang, piano; music composed by Alexandre Desplat - Beautiful. Haven't even seen the movie yet, but just for the soundtrack I will soon.

Amazing Grace Soundtrack by David Arnold

Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 &4 - Lang Lang, piano - Can you tell that I like this guy? He makes me so jealous.

Piano Moods: A Collection of Romantic Melodies with Various Pianists

And On Earth, Peace by Chanticleer - a little too 20th century for me...give me Mozart or give me death. Ha ha!

Another group I really enjoyed this year was Anonymous4, especially their Gloryland CD, but it was technically released in 2006 so doesn't apply to this list in the normal way. They sang some of the vocals on the soundtrack for The Nativity Story movie, plus they are very versatile in singing both baroque and folk song & spirituals like in Gloryland and American Angels.

Favorite Christmas CD's of 2007

Christmas From the Realms of Glory by Bebo Norman - the first song is just awesome

Christmas Songs by Jars of Clay

It's a Wonderful Christmas by Michael W. Smith

Let It Snow by Michael Buble (sorry I don't know how to do the little accent thingy in html) A great late edition to my Christmas music diet.

Noel by Josh Groban - I can't believe I didn't love this one, but I didn't. I liked it, but I think the Bebo Norman CD kind of crowded it out. However, "Little Drummer Boy" with guitarist Andy McKee is outstanding.

Let It Snow by Chanticleer - it was hard for them to live up to their past Christmas CDs. I did like the jazz flavor, though.

Christmas Song by Mannheim Steamroller - ditto, it was okay. Just okay.

My Almost Top Faves of 2007

Glory Revealed: The Word of God in Worship by Various Artists

Painting The Invisible by Vicki Beeching - to me, it was hard for her to equal Yesterday, Today & Forever. It is a great CD, just didn't quite make my Top 12

Holding Nothing Back by Tim Hughes - to be honest, I didn't give this one as much play-time as it probably deserves. I shall have to remedy that this year.

The Twenty-First Time by Monk & Neagle - this one was given a hard time in several reviews I read, but I like it.

The Blessing by John Waller

Twilight by Future of Forestry - I was glad to see this re-forming of Something Like Silas, and while there is some similarity in the overall sound there are some differences.

All others of 2007 that I enjoyed, in no particular order
Waking Up by Bethany Dillon
The Ringing Bell by Derek Webb
The Trumpet Child by Over the Rhine - I heard of them before, but just now am getting into them. Their Ohio CD is the best I've listened to.
Scattered Pieces (Live) by Shawn McDonald
This Moment by Steven Curtis Chapman - I need to listen to this one some more
We Are Not Alone by Storyside B
Chronology 1 & 2 by Third Day - Their concert at the House of Blues in Cleveland (I won tickets from 95.5 The Fish) was hands-down the best I saw this last year. I say this when I got to see some really great concerts at the Alive Festival!
True Beauty by Mandisa
Whispered and Shouted by Aaron Shust
The Altar and The Door by Casting Crowns
Liquid Worship by Chris Nesbitt
Live-A Deeper Level by Israel & New Breed
I Believe In You by Joel Engle
Make You Known by Lakeview Worship
You Are Good by Matt Papa
No Greater Audience by Michael Neale
Worth It All by Rita Springer
Burn For You by Steve Fee - he re-released this CD with his band just called "Fee"
Open The Door by Take No Glory
Better Questions by Todd Agnew
Take A Chance on Something Beautiful by Half Past Forever (this is Chris Sligh's, of American Idol fame, band)
Five Score and Seven Years Ago by Relient K

My Top Twelve Favorite CDs of 2007

Overdressed by Caedmon's Call - I love this band, and this album is truly one of their finest. I'm so glad Derek came back! Speaking of, his new solo CD, Ringing Bell I'm finally getting around to listening to and it is pretty darn good, too.

Pages by Shane & Shane - great worship music, but not really for congregational singing except for a couple of songs. These guys are amazing.

Door Way by Ron Block - I found out about this gem from Christian Musician magazine. He is the banjoist for Alison Kraus & Union Station, and this is a great solo effort that has gotten a lot of play-time on my ipod.

Portable Sounds by TobyMac - This is so far my favorite CD from a member of DCTalk since their last record together. As much as I enjoyed it, I have one request - PLEASE get back together guys, you are all at your best when you are doing it together!

RCVRY (a.k.a Recovery) by Jeremy Casella - I kept hearing good things about this CD around the internet, and I finally gave into the hype and got it. They weren't wrong, this is some great music.

Remedy by David Crowder Band - A highly anticipated new release from DC*B didn't disappoint one bit.

Full Attention by Jeremy Riddle - Some great congregational worship songs, and some songs for private worship.

On Promenade by Doug Burr - He is also new to me this year, thanks to a tip from Colossians3:16. While I really enjoy the disc, I'm really disappointed that because I downloaded it from iTunes, I don't have the lyrics and they are nowhere to be found on his website or any other place on the net. His style sometimes makes him a little hard to understand, so I'd really like to be more sure that I am hearing the words right.

All For Love by Lenny LeBlanc - some great new music from an "elder statesman" of worship music. He hasn't lost his touch, and his love for Jesus shines brightly through.

Every Reason Why by Mark Roach - boy, am I glad I finally got this CD. Like Jeremy Riddle, there are some great congregational worship songs that I intend to use at church, and some great songs for personal reflection.

Our God Saves by Paul Baloche - he just keeps writing one great worship song after another. His willingness to teach and to guide worship leaders is so reflective of his life of worship.

Paper Skin by Kendall Payne - Her music is thoughtful and beautiful.

CDs of 2007

Okay, I'm not hugely fond of "best of year" lists, because they always leave something out that I liked alot. Just because one person really thinks a CD was great, or terrible as the case may be, doesn't mean that I think the same thing. I've discovered that there are CD's I passed up on several years ago because of a lackluster review in a magazine only to discover it recently and really love it.

So, I'm going to do several categorical lists of the CD's of 2007, with some commentary of what I thought about it. They may or may not be in a particular order, when it is I'll make a note of it.

First, I'll list my Top Twelve Favorite CDs of 2007. 12 because I'm a huge NASCAR fan, and I figured if they can have the top 12 drivers in the Chase, I can have my top 12 CDs.

Then my Almost Top faves and the honorable mentions.

Lastly, there is some separate lists of other CDs - Christmas, secular rock & pop, classical & soundtracks, that are in order of like the most to like the least.

Now, these I only recently acquired (Christmas presents from my mom or bought recently) and I can't make a decision yet because I've not hardly listened to them:

Tell Me What You Know by Sara Groves - I'm already starting to love this one!
I Belong by Kathryn Scott
Everyone Overcome by Desperation Band
All That Is Within Me by MercyMe
Cannons by Phil Wickham
Peace Like A River by Chris Rice