it’s february and it’s almost 80 degrees and i am on my bright blue adirondack chair on my front porch with my little laptop thinking about things. about life. about marriage and friendship. and dark chocolate.

when i teach the bible to women i read my passage over and over, read the study book, listen to sermons, read commentaries and the thoughts swirl around and around in my head for a while. then before it’s time to teach i pray that God will make order from the chaos in my head and i sit down and watch Him put it all together. it’s beautiful, really.

i find blogging to be somewhat similar. except sometimes the ‘order from chaos’ doesn’t exactly come and there’s no deadline to post or anything like that. so the thoughts just swirl until they pass. but I don’t want them to pass. i want to reach up into that big swirl and pull out the story thought by thought and tell it. to not let the opportunity pass me by. but the chaos of life is real and the time is short. what’s a broken bohemian girl to do about that?

here’s what’s on my mind:

new life in Christ
friendship
suffering
college students
moving… or not
fear and trust
imperfection
forgiveness

oh, and I might want to write a book. maybe.

i haven’t given anything up for lent yet. yesterday i forgot  it was ash wednesday and carried on as usual with coffee, chocolate and diet coke – is there anything of value left to give up? what I’d really like to give up is wasting time. maybe carve out a little more time to tackle these swirling thoughts. we’ll see about that.

1. Smoky Chicken Chili : set up the toppings bar and serve this off the stove. It is SO good, and relatively healthy, too!

2. Pulled Pork Tacos : I like to serve this with a pot of black & pinto beans, bagged spanish rice mix and roasted bell peppers and red onion (cut in chunks, olive oil, salt and pepper, 400 for 20 minutes).  I can’t find a boneless pork shoulder, so I use bone in and increase the ‘rub’ ingredients and cook time. DELICIOUS.

3. Chicken Corn Chowder : Winner winner chicken dinner. A big bowl of yum. This is a great ‘take to a friend’ meal, too. Serve out of mugs with a big salad on the side.

Two quick new recipes for you:

(Not So) Fancy Salad
1 bag Mixed Spring Greens OR 1 bag Romaine Lettuce (or half of both, or spinach, etc.)
½ cup craisins
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
3-4 scallions (white and green parts), sliced thin OR 1/4 c. slivered red onion
Poppy Seed Dressing (I like Brianna’s- drizzle in some balsamic vinegar if you’re feeling crazy!)

Place Greens in a large serving bowl. Top with craisins, feta, pecans and scallions. Add a few tablespoons of dressing and start tossing the salad, slowly adding in more dressing to your liking.

All amounts are approximate! It’s really the flavors that you want to mix- just add however much you need for who you’re serving. Each bag of lettuce serves about 5 people. If you are short on time, prepackaged toasted almonds or glazed walnuts/pecans work well.

Granny Boyd’s Doctored Up Cornbread
makes a 9×13 pan, serves 10-12

Our memory poem this month comes from Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne:

When I was One, I had just begun.
When I was Two, I was nearly new.
When I was Three, I was hardly me.
When I was Four, I was not much more.
When I was Five, I was just alive.
But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever,
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

As I was writing it on the board this week, Molly said, “Mama, why do you want us to memorize this poem? Is it because you want us to always be little and never grow up?”

Yep. That pretty much sums it up.

It was a huge hit! Well, the second batch was, at least. The first batch was burnt to a crisp under the given cooking temperature and time…. which led me to some tweaks and our very own version of this breakfast deliciousness. We’ve made a batch every week since Christmas. Perfect served with almond milk and fresh fruit.

Homemade Granola
makes about 5 1/2 cups 

4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup honey
scant 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Preheat oven to 300. Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine oats, nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt. Melt coconut oil in a small microwavable measuring cup on half power. Pour over oat mixture. In the same measuring cup, measure the honey and pour over the oats. Stir well with a spatula until all the oats and nuts seem covered. Spread onto baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until golden brown. *watch carefully* because it will go from toasty to burnt very quickly. It may still seem a little soft when it comes out of the oven but will get crispy as it cools. Keep stirring often while it cools to keep it from clumping and sticking to the pan.

If you want, you can stir in dried fruit after it’s cooked and cooled. Store in an airtight container in the freezer to keep it crispy.

and ps: don’t let the coconut oil  scare you. I found mine at Publix in the natural foods. It’s in solid form (like shortening) but can be melted in the microwave. The ‘virgin’ coconut oil has the faint taste of coconut (and is delicious in this granola) and the regular coconut oil has a very neutral taste and doesn’t make it taste coconutty (is that a word?) at all. Either way, coconut oil is allegedly healthier for you than vegetable oil.

I’ve been taking a little break (have you noticed?) and thinking about time. It’s a precious commodity these days and I want to invest each minute wisely.

Read the Bible today,  or blog? read the Bible.

Sit down and read with a child, or blog? read, always.

Go to the gym, or blog? gym, probably.

Clear out the sink full of dishes or blog? definitely blog.

So… this year? What will it look like here? It will still be broken and bohemian, that’s for sure. Beyond that, I don’t know. What shall we talk about, look into, learn? leave me a little comment with your thoughts.

Can you even bear to think about eating after this weekend? I truly could not eat lunch today… but wanted to have something light for supper tonight. My mom just got Birmingham’s newest Junior League cookbook, Table of Contents and I browsed through it today while I was over visiting. If there’s one thing I know about those Junior League ladies, it’s that their cookbooks are always awesome.

This recipe caught my eye because it promised to have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. Sign me up for that! It called for cannelleni beans which I don’t love but I subbed navy beans and it worked just fine. Not only was this super fast and yummy, but my kids even gobbled it up- score!

Warm Tortellini Soup
makes 6 cups (served the 5 of us with leftovers)

4 cups low sodium chicken broth (=1 -32 oz. box of broth)
9 oz. fresh tortellini (cheese or chicken)
1- 15 oz. can cannellini  beans, drained and rinsed (I used Navy Beans)
1- 15 oz. diced Italian style tomatoes (with basil, garlic and oregano)
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1 tbsp + 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated parmesan, for garnish

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a stockpot over medium high heat. Add pasta and cook 4 minutes. Stir in beans and tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls to serve and garnish with parmesan cheese.

And in case you ever wondered what my children do while I’m standing on the chair in my dining room trying to balance a bowl of soup on my hand and my camera in the other while taking  a picture of the soup up near the good light of the chandelier…, they each requested a photo be taken of them while I was up there. Jack would like you to know that he got a semi-automatic Nerf gun for Christmas. Thank you very much.

Liz and Brandon came for dinner last night. We had a delicious supper and pulled out all of the neighbor-teacher-office treats and spread them on the table for dessert.

Liz, who is always asking thoughtful questions (and never talking about herself) said, “So, have you had time to really stop and ponder Christmas yet?”

It struck me. Moved me. Because the answer this year is really no. I’ve been shopping and wrapping, packing and preparing, cooking and cleaning, but I haven’t taken the time to sit and ponder Christmas.

So, today? I will ponder Christmas. That’s what Mary did. She saw the goodness of God, delivering her despite her fears.  The good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, who in His great humility came as a helpless babe, so he could redeem us in our helplessness.

Good News. Great Joy.

Merry Christmas, friends. May you be touched by the peace of Christ and blessed beyond measure this Christmas.

More beautiful, thoughtful Christmas words here and here.

As I write this, Ginny is sitting on the floor nearby ‘scrapbooking’ and singing “It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas” to herself. It is so cute in her little four year old voice. We’ve been hitting the Christmas music hard this season, with the radio station playing non-stop Christmas in the car, and Spotify at home. (ps, if you don’t have Spotify, check it out… it’s awesome! and free!)

Here are my top five Christmas Albums this year:

1. Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe. Don’t judge. I don’t have Bieber Fever but I do love this cd.

fave songs: Under the Mistletoe, FaLaLa, Christmas Eve

2. Chris Tomlin, Glory in the Highest. Worshipful, uplifting.

fave songs: Winter Snow, Born That We May Have Life

3. Diana Krall, Christmas Songs. This is one smooth lady.

fave songs: Jingle Bells, Let it Snow, What are you doing New Year’s Eve?

4. Harry Connick, jr., Harry for the Holidays. A classic.

fave songs: Mary’s Little Boy Child, The Happy Elf

5. Elliott Yamin, My Kind of Holiday. Remember this guy from American Idol? This one cannot be found on Spotify or iTunes as far as I can tell…not sure what happened to it!? I just had to order a used copy on Amazon!

fave songs: This Christmas, Let’s Be Naughty (and save Santa the trip)

What are your favorite Christmas Albums? What do I need to add to my Christmas playlist this year?

And, seriously? Oprah gave everyone a car. If I could give you a car, it would either be this:

or maybe this:

Are those anyone else’s dream cars? I remember thinking in high school, all I wanted was a Ford Probe or a Toyota Celica. Super classy.

I was very happy to have five wonderful friends enter my little giveaway- so guess what? YOU ALL WIN!! That’s right, I’m slipping a wee little package in the mail to Mary Craig and Janet and hand delivering to Sheri, Jane and Ellen! And y’all are getting a chocolate version too!

Thanks for entering… and Merry Christmas!

]]> http://thebrokenbohemian.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/just-call-me-oprah/feed/ 5 Broken Bohemian oprah range rover volvo http://thebrokenbohemian.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/recipe-white-chocolate-nut-candy/ http://thebrokenbohemian.wordpress.com/2011/12/17/recipe-white-chocolate-nut-candy/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:45:39 +0000 Mary Beth http://thebrokenbohemian.wordpress.com/?p=998 Continue reading →]]> I know I say that everything I make is quick and easy, but it really is true. In addition to the angel ornaments, we’ll be giving a little bag of these goodies to our Sunday School teachers for Christmas- packaged in a cellophane gift bag with a fun Christmas ribbon, with the ornament attached. Make some today!

White Chocolate Nut Candy
makes about 7 dozen

1 – 24 oz. package vanilla flavored coating (I got this at Walmart in the baking section)
1- 18 oz. can salted mixed nuts (I take the Brazil Nuts out, eww.)
wax or parchment paper

Coarsely chop the ‘white chocolate’. Place in a large microwavable mixing bowl and melt on full power for 90 seconds. Stir. Continue melting in short intervals until smooth. Dump in the nuts and stir well. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto wax paper and let set for about 45 minutes. Store in an airtight container. As a variation, you can also make it with milk or dark chocolate.

And now, for the first time in Broken Bohemian history: A GIVEAWAY! One lucky reader will receive a tasty package of these goodies on their doorstep in time for Christmas!

The Rules:
Open to US Residents only.  Giveaway ends at midnight on Sunday, December 18. If you live in town, I will hand deliver them. All you have to do is leave a comment below to be entered. You can get an EXTRA entry if you become a subscriber by email or on google reader- just leave an additional comment telling me you subscribed. If you’re already a subscriber, go ahead and let me know anyway. If you have a nut allergy, this is probably not the giveaway for you. This fabulous giveaway is sponsored by yours truly.  Have fun!