Holiday Trinkets

This little snowy village is nestled on top of our piano. These houses are actually made of paper! Like paper dolls...but houses! We picked up a pack of them in Ohio a couple of years ago for only, I believe, $1.99 or something outrageous like that. We leave them assembled and stash them in an old truck, and at Christmas time, we sit them out with some snow and sometimes fresh greenery from outside. We just love how old fashioned they look!
Our village reminds us of the old version of the movie "A Christmas Carol". ~Alli

Another Vision Forum Giveaway!

Doug Phillips and Vision Forum are sponsoring a giveaway at inashoe.com to help get word out about the FREE SHIPPING Vision Forum is offering until Midnight tonight

Help spread the word on your website or blog then leave a comment at Life in a Shoe by 10pm today to enter!

Return Of The Daughters

A lot of people ask us, "Why isn't Alli working or going to college?" I mean, after all, isn't that the next step after high school according to the world's standards? This question is a hard one to answer. We know that our society thinks that the only way to be successful is to follow these traditional paths. Tony and I have been convicted in this area for Allison.

Her heart's desire is to be a keeper at home...God's highest calling for a woman. She has embraced these single years as a time of learning and loves being a helper to her family at home. Does this mean that she is uneducated or wasting her life? On the contrary! She has helped make our home the center of education, ministry, entrepreneurialism, and especially hospitality- valuable tools to carry with her to benefit the next generation for the glory of God.

This movie, the Return of the Daughters, has been such an encouragement to our family! It's wonderful to know of the growing number of young ladies who are turning to this way of life and defying today's anti-family culture.

We give this move the highest of ratings!

~Julie

Happy Thanksgiving

from

The Trent Family!

Roll Making Technique

Today I am making rolls! I love making rolls but whenever I do make them, they always turn out lumpy, uneven, and different sizes. :) That's why I was so excited when I learned about making yeast breads and rolls in my Wholesome Food Prep course because Sue Gregg taught a little trick you can use to get perfect even-sized rolls every time!

Step one: Take a little bit of dough and stretch it to make a mushroom cap (make sure your hands are greased well with oil so it isn't sticky!)

Step two: Shape your fingers in an "O" shape and push the dough up through it with your other fingers

Step three: Squeeeeeeze the dough to make a little puff like this (See my other fist? I must be squeezing this one really hard. :) It's a good way to take out all of your frustrations. ;) I have no idea what I was doing with that hand!)

After you've squeezed the dough, pinch the excess off of the bottom or tuck it under your roll. Isn't that neat? I love how this technique makes the tops of the rolls so smooth! Give it a try!

Ta da! And they actually rose this time...unlike my last attempt at making bread. :) I'm still blaming it on the yeast! ~Alli

My Rug!!

Giveaway Coming Soon!

Hello everyone! We just wanted to let everyone know that we are going to be having a giveaway to celebrate our 100th post soon! This post is our 92nd post so there are only several more to go! We are not telling what we're giving away because it's a surprise. :) It's going to be a good one! Stay tuned and be sure to enter! ~The Trents

Autumn Walk In My Herb Garden

Fragrant Oregano

Rosemary and my reading bench

The last colorful blooms before Winter

Chive seeds need collecting

~Alli~

Can You See It?

Look right in the middle of the picture...

It's a tiny lettuce sprout! I can't believe how fast they came up! I went out in the garden this morning to water my plants and looked really closely to find tons of small lettuce sprouts. I only saw one spinach sprout coming up but hopefully there will be more soon! I'm so excited!!! I hope they continue to grow and don't whither away.

As I am typing this, 1 Peter 1:24-25 comes to mind:

"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever..."

We are reminded to not place our trust and find comfort in our own abilities as sinners, but in our Almighty Father. Even though my little plants may wither away, I can be confident that the truthfulness and goodness of God and His Word will always last eternally! That is definitely something to trust in! ~Alli

A Very Chocolaty Birthday

Today is Mom's birthday! Because today was a special day, she was treated like a queen, of course! Instead of cake, we thought we'd try a new dessert for a treat after her birthday dinner. I decided to try making little chocolate bowls with chocolate mousse inside... a dieter's nightmare! I had seen some fancy chef make this dessert on a cooking show and I have been longing to make it because it looks so elegant!

Okay, I got off to a rough start. :) In order to make the chocolate bowls, you melt chocolate and then dip an inflated balloon in it to make the bowl shape. When it hardens in the refrigerator, you pop the balloon and...voila! Well, I was not thinking and dipped a balloon in piping hot chocolate fresh out of the microwave! KABOOM! There was chocolate all over the kitchen! I think I still have some in my hair. :) So, if you want to make this dessert, please make sure your chocolate has cooled!
To make the mousse: Whip a carton of whipping cream with a mixer or a whisk (the chef held three whisks together and whisked the cream making it go a lot faster!), melt some chocolate in a separate bowl (I used a bar of Baker's chocolate), then pour the whipped cream, a little bit at a time, into the melted chocolate. The chef added a scoop of whipped cream to the chocolate first to temper it and cool it down a little bit before adding the rest. Then you fold it together...not too much or the whipped cream will loose its fluffiness. Then, I scooped the mousse into a plastic baggie, snipped a corner, and piped it into the chocolate bowls. We had raspberries sprinkled on ours, but you could also use strawberries.
Mom's bowl :)

Oh another thing...if I were going to make this recipe again, I would make the bowls a lot smaller! This is a really rich dessert! It was very good though, and it is a recipe that is definitely going in the recipe box. :) The "queen" enjoyed it! Happy birthday Mom! We love you!

Target Practice

A couple of weeks ago, Dad and Mom bought Eric a knife and tomahawk throwing DVD from Vision Forum along with two throwing knives and a tomahawk. On the DVD, the instructor had made his targets out of tree stumps, and Eric was inspired to make his own.

Nice color choices :)

I am standing out of the way! Eric is really impressive when he throws his knives. :)

I, on the other hand, am not so great. :) Maybe he can give me lessons! Every time I throw the tomahawk, it either ends up in a tree or we can't find it. :) I think I'm going to have to get a few pointers from my 12 year old brother...just in case I ever come across a bear or a ravenous squirrel. Not like I would have the courage to actually kill it anyway. ;) ~Alli

Fun With Seeds and Family

Today I have started a project that I have never attempted before- growing vegetables from seed during cold weather. I'm kind of nervous. :) We have grown vegetables in our cold frame in the spring and they did extremely well so we'll see what happens! I tried growing flowers from seeds last year and wasn't very successful. :)

Yesterday, Eric helped me relocate our empty cold frame to our open garden plot so our veggies would get more sun. After loosening the soil today, I planted my seeds! For my experiment, I decided to plant some lettuce and spinach for salads throughout the cold weather. Also, planting lettuce and spinach is pretty fool-proof since they're both very versatile vegetables. I planted half of the cold frame with lettuce and half with spinach. We shall see if they grow!

Buddy watched me plant today and was constantly running away with my seed packets! I guess his cuteness makes up for his mischievousness. :)

At around lunchtime today, Nan, Aunt Rhonda, and Emily came over for a visit! It is always so nice to have them. :) We had spicy vegetable soup, pasta salad, and turkey wraps for lunch. Emily loved playing with Buddy!

After everyone had left, Mom, Eric, and I went for a country drive to pick Philip up from college. Mom surprised us for dinner by taking us to an Italian restaurant! Now we are all stuffed and sleepy. :) A perfect ending for a wonderful day! ~Alli

Another Vision Forum Drawing!

Well Kim over at Life in a Shoe is having ANOTHER Vision Forum Giveaway! This time, she has raised the stakes! On her last giveaway, all you had to do was post a wish list of your favorite Vision Forum products adding up to $150 on your blog along with a link to her post and the Vision Forum website. Now, the rules are the same but you get to make up a list worth $250!! She is going to pick three winners! We have added a couple of items to our previous wish list. :)

• Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God $16
• Strength and Dignity for Daughters $10
• Sabers, Spears, and Catapults CDs $25
• Entrepreneurial Boot camp for Christian Families DVD Collection $95
• Gossip: The Plague of the Church CD $10
• Still Standing DVD $18
• Fathers and Sons DVD $32
• Children and the Dominion Mandate CD $10
• The History of the Sunday School Movement CD $10
• The Influence of Older Children on Younger Children CD $10
• How to Think Like a Christian CD $10

Whew! Head on over to Kim's blog, make your list, link to Vision Forum and this post, and have fun! The drawing ends tomorrow!