Logan Wolfram

Enjoying Life for Dessert

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pan…A New Initiative

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Sisterhood of the Traveling Pan

Remember I said I was rolling out a new initiative?!

Well, here it is!  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pan!  After I wrote a post about it recently, I’ve been thinking, and the Lord has been birthing a new idea!

So here’s what I’m doing, and I want to invite you all to join along.

Go out and buy a cute 9×13 pan that you don’t care to get back.  Make it cute though. HERE is a decent one from Paula Deen for Walmart. for just $20.  Don’t just buy a metal pan…part of this is to feel well thought through.

After you buy a pan, make your dinner and double it.  Fill the pan with dinner.  Now take it to someone.

Now here’s the part that I think will make this awesome.  I have 2 pans that I’m starting to circulate.  I have a group of about 10 friends or so that I’m going to start one pan amongst.  Part of the purpose for this is just to help each other out.  I know that we all have days when dinner is about the LAST thing we want to think about.  So what if a friend just calls you up and brings you one unexpectedly?  I do this a fair amount anyhow, but this time it’s super intentional.  Grab a group of friends and plan to start a traveling pan within your group.

I’m also starting a pan in my neighborhood.  I know a good many of my neighbors, but there are plenty that I don’t know.  The purpose of this pan is to stimulate the growth of community and hospitality within your neighborhood.

There are rules though…so here you go:

When you get the pan, you must send it to someone else within 2 weeks from receipt.  It doesn’t matter what you put in it, but it needs to be dinner.  If this is in your neighborhood, then I encourage you to take the pan to a neighbor that you don’t know.  This way, once the pan is going, you’ll be meeting 2 people who you didn’t already know.  And you won’t just be meeting them, you’ll be loving them well!

Also, when you take the pan, I encourage you to start a notebook to go with it.  I’ve created some printable 8.5×11 PDF files that I’m attaching below so that you have it all ready to go.  The idea is that you keep a guest book of sorts to travel with the pan.  Put your name and who you’re sending it to for each journal entry.  Write a short note to the recipient on the top of the left page and on the right hand side, include the recipes that you’ve sent them.  When they get the pan (or before they send the pan on its way) they write some notes about how the meal encouraged and blessed them.

Here is the journal page PDF that you see above: STP Journal Recipe Page

I think that people will love reading the past entries, and again, it will build community to get to know people better this way!  I’d suggest  calling that day to let someone know you’re bringing the meal so that it’s a complete surprise.  If for some reason, it’s not convenient for them, then just take the pan to bless someone else!

And here’s what I ask of you: Let me know how it goes!  Leave comments below on the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pan Page here on the blog, and leave comments too on the Life for Dessert facebook page!  Let’s start a movement of blessing and community building one pan at a time!

I’m also going to post recipes and other ideas frequently here too that will make great ones to take for your Traveling Pan! If you ever take soup or something that doesn’t fit in the pan, just make sure you take the pan with the meal so that it doesn’t stop! Who wants to join me?  Let’s start a mobile revolution that connects people and loves well!

Make sure to join the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pan on Facebook  to share stories, recipes, and more!

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

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I’ve been meaning to write this post for a week…ahh…those darn intentions!  They so often don’t cooperate with my actual plans!

For the past week, I’ve been squealing with joy inside my heart!  My dear friend Sarah Mae, just released her first published book this past week!  And, it broke into the top 100 on Amazon!  I’m so proud of my friend because of what she’s accomplished, but I’m probably even more proud of her because of what this book says and means.

Desperate

 Sarah Mae, along with her mentor, Sally Clarkson, are pulling back the veil on motherhood in all of its glories and challenges.  Life with small kids is full of joys, but most days it’s also completely exhausting.  And God didn’t mean for us to do it alone.  He is our strength, but he also calls older women to speak life and truth into younger ones.  We’re not alone in this journey called Motherhood, and my friend, Sarah Mae, beautifully shares her story.

“Desperate is for those who love their children to the depths of their souls but who have also curled up under their covers, fighting back tears, and begging God for help. It’s for those who have ever wondered what happened to all their ideals for what having children would be like. For those who have ever felt like all the “experts” have clearly never had a child like theirs. For those who have prayed for a mentor. For those who ever felt lost and alone in motherhood.

In Desperate you will find the story of one young mother’s honest account of the desperate feelings experienced in motherhood and one experienced mentor’s realistic and gentle exhortations that were forged in the trenches of raising her own four children.

It is our prayer that reading Desperate will leave you soul-filled, refreshed, and hopeful.”

I’m putting my stamp of massive approval behind this book, not just because it’s well written and tackles with honesty a subject worth tackling.  I’m endorsing this book also because I know the woman behind it.  I know her heart, and I know her in honest and open friendship, and I can tell you without reservation that Sarah Mae is the “real deal.”

So run out to your favorite local bookstore and buy “Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe” or click on the book above to pop over to Amazon and snatch a copy.  Trust me…you’ll be glad you did.

The Pretty Paints…

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 paints

I just have to tell you that my littlest did the sweetest thing today.

I went yesterday to Target to pick up a few things for my upcoming trip to Bangladesh.  You know, stuff that’s really important to have with me….Immodium, Pepto, Propel packets, and a new pair of yoga pants for an eternally long 30+ hours of airline travel. (Seriously…almost 5 hrs to LA, then almost 16 to Istanbul, and then another 8 to Dhaka….and that’s just the in-flight time.)  I’m pretty sure my new yoga pants will be put to good use.  Anywhoo….I picked up a couple of little things to take to Ritu, our sponsored child who I’ll get to meet when I’m in Bangladesh.  I didn’t want to get too much or overwhelm her, but what 7 year old kid doesn’t love colored pencils, paper, and some watercolor paints?

My littlest wanted to see what I got to take her.  It was actually my kids’ idea to get her a present…they’re gifters, just like their mama.

When I showed him the bag, he pulled out the 8pk of watercolor paints and said “no mommy, you cannot take this.”  I thought he was being selfish when he ran off with them.

But then he came back…carrying a his used 16pk watercolor paint box and said “mommy, take her mine because it has even more pretty colors.”

He’s 3 next week.  And he gets it.  I’m afraid that maybe sometimes, he gets it even better than I do.

You know what I’m nervous about?  I’m nervous because once I go…once I see…once I live this journey….I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist anymore.  Don’t I wish that I could say that I’m not nervous about how this one trip can change my worldview?!

I know it will.  I’m counting on it.  But the truth is, that once you really come face to face with the hard reality of life in most of the rest of the world, you HAVE to do something about it.  You have to be different.  And I’m excited about what that different will look like, but I’m nervous about it too.

We’re just so comfy, cozy here in America…and any other place I’ve ever been is pretty comfy, cozy too.  I’m pretty sure that Bangladesh is about to make me abandon that ship called Comfy Cozy and change my life.

Follow along with me?  Encourage me along the way as I follow the lead of my 3 year old and learn what it looks like to give away my favorite paints too.

 

The Wire {We Are Free}

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My kids got a book for Christmas that has had me really thinking lately.  It’s called “The Man Who Walked Between The Towers” by Mordicai Gerstein.  It’s the true story of a French aerialist, Philippe Petit, who on August 7, 1974 secretly strung a cable between the Twin Towers in New York City under the cover of night, and during the daylight spent almost an hour walking, dancing, and performing tricks a quarter of a mile above the city on that wire.

I’m not that daring.  And for that matter, I’m afraid of heights.

Officers rushed to the roofs of the towers.
“You’re Under arrest!” they shouted through bullhorns.
Philippe turned and walked the other way.
Who would come and get him?


For almost an hour, back and forth,
he walked, danced, ran, and knelt in a salute upon the wire.
He even lay down to rest.
The city and harbor spread beneath him.
The sky surrounded him. Seagulls flew under and over.
As long as he stayed on the wire he was free.

In the past 24 hours, I’ve gotten news that my dear friend’s cancer has spread, and then that a 14-year-old girl from within our community at church has taken her own life.  My heart is so heavy.

I called my sweet friend, Sarah Mae, this morning in a mess of tears and just cried and grasped for answers that I don’t have.  Why do babies die?  Why do mommies get sick?  Why is innocence stolen?  When Lord, will you come?

God has big things swirling in my life right now for the glory of his Kingdom….His Kingdom here and now that he’s expanding more over the earth.  I’m a part of these things he’s doing.  You’re a part of these things.  And, I’m under no illusion that doing great things for the Kingdom makes me safe.  In fact, being dangerous for Jesus makes us dangerous to the schemes of the enemy.  So when a cloud of darkness starts swirling near me as this year begins, I know it’s meant to make me fearful.  It’s meant to make me anxious about leaving my family for 10 days to travel halfway around the world for Kingdom work.  It’s meant to make me anxious about Allume details and organizational minutia.  It’s meant to strike fear and doubt and trepidation.  And in some ways, it does….that much works.  My heart beats fast and I get anxious when I think about it all too long.

But I can’t put my head in the sand and ignore it.  I won’t allow it to rule me.  I won’t let the fear paralyze the work that God has for me to do.  I will fight it.

It doesn’t matter what’s over me, or under me, or waiting on the other side.  And when I stay on the wire that is strong, and secure, and above it all…when I remain in Jesus….then I am free.

Friends, would you commit to praying for my upcoming trip?  Would you pray for a hedge of heavenly protection around me and my family?  Would you pray for the families in my community who are struggling right now?  My littlest is having surgery tomorrow morning too to have his tonsils out, would you pray over that as well?  And would you pray for my focus to be on Jesus?  For my heart to remember that my safety and security are found in Him.  In Him we are free.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” – John 8:31-32

 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. – Gal 5:1

*Picture credit from the book, “The Man Who Walked Between The Towers” by Mordicai Gerstein; Video: “We Are Free” by Aaron Shust

2013…Dwell in Possibility

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I’m having a moment.

Blogland is ripe with words that people have selected as their word for 2013, and right now, I’m just struggling.

I took the past week off from writing and working in general as my hubs had taken the week off and we busied ourselves with home improvements and family time.  It was great.  Christmas was relaxing and sweet.

When we were at church on Christmas Eve, I felt like the Lord told me that a sweet couple we know didn’t have plans for Christmas Eve dinner and that He said to invite them home with us.  So I did.  And, sure enough…they were headed home for their first Christmas at home by themselves to a last minute dinner of crackers.  They excitedly joined us with their precious 3 year old girl, and we enjoyed the evening surprisedly with friends.  I love how the Lord is looking out for his children like that.  It was a great evening.

Christmas day was a good time with just the 4 of us.  There was a bittersweetness too since last year, I found out on Christmas day that I was pregnant.  In January of last year, 2012 was looking really pregnant with possibility, and so was my belly.  2012 did birth lots of exciting things for me, but as you know, those things did not include a baby.

So the month has flipped and now it’s a new month and a new year.  January 2013.

And I keep trying to think of what this next year holds.  There’s a LOT to be sure that I’m excited about.  I’ve taken on a much larger role with Allume, I’m heading to Bangladesh with Food for the Hungry in 3 weeks, I’ve got a few other exciting projects up my sleeve, and am hoping that we just might get to move into the house of my dreams if we sell ours here soon.  I am BEYOND blessed and thankful for all that is going on in my life this upcoming year.  But I would be lying through my teeth if I told you I’m starting this year doing an internal happy dance.

In the past 3 days I’ve spent an evening visiting my friend Melissa in the hospital, as the cancer invading her body is causing some new troubles, and I found out that 2 of my dear friends are pregnant with their 4th babies each.  Now, don’t hate me for typing obvious bad in the same sentence as obvious good, but for this mama, the pregnancies of others, while a complete joy to me, do bring the hard with it for this heart.  This time last year I was pregnant for my 6th time, and my heart still longs for another baby.

There is SO MUCH GOOD around me right now.  There’s so much greatness that I know the Lord has for me and my family in 2013, but make no mistake that no amount of good in our lives can completely erase the hard.  I continue to learn to focus on Jesus because He is all that is good.  And he makes all things possible.  And I don’t know what this year will hold for me in the realm of what God makes possible, but I choose….I CHOOSE to trust that whatever it is, it is good.  So this year, I think that I will choose to dwell in Jesus…because to dwell in him IS to dwell in possibility.

 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” – Mark 10:27

 

Because you know what…sometimes there really is a whole world hidden in a clover and we just have to listen to hear it.

Please if you all would be in prayer for my sweet friend Melissa.  She’s a warrior, and even warriors get tired.  Moses had people holding his arms up when he got tired….so join me to pray and hold Melissa’s arms up.  With our God, ALL IS POSSIBLE!

Black Eyed Pea Stew {What’s Cooking for New Year’s Day}

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This is a recipe from last year.  It’s worth sharing EVERY SINGLE YEAR though for New Year’s Day.  I promise!

I must confess that headed into this recipe I was skeptical. I’m a good Southern girl, but that doesn’t mean that I have a burning passion for all things black-eyed peas and collard greens that I want to tell the world about. In fact, memories of the food from every single New Year’s Day growing up still make me cringe.

If you’re from the South, you probably at least know what I’m talking about. The New Years Day dinner. Black eyed peas for luck and prosperity in the new year, collard greens for money, cornbread for gold, stewed tomatoes for wealth and health, and if you really want to be the luckiest one at your table, then you’ll be the one served the penny in the bottom of the pot along with all of your black-eyed goodness.

I started dreading New Year’s Day food always very shortly after Christmas. And every year I remember begging my mom to just make something normal.

SO, when my sister recommended that I try this recipe over a year ago (it is originally from Cooking Light 2007,) I just wasn’t so sure. But she’s a great cook and so is my mom, who also recommended it. They both love the New Years food though. It was a risk to be sure, but after weeks of sickness, and busyness, and travel…I have to be honest and say that my creative cooking bone had taken a vacation as well. To put it plainly, I’d been in a culinary slump. And the first time I made this, I just didn’t want to have to think about what was for dinner…I just wanted to cook it.

I did it though. I went to the store and I bought the stuff I needed and I made this stew. And now since I’ve taste-tested, I can’t wait to eat it again. It is awesome! This stew has single-handedly changed my opinion on New Year’s food.  In fact, when I saw black eyed-peas on sale at the store this week, I was actually excited to make this again at the time that seems to most celebrate these ingredients!

Here you go ya’ll. For those who love collards and black-eyed peas…and for those who, like me, need a new opinion of them.

Black Eyed-Pea Stew

Ingredients

  • 2 cups dried black-eyed peas
  • 1 tablespoon peanut oil (whatever…I used EVOO. I have a feeling any oil is probably fine.)
  • 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
  • 8 ounces turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 4 cups vegetable broth (I LOVE Better than Bouillon more than broth or bouillon…give them a shot for any base broth)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
  • 1 (10-ounce) bag prewashed collard greens (or mustard greens, or turnip greens…the collards are a little heartier though)
  • 1 (10oz can) Rotele tomatoes (the original recipe didn’t call for this, but it added some awesome kick.) For a less spicy version, I’d leave this out.

Preparation

  • Sort and wash peas; set aside.
  • Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 3 minutes or until tender. Add sausage; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned.
  • Stir in broth; bring to a simmer, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in peas, salt, peppers, and bay leaves. Cover and simmer 45 minutes or until peas begin to soften. Uncover and cook 15 minutes or until liquid begins to thicken.
  • Stir in vinegar, tomatoes, and mustard greens; simmer 10 minutes or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaves.

Enjoy ya’ll. And lemme know if any unusual luck comes your way after you make it! 🙂

I can’t believe it’s almost the new year!?!

Thought I’d make a 4×6 Printable Version for you here too so that you can save it for yourself every year!  Click the link below to download it!

Black Eyed Pea Stew 4×6 Recipe Card

 

Filed Under: Eat

Move Over Clark Griswold…

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Who doesn’t love Christmas lights?!  Seriously…there’s something magical about them.  We drive around neighborhoods looking at them, we love Clark Griswold because of them, we are fascinated with them.

When I was a kid we used to go to a whole town that does up their lights for Christmas, McAdenville NC.  Ya’ll….it is something to see!  But the past few years, we stick around town and go to this one house.  Get directions if you’re anywhere in upstate SC to #106 Shearbrook Drive in Mauldin, SC.  It is just plain incredible.

I swear half of Greenville County turns out to see this house.  They’ve been on the news, in magazines, and all over facebook from locals.  It’s just a couple of guys who get seriously into the Christmas spirit, and with the help of family and friends, they go ALL OUT.  You park, walk to the house, and then go along the lighted pathway around their house (and into the neighbor’s backyard) where it is the most spectacular Christmas light display I’ve EVER seen.  It’s all digitized to music (which changes in different parts of the property.)  They serve free popcorn and hot chocolate, have a Santa Claus with candy canes, and honestly, it’s just the MOST fun.  They run on donations to cover the cost of a $2600 electric bill for one month, and to help replace lights and add to the display each year.

They love Christmas, and that’s why they do it.  With more than 270,000 lights, and over 65 giant inflatables running, these people have to turn off their stove, dryer, indoor lights, heat, and water heater to accomodate the power pull from this thing.  AND, they borrow power from a few willing neighbors who love to help make the whole thing possible. The use over 700 extension cords, 17 20-amp breakers, and an amperage meter to keep from blowing up the neighborhood.  They start unpacking boxes and decorating in mid-September and spend 2-3 hours per day, in addition to 2 weeks worth of vacation spending 16 hours per day to get it all done.

These guys deserve an HGTV or  TLC special.  I’ve never seen anything like it.

Check out a few shots and a video that I took.

 

 

Now go out and get you some Christmas spirit… and if you’re in Upstate SC…you cannot afford to miss this!

Cracker Candy Recipe {What’s Cooking}

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Growing up, my mom always made this stuff we like to call Cracker Candy at Christmas time.  It’s sweet, it’s salty, crunchy and delish.  And…it is EASY to make!  One time I made it and someone asked how I made the flaky pastry that was inside.  I just said it was years of skillful practice.  (ok, not really…I told the truth that the “flaky pastry” is really just saltine crackers.)

My soul sister, Emily, and I have made cracker candy every year since I met her back in 2000.  We started out making half a dozen pans and dividing it up to give little boxes of the treats to neighbors and a few coworkers.  This year, after 12 years of friendship, weddings, babies, moves, and kids in school…we have a few more than just a small handful of people to give treats to for Christmas.  So today, since we’ve turned the art of making cracker candy into a study in efficiency and a science of perfect skills, we knocked out 25 pans worth in about 4 hours.  And you know what I’ve decided….I’m glad I didn’t become a baker afterall.  But once a year in a tradition of baking and good girl time, it sure is fun!

Check out the goods….

cracker candy

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (trust me…you’ll appreciate this step for cleanup later.)
  • Saltine Crackers (usually a pan takes about 1 1/2 sleeves of crackers)
  • 1 1/2 c chocolate chips
  • 1 c. brown sugar
  • 2 sticks butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and cover with crackers. Melt butter and brown sugar over med-high heat.  Once boiling, boil while stirring constantly for 4 minutes.  Pour over crackers and spread out to evenly coat the crackers.  Then put in the oven to bake for 5 minutes.  As soon as it comes out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crackers and let them melt.  Once melted, spread the chocolate to evenly coat the crackers.  If you want to expedite the process, put the pan in the freezer to let the chocolate harden.  When it’s hardened, cut it up and try not to eat the whole pan!

Filed Under: Eat

Get Real… {Allume Devotional}

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Well friends, I’ve done it again…I’ve bitten off more than I should chew at once!  I mean, I’m chewing on all the life that I have stuffed in my mouth right now, but it’s one of those kind of bites where there’s too much meat, so you chew and chew and chew…like a cow regurgitating it’s cud because one time down just isn’t thorough enough.

Amidst planning Allume 2013, hosting over 100 people at my home this past Friday for a Christmas party, preparing to head to Bangladesh with Food for the Hungry in a month, and being wife and mommy (which alone are a mouthful to chew), we’ve just put our house on the market in hopes of moving just 2 doors down.  It’s a lot…and it’s all during this holiday season full of general hustle and bustle anyhow.

But you know what is interesting to me in the mess of all this craziness?….Somehow in all the chaos, I actually haven’t lost sight of my Jesus.  And the fact that he came as a teeny tiny baby and landed in the midst of a world full of more chaos, has brought me peace in the moments that I steal away.

*          *          *

Read the rest of this post over at Allume today!

Roasted Goat Cheese Appetizer {Recipe}

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So, I made my first vlog today all by myself!  Let’s hope it worked!

I made this yummy appetizer yesterday for some friends coming to dinner, and then I made it again for a girls’ night tonight, and I thought it might be more fun to try a vlog for ya’ll!

And for those of you who want a written version too, here you go!

  • 10 oz log of goat cheese
  • julienned sundried tomatoes
  • peeled and roasted garlic cloves (roasted at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes)
  • herb mix (herb de provence or italian, or whatever savory blend you feel like doing)

Roll goat cheese into balls, toss in herbs and put in baking dish. Surround with roasted garlic and sundried tomatoes and bake at 350ish for about 7-8 minutes. Serve on crostini, lavosh crackers, or any other yummy cracker.

Filed Under: Eat