I am grateful for parents who have encouraged us to enjoy our family idiosyncrasies, and out of those, have created traditions for us, as well as passed on traditions that their parents established. If you know us very well, you know that we are foody. Meal times are tremendously important… and, well, we just enjoy the variations and excitement life offers in the form of palatable delicacies. Thus, many of our traditions are in that form… food!! Here are two of our favorite recipes that have become holiday traditions over the years:

Dad’s Breakfast Casserole

1 lb. hamburger, cooked and drained

1/2 c. chopped green onions

1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems and pieces, drained

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 c. (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese

1 c. pancake mix

12 eggs

1 c. milk

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

In a greased 3-qt. baking dish, layer meat, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and cheese. In a large bowl, whisk the pancake mix, eggs, milk, oregano, salt, and pepper; pour over cheese.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 F for 45-50 min. or until top is set and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 min. before serving.

Neely Team opinions: Best when served with piping-hot grits and shredded cheddar cheese. Also, some prefer to delete the mushrooms.

Chef’s notes: Can be made ahead and frozen. Take out of freezer the night before, and then bake in the morning, leaving covered for all but the last 15-20 min.

Fabulous Fruit Bowl

2 c. water

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. lemon or lime juice

1/2 tsp. salt

3 oranges, peeled, sectioned, and chopped bite-size

3 kiwi, peeled and sliced

2 grapefruit, peeled, sectioned, and chopped bite-size

2 large apples, cubed

1 pint strawberries, sliced

1 lb. green grapes

1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained

In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, lime juice, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight. Combine fruit in large bowl; add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Neely Team opinions: We aren’t that fond of grapefruit, so we use one can of canned grapefruit in syrup (but drained) instead of 2 fresh ones.

Chef’s notes: The salad doesn’t have to have the extra 1 hour chill if the dressing has been refrigerated for a day or so and is cold. Can also substitute fresh pineapple for canned.

When we went to Grandmama’s house for Thanksgiving, we picked up pecans at a friend’s orchard. Here are some thing’s that we learned:

The pecans grow on huge trees (about 3 feet in diameter).

They use a shaker on a tractor to shake the trees. (It has huge “arms” about 4 feet off the ground to shake it.)

We picked our pecans up by hand…and filled buckets and bags. But the man who owned the orchard did have a gatherer that would rake the pecans up and fill burlap bags.

Once gathered, the pecans are dumped on to a sorter that blew out the sticks, leaves, and empty shells.

After we got them gathered we took them to a business that cracks pecans. They set the machine to the size of our pecans and then it cracked every single pecan one at a time.

After they were cracked, we picked the nut out of the shells. A good return is 50%! If you gather 20 pounds, you’ve done well if you have 10 pounds left to eat.

When you harvest pecans, you must show diligence. It is good to remember this verse:

“…if any would not work, neither should he eat.” 2 Thess. 3:10

The first one took place at the Edward’s home – and we had the added blessing of having two of the Wilkes guys to join in the merriment. They were in town to learn blacksmithing from Mr. Edwards and, of course, added a joyful spark to the party! Pictures are often far better than words, so enjoy!

The next tree trimming adventure was at the Chapman’s house (known as Grandpa and Grandma to us). It was a fun-filled evening including delicious soup for dinner, harmonica music, and great fellowship!

Oh the joys of serving others within the body of Christ! These evenings with such dear friends were certainly highlights in our Christmas season.

Then…

Well, before I tell you what it is, let me say that we have a steadily growing tradition in our house.

It is a ton of fun.

We all really like it.

It might sound a little unusual…

Here goes: After we make applesauce, we sleep outside!  Normally it is on the front porch, in freezing – or below – weather (I’m not kidding!), but we did our applesauce early so our sleep outside was delightfully cool, not frigid. After a day in the steamy kitchen working with hot apples in boiling water over blue-hot flame… I think you get the picture. We all feel ever-so-slightly warm!!!! So, a night in the wonderful fall outdoors is just perfect to cool us down and, of course, make great memories! This year, though, instead of using the front porch, we tried out our 12-man tent that we’ve had for three years and never used. What a blast!

So, the moral of the story is this:

Enjoy the projects you do together! Make them fun and memorable!

Laugh over little mistakes and bumps in the production – - everything will be fine.

Keep a positive outlook even when you’re tired. Help each other finish strong!

And… after you make applesauce, sleep outside!

In all of the busyness life has been bringing us for the past several months, it becomes easy to perpetually live in what we Neely’s term “survival mode” – just doing the necessities and leaving out all the “extras.” Tea parties usually, at least for us, fall into the category of “extra.” But we’ve discovered that everyone has time for a tea party! Just have one instead of dinner some evening… and you are bound to love it! We have found them great for teaching manners, quieting our lively bunch, pulling out the silver and china that are normally tucked away unused, making delightful memories together, and taking time to rejoice in the blessings of the Lord.

“Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts… Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord…” Psalm 96

Click here to view the embedded video.

We enjoyed this game particularly because it included all ages, encouraged attentiveness between players, and required teamwork to run smoothly. Thank you, Jennifer, for “filling our cups” with your joy and love once again!

To celebrate today, Kathryn and I made this yummy recipe (from a sweet lady at our church). We had lots of fun doing it together! It is easy and doesn’t take very long. Enjoy!

Creamy Almond Cheesecake

Crust:

1 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs

2 Tbsp. sugar

6 Tbsp. melted butter

Filling:

2 (8 oz. each) pkg. cream cheese

2/3 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 eggs

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Press cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar into a pie pan (or a spring-form pan) and bake at 325 F for 10 min.

Meanwhile, process cream cheese, sugar, and flour in food processor for 30 sec. or until smooth. Add eggs and process 30 sec. Add lemon juice and extracts and process 15 sec. or until blended. Pour into hot crust. Return to oven – bake 30-35 min. Refrigerate uncovered 5 hrs. or overnight.

Optional  berry topping:

2 c. strawberries, washed, stemmed, and halved

1 1/2 c. blueberries

1/4 c. raspberry or blackberry jelly, melted

After cheesecake is cold, arrange strawberries in 2 rows around outside of edge. Place blueberries in center. Gently brush berries with melted jelly. Store in refrigerator.

Notes from Chef Hannah: To make graham cracker crumbs, put the crackers in a plastic bag and beat them with a hammer (but put the bag on a cutting board first so you don’t mess up your counter top!). Be sure to lick the food processor bowl and spatulas. The filling is very yummy! If you use a spring-form pan instead of a pie pan, it takes a little longer to bake.

Guess what we’re having for lunch today!?!?

The poultry yard was quite entertaining!

Music, of course, played a part in the week.

There was lots of fun around the various projects…

…and fireworks on Fourth of July were a “blast!”

We can’t forget the mealtimes – delightful for more than one reason!

And some of our favorite times were helping them with their ongoing projects around the barn!

We got some miscellaneous fun shots, too.

Keep in mind that none of us had ever done this before. Thus, as it got down “to the wire” and we had only an hour and a half left before it was time to be lining up at the parade, we saw a very obvious manifestation of the Lord’s blessing and what team work can do when the team is of one heart and mind! Lunch had yet to be finished, signs to be made, people to be dressed, candy to be attached to flyers of encouragement, a plan for how the float would actually look to be arranged (kinda important ), and much more, but all got done in record time as each individual pitched in with their unique giftings and abilities and worked with the joy of the Lord flowing from them! Our goal was to have the float communicate a message of hope and encouragement to families, since they are the indispensible building block of society! As goes the family, so goes the nation…

There is nothing like working together as families to encourage other families! Praise the Lord for holding off the rain for the parade and allowing us the opportunity to reach out to the people of Culpeper! God is good! 

Thank you, Wilkes Team, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Summer, and Grandpa and Grandma Wilkes for including us in your family and letting us be a part of this wonderful occasion!