Hello!

Went for a brisk walk to the bank and Pricesmart yesterday. Its still so chilly out there! I was so thankful to come home to a warm house.

I think I take for granted the little gifts God gives me so I'm doing my best to live with an extra thankful heart. Forwards normally get dumped into my email trash bin but for some reason I opened one up yesterday and it really reminded me to be thankful for everything I have. I can't remember who sent it, though, otherwise I would thank them! ;) ha ha.

Church this morning was pretty darn good - very moving. We had a good practice before church. I forgot a few things at home so after practice I darted out the back door and was back to church with lots of time to spare. The message was about our "blessed assurance" - our assurance of pardon for wrong-doings because Jesus is beyond rad and died for my sins. It really ties into having a thankful heart, for sure an' for certain!

Went for supper at mom and dad's. Dave, Jill's old farrier boss, is in town and is staying with them. It was great to see all of them!

My offering for supper was a raisin pie. I was kindly informed today (by Jen) that raisin pies aren't all that common. I wish raisins didn't upset the delicate inner balance of my allergies because raisin pie is SO good. I've attached our "tried and true" recipe to the bottom of this post. I looked up the history of Raisin Pie and what I read said that its a funeral pie because it can be made all year 'round and doesn't require refrigeration (so, according to what I read, it's a hit in Old Order Mennonite and Amish communities). Who knows. What I know is that its really delicious!

Tomorrow I'm off with mom to a place where Jill's housesitting. Jill has her certification thingy practice tomorrow and the dog needs to be let out... mom and I are headed out that way at about 1pm. I've planned a quick trip to Pricesmart, too, to pick up some fresh vegetables.

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Raisin Pie

1 deep-dish pie pastry recipe (we often use frozen crusts to save us some time)

2 cups water
2 cups raisin
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp butter/margarine
2 tbsp flour wisked into 1/3 cup water

Put water and raisins in a pot and boil gently for 8 to 12 minutes (depending on how tender you want your raisins.
Wisk flour and water well, then add sugar, margarine, vanilla and sugar. Don't worry about mixing the margarine, sugar and vanilla too well.
Pour mixture into pot and cook for about 60 seconds until it starts to thicken. You don't want your pie guts to be too thick, else your pie will be kinda gloppy.
Pour into pie shells, cover with the second shell or lattice.
Set pie on a cookie sheet (the kind with edges). This pie tends to bubble over... the cookie sheet will save you from scrubbing your oven afterwards!
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Adapted from the Loos Cookbook (the green one)