Struffolli... Dana-Style

Struffolli... Italian Honey Balls

Dana-Style

1. Have your Luke pour sugar into the sugar jar (from a milk jar being used for storage because when Tony bought groceries a couple of weeks ago there were no small bags of sugar so he bought a 25 lb bag and we poured the sugar into milk jars for storage -take a breathe now-)

2. Dump sugar and cornstarch into your blender and make some powdered sugar (not a necessary step if you aren't out of xx sugar like we were)

3. Heat up your oil in your Kitchen Kettle (you need one of these... really, they are great, really versatile, etc... made by Presto). Heat the oil to, oh, say, 375? Yeah, that sounds good. Use a bland oil (like canola or vegetable) not peanut (unless you like that flavor) and remember olive oil is not good for high heat frying.

4. Have your Caleb wash a half dozen eggs. (in other words, scrub the poop off the shells... hey, it's real life and real life isn't always pretty!)

5. Into your mixing bowl put six eggs, 1 c sour cream, 1 c sugar, 2 sticks of butter and a glunk of vanilla.

6. Mix all the yumminess together! Add the baking powder and the flour one cup at a time.

7. Here ya go!

8. Dump the dough onto your cutting surface.

9. Divide and conquer.

10. Roll into ropes and cut into chunks.

Okay, now here's where I depart from the recipe given to me by my New Jersey Italian Friend Barb who is married to a Greek Guy... Barb says the ropes should be 1/2 - 3/4 inch in diameter and cut into chunks the same size and then rolled into little balls. She assures me that if you make them that size this recipe will yield a 'gazillion' balls.

I trust her.

Really.

I just don't have time for that. I have the hungry children egging me on... are they done yet? Are they done yet?? So chunks it is for us!

11. Arrange neatly (roflol) in your fryer basket. Not much more than one layer or they will not cook as well.

12. Plunk them into the yummy hot oil goodness.

Plunk gently... hot oil splashes and burns because, well, it is hot.

13. Somewhere along the process have your Molly make a light powdered sugar glaze. Here we depart again from Barb's instructions... at this point you are supposed to do the honey thing. My children don't like honey... so we improvise. Sorry Barb!

14. Remove from the fryer when they are deeply golden brown. Let them hang around for a minute or two to drain.

15. Gently scooch them over into the glazey goodness...

16. Gently toss and remove from the glaze.

17. Since you want to impress your husband's coworkers with half of this batch... have your Luke and your MaryVance roll some of them into neat balls. There, Barb, does that make you happy. I know, I know, they are still too big...


18. Place on a somethingorother to dry a bit.

19. Enjoy.

These are yummy fresh from the glaze.

They are yummy the next day.

After they cool you can store them in an airtight container until they are all gone!

And, whatever you do... do not call them donut holes. Trust me, just don't do it. If you do... my New Jersey Italian Friend Barb who is married to a Greek Guy will look you up... and it won't be pretty...

LOL!

Here is the original recipe from Barb!

Struffolli...Italian honey balls for lack of better descripition...no one seems to know what the real name is unless they are Italian

this recipe makes a gazillion

2 lbs flour (8 cups i believe)

¾ t baking powder

6 eggs

1/2 lb butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 pint sour cream

1 c sugar

1 bottle honey

vegetable oil

those little round sprinkles...not the long ones that go on ice cream (spritz?)put all ingrds in a mixing bowl except the flour and mix well

add flour slowly till well blended

roll out dough on a well floured surface into roped about 1/2 in to 3/4 in thick, 18 in long

cut into 1/2 in to 3/4 in balls

heat a large pot of oil/crisco and fry the balls until lightly browned

drain on paper towel then

put in a bowl...add some honey to each batch and mix well

sprinkle with the spritzie thing...if you want to be artistic, have a blast we usually put them in a big red bowl in the middle of the table with a spoongreat warm with coffee

recipe hint...do ALL the rolling and cutting first...unless you are used to the whole process or have an "assembly line" sort of thing going, you'll burn batches....not that i would know that

Nehemiah... signing and talking...

He was distracted by the cd player... he loves music!

So... do you 'know' us?

I received a very sweet email from someone who was very dear to me during my youth years. I sent him a sort of update note and thought I'd share part of it here with y'all Ü
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We are all great here. We love living in Florida and are blessed with a wonderful church family -- that is really like family to us :) Tony enjoys his job (still with the SSA, he's the manager of the Marianna office).

We are still homeschooling and loving every minute of it! Caleb (17, grade 12) loves astronomy and got a telescope for his birthday. He is also very interested in and studies a lot of Creation apologetics.

Molly (15, grade 10) is very interested in photography. She and Sam have a photography blog (http://www.samollyphotography.blogspot.com/) and have sold several of their photographs. They have also each won several awards for their photographs. Molly is a delight to me, she is my left arm :)

Sam (age 13, grade 8), in addition to his enjoyment of photography is quite the bird lover. He enjoys watching and photographing them and is working on a little 'hideaway' spot for bird viewing. He is the 'go-to' guy for messy jobs and he, Molly and Caleb take care of all the critters on our little farm.

Luke (age 11, grade 6) is an avid reader (as were the older boys at his age) and just informed me that he read The Hobbit last night before bed. He's going to have one long book report due tomorrow! LOL He is such a blessing and an 'in the flesh' miracle to so many who prayed for him after the accident.

MaryVance (age 9, grade 4) loves school! She's a great big sister to 'all those little boys' :) She loves all things crafty and has a very tender heart for the elderly.

Elijah (age 7, grade 2) is the boss the the little boys! He loves to direct their dress-up / imaginative play and is very creative. He also loves to draw and is quite the little artist.

Isaac (age 5, grade K) is tender-hearted and loving. He goes along with Elijah's plans (most of the time!) and enjoys school and playing.

Joseph (age 3) is the first boy about whom I would say "he is all boy"... I never understood that phrase until now. LOL He is on full-steam ahead All Day Long. He is so much fun and I enjoy his energy and antics so much.

Nehemiah (age 1) is just such a fun, happy little boy. He is talking so much, he loves Daisy (our dog) and he's the first child who looks like me (for whatever that is worth... lol)

We are very active and involved in our church and homeschool community here. God has blessed us so much! I am pretty good about keeping my blog updated (http://www.tonyanddanalewis.blogspot.com/)... not so good about keeping our website updated (http://www.tonyanddanalewis.com/). Molly is good about keeping her blog updated (http://www.lewischildren.blogspot.com/). We also have a couple of home businesses that keep us all hopping.
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I hope you enjoyed that little blurb and learned something 'new' about our family Ü. We do love to have company and love to open our home to others. If you are ever going to be traveling down/up this way please let us know!!

MeMo and "SeeSee"

Can you see those new choppers? Ü
Nehemiah loves, LOVES, Daisy!
He says 'Daisy' like he's saying 'See See'.

She's sooo good with him!

LOVE...

No! No, no licking the dog!

A little snuggle time ... taking a break from reading...

Back to the story... it's a good one!

Nehemiah loves books. He will sit for the longest just looking at books. And he loves to be read to... he has such a long attention span for books!

A little more snuggling...

A new ice cream flavor...

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: " Barocky Road " Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes. The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient. The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow. The cost is $100.00 per scoop. When purchased it will be presented to you in a large beautiful cone, but then the ice cream is taken away and given to the person in line behind you. You are left with an empty wallet and no change, holding an empty cone with no hope of getting any ice cream. Are you stimulated?

A surprising ad...

from Dockers!
And I heartily agree with Chautona's blog post about this!
http://paradoxology.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/i-may-become-brand-loyal/#comment-1384

Laugh for the day...

This just completely Cracks.Me.Up!

if you don't normally check Molly's blog...

do it now :)
http://www.lewischildren.blogspot.com/

New Blessing Pictures!

Aren't they precious... each and Every One of them!!

Thank you Lord!

Fall Portraits

Caleb Rains - 16

(He'll be 17 on Nov. 7th!)

Molly Elizabeth - 15

Samuel Locke - 13

Luke Anthony - 11

MaryVance - 9

Elijah Jack - 7

(Notice he's missing his first tooth! You can hardly see it, on the bottom, see that little black hole? :-D)

Isaac Jonathan - 5

Joseph Timothy - 3

Nehemiah Nissley - 1

"What He Must Be" food for thought from chapter 4

This chapter is about the first requirement: He must be a follower of Christ. Baugham asks "What does it mean to be a Christian? ... Let us focus on three key aspects of conversation. For the sake of convenience, I have placed them in the following categories: regenerate, repentant, and reformed."

The word "reformed" always takes me aback a little. It always makes me think of 'reformed theology' but it, of course, has many other meanings. In the section where Dr. Baugham explains the point of "reformed" he states the following:

Beyond being regenerate and repentant, a true Christian man is reformed. Perhaps the most famous assertion of this truth came from the pen of the apostle Paul. He wrote, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Any man who has truly been converted will inevitably bear the marks of that conversion in the form of a changed life.

This is not to say that the man will no longer have struggles or rough edges. It is, however, to say that there will be fruit. No good tree will bear bad fruit. True conversion produces true changes. John captures this beautifully in his first epistle:

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this is it evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3: 9-10)

Wayne Grudem, commenting on this passage, helps draw the fine line between the appropriate expectation of a reformed life and the unreasonable expectation of a perfected life. He writes:

Here John explains that a person who is born again has that spiritual "seed" (that life-generating and growing power) within him, and that this keeps the person living a life free of continual sin. This does not of course mean that the person will have a perfect life, but only that the pattern of life will not be one of continuing indulgence in sin.

"What He Must Be" tidbit from chapter 3

This book is so good. It's making me think about things I've never thought about before. It's making me think of things in a whole new way...

Quote from Tim Keller:
There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible; is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him. Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship).

Qualities Necessary to Assume the Role of a Christian Husband

I'm reading a really good book right now (more about it in a bit). I wanted to write out part of it here and insert the verses that are referred to by the author.

"I believe God has spoken rather decisively in his Word about what our daughters should look for. Moreover, I believe there are some non-negiotables that our daughters must be looking for. There are some things a man simply must be before he is qualified to assume the role of a Christian husband.

• For instance, he must be a Christian -- 2 Corinthians 6:14 "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"
• He must be committed to biblical headship -- Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."
• He must welcome children -- Psalm 137:3-5 "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate."
• He must be a suitable priest -- Joshua 24:15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
• He must be a suitable prophet -- Ephesians 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
• He must be a suitable protector -- Nehemiah 4:13-14 "Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the LORD, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses."
• He must be a suitable provider -- 1 Timothy 5:8 "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Titus 2:5 "To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

A man who does not possess -- or show strong signs of -- these and other basic characteristics does not meet the basic job description laid down for husbands in the Bible.

The book is titled "What He Must Be... If He Wants to Marry My Daughter" by Voddie Baucham Jr. This book is not only about what women should look for in a marriage partner but also about what men have to be. It is written to fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. It's about legacy... multigenerational legacy -- how to recognize it and how to Change It!