It’s been four months since I’ve created a new post for this blog.

Sometimes life just takes over and you need a break from things.

This blog has been a great outlet as a place of expression for me, and I’ve had a great time running it and interacting with my readers.

Over the last few months, I’ve felt less needful of an outlet, but have been starving for intake, and quiet reflection. I’ve been reading a lot, which tends to go by the wayside when I’m writing a lot. It’s difficult to fit both in amongst mothering, home schooling, homemaking, etc. I’ve been cherishing my family and all the blessings in my life, and have been preparing for a new little member who I will give birth to this summer.

I just wanted to pass on this little update and let my visitors know, that life is great and I’m still here, striving to be grateful for simple daily blessings. Life has seasons, and recently I’ve been in a quiet one.

Thanks so much for stopping by and please have a look around while you’re here! There are plenty of posts to check out such as:

fun and fancy cupcake recipes,

party ideas,

home schooling finds,

my novice gardening adventures, and

the beginning of my love story.

Whatever you’re interested in, I hope you find some things that make you smile.

Please feel free to comment, I love hearing from visitors, and thanks so much for stopping by MommyTopics.com.

Blessings,

Rachymommy

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Hoosier Homemade hosts a weekly link up called cupcake Tuesday that I often link my cupcake creations to. Over the last month she has been hosting a Holiday Cupcake Challenge in which I entered some of my cupcake creations from both last year and this year.

Each week has had a theme:

Week 1 – Holiday Flavor

Week 2 – Thanksgiving Cupcake

Week 3 – Christmas Cupcake

Week 4 – New Year’s Cupcake

Here are the cupcakes I entered…

Week 1 Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake

Week 2 Thanksgiving Cupcakes

Week 3 Santa’s Crew Cupcakes

Week 4 Almond Champagne Cupcakes

It’s been so much fun to see all of the creative holiday themed cupcakes entered by the participants. People are just so awesomely creative and inspiring.

I haven’t bothered soliciting any votes from my readers for any of the individual cupcakes, but this week YOU CAN VOTE FOR ME ONCE, as “Overall Winner.” So if you’ve got literally ten seconds to throw my way, click here, and leave a comment on the Hoosier Homemade post saying that you vote for MommyTopics.

I sure would appreciate it!

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

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I’ve been sick for a week and a half. I didn’t cook one, single, thing this Thanksgiving because I felt so terrible. It was all I could do to drag myself to Nana’s Thanksgiving table for dinner.

This has been the nastiest, meanest cold I have ever experienced in my entire life. But… even amidst the misery, there have been small comforts to be grateful for which have made going through this sickness, bearable.

Gratitude continues here…

569. hot tea with honey

570. throat lozenges

571. pizza prepared by someone else and ready for pick up in twenty minutes

572. soft tissues

573. hot showers with steam

574. saltine crackers

575. cough syrup

576. an amazing husband who loves spending time with our children

577. a cool bedroom with warm bedding

578. grace from all

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Have you ever visited Confessions of a Cookbook Queen's blog? She is totally hilarious, loves all things pink and sparkley, and creates the most decadent, indulgent, desserts!

A couple weeks ago she posted a recipe that called for Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses and I was shocked to learn such a thing existed.

You heard me… “PUMPKIN SPICE – Hershey KISSES.” See you’re shocked too right?!

One of the reasons we’re both so shocked about this is that they don’t sell them anywhere… except for at Target. At least… that was my experience. I looked at Walmart, Albertson’s, CVS, Michael’s, JoAnne’s… no one had any clue what I was talking about. So then I had to go back to the source and Ms. Cookbook Queen herself informed me that they were where all good things go to hide… at Target.

She was right. There they were. But, Pumpkin Spice Hershey Kisses were not the only thing I found!

I also found Candy Corn Kisses and even Caramel Apple Kisses.

I had no idea Hershey was branching out like this with their chocolate.

So along with grabbing the Pumpkin Kisses to make the Cookbook Queen’s Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Blossoms, I also just had to buy the Candy Corn ones and figure out something to do with them.

When you don’t know what to bake… bake brownies! Right?!

Who’s with me?

I mean you can never go wrong with brownies.

BAM!

How you like them brownies?!

Oh yeah!

Candy Corn KISSED!

These were so easy to make, they look extra special for fall, they taste fantastic, and you just have to make some!

Thanks Cookbook Queen, for the inspiration! I wish I had taken some pictures of your Pumpkin Cinnamon Sugar Blossoms that I made, but I literally baked them and dashed off to church with them and they were instantly devoured!

Next time I make them, I promise to get some pictures. And oh yes! There will be a next time.

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The feast, the special pies, and the gathering of extended family on Thanksgiving, are unique to this annual celebration. The giving of thanks has become a practice of every day. Gratitude continues here, beginning with this…

540. that thankfulness has become a way of life

541. the emotion of warmth and idealism invoked from Norman Rockwell paintings

542. old recipes handed down from one generation to the next

543. new recipes to discover and turn into an heirloom

544. hidden treasures

545. a sturdy shelter from the elements

546. a day of restored health after a week of sickness

547. a mother in law who prays in power and authority

548. working on a love story

549. learning about love languages

550. rain outside my window

551. cold cups of clean water anytime day or night

552. soft, cozy, blankets that bundle us together on couches

553. little hearts eager to celebrate the season

554. embracing the celebration of Christmas several weeks earlier than usual, in order to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year for several weeks longer than usual

555. Christmas carols in the car

556. striped pajama pants size 2T

557. bold words from small mouths

558. little concentrated expressions on small faces

559. Saturdays that have returned to restful and unscheduled after months of soccer season

560. the gathering of family from distances to celebrate together

561. the opportunity to give and how it robs us of nothing

562. fresh crisp veggies

563. sweet pies

564. moist turkey

565. creamy mashed potatoes

566. sweet potatoes that are served with dinner but taste more like dessert

567. the altered perspective of joy and peace that comes from a lifestyle of purposefull gratitude

568. that the practice of thankfulness can ever increase leading to greater peace and greater joy

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So you saw the Thanksgiving Throwdown between Bobby Flay and the Pioneer Woman didn’t you?! Wasn’t that fun?!

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman was the first blog I ever started reading, and her site is what inspired me to start a blog of my own. I even got to meet her once.

I really enjoyed watching the Throwdown the other night on the Food Network. If you missed it, don’t despair, it will be on again several times a day through Thanksgiving weekend. Check your tv guide and set your DVR!

While absolutely everything on the show looked DELICIOUS, and I was whole-heartedly rooting for Team Ree, there was one thing that completely, without question, intrigued me the most… Bobby Flay’s Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pomegranates and Vanilla-Pecan Butter!!!

I don’t know what it is about Brussels Sprouts, but there is something inside me that wants to love them, and yet I’ve never tasted one that has agreed with my tongue. But this recipe gives me hope.

The tricky part is finding that Pomegranate Molasses! There are still a few bottles available on Amazon.com and you can also try efooddeopt.com. You can also find it in Middle Eastern grocery stores. If you’ve ever seen or purchased this product at a large box store, please leave a comment to let all of us know where we might be able to run out and grab it last minute! I tried both Sprouts and Cost Plus World Market to no avail. But… I did order mine online… it’s coming!

I’m going to give this recipe a shot next week. Here it is…

You know what else looked sooooo good?! Both of the desserts.

Ree made a perfect Pecan Pie with a Whiskey Maple Cream Sauce.

Bobby Flay made a Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Spicey Caramel Apple Sauce and Vanilla Bean Cream Anglaise.

Check them both out… you’ll be glad you did!

And for any of the other Thanksgiving Feast Throwdown recipes you’d love to try, click here to see them all

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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I try to get my kids outside regularly to play, to be active, and to appreciate both the vastness, and intricacies, found in all of God’s creation.

One of the things they love to do is take grocery bags out into the backyard, and collect things they find interesting.

This week we found a way to incorporate this fun activity, into a Thanksgiving craft.

We gathered our supplies such as paper, nature journals, pencils, grocery bags, and Elmer’s glue. We packed them all up in a bag, and headed into the back yard. I told the kids that this time we were going to create a collage of a Thanksgiving Turkey, with whatever items they found, so to try and imagine the feathers, eyes, wings, feet, beak, and gizzard, as they looked for items to bring back.

I set out some blankets to sit on, and the kids set off in collecting whatever bits of nature interested them for the project.

It was so great to watch them, and listen to them work together to decide what parts of a turkey would be best represented by the things they found. I just love what they came up with.

This could be a really great activity for kids at a Thanksgiving Day celebration. Send them all outside with bags, and let some of the older kids or grown ups help oversee the assembly of a turkeys with glue and paper, cardstock, cardboard, or on paper plates.

Visit Tip Junkie for a list of 36 Thanksgiving Activities and Crafts to do with your kids.

This nature collage idea came from #28 on her list and we loved doing it! I’m sure we’ll do this activity over and over again, creating all kinds of different pictures, corresponding with other holidays and educational activities.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post is linked to: Fireflies and Jellybeans, TidyMom, Finding Fabulous, Fun to Craft

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(UPDATE: If you’re here visiting from the Pioneer Woman’s Pie Post… WELCOME! You might also enjoy reading about the time I got to meet Ree, and my take on her throwdown with Bobby Flay this week, including links to some of their recipes. Thanks so much for following the link and stopping by my blog. Happy Thanksgiving!!!)

The holiday season is upon us. Year after year there is a growing expectation in my marriage for me to become…

A pie maker.

One of my husband’s most beloved things about Thanksgiving and Christmas is his grandma’s cherry pie.

When we got married and said our vows, one of them was, that I would learn to make this pie.

Okay… not really… I mean I didn’t actually have to say that during our ceremony, but believe me… it’s been implied.

In order for this marriage to work well, one of the things I will need to eventually, quite literally, “bring to the table”, is the ability to perfectly reproduce Grandma’s Cherry Pie, during the holidays.

But… I’m not quite there yet.

I’ve taken some lessons with grandma, I’ve written things down, I’ve experimented on my own, but I have not yet achieved official “Now That’s Grandma’s Pie” status. I won’t give up though. I’ll keep plugging away. My practice season is upon us.

Since I don’t quite have it down, I can’t share the secrets of making that perfect pie with you… yet.

But what I can share are these…

Holiday Pie Cupcakes.

Cupcakes.

Now there’s an area where I feel a bit more confident.

They don’t require a lot of counter space, complicated ingredients, a rolling pin, or the dreaded transfer of a thin sheet of sticky, easily tearible dough, from cutting board to pie pan.

Phew. I’m breakin’ a sweat just thinkin’ about all of that!

Back to cupcakes.

Ahhhh cupcakes.

Yes… that’s better.

Holiday fruit cupcakes that look like pie.

And… with these you don’t have to commit to just one kind.

My husband loves cherry, my father in law loves apple, my favorite is peach, and everyone loves fresh raspberry.

With these little beauties, you don’t have to commit to just one or two types of pie for your celebration. It’s easy and fun to quickly make several different kinds, at once.

I used apples, peaches, and raspberries with the batch shown, but you can use whatever types of filling your family loves best: cherries, blueberries, candied pecans, ready made pumkin pie cheesecake filling – sky’s the limit!

I’ve found that this Butter Pecan box mix flavor is perfect for these mini pies, both in taste and color.

I used canned pie filling for my Peach, and Apple Pie Cupcakes, but for the Raspberry Pie Cupcakes I used fresh raspberries, lightly covered in store bought Strawberry Glaze.

In order to make these Fruit Pie Cupcakes, you’ll need to leave plenty of room in your cupcake papers for the fruit to lay on top of the cake and still be held within the paper. When pouring the batter into the cups don’t fill them more than 1/2 way. Somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 full is just about perfect. And, if you do have some cupcakes that puff up too high to fill with fruit, never fear… once they’re baked just use a knife to gently cut the cupcake down enough so the fruit will fit. No one will ever see the part you cut hidden under all that fruit.

Next, cover the top of the cupcake with your favorite fruits. For raspberries, blueberries, and cherries, they look beautiful if you place them one by one with your fingers, but for the canned peaches and apple slices, you can dice them up and spoon them on.

Once you get all your fruit on, you’ll be tempted to stop right there… And… of course, you could. These Fruit topped cupcakes are beautiful and delicious just like this.

But, if you want to take it a step further and create a little Holiday dessert that will truly thrill your guests, give this extra step of turning Fruit topped Cupcakes, into little Mock Pies, a try.

The Pie Hatch and Crust design is created by piping on Frosting. I like to use a delicious mixture of Butter Cream and Caramel frosting, to get a great taste, and perfect pie crust color.

One or two tablespoons of Caramel Frosting. mixed into a full tub of Buttercream, will give just the right shade for a Mock Pie Crust.

If you’ve seen any of my other Cupcake recipes, you’ll know I often just use a plain old Ziploc bag as my piping tool. But, in order to get a flat appearance for the hatch-work on the top of these pies, you really are going to want to use a piping bag and a flat tip.

Here are some examples of Wilton Tips that would be appropriate for this project. Personally I prefer a small smooth flat tip like #44 above, to create the look of a pie. The ribbed edge tips are more for creating the look of a basket weave, although if you already have a ribbed tip, you can turn it upside down so that the smooth edge is on top, to get the same effect as a smooth flat tip. Tip #46 above demonstrates this.

When you place your berries in, one by one, you’ll end up with some gaps in between them. You should fill those holes in with cut or torn pieces of berries so that you have a nice full dome shape for your hatching to rest on.

Don’t start your first line on the middle of the cupcake because it can throw off the spacing of your lines. Using your piping bag and tip, lay your first line just off of one of the sides.

Lay all of your lines across the top, from one side to the other. I was able each time to fit three or four lines across in each direction, depending on the spacing. I think the cupcakes with four lines going each way came out the best.

Rotate your cupcake and begin piping lines horizontal to the ones you’ve already done.

Don’t worry about how the ends of your lines look because they will be completely covered up by the Mock Pie Crust you’ll do next. Just make sure each end of every line touches the cupcake paper, but doesn’t droop or flop out beyond it.

If you do have some frosting that accidentally drips down the cupcake paper, use a lightly damp paper towel to wipe it off. No harm, no foul. It will dry in seconds and no one will ever know.

Your Hatch Top is done as simple as that!

You’ll be so proud of yourself at this point, and you should be… You’re almost done!

Using the same piping bag and tip, create your Pie Crust by working in sections. Don’t try to pipe all the way around the cupcake without taking a break.

Using an up and down folding pattern, pipe the area directly in front of you. Stop piping, rotate the cupcake, and pick up where you left off using the same up and down folding motion. Each cupcake will be divided into about six small sections like this.

I highly recommend taking the time after you finish decorating each cupcake, to immediately place it on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator in order to help the shape of the Buttercream on top of the fruit and glaze to set in it’s place. Leaving the cupcake out while you decorate all of the others, may cause some the frosting to begin drooping and coming apart.

And please don’t give up if your first try at this is a mess. Mine was. Just pick out a couple of cupcakes that didn’t turn out so well in the baking process and without even bothering to put any fruit on them, use them to practice the piping techniques. Or, if you can’t waste any of the 24 cupcakes you baked, practice the piping technique on the dome of an orange or a rubber ball. (Better buy an extra tub of Buttercream for this just in case) When you’ve got it down, move on to your lovely Fruit Topped Cupcakes and turn those little tarts into Pies!!!

And, whether you’re a pie expert, or are in the learning stage of pie making, be sure to head over to Tidy Mom’s Love the Pie Party for all kinds of fantastic tips, tricks, recipes, and inspiration for making great pies this holiday season.

If you do make awesome pies, you may also want to make some of these as well. They’re just to pretty, festive, unique, and EASY, not to include in your celebrations this year!

Your guests, both young and old, will adore them. And they aren’t just attractive and clever… they also taste sooooooo good!!

Happy Holidays!

This post is also linked to: Fireflies and Jellybeans

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Most of us love Ribs. Beef ribs. Pork ribs. Ribs, ribs, ribs, ribs.

As long as the meat is tender, and the BBQ sauce is awesome… YUM!!!

But, eating ribs at a restaurant can be pricey.

Why not master the art of cooking them at home?

Especially when it can be done in the crock-pot.

Now I REALLY have your attention right?

Let’s get started…

This couldn’t be easier or more impressive to your family!

You want to start with some good, meat, RIBS… naturally.

I buy mine at Costco. They are incredible. I know everyone doesn’t have a Costco membership, but seriously if you don’t have one, find someone that does and ask them to buy you some ribs.

The pork ribs at Costco are more thick and “meaty”, than any ribs I’ve ever had a restaurant.

They really are that amazing!

The first thing I do is set my oven to 400 degrees.

Next, I rinse and salt all of the thawed ribs. You can season them with pepper too at this point, but my husband and kids don’t like pepper, so I leave it out.

Here are the ribs after they come out of the oven. Fifteen minutes on each side.

Then into the crock-pot they go, one at a time, so I can get each one good and drenched in my favorite bbq sauce.

I live in a house with my extended family, so when I make this meal, I cook 8 lbs of ribs all at once. You really have to have one of these larger, oval shaped crock-pots to accommodate that much meat. If you have a smaller family, or a smaller crock-pot you may want to half this recipe.

Although, if your crock-pot size isn’t what’s limiting you, I should let you know, that these ribs taste so good, reheated in the microwave, two and three days later.

I’m always excited about the idea of over-cooking on Sunday, eating leftovers Monday through Tuesday, and not having to prepare a new dinner, until Wednesday.

But it’s your call.

The next thing you need is AWESOME BBQ sauce.

My family’s favorite BBQ sauce in the whole, wide, world, comes from a Southern California restaurant called Sweet Lumpy’s.

Lucky for us, they sell their sauce in their restaurant by the bottle.

I don’t know if they ship their sauce, but if they do, you should definitely order some. It’s incredible!

Of course if your family already has a favorite, out-of-this-world BBQ sauce, you will LOVE trying it with this recipe.

I use one bottle to glaze the ribs before they go in the slow cooker, and save a second bottle to re-glaze them before serving.

That’s a lot of meat!

So here they are after cooking for six hours in the crock-pot, on high. If you prepare them before you leave the house in the morning and wont be back for eight hours or more, no problem… just set the crock-pot to low instead.

Once they are done cooking, a ton of juice and fat has drained into the bottom of the crock-pot and the BBQ sauce looks pretty much gone. I remove the ribs from the crock-pot and all the drippings, and put them back into a large clean baking pan, to re-smother them with a full second bottle of BBQ sauce.

Make some awesome garlic mashed potatoes to place along side, and serve up a plate of love!

And let me show you this…

FALL – OFF – THE – BONE!

These ribs are so tender, that as you’re removing them from the crock-pot, it actually takes some effort to keep the ribs intact. The bones just slide right out, clean as a whistle.

See here where the arrow is pointing… where the bone just slipped right out?!

Now that’s a lot of tender meat!

Seriously, if your family likes ribs, grab your favorite BBQ sauce, pull out your crock-pot, and become an instant ROCK STAR!

Here’s the recipe!

Oh yes! You will enjoy!

This post is linked to: It’s So Very Cheri

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This week there’s a buzz going around in the home school blogging community, because it is time for the annual home school blog awards!

If you are here visiting from a link on the Home School Post nominations page, WELCOME! Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my blog. I’m so excited about connecting with more bloggers in the home school community through this event. If you are a home school blogger, please, please, please leave a comment on this post so that I can come by your blog and meet you! I will visit EVERY ONE who comments on this post!!!

This blog is listed in the home School Post nomination category for Best NEW Blog, and you can find my very first blog entry ever written, from one year ago, HERE. Please take a look around my site, and if you like what you see, throw a vote my way! If I win in my category, that will help me to find and connect with even more home school families, and bloggers online. The prizes are pretty awesome too!

Vote NOW! Click Here.

And now… let me tell you a little about myself and our home school.

I’m Rachymommy. You can read all about how I grew up, and who I am now, HERE.

In brief, I’m a Southern California stay-at-home, home schooling mom, with three little kids. I’m married to a Software Engineer, and we all live together with my in-laws. Sound crazy? It is… but it’s also a lot of FUN! To read about our family full of characters, visit HERE.

When my firstborn son Leo was two years old, he started reading. By the time he was four I realized a typical kindergarten just wasn’t going to work. You can read more about how I made my decision to start home schooling, HERE.

This is my fifth year of teaching home school to my oldest son who is now in fourth grade, and this is the first year I am officially teaching two children, at two different grade levels, with my daughter now in kindergarten. It’s a challenge, but day by day, I’m figuring it out.

If you want to read more about why in the world after five years, I’m still sticking with home school, visit HERE. The short answer is… I love it!

I favor a Classical Christian Education model but have also been greatly influenced by Charlotte Mason, and a Thomas Jefferson Education approach. I’m laid back in my style because I’ve learned a very, very important principle which is: life has seasons, and with each season comes change. My home school motto is: “Inspire and Require”. I mandate that my children learn the basics, and I strive to passionately lead by example through my own love of learning.

I use Singapore Math.

I have some opinions about Shakespeare.

Along with all the hard work and serious stuff, in our home school I love to have fun, joke around, and be artistic.

Laundry is my nemesis!! It is evil. But… I will never surrender. There must be some way to home school and get all the laundry washed, dried, and put away before the end of every day. If you’ve already conquered that one, please, please, please become my Facebook friend and mentor me through the process. I need help!

One thing I did finally get a better handle on this year is gardening. It didn’t come easy though. I have a deep dark past filled with murdering many, many plants. However, things have really turned around for me in the last few months while working on a garden with my kids. We actually managed to cause a few things to grow.  You can read all about our KinderGARDEN adventures HERE.

There’s a lot to see here at MommyTopics.com. I have cupcake recipes, ideas for family fun, shopping guides and product tips, bits of my love story, and even a MommyTopics Amazon store filled with products I recommend for home school, baking, family game night, and much, much, more.

I hope you enjoy your time here, and I hope you’ll come back and visit again soon!

Don’t forget to leave a comment, so I can come and visit you too! And don’t forget to vote!

Pass a link to my site, on to some other home school families you know!

VOTE here !

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