OCTOBER 2024

In the fall of the year good foods and delicious smells coming from the kitchen fill my heart with warmth.  There is just something about cooler weather that encourages me to cook.

I wanted to share with you two delicious recipes for the season:

Chocolate Chess Pie

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons coco powder

1/2 stick salted butter melted

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla  

1 small can pet milk (5 1/2 oz))

2 tablespoons self rising flour

Mix coco into melted butter. Mix sugar and flour together, then stir in eggs. After this add the butter and coco and all remaining ingredients. Pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake 35 (estimated) minutes at 350 degrees.

For the pie pictured above, use pre-made pie crust dough and cut out fall shapes using cookie cutters. Place the shapes on top of pie when it is approximately half way baked. Brush the cut outs with an egg white wash and sprinkle them with a small amount of sugar if desired. 

Apple Crumble 

8 medium apples peeled, cored & sliced (Honeycrisp apples are good)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup pecans or walnuts (chopped)

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 stick salted butter melted

Put apple slices in a butter greased 13x9" baking dish. Drizzle with lemon juice and toss to coat apples. Pat slices down in an even layer. In a medium size bowl mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Sprinkle mixture over apples and then toss the apples to coat them well. In a separate bowl mix flour, brown sugar, nuts, powders, and salt for topping . Stir in melted butter. Sprinkle the topping in an even layer over apples. Bake until topping slightly crisp and golden brown. (approx. 55 min to 1 hr. Serve warm with ice cream or warmed caramel sauce. 

I would love to hear from you. You may e-mail me at 

sandykwright@yahoo.com 

 "She looks well to how things go in her household" Proverbs 31:27 AMP

Whether you live alone or with family, our home needs to be our happy place. We can help to make it this way by "loving it up". Here are some ideas to help your home be more cozy and loving:

Your front door (or maybe it's your back door) greets you and others when coming home. Make it welcoming. Decorate with a seasonal wreath, pumpkins, mums or colorful leaves, etc. 

When you open the door, what do you and others smell? Make the smells of your home lovely and welcoming with seasonally scented candles, melts, essential oils, or simply simmer cinnamon sticks, orange peels, water and sorghum molasses on the stovetop. The aroma of soups or stews simmering on the stove or bread baking in the oven can permeate the air with smells of love. 

Add an autumn colored rug to your room. This gives an immediate coziness to an area. You might want to create a book nook in your room. To your most comfortable chair or sofa, add a blanket, a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate, put on your pajamas, add a lamp or a candle, and you have a reading nook for the Fall.

Bring nature inside. Pick some colorful leaves, berries, twigs, acorns or flowers and place them in a vase or container. Enjoy!

"Autumn is the season to find contentment at home by paying attention to what you already have."

-Unknown

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me fluttering from the autumn trees."

-Emily Bronte

"Is this not a true autumn day?

Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonize."

-George Eliot

Inside Toasted Marshmallows 

Simply light a Sterno Burner

Place marshmallow on a bamboo skewer and hold over Sterno Burner.

Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte

(to enjoy in your book nook)

Mix pumpkin puree

Pumpkin spice

Vanilla

Stir this together (any amounts you desire) and mix into your regular coffee or espresso. Stir in some steamed milk and sweetener if desired. Top off with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I am excited to introduce you to my newest book (book number nine) which will be out by November 1st.

The title of this book is Everyday Blessings, and each day contains a scripture, an uplifting quote and a prayer chosen to give the reader a blessing for that very day. 

We often go day after day taking blessings for granted and not noticing the small, simple, wondrous things all around us. In these daily readings, my hope is that the reader will be encouraged and motivated to begin to pay attention and notice all the wonderful blessings God is giving each of us throughout our days. 

I have found when I grow in gratitude, I grow happier and lead a more fulfilled life. When we get outside of ourselves and begin loving others and being a blessing to the lives of others, we will see more and more blessings flow into our own lives. 

I also have a new FaceBook page where you can find more information about my books, speaking engagements, book signings, blogs, videos, podcasts and upcoming events.
 

Please follow me at Sandra Mansfield Wright on Facebook. 

As always, I truly appreciate you taking your precious time to connect with me through emails, comments and just by reading my books and blogs. I do pray for my readers every day and ask that you also pray for me. Prayer is powerful and changes things and people. I believe this with all my heart. Keep praying!

"In a world full of hate - be love."

-Unknown

"Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrong."

Proverbs 10:12 (NIV)

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Psalm 19:14 (NIV)