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The story continues…..
We left off with the first version of the cookbook being printed and distributed in 1979, as a surprise Christmas gift for our family. They all loved the gift and asked if we had more copies to give to their friends….fast forward from 1979 to 1990…”Several moves later, when the Weisser family returned to California from Guam, Kerry decided to expand the earlier version of the cookbook.”

With the help of my brother, Rad, and his original Mac computer that used floppy disks, I began to type up more of our family favorite recipes. With the help of my mom, sister and aunt Nancy, we collected more recipes and tested each one to make sure it would make the cut before it was added to the cookbook. My Uncle Yogi and cousin Kurt owned a printing company in Redwood city and they published the first edition of Baby Bear Stew: A Family Heritage Cookbook. Helping illustrate the cookbook were the oldest three of my four daughters-at the time Rachel was 9, Jessica was 7, Bethany was 4 and Bekah was 18 months old. Bekah did get her handprint made into a turkey for one of the illustrations and she was my sweet baby buddy who sat and played on a blanket near me while I typed every day. Each chapter begins with a drawing and a saying like “You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving”.

The 1990 newspaper article explains…”All the recipes are “tried and true”. Most are relatively simple or “easy gourmet” but there are a few elegant ones like Nancy’s Flaming Veal and Gram’s Orange Tarragon Chicken with Grapes. Most of the salad recipes have been adapted to use plain yogurt instead of sour cream for health conscious people …

This week’s Passion Perspective features one of our very own……….the story began many, many years ago, in the fall of 1990…..when a bay area newspaper featured an article titled
The Roselyn Family Shares the Joy of Cooking“

The article began with a bit of history…
“Cooking is a joy in the Roselyn family which now spans 4 generations. Friends remember special times and wonderful food enjoyed over the years at Myrna and Leo Roselyn’s former home in Atherton, their condo in Menlo Park and at the home of their daughters, Roz Wagner and Nan Jorgensen. To the Roselyn family, food means a gathering of family and friends, sharing, nurturing, an act of love. Now their granddaughter, Kerry Wagner Weisser, has taken the next step. She’s gathered the BEST of the BEST into Baby Bear Stew: A Family Heritage Cookbook.”
And now 25 years later, Kerry’s 4 daughters are married to 4 awesome guys who love to eat and there are 7 grandchildren so far who have all benefitted from this great heritage of family food, fun and fellowship. Over 1,000 copies of the Baby Bear Stew Cookbook have been sold and many have been given as wedding presents. The family heritage of great cooks now spans 5 generations and we hope our passion for healthy eating will continue for years to come.…

Here is a fun and easy craft for bringing some creativity to your Thanksgiving Holiday season.
All that you need is
Glue gun
Scissors
Ribbon
⅝ inch polka dot or plain brown and yellow
¼ inch polka dot or plain orange and red
Wiggle googley eyes
Stretchy headband

Cut one strip of brown ribbon 2 inches long, fold wrong sides together and glue ends together.
Cut three strips of brown ribbon-one 4 inches, one 4 ½ inches and one 5 inches-glue by placing a drop of glue on the right side of each ribbon and fold over creating 3 separate loops.

Place first 2 inch folded ribbon inside smallest loop and glue together. Place the second and third loop one inside the other to form the body of the turkey.

Cut one more brown piece of ribbon 3 inches and make one more loop for the head. Attach the head to the top of the body.

Create the feathers by cutting 3 yellow ribbons 5 ½ inches long, 2 red and 2 orange ribbons 5 ½ inches long. Glue feathers by forming loops. Attach feathers to the back of the turkey, arranging them in any order that suits you.

Glue a small triangle of yellow ribbon onto the Turkey for a beak. Glue on two wiggle googley eyes.

Glue your turkey onto a stretchy headband and wear for your Thanksgiving celebration.

What fun Thanksgiving craft idea have you tried?

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Today is November 20th. That means you have ten more days to focus on Thanksgiving and the beauty of being thankful before life is all about the hustle and bustle of Christmas. So I think it is time for a little challenge. I challenge you to take the last ten days of November to live out your own blessing of thankfulness. Show people you are grateful for them. Pay attention to circumstances that are blessing you. Realize how the Lord is weaving his blessings throughout your life. Live blessed. And live to bless others. But first, I want you to read a devotional I came across this morning that really resonated with where my heart has been lately.

Thanksgiving

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15-16

Thankfulness is foundational to the Christian life. Thankfulness is a conscious response that comes from looking beyond our blessings to their source. As Christians, we have been forgiven, saved from death, and adopted as God’s children. There could be no better reason for a grateful heart!

Lepers in Jesus’ day were social outcasts. Their highly contagious condition ostracized them from those they loved. When ten lepers encountered Jesus, they desperately implored Him to show them mercy. Jesus sent them to the priest. As they obeyed, they were healed! These ten men had been forbidden to enter their own villages, to live in their own homes, to work in their own jobs, or even to touch their own children. Imagine what unrestrained joy must have filled them as they ran back home again!

One of the lepers, a Samaritan, stopped and ran back

I like to have a few super easy recipes ready to make during the Thanksgiving week. When I spend day after day, planning, decorating, shopping and beginning my food preparation for the holiday meal, the last thing I want to do is stress over what to cook for dinner the few nights before Thanksgiving. So having an easy throw together slow cooker meal that is this delicious is wonderful!! Ingredients 2 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice 1 (10 oz) can salsa verde 2 medium yellow onions chopped 2 cloves garlic minced 1 cup chopped cilantro 2 cups water 1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth 1 Tablespoon concentrated chicken stock 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon chili powder ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon oregano 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 large) 1 (10 oz) can corn 1 (10 oz) can black beans Place all ingredients in Slow Cooker and stir. Cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 2 ½ hours. Before serving, shred the chicken and adjust the seasonings if needed. Serve in big bowls with optional toppings-shredded cheese, tortilla strips, sour cream and salsa. Nutritious and delicious!!! …

With the focus of Halloween everywhere being on death, ghosts, frights, and darkness, my heart feels heavy. Its just too much darkness. So much of life this month is focused on evil and fear. No wonder our world struggles so much with depression, sadness, anger, and fear. I think this mentality and perspective seeps into how people interact with each other, holiday seasons, and peoples joy. It takes away from the hope we can have in a more purposeful and fulfilling life. Ironically, I have been studying Ephesians 2 lately which talks all about how we were once dead in our sin, and the opportunity and gift of being alive in Christ. It gives a great picture of what we once were: stuck, blind, lost, and dead. But Christ, out of his love for us, saved us in his grace so we could fully live. But we only fully live when we surrender to his purpose, his truth, and his way, but in that we receive riches, blessings, and immeasurably more than we can ever imagine. So why stay stuck? Why not take a step of faith? Wouldn’t you rather feel alive and free than lost and dead?

Ephesians 2:1-10 reads “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made …

I don’t know about you, but I am seeing pumpkins EVERYWHERE!! The ways you can craft or decorate with pumpkins is limitless, but sometimes it is hard to think outside the box of putting a display of mini pumpkins on the dining room table or carving a jack-o-lantern for your front porch. Our friends, The Dating Divas, are going to help us out today! I am going to share their …

60 Creative Pumpkin Carving Ideas

and

90 Creative No-Carve Pumpkin Ideas

Click HERE for the rest of the ideas and the how-tos! These ideas are so fun, you don’t want to miss them!

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We usually don’t post on Mondays, but today is my 2 year anniversary and I wanted to take some time to post… I could get all sentimental about how much I love my husband (but I’ll save that for just him) but instead I want to post about how very blessed I am by some specific people. So here’s a shout out to my sisters, and all the girls in my wedding party. I love all of you so very much, and this day, and this moment could not have been any sweeter. I will remember it for my whole life.   Anniversaries are a time to think about love, meaning of marriage, the fun wedding you had, and just how amazing the special people are in your life. So in honor of our blog, and my sisters, my bridesmaids, and my family… you NEED to watch this.

“Sisters” Wedding Speech

Aren’t they the best!!!!! Here’s to two years 🙂

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The thing that helps me stay organized and focused is to just take one day at a time. As much as I hate taking time from my evening to prepare for the next day, it is a huge relief to wake up and know that I am ready. Now getting my kids ready? That’s a whole separate ball game. But at least I am ready! I even do my best to get dressed and ready before I even go in the girls’ room. This helps me stay focused on them and their needs during our crazy morning routine.

Something that helps me stay focused on one day at a time is to keep my calendar current and up-to-date. I have my physical calendar on the wall in the kitchen with handwritten plans and commitments, plus my icalendar on my phone. I make sure to keep both accurate to keep myself focused. I appreciate that I can set reminders on my phone. I usually do a one day before reminder and a second one hour before reminder to keep my schedule in check.

Another thing that gets me focused is to have short term goals throughout the day. For example, my goal is to have the girls fed and ready by 8am, so that when the two sweet girls I babysit and take to school arrive, we are mostly ready. Once my girls are ready I know that we can leave at the drop of a hat if needed. I have already packed the car the night before, or at least organized our bags to take to the car when we leave. That give me a little wiggle time to wash dishes or maybe even apply some mascara and brush my own teeth before we have to leave at 8:30.

My …