"What's the matter with the men?" - a musical venture

Because it is Valentine's Day and we are all single (and most of you are single) and because we love singing/lip-syncing/the Broadway version of Cinderella, we thought we'd give you a bit of a treat. Suppose we had a variety show: this might be on it...and it's the first take so do forgive us. ;) Hope it gives you a laugh!

Love,

Rachel & Sarah

Indian-Summer Kiss

"There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood;

Touch of manner, hint of mood,

And my heart is like a rhyme

With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time."

-Bliss Carman

There are so many beautiful things to love right now.

There are maples with veins so red you hold your breath, knowing that soon the red in the veins will spread to the body of the leaves and turn the treetops scarlet as Rahab's thread.

There is a bit of a moon hanging low and copper over the field across the way in the pre-dawn hours, when you stay up too late and ought to be in bed but step out on the porch instead just to look at the majesty for a moment.

There are nights and nights of open-window weather which is enough to set the soul right again. Very little can be all that bad when a dark and beautiful chill is seeping through the screens.

There is the smell of mown grass baking hay-sweet in the riot of hazy sunlight, the aroma rising up to fill your nose when you make the trek, barefoot, to the mailbox.

There are cookies--smacking and powerful and punching with the amount of fresh ginger baked into them--cooling on a rack in sugar-sparkling rows.

There are books on the most fascinating aspects of history sitting on the shelf waiting for the moment in the day when I lay aside everything else and take one with me to the porch.

There are lazy evenings at the county fair in the company of friends, everyone pretending, for this moment, that nothing has changed; that no one has moved on; that we are all children again with nothing to do but squash together on the bleachers and watch bull-riding in almost horrified fascination.

There are free photo-prints arranged in a happy cloud on the wall, summoning un-looked-for memories from the recesses of your brain.

There are dewdrops silvering the roses and kittens squirming wiggly-warm next to their mothers, and late-night Sherlock marathons in the itty-bitty house across the land.

There are cotton-candy-eating sessions and then high-from-cotton-candy sessions afterward where we are much less brilliant conversationalists than we like to think, and we collapse against the counter waiting for the chicken-wings to get out of the oven and then, having seen them safely through the inferno, go straight to bed without eating any.

There are phone-calls after phone-calls, setting the pace for the business as a merciful storm--so much abundance of provision in that respect that Saturdays are work-days.

There are hugs to be given, and back-rubs to receive and dusty country roads to drive with the windows down and the music up.

There is feed to buy, and goats to chase off the berry-bushes, and scuppernongs to pick and suck and eat with the sour-zing running up and down your jaw like a trapped tickle.

It's Indian Summer, y'all, and God is just so amazingly good to me.

Doughnutty

On our rare most recent library trip, Sarah got a Cake Boss cookbook. Now, I don't know if any of you have watched Cake Boss, but our family loves it, and it is on several of the kids' bucket-lists to have birthday cakes made by Carlo's Bakery. :D Benjamin is quite practical about it:

"If I start saving up now, it'd only cost...y'know...like a thousand bucks to get a simple birthday cake."

Well-said, dear sir. But thank heaven for Buddy Valastro's willingness to make a Cake Boss cookbook so little boys like Benjamin don't have to break their bank to satisfy their sweet-tooth. (I don't charge) Though, come to think of it, Benjamin is ten times (quite literally) as rich as I am, so it might not be that long before he could afford a Carlo's Bakery cake. ;) To further clue you in, in a proposed road-trip to NYC which will probably never happen, a large stop on the way will be Hoboken, NJ for the original Carlo's Bakery where we hope we don't have to drop, say, ten bucks on one cannoli. But of course since Labor Day was Monday, Tuesday felt a tiny bit (in our heads) like autumn. And I got a hankering for cider doughnuts. I can pin-point the exact first time (and one of only two) I had cider-doughnuts:
It was at Taft Farms: a country vegetable-fruit-bread-stuff stand in the Berkshire mountains from which Uncle Lon and Aunt Heather bought much of their food during the summers when they lived up there so Aunt Heather could work at Tanglewood. That one summer--the beautiful, glorious week--when Sarah, Daniel, and I went up to visit, Uncle Lon drove us to Taft Farms and paid the laughing girl in the baseball cap for a white paper-bag with the grease-spots coming through and in that bag was heaven on earth. We bought the doughnuts one more time on that trip (sometime after Boston and Fort Ticonderoga) and I've never been that close to the Other Shore since. ;)

because you all need gratuitous cuteness in your day.

Well. All that melodrama to say, I thought to myself that we'd make cider-doughnuts while Mama was at a funeral. (morbid, I know) But it appears that the cider part of cider-doughnuts actually has something to do with cider and not just a reference to the best coupling of beverage with bakery-treat. C'est la vie-- we'er all excited for fall around here, but I'm not exactly sure that Food Lion sells apple-cider yet. Anyway, Sarah came to the rescue by telling me that inside that Carlo's Bakery cookbook (don't you love how New England rallied for us?) there was a recipe for Buddy's doughnuts; they didn't require cider (woo-hoo) and they didn't require butter (woo-hoo). And we happened to have a tub of lard on hand for frying, which never EVER happens. (WOO-HOO)

I made up the dough with Levi, and had lots of fun watching him watch me. (and help a bit) The batter looked like dubious cookie-dough, though, so I shoved it in the freezer per instructions and lived as a doubting Thomasina for the next several hours.

Jimsie was none too keen on the loud mixer

But afterward he insisted on turning it on...

...and messing about with a teaspoon and a bit of flour...

Awwww, itty bitty toe-prints in the spilled flour!

We rolled out the dough per Buddy's instructions and cut out the doughnuts with a mason-jar lid and a little medicine-cup....there was nothing left to do but fry them up! So Sarah and I melted and heated lard from our friends' farm, figuring that people used to cook doughnuts in lard, so why not? :) We also double-checked with the rest of the cookbook and saw that since cannoli can be cooked in lard, it's not like the doughnuts would come out tasting like bacon. (though isn't that the trend right now?) I don't understand that....the other day on Google+ I saw a picture of a friend's ideal burger: a patty smushed between two glazed doughnuts....the opposite of what I would imagine to be tasty. Oh well. To each his own culinary adventures, oui?

After removing the doughnuts (and holes) from the lard, we rolled them in cinnamon and sugar. Yum! 

Jimsie approved.

So did Grace

I would have liked to see a bit more flavor inside the doughnuts, so next time I would like to try an honest-to-goodness apple-cider-dough recipe, but these were amazing when fresh off the stove and paired with a cup of French Press coffee. Bon appetite! 

Old-Fashioned Doughnuts:

(makes at least twelve doughnuts)

I have edited the recipe to reflect how I did it

3 c. all-purpose  flour, plus more for the work surface

1 c. sugar

3/4 c. milk with a tablespoon of lemon-juice dissolved inside

2 extra-large eggs

2 Tbs. coconut oil

2 tsp. baking power

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt 

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Lard for frying

cinnamon & sugar for rolling

1. Mix half the flour with sugar, milk, eggs, oil, baking soda and powder, salt, and cinnamon in a mixer. When smooth, add remaining flour.
2. Turn dough onto plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or up to three days. Dough will be TERRIBLY sticky and not look anything like you think doughnut-dough ought.
3. Remove dough from fridge and let sit till room temperature
4. Flour work surface and work half the dough into a 7-inch square, 1/2 inch thick. Fold in third, the roll it again into a 7-inch square. (this doesn't have to be precise)
5. Punch out doughnuts, or roll balls by hand. (repeat with other half of dough when ready)
6. Heat lard in pan till it is about 1 1/2 inches deep. Heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Drop doughnuts in two or three at a time and fry till golden brown on both sides, flipping with a wooden spoon when one side is done.
7. Remove from pan and dab excess grease off onto paper towels. While still hot, roll in cinnamon and sugar.
8. Repeat with remaining raw doughnuts.
9. Eat hot with a cup of French Press coffee, and enjoy! :) 

In Which We Play At Being Orphlings

A 25-year anniversary...

Five days....

Eight kids on their own...

(Well, some of us are no longer kids)

A cold in the head...

A toddler that should be weaned but still nurses a couple times a day for comfort's sake...

A camera...

An "empty" house...

Sneezing/coughing/stuffynose...

May I reiterate the "Five Days" thing?...

Oh yes. 

This is the life of the Heffington kids this weekend. We are going to be baching it here while Mama and Dad celebrate their 25th with their first trip away (without a baby in tow) since they had Daniel, almost 23 years ago! I am looking forward to this weekend and the funny videos we plan to shoot. It's going to be amazing! I am dosing my cold with cinnamon-and-honey and PG Tips, so here's hoping it withers away quickly! We've got fun things planned and of course I know my uncle and aunt are right across the field so if I need any adult help I've got it. But I think we'll be just fine, and it's kinda fun playing The Boxcar Children for a whole week. Keep your eyes out for any videos that make it through production! ;)

Various, Sundries, and Oh LOOK! I'm going to Florida!

Yes, yes I know. I've spent the whole of this spring traveling from one place to another. I can't say I'm sorry! I love to travel--I love the adventure of it, and the excitement of it, and the squished airplane seats with the stewardesses that smell like disinfectant when they walk by, and the popping in my ears when we rise off the ground, and then the landing when you are pushed out with a tide of passengers into the belly of a complex airport. And I especially love the time spent in new crazy places. All the new sights and sounds and experiences.

Orlando might not be Romania, but it should satisfy my wander-lust for a week or so. ;) Abigail Taylor and her sister Rebekah blessed Sarah and I beyond belief by paying our way to Sovereign Grace's Transfer Conference, and we are headed down this weekend. *eep!* I've never been to Florida, funny enough. I'm more of a European/mountain chick than a beach-bum, so I've never had a burning desire to go. But where a conference calls, I shall answer! Even unto 100% humidity! Mama says when she went to visit Florida where my Uncle Lon was going to college, it was so humid her hair never dried all day after her shower. O.o

"I'm melllllllttttiiiiinnnnnggggg!"

But more than travel, I'm excited about this conference. Excited to spend a weekend with thousands of other young men and women who love Jesus. Can't wait to see what God will teach me/show me while there! :)

 We just got back from a family camping trip with you can hear all about here! It was our first family vacation in 6 years so very well-deserved. ;) We camped at Chippokes State Park on the lovely James River. I love places with history, and being able to dash down the road a couple miles and take the very across to Jamestown and Williamsburg is thrilling!

Let's see. I am currently loving Laura Osnes' voice in Broadway music! It's so clear and sweet and there always seems to be a smile lurking somewhere. If I had a better voice and was on Broadway, I bet it'd sound like hers. :P

I discovered yoga pants a couple weeks ago! :D I had never owned a pair, but being stuck away from home and having forgot my overnight bag, I headed to Walmart to buy some pajamas and lo and behold, a love affair began with that impossibly soft garment! You need to get some if you haven't already. I'm serious!

After watching Nicholas Nickleby for the first time, I can't stop quoting Fanny Squeeers: "Deah Mistah Knuckle-boy..."

We are indoctrinating Levi with Broadway songs. He already requests "Stars" quite often and can hold his own in the "bum-bumming" parts of "Master of the House", "At The End of the Day", "Seize the Day" and "Carrying the Banner". :D

I updated my "About The Lass" page so go check out Take Two!

And last but not least, I'm going to be gone on and off through the middle of July so if this blog is a little spacey during that period of time, don't think I've abandoned blog-dom. I'll simply be jawin' with all the muckity-muck and blowin' my dough and goin' deluxe. ;) Actually, I'll be counseling/working at Generation Joshua's iGovern camps! There are three: one each at Patrick Henry College, in LA, and in Colorado Springs. Travel Travel Travel! :D Yes, I'm a busy, crazy, delighted girl over here, and I ought to sign up for frequent flier miles because for HEAVEN's sake, if I had

The Long-Awaited Coffee-House Part One! :)

I am sorry to have neglected this blog recently, but the truth is that the business of planning, preparing and executing two large fund-raising events within twenty-four hours of each other put quite a damper on all things blog-related. But I DID keep my tablet charged and I DID take pictures so there you go. I suppose I ought to start at the beginning because this isn't a very coherent update for those of you who aren't on Facebook and haven't been constantly told updates about our coffee-house fundraiser event and the following yard-sale.

Wednesday was a prep day with things like making the chocolate chip cookie-dough cheesecake, organizing piles of decor in the four categories: (Hipster, French, Coffee-Shop, and Vintage), and packing all the items for the garage sale in the garage. (A very large feat, that.)

The coffee-house was first. Thursday we spent the day cleaning the house, and in afternoon I swung out of our driveway, picked up Matthew and then drove to Petersburg to meet Josie and her momma. I also wore my awesome but hipster polka-dot sweater and straightened my hair. I look like such a kid when I do that!

We got home, unpacked, and spent the night watching This is the Army which swung us on with fabulous music till midnight. The we collapsed into bed, and the morning came way too fast for anyone's taste.

Friday morning.

I had a slight panic moment seeing how light it was when I woke up--I thought I had slept the day away. Turns out it was only 7:30 and I had nearly 12 hours to pull off my brain-child project. Josie was absolutely invaluable in boosting the skills and things that Sarah and I have in moderation. We would arrange a corner and it would look good, but then Josie would come, tilt her head, furrow her brow, rearrange something and it would look perfect. We totally rearranged the furniture, took down all previously existing decor, and re-did the house. So much so that when one of our team-guys came in he said, "Hey. You guys should keep your house like this. It looks really cool." That made me happy, because this guy is at our house at least every Sunday, and oftentimes in the days between.

Friday we literally spent all day on our feet. We felt like tree-toads, walking all over countertops and table-tops and using tape for everything. I swear tape is a modern miracle. Honestly. Scotch-tape held up 80% of our decorations! I ought to buy stock in the company and then go around demonstrating it as the party-planners best friend. ;) I'm going to do a whole post on the decorations and how we made what we made and how we spent not a red-cent, but I don't want to overload you so today you get the general push through of the weekend. One quick mention of our method, however: we asked for $5.00 at the door, and then priced the drinks and baked goods cheaply. The most expensive item was "The Neverland" which was a coffee milkshake loaded with whipped cream and sprinkles that cost $3.00. Funny thing is, that and the "Poor Edith" (a simple, plain caramel latte) were the most popular items. We made a killer off the Neverlands. Will definitely be selling those again if we do another coffee-house sometime.

The rest of the team arrived at 5:30 and we had nachos and then got down to business. (but we didn't defeat the huns ;) and I trained my team of baristas. There was a vaguely frightening moment when I started to doubt anyone besides the team would show, but then the people started streaming in and the kitchen filled up craziness from Justin, Daniel, Tim, Emma, Sarah, and I, and before I knew it people were leaving and it was 11:00 PM and we had made well over $200.00 from the thing! I was shocked and pleased when I saw how God had blessed our efforts! The whole time it kind of felt like grabbing at the wind because it was Sarah and I planning this thing kind of last minute and not knowing if it would fly, but God gave it wings enough. After everyone had left, Josie and I perched on hard chairs in the dining room (don't ask me why) and talked until at least midnight again. Wow....noticing a pattern here.

We tumbled to bed and were awakened before the sunrise to get the yard-sale set up and together.

It was supposed to start at 9:00, but people started coming at seven-thirty and didn't stop till 1:00. Again, the Lord totally blessed the method of the yard-sale. We stuck all the items in neat rows and told people  to make a reasonable offer and then pay up and take it away. By the end we had made at least $600 which brought our grand total for the weekend up to $870.00 which exceeded (by a bit) the amount we had gone into the weekend needing!

This means our trip is fully funded now! We are going to Romania and it is paid for and we will have an amazing time and we will come back!  Hallelujah, and a huge thanks to those of you who helped us all the long and tedious way to raising our funds! Those of you who came and donated your time and money (Josie! <3) and those who put effort and time into helping with the decor (Jill! <3) and everyone in between! This weekend was crazy and fun and hectic and I am exhausted now on this cold Monday morning, but it worked. To quote a very very sappy movie, "Never despise meager beginnings."

So thanks, ya'll, and stay tuned for a post with more pictures, awesome details, and How-To-Plan-This-Party-Yourself. :D

Daniel + Abigail = Fun

A series of photos, because life where Abigail and Daniel are concerned is so much fun. :)

We go contra-dancing (and nearly faint) and we write senseless greetings on our left-overs.

                 

We hang at creepy gas stations to fill up before making trips...

We draw pictures on the windows....

We draw pictures on feet....

We suit up in barncoats and hideous ponytails and pretend to be chicken-thieves when we have to help BJ move the roosting hens after dark.

We find that the Smithfield ice-cream parlor spells "Sherbet" the way everyone says it and not the way it's properly spelled at all.

We take pictures of the soda-jerk in a manner that makes him think we're actually taking self-portraits.

We giggle over nothing and everything.

We hang out at DMV while Daniel registers his car singing "The Song of the Lonely Mountain" time and time again while we wait for him in the frigid air. 

We found a chap from the shoppe across the street who looked like he belonged in Downton Abbey.

We sample everything in the store and pretend we are food critics...

We hold hands and sing random songs just because we like to think we live in a musical.

We make Shirley-Temples and discuss how many fun drinks you can make that have absolutely no alcohol in them.

We admire daffodils displayed in blue glass, and model ships displayed in antique stores.

Daniel and Abigail are my peeps. I love them both so very much. :)

Snowday!

One day it was 70+ degrees...

....the next day we had snow.

What?

We live in Virginia--it's typical.

Snow-birds....

This species eats snow as a couple...part of the courtship ritual, perhaps?

...snow in my hair...

Due to cancelled mall-plans, we all went on a walk in the snow, and I brought my lady-bug umbrella to keep the snow off my face so my makeup wouldn't run. (Yeah, I'd gotten ready to go out and didn't wish to have to wash off eyeliner and everything because it smeared.) Anyway, I rather lost my head out there and pretended to be a mad postman and...yeah...don't ask. But it was hilarious. 

"Through rain and snow

The mail must go,

But NOT ON SATURDAYS!"

-and-

"MEN! The first sign of hypothermia is the growth of white fur on one's belly. MEN! Do you have white fur on your belly?" (brushing snow off my coat)

-and-

"CHARRRRRRGE!" (like Teddy from Arsenic and Old Lace) with my umbrella down the road when the snow blew starting blowing in our faces.

Think the Mad-Hatter plus the US Post Office, plus me with a red umbrella and you'll have a partial picture. It would probably scare some of you, and make the rest of you incapacitated with laughter.

 I promise you I'm a little more shrunk than the pictures show. I look short and dumpy because Abigail took these from the top steps so I resemble an oompa-loompa.

We repaired to Panera later on to warm up for a bit and buy a movie for family movie-night...

Yes, I chose some hot chocolate and a toasted bagel. Who cares when you're freezing in snow and slush and ice?

I ended up dictating to Sarah to use the money she owed me to buy Gregory Peck's version of To Kill a Mockingbird (which I'd never seen) and so we came home and loved it. Atticus Finch is a forever hero....and Mary Badham as Scout was too adorable....now I've also got a whole second disk of special features and documentaries and fun facts. Like, did you guys know that Gregory Peck delivered Atticus' entire 7-minute courtroom speech in one take? Mmmmhm. That's an awesome actor for you.

Fun times, folks. Fun times.

Did you get any snow?

This is a picture from one of my friends who got 6 1/2 inches at her house! <3

God's creation is just gorgeous!

Home-grown Broadway

Sometimes the loves of the older kids pass down to the younger kids....in this case, they little guys have caught our Les Miz love and flayed the beans out of it. Seriously, this musical is in danger of being sung to extinction in our house like Wicked was before Les Miz introduced itself to us.....we need a new musical. :D But all that to say, a few weeks ago when Mama and Dad had their date night, all the younger kids got dressed up and had me record a few of their songs.

Cast:

Benjamin as Gavroche

Grace as young Cosette

Abigail as Eponine

Leah as Mdm Thenardier (well-stuffed, she begged me to tell you.)

I had another video  or two, but our internet allotment wouldn't bear uploading more videos to Youtube. Sorry. They were "Master of the House" and "On My Own"... :[ But I have three for you, and thought it might amuse you to see them. They aren't perfect, because of course I didn't wish to spoil the spontaneity and fun by endless practice. But enjoy my little stage-fever-brood. :)

Silver Bells

Dear, dear me! Here is, December 19th, and nary a sign of Holiday Cheer on this blog! It's abominable, I tell you! Absolutely abominable. So to make up for it, I thought I'd give you a nice plummy post today filled with this Christmas, Rachel-style. Ready for it? Okay.

It begins with liberal doses of hot chocolate periodically. I heat the water in the old blue and white teakettle, then dump in far too many spoonfuls of the powder if we're out of cocoa and milk to make it the real way.

 I always use a Christmas mug this time of year, because what is better, honestly, than a Christmas mug at Christmas? (Thank you, Mary.)

I read books till my eyes are heavy and my mind is full of noble thoughts that never make it onto the blog like I mean them too, and I glance up at our Christmas tree and realize just what a beautiful one it is. The book I'm reading might be "A Christmas Carol"--a stave or so each evening.

“And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that [Christmas] has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

I might still shake inwardly over Marley's ghost. I might still smile and chuckle over the Crachitt's Christmas meal, thinking how like our own it is. I might, even, tear up when Tiny Tim comes on-page because if one can't be sentimental at Christmastime, one must be strangely inhuman and bereft of all feelings.

My season is interrupted by pleasant but odd things like 3D glasses and small glimpses of what C.S. Lewis called "Joy", but what manifests itself in odd, sharp-sweet stabs. I go to the midnight premier of a fantastic movie and stay up till 4:30 watching a meteor shower--stars dropping from the sky--and then take pictures to commemorate it.

The season continues. I make gingerbread men. I attempt to make fudge. I eat the not-so-fudge anyway, and discover Fudge-ish-gloop is quite as delicious as what it was meant to be. My friends concur. We imbibe deeply in not-so-fudge and then take a long walk to counteract its effects. Mama makes sugar-cookie dough--tradition of all childhood traditions!--and I pinch a bit when I pass the fridge, reveling in the taste of childhood.

I go shopping with the girls--my first trip to The City by myself as a licensed driver, and I did not get lost! Furthermore, it felt awesome having hard-earned money to spend, taking myself to spend it, and coming home all in one piece.

I sing. I sing lots of everything ranging from Matisyahu to Tenth Ave. North, to Bing Crosby's "Let it Snow" and a new-found-appreciation-version of "White Christmas." I listen to the girls play "The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" on the piano and I get my yearly yearning to try a sugar-plum...whatever it is. I sing "Marshmallow World" before I can help myself, and then regret it immediately afterward.

I smell Christmas trees--coming in from being out and getting hit with the scent of fir. It's one of my favorite things in all the year! <3 There is nothing like home, for comfort, after all. I also sniff cinnamon, cider, vanilla, and my 7 different bottles of lotion from That Place. Ahem. Yes, I caved and went into That Place and blushed all the way home. Dear dear. 

I look at the world differently. Everyone has a story. The world is lit by candlelight and evensong and amethyst dusk. People go around acting different as if, for this one month out of the year, they sense a bit of what it means to be compassionate and loving.

I hear jingle bells and I smile. I hear accents and I smile broader. I hear "Far Over the Misty Mountains" as sung by Richard Armitage, and my heart both soars and plummets. Soars because the wander-lust is soft and swift, plummets because there are no literal dragons to slay.

I wait. I wait for Christmas Day, I wait for friends to arrive, I wait for parties and roadtrips and other beautiful events of the season. I wait for my family and friends to open the gifts I've given them, and I wait to open a few myself. I wait for Les Miserables to come out. But mostly I wait with expectant heart, arms high, and heart abandoned, in awe of the One who gave it all.

Can I get an Amen?