WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

We love this stir fry!  We've had three nights in a row.

A great way to get your veggies in and O.SO.GOOD!

 

The Auschwitz Escape by Joel Rosenberg

  

Book Description:  A terrible darkness has fallen upon Jacob Weisz's beloved Germany. The Nazi regime, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, has surged to power and now hold Germany by the throat. All non-Aryans -- especially Jews like Jacob and his family -- are treated like dogs.

When tragedy strikes during one terrible night of violence, Jacob flees and joins rebel forces working to undermine the regime. But after a raid goes horribly wrong, Jacob finds himself in a living nightmare -- trapped in a crowded, stinking car on the train to the Auschwitz death camp.

As World War II rages and Hitler begins implementing his "final solution" to systematically and ruthlessly exterminate the Jewish people, Jacob must rely on his wits and a God he's not sure he believes in to somehow escape from Auschwitz and alert the world to the Nazi's atrocities before Fascism overtakes all of Europe. The fate of millions hangs in the balance.

My Thoughts:  Joel C. Rosenberg writes with a death defying description that left this reader gasping for breath and a rapidly beating heart.  

The scenes, the senselessness of it.all, the hope, the courage and the escape!  Oh!what!a!read!  

Reading about WWII is a passion of mine but when an author like Mr. Rosenberg writes a novel that feels so real, that feels like it took place yesterday, and when the events seem as if they could be happening right now, in this very country....well, the reader may, just as I did, gently close the book, take a deep breath and timidly open the pages again to read about Jacob.  

Ah!  This was not an "easy" read for me.  Breath taking, heart pounding, mind boggling...how could people...how could one man {Hitler} be so cruel!??!  Why would people follow a mad man?!?! How do these atrocities come to pass?!?!?  

At times it was hard to read but yet, hard not to read!  Wanting to know what was going to happen but barely daring to breathe...now that's a book that begs to be read by all!

What a read!

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414336241
• ISBN-13: 978-1414336244

Thankful

 

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

 

 

It's getting cooler in our neck of the woods and time for soup.

Here's one of our favorites!

**Even though this is a crockpot soup, if I forget to put everything in the crockpot in the morning I just make it on the stove top using the same ingredients but I cook it for 45 minutes and then the last 30 minutes with cream cheese.  It's still great!

Paula Dean's crockpot potato soup recipe

Combine 1 bag frozen hash browns ( I use the small, diced hash browns)

2 (14oz) cans chicken broth, 1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2c chopped onion

 1/3tsp black pepper

Cook in crock pot on low for 5 hours. 

**Must be last **Stir in 8oz block of cream cheese, cook 30 minutes, stir occasionally.

Garnish with bacon bits, onions and/or shredded cheese.

OH!SO!GOOD!!

Let's Get Ready for Bed (Nurturing Steps) by Michael W. Smith

 

 

Book Description:  From Grammy Award-winning artist Michael W Smith and the co-creator of Veggietales Mike Nawrocki comes Let's Get Ready for Bed, the second in a series of bedtime books in the Nurturing Steps line. This sweet and sleepy picture book will lull your little one to sleep with their favorite stuffed animal characters the Nighty Nights.

My Thoughts:  I've always enjoyed Michael W.Smith's music so when I saw this book I thought it would be great for the littles at our house.

This is the second book in the Nurturing Steps "series."  We didn't read the first book but it didn't matter because these are stand alone reads.

This is a smallish hardback book that's just right for little ones to hold.  And because it's hardback it's quite easy to clean off with a wipe.

The story is cute and the illustrations are by Mike Nawrocki co-creator of Veggietales.

Our two years olds loved the book.  Of course we didn't read it word for word because we had to talk about the pictures and getting ready for bed.  So this does open up "talk time" for you and the kiddos.

This would make a great gift too, for that little one on your list.

• Series: Nurturing Steps
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Zonderkidz 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310767482
• ISBN-13: 978-0310767480

The First Noelle by Deia Latham

 

                                        About The First Noelle

Noelle Joy stopped celebrating Christmas ten years ago, when Trevor Holden skipped out on their long-planned Christmas Eve wedding. He destroyed her trust in men, crushed her belief in God, and left her cynical about love. Gone is the bright, cheery spirit of the girl she thinks of now as “the first Noelle.” Stronger and savvier, the new Noelle would never be found waiting at the altar for a groom who didn’t show.

When a famous-but-mysterious architect commissions her to decorate his mansion for a holiday event, Noelle finally returns to her hometown. Even as she finds an unexpected peace in facing ghosts from the past, her fiercely private client disturbs her. Michael Holliday is kind and considerate, but far too handsome…and hauntingly familiar.

Holliday didn’t choose Noelle to make his home a Christmas wonderland by accident. She’s the only one who can do the job he has in mind—and once she’s in his mansion, he never wants to let her go. But he’s hiding a secret that could destroy any chance of a relationship with the beautiful decorator.

Excerpt:

She pulled to a stop at a pair of imposing gates fronted by a guard shack. To her surprise, her heart pounded with expectation. Her mind wouldn’t be quiet either, tossing out a horde of unanswered questions.

Was Holliday an older man, or was he young for his accomplishments? Was he handsome? Maybe he was hideous, like the fairy tale beast, and that’s why he maintained such a fiercely private existence. Was he kind, as seemed to be indicated by the media-inspired title? Or was that all hype? Perhaps the whole Phantom Philanthropist thing was a ruse to hide his real personality, which might be anything from a mouse to a monster.

A man’s voice crackled across the air. “Identification, please.”

Holliday should be expecting her. Why all the cloak-and-dagger? Well, his house, his rules. She dug out her driver’s license and the guard took it, his alert gaze darting back and forth, side to side, as if expecting an attack.

Noelle bit back a giggle when he broke from his fastidious survey of the surrounding countryside to peruse her license, seemingly line by line. What did he expect to find there?

At last, he returned her ID and gave a single, terse nod. “When I open the gates, follow the drive and park by the front steps. A valet will take your car.”

Sure enough, a uniformed valet met her at the base of a series of steps leading to massive oak doors that would have served well in any medieval castle. The man actually smiled as he took her keys. Having passed the intense scrutiny of the portly guard, it seemed she’d earned a bit more friendliness.

“Mr. Holliday will meet you at the door, Miss Joy.”

Potted plants lined each side of the wide steps— gorgeous bursts of azalea, bonsai-shaped miniature wisteria, hoya, plumeria, fuchsia, and a number of plants Noelle didn’t recognize and was almost certain shouldn’t survive the cold of the Northern California mountains. Holliday must have a sizeable greenhouse.

The door opened as she reached the top step. A man stepped outside but seemed reluctant to venture beyond the shade of the overhang. He towered well over Noelle’s five feet, nine inches. Muscles strained at the cloth of his sleeves and across his chest.

“Good afternoon, Miss Joy.”

Something caught in Noelle’s heart, and she swallowed repeatedly. Had she heard that voice before? Why did it make her want to cry…or maybe scream and throw rocks through the beautiful stained glass windows that fronted the huge estate?

She allowed her gaze to travel beyond the broad chest to a firm, square chin, and upward. Nicely shaped lips curved into a smile that seemed a little shaky around the edges and revealed perfect white teeth. A straight nose, not too long, or too short. High cheekbones.

For some reason, she avoided his eyes, instead moving on to take in slightly longish, golden-brown hair with a smidgen of gray at the temples.

“Miss Joy?” A hint of concern tinged the oddly familiar voice.

Noelle swallowed again and forced her cowardly gaze to his, only to be caught in a dizzying vortex of confusion and familiarity. I know this man. I’ve met him before. Where? She stood up straighter, hiked her chin, and mentally donned the ice cloak that had stood her in good stead over the course of her career. Holliday wasn’t the only one with a media-dubbed moniker. She had one of her own, and the Ice Princess of Design wouldn’t be put off by a furrowed brow and a tense expression. “Mr. Holliday. I’d like to get started right away, if you don’t mind.”

Forced to meet his gaze—his eyes were hazel, but somehow she’d known they would be—she saw a flicker of something that made her breath a little shallow. She was way off her game. Was it because those eyes held a strange familiarity?

“Of course. Come in, please.”

He indicated she should precede him into the house…no, the mansion. “House” didn’t even begin to describe the residence. Noelle had seen a great number of multi-million-dollar homes in her line of work but nothing that compared to the one in which she now stood.

“This is…quite lovely.” She was careful to maintain the chill in her tone. “Professional distance at all times” was the mantra by which she’d lived for the past decade. It had served her well. No need to change it now, just because something about Michael Holliday made her skin tingle and sky-rocketed her heartbeat. “If anything needs improvement, it’s well hidden.”

His low laughter sent something almost unbearably electric skittering up her spine. “It isn’t improvement I’m looking for, Miss Joy. It’s a mood, a certain look…an ambiance, if you will. And since my event will be held on Christmas Eve, it must be themed very specifically around that holiday.”

She nodded, despite the rock of dread that landed in her stomach with a thump. Up until now, the only Christmas event she’d ever created had been her doomed wedding a decade earlier. After that, she never again celebrated the holiday she’d once loved most. She refused to have a tree in her home and never sent a Merry Christmas card to a single soul. Stockings, mistletoe, and hot apple cider—things she’d once loved—were now just unavoidable traditions she muddled through every year while counting down the hours until the bells stopped jingling, the carolers’ songs died away, and her favorite radio station started playing real music again.

Joy Designs absolutely never, ever, ever accepted a design job with a Christmas theme. She opened her mouth to tell Michael exactly that but remembered just in time that she’d already signed the contract, without checking into the specifics of what Holliday needed or for what occasion. She uttered a pathetic inner moan. Christmas. She’d signed a legal contract saying she and her team would create a holiday environment somewhere in this castle-sized home.

Noelle steeled her spine and pasted on a smile she was certain didn’t fool the handsome architect for even a split second. Well, the contract had not included a clause that said her smiles had to be genuine. Then again, she hadn’t realized it mentioned anything about a Christmas event either, because she barely noticed anything other than Holliday’s name. She knew better than that. Now she had no choice but to design a winter wonderland in this massive mansion.

Bah Humbug.