Happy New Year!

Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy winter solstice! I have really come to love this day a little more each year. I know it plays a role in some pagan traditions, but the solstice is an actual natural, physical event, created by God. Nothing pagan about it, unless you choose to make it that way, like everything else. The word "solstice" refers to the sun standing still, because for the few days surrounding the solstice, it appears that the sun is not moving in one direction or another each day. What I appreciate is the fact that even though the coldest days of winter are yet to come (unless you consider last year - last year, the coldest days of the season were before the solstice - weird!), the amount of total daylight begins increasing after today. And once light begins increasing, spring is on its way! Spring is my absolute favorite time of year. I love spring! That is why I love the solstice.

Can you imagine if you didn't know that spring would eventually come, and you got to today, the shortest day of the year? You might think that the sun would keep going in the direction it is going and eventually darkness and absolute cold would settle on the earth. When the sun started moving back north again - all of a sudden you would have hope. This is the kind of thing we should all remember in our "darkest hour" (I just shifted into preaching mode, in case you didn't notice). One of my favorite songs says "The darkest hour is just before the dawn".

I love the winter solstice. It rekindles my hope for spring on the earth, and it helps me to remember the hope that is in my heart. Even during dark times.

What Can Separate You?
by Babbie Mason and Donna Douglas

His love reached from the heavens
To the far ends of the earth.
To give you life forever,
He left no stone unturned.
And before the birth of time,
Jesus had you on his mind.
So you never need to question his concern.

So what can separate you from
the precious love of God?
Who could ever come against
His strong and perfect love?
So when you're in the valley
And your nights are cold and lonely,
The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
Remember nothing can separate you from
God's love.

He numbers each and every star
And calls them all by name.
He counts them one by one
And sees that they are still in place.
If he cares for every star
Then he sees right where you are.
You can trust you'll never fall from his embrace.

So what can separate you from
the precious love of God?
Who could ever come against
His strong and perfect love?
So when you're in the valley
And your nights are cold and lonely,
The darkest hour is just before the dawn.
Remember nothing can separate you,
neither pain nor sorrow,
not today and not tomorrow,
nothing past or nothing present,
nothing future,
nothing ever!

Remember, nothing can separate you from
the precious love of God!
Remember nothing could ever come against
His strong and perfect love!
So when you're in the valley,
And your nights are cold and lonely,
The darkest hour is just before the dawn!
Remember nothing, absolutely nothing,
Oh remember nothing, can separate you from
God's love.

The Good Life

I wrote a good, long post over the weekend and went to post it and my browser simultaneously crashed. No post. I was mad. I had to just forget it.

Christmas excitement is building here at our house. I decided to have a partial school-week this week. This would normally be our week off, but with Christmas next week, I'm sure we won't be having school then. My Christmas baking will include Chocolately-coconut candies, almond cookies, and regular cut-out Christmas cookies. I don't use white sugar in any of my baking, so these treats will all be sweetened with either honey or Rapadura. Maybe I will even try something new. There are many good recipes for sweet treats that don't involve sugar. And we must have treats for Christmas, musn't we?

I'm internet-shopping this week for a grain mill and a food processor. My old food processor broke last week whilst grating a piece of rock-like parmesan cheese. Grain milling will be new to me, but I'm excited to give it a shot. I've known for a while now that grain quickly goes rancid and loses its vitamin and mineral content quickly after it is ground, but I have not yet felt like it was time to take the plunge. Now I think we're ready.

Ruby, our cow, is 11 months old. She is going into heat regularly now, but we can't breed her until next June or so. Have you ever been around a cow in heat? Watch out! It's a real adventure. We have due dates for two of our goats: March 23 for Daisy, and April 28 for Iris. Rose is a big mystery. We don't know for sure when or if she is "due".

As busy as I am, this homeschoolin' farm-livin' from scratch bakin' life leaves me feeling very content. I think it is right where God wants us to be. Things aren't always easy and more trials will come, but we're grounded here and this is definitely the good life.

Salt

There are two kinds of salt: mined salt and sea salt.

Regular table salt is made from mined salt. Table salt has been refined at high temperatures and has several additives, including anti-caking agents and iodine. The high temperatures it is subjected to totally changes its chemical structure. Most processed/packaged foods are high in this refined salt, and it is really not good for you. If your doctor tells you to cut back on salt, then cut out all of this kind of salt.

Kosher salt can come from either mined or sea salt. It is called kosher salt because it is used to draw blood out of kosher meats. There are also not many (if any) additives in kosher salt. A lot of chefs like to use kosher salt because it distributes more evenly in food, is lighter (somewhat flaky), and gives a better flavor.

There are many different kinds of sea salts. I like sea salt because it is possible to have a good salt without a lot of processing, additives, and heat-refining. Here are a couple of good sea salts that we use at our house:

• Redmond Real Salt - This is a sea salt that has actually been mined (a little confusing, there, I know). It comes from Utah, which the makers of this salt claim used to be covered in salt water. Whatever. I don't know much about geology, but I do know that their salt is not bleached, dried at high heat, or polluted with additives.
• Celtic Sea Salt - This is an unrefined salt farmed on the coast of France. It is high in various trace minerals. The link is to a PDF file for a brochure for this company in which you can find the website and a toll-free phone number to call. They will send you a free sample if you ask nicely.
  

Most sea salts have natural iodine in them (unlike the unnatural iodine added to plain table salt), but if you decide to make the switch to sea salt and you have thyroid/goiter issues, you can always add some kelp to your diet to make up the difference. Real Salt and Celtic Sea Salt are also both certified kosher, but are not exactly the same as most kosher salt (not flaky).

Having a low-salt diet can actually be harmful to your health. If you like to salt your food, I think you can do it without ill effects if you simply choose your salt wisely. Dr. Mercola has some good articles on his site. He recommends some sort of Himalayan salt, which I am sure is also very good. If your doctor tells you to cut back on salt due to high blood pressure or whatever, I would definitely do some independent research. Here's a good place to start.

It is true that sea salt is more expensive than table salt, but if you think about how much salt you go through, say in a month, you know that the extra expense will not be that much.