Plain Promise by Beth Wiseman

From the back of Plain Promise:

Young Amish widow, Sadie Fisher, leads a simple life in the quiet countryside of Lancaster County – selling Amish goods to a steady stream of tourists. Though it is a good life, lately she’s wondered if it is God’s will for her to remain without a husband and a family.

Winters can be brutally cold and lonely in Pennsylvania, so Sadie rejoices when a renter signs up for a three month stay in her guest cottage. But when wealthy, impulsive Englischer Kade Saunders arrives, she isn’t sure she wants him around that long. Sadie feels the stress of the bishop’s watchful eye, expecting her to act in accordance with the Ordnung, the understood behavior by which the Amish live. To complicate things, Kade is soon surprised with sole custody of a child he barely knows – his five-year-old autistic son, Tyler.

I’m always so disappointed when a book doesn’t meet with my expectations; when a publisher’s recap makes the book sound interesting to me…but the actual story has so many more facets that it’s just not what I would normally read.

By the end of chapter 4, I was already wondering what kind of a review I was going to write. I was uncomfortable with some of the subject matter and didn’t like the feeling of worldliness that came across while I was reading.

Turns out that Kade is a VERY wealthy man, even appearing on covers of well-known magazines…but, by the end of the book is seriously considering joining the Amish, (supposedly) not for the love of Sadie, but for a better “connection” with God.

I liked the idea behind the story – a woman’s struggle between the man who seems all right and the man who seems all wrong – the classic plot in many books. But, I just couldn’t get past the edginess and feel-good doctrine that made the book wrong for me.

I still appreciate Beth and Thomas Nelson for giving me the opportunity to review this book, but I only keep books on my shelf that I would someday feel comfortable letting my daughter read. I’m afraid Plain Promise will not be one of them…

352 pages by Thomas Nelson.

Recommend: NO




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Tags: Beth Wiseman Plain Promise Christian fiction Amish fiction book reviews Thomas Nelson

Old Mother Hubbard Taco Soup

Ok, my cupboards weren't really BARE...

...but they were certainly getting there, and that's how I ended up with this soup.

It was a chilly, rainy day and a crockpot meal sounded perfect. I only had ground beef, canned tuna, and canned chicken to choose from, protein wise.

We'd had ground beef the night before... hm, tuna in the crockpot? I'm sure there's a recipe... didn't sound good to me. I browsed allrecipes and kept seeing taco, tortilla, mexican soups pop up in my search results.

Ahhh, I thought! I have many of those ingredients! Let's see what I can dump together...

I found:

1 can cream of chicken soup in the pantry
2/3 jar of Sam's Choice garlic and lime salsa in the fridge
1 can whole kernel corn in the pantry
1 large can chunk chicken
1 box of chicken broth (I used 1/2 of it)

I mixed these together in the crockpot... and added (guesstimate) 1 teaspoon each of chili powder and cumin powder and about 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.

Turned on low for 4-6 hours. Oh, man...it smelled good!


Near the last hour, I realized I wanted to add some rice. So, I cooked some in my steamer and added about a cup (cooked) right before serving the soup.

Old Mother Hubbard Taco Soup was delicious!!! When I was eating it, I said to my husband, "This is my kind of comfort food!"

The soup was warm, hearty, filling, and just a bit spicy. I had to blog about it, just so I can remember the "recipe," and make it the next time I don't think I have any food in the house... :-)

Golden Sweet Cornbread Muffins are the perfect "bread" to go with this soup!

Recommend: YES




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Tags: recipes Taco Soup soup recipes chicken chicken recipes salsa

Pink Sugar's Mini Oreo Cheesecakes... YUM!

***Please note:***

Rhiannon has moved her blog and the NEW link for her Mini Oreo Cheesecakes recipe is HERE at Hey Gorgeous!

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When Rhiannon posted this recipe for Mini Oreo Cheesecakes, I KNEW I would make them!

My picture falls flat once you see Little Miss Baker's gorgeous food photography. I attempted to take a picture of my drippy beaters with my computer in the background (which was, of course, on Pink Sugar's Mini Oreo Cheesecake recipe page).... believe me, that picture was goofy. So are most of my food pictures! :-)

I'll leave the food photography to Rhiannon and others more talented!


But, as for the Oreo Cheesecake recipe...THAT I could handle! :-) They were absolutely positively deliciously scrumptious!!!

The hardest part of the recipe: waiting for these babies to chill. I made them at night, then had one for breakfast! :-D

I cut the recipe in half (it made 17)...but bought ingredients for the full recipe. Do you know what that means?!

Mmmmhmmmm! I'll soon be making another batch of 17.... YUM!

You MUST stop over to Rhiannon's blog and say hi, drool over her amazing pictures, be inspired by her super looking cupcakes, and then get the recipe for these fun little cheesecakes!

Oh, Little Miss Baker! You don't know how many times I've contemplated buying a passport just so I can taste one of your fabulous sounding Mint Meltaways!!!

Recommend: YES




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Tags: recipes cheesecake cheesecake recipes mini oreo cheesecakes Pink Sugar Desserts Pink Sugar Cupcakes oreos

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...?

We have several chestnut trees, and they are currently dropping their fruit.

Lots of chestnuts! LOTS. OF. CHESTNUTS.

Our yard is full...and I can hear more dropping as I type!

I've never eaten a chestnut, let alone cooked with one.

Does anyone have a dummies guide to chestnuts?


What do I do with them?? What nut does a chestnut taste most like?

Seriously, I have no clue...




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Tags: recipes chestnuts