Weekly Wrap-up #2 {the week I didn't take a single picture}

I didn't take a single picture this week, but I have a few from other weeks I'll share.

We are just finishing week 6 of homeschooling. Why do we have only 6 weeks in? We took two weeks off for cranberry harvest. Well, mostly off. Nick continued with his college classes, but took off completely from homeschool. Amber put in about 3 or 4 days of homeschool over the 2 week period. Sam took off completely, except for violin. His recital was smack dab in the middle of harvest so he still had to put in plenty of practice time. And as for the littles, Joseph, Peter, and Maria continued to learn, whether it be cutting grass, raking leaves, All About Reading, and enjoying plenty of walks on the marsh.

There was all the normal stuff this week - the schooly stuff. 

Teaching Textbooks
From Sea to Shining Sea
Easy Grammar
All About Spelling 
All About Reading
Focus on High School Chemistry
U.S. History
Stories of the Saints

Novels in progress:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
The Impossible Journey
West Side Story

And the extras:

Joe has a tutor every Monday for 1 hour.  She works on fine motor skills and writing skills.  Sam went to Tween Tuesday where 6th and 7th graders take part in phy ed and art and then a rotating project.  Currently they're working on making Google slides and uploading them to their teacher's website.  Peter and Maria attend Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, weekly, with 3 other children at a local parish.

Hobbies were enjoyed:

Horseback riding (pictured below is Amber and Joe bringing the horses back to the paddock)

Duck and Goose hunting (this was September, but they're still going strong)

Ending the week with a little trip up North, Warren, Sam, and Peter are having a boys' weekend.  They're spending it with some relatives.  One of which is Uncle Dan.  It has me thinking about making generational memories with family.  During harvest this year we spent an evening making a traditional family meal - Pork and Dumplings.

Uncle Dan was instrumental in getting it done.  What I mean is he bought pork roasts, sauerkraut, bread, and potatoes.  Nothing says let's get this done like providing all the ingredients.  I think I finally learned the process of making the dumplings.  It looks like Sam, Peter, and Maria will be my helpers next time.

I've also been checking my list twice, tweaking and updating my trimester plan.

And after one more look at my pictures, I actually took one picture this week.  My oldest girls enjoying coffee and tea from their favorite mugs.  Emily's new favorite tea is Lord Grantham Breakfast Blend.  

Description on the tin:

.....This energizing tea is perfect for an early morning foxhunt or preparing for the dramas of the day.

And you can bet there are plenty of dramas to deal with when two teenagers share a room.

That turned out to be a rather long weekly wrap-up, especially since I thought I had nothing to share.  I hope you enjoyed your visit here.  For more weekly wrap-ups from homeschooling families, please visit Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Wednesday Recipe Review

It's time again to review another recipe from my church cookbook.

Cherry Brunch Bars
1 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 can cherry pie filling

Cream first 2 ingredients. Add eggs; beat well. Add vanilla. Sift dry ingredients; mix well into batter. Put 2/3 into bottom of greased 9x13-inch pan. Spread cherry filling; drop remaining batter over cherries. Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. When slightly cool, drip with powdered sugar icing.

Score: 3.1 (how do I score these?)

This was very yummy. Even better the second day. It needed to bake almost an hour and I didn't drip with icing. Buttery and moist. I'd like to try it with blueberry pie filling.

Wednesday Recipe Review

Caramel Pecan Dream Bars
Base: 1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1/3 c. soft butter
1 egg

Filling: 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. Bits O'Brickle baking chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch pan. In large bowl, combine cake mix, butter and egg. Mix at highest speed until crumbly. Press into prepared pan. In small bowl, beat milk, egg and vanilla until blended. Stir in pecans and Bits. Pour over base in pan; spread to cover. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes or until light golden brown. Center may appear loose but will set upon cooling. Allow bars to cool completely before cutting. Makes 36 bars.

Score: 2.3

I really liked the filling, but not the cakey crust. Warren really liked these.

Recipe Review Wednesday

Working my way down the page of bar recipes has proven to be fun so far. Today's recipe is:

Caramel Cereal Bars

14 oz. pkg. caramels

1/4 c. milk

4 c. Rice Krispies

1 c. salted peanuts

Melt caramels and milk together on low heat. Remove pan from heat and mix in cereal and peanuts. Grease an 8x8x2-inch pan and press the mixture into the pan. Let set for one hour and cut.

*Melting the caramels took a long time. Amber stirred while I started a load of wash, hung out a load of wash and took down a load of wash from the clotheslines. Just at the end she came running out with the announcement that all the caramels had melted.

These were yummy! Sweet and salty, crunchy and chewy all rolled into one.

Score - 3.1 (Don't know the scale click here)

Recipe Review Wednesday

Butterscotch Brownies
1/4 c. shortening, melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350. Grease an 8 inch square pan. In saucepan, melt shortening over low heat. Take from heat and stir in brown sugar. Set aside to cool. Stir egg into cooled sugar and shortening mixture. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to sugar mixture. Blend well. Then stir in vanilla and nuts. Spread in pan. Bake 25 minutes, only until a toothpick stuck in center comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool in the pan and cut into squares.


*I did not let the sugar mixture cool before continuing.
*I did not sift the dry ingredients before adding
*I did not add the nuts.
*I baked the brownies for about 22 minutes.

This recipe was not new to me. It actually has my name as the "submitted by" name. I remember my mom making these when I was young and I loved them. We always added nuts - I think pecans, but since I have one child who doesn't like the flavor of cooked nuts I tend to not add nuts to recipes I think he might eat if the nuts are omitted. These scored high; I think because they are crunchy around the edges and chewy in the middle. I think next time I might double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 pan.


Score: 3.4 out of 4.0


Click for more Recipe Review Wednesday posts.

Recipe Review Wednesday

We have a lot of favorite bar recipes and I make them often. It pleases the family when they find one of their favorites cooling on the counter, but sometimes I get a little bored of the same old, same old. I tend to be a new recipe kinda gal. So in honor of me I grabbed my trusty church cookbook off the shelf opened it to bar recipes and made the first one on the list. While it was baking I thought it would be fun for us to rate each recipe and give it a final score. And I thought wouldn't it be fun to do this each week for as long as I can remember to do it and blog our reactions to the new recipe.

Scoring Ratings

4 points - make again immediately when this pan is empty
3 points - add to the rotation of favorites, I'd be happy to munch on these again
2 points - I'll eat these because they're here, but don't make again
1 point - I guess the chickens need to eat, too


Banana Bars (1.9)
3/4 c. margarine (butter)
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)
1/2 t. salt
4 c. oatmeal (quick oats)
1 c. raisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (left out)
*my changes and notes are in ( )

Cream margarine and sugar. Add egg, banana, and salt; beat until smooth. Stir in oatmeal, raisins and nuts. Grease a 9x12 inch pan (9x13). Press dough into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour (40 minutes).


These browned around the edges very fast in the glass baking dish. They have a consistency of a soft, crumbly cookie and remind me of a granola bar in flavor. I'm sure they would've rated higher if I'd substituted the dried fruit with mini chocolate chips.

Final score: 1.9