National Cookie Day

December 4th is National  Cookie Day, so what better time to get out the cookie sheet and bake some holiday treats. Historically, it's believed the first cookies were actually small test cakes to see if the batter was right. Persia, one of the first countries to have sugar, is believed to have developed these cakes in the 7th century, A.D. With the Crusades, this cooking technique was brought back and spread throughout Europe. A 1596 English cookbook gives a recipe for tiny cakes that hold quite a resemblance to cookies.

English, Scotch, and Dutch immigrants brought cookie recipes to the United States. In fact, the word, "cookie," likely comes from the Dutch word, "koekje," meaning "little cake." Although in America, cookies were called by that name, they weren't given a separate section in cookbooks at first. Instead, they were still included in the cake section.

Today, there are hundreds and hundreds of different cookie recipes. The chocolate chip has remained a favorite since it's conception in 1937. In 1996, it became the official state cookie of Pennsylvania. (Who knew there was such a thing?) So, in celebration of the day, let's have a cookie or two. You can either buy your favorite from the store or pull out your favorite cookie recipe and get to baking. Here's one of mine:

Nutty Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

2 1/2 sticks margarine or butter softened (or 1 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar                                    

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup raisins
3/4 cup cropped pecans or walnuts
3 cups rolled oats (oatmeal)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend margarine and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Mix in flour and spices. Add oats and stir well. Fold in raisins and nuts. Spoon dough onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake 8 minutes for a chewy cookie and 12 minutes for a crisper cooker. Cool for a minute before removing from cookie sheet. Makes about 3 dozen.

Leftovers

Do you get tired of the leftovers from big holiday meals? The choice pieces of turkey vanished quickly, those special side-dishes didn't last long, and the delectable desserts are long gone by the time you've had enough. What's left just doesn't look appealing. But how often do we give God our leftovers? Think about it.

How many Christians pay their bills before they tithe? And if they're running short, the church will just have to wait until they get their budget caught up. They might attend church but just go through the motions, counting the minutes until they can get back to what they plan to do. With working, commitments, and family, there's just not enough time in the day for Bible study and prayer. They can do that when things slow down some, maybe when they retire. Yet they're likely to spend more time in front of the television than they do giving God their undivided attention. God doesn't want our leftovers. He wants us to put Him first. 

I like what Mac Brunson says about this in his book, The God You've Been Searching For. "When we commit our hearts and lives to the Lord, we commit ourselves to giving Him our very best. Not out of a desire to pay Him back for what He's done for us - we could never repay Him in a million years - but out of gratitude for Him giving us His very best and out of deep love for Him" (p. 133).  How about you? Are you giving God your best or your leftovers?

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The Book or the Cover

Most of you have probably heard the cliches "Which came first, the chicken or the egg" and "Don't put the cart before the horse." Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't put the cover before the book, although every traditional publisher I know designs the cover after the book's final draft, except for perhaps a few editorial changes. 

My first four books were published by a traditional publisher. The graphic designer who did the covers was wonderful to work with and did a great job. However, she often had trouble finding images that matched the descriptions in the book. I actually came up with cover photo for Uprooted by War and the top, small rural scene, on Transplanted to Red Clay, the last two books in the series because Hannah wasn't finding anything close.

When I went with the small, independent, print-on-demand publisher, I hired a graphic designer and ended up doing most of the cover for her. I have a background in the arts, so I decided to just design my own covers. It didn't take me long to start creating the covers around the time I started writing the first draft. That way, I can easily fit my descriptions in the book to the images on the front cover. As a reader, I always hate it when they don't go together, and I wonder why more indie authors or publishers don't do this.

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Candlewicking, an Old Craft

Border design on a bedspread

Candlewicking is a little-known form of embroidery. It began early in Europe and became especially popular among Englishwomen in the 1600's, where they made beautiful bedspreads on twilled linen using a series of French knots. Common designs included vines, flowers, grape clusters, and fruits. The skill traveled to America around that same time, but it didn't become popular in the colonies until the 1700's. It continued in many areas until machine-produced bedspreads became common.

1825 coverlet from collection of Bill Volckening

It got its name when women began to substitute the cord bought for candlewicks, which didn't require them to wind multiple threads together to achieve a noticeable knot. Still, over the years, women would put multiple threads together for candlewicking in order to use what they had on hand, especially after lanterns and lamps replaced candles. There're also examples of candlewicked pillowcases, sofa pillows, small cotton towels, etc., as well as the more common bedspreads. Traditionally, most candlewicked spreads where white on white or often with both thread and cloth being a natural color. However, a few were stitched with colored threads. I remember my mother making one with purple grapes and green leaves and vines. It wore out long ago, however.


Most candlewickers I know used an old candlewicked piece to lay a new cloth over and mark the design by rubbing over the design

with something that would show them where to stitch but later wash out. Tailor's chalk worked well if they had it. If not, they improvised. Sometimes, Mom would use a pencil to freehand dots on the cloth. She candlewicked bedspreads, quilts squares, throw pillows, small gift towels and other items. A dark drawing or coloring book page could be placed under the white cotton cloth to draw the design by. 

Candlewicked quilt squares

Years ago, my great aunt in the Stony Fork section of Watauga County, NC, had some of her work hanging on a clothesline to dry or sun. A visitor in the area noticed them and asked her to make some to send to his museum shop in New York. Later other relatives joined her, and this became an important source of income for them.

Candlewicking is an easy craft to learn with beautiful results. Some of you might want to give this historical craft a new try.

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A Thankful Heart

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15).

Giving thanks shouldn't be something we do on a special Thursday in November or occasionally when we think of it. Even thanking God for our food before meals or when we recognize a special blessing is not enough. We need to live with an attitude of thankfulness. We can cultivate a thankful heart; it's a choice we make. Paul gave thanks in all his situations (and he went through beatings, imprisonment, and death) because he knew God would use him for good, even in bad circumstances. Do you trust God that much?

As ye therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye with him: Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving (Colossians 2:6-7).

In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes, "A thankful heart opens the windows of heaven.... Thankfulness opens you up to these experiences [glimpses of heaven's glory], which provide further reasons to be grateful" (p.341). Isn't this a marvelous cycle of blessings, understanding how great God is and recognizing how good He is to us? Cultivate a thankful heart and attitude and see how much better your life seems.

"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever" (1 Chronicles 16:34).

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Repackaging Books

I don't like the way some authors are repackaging their ebooks. I'm not talking about when several authors get together with each one offering one of their books in a themed package. I also like it when an author packages a series together at a better price than each book individually.

What I don't like, however, is when an author takes several of their books and makes different combinations of them in new books. This means you might think you're buying a new release, but actually, you might have read them in other combinations. One author I know even put one complete and two incomplete novels in several new listings. These are not beginning or sample chapters, but half a novel.

I must say, I don't understand this. I would think it's a good way to lose readers. I certainly don't have the same respect for those authors as I did before they started this practice. I think the best way to keep and expand readership is to give the readers an entertaining story they feel satisfied with when they get to the end. That's more rewarding to me, too.

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80-Ton Whale Attacks

The Ess

On November 20, 1830, an 80-ton sperm whale attacked the Essex, a whaling ship out of Nantucket, Massachusetts. The ship was 2,000 miles off the western coast of South America at the time, but the accounts are tragic and gruesome, much like those of the Donner Party.

Owen Chase, First Mate

The Essex had launched in 1799 and was under the command of Captain George Pollard, Jr. at the time of the whale attack. The whale sank the ship and stranded the 20-man crew in the Pacific Ocean. They survived by eating the 5 dead crewmen. During their 95 days stranded at sea, however, the situation became dire again, and they drew lots to determine who would be sacrificed so that some would survive. Eight men were finally rescued. Two of them (the cabin boy, Thomas Nickerson, and the first mate, Owen Chase) later wrote accounts of their ordeal.

Herman Melville's novel, Moby Dick, which released in 1851, was partly inspired by this incident. He used the sailors' accounts as he wrote the attack scene in his book. 

Scene from Moby Dick




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