Itty, Bitty, Baby

Congrats to Mike and Diana on the birth of Emma Grace. Welcome to our world, Emma!

Calvin, not Hobbes

"Whatever title then men may hold, they are to be listened to only on the condition that they do not lead us away from obeying God. So we must examine all their traditions by the rule of the Word of God. We must obey princes and others who are in authority, but only in so far as they do not deny to God His rightful authority as the supreme King, Father, and Lord. If such limits are to be observed in civil government, they ought to be of still greater importance in the spiritual government of the Church. ...whenever men become so proud that they shake off the yoke of God and desire to lay their own yoke upon us... let us recall the sacred authority of God, which blows away the vain smoke of all human excellency." (John Calvin on Acts 4:19,20)

You May Be a Winner!

That's right. If you go to cariboucoffee.com/win and play the plinko game you could win an iPod, or a free beverage, or, most likely, nothing. But, it's free to play the game and you can do it once each day! You don't even need one of those codes they give you on the cup. All you have to do is look at the middle of the home page and click on the tiny link that will give you a code if you don't already have one.

Then, you click on the coffee bean to try to drop it into the cup. I won a free beverage a couple weeks ago, but most of the time the bean randomly shoots off to one side or the other.

Yet, hope springs eternal, so I am off to play Caribou Plinko. Wish me luck.

And now for something completely different...

From time to time, I will be sharing my favorite recipes. This will accomplish two tasks. First, it will be an opportunity for you, my reader, to have options for tasty treats to bake all by yourself. And, secondly (and most importantly), when I can't find a recipe in my recipe box, I will have a copy in my blog archives. Ain't technology great!

The recipe I have chosen first is a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from my friend Kim D. It is delicious served fresh from the oven while still warm and with a glass of cold milk (or goat's milk if you heart that better).

Caution: May contain peanuts.

PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups (that's 2 cups, plus 1/2 cup) flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package milk chocolate chips

THE HOW TO PART:

With a mixer (or a spoon and lots of elbow grease) mix the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla) until nice and creamy. It takes about 2 or 3 minutes.

Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. Then, stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. Use a spoon for this part because overmixing will give you a tough cookie. And, nobody likes a tough cookie.

Finally, stir in the milk chocolate chips.

Place globs of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. Leave an inch or two between globs. (Hint: an ice cream scoop with a lever dealie works great for making nicely shaped cookies)

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12 minutes or till done to your liking.

Enjoy!

That's it. I hope you like them. Let me know what you think!

And, be watching upcoming posts for: Michael W. Smith's Mother's Layered Salad (great for church and Scout pot luck dinners), Nikki's Camp Bars, Chris's Clam Chowder, Katie's 30 Minute Chicken Noodle Soup...)

What's in a Name?

For my very first blog entry ever, I thought it appropriate to explain the name "Hip-Hop Co-Op.

Short Answer: It's what Chris typed in the box when helping me create my blog.

Long Answer: On Monday, Terry (the husband who now blogs, as well, see tmdugan.blogspot.com) forwarded me a Breakpoint article. Here's Chuck Colson's opening paragraph.

If you encountered someone who made his own granola, bought his veggies at a food co-op, wore Birkenstock sandals, and wanted to save the environment, if you're like me, you'd probably think, well, there goes a lefty, or a liberal, or maybe an aging hippie. But the author of a new book says someone like that is just as likely to be a conservative Republican. In his book, Crunchy Cons, journalist Rod Dreher writes about a group of people he calls "crunchy conservatives," a group that includes, among others, "hip homeschooling mamas," "Birkenstocked Burkeans," "gun-loving organic" farmers, and "right-wing nature lovers."

So, when trying to come up with a title for this blog, I suggested Hip Homeschooling Mamas. Chris picked up on the Hip part, combined it with the knowledge that I am the director of Minnehaha Christian Homeschool Co-op, and the rest is history.

All this has gotten me to thinking that I like the way God didn't make all Christians the same. What or more accurately who I am thinking about at the moment is "I Heart Natural Goat's Milk" lady. Who's she, you ask?

Last Saturday, we were at Bethel College for our meeting with the MACHE (MN homeschool group) graduating class of 2006. As we were waiting for Katie to practice her class song (Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, which, she had NEVER heard, by the way, but it was sounding lovely), we looked around at the assorted parents of the 70 graduates to be.

One stuck out. Goat milk lady. She was symbolic of a new breed of homeschooling moms and I liked her right away. In the past homeschool moms tended to fall into a couple categories. Those being "Mom's in denim jumpers" and "Mom's in denim jeans". Now, like the Breakpoint article mentioned, homeschoolers are a diverse group.

Goat mom was covered in buttons. Not the kind that keep coats together, but the kind that make statements. And, the one that stood out was the one that said, "I Heart Natural Goat's Milk." She was bold and not afraid to be herself. And, she stood by her convictions because, as Terry noted, while the rest of us were snacking on Doritos (Chris would have inserted a trademark symbol here, but I haven't taken Trademarks 101 at Blog Academy yet) and sipping Mello Yellow (again, another trademark symbol would be appropriate here), goat milk lady was holding a mason jar and sipping on a slightly curdled beverage. We presumed it to be goat's milk.

All this to say, God bless everyone who isn't afraid to be themselves, show their personality, and teach their kids about Him!

I Peter 3: 8,9 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

Test

This is CD testing Mamad's blog...

All systems go, yo!