10-10-10

October 10, 2010 2:33 PM 1

Good Morning Friends.  I am writing this Sunday morning from the balcony of a beautiful condo in Sandestin, Florida.  My husband and I are here for an extra long weekend, a time of rest and renewal.  As my sweet daughter-in-law Carrie told me before we left, “this will be a vacation, when the whole family comes, it’s a trip!”  There are times for both, but she is right…this has been a vacation, long awaited.

I am on Day Eight of one of Beth Moore’s devotionals entitled 90 Days With JESUS The One & Only. I should complete this one around Christmas. This morning’s reflection was from one of my favorite passages in scripture, the verse from Luke 2:19, “But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

As I was writing in my journal and took note of today’s date 10-10-10; and since I have time and haven’t posted in a while, I wanted to do a “Ten” List. Very unorginal, but I’m inspired with the whole Ten-Ten-Ten date today.  This list is not a Top Ten, but rather ten things I have often pondered in my heart.

Ten Ponderings
1.  The amazing grace of God and why He loves me like He does…
2.  The blessed gift of a long and faithful marriage with the love of my life…
3.  How absolutely right all my friends were about the sheer joy of being a grandmother…the inspiration for Gran Jan’s Joy
4.  The great delight it is to be friends with my boys, now grown men…and the thankfulness that their wives are taking such good care of them…
5.  How I absolutely love to garden and wonder if those things are truly inherited and if so, then it came from my maternal grandmother…
6.  Sometimes at night when I slip outside I marvel that God really gave names to all the stars and that He knows my name too… Psalm 147:4 “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name.”
7.  After my trip to South Africa last year, I think of the beauty there, but also the devastating poverty in the shanty towns, and I especially ponder a little boy that used a plastic bread bag as his hat. My South Africa journal for that day is here...
8.  How some songs are so anointed and touch me every single time, and how thankful I am to have my own music man for a husband and that I know I am and have always been his favorite choir member…
9.  When God allows me to serve other women even with all my flaws, His mercy overwhelms me…
10. The older I get the more I understand the peace of being quiet and listening more…and often wonder why I didn’t glean this truth earlier in my life, but the ways of God are a mystery…

Well, 10-10-10 is here and I’m getting up to enjoy my last day on the glorious Gulf Coast of Florida!

Blessings,
Gran Jan

P.S.  10-10-10 is also some mighty good garden fertilizer.  I’m just saying…

Share
October 10, 2010 2:33 PM 1

TWO YEARS OF PURE JOY!

August 18, 2010 12:51 AM 8
“Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged.”
Proverbs 17:6


I started this blog two years ago last month during a time in my life I call the “waiting room” a definite season in my life.  I desperately needed an outlet to share the pure JOY of becoming a first-time grandmother.  Now I am a grandmother three times over!  My sweet friend, Deborah  was so patient and helpful to me in my early blogging days.

Today is the birthday of my first born’s first-born…Ezekiel, my first grandchild we all call “Zeke.”  For one who never finds herself at a loss for words, I simply cannot describe to you the pure joy that springs from my heart because of Zeke’s life. This little boy LOVES life and LIVES with pure joy! 

Here he is trying to catch raindrops on his tongue when a nice summer shower passed through at his birthday pool party Friday night!

More evidence of his joy-filled personality:
Zeke, I love you with all my heart.  You are such a sweet boy, and Gran Jan is not the only one who sees the special way you touch lives.  You love animals, you love music (your favorite song is still “How Great is Our God” by Chris Tomlin), you love books, you love strawberries, you love tractors, and most of all, you love your baby sister Madie Ruth! 
You have touched my heart way down in the deepest parts, places I never knew existed.  I am so thankful for your life.  I can’t wait to teach you all that God is teaching me.
Happy Birthday to you Zeke!
I love you,
Gran Jan 
Share
August 18, 2010 12:51 AM 8

PEACH COBBLER WITH RISING CRUST!

June 29, 2010 1:34 AM 17
Peach Cobbler
(Use a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, or I actually prefer a 12″ cast-iron skillet)

INGREDIENTS (step by step pictures below)

FRUIT/SIMPLE SYRUP:
4 cups of fresh peaches, which is about 7 medium peaches
(*see note below for using canned peaches)
2 cups of water (I use 2 cups)
1 cup of sugar

 

CRUST:
1 1/2 sticks of butter (I use salted)
1 1/2 cups of White Lily self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of whole milk

*First* thing (even though it is step #4):
Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees and put a stick and a half of butter in your baking dish (or cast-iron skillet) and slide in the oven to melt! It helps that delicious crust set up when the butter is good and hot in the dish!

FRUIT PREP: You will “cook/simmer” your fresh fruit (about 7 medium peaches, peeled, sliced, and pit removed) on the stove top by making a simple syrup with 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to bring out the fruit’s natural juices! About 7 medium size fresh peaches, peeled and sliced is about 4 cups. This cobbler is juicy, not dry or cake-y. As my friend Sophie Hudson says, this is not a biscuit and fruit! 

 

*[May use two 16 oz. cans or one 29 oz. can of peaches in heavy syrup. Do not drain! If using canned peaches, skip to step 4.]

1.  Peel and slice peaches.
 
2.  Make a simple syrup by bringing 2 cups of water
and 1 cup of sugar to a nice simmer – not a hard boil.
Allow the sugar to dissolve.

 

 
3.  Add sliced peaches to the simple syrup and simmer 4-5 minutes on medium heat.
Set aside when done.
 
4.  Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter in an 8×8 or a 9×13 baking dish.
Or my preference, a 12″ cast iron skillet.
Once the butter is melted, remove the dish from the oven.
 
5.  Using a wire whisk, mix WELL the 1 1/2 Cups of White Lily self-rising flour and 1 1/2 Cups of sugar, removing all the lumps.  Now stir in the 1 1/2 Cups of milk, once again stirring and whisking WELL so there are no lumps and it is smooth! Whisk until creamy!

 
6.  Pour this batter over the melted butter in your dish
or warm skillet and DO NOT STIR!
 
7.  Gently ladle in the peaches and the simple syrup you’ve
cooked them in, over the batter. You don’t have to use all the syrup, 
but you will regret it if you don’t! Trust me! This is a juicy cobbler, not dry!
ONCE AGAIN – DO NOT STIR!
 
8. Slide into pre-heated 350 degree oven.
 
9.  Bake 35-45 minutes (you know your oven) until cobbler
is golden brown and crust has risen through to the top!
 
Serve the cobbler while warm and
with a scoop (or three) of vanilla ice cream on top.
This happens!
 
 
My husband likes the cobbler to be buttery, so I will often melt a little butter
and brush it over the hot cobbler before serving.
A scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream makes it heavenly!
We love the Bluebell “Homemade Vanilla” flavor.
Gran Jan
Share
June 29, 2010 1:34 AM 17

MY RECIPE IS PUBLISHED!

June 25, 2010 5:15 PM 21
Y’all know I love to cook. I really do. I love to cook for my family! My boys love to eat and always make me feel like I’m the best cook. My husband always says “this is a feast.” They are so good to me!

Anyway, I am so excited to share with you that my “Gran Jan’s Chicken Pie” recipe was published in the newest cookbook entitled Slow Cookers, Casseroles & Skillets from one of my most favorite websites Gooseberry Patch.  Check it out!
Here is a picture of “PAGE 112” which is my recipe!!! It is a very easy and delicious chicken pie with a biscuit crust.  Sometimes I add vegetables, and sometimes I just make it with the chicken and filling and biscuit top. It is oh so good, like a comfort food should be.

And may I just say from one Georgia girl to another (that would be to Mrs. Paula Deen): “so you think your peach cobber is good? You need to taste mine!”  I’m just saying…

Gran Jan of Gran Jan’s Chicken Pie

Share
June 25, 2010 5:15 PM 21

1977: A Bit of Heaven ~ 2010: We’re Still IN!

June 12, 2010 1:14 AM 23
Thirty-three years ago today
I took your hand in mine,
and promised before God and friends
to love you for all time…
About to depart and begin a new life
happily married…now husband and wife.
A baby-blue Pinto whisked us away
so happy and blessed on our June wedding day.
The years have been full of God’s blessings and love
serving our Lord with a call from above.
Two sons now grown who are the joy of our lives,
each of them blessed with a beautiful wife.
Three grandblessings whose lives have only begun…
sweet Zeke, Miss Madie Ruth and little Jackson.
Now older and wiser, and sprinkled with gray…
Still counting our blessings each and every day.
I love you so much, you sweet man of mine.

Thirty-three more will suit me just fine!

Happy Anniversary
All my love always,
Your bride, Jan
Share
June 12, 2010 1:14 AM 23

Meet Our Grandson, Jackson Evan Morton

May 28, 2010 12:42 AM 17
May 2010 has certainly been an amazing month of double blessings for our family! We celebrate and rejoice in the birth of little Jackson Morton just this past Monday on May 24th. He weighed 8 lbs. 10 ozs., and was 20.5 inches long – a beautiful big baby boy! His mommy, my daughter-in-law had a wonderful delivery – short and sweet, thank You Jesus. 
This is Jackson just a few hours after he was born…
What a beautiful family…the brunettes 🙂
Hmmmmmmm…Gran Jan is also a brunette.
Perhaps Jackson got that dark hair from her too?
This is “Pop,” my sweet husband with Jackson:
These are Jackson’s maternal grandparents,
my son’s wonderful in-laws.
 Jackson is their first grandchild
and they are so very excited!
My baby boy watching his baby boy in the nursery…
This is a blanket I made for Jackson that my
daughter-in-law brought to the hospital with her.
She also wore a necklace while she was in labor
that I had just given to her for Mother’s Day.
It was the very same necklace that my husband
had given to me when our son was born.
When I saw her wearing it, I was so very touched…
When we first learned about the double grandblessings back in September and that we would have back-to-back grandbabies in May 2010, I really had no idea how it would be – I was just so thankful and VERY excited. The boys and their wives were even so thoughtful that they paid to have early sonograms so they could announce the genders to us on Christmas Eve. They gave us these stockings wrapped up as gifts and surprised us…this kind of thoughtfulness blesses us every day with these four wonderful children.  
The long-awaited month of May is almost over.  The double portion blessings are HERE and the joy begins.  I want to testify that I am committed to being the best Gran Jan ever. I will love and pray for my grands and I will be there for them – in every way possible. As long as the good Lord gives me breath, I will be there for my family.
Counting my blessings, naming them one by one…Zeke, Madie Ruth, Jackson…
Share
May 28, 2010 12:42 AM 17

Long-Awaited May

May 1, 2010 7:38 PM 8

Today marks the first day of a long awaited month – MAY, 2010!  May is one of my favorite months in the garden. This picture was taken just this morning in my garden and is my most favorite rose, “Mr. Lincoln.”  It smells so sweet and is big and red and like I said, it really is my favorite…

Long-awaited May is the month our family will add 2 new members…two grandchildren; a granddaughter, Madie Ruth Morton, and a grandson, Jackson Evan Morton.  (Madie is pronounced “May-Dee.”)

Both of their names have connections to family.  Madie Ruth’s middle name, Ruth, was my paternal grandmother’s middle name. Mary Ruth Thomas Maloy was born on May 16, 1896, and my Dad, was the 9th of her 11 children! Two of her children died within a few days of each other during the great flu epidemic of 1918.  She was a woman of great faith and loved the Lord with all her heart.  She was what some would call a “shouting Baptist.”  I was embarrassed as a little girl when attending church with her, but would sure love to attend church with her now…

Both of Jackson’s names have family history.  Jackson was my husband’s great-great grandfather’s name. He was born August 3, 1817. We actually have an old newspaper article from 1907 where he was being interviewed.  It says:

 “although nearly 92 years of age, Mr. Morton stands straight as an arrow.
His eyes are keen and he stands 6 feet, 2 inches. His speech is quick, with no waver in it.  He is a “hale and hearty” survivor of Georgia’s Indian Wars. 
He was cutting wood when interviewed, and from his looks and activity,
one would not take him for more than sixty years.”
Jackson’s middle name Evan, is a version of his maternal grandmother’s maiden name, Evans.  (I know that was a lot of information, but I like to document things such as this on my blog.)

The following three photos show the journey these two sweet girls have allowed me to capture on film as they have both grown “great with child.”
September 2009
February 2010
April 2010
Madie’s mommy is in green, Jackson’s mommy is in blue.
Gran Jan is most thankful for this long-awaited month of May, and I am counting my blessings.  I cannot wait to meet Madie Ruth and Jackson Evan, and I know that along with Ezekiel Timothy, we are in for some fun times ahead.
Share
May 1, 2010 7:38 PM 8
« Previous Page
Next Page »