Preparing Your Heart for Easter

I don't know about you, but I always get caught off guard by holidays - even ones I cherish and love to celebrate. (Thanksgiving is maybe the only exception.) I think my lack of structure, schedules and deadlines has exaggerated this. Easter is especially hard because it floats all over the calendar. Well, Easter is only about three weeks away, and if you had been thinking about doing something purposeful to prepare your heart for our remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection, Ronnie Smith posted a great link on the God, Gospel Mission blog at Stone. He points to Jesus, Keep me Near the Cross, a modern devotional that is available to read free online.

Enjoy and Be Enriched.

Zilker Park Kite Festival - UPDATE

The Zilker Park Kite Festival has been postponed until next Sunday, March 14th.

It will still be at Zilker Park (just across Lady Bird Lake from the Austin High School), and hopefully the weather will allow for a lovely day to enjoy the fresh air and the beauty of the sky filled with kites!

Sara's Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 cup vegetable oil
2-2/3 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 cups and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9x5 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves; stir into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The top of the loaf should spring back when lightly pressed.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Bread-IV/Detail.aspx

Sara's Modifications:
Change the servings to "24" instead of "36," and it makes one enormous 9x5 loaf. (The original recipe makes 3 9x5 loaves.)
Use 1/2 whole wheat flour and only 1 3/4c sugar (of which 1/2c is brown sugar).
Add an extra 1/2tsp cinnamon and 1/4c ground flaxseed.