7 Quick Takes - All Saints' Day edition!

1. It's All Saints' Day! I love my friend Susanne's honest, happy take on being a part of the family of God - this family full of saints.

2. Last night, we took the kids to a local safe trick-or-treating event - one that's just about the costumes and candy and none of the more worrisome parts of Halloween - and my husband and I decided to dress up, too. We went as Tonks and Lupin:

3. This lovely fall weather has me trying new recipes, and I found another good one this week: Italian Sausage and Potato Bake. It fits my four requirements for repeatable recipes: easy, healthy, frugal, and delicious.

4. I tweaked it a bit when I made it; I didn't have peppers, so I put in a bunch of fresh green beans. It still turned out splendidly. So I guess it fits a fifth requirement: it's versatile.

5. Another kitchen discovery: when I make the kids homemade pudding for an afternoon snack, I end up with a bunch of egg whites that I used to make veggie scrambles for me. Dual-purpose kitchen prep: score!

6. I'm starting my serious Christmas shopping, because I hate getting to the end of Advent and scrambling. Or at least my serious window-shopping . . . has anyone found any excellent deals or ideas or websites for their gift-giving this year? I'd love some tips!

7. And, of course, Let Us Keep the Feast: Advent & Christmas releases today! I'm so excited! This book is chock-full of great ideas for celebrating the church year with your family. The authors did such an amazing job - I really hope you all like it and find Michelle and Rachel's words as encouraging and useful as I did!

More quick takes can be found here, at Conversion Diary.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell