Tis The Season

It's the holidays- one of my most favorite times of year.  I love everything about this season -- the lights, the candy, the shopping ,the music, the wrapping, family, friends, Jesus' birth - every aspect of Christmas I embrace fully.

Tis the Season -- to think of family. My family is scattered - brothers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina.  We never get together. Our parents have been deceased for more than 30 years - we don't have a 'home' to meet in unless they come to mine.  My girls are scattered -- one in Arizona, two in Washington - our younger two children are here locally and we get to spend time with them. We always go to my husbands's parents on Christmas day and spend time there.

Til the Season -- for giving. Everyone always exchanges gifts. I love to create little gifts and give to my co-workers. This year I made chocolate spoons. I will also be giving some to some neighbors. We give gifts to our family. We give of ourselves to help others in whatever way we can.

Tis the Season - of candy!  That's right, candy. It is everywhere. This is the time of year that people tend to to do their Holiday baking or candy making. Treats galore will be prepared and shared with various people. I used to make a lot of Christmas candy, peanut butter bon-bons, toffee, coconut joys, cinnamon candy, napolean creams - oh it makes my mouth water. I no longer do so. We don't need it.There is no way we can eat all that; although we would certainly make a valiant attempt to do so.

Tis the Season - of music.  I love Christmas music. You may not know this about me but I listen to Christmas music all year long. If listening to CD's I always have one CD of Christmas music. Put it on shuffle and about every fourth song will be a Christmas song.  I love all of them from Frosty and Rudolph to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. A few years ago I got a new favorite, Gotta Get Up (It's Christmas Morning).  Take time to listen to it - you will love it.

Tis the Season -- of lights!!  Christmas lights abound at our house. Every tree is loaded with lights. Our big tree in the living room I have been told has 16 strands of 100 lights each on it. We have a tree in the living room, in the dining room and in two of the bedrooms.  We have lights outside the house and a large 10 foot tree in the front yard that is covered with lights. We leave all these on 24 hours a day. When we went to bed the other night I remarked "Christmas sure is bright!"

Tis the Season -- for movie watching.  Well at our house anyway.  My favorite movie of all time is National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  I love this movie!!  I watch it year round. If I could work the remote easier I would watch it more frequently when I am home by myself.  We have started a tradition of Christmas Vacation Movie Night.  We have friends in and watch the movie. I don't know which part we like the best - the movie or just having our friends in.

But probably the most important Tis the Season -- Jesus.  We celebrate Christmas because of Jesus' birth. He was born in a manager - raised by a carpenter - became King of Men - Shepherd to us - our Comforter - our Redeemer. He died to give us life!!  Why would we not want to celebrate his birth? I have a collection of natvity sets at my house. I put these in every room I can arrange one in as a reminder of why we celebrate Christmas. Some are larger - some are small and simple. One of my favorite ones is the one we bought when we were in Israel. A favorite book of myolder girls as small chidlren was called The Animals Christmas Eve. It tells of the animals gathering in the barn on Christmas Eve and telling the story of Jesus' birth from the viewpoint of the animals.

I just want to encourage eveyone as you go through your traditions of 'Tis the Season' don't forget                  
                   JESUS IS THE REASON



                                               

Pasta Time

We went back to mine and Miss Annette's favorite type of food this week -- Pasta!!  I swear I could live on pasta.  Sometimes I take leftover spaghetti noodles, chop them up, add some chopped onion and celery and toss with dressing of some type (Italian, Ranch, Vidalia Onion).  Good lunch.

We had lasagna.  Now some of my loyal readers might think 'you just had lasagna a few weeks ago'.  You would be right in that thought. But we changed this one up.  We had White Lasagna.

I'm not sure this picture truly shows the deliciousness of this recipe.  The recipe called for ready to bake lasagna noodles so that was what Gary used (typically he buys the packaged noodles and cooks them).  We took a large chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked. This was then chopped up.  We took a package of frozen spinach, thawed and drained (squeezed).

Take butter and melt in pan, add onion and garlic and cook until tender.  Add flour and salt and cook until bubbly, this is known as making a rue.  To this add some chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. Add Mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese,  basil, salt and pepper to taste, remove from heat and set aside.

In baking dish layer, sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese, chicken and spinach for three layers. On the top layer add Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese topping last layer of noodles with sauce.  Bake until bubbly golden brown.  Let rest about 5 minutes before cutting.

I made an appetizer of Prosciutto Cups.

Arrange Prosciutto ham in mini muffin cups making certain that bottom of cup is completely covered. Leave some of the ham hanging over the edge. The filling was spinach, thawed and squeezed, garlic and ricotta cheese. Mix all together and put about one Tablespoon in each priscuitto cup. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.  

Can we say good stuff?   It was!

We also had Garlic bread furnished by Mr. Rick.

We have determined that there is nothing Garlic Bread does not go with.  I 'm sure you'll agree on that.

Miss Annette tried a new recipe for dessert, Italian Lemon Drop Cookies.

They look good don't they?  We were not pleased with them.  Miss Annette described them as a ball of Crisco.  LOL  She wasn't to far off the mark on that.  The recipe called for Crisco, flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, egg, and lemon extract.  Mix together, shape into balls and bake until golden brown. The topping was Crisco, powdered sugar, milk and lemon extract.  We all decided that if butter had been used instead of Crisco it would have produced a better flavor and product.

To make up for the not so great recipe she put the cookies on one of her best plates.  Presentation is the key.  She also brought a second dessert since the original was not good.

She brought some Toffee Bars. She only had milk chocolate to use for the bars but they sure tasted good.

So there you have it.  We have been doing New Food Night since May and have only had two recipes that did not live up to our expectations. I think that's a pretty good ratio myself.  Who wants to join us next week?  It's Thanksgiving week so be prepared for a special treat!

An Asian Flair

Well, I forgot to post about last week's New Food.  We went for something totally different - and something that Mr. Rick was not real certain about.

We tried Thai Food!

The recipe says Thai Pork Noodle Bowl  The recipe called for pork chops but Miss Annette used a pork loin.  Make a marinade of soy sauce, cilantro, garlic, brown sugar vegetable oil and lime. Set 1/4 cup of this aside and pour the rest of marinade over the pork.

This is what the pork loin looked like after baking.  I said it kinda looked like a giant slug.  LOL

Take pasta noodles and cook according to directions.  Made a sauce of garlic, lime peanut butter and hot water.  Drain the pasta and toss with the peanut sauce.  (If desired you can add soy sauce also to this),

Miss Annette sliced up the pork loin and, after placing the noodles in a serving dish she put the sliced pork on top of pasta.  Pour the reserved sauce over the meat. Doesn't this look good?  It was!  Chris really enjoyed the peanut noodles!

We also had Asian Salad.  This is a mix that we pick up at Sam's and is very good.

Gary was in charge of dessert and he opted for something traditional and chocolate.

His Grandmom's chocolate pie!  He loves this recipe:  Milk, eggs, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, salt, vanilla and butter.  It's good stuff!.

Who wants to make a reservation for next week's meal?

Phrases of Life

CATCH PHRASE:   A phrase, as in a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used.

Who remembers these catch phrases?  “Beep, Beep.” Road Runner, Looney Tunes 

     “…brought to you by the letters ____” Sesame Street

      “Cowabunga!” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
      “Deal, or no deal?” Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal

      “Don’t squeeze the Charmin.” Charmin tissues commercial 

      “Eh, what’s up, doc?” Bugs Bunny, Looney Tunes 

      “Excuuuuse me!” Steve Martin, Saturday Night Live 

       “Finger lickin’ good” KFC commercial 

      “He likes it! Mikey likes it!” Life cereal commercial 

There are  many, many more.  Perhaps you can remember the phrase and where it originated from. Perhaps you only know the phrase from hearing it repeatedly and have no idea where it came from. The above are popular because of television.  There are others that I have heard all my life.

     Slower than molasses in January.

     Ain't that just ducky?

     A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link.

     A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

     A diamond in the rough. 

    You're more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

And there are some I refrain from using any more just because they wouldn't be considered 'politically' correct. I grew up with them and mean no disrespect but have learned to curtail the usage of them.  Although, I admit there are occasions when they just slip out.  

A former episode of Ducky Dynasty had Willie Roberson saying that everyone needed a catch phrase of their own.  I suppose he's right.  And it has occurred to me that I have one (or two even) and have only just realized it.  Let me share my catch phrases.

   "Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about."   This phrase has become very handy for me.  I might remark on something and am told no I don't think so.  So I just respond ' maybe I don't know what I'm talking about'. Relay some information that you are sure you think someone told you to have that someone say you didn't hear that from me?  Just reply 'maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.'  I'm sure you are starting to see the benefits of this particular phrase. And it has become handier as I have gotten older. Actually, maybe it's my age that caused the phrase.  

   "Thing Happen".  I tend to use this phrase a lot also.  My husband says I am accident prone.  I just say 'things happen.'  It works very well for that.  When something doesn't go as you plan just reply, 'things happen'. All plans go awry at some point - just remember 'things happen'.  This also helps you to keep things in perspective and not get upset when 'things happen'.  

What's your catch phrase or do you even have one? Is there a phrase that make people think of you when they hear it?  If you don't have  a catch phrase, perhaps it's time you found one. It's always handy when you just don't know what to say.  

And I'm gonna leave you with this popular phrase from the eighties 

     

          'Ayyyyyyyy'  from the Fonz aka Arthur Fonzarelli 

Who Wants Chocolate?

I promised you another post today and here it is.  As you know we were on vacation last week. And what a vacation it was.  I know, you probably think we never stay home,. If we had our way we wouldn't - we love to travel but work curtails that.  However, work also allows it so it's a win-win kinda deal.

We were visiting two of our daughters in Washington.  So we spent a couple of days with one daughter and her family. Got some needed grandchild fix and then we were 'passed off' to the other daughter. Second daughter lives near Seattle so we went to Pike's Place.  This is a really neat place and I can see that we will definitely probably spend time here again on future visits.  While walking through this open market we came to a vendor selling flavored pastas.  You know how I love pasta.  She gave us a sample of chocolate pasta!  You know that if it's chocolate it gets Gary's attention.  It being Tuesday and lasagna on the menu we decided to buy some.  This fit right in with New Food Night for us.

Our theme was obviously Italian.  We went with Lasagna as that was a request from one of our guests.  Well I guess in reality we were the guests as it was their house.  Now Gary makes a pretty good lasagna.

Doesn't this look good to you.  Lasagna and Garlic Toast.  Gary makes a meat sauce of hamburger, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil.  He then makes a cheese mixture of cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Layer the meat sauce, cheese sauce lasagna noodles, and repeat till all is used up.  Bake until bubbly golden brown.

A simple salad is added because you need to have some greens.  

And now for the new food part of the night.  

Chocolate Pasta.  Gary decided it would make a great dessert with a sweet cream sauce.  The vendor made mention of using nutella with it.  But we tend to think that pasta requires a sauce. 

Gary went with a white chocolate cream sauce.  This included half and half, butter, sugar and white chocolate.  

And the finished product!  It was delicious.  Anytime you can take my favorite food and Gary's favorite food and combine them you know you have a winner.  

Our special guests for this New Food Night were - Charlie Houston and Adam Mapes.  Hope they enjoyed the meal as much as we did!   

Now - who wants to sign up for next week's meal?  

Doing things New Orleans Style

Oh man!  How does time get away from me?  I'm 3 posts behind regarding new food.  So let's get started!

Three weeks ago we decided to go Cajun.  Gary decided to make some Blackened Chicken.

Doesn't that look good?  It was!  He took paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper and made a rub.  He then drizzled olive oil on the chicken breasts and then rubbed the spices over the chicken. He then popped it in the oven and let it bake for 30-40 minutes.  Oh my gosh! was this ever good.  We sent the left over spices home with Rick so he could use them in the near future on a meat of his choice.

What do you serve with Blackened Chicken, you ask?

'

Cheese grits of course.  This is the same recipe that Gary used previously.  Nothing new here.  Just some grits with jalapeno in them and cheese added to it.  Is there any way to make a small amount of grits?

We also had a salad

and some rolls

Now for something else new -- beignets!

Oh my gosh were these good!  Dissolve yeast in warm water, then add sugar, salt, eggs, evaporated milk, and flour beat until smooth.  Add shortening and rest of your flour and mix well.  Cover and chill.  I made the dough up the night before and put it in the fridge.  On New Food Night I pulled the dough and rolled out part of it then cut in small pieces. I then dropped these in hot oil and let them cook until they were golden brown and puffy.  I then coated them with powdered sugar. Yes I made sure I used powdered sugar not flour! (Remember our funnel cake incident?)  They just melted in your mouth they were so good!

We had a Surprise Diner (we knew he was coming but you didn't). Our pastor and friend Art joined us.  He really enjoyed the beignets!  He enjoyed them so much that I went and made more!  He wasn't the only one who enjoyed the second batch  LOL

And since I had made a full batch of dough I just stuck what I didn't use for beignets that night into the fridge.  The next evening I pulled it out of the fridge and rolled it out into a rectangle.  I then spread melted butter over the dough and sprinkled brown sugar and cinnamon on top.  I then rolled this up and cut into slices and made some cinnamon rolls!.  These were yummy too.

Now, wait until you hear about the next new food we tried. Oh wait -- I can't do that here -- I'll post again tomorrow.  Be sure and check back and if you want to join us for one of our new food nights just let us know.

It's Soup Weather!

Cooler weather is coming!  Now we have been very fortunate in the weather we have had. Last week we had a cold weather meal even if our temps weren't as cold as what you see here.

Rick said he didn't think he had ever eaten white chili. Now most people make white chili with chicken instead of hamburger but pretty much keep the rest of the chili recipe the same. Not Gary - he went for White Chili.

I don't know if the above picture shows the goodness of this soup so here's a close up.

Gary cooked the chicken seasoned with seasoned salt, paprika and cumin. He roasted this in the oven and then it was cut up into small pieces. He then sauteed onions and garlic in butter, added green chilies and cooked for a few minutes. To this he added the cut up chicken, 2 cans of navy beans drained and rinsed, chicken stock, seasoned all this About 20 minutes before serving he mixed together some corn meal and  milk and added to the chili for thickening. We all agreed this was probably better than regular chili.

Now what goes good with chili you ask?  Well what else but cornbread.

Miss Annette made two kinds of corn bread for us. Regular and jalapeno. The best corn bread recipe you can have is two boxes of Jiffy Corn Bread Mix and 1 box of Jiffy White Cake MIx. Combine these together. To one of these she added some chopped jalapeno. Yummers!

Just add some chopped onions and some shredded cheese to top your chili with and you have a perfect colder weather meal.  But wait!  We need dessert.

 

Chris made some brownies. Just a simple brownie mix and he does a pretty good job with this.

So there you have it. The perfect cold weather meal for the cooler temperatures coming up. Maybe those girls of mine up in the cold rainy Northwest should make note of the recipe.

What Season Are You In?

If you have read very many of my posts you know that I like to write and usually have several poems in the works.  Now sometimes these poems just flow out onto the paper in no time.  Some tend to start out strong then just hover around in my head before I can finish it up. And just about anything can spark the start of a poem.

The one I want to share with you today was started quite sometime ago by a conversation with my grandson Remington. Now he probably will not even remember the conversation. It all started as we got in the car to run some errands and there was a leaf stuck on my windshield.  This started a discussion on leaves and if they are happy being leaves and hanging on trees.  So I wrote down the beginning but wasn't sure how I wanted to end it so it set in my 'In Progress' file.  Every so often a phrase or line would occur to me and I would pull it up and add to it.

A dear friend of ours passed away recently. As we were sitting in the service it occurred to me what a great life he had been given. And what a wonderful treasure he gave his family. He had 4 children and 19 grandchildren plus great grandchildren. I couldn't hep but think of my parents who never even got to know their grandchildren. How is it that some people have a long 'season' and some have a short 'season'? There is no answer to this but it brought to mind the following poem. So I brought it back up and knew it was time to finish the poem. The lesson from this is: make the most of the season you have. You never know how long it will be.  I hope you enjoy.

SEASONS

You’re here for a season, the season is short.

So were the thoughts of a leaf named Mort.

I don’t want to spend my life just hanging around

Till I drop and float to lay on the ground.

I want to have purpose, I want to explore!

I want to see is there something more?

I won’t be content just waiting to see

What God might have in store for me.

I want to take a chance and go my own way.

Why should I listen to what God has to say?

I think I know what is best for me

And that isn’t hanging around on this tree.

He twisted and fluttered with every breeze

Trying to release himself from the tree.

He finally succeeded and went floating away

Not sure where he would end up that day.

He looked around at the sights below

Endless possibilities, where should he go?

He twisted around this way and that

Trying to determine where he was at.

He looked around at the vast expanse of sky

And gave himself a satisfied sigh.

He had done it – he had broken free

He was not contained by that stupid tree.

He wiggled himself and giggled with glee

As he floated along with the gentle breeze.

What adventures lay ahead of me

Now that I am free of that tree?

Throughout the day he went to and fro

Where ever the wind blew he would go.

Finally the wind stopped blowing him around

He floated and fluttered his way to the ground.

But wait!  How could this be?

He was only 4 feet away from his tree!

He had tried to break free and be on his own

Only to find he was still at his home.

His vision was limited and he never looked to see

What he might be able to do while hanging on his tree.

Opportunity he missed while going his own way

Never stopping to listen to what God might have to say.

Whatever your season no matter how long

God will put you where He thinks you belong.

Don’t waste your season doing things your way

But listen to what God has to say.

Written for: Remington

By:  Grandma (Kathie Marrs)

       October 24, 2014

Photo Credit goes to my friend Charles Mason. Why Google a photo when his are so good?

Please check out his page on Facebook:   Chuck Mason Photography  His prints are available for sale: canvas 12 x 24 about $159 or an 8 x 10 for $50

Let's go to Mexico

OK, I told you I would get caught up on our New Food Night this week.  So this morning I am going to tell you about our menu a couple of weeks ago.  Be prepared for your mouth to salivate and your stomach to rumble!  It was Mexican Night.

We do love our Mexican food and here in Tulsa we have lots of Mexican restaurants to choose from not to mention that there are food trucks galore around here selling Mexican food.  We do still prepare our own too.

We went with Sizzling Fajitas!  And to go with them you will need some tortillas. Easy enough to buy at the store but Gary made his own this week.

They look like the real thing don't they?  Just a few simple ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, water and lard.  Yes- that's right Lard!  Don't tell our cardiologist - he probably wouldn't be happy.  I grew up with lard - we always had it in the house.  It's what we cooked with.  So you mix the dry ingredients together then just start working in the lard. Once it is all worked in add the water a little at a time until mixture is smooth.  Let the dough set for about an hour. Next you take small balls, about the size of a walnut, and roll them out.  Don't be afraid to roll them to thin - the thinner the better.  then cook on a hot grill. Once it is browned, flip it over and brown the other side. Store between towels to keep warm.

What are we going to put on our tortillas?  Well, I'm glad you asked that.

Doesn't that look good? It was scrumptious!!  Miss Annette made the filling for our chicken fajitas: chicken, onion, green peppers, red peppers!  My mouth is watering just looking at this picture and remembering how good it tasted!   It's important to wait until almost time to serve before you cook up the mixture.  We had some sour cream to add to your fajita if you wanted.

And you cannot have Mexican food without chips and queso.

Rick brought his queso dip and we each had our own individual bowls so we wouldn't have to worry about double dipping.  Ummm- Ummm  -- good stuff!  Yes, I ate the entire bowl of queso.  I love chips and queso.

How good does that plate of food look?  It was delicious.  Wish you would  have joined us.

Of course you have to have dessert.  Typically for Mexican you think of fried ice cream or sopaipilla but we went with chocolate.

This is just a boxed chocolate dessert. chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.  What else do you expect when Gary and dessert are paired together?

Look - we have an empty chair.  Guess that means that we have room for more at our table.  Let us know if you want to join us for one of our New Food Nights, we'd love to have you

Just Good Food

Well, I'm not sure why I'm having trouble keeping this current and most of you probably think that we have been starving since I have not posted anything about New Food Night for a couple of weeks or so.  To put your minds at ease - we are still eating - every week!  So I will start with this past weeks food and then try to get another blog in later this week on the previous weeks new food then try to stay on top of it better.

This week we decided to have tenderloins - just because they are so good!  Nothing new with that food but we decided that tenderloins are probably of German origin so Annette said she would bring a strudel.

If you did not grow up in the Midwest then you may not know what a tenderloin is but I gotta tell you - there is no better sandwich you can eat.  Trust me on this one.  Since we cannot get them here in Tulsa we make our own. So we usually have some in the freezer. We were all out so had to make up some more.  And any time we have tenderloins I always think of my brothers because they said that is one thing they also miss living back east in Michigan and Pennsylvania.  

Notice how big those tenderloins are?  That's how you know it's a real tenderloin. It's almost as big as the plate and definitely much, much bigger than the bun.  We make these by buying a loin of pork. We then slice it.  Each tenderloin is then pounded as flat as you can pound it. The thinner the better. Then coat the tenderloin in an egg wash to which a little bit of milk has been added. Next put it in cracker crumbs - just straight cracker crumbs as fine as you make then.  We usually do this in an assembly line and then put on a cookie sheet and let them freeze. After all are frozen you then package them as you please in freezer bags (two - four to a bag - your preference).  When ready to eat, get oil hot then fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve.  The only thing needed is mustard and sliced onions.  Man, I'm hungry for them again just writing about it!

Now we usually have french fries with our tenderloins but since it was new food night I decided to be adventurous and try something new.  I made Potatoes Galette.  You slice potatoes fairly thin but they do not have to be uniform in size. Since we tried leeks a few weeks ago we discovered we really liked them. So I sliced up some leeks and added to the potatoes along with some minced garlic. Drizzled some olive oil in and stirred this all up. I then arranged the potatoes in a baking dish (preferably a circular one). Just start layering them around and around until the bottom is covered. I then took a mixture of grated Parmesan cheese and Asiago cheese and sprinkled on top of the potatoes. I continued to alternate potatoes and cheese until all was used up. I also salted each layer of potatoes before adding the cheese.  Put in the oven and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.  The recipe said you can use whatever cheese you want so maybe next time I will try different cheeses because I do believe we will be trying this recipe again!  It was yummers!.

Remember that German theme? Here's the Cherry Cream Cheese Strudel Miss Annette made!  It was soooooo goooooddd!  She took a package of puff pastry and unrolled it. She then took cream cheese and mixed with some powdered sugar. This was spread in the center of the puff pastry and topped with cherry pie filling. She then folded the edges in and baked.  The leftover made for an excellent breakfast for me the next morning.  

Gary sure put a lot of whipped cream on Rick's strudel.  Rick said he hadn't seen anything wiggle like that in a loonng time.  

Rick also brought chocolate cake. Everyone knows that Gary does not believe it's dessert if it's not chocolate,

Probably a good thing that New Food Night is about the only time I eat desserts!  LOL

Food was good, company was excellent!  Don't know which we like the most - trying different foods or spending time with friends.  Either way we look forward to Tuesday nights.  

Boundaries

BOUNDARY: something that indicates bounds or limits; a limiting or bounding

 line.

We all have our boundaries for things.  How far we let people encroach on our lives and what extent we will share of ourselves.  They probably are not as obvious as the one above but the boundaries are still there. 

Have you ever stopped to think that those boundaries you are setting may be limiting to you?  Wait, what?  read that again.  The boundaries you are setting may be limiting to you.  Yes, I said that and yes, it applies to me too. (That may hurt to hear).  How many times have I let an opportunity pass me by because 'I don't do hot!"  Yes, being outside is very uncomfortable but that doesn't make the need any less important.  How often have I said 'I have to much to do" ?  Really, do I have all that much on my plate that I cannot take an extra hour a week to help out somewhere? And I am probably notorious for saying 'I'm just not sure I could do it". I could just as easily say "I've never done it before but I'm willing to try."

Now let me ask you this - did Jesus put any boundaries on his love for us?  I think not!  In John 13 we are told how Jesus washed the disciples feet. This was an act for servants to perform. The lowliest of all should be doing this act. What Jesus did here was set an example for us.  He crossed a boundary that had been set in place for thousands of years. 

Now think - what boundaries do we put on ourselves when it comes to serving?  Do we consider ourselves 'above' the service that we are going to perform?  How often do we say 'someone needs to do something about that' without realizing maybe we are the someone who needs to be doing something?  

It is so easy to see the need that may be there. Not always so easy to fill the need ourselves. We make excuses - thereby creating boundaries that will keep us from doing the serving. Our boundaries may take many forms:  I don't have the time.  If only it was on a different day.  Oh, I could NEVER do that! 

Let's cross the boundaries, tear them down. Let's cross the fence and do what needs to be done. No more thinking that someone else will do the job. If there is an act of service to be performed and it is scheduled for a Saturday that you already have a commitment, look for another day that you may be able to serve yourself in this same mission.  There are always babies needing to be rocked, held, loved in shelters.  There are always homeless needing to be fed, clothed, given God's word by action. There are always elderly needing assistance with housework, shopping, or just a visit.  There are always people in every aspect of your day who need to see God at work.  Will you be one of the ones who crosses the boundaries and serves?  

Fair Food

It's Fair Time!  It's the annual Tulsa State Fair!  This year it's billed as '11 Days of Awesome!' Yep, it lasts for 11 days. And we live not much more than a mile from the fair. Now if you live in this area, you are not exactly overly thrilled about 11 days of awesome. This means that for 11 days we cannot buy our groceries at the store we like to patronize - traffic is to intense.

Now when you think fair one of the first things you think of is Fair Food.  Nothing better than fair food - fried butter, fried Twinkies, fried snickers, anything fried. And the strangest thing advertised for this year was scorpion topped pizza.  Yep, that's right scorpion pizza!

Fair going on and we have new food night. Of course it has to be fair themed.

What's a fair without Corn Dogs?

These are Red Velvet Corn Dogs.

Look pretty nasty to me.  No, we did not have these.  We did have Corn Dogs though.

Don't these look better?  Yes, Gary made homemade corn dogs. He used Ree Drummond's recipe. Very easy , Krusteaz pancake mix, cornmeal, an egg and water.  Mix to desired consistency. Skewer those hot dogs, dip in batter and fry in hot oil (375 degrees).  Oh my gosh!!  These were good!  I am not usually a big fan of corn dogs but I really liked these.  They did not look as 'pretty' as what you would normally see but as Gary said 'that is what makes them rustic'.   Yummers!

Here's Miss Annette enjoying one of those rustic corn dogs.

We also had Frito Pies.  Nothing new here.  Just some Fritos in a bowl, top with chili, onions, and cheese.  No new recipe just something else to eat because we wanted to be sure we had enough to eat.

What's something else you always think of when you think fair food?  How about Caramel Apples?

Don't these look good? Well, they were!   Oh my!  Miss Annette melted the caramels, put sticks in the apples and dipped them. She then topped them with chopped peanuts.  Heaven!  She used Gala apples so they were juicy.  Just perfect!

Now one more have to have fair food.

That's right, I made homemade funnel cakes!  Made a batter of flour, salt, baking powder, eggs, sugar and milk to thin consistency. The batter needs to be put in a container that you can pour out of.  The recipe said to use a funnel but we used a plastic bottle. Drizzle the batter in hot oil and cook until brown, turn over and cook another minute then put on paper towels.  Top with powdered sugar,

Now it is important to make sure you top with POWDERED SUGAR. Be extra careful because the container of flour can look just like powdered sugar. And guests are much to polite to tell you they don't taste quite right. They just decline more powdered sugar for their funnel cake.  Now let me also be clear that I was not the one to sprinkle flour on the funnel cakes. That was Gary - who was helping me out as I fried the funnel cakes.  Fortunately, we had enough batter that the first three topped with flour could be pitched in the trash and new ones made.  Gary ate the third one and that was when he realized what he had done.

Once they were topped with the right white topping they tasted wonderful.

Now, I bet you wish you had joined us this week, don't you?  Stay tuned for more new food night.

Another Birthday Dinner

I know I'm a little late getting this posted but we did have New Food Night this past week.  September is a good month for birthdays, And we believe that when it's your birthday you get to choose what you have for dinner.  This past Tuesday was Miss Annette's birthday and she was able to choose what we would have.  This proved to be a difficult decision for her.

Originally she was thinking pasta because, like me, she loves pasta.  Then Gary reminded her how much she likes meatloaf. Now you may be thinking what's the big deal?  The thing is - Miss Annette lives alone and it's hard to make meatloaf for one person. Meatloaf is one of those things that by the time you add everything to it you have a good sized meatloaf - more than one person can eat.  So she choose meatloaf but gave Gary instructions - "not to mess with it".  In other words - she doesn't get meatloaf very often she doesn't want to try a new one.

How good does this look?  Meatloaf!   Take some hamburger, add in chopped onions, couple of eggs, bread, ketchup, salt and pepper.  Mix this all together and pat into a loaf pan.  Cover the top with ketchup and bake for approximately 45 minutes to an hour.  You can also put the mixture in muffin cups or individual loaf pans.  Then everyone can have their own little mini meatloaf.

Now we did not have a very complex meal this time but we did have to try something new.  Gary decided to have both Miss Annette's favorites - meatloaf and pasta!

He made macaroni and cheese!  But he mixed it up and this was a new recipe.  He boiled the macaroni to extreme firm.  He made a roux of butter and flour and then added milk, dry mustard, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, - cook until thickened.  He took a small of the mixture and tempered a beaten egg in.  He stirred this into the mixture and then added lots of cheddar cheese.  He then stirred the macaroni into the sauce mixture and then poured into a baking dish. Cover with Panko bread crumbs and more cheese.  Bake until done.

For dessert we had Pots De Creme - same recipe we used the other time we had this.  Simple meal but exactly what the birthday lady wanted.

Now just wait until next week!  We have a truly unique meal planned and it has a special theme designed just for Tulsa.  Until then - go ahead and drool.