CRACKERBERRIES

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

2011-12-09T14:49:00.001-05:00

Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

This is the easiest cake I have ever made; one pan and ten ingredients.

2½ cups flour

1½ cups sugar

½ cup cocoa

2 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups brewed coffee (I used hazelnut)

Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350º

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in ungreased 13x9x2 inch metal baking pan. Stir together until mixed and then form three wells in the flour mixture. Put vegetable oil in center well and vanilla and vinegar in outside wells. Pour coffee over top of mixture and stir crazy with a fork until well mixed. (Do not use mixer). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top. Bake at 350º for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

© Crackerberries 2011

The Christmas Sweater

2011-12-05T10:22:00.001-05:00

The Christmas Sweater

December is that time of year when we dig out all of our stuff: Christmas decorations, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas recipes, Christmas cards, Christmas movies, Christmas books, and my favorite Christmas sweater. Some people spend a lot of money on Christmas shopping buying Christmas gifts and clothes to dress up in to go to Christmas parties and food to make Christmas candy and Christmas cookies. As I dug my sweater out of the storage box and smiled at how it made feel to wear it at Christmas time I recalled a story about these two brothers name John and James.

John, the older of the two, and James played on a little league baseball team many years ago. Even though the two played on the same team they both were in competition with each other always trying to be better than the other one. James could hit a home run like it was nothing and John could pitch strikes all day long. James couldn’t run and John couldn’t catch, but the coach always did his best to help them each excel at what they did best.

One Saturday afternoon game it was the bottom of the ninth and the brother’s team was down by two runs. There were two men on and James was up to bat. John was coaching at third base. If James could hit the ball far enough into the outfield he could have plenty of time to run the bases and make it home. He stepped up to the plate and the crowd was cheering him on while others were making fun of him because they knew he couldn’t run that fast. He whacked that ball hard and it flew right out into the bushes at the edge of the outfield. “Run! Run!” everyone was yelling. James took off running, tagging first base, and the outfielders were searching frantically in the bushes for the ball. “Run! Run!” James kept on running and tagged second base.

The crowd started yelling more and clapping. “Throw it! Throw it! Run! Run!” John saw that the outfielders threw the ball into the short stop. “Run, James! Run!” John waved James onto home plate. James was running and the short stop threw the ball and James was running so fast and the ball was coming so fast. Instead of the ball going into the catcher’s glove it hit James right in the head and knocked him out cold. He ended up in a coma and after six days, his parents took him off the life support and he died without ever waking up.

John grew up always feeling responsible for his brother’s death. Even though he married and had children of his own, he missed so much of their lives because he spent more time in the bottle than he did at birthdays and other memorable occasions. Eventually his wife divorced him and he grew into a lonely, grumpy old man. One Christmas Eve, John was by himself as usual when a knock came on his door. It was one of his grandsons. Ironically it was the one named after his brother, James. He came in with a book in one hand and a thermos in the other. “Grandpa, I have to share something with you before it’s too late.” The old man gruffly said, “I don’t want to hear it.” But James was persistent and he took two mugs down from the cupboard and filled them with hot chocolate from the thermos. Then he opened his Bible and he spoke.

“One night there was a bright star which guided three men who were the three wise men to the birth of Jesus, who later in life became a carpenter and a fisher of men and souls. He had twelve apostles who spread the Word of Christ. But on one black day of hatred, envy and death, He was crucified. He shed His blood for us to purify and save us. He rose and is now in Heaven seated with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He did all of this because of His great love for us.”

“Grandpa, everyone says you’re a mean old man because of what happened to your brother. What happened to him is not your fault and Jesus loves you and forgives you. You don’t have to feel like it’s your fault, just talk to Jesus and tell Him how you feel.”

Of course John, being the grumpy drunk that he had grown into wasn’t going to listen to what anyone had to say and he kicked his grandson out of his house and told him if he was going to preach to him not to bother coming back again. That night, John died in his sleep.

There is a lot more to that story, but that is enough to make a person contemplate what they are holding on to this Christmas. As I started to write out our Christmas cards I thought about whom I had to forgive and who I needed to speak a kind word to. There is so much stuff that gets in the way of our lives that sometimes we lose sight of the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas. It is not about the stuff.

This little baby boy born in a manger came to live a sinless life only to die a brutal death on a Cross in order for us to have eternal life. We celebrate His birth for that. When we get “wrapped up” (no pun intended) in all the other stuff, when we forget to forgive someone, when we over eat or over drink or over spend, when we get so involved in things, we lose sight of what is important. This year when you dig out your Christmas sweater think about why you are wearing it and remember what the celebration is all about.

© Crackerberries 2011

Oysters

2011-11-30T10:03:00.001-05:00

Oyster Casserole

Ingredients

1 pt oysters

2 cups Ritz crackers, (crushed)

½ cup butter, melted

½ tsp salt

¾ cup heavy cream

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup oyster liquor

1 tsp Texas Pete or Tabasco Sauce

Directions

Drain oysters, reserving liquor. Chop ½ of oysters, keeping the rest whole. Combine crumbs, butter, salt and pepper. Spread 1/3 of crumbs in greased 8 inch baking dish. Cover with ½ of oysters, and spread another 1/3 of crumb mixture over top of oysters. Add remaining oysters. Combine cream, Worcestershire sauce and oyster liquor and mix well. Pour over oysters. Top with last of crumbs. Bake in 350° for 45 minutes.

© Crackerberries 2011

Brandied Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

2011-11-29T10:03:00.001-05:00

Brandied Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

¼ cup coffee brandy

1 cup raisins

¾ cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 eggs

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

Combine brandy and raisins and soak for at least ½ hour.

Preheat oven 375º

Cream together Crisco, brown sugar until fluffy; add eggs and vanilla and beat until well blended. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and ground cloves and mix well then add to brown sugar/egg mixture. Once all blended add oats and raisins and stir just to combine. Drop by spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375º for 10 minutes.

Yield 57 cookies at 63 calories per cookie

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Cake Roll

2011-11-28T08:59:00.001-05:00

Sweet Potato Cake Roll

One more sweet potato recipe... ☺

¾ cup all purpose flour

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp allspice

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup chopped pecans

Confectioner’s sugar

Combine flour, spices, baking powder and salt in small bowl. In large bowl beat eggs on high speed for 5 minutes and add sugar. Stir sweet potatoes and lemon juice and add flour mixture and mix well. Spread into a greased and floured cookie sheet (15”x 10” x 1”); sprinkle nuts on top and bake at 375º for 15 minutes.

Turn out on towel sprinkled with Confectioner’s sugar and roll starting at narrow end. Let cool completely and unroll and spread with filling; then re-roll. Chill, slice and serve.

Filling:

1 cup Confectioner’s sugar

6 oz cream cheese

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine in mixing bowl and beat until spreadable consistency.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — G

2011-11-24T07:22:00.001-05:00

G is for God

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

God is good, God is great and His love we shall not hate.

God is jealous, God is just and He will punish us for lust.

God is righteous, God is true and He is faithful to me and you.

God is King, God is Lord and His word is more powerful than a two-edged sword.

God is omnipotent, God is wise; our sin we cannot hide from His eyes.

God is foreknowing, God is here; He is Most High, whom we shall fear.

God created heaven, God created earth; He is the reason for our human birth.

God is long-suffering and gives us free will to choose eternal life or to choose evil.

God of the Bible, God has eternal power; His Son will return, which no one knows the hour.

God is unchangeable, He cleans our heart; confession of sin is the place to start.

God Almighty has vengeance and wrath; sin means death when we continue down that path.

God has mercy, He gave us His Son, to die for our sins and the payment is done.

Today is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be Thankful for; our Healthy-Lifestyle after we acknowledged the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Necessity of accepting Him for the Kindness He showed us with His Self-sacrifice. For the Grace shown us each day when we fall under the chains of Idolatry and forget to remember the Vagabond showing Ignorance to God’s Word. For He is always faithful and true because without Him we are Nothing. Thank You, God for everything.

Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — N

2011-11-23T17:58:00.001-05:00

N is for Nothing

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

The day before Thanksgiving and I have nothing to write today. I spent the whole day making nutritious and delicious appetizers and desserts to go with tomorrow’s dinner. Look for recipes next week.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — I

2011-11-22T09:49:00.001-05:00

I is for Ignorance

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Ignorance: the state of being ignorant; lacking knowledge; uninformed; being unacquainted with certain kinds of knowledge familiar to others and having certain other kinds of knowledge that others know nothing about.

Ignorance gets a bad rap. People use it as a slang term and treat it as though it means people are just plain stupid…goes to show how much ignorance we have in this world. People strive for wisdom, they want to be smart. Think about how much money is spent every year on further education for people to better themselves with knowledge. Think about this, the truth is all the knowledge in the world cannot save a person’s soul. A person has to humble themselves and give up their pride, give up what the world says is true and what they want to believe and live for what the Bible says is true.

Ignorance is not to be confused with ignoring. Romans 10:3 for they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness have not submitted to the righteousness of God. True righteousness is a matter of faith. We cannot pick and choose the parts of the Bible that we like and live by them and ignore the parts that we don’t like. We cannot determine what parts of the Bible we think are true and what parts we think are not true. We cannot say yes, we believe there is a God and create the kind of god we want for our lives. God is a just and righteous God. He forgives ignorance, but He hates pride and arrogance. Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked but now commands all men everywhere to repent Acts 17:30. If we are truly living by faith and for God, then we will understand this mystery and not be ignorant.

We come in contact with ignorance every day. We should be compassionate to these people and their lack of knowledge.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — V

2011-11-21T10:44:00.001-05:00

Vis for Vagabond

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Vagabond: a vagrant, a wandering, homeless person.

When I think of Thanksgiving, typically the four F’s come to mind: family, friends, food and football. I think of watching the annual Macy’s Day parade followed by the Westminster Dog Show and topping the day off with a win by the Cowboys. In most cases we eat too much, drink too much, spend too much on the meal and make too much food.

Every Thanksgiving starts the holiday shopping season, which lately seems to start sooner each year. Commercialization is huge and everyone wants to make a buck and the people that are willing to spend the money have it made because those businesses are going to cater to them. Personally I believe it is all just hype and they really aren’t saving a dime. I love the people who go out shopping and come back saying, “Yeah, I saved this much money so I was able to buy this, this and this!” Hello? You didn’t save a dime because you spent it on something else.

My heart goes out to those less fortunate. I think of the people that cannot afford to buy a turkey and all the fixings. I think about the people that don’t have a home to cook the turkey and all the fixings. I think of the people that are alone and have no family to spend the holiday with. This is a hard time of the year for so many people that are down and out, alone and depressed.

James 1:27 says we are to visit the orphans and the widows in their trouble. Deuteronomy 10:19 says “therefore love the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”. God sees no partiality. We are to provide for the disadvantaged as away of following God’s example.

Too many people will grumble about the company they have coming, the food they have to cook for the company they have coming, the money they have to spend for the food they have to cook for the company that they have coming. Then after it is all said and done they will grumble some more about all the mess they have to clean up after cooking the food that they spent so much money on to feed the company that came. Too many people find fault and something to complain about instead of being content in whatever situation they are in.

There is always someone out there that is worse off than us and there is always someone out there that is better off. Comparing ourselves to someone else is a waste of time and it serves no purpose. Instead of agonizing over our external circumstances and what we have to do, we need to put our sights on someone less fortunate than ourselves and do something kind for them. Invite them to join our family for dinner, bake them a cake or a pie, maybe it’s just a kind word or a smile or perhaps a hug. One small gesture can mean something big to someone who is down and out.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Pie

2011-11-18T08:59:00.001-05:00

Sweet Potato Pie

This concludes the sweet potato challenge. Thank you to everyone who submitted recipes.

1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

2 cups mashed cooked sweet potato

2 tbsp butter

3 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp flour

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ginger

¼ tsp salt

½ cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 400º. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl and blend with an electric mixer on med/high speed until well combined. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 400º for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350º and bake an additional 45 minutes longer. You may want to cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil if they start to get too brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire rake. Serve with whipped topping and garnish with pecans if desired.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — I

2011-11-17T10:52:00.001-05:00

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving

I is for Idolatry

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Idolatry: The worship of idols or gods supposedly dwelling in images or represented by them; excessive admiration or devotion.

Ephesians 5:5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

I had to look into myself to effectively write this article. As I looked around my desk area I was exposed to some of the items that would be considered idols; zebra knick-knacks, a huge pen collection, different colored stationary, to name a few. They are items I can do without by all means, but they are things that I surround myself with at my desk and I seem to collect and hold value to. Not something I am in any hurry to get rid of.

It is easy for me to look at people and presume what they idolize. Men that spend their Sunday afternoons camped out on the couch obviously have a high regard for whatever sport they are watching on the boob tube. Women that are adorned with oodles of jewelry and smell like they bathed in the latest new scent of perfume either have a self esteem problem or are trying to impress someone. The teenager following his parents around in the grocery store clicking away at the device in his hand clearly would rather be somewhere else. The three year old sitting in the shopping cart screaming at the top of her lungs for the green stuffed frog instead of the pink stuffed bear is providing her parents a teaching moment regarding idolatry. The parent fails the test, idolizes the child’s desire, gives into her demands and thus the little girl learns in order to get her way, all she needs to do is scream.

Anytime we go against the Word of God, we are giving into idolatry. The second commandment instructs us “You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God…” Exodus 20:4-5 I remember when I first learned the Ten Commandments I was so proud of myself for the ones that I hadn’t committed. Then I learned what Jesus said about the commandments and I came to realize that if we are completely honest with ourselves we have broken every commandment created. The law was created so that we could see how we are sinners and recognize the need for our Savior, Jesus Christ.

What do you idolize? Is it an I-gadget: I-phone, I-pad, I-pod, or maybe it is a television show or a movie star or a singer or an athlete, or maybe its food or a diet or exercise, or how about your job, your car, your reputation in the community, or it could be as modest your spouse, your parents, your children? Anytime something other than God is put first it is considered idolatry. God is jealous and hates all types of idolatry.

1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — G

2011-11-16T09:37:00.001-05:00

G is for Grace

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Ask some people what grace means to them and these are the kinds of answers one might get, “She’s my Aunt from Alabama” or “it’s what you say before supper, ‘God is great, God is good and we thank Him for this food, amen’” and still others, “it’s how a deer runs through the forest, you know, with grace.” All good answers and all correct in a sense. I was looking for the definition that most people can’t fully understand and appreciate until they have gone through the conversion process of being born again. Grace: a delay granted for payment or obligation.

When I really thought about this, I came to realize how truly blessed I am. My payment for sinning is death. Before my conversion and my relationship with Christ I could have died and spent eternity in hell. Just thinking about that wipes me out. When I hear the song, “Amazing Grace” I cry every time because I totally understand how true it is and how amazing God’s grace really is.

I think this song pretty much sums it up.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — S

2011-11-15T10:47:00.001-05:00

S is for Self-_________

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

A wise man fears and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident. Proverbs 14:16

Self: the identity or character of any person; one’s own person as distinct from all others; one’s own interests or advantage.

There are 74 “self-blank” words in the dictionary that I use. I have incorporated 36 of them in this blog. That has to say something for how important the word is itself. Isn’t it so easy to look at a person and see how they are wrapped up in their self-importance? They talk all about what they’ve done, what they are doing and what they are going to do. Do you know people like that?

When I first began this Twelve Days of Thanksgiving challenge I was not expecting the acronym to be so self-revealing. I have learned so much about myself and now that we are on the “S-word” I don’t think there is a better word than “self-something” to plunge into.

It is self-evident that I have been self-absorbed with this challenge. I see how other people are self-occupied with their own self-conceitedness, but once I turned the word around on myself, I am guilty of the same self-centeredness that I blame others for.

I decided to take a look at myself to see how self-involved I was. Once upon a time I was self-serving and my self-confidence was at a high level. I was self-aggrandizing and I didn’t care who I stepped on. I didn’t need anyone; I was self-sufficient and very self-satisfied. Eventually my self-will and my self-interest became lonely and I realized that my self-made situation was all well if I wanted to spend the rest of my life by myself. I started to get involved in self-abusive behavior and my self-catering began to take a toll on my self-control. I was self-indulging more than I should have been and my self-seeking lifestyle was not healthy. I needed to stop the self-deception and self-justification I created and gain control of my self-respect.

The first thing that had to happen was to lower my self-esteem and practice a little self-denial. This was not self-acting on my part and although it took some self-determination, it all started with self-reproach. After that the self-preservation process started and I became aware of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice.

Today’s “S-Word” is somewhat self-opinionated. I didn’t want to write it in a self-righteous tone but I think that it is important to step back and look inside ourselves. We should always remember where we came from and how we got where we are. And every once in awhile it is good to ask ourselves, “Self, what is your self-confession? What is your self-worth?”

Deliberating ourselves at all, we should always look to the ONE who gave Himself for us. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross so that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16. That is the ultimate “S-word” self-sacrifice. Thank You, God. Amen.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — K

2011-11-14T10:21:00.001-05:00

K is for Kindness

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Kindness: The old English ancestor of kind = gecynde which meant “natural, inborn, inherent” and was used for fearsome things such as death and thunder. In the 13^th century it went through a melioration and kind was meant to mean “well-born” and “of good nature”.

I like to think that I’m a pretty good judge of people and their character. I can usually tell if someone is doing something genuinely out of kindness or if they are doing something because they expect something in return. Maybe I’m a good judge of character because I remember how bad my own personality used to be. Isn’t it true what they say, that a good convict used to be an ex-cop? Or maybe it’s the other way around; an ex-convict makes a good cop. People sometimes do nice things in hopes of gaining stature or prominence in the society or maybe advancing themselves in wealth. Then there are people that do things genuinely out of the kindness of their hearts.

Where we shop there is a person that is all about kindness — warm-hearted, friendly, generous, always has a nice word to say. When ever we shop if that person is working he is always in an excellent mood and I really believe he would give us the shirt of his back if we needed and we don’t even know his name. We would all be in a better world if more people acted like that.

I thought about that this morning as I reflected on my own kindness. I like to consider myself a kind person. I do nice things out of the kindness of my heart and think that I always have been “well-born”. After I recalled an incident that happened yesterday morning at church, I am somewhat convicted. Following the first song our pastor encourages us to “meet & greet” — say good morning, hug or high-five someone we haven’t spoken to. Some mornings I don’t feel like being a social butterfly, but obediently I do as the pastor suggests. Yesterday I came to this one old southern woman whom held out her hand for me to shake and I pulled her in for a hug instead and said, “Good morning, how you doing’?” As she responded with “Oh, I’m alright, I guess.” I was already looking for the next person I could greet. Ouch. How many times in our show of kindness do we miss the opportunity to demonstrate the real sincere kindness that God has put in our hearts? The “Oh, I’m alright, I guess,” clearly indicated this woman could have used a kind ear to listen to what she may have had to talk about.

Kindness is not something we are born with. In fact we are born selfish and spiteful. If you don’t think so, watch a couple of two year old boys with one Tonka Truck. Unless they are taught to share and play nice they will fight tooth and nail for that truck. Even though a child can be taught to share and be kind, only the Holy Spirit can fill your heart with the fruit of kindness. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The next time I do something kind, I am going to be sure that I am doing it genuinely out of the kindness in my heart and not because it is expected of me or because I am doing it out of obligation.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potatoes — Bread Machine Yeast Bread

2011-11-11T07:41:00.001-05:00

Sweet Potato Yeast Bread

We are on week #7 of the sweet potato challenge. Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here? EMAIL me your favorite sweet potato recipe and you can see it right here next Friday.

½ cups mashed sweet potatoes

1 cup warm (75º) half & half

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp butter, softened

1 tsp salt

3¼ cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

2¼ tsp dry active yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine in order given. Set to basic 1½ loaf. Remove from bread pot immediately. Let cool completely before slicing into 14 portions lengthwise and then cut each slice in half. Each half slice equals 68½ calories.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — N

2011-11-10T13:07:00.001-05:00

N is for Necessity

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Necessity: something that cannot be done without.

Lots of “N” words came to mind for today’s Twelve Days of Thanksgiving challenge. I decided to lounge on “necessity”. Our basic necessities are food, shelter, and clothing and then of course that need for companionship. God, Himself said, “It is not good that man should be alone”.

Obviously to write this I had to consider my own necessities and it became very convicting and difficult to write. It is always a challenge to look at something that is very comfortable and routine and make changes to it. How does that old saying go, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?

Recently taking a look at our finances we recognized we are falling behind and need to take a look at areas where we can cut back. Our biggest expense is food. Not your typical “eating out” kind of expense. In fact, we have only eaten out once in the last two years and my BFF and her husband treated us in celebration of my birthday. Food is one of the difficult areas in our life that we have recently tried to change. I love to cook and my husband loves to eat what I cook. And although we don’t waste food (leftovers go in the freezer for another meal), some of the meals are a little more extravagant and mucho calories than we need as a regular meal plan. The past three weeks have been grueling but I am seeing a huge change in how much we need to buy at the grocery store. Changing from super sized quantity to single portion amount can make a big difference, not only on a waist line but in a wallet as well. Making these subtle changes I realize what cooking for necessity is and what greed is. We are blessed to have the luxury of not digging food out of a dumpster like some people do to survive.

Speaking of waist lines, clothing is another area of need verses greed. At one point in my life my closet was lined with 52 skirts, 28 pairs of jeans, 8 leather jackets, 3 wool coats and more pairs of shoes than I could count. It has taken five years, but I am down to 8 skirts, 8 pairs of jeans, 1 leather jacket and I am working on the shoes. I had a wicked shoe fetish. I have not bought clothes in over five years. I have found that if I wait long enough, the fad will come back and the jeans that were out of style eventually will be back in style. Going to the storage unit was kind of like going to the mall, (which I have not frequented since November, 2006). When I see people in third world countries that are wearing everything they own, it breaks my heart and I realize how spoiled I am. I know a friend of mine whose husband recently took on a challenge to clean out his closet and bureau and keep only 100 articles of clothing. I am seriously considering doing just that.

The storage unit was another luxury that we decided to cut out and use the expense toward something else. It was rough to part with items that we had not used in the past five years. Some items we did not want to part with, therefore we moved them into the small house that we rent. Our living area is a little overcrowded but still cozy. Better to be cozy and overcrowded than to be vacant and formal. We have been to houses like that…just not very inviting.

Shelter; the house we rent is 150 years old. It is not insulated so when the sun shines just right we can see the ground in the cracks of the wood floors in the bedroom. Slippers are very handy in the winter time but not a necessity. The cold floors in the morning tend to help with getting us motivated to move and start the day to keep warm. We do not have the typical heat or air that modern houses have so it isn’t like we can just turn the thermostat to 68º in the winter time and to 78º in the summer time. We chop, split and lug wood for a woodstove to heat the house in the winter time. Wood will warm you up three times over…try chopping, splitting and lugging and you will know exactly what I’m talking about. In the summer a window unit air conditioner cools the combo kitchen living room where we spend most of our time. The cool air is nice; however the electric bill that comes after running it for a few weeks is not as nice as the cool air. At least we have that option… it is not a cardboard box that some people find refuge in. Try to imagine a family of five living out of a cardboard box that once held a refrigerator.

Companionship: one that accompanies another. I know some people might argue that companionship is not a necessity. I beg to differ. God’s word tells us in the very first book of the Bible that it is not good that man should be alone. (Genesis 2:18) God made woman for man to be his helper. In our society men and women alike take this way out of context and turn it into something that they want it to be. This subject is a whole other blog to dig deeper into. Let’s just leave it at this: if you have been blessed to marry as a man and a woman do not take it for granted and treat each other as the king or queen that they are.

Food, clothing and shelter are the basic necessities of life that most people take for granted. I know I did and sometimes I still do. Things like electricity, indoor plumbing, running water and appliances are all luxury items. Items we can live without but choose not to. I just made a cup of tea with my tea kettle on my electric stove… luxury items. As I type on my antiquated laptop and wait for the lengthy upload for my internet connection I take into account that it is a lot slower and archaic where there is none.

I like to think that I have become frugal and have learned to give up a lot of the luxuries that I thought I needed before Christ took over my life. Things like make up and hair spray and curling irons and blow dryers were all things I thought I needed. I needed them because they helped me change the appearance of the person I saw every morning when I looked in the mirror. I didn’t like who I was so I covered her up. Once Christ got a hold of my heart He made me realize that all the Mary Kay and Avon in the world could change my outside appearance but it was not going to change the person inside. He was the only One who could make me into someone that I liked. It doesn’t matter what other people think. I like the person I see now and I realized that I don’t need to cover her up and make her into something she is not.

Need verses greed; an interesting concept. Internet, cell phones, computers, Laptops, IPods, I Pads, Notebooks, Kindles and so many other technological things that I can’t even begin to pronounce are all luxury items. How many vacations do you take a year? How many vehicles do you have sitting in your drive-way? How about boats and jet-skis and hot tubs and swimming pools and campers and motor-homes and dirt bikes and four-wheelers and snow mobiles? What is in your closet that you don’t wear? How many times do you go out to eat or stop for a coffee or a soda and a bag of chips a year, a month, a week, a day? What kinds of luxuries can you give up? Living down to our need instead of up to our greed can make a huge difference. Think about it.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — A

2011-11-09T10:04:00.002-05:00

A is for atonement

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Atonement: the reconciliation of humankind with God through Christ’s self-sacrifice.

There was a time back in high school only driving on my learner’s permit, which back then there could only be one licensed passenger in the vehicle with the person on the permit and there could be no driving after dark. My father used to take me out driving in an old scout that we had. Him and my mother never used it because it needed work on the brakes, which as I recall in order for it to come to a complete stop the brakes had to be pumped once straight to the floor and then another two quick short pumps. The long pump would slow it almost to a stop, but the two quick pumps made it come to a complete stop.

It was a Friday or Saturday night and my mother and father were going out to visit some friends. I don’t remember all of the details but I do remember this one very important detail. My father specifically said, “BEHAVE”. Well “behave” meant not to do anything that would make him yell, mad, embarrassed, discouraged, outraged, you name it. It meant to be the perfect little angels my parents thought my sister and I were.

They left and we (I say we because my sister did go along with it, whether she had anything to say about it or not) being the disobedient teenagers that we tried to be, decided to go pick up a few friends and head down to the gravel pits. Now that I reminisce about this whole incident I can see so much wrong with that bad choice. God definitely had a guardian angel looking over so many of us that night.

1. Learner’s permit

a. Driving after dark

b. Driving without a licensed driver

c. Driving with more than one passenger

2. Bad brakes on scout

3. Gravel pits (sex and drugs and rock & roll)

4. Father said, “BEHAVE”

Well we picked up our friends and I tested the brakes and just as always when I had been out driving, if I pumped the brakes once hard to the floor and then two quick little pumps the scout would stop. No problem. When we arrived at the gravel pits there were lots of kids already there. A bunch of our friends came running over to the scout and were slapping the sides of the doors and windows and hooting and hollering that we came.

One boy, John, jumped up on the front bumper and really started banging on the hood of the scout hard. I yelled at him to stop it and get off the bumper but he just kept beating on the hood. (This was the worst of the bad choices that I made all night). I had watched plenty of movies and seen how it happens so being as brazen as I thought I was, I decided I could drive forward a little, fast and then stop quick and John would fly off the bumper. Just like in the movies. Apparently in my moment of thinking I was going to be really cool, I forgot about the brake issue and John went flying off the front bumper but the scout didn’t stop. I had neglected to do the two quick short pumps and instead of coming to a complete stop it dragged his leg completely under the front tire.

It was terrible, it was scary. We were immature and had no idea what kind of ramifications could come from something so stupid. We promised never to speak of it again and went home. To this day, I never was confronted by anyone about the incident. It was as if someone took the blame for my carelessness.

As sad a story as that is, (and wherever John is, I hope he knows that I am so terribly sorry for running over his leg), that is nothing compared to the Atonement of Jesus. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge after God commanded them not to, they brought sin into the world. They were cast out of Paradise by God and our union with Him was broken. Everyone falls under that rule, no matter how good you think you are, how perfect you think you keep God’s laws, how righteous you live, we all have sinned and fall short the glory of God. There is only one way back to God and that way is through Jesus.

God came in the flesh, Jesus and He lived a perfect life, He never sinned. He was tempted, but He overcame the temptation and lived a perfect life. Then He put His arms on the Cross and He made a way for our separation to God to be reconciled. For the sin that happened in the garden by Adam and Eve, for the sin of the very conception of our existence, for the sin of every single man and woman on this earth today, The Cross is our bridge back to God, back to Paradise. No sin is too big or too small. Jesus paid it all when He took upon Himself the sin of the whole wide world. All we have to do is believe on Him. One day we will all be judged — if we trust and believe in the Jesus who is the Son of God, who sacrificed His life for our sins — we will have everlasting life. John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him. We are saved from the wrath of our sins through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who paid it all upon the Cross being our Atonement.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — H

2011-11-08T09:51:00.002-05:00

H is for Healthy Lifestyle

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

I am far from what you would call the poster child for “healthy”. I’ve never been a size 6 (it just seems like everyone wants to be a size 6) — maybe in the sixth grade I was but quite frankly I think that if I was a size 6 I would look sickly. I don’t consider myself fat, but I’m sure the powers that be in Hollywood or the rest of the world would call me just that. Personally I like to refer to my curves as voluptuous. When I dug out my winter wardrobe my voluptuous butt cheeks had a hard time squeezing into my voluminous jeans. It has been a challenge to make a lifestyle change at our eating habits as well as adding exercise into our daily routine.

I can honestly say putting the extra pounds on was a lot easier and enjoyable than it has been trying to take them off. God’s word tells us that we reap what we sow in due season. I was a Big Mac, large fry, diet coke, super-size, please, once a week kind of girl. I remember hitting the salad bar thinking this was a good healthy choice as I loaded up my plate with cheese and ham and macaroni salad and all those other good treats you find on salad bars that are not actually salad items. While I was hogging it into me I had no idea that the little butt cheeks were growing into bigger butt cheeks, or I should say I refused to acknowledge that they would.

We know when we have that extra helping of mashed potatoes that we need to do a little extra work to burn the calories. Look at the average kid today. They are HUGE! Yeah, you have some parents that will argue and say it’s a thyroid problem. Most generally it has everything to do with laziness. We live in a fast food and super sized kind of nation. If your kid works on a farm and takes care of the animals a Happy Meal once in awhile isn’t going to make him fat — it might clog up his arteries in the long run, but how many kids are working the farm and taking care of animals? Most kids have their butts plunked on a couch somewhere with a bag of Doritos playing a video game.

Thanksgiving is definitely not a healthy holiday for me. Too many temptations to deal with: egg nog, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, squash soufflé, candied sweet potatoes, oyster casserole, stuffed mushrooms, bacon wrapped scallops, apple pie, pumpkin roll, pecan pie, oh YUM! Even one bite of each of those goodies is way over a normal 2000 calorie plan. It will be a struggle for sure and thank God for it only coming once a year.

Our health is important to all of us. Some people take their health for granted. I know I did for a long time and I still struggle with certain unhealthy temptations. Some people do not have their health… they have diseases that cannot be controlled by man. But then there are the ones that we do have control over and we should do everything in our power to prevent them (overeating, over drinking, sex out of wedlock, smoking, drugs). When we take advantage of our health and give in to temptation of the bad choices that can harm our health, we are giving in to sin. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us. When we over-indulge in anything (eating, drinking, even exercise) we sin against the ONE who created us.

We reap what we sow later than when we sow and more than what we have sown. Eating at fast food restaurants might not seem like a bad idea right now, but eventually all of that grease (yes, all of it) is going to catch up with your butt cheeks. Smoking will eventually kill you, drugs not taken under the supervision of a doctor is illegal so not only are you sinning against God, but you are also breaking the law. Fornication is the perfect opportunity for you to come in contact with AIDS and not only that, even though AIDS is treatable in the end, fornication is a one way ticket to hell.

I don’t write these things because I think I am better than anyone. I am making a conscience effort to live a healthier lifestyle. I write these things because I have experienced them all and I am full aware how difficult it is to make changes. By the grace of God for now I still have my health and my sanity. Hopefully I have struck a chord within some of my readers and you too, can make a healthy lifestyle change.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods.

© Crackerberries 2011

Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — T

2011-11-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

T is for thankful

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas. I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving: the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

The holiday season is here. Everything is so festive decorated with pumpkins and turkeys. I remember in grade school we used to pencil or crayon around our hand and fingers and then create a turkey out of it. How fun! This is the time of year when most people get into the giving mode and they are more generous than usual. It is also the time of year that the non-profit organizations need help and donations as well.

I love this time of year. It is perfect for cooking pies and cookies and cakes and filling the kitchen with the scents of cinnamon and cloves. It is the time when Egg Nog is on the store shelves and candy cane coffee creamer and all of that other festive yummy stuff that is only available during this time of year. It is the time of year to dig out the wool sweaters, polar fleece, flannel P-jammies and big fluffy warm slippers.

T is for thankful, time to count our blessings and stop and think about some of the things that we complain about. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I find myself grumbling and then when I stop and think about what I’m peevish about I want to kick myself for being so absolutely self absorbed and ridiculous.

For example, I will sometimes go to the mailbox and if there is nothing but junk mail I am upset that no one answers my letters in a timely fashion. I have a wonderful pen-pal that I receive a letter from every week. Bertha is truly a wonderful friend and God bless her. I should never take her weekly letter for granted and I am thankful for having her as such a good friend and pen pal.

Another example is when I don’t hear from our kids as often as I think we should, I groan that they should call or visit more often. They are not into drugs, they do not gamble, they are not in trouble with the law… good kids by worldly standards. They are grown and they have their own adult lives to lead. Some people don’t have that luxury of their kids still being around. I am thankful that we do.

Still yet another example is when we go to the grocery store to do our bi-weekly shopping, I am sickened by the prices that we have to pay. Everything is so wicked expensive and I find us cutting back in so many areas. Then I realize that we have the means to go do groceries and when I find areas where we can cut back I realize we were more spending money on pleasure items than we don’t need (egg nog and candy cane coffee creamer). I am thankful that we are able to buy groceries to prepare nutritious and delicious meals.

I remember growing up I hated, absolutely hated mashed potatoes. My mother would always tell me to quit complaining and eat them and then she would make some comment about how children in Ethiopia were starving. I had no problem if she wanted to box up the mashed potatoes on my plate and send them to Ethiopia. I never realized what she meant until I had to purchase the food with my own earned money. And then to see that food not be eaten and thrown away, finally made me understand what it meant about starving children in Ethiopia. I think about the waste that gets thrown away everyday and I want to send potatoes to Ethiopia.

This morning when I took my shower I stood under the hot water a little longer than usual because I didn’t want to get out into the cold air. I was convicted while writing this because there are so many countries that have no water and I wasted gallons by letting it run down the drain so I could prolong the inevitable cold air.

I have a feeling the Twelve Days of Thanksgiving will be difficult and convicting. Fridays I will save for Sweet Potatoes, but tune in the following eleven weekdays for the Twelve Days of Thanksgiving.

T is for thankful and I am very thankful for the time God has given me here on this earth to make a difference and bring glory to Him.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potatoes - Roasted Veggie Medley

2011-11-04T10:33:00.002-04:00

Roasted Veggie Medley

Week #6 of the sweet potato challenge. Can you believe Thanksgiving is just under three weeks away...that means there are only two more Fridays to see your favorite sweet potato recipe right here! EMAIL me and we will surely cook it up, photograph it and eat it.

3 potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 carrots, peeled and quartered

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp crushed rosemary leaves

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375º

Combine all ingredients in lightly greased glass baking dish and cover with aluminum foil, bake 20 minutes at 375º. Remove aluminum foil from vegetables, toss gently; increase temperature to 400º and bake an additional 20-25 minutes. Serve with chicken, roast beef, pork… also the leftovers are great for a hash or pot pie.

© Crackerberries 2011

Tip the Scale

2011-11-03T11:02:00.002-04:00

Tip the Scale

Two weeks ago when I started this journey I told myself I was not going to blog about it. But the lesson I learned today about what I could have done and what I did seemed like a good story to share. I set myself a small goal and I was confident that I would make it today but when I stepped on the scale I was disappointed by the reading. Let down by the what I saw, I tried leaning a little on the scale and to my happy surprise it registered the goal I had planned to give myself a reward at.

It has been difficult. I am not on a diet, not using a diet plan and not changing any of the food that I eat. What I am changing is my portion size and counting calories. Do you know how small a single portion is? This is such a foreign concept to me because we live in a world of “SUPER SIZE” … the bigger the better!

My reward is a small 12 oz can of Diet Pepsi. Every time I open the refrigerator door it is there on the second shelf staring at me saying “You can do it!” The first week was really difficult because in so many weight-loss plans a person can lose up to seven pounds in the first week. I thought it would be effortless with walking three miles every day and eating a normal single portion size. Not so. The weight loss is slow. But then I am reminded that “all good things come to those who wait.”

I considered writing down the reading that would get me my Diet Pepsi reward, you know, tip the scale a little… but it wouldn’t be honest. Not that I am in a plan where I have to do a weigh in and be accountable to anyone. I am doing this for myself. I thought about that and how many times I have tipped the scale in the past. Not being completely honest: showing up late to work but writing down that I was there on time, writing out bills and not signing my name to the check (I don’t think that works anymore), mailing the bills out without stamps, using stamps that have already been used once but without the cancelled mark; my list is endless.

God wants us to be honest. He doesn’t want us to tip the scale and He knows even when we do it and then try to justify it to ourselves. I contemplated the reward. I could have the Diet Pepsi and make up for it this week by eating a little less and maybe losing an extra pound. But what good is a reward that isn’t earned honestly?

That is how God looks at charitable deeds and everything thing we do. If a person does something for recognition or some other compensation his heart is not right. I am not referencing a job where one goes to work and collects a paycheck at the end of the week. I am suggesting things that we do out of the kindness of our hearts should not be done because we think we deserve an incentive. God knows our heart and He knows if we are doing it out of compassion or if we are doing it for accolades.

This was a hard lesson for me to learn but I revert to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6 is the perfect Scripture that helps me and guides me and makes things right. Maybe next weeks weigh-in will be rewarding and I will enjoy that Diet Pepsi. But until then I will trust in the Lord and although it seems slow and hard, I think perhaps this is also a lesson for me in patience.

© Crackerberries 2011

Simple Things

2011-11-02T11:33:00.001-04:00

Simple Things

It was a dark and stormy night…and then it became the wee hours of the morning. Suddenly I was aware how important sleep was to me. The value of it was never appreciated until it was interrupted.

2:18 AM Chow Maine thinks she is in combat and starts doing laps around the perimeter of the bed to make sure the hatches are closed.

2:37 AM Tall Cool ☺ne has had enough after the fourth lap pouncing on his pillow across the headboard to my pillow and then leaping to the floor with a loud plop as if she weighed 40 pounds. He gets up and she runs out of the bedroom; he closes the door saying something about that’s enough of her.

3:01 AM I can’t take her scratching and clawing at the door any longer — it sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. I get up with the flash light, open the door and she peaks around the corner of the couch as if to say, “Want to play?” I walk over to her dish and say, “Come here,” which she thinks she is going to get a treat. I scoop her up and climb back under the covers. Chow Maine does a little kneading with her claws and settles in under the covers, purring. I am just about to go to the land of “La-La” when she is out from under the covers, across the bed over to the desk. She commences to clawing the paperwork that awaits my attention.

3:32 AM Grrrrrr, she is driving me crazy! I get up and she immediately runs out of the bedroom. I toss a sweatshirt on the floor in front of the door hoping to dissuade her from digging at it. Tall Cool ☺ne snickers and says, “She is just going to yawl”. I get settled back under the covers and start that deep breathing that comes just before sleep and …

3:55 AM Bow Wow, Wow, Wow; it is Foxtrot. He has a deep southern drawl type bark that almost makes me think that he is saying, “I really don’t want to put too much effort into this barking thing but I feel like I should bark.” He has the Sam Elliot of dog barks.

4:09 AM I lay there thinking, he won’t bark that long, he’s not real loud. He will quiet down in a minute and he does and I’m back in that mode of falling asleep when suddenly his brother, Charlie starts: Ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, and ruff! He has that high pitched beagle in a big dog bark that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. He has the Pee Wee Herman of dog barks.

4:28 AM I drag myself out of the bed and open the window and yell for the two meatheads to be quiet, not in such a nice tone either. Charlie, the daring one, tests me and barks a couple more times. This time I yell just at him. Again I am back under the covers and I am wondering why bother because the alarm is going to go off very soon. Sleep seems to come easy and just as I am sauntering off, plunk right in the center of my stomach. Chow Maine is back… How the heck?

Sleep is one of those things that the value cannot be truly appreciated unless it is interrupted. As I thought about that through the wee hours of sleeplessness, I am convicted by how many things that I cannot place a value on because I have not been without them. Food, water, shelter, clothing; all things I take for granted every day; simple things like being able to take a shower and wash my hair, a washer and dryer so that I can clean my clothes. It is very simple for me to look at other people and see some of the things that they have and don’t need. Isn’t that always the way? It is so easy to pick out the faults of others but to see our own faults, well that is a different story: Matthew 7:3 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?”

I am going to think really hard about this during the holiday season. There are so many people that don’t have the simple things that I take for granted every day. Maybe my deprivation from sleep was a wake up call. What else is there that I can give up?

© Crackerberries 2011

Tartarmingus

2011-11-01T12:01:00.001-04:00

Tartarmingus

Ever heard of Tartarmingus? Me either. I did a web search to see if I could come up with anything but I could not. I am going to apply my own definition to it because this morning when I woke up it was in my head. Right when I woke up I knew what it meant, I knew everything about it. I knew so much about it, that when I made my sleepy-eyed way out to the coffee pot to pour myself a fresh hot cup of homemade apple pie spiced coffee, I scratched T-A-R-T-A-R-M-I-N-G-U-S across the white board my husband graciously installed in my office for me. Like so many times before I thought if I wrote it down, when it came time for me to actually sit down and write about it, the memories I had when I first woke up would come back to me. Not so; not this time.

Tartarmingus means absolutely nothing. I cannot even begin to remember the thoughts that were on the tip of my mind when I woke up. Isn’t that the way it goes when we wake up in the morning? That dream we are having is so vivid and real be it good or bad, but when we wake up it is just below the subconscious, gone, never to return. Tartarmingus: the thought that is the last thing on ones mind right before waking up.

God’s word sometimes can be like that for me. I read something or something comes up in a Bible study and it is so fresh and vibrant right then while I am studying it. But sometimes I loose sight of what I was taught and I experience Tartarmingus.

For example the other day some Jehovah’s Witnesses came to my door. Now I have nothing against them. They are very nice people, misguided, but very nice people. They were showing me and telling me all about this book they wanted me to read (The Watchtower) and how the Bible is inspired by God. I knew exactly how I wanted to respond and it was right on the tip of my tongue but for some reason I was hit with Tartarmingus and I drew a blank. Later that evening as I was reading and pondering over God’s word everything I wanted to share with them came back to me. Then I realized that my Tartarmingus was God telling me to be quiet. Sometimes we jump on things too soon and then we loose the opportunity to really show God’s love.

Deuteronomy 12:26-28 Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse; the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.

Whether we want to believe it or not God uses us in mysterious ways. I wanted to blast those JW’s with everything I knew that was wrong with their faith and belief. I had all the Scripture I was going to use (John 1:1-5, 14) and I wanted to make them see how they were wrong. Although my heart was right and I had good intentions, it would not have been done out of love and God said, “No, that is not the way I want you to do it.” Maybe there will be another opportunity and maybe there will not… I do not know. I do know that God is in control of everything. I pray for Him to work in me and use me to bring glory to Him and if Tartarmingus is necessary so be it.

© Crackerberries 2011

Apple Tarts

2011-10-31T08:52:00.001-04:00

Apple Tarts

6-8 apples peeled, cored and sliced

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp mace

½ tsp nutmeg

Combine apples, water and lemon juice in large sauce pan and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, just until apples start to soften. Stir in sugar and spices and remove from heat. Let cool while preparing pie crust.

Preheat oven to 375º

Pastry for two crust pie:

2¼ cups flour

½ tsp salt

2/3 cup shortening

¼ cup ice water

In medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry cutter or fork until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle water over top stirring to moisten. Divide dough in half and then in quarters; on lightly floured surface roll out each quarter into a 8x6 inch rectangle. Fill with 2-3 tablespoons of apple filling. Fold pastry over and crimp the edges with a fork. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375º 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Muffins

2011-10-28T09:39:00.003-04:00

Sweet Potato Muffins

It is week #5 of my sweet potato challenge. Not as sweet and delectable as the sweet potato cheese cake but very healthy for you. If you have a sweet potato recipe you want to share or any comments, please email me.

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

¾ cup milk

¼ cup canola oil

1 egg, beaten

1 cup mashed sweet potatoes

Preheat oven to 400º. Grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in medium bowl and mix well. In large measuring cup or another medium bowl, blend together milk, egg, oil and sweet potatoes. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into muffin tins, sprinkle with a little sugar if desired and bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown; let cool slightly before removing from tins.

Chicken Corn Enchiladas

2011-10-27T09:40:00.000-04:00

Chicken Corn Enchiladas

1 cup great northern beans

4 cups water

½ cup maple syrup

½ tsp chili powder

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp celery seed

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp dry mustard

1 bay leaf

Combine above ingredients in slow cooker on low for 8-9 hours. Remove bay leaf.

1½ cups diced cooked chicken

3 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 onion, chopped (reserve ¼ for topping)

½ red bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp oil

8 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 375º. Sauté onion and pepper in skillet for 3-5 minutes, add chicken and bacon and cook a few minutes longer. Add to beans and stir to combine. Spoon onto corn tortillas and carefully roll and place in lightly greased baking dish seam side down. Bake at 375º for 20 minutes until slightly crispy.

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium high heat; add flour and stir, pour in chicken broth slowly, stirring constantly until thickened, add cheese and stir to combine. Pour over top of baked enchiladas and sprinkle with chopped jalapeño and onion. Bake 10-15 minutes longer at 375º. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

2½ tbsp butter

2½ tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 jalapeño pepper, diced

Crackerberries 2011

Shrimp & Ravioli with Hot Pepper Cheese Sauce

2011-10-26T09:22:00.001-04:00

Shrimp & Ravioli with

Hot Pepper Cheese Sauce

18 frozen cheese filled raviolis

26 medium shrimp

1¼ cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

¼ cup shredded cheddar

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

½ red bell pepper, chopped

2 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

Cook ravioli according to package directions. Peel and devein shrimp. Sauté garlic and peppers in hot olive oil for about 2 minutes then add shrimp and sauté another 3-5 minutes until shrimp turns pink and opaque.

In medium sauce pan melt butter and stir in flour, add milk and heat until thick and bubbly. Stir in Monterey Jack cheese until melted. Add shrimp and peppers to cheese sauce stir to blend.

Place nine raviolis each on oven safe plates; pour sauce over and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Place under broiler for 1-2 minutes just until cheese bubbles. Serve immediately.

Note: This is not for those who are watching their weight. This is an 825 calorie meal.

© Crackerberries 2011

Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits

2011-10-25T10:53:00.001-04:00

Cheddar Cornmeal Biscuits

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¾ cup corn meal

1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

¾ tsp cream of tartar

½ cup butter flavored Crisco

¼ cup half & half

¾ cup milk

½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400º. Combine flour, baking powder, cornmeal, cream of tartar, sugar and salt in bowl. Cut in Crisco until crumbly and create well in center of mixture. Add cheese and pour milk and half & half in all at once. Stir with fork just to moisten and combine. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat into ½ inch thickness. Using cookie cutter or glass, cut into circles. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 400º 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Serve with homemade chili or great with pea soup.

© Crackerberries 2011

Pork Loin Chops

2011-10-24T09:41:00.001-04:00

Red Pepper + Chipotle Stuffed Pork Loin Chops

2 Pork Loin Chops (½-¾ lb)

1 red bell pepper, julienned

¼ cup chipotle in adobo sauce

¼ cup pear butter (or applesauce)

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Finely chop the chipotle peppers and combine sauce and peppers in a small bowl with pear butter or applesauce. Butterfly the chops by slicing horizontally through the meat leaving ½ inch in the center; gently pound the chops to ¼” thickness. Spread with the sauce and roll up chops. Secure with toothpicks. Heat oil in large cast iron skillet; season pork rolls with fresh ground pepper. Sauté the pork rolls on all sides until golden and browned. Transfer to lightly greased baking dish and pour remaining sauce over top. Bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes. Slice and serve.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

2011-10-21T09:02:00.001-04:00

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

It is week #4 of my sweet potato challenge. Last week we had cheesecake bars and they were so yummy I thought, why not try sweet potato cheesecake...even more delectable. If you have a sweet potato recipe you want to share or any comments, please email me.

1½ cup graham cracker crumbs

6 Tbsp butter or margarine

2 Tbsp sugar

16 oz cream cheese softened

¾ cup sugar

2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes

¼ tsp salt

1¼ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp nutmeg

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350º

Graham cracker crumbs, 2 Tbsp sugar and melted margarine and mix well. Press into 9 inch spring form pan and bake in 350º oven for 8 minutes.

In large bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add sweet potato and spices and mix well. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each addition. Mix until smooth.

Pour into prepared crust and bake at 350º for 50-55 minutes until center is set. Turn oven off and crack oven door, let cool in oven for one hour. Using butter knife, loosen sides before opening spring.

Bacon Egg & Cheese

2011-10-20T09:34:00.002-04:00

Bacon Egg & Cheese Biscuits

3 eggs, lightly scrambled and cooked

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

½-¾ cup shredded cheddar

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

¾ cup butter flavored Crisco

1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 375º

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt in medium bowl and mix well; cut in Crisco until crumbly. Form well in center of mixture and pour in milk, mix just until moist. Divide dough in two. Press into flat ¼ inch circle and using large mouth glass cut dough into circles. Place in lightly greased muffin tins and gently press into tin.

Combine eggs, bacon and cheese together and mix well. Spoon into muffin tins distributing mixture evenly over dough.

Using second half of dough, repeat the process by creating tops for the muffins. Seal with tops to bottoms by pressing gently with fingers. Bake in preheated 375º for 20-25 minutes until tops are golden brown. Remove from tins immediately; serve hot and store leftovers in refrigerator for 3-5 days. A great breakfast to take on the go.

© Crackerberries 2011

Chow Maine's Baby

2011-10-19T10:46:00.002-04:00

Chow Maine’s Baby

Recently Chow Maine was in heat and when she is in heat she is the most loving cat you ever want to be around. She wants to be on your lap, she wants to be petted, and she wants to be where you are. Normally she doesn’t like to be held or touched or petted. In general if you walk by her, she sticks her paw out and swats whatever part of your body she can reach while digging in her claws.

Chow Maine has a lot of toys; catnip filled mice, feather clad birds, plastic balls with little bells, etc. Her favorite toy, which my husband calls, “her little bacteria trap” is a black stuffed “thing” — I refer to it as a “thing” because I’m not really sure what it used to be — with a pink feather boa around it’s neck. This is the only toy that Chow Maine will play fetch with as if she were a dog. We can throw it and she will bring it back and drop it at our feet waiting for us to throw it again. I’ve always believed she thinks she is a dog.

Sometimes when she is playing with it, she throws it up in the air and then grabs it with her paws only to tackle it to the floor and beat it to death with her hind feet. It is kind of comical to me, but then I think maybe she is disciplining it, as if to say “bad kitty baby!”

We have to close her out of the bedroom at night otherwise she runs laps around the bed head board and across the bed until someone pays attention to her. The other night we were awakened by the loudest meow crying we have ever heard. We opened the door and she was sitting there with her baby on the floor in front of her as if it were dead. She looked at us and then immediately picked it up and ran into the bedroom under the bed. She is one crazy cat.

She carries the baby around in her mouth while meowing loudly. I wonder and think this must be difficult for a cat. She paces with it for long periods of time and then will suddenly appear in the living room or wherever we are without the baby in her mouth. If we ask her where her baby is, sometimes she goes and gets it and other times she does not.

Today I followed her because I wanted to find out what she does with that baby. After several laps around the house and a stop at Bear’s kennel for some good old fashion dog smell she finally quieted down and ended up on her favorite blanket on the couch where she will sleep most of the day with her baby.

As I brood over this story of Chow Maine and her baby it reminds me of how God is with us. He carries us around, He leaves us to try to make it alone, and He gives us discipline and lets us go through our struggles that we have brought on ourselves. When we finally stop to rest, He is always there with His arms around us. We are never alone no matter how much we think we might be. He gives us just what we need; be it discipline, be it a struggle, or be it a hug. God knows just what we need and when we need it.

© Crackerberries 2011

Homemade Dog Biscuits

2011-10-18T07:29:00.001-04:00

Fido Bone Treats

Spare the rod, spoil the dog.

2½ cups flour

¾ cup grits

½ cup shortening

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 cups chicken/beef/pork fat, cooked and ground

Combine 2¼ cups flour, grits and brown sugar and mix well. Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Stir in egg and meat fat until moistened; place on floured surface. Divide dough into 1½ tbsp portions and using your thumb and forefinger, create dog bones. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and back at 375º 25-30 minutes until crisp.

I do not know what they taste like, but they smelled real good cooking and the dogs LOVE them.

© Crackerberries 2011

Pork Chops in Strawberry Chipotle Sauce

2011-10-17T09:35:00.001-04:00

Pork Chops & Strawberry Chipotle Sauce

¾ lb pork tenderloin chops

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp lime juice

½ cup strawberry fig preserves

¼ cup chipotle in adobo sauce

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Chop chipotle peppers very fine. Combine lime juice, preserves and chipotles in adobo sauce in medium sauce pan. Heat to boiling and then reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes.

Sprinkle pepper and garlic powder on both sides of pork chops. Heat oil in cast iron fry pan; cook chops for about 5 minutes per side on medium heat. Spoon sauce over chops and serve.

© Crackerberries 2011

Sweet Potato Cheesecake Bars

2011-10-14T09:42:00.001-04:00

It is week #3 for sweet potato recipes. If you have one that you would like to share, email it to me and I'll be sure to post it for everyone to try. This is my own little concoction.

1 cup flour

½ cup brown sugar, loosely packed

¼ cup butter, softened

½ cup finely chopped pecans

8 oz cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup cooked, mashed sweet potato

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º. Combine flour, brown sugar and butter until crumbly. Add pecans and mix well; reserve ½ cup mixture. Press remaining mixture into bottom of ungreased 8x8 glass baking dish. Bake 15 minutes and remove from oven. Cool slightly.

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sweet potato, eggs, vanilla and spices and mix on medium speed until well blended and smooth. Pour over cooled crust and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 350º 30-35 minutes. Cool completely and cut into squares. Garnish with pecan halves if desired.

© Crackerberries 2011

Wheaties Chicken -- the supper of champions

2011-10-13T08:34:00.002-04:00

Wheaties Chicken

{THE SUPPER OF CHAMPIONS}

1½-2 lbs chicken pieces (legs & thighs)

3 tbsp skim milk

1½ cups Wheaties, finely crushed

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Preheat oven 400º and spray baking dish with cooking oil. Dip chicken pieces in milk and shake in zip lock bag with Wheaties and cayenne pepper. Place in baking dish and bake 20 minutes at 400º then reduce heat to 375º and continue cooking for 40 minutes longer; served here with “Fantabulous Potatoes” and acorn squash.

PERMISSION GRANTED

2011-10-12T15:40:00.000-04:00

PERMISSION GRANTED

I missed yesterday because I’ve been contemplating about putting this blog on or not. I am scared. What will people think? What if I offend them? Then I thought who cares what people think? This is my blog and my opinion and I can put whatever I want to put on here. This is the word according to Crackerberries. If it is convicting, then I’ve done my job and maybe you have thought a little bit more about the things I write and do some contemplating of your own.

Permission granted are two words in the English language that used to come as an unexpected freedom. Now they are two words that when used together, are completely taken out of context. Permission is taken for granted and if not approved it doesn’t matter it is executed anyways. Remember that standard old saying your mother or father used to say, “I give you an inch and you take a mile”? My husband still says it to the dog when we go for our walks and he lets the lead out a little and no matter how much he lets the lead out, the dog pulls it right tight to the end.

Society has become our dog and permission granted has turned into deserved entitlement. It really bothers me when I see people that use and abuse programs and systems that were put in place to protect and help the underprivileged. Instead of enjoying the things that come unanticipated, society somehow came to the conclusion that they are owed compensation for being born. They take advantage of anything and everything.

I was talking with an acquaintance that was out to dinner with some people from work and could order anything they wanted on the menu. She went for the most expensive thing; why because work was paying for it why not take full advantage? I am privy to another story about a lovely young lady whose seasonal job is coming to an end and doesn’t have another job lined up yet. She spent a large amount of money on a new handbag instead of saving the money. Why? Entitlement; taking for granted that a new job will come along when she is ready to take one.

I have to stop watching the news because it drives me crazy at how ridiculous this world has become. For example, the quarterback for the local college football team failed to live up to the terms of being reinstated and is dismissed from the team for the 6^th time; supposedly permanently this time. I have nothing against the USC football coach or team or people in place that make the decisions. Not that I know any of the details of the first five times, but hello? Who is teaching who a lesson here? What happened to three strikes your out? Six times; why did he have that many chances; because he was a good quarterback star? Apparently so and a very slow learner at that; he must be a yellow-dot.

Then we have those foolish Wall Street protesters hanging out in the big cities making stupid signs, being obnoxious, dressing ridiculously and making a nuisance of themselves. They complain about corporate greed and economic inequality. Have you seen the clothes they wear, the laptops and the cell phones they carry around, the tents they camp in, even the food they are eating? It seems like everyone interviewed has a gourmet coffee in their hand. And who in the world is paying for the paint and other sign making supplies? They probably ought to lower their standards and get a job even if it is at McDonalds. I bet most of them don’t even know what they are protesting for. Of course the media doesn’t help…who writes the questions they ask anyways? Have you ever heard anything so pathetic when they interview someone who has just lost a loved one to a tragic death and they ask “How did it make you feel when you got the news?” Hello? How do you think it made them feel, idiot?

College graduates are upset because they cannot find a job in the field that they studied for hence making it impossible to pay their student loans. A college education used to be a privilege and if you couldn’t afford it you couldn’t go. Now people seem to think they are an heir of entitlement. Can’t afford it? Don’t worry, be happy, we’ll give you a student loan and you can pay it back. And then after that you can get a mortgage and buy a house and pay that back too. Hello? The unemployment situation has had issues for quite some time now; jobs don’t come by easy. Any student signing up for a college education thinking they are going to find a suitable job to pay back a loan four years later must be a complete moron.

The people in the world have turned stupid. A hamburger from McDonalds used to be a treat to enjoy and savor because eating out wasn’t “the norm”. Now the average person eats out five times a week. Five times! I bet some eat out more than that. That is crazy and it is no wonder people can’t afford to pay their bills. Try a fried bologna sandwich, people.

Okay so I’ve gone off on my little rant about the world turning stupid and how people think they are entitled to everything and anything. The only thing they are really entitled to is death. Permission granted comes from the acceptance of Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to The Father except through Him. Unexpected freedom comes when He sets one free from their sin. I plan to take full advantage of that promise of life in eternity. Forgive me Lord, for going off on a tangent. It does not matter how crazy this world gets and how stupid people act because one day I’ll be in a place where everything is perfect.

Spiced Pear Butter

2011-10-10T08:34:00.003-04:00

Spiced Pear Butter

12 large pears, peeled, cored & chopped

Cook down for about 1 hour in 1 cup water (add more water if needed)

Mash/purée pears to equal 2½ quarts pear pulp

4½ cups sugar

½ cup orange juice

1 tbsp grated candied ginger

1 tbsp grated orange peel

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground cloves

Combine pear pulp and sugar in a large sauce pan and stir until sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium/high and cook until thick enough to round up on spoon, stirring often (about 1½ hours). Spoon into hot sterilized jars and process in boiling water bath 10 minutes; yield: 6 pints

Sweet Potato Soufflé

2011-10-07T07:29:00.002-04:00

It is week #2 for sweet potato recipes. If you have one that you would like to share, email it to me and I'll be sure to post it for everyone to try. A real southern belle shared this recipe with me. Hope Hall from Lexington, South Carolina, this one is a definite keeper in our house; easy and tasty.

3 cups cooked sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup milk

1/3 cup margarine

Mix ingredients together and put in lightly greased casserole dish.

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup softened butter

Combine ingredients together until crumbly and sprinkle over potatoes. Bake at 350º for 35 minutes. Serve as side dish or dessert or I even had some for breakfast. It is 'wicked' good.

Facebook Community Disease

2011-10-06T07:47:00.002-04:00

FACEBOOK COMMUNITY DISEASE

Remember when AOL first came out and in order to get connected it was most likely through a phone line? First it would make that dialing sound and it usually took two or three times maybe if it was the right time of the day. Sometimes connection was impossible because there were too many users logged onto AOL. But if you were patient and lucky after the second or third time that nasty connection sound would be joyful to the ears. The best part of getting connected was to hear, “You’ve Got Mail”. Almost like finding an old fashion letter in the mailbox. Ah, the good old days.

People find it odd when I tell them I don’t have a Facebook account. I used to have one back when Facebook was new and hardly anyone I knew had it. Now I don’t think I know anyone that does not have it. There are over 800 million people on Facebook and 7.5 million of them are children under the age of 13 which, by the way if you are a parent of one of these under age users, it is in violation of the sites terms.

I thought Facebook was going to be a cool way to stay in touch with family and friends and it turned into … Well, let’s see, in the beginning it was all about sending family and friends things … things that you might give them in person but given that a lot of Facebook users were not close enough to visit their family and friends in person they could give it to them via cyberspace. That was a pretty neat concept.

Facebook is like sharing a chewed up piece of gum with your best friend when you are in kindergarten. Except instead of sharing it only with your best friend from kindergarten, you began sharing it with everyone because that is how Facebook is. The whole social network knows your business and all can chew on your gum at the same time. More often than not there is a story of people who put something on their Facebook page and end up getting fired from their job or “booted off the island” for lack of a better way to put it. What did they think? Hello? When you poop where you eat, things are bound to turn … well … to poop!

Facebook is doing to social networking what STD did to free love in the 70’s and what AIDS did to homosexuality in the 80’s. Mostly it is a big group of narcissists’ elevating themselves while trying to stay one step ahead of all the people they have in their social networks also known as their friend list. Speaking of the “friend” list; people request each other to be their friend because they know them from school or from a previous job or from a mutual friend. What is more ludicrous than that? Some of the “friends” that I had from school wouldn’t give me the time of day when we were in school and vice versa. The same is true with a lot of co-workers I have been employed with. Why on earth would they want to be my friend now?

Something happens on Facebook and I like to refer to it as “ambient awareness overload”. When a FB connection (friend) gathers a certain amount of information they begin to obtain a friendly understanding of who they are “hanging out with socially” which then turns to envy and evolves into “keeping up with the Joneses”. This one did that so you have to do this to keep up with that and they beat you at this game and someone else challenged you to that game and one thing leads to another and I have more friends than you do and why would you put that on your status and there must be something wrong with you and why do you think that and blah, blah, blah and ya-da-ya-da-ya-da and whoop-di-do-da. The time came to say good-bye and thank you very much, but no thank you. My face doesn’t want to be part of the Facebook Community Disease.

Honey Dijon Chicken

2011-10-05T09:40:00.003-04:00

Barbie’s Autumn Chicken

1 large chicken breast

1 tsp lime juice

2 tsp vegetable oil

½ cup Dijon mustard

½ cup honey

4 slices bacon, halved

4 mushrooms, halved

4 slices Monterey Jack cheese

4 slices cheddar cheese

Italian seasoning

Combine lime juice, vegetable oil, Dijon mustard and honey in medium bowl and beat with electric mixer just until frothy. Remove skin and bone from chicken breast and divide into 4 pieces. Place in zip lock bag and pour ¾ of the mustard mixture over the chicken. Let stand for at least two hours.

Preheat oven to 350º. In a cast iron fry pan cook the bacon until crisp; sauté the mushrooms briefly in the last minute or so of cooking bacon. Remove bacon and mushrooms and keep 1 tbsp grease. If the bacon grease is too yucky, wipe out pan and use vegetable oil. Sear chicken in pan for 4-5 minutes per side until golden brown.

In same pan, brush each seared chicken breast with a little of the reserved honey mustard marinade. Lay two slices of bacon halves on each breast, top with two slices of mushrooms and one slice each of the cheeses.

Bake at 350º for 15-20 minutes until the cheeses is thoroughly melted and starting to bubble. Top with Italian seasoning before serving.

Halloween

2011-10-04T10:22:00.002-04:00

What Makes You Go Boo!

It was a dark and stormy night and fire burned from the carved eyes and mouths of the Jack-O-Lanterns that were strategically placed along the path of moldy gravestones. A skeleton hung in the doorway that was partially blocked by a huge spider’s web, occupied by a black spider with furry gray legs. A big black cat with yellow eyes perched on the window sill. Rumor has it that the cat used to be a witch named Agatha who changed herself one too many times. As the old legend goes, the Jack-O-Lanterns are used to ward off the evil spirits. Jack-O-Lantern refers to an old Irish miser named Drunken Jack who made a deal with the devil to pay his pub tab. He tricked the devil and ended up being banned from heaven and hell and is destined to walk the earth with a lantern until judgment.

This time of year makes me think of Stephen King and I often wonder if this time of year is a good writing month for him. Halloween or All Hallows Day celebrates the death of the old year with rejoicing in the supply of fruits and other foods stored up for the coming winter. It is the season that the most candy is sold (part of that secular commercialization), more so than Valentine’s Day and Easter combined. Halloween is the biggest holiday for parties and some houses are more decked out with creepy crawlers than Christmas lights at Christmastime.

I saw on the news today an outside Halloween decoration that is getting quite a bit of attention. It is a riding lawn mower over a bloody body. Some people laughed while others are outraged; one person called 911 to report it because it looked so real. You know what really scares me; the celebration of Halloween. People turn death into a commercialized fun and games kind of thing.

Consider this: Hell is a real place. It is not a place where people go to hang out with their friends. Unquenchable thirst, fire, grief, pain, everlasting destruction, tormented with fire and brimstone, gnashing of teeth, burning coals, darkness, no sleep, no rest, not even a quiet moment; these are all references to hell quoted from the Bible. You might be thinking, “Oh, I don’t believe that.” It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not… it is real, it is true.

Demons are real. Demons are here on earth. Satan, the thief, does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Anytime is a good time for him to catch a person off guard, but now is especially crucial because people let their guard down. People tend to listen to ludicrous ideas and rituals. It is easy to get enveloped in a trend and follow a path that is already laid. The Bibles says “wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it”. This is the perfect time for cults to be created, alternative beliefs to be practiced. Do not let your guard down. We must continue to stay focused on God and His word, His way, His statutes.

I looked at the picture of the lawn mower and perhaps it is distasteful and somehow inconsiderate of the squeamish. But we live in a distasteful world. Most people are concerned only for themselves and bringing glory to themselves even if it is in a repugnant manner. God created a perfect world for us and we destroyed it and now we get to exist with the consequences of living in a sin cursed world.

I find that people get bent out of shape over the most insignificant things. Just listening to the news will educate a person enough to know that our world is very misguided. Here are a few good examples of why not to believe everything on the news: one news reporter suggested that working nine hours a day for four days a week equals a 40 hour work week, while another reporter believes there are 52 states in the US and yet another highly educated person thinks Washington DC is a state. We never should revere anyone except God and His word. Believe the Bible and stay on the narrow yet difficult path.

Beef Stew & Sage Dumplings

2011-10-03T10:28:00.003-04:00

1 lb stew meat

½ cup flour
1 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme
Shake these ingredients together in a zip lock bag.

1-2 tbsp vegetable oil

32 oz beef broth

1 qt tomatoes

1 bay leaf

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Salt & pepper

Brown beef in vegetable oil on all sides; add beef broth, tomatoes, bay leaf and seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for on hour.

4 carrots, peeled & sliced

1-2 stalks celery, sliced

1 onion, chopped

6 small red potatoes, quartered

1 cup frozen peas

Add carrots, celery, onion and potatoes to stew and return to boil; reduce heat and simmer on med/low heat for 45 minutes. Add peas and return to boil.

Sage Dumplings

1½ cup all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

2/3 cup milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp fresh rubbed sage

Mix all ingredients together just until moistened. Once stew is boiling add dumplings by spoonfuls, cover, reduce heat and cook 13-15 minutes. Do not remove cover while dumplings are cooking. Cool 10-15 minutes with cover off before serving.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

2011-09-30T09:07:00.001-04:00

My plan is to add a sweet potato recipe each week until Thanksgiving. They are so yummy. If you have a favortie recipe you would like to share, please, do email it to me and I’ll cook them up, take a picture and post them and all the credit will go to you.

4 medium sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled

½ cup orange juice

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup real maple syrup

2 tbsp brown sugar

½ cup butter

Nutmeg (optional)

Slice cooked sweet potatoes and arrange in greased baking dish. Melt butter and combine with remaining ingredients. Pour over sweet potatoes and sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake at 350º for 35-45 minutes until brown and glazed over; spoon sauce over potatoes before serving.

Fried Ravioli & Marinara Sauce

2011-09-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

It is official; we’re "living" in the south now. Never saw it coming. We had fried pasta for supper last night ... and we liked it.

12 oz Five cheese frozen ravioli

1 pint marinara sauce

½ cup parmesan cheese

1 cup roasted vegetable Ritz cracker crumbs (finely crumbed)

1 egg

¼ cup half & half

Oil for frying

Slightly thaw raviolis (15 minutes or so). Combine cracker crumbs with ¼ cup parmesan cheese in one bowl. Beat egg and half & half in another bowl. Dip raviolis in egg mixture then coat both sides in crumbs. Deep fry in 2 inches of hot oil (325º) for about 2 minutes (flipping once during cooking). Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve with marinara sauce and bread sticks.

Pork & Pear Combos

2011-09-28T08:59:00.002-04:00

Porky Pear Egg Rolls

1 lb pork tenderloin cut into bite size pieces

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp Creole seasoning

1½ tsp fresh ground gingerroot

1 tsp allspice

1 cup finely chopped pears

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp brandied pear preserves

8 egg roll wrappers

Oil for frying

Sprinkle pork with pepper, garlic powder and Creole seasoning. Cook in large skillet until no longer pink, remove from pan. Cool slightly and then chop up very fine, almost minced.

Add onions and pears to same pan as pork was cooked in and sauté 5 minutes or so. Return pork to pan and add gingerroot, allspice and pear preserves; cook just until aromatic and hot. Remove from heat.

Let mixture cool for about 15-20 minutes. Spoon 2 Tbsp into each egg wrapper and roll and seal like a present. Deep fry at 350º until golden brown, turning occasionally (about 2 minutes per side); drain on paper towels and serve with fried rice and homemade duck sauce (A.K.A. Brandied Pear Preserves)

No Bake Cookies

2011-09-27T09:15:00.003-04:00

Chocolate for BREAKFAST

This is my way of it being okay to have chocolate for breakfast. What? There is a good healthy dose of oatmeal in each cookie!

2 cups sugar

3 tbsp cocoa

¼ cup butter

¼ cup butter flavored Crisco

½ cup milk

3 cups rolled oats

1 tsp vanilla

2½ heaping tbsp chunky peanut butter

¼ cup toasted coconut

½ cup raw peanuts

Melt butter and Crisco together in medium/large sauce pan; add sugar, cocoa and milk and bring to a boil. Boil one minute and remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, vanilla, oats, peanuts and coconut. Drop by mounds on waxed paper and let cool completely (they will harden as they cool). Great with morning coffee!

Mini Jalapeño & Chive Cornbread Loaves

2011-09-26T09:30:00.004-04:00

1½ cups self-rising cornmeal

¾ cup milk

1 egg

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup fresh chives

1 cup shredded mozzarella

8 slices (pickled or fresh) jalapeños

Combine milk, egg and oil together in large measuring cup. Pour over cornmeal in large bowl and mix just until moist. Fold in chives and most of mozzarella (save some to sprinkle on top). Spoon into greased mini loaf pans; sprinkle with leftover mozzarella and add two slices of jalapeño to tops of each loaf. Bake 375º for 20-25 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before removing from pan and serve warm.

ECCENTRIC-sities

2011-09-23T10:41:00.002-04:00

I notice on my bulletin board there is a note card cut into the shape of a butterfly and on the note card is written: Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. When I put that scripture on there I was thinking that the butterfly once was perhaps an ugly caterpillar before it went through its metamorphosis— in a sense naked before giving account. I contemplate the scripture and I think about people.

When I was very young I used to stay at my grandparents house a lot. Whenever we would go to town for groceries or to the bank or to the library I would notice a bony older man with wispy, thin white hair. He would be dressed in white from head to toe; white shirt, white pants, white shoes and he even wore white gloves. My grandmother told me that he dressed that way because he used to work on type writers and it was very important that he keep clean so when he went to work on them, there would be no dust or anything to ruin the keys. Now that I think about it, I think she made that story up so that I would be more careful with the typewriter that I wrote short stories on at her house.

A few years after, while attending grade school I remember a little girl named Cecilia Pinto. She always wore outdated raggedy clothes and she looked like she didn’t own a comb or a brush. Everyone made fun of her and no one wanted to be her friend (me included). Some people said she got lice and after that she never came back to school, but no one really seemed to miss her.

Years later, in a different town, after reaching adulthood, I remember another man somewhat skeletal with a drawn in face. He would always have on a green Army coat and sometimes he would be carrying a bag, but always walking. His hair was stringy but combed back with some sort of Brylcreem or something similar. He would stop every few feet or so and put his index finger up to an imaginary chalkboard and he would seem to be carrying the numbers of some complex math problem. For me it was quite interesting to watch him. They called him "the counting man".

Several years after that, another town, another oddball whose name was Bobby. He could be spotted either walking or sometimes driving a beat up old Ford Escort that was missing the driver’s side door. He had Tourette syndrome and would go off at a moments notice on a tirade of explicit language filled with vehement. Where ever he was off to he was always in a hurry and occasionally he would look back and brush away the imaginable people he seemed to constantly have following him.

As I recall this wayward group of minorities, I rest again on Hebrews 4:13 where "...all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him...". I am now plagued with curiosity about these people. What happened to them? Where did they end up with their lives? I never spoke a word to any of them, yet now I can remember each of them vividly in my mind. Isn’t it interesting how people can exist in the background of our survival and we can live our lives not even acknowledging them or giving them the time of day? Still years later, they stick out in our mind and we remember them, not for anything great that they have done, but for who they were. Nevertheless, we shy away from people like them because they are not like us. They are different.

Our human nature is to crave attention and appreciation. We all crave to have a pat on the back or an occasional “Atta-boy”. I recognize this with my dog when he comes to me every morning after his breakfast. If I’m not attentive he will paw me to death until I give him the attention he craves by petting him until he has a loud human like burp. We all need that attention and yet sometimes it comes in ways we don’t recognize.

The people mentioned above got plenty of attention, but not appreciation; laughed at, pointed at, ridiculed, made of fun of, mocked. Most likely not the attention they craved. I can never go back and change things I should have done, could have done, would have done if I only knew then what I know now. But today is different. Today is a whole new day. Today I won’t be afraid of the things that I don’t understand. Today I’m going to be the one that is different. ☼

Braised Rabbit

2011-09-22T08:49:00.002-04:00

The rotisserie rabbit has been such a big hit for this blog I thought I should add another rabbit recipe.

2½ lbs rabbit pieces

1 lemon, sliced

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp paprika

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 green, red or yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1 pint stewed tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

½ cup white wine

1 bay leaf

½ cup flour (more or less)

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil

Cover rabbit pieces with cold water and lemon slices and soak overnight in fridge. The next day, drain the rabbit and pat the pieces dry with paper towels. (Soaking overnight with lemon helps whiten the meat and remove any strong gamey taste).

Mix flour, mustard, paprika, peppers and garlic powder together in medium bowl. Dredge the rabbit pieces through the flour mixture. Heat oil in large cast iron skillet and fry the rabbit on all sides until golden brown; remove to plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Cook the onion and peppers in the same pan juices for one minute. Add tomatoes, chicken broth and bay leaf and bring mixture to a boil. Return rabbit to the pan and spoon the sauce over.

Partially cover and cook over medium low heat for about 45 minutes; add wine last and cook for 10 more minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

Yankee Jambalaya

2011-09-21T08:02:00.002-04:00

½ lb pork tenderloin chops

1 lb shrimp

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chicken broth

½ cup stout beer

1 qt stewed tomatoes

1 tbsp oil

¾ cup rice

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp basil

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1½ tsp Creole seasoning

Chop pork tenderloin into ½ inch chunks; sprinkle with Creole seasoning and cook in hot oil with garlic for about 8 minutes. Add celery and onion and cook 5 minutes longer. Pour in chicken broth, beer, tomatoes rice, thyme, basil, pepper and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook 15-20 minutes. Stir in shrimp and return to boil, reduce heat and cook covered about 5-10 minutes longer or until shrimp is pink and opaque. Discard bay leaf before serving.

Is That a Turtle in My Soup?

2011-09-20T09:34:00.000-04:00

Is That a Turtle in My Soup ?

The sky is ominous and Charlie has been barking most of the morning. I’ve been out several times to see what the issue is but I have no idea what would be causing him to bark continuously. He is facing the garden area and I’ve been through it three times looking for little critters; rabbits, squirrels, birds, yet there is nothing that my old eyes can see.

The compost pile catches my attention and I open the make shift gate which is a pallet. This is to keep the critters out and the compost in. I find what I am looking for and what has kept Charlie preoccupied most of the morning. It is a little box turtle. It quickly senses my presence and pulls its head into its shell and closes up shop. It is as interesting to me as it has been to Charlie. I never noticed how a turtle closes its shell before today. I am curious as to what it is eating from the compost; coffee grounds, egg shells, onion peelings, more coffee grounds, an avocado peeling, potato peelings? I notice a baby chameleon skirting around the pallets. I watch both the turtle and the chameleon for a few minutes wondering if the turtle will poke his head back out and perhaps eat the chameleon. At that thought the chameleon, as if he could read my mind, disappears off into the compost pile.

After several minutes I decide that the turtle is not going to pop his head back out, so I go back to the house to work on my list of things to do. Charlie continues to bark. I think about bringing him close to the turtle, but decide that would be a disaster and he would probably try to play with it and end up killing it like he did the possum.

When I go back out the second time the turtle has moved about four feet from where it was to the top of the compost pile. I sneak up on it slowly. It spies me but does not retreat to its shell. It stays completely still watching me as I’m watching it. It has a piece of grass in its mouth. I watch it watch me. We are having a stare down. It is apparent that it will not move while I am close watching so I leave.

A little while later I go back a third time to see how far the little turtle has travelled but I cannot find it. I look everywhere and it is nowhere to be found. I wonder how a little turtle can move so far in such a short time and I am reminded of James 5:11 ~ Indeed, we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. PERSEVERANCE!

The turtle had a goal, a place to go. Although I frightened it and prevented it from moving as quickly as it may have journeyed it was indefatigable. Sometimes I think I have to be more like the turtle with my faith and my trust in the Lord. Persevere. Sometimes I feel like I am just going along slow and never reaching my goal. I realize my earthly goal can never compare to my heavenly goal. But sometimes I feel like God has put me in a place not unlike the island of Malta where he stranded Paul; a time to be slow, a time to reflect, a time to heal, a time to be patient. {Ecclesiastes 3:1-8} There is a time for everything.

Living in a fast paced world, this is very bizarre to me. Things need to be done. I am impatient. I want to race for the crown. I want it now. I want my knowledge. I want my wisdom. I want it now. For three days I have been plagued with a terrible headache. I never have headaches that last for more than a couple of hours. I reflect on the turtle. I am reminded that every single moment that God gives us is a teaching moment or a learning moment. Am I teaching or am I learning? The turtle is put in my life to teach me to slow down. Will I learn?

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with the endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1

Just because I have a list of things to do and just because I want to get them done and get them done now, doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do or the right time to do it. There is a time for everything. There may be something that hinders our race (like a headache) to the crown, but if we are open to God’s leading and if we are indefatigable and we persevere, God is faithful. He gives us not always what we want but always what we need.

Brandied Pear Preserves

2011-09-19T09:12:00.002-04:00

3½ quarts peeled, cored & chopped pears

2¾ cups water

10 cups sugar

1/3 cup lemon juice

¼ cup Gran Gala Liquor

Combine pears and water and cook on medium high heat, covered for one hour.

Gently mash pears. Measure 2½ quarts mashed cooked pears. Add 10 cups sugar and 1/3 cup lemon juice. Cook 50 minutes until gel stage (220º).

Remove from heat and stir 5 minutes to prevent fruit from floating. Stir in stir in ¼ cup Gran Gala triple orange liquor; spoon into hot sterilized jars and process in boiling water bath 20 minutes.

Yield: 6 pints