Prayer for a friend

Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (Matthew 18:19-20 NAS)

When staff gather to discuss event or activities they have structured the biggest question it “how many came?” How many did you have, how many? How many on the mailing list?  How many pledges did you receive? It’s something that happens to be an easy way to measure the response to in measuring a program’s effectiveness. It’s easy to see that a cooking class is expanding is a success. From time to time however it’s important to think of quality and not just quantity.

In 1992 my best friend Claudia, new husband Ken and I visited quite a number of churches before we settled on ours. Ken wanted a big church that was traditional to raise children in and I wanted a lot of volunteer opportunities.  Claudia wanted a place that had a lot of choices for an adult single Christian woman. After Claudia moved Ken and I figured that we were going to need to make some new friends and so off we went to the various Sunday school classes etc. Over time, we meet a lot of really nice people and did a great deal of volunteer work. However, for whatever reason we didn’t find any new people to add to our lives that we would consider “friends.”

Fast forward to my meeting Darla Dems. She had a child in another preschool I ran for a short time. Darla was the woman you see on the magazine covers. With her style and Southern manners I was sure she would be a good influence on me.   Every gorgeous red hair in place, beautiful well behaved children and a sweet smile for everyone she saw. If I couldn’t be Darla Dems. I wanted her for a friend. Then I came to Church Street and Carla became my board chair. Still an inappropriate time to consider a friendship with the Amazing Darla Dems. Then about a year later, there was that last scrap book party I threw in an effort to raise funds for the playground. Only one person came. At first I was crushed. All this work to set up and nobody came. What a failure! Sheesh. Just one single person. The entire 2 hours we sat and made a few cards with the materials I brought and talked with Darla. We chatted about church, work and kids. The time had passed before I knew it. As I packed my car up to go home I realized that I had spent the evening at church talking with a friend. When I saw my boss the next day he asked how many attended the party. When I told him “just one” he said that he was sorry and normally I would have disappointed.  But this time, I wasn’t.

Friendship Prayer--here is my favorite prayer for a friend -
I think it speaks volumes and those of my closest friends that I have chosen
to send it to have all been deeply touched by the words:-


Prayer for a friend
I will pray for you, my friend.
I will name you in my heart before God and ask all His blessing be upon you.
I will be concerned for your rising and your daily mood.
I will be sympathetic to your personal needs and desires in each day of your
life.
I will wish you well in your learning, or your work, in your domestic round and
your leisure.
I will think of you at the close of each day and pray that God’s peace be with
you.
If you have been especially kind or helpful to me then I will make my gratitude
known to you.
If you are in trouble or difficulty of any kind, or simply tired and worn down, I
will do all and anything I can to lift your spirits.
I will ache for you in your sorrows and disasters and rejoice with you in your
joys and triumphs.
I will love and care for you as I love and care for myself. Amen.

Silly Ole Beth

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. -Proverbs 16:32

When our Hannah Rose was little, story-time followed a night time snack. Winnie-the-Pooh books were her-and my-favorites. We read all of the books one chapter per night until we had read them all.  

I'm a self-taught typist and I make many frustrating mistakes. My boss says I’m a perfectionist.  I often feel so totally disorganized-forever misplacing pens, clippings, letters and scribbled notes. Frequently I end up discouraged, disgusted with myself, and unfit company for family and friends. Despite countless resolutions, I've failed to change my ways. But, thanks to Pooh Bear, I have changed my attitude.

One day, when I had hopelessly misplaced an important address I needed, I looked everywhere, even leafing through a book about this lovable Bear of Very Little Brain. Pooh was constantly blundering, but did he rant and rave and hate himself? No. He just said, "Silly oId bear. So like me," and went cheerfully about his business.

Now that book, with Pooh on its cover, is on my desk at home. When I get uptight and start berating myself, I glance at Pooh, smile, and say to myself, "Silly old me." So like me." Then I relax and, like Pooh, go cheerfully about my business.  Things get found, things get done-only calmly.

Father, help me to be kind and gentle, starting with myself -Amen

Winnie the Pooh Honey Buns

 

INGREDIENTS:

4 ½ cups flour (2 1/4 cups whole wheat and 2 ¼ all-purpose flour)
2 packages quick-rise instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup 2% evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten


***HONEY TOPPING***
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

In large bowl, combine 4 cups flour, yeast, sugar, orange peel and salt. Heat orange juice, milk and butter until hot to touch; stir into dry mixture. Mix in eggs and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.

Knead on floured surface until smooth, 4-5 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll each to 6- x 16-inches; cut each into 1-inch wide strips.

Tie each strip into a knot; place on greased baking sheets. Cover; let rise until doubled in size, about 40 to 50 minutes. Brush with Honey Topping.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes or until done; cool slightly on wire racks. Brush again with Honey Topping.

For Honey Topping: Combine honey, melted butter and orange juice

Happy St. Valentine’s Day!

May love surround you every second of your life, and may all your cherished people be always with you to share every treasurable moment!

There are numerous views on the history of Valentine's Day. One is the story of Valentine, a physician also said to be a gastronomist, who made his medicines more palatable by mixing them with herbs, spices, honey, and wine. That’s my kind of doctor! At our house we celebrate by making Peppermint Bark. Peppermint Bark is one of my favorite recipes to make using child labor, I mean with my children in the kitchen. I mean what 8 year old boy doesn’t want to smash a bunch of candy canes into teeny weeny bits? At our kitchen it’s as much fun as cracking open the eggs.  I always snag a few boxes of candy canes bought inexpensively after Christmas and store them in airtight container at room temperature until Valentine’s Day so we can make this for my children’s teachers. It looks great in a clear bag with a red/ white bow.

Peppermint Bark

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package White Morsels or white chocolate “bark”
• 24 peppermint candy canes bought cheap cheap after Christmas

Directions

LINE baking sheet with waxed paper.

MICROWAVE morsels in medium, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70 percent) power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth.

PLACE peppermint candies in heavy-duty plastic bag. Crush candies using rolling pin or other heavy object. We started with the rolling pin and moved up to a heavy can of pasta sauce.

While holding strainer over melted morsels, pour crushed candy into strainer. Shake to release all small candy pieces; reserve larger candy pieces. Stir morsel-peppermint mixture.

SPREAD mixture to desired thickness on prepared baking sheet. We made ours too thick. It nearly took dropping a bowling ball on it to shatter it so about half the depth of a cookie sheet would probably be good. Sprinkle with reserved candy pieces; press in lightly. Let stand for about 1 hour or until firm, we put ours in the fridge to speed it up a little. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container at room temperature.

Josiah's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Recently after dinner Josiah said "we need to bake some of MY (his favorite recipe) peanut butter oatmeal muffins for Terri, that will make her broken leg feel better". With my extra Valentine’s preparations and fixing extra food for our ill friends it’s all making me want to run from the kitchen way my ancestors ran from the Cossacks.  But these muffins are really easy to make and hearty.

Josiah's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
(adapted from Paula Deen's Cookbook for the Lunch-Box Set)

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4-1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup wheat germ
Pinch of salt if you need it....

1/2 cup peanut butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup skim milk (or buttermilk if NOT butter milk add below)
1 tsp. vinegar (or lemon juice, we prefer it)

Preheat oven to 375º. Spray muffin cups with Pam. Measure milk and add vinegar or use buttermilk. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix first seven ingredients together. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter, eggs, and soured milk until smooth. Mix gently into dry ingredients and fill muffin cups with 1/3 cup measure. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

My love affair with Save-A-Lot

I have a love affair with Save-A-Lot. I love a bargain, I hate to shop and do most of my cooking with basic ingredients. So this bare bones store chain is just the place for someone like me. I am easily distracted by services such as salad bars, sushi bars, delis, cafeterias, baristas and floral departments. As I work full time, keep up with 2 kids and volunteer often this no-frills operation is easy in, easy out. Since the company is able to reduce labor and shelving costs by ordering, shipping, and displaying its products in custom cartons I admire the practical set up.

So when they had a recipe contest and plainly said that you could enter as many times as you wished I gave Save-A-Lot  my undivided attention. I took all of our family favorites and converted the recipes to using their products by name and entered 2 each day for the contest. I knew I was going to win. I just had to win; I entered at least 10 recipes in each category. I didn’t win. Naturally I was deeply hurt and my talents were under appreciated. After a while to lick my wounds and rest my fingers, I looked to see what recipes had won and what others were listed.

There listed on their very web site was my recipe for Kettle Corn. The dog gone easiest one and something I’d been making for the residential students I worked with long before I had any kids of my own. But there it sits for all to see. Something like honorable mention I suppose. I’m published. My name wasn’t listed which I still am cranky about but I’ve got it here as well now so I can claim it all over again.  

Amazing Kettle Corn

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup Westcott® Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 Cup Ginger Evans™ Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Unpopped Popcorn

Directions

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot stir in the sugar and popcorn kernels. Cover and shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl and allow to cool stirring occasionally to break up large clumps.

My son really loves this recipe. We love to get kettle corn when we visit our local park Dollywood. In the winter it's like a trip to Dollywood or the county fair with a bowl of this old-fashioned Kettle Corn. My family never wants plain popcorn again when I make this. If you use white sugar it will taste like popcorn balls and if you use brown Diamond Falls granulated sugar it will taste like caramel corn!

Cooper’s Café Delivers

With 2 good friends sick at home Cooper's Cafe is in full swing. I have been in the kitchen most of the week including cooking a TURKEY. My very first turkey. I know that dumbfounds you that after all these years (not actually telling you just HOW many) of cooking and being a foodie, I have never cooked a full turkey. There’s a story about that. You’d be disappointed if there wasn’t right? When The Husband and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving together it was just the 2 of us, oh and the dog. Anyway I thought it was senseless for our little family to have a whole turkey and suggested a nicely cooked and decorated breast. He was astonished, astounded and stunned. No turkey? It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the huge turkey to feed 10 people like his mom has every year! So I calmly said “fine then YOU cook it.”  So he did and after a few years of dried turkeys, undercooked turkeys, burnt turkeys and the charred bacon across them we ended up with a nice tasty turkey.

However, sick friends don’t need a turkey, they need soup. The Cooper's Cafe devoted and friendly staff thought it would be best to start with a few of our most popular soups and a loaf of honey wheat bread. Then we can send a casserole later on, hence the deboned turkey in my fridge. In the meantime here is one of my favorite soups to make and send. It’s easy, tasty and filling. If you use a mix of the colored peppers it makes a rather festive looking dish.

Slow Cooker Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, with liquid
• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced peppers ---red, green, yellow peppers -whatever your preference
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 diced Chile pepper

Directions

1.    In a medium skillet, cook the ground beef until browned over medium heat. Drain, and set aside.

2.    Place the ground turkey, onion, chili beans, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce, water, diced tomatoes, peppers and taco seasoning mix in a slow cooker. Mix to blend, and cook on Low setting for 8 hours.

Blessing of the Pets

2 Samuel 12 1-3 “The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.”

I was raised on a small farm. The neighbors called it the “Horse and Puppy show” because the land wasn’t good for growing much and neither of my parents had any expertise for growing plants. Instead my mother did rescue and rehabilitation for horses and ponies that she later sold to 4 H members. That supported mother’s “horse habit” as we had our own family equines. My mother was fond of saying “You can’t always trust a person but a horse will never lie.” Mother also breed AKC Pekinese dogs. So a few times a year we had a litter of puppies to play with and “gentle” so they would make good pets for their new families. Mother firmly believed that a child raised with animals in the family would learn respect, responsibility and to be a caring individual. As a result I have always had a love for animals and a pet of some sort in my life. Currently this includes 4 dogs, fish and several rodents including 4 fancy Norwegian rats.

Fast forward to October 4^th. The Blessing of the Pets at our church. When my kids heard it was coming up both immediately asked if the rats could come. I wasn’t sure. Rats are remarkable but they do have an image problem. It would be a good opportunity for people to see what great pets they make.  My kids, Hannah and Josiah petitioned each day for 2 weeks before I agreed. As we got ready that afternoon I had my doubts. What if the staff and clergy I work with each day made ugly faces at my little darlings? What about the parents of my Sunday School students?  What if people said unkind things and thought that I was weird? Maybe “the girls” wouldn’t be treated like the other more common pets like dogs and cats. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

I worried for nothing. The children from my Sunday School classes rushed to pet Sunny, Daisy and Rosy. There was a chorus of “Mom I want a rat too!” Many adults asked lots of thoughtful questions. A friend insisted in “renting a rat” and one of the youth stopped by to say “oh man that’s so cool!” The clergy and my co-workers were genuinely gracious. Everyone was polite and all 3 rats were dutifully blessed.  As we got ready to leave an elderly woman with a cane came over to the crate I was carrying. I held my breath. It had been a lovely afternoon; I didn’t want to end it with somebody’s grandmother passed out on the grass. She peered inside and asked if they were rats. I told her “yes” not sure if she was expecting cats. She wasn’t, instead as we walked into the building she leaned on my arm telling me all about how when she was a little girl she had a large white rat as a pet. She continued on about how she couldn’t believe her mother let her keep it in her room. As The Husband took the crate with Daisy, Sunny and Rosy home, she prattled on about her childhood. I walked inside with my new buddy all the time thinking it was me, not just the animals that had been blessed that afternoon.

Dear God,

We thank You for giving us this wonderful life, our loving and devoted
families, caring and compassionate friends, and especially our pets
for their unconditional love and trust; they do not love us for
our earthly possessions or our social status, but solely for who
we are.

We pledge to You, dear God, that we will always take care of these
wonderful friends and these faithful and loving animals that You
have left in our trust, and we will always see You in their eyes and
feel Your presence in their love and affection to us!

Amen

Yesterday was National Fettuccine Alfredo Day

"Life is too short, and I'm Italian. I'd much rather eat pasta & drink wine than be a size 0."- Sofia Bush

Yesterday was National Fettuccine Alfredo Day, I planned to wear my special Fettuccine costume but I guess I ate too much pasta and drank too much wine because it doesn't fit any more. So instead to celebrate naturally I had to prepare one of (Professional Picky Eater #1) my daughter's favorite dishes. Penne Pasta with chicken and Alfredo. I know that Fettuccine isn’t Penne-  Fettuccine is a flat thick noodle made of flour and egg pieces it literally means "little ribbons" in Italian. But my 2 kids don’t care for it-yet. Penne however is a type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces that the younger one can more easily manage and comes at my local store in whole wheat. So we celebrated in our own style.

And I didn’t see the Fettuccine police at Disney World when Professional Picky Eater #1 ate this new and foreign dish with a cooked chicken patty covered in gloppy manufactured style mass production sauce but I leapt ahead. She was eating it. For me, it was just as exciting as her first roller coaster ride.

So once home I worked to improve it-

BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS  
 4 chicken breast halves
2 eggs (whites only if you prefer but add 1 extra tsp. spoon water)
1 tablespoon  pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3/4 cup whole wheat  flour
1/4 cup of whole wheat  bread crumbs
1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons of butter

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cover a cookie sheet or large glass dish with a THIN layer of olive oil or spray.

Place egg and water in a medium sized bowl. Add  1/2 tablespoon pepper, 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder, and 1/4 cup of bread crumbs in a bowl. Place the rest of the spices and the flour in a Ziploc bag.

Shake each piece of chicken in the Ziploc bag then dip in the bowl of egg mixture then sprinkle the bread crumb mixture on each side of each piece of chicken. Place the chicken on the cookie sheet/glass pan and put 1/2 tablespoon of butter on each piece of chicken.

Place the cookie sheet/glass pan in the preheated oven and in 9 minutes turn the chicken over. Then wait another check to see if it’s done in approximately another 9 minutes.

HOMEMADE ALFREDO SAUCE 

1/2 cup spinach torn or run through the food processor (better to trick Professional Picky Eater #2)
1/2 cup butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Pepper, to taste

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter.

2. Once butter is almost melted, add the package of cream cheese. To help speed up an even melting time, cut it into about 4 pieces.

3. Once butter and cream cheese are mixed well together, add the cup of milk, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and then add pepper. Stir all together until well mixed. Gently fold in the spinach, God forbid you make the sauce too green.  Professional Picky Eater #2 would faint at the sight.

4. Once it's mixed well, remove from the burner and set aside and allow to thicken to your preference.  Stir every few minutes and if it gets too thick add more milk to thin it.

Jon's Dollar

Jon’s dollar

1 Timothy chapter 6 (NLT) 11 “Follow what is right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.”

Everyone who shops in the Broadway’s shopping center knows Jon. He is honestly a rather homely looking fellow, probably late 40’s and completely blind. I have seen him often a few times a week over the last 10 years. He rides the bus, is trying to lose weight, has a girl friend in a wheelchair and a very large white cat, which is part of the reason he prefers a cane over a guide dog.  I’ve picked up this information over the years shopping along side him or standing next to him in line at the 4 or 5 little shops near my house. Since I do most of our family’s shopping I’ve never been sure how much or even if my children have noticed Jon. That was until last week when after work we made an emergency milk stop at Kroger’s.

I had Josiah with me and we ended up in line right behind Jon. I was in a hurry to get home and start dinner so I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings as I juggled my Kroger’s card, purse, keys and pulled out my wallet. Oddly though the man behind me slipped his foot in front of me, stepped on a wrinkled dollar bill, slid his foot back and picked it up. I didn’t give it much thought until Josiah pulled on my shirt. I’ve taught my children not to interrupt while I’m checking out but when I saw the expression on my son’s face I knew something was wrong. He was acting very nervous, something he doesn’t normally do. I asked Josiah what he wanted to say and he said “I’ll tell you in the car” but the look on his face said this was important now. So I stopped the cashier in mid-sentence and asked Josiah to whisper to me what he needed to say. He whispered in my ear “that man took Jon’s dollar off the floor and we don’t take money from others Momma, and you know Jon can’t see.”  I paused, I swallowed hard. Then I turned to the cashier and said loudly, “Is Jon still here? He’s dropped a dollar and (pointing to the man behind me) this gentleman picked it up for him.” In the car I praised Josiah for speaking up and doing the right thing. He told me that he knew he wasn’t supposed to interrupt me but he also knew that “Jon needs all of his dollars.”

Sometimes it’s hard to pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. We have to balance many things in our lives; our days are long and the demands great. Still we must take a minute to make sure our neighbors are cared for - down to the dollar.

Prayer-

Most Precious Lord Jesus,

According to your love and will, may I always have a kind, caring, understanding, and sympathetic heart towards others.

Let me let others know I care about them and that you care about them. According to your love and will, may I always be a carrier of your light in the darkness for those people around me who may be groping and hurting in the dark.

Amen

My addition to Cream of Anything Soup

Cooper's Cafe is excited to announce we have snug in our storage homemade "cream of anything soup mix (dry)", 10 cups of homemade pancake mix (with whole wheat and wheat germ) plus had our first sprout crop harvest. It's down right sad how happy this makes me. I'm trying to feed my family more healthy foods. I read the can of Cream of Something soup in the grocery isle and got a little queasy. I admit in my healthy eating journey I can't shake my love of this soup. So I'm thrilled to try this. 

If you want the same excitement try-    

Cream of Anything Soup Mix

• 4 c. powdered milk
• 1 1/2 c. cornstarch
• 1 c. chicken bouillon granules  (not cubes, tried crushing them & nearly lost an eye)
• 4 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried  basil leaves
• 1 tsp. black pepper
•  1 tsp kosher salt

This is the equivalent of one can of soup. For a vegetarian version of this soup, use vegetable broth bullion instead (I couldn't find it in my grocery store so try a heath food store or on line.) Measure all ingredients, shake if you have a willing child or sift if you don't.... and pour them into a container with an airtight seal. Lasts several months.

To Use The Mix:

Combine 1/3 cup of the mix with 1 cup of water, 2 tables spoons butter and heat it over medium low heat in a small saucepan until it starts to thicken. I think skim milk would be good too if you cut the powdered milk by a cup. I had just one cup of the powdered left in the big box and just didn't want to have that taking up so much shelf space so into the container it went!

Now that I feel all proud I'm protecting my family from harmful agents, chemicals and nasty stuff I read the side of the  instant chicken bouillon granules. Hmm..really.....am I that better off? I dunno but maybe. The list was shorter......not sure about better. Try it yourself and see.