Beloved Weekend!

Hello Friends! Yes, it has been days since I have been here and I sure have missed you! Life has come at me fast the past week or so but I'm back and I have so very much to tell you!

Let me just start with last weekend. Last weekend as in not this past one but the one before that.
We had the BEST time at the Beloved Retreat! Those Beloved girls know how to throw a big ole retreat full of fun and as expected, God showed up big time and it was pretty much just indescribable!
Honestly, I just cannot tell you what a great girl time and God time we had. It.was.Awesome!

Just a few pictures of all the fun. Saturday night had a luau theme going on and we played along! Honestly, is this picture just not ridiculous? Other than me looking like I had been on a drinking bender (which just for the record, I had not), there are fake flowers all over us and green plants coming out of tops of heads.
Oh heavenly day.

Throughout the course of the weekend, Beloved showered us with fabulous gifts. Okay, I'll just have to say my favorite was the Tiffany's cross necklace! I can't seem to take it off. It is not only a constant reminder to me of this fabulous weekend but most importantly, of God's great love for us.

Another fun giveaway were these killer sunglasses. What could be more fun, I mean really? I spent the weekend with some of the best women ever - one of which is in this picture with me. I love, love her.

Okay, so you may get some rapid fire posts over the next few days because well, I have so much to tell.

But I have got to go right now because you know what a "Castle" fan I am. Well, last Monday night they did the unthinkable and left us hanging with a 2 parter. Yep, I've waited all week for the ending. But no worries, I'll be back soon; very soon.

Food Friday

Does anyone have Spring Fever besides me? And you know, just about the time our daffodils and jonquils get to blooming, there will come a cold spell or snow (gasp) and dash our hopes for an early spring. I just hate when that happens.

So what's on your plate for this bee-u-ti-ful weekend we have ahead of us? I'm leaving this afternoon for a little girl time at the Beloved Retreat and oh my word, I can hardly contain my excitement. Except that I'll have to admit I'm a little stressed. Tomorrow night at the retreat is the Luau Event. Well, I don't know about you but I really don't have much in the tropical, luau-looking fashion department. Maybe I'll just throw on a lei and call it a day. But that's not gonna stand in my way of having a good time. Yay - for God and girl time!

I'll be back in time for church on Sunday; Employee Appreciation Lunch for the store after that; meeting with a bride at 3:00 and then off to Atlanta with my hubby, son and son's significant other for a continued Valentine's surprise! So, I probably won't talk to ya again till Monday. So in that case, I hope your weekend is restful and fun!

So, Food Friday. I'll have to admit. Those of you that know me well, know that I usually spend a good bit of time in the kitchen. Well, not this week. I have had something every night this week, with the exception of Monday when I cooked our Valentine's Day meal. So, while I have done alot of things this week, I haven't really cooked much. I made this recipe last weekend and we have eaten on it all week. We've eaten cold, right out of the refrigerator. We've eaten it warm. And we've eaten it with warm . . . with ice cream. Oooo . . . have you had Breyer's Carb Smart Ice Cream? It's great. Well, that's what I've heard. :)

So, today's recipe is Raspberry Buckle. I've heard this for years and wondered why it's called a buckle when honestly I think you could have just called it a cobbler. So I tried to find the reason for that and best I can tell, years ago they called what we call now a cobbler, a buckle because when cooked it looked like a sidewalk that had buckled. Interesting, huh? This recipe calls for raspberries but I used the frozen berry mix and it was delish. The mix has raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in it. So good.

Raspberry Buckle
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup low fat, soy or almond milk
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
2 10 oz. bags of frozen raspberries
2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk and butter and stir until well blended. Scrape into the prepared dish.
3. Sprinkle with raspberries and orange peel over the batter. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
4. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Is it really Thursday morning already? I realized late yesterday that I hardly gave a mention to Valentines Day! Hope your Valentine treated you well. I know mine did. In fact, we are continuing our celebration Sunday night with a little "surprise." I love surprises (good ones) and I can hardly wait. We began our Valentine's Day celebration on Sunday evening with a table for two at a local restaurant which recently opened in town. What we didn't realize about this little "romantic" spot was that they bring in poker tables on Sunday nights for a little game of Texas Hold 'em. Just what you want to hear when you're gazing into each other's eyes, "I'm a-gonna havta fold em there, buddy. That was the lousiest hand I ever had." Although, it did bring back memories of a certain silver fox from my younger days who could sure croon a tune about holdin 'em and foldin em, knowin when to walk away and knowin when to run. (Did I really just use the word "croon" in a sentence? I'm not sure which is worse: knowing and using the word croon, quoting old Kenny Rogers lyrics, or calling him a silver fox. All of those statements are so wrong on about ten different levels.)

So. Okay.

Maybe I should catch you up on what's been going on around here. Let's see. The weekend was actually pretty quiet. The weather was in one word - lovely. It made you just want to stare at the blue in the sky and sit in the sun. And I did just that.

E and I had meetings with brides on Friday and Sunday. Friday's bride is getting married at Montaluce Winery in May. Outside next to the lake. Reception inside the winery. Purples and greens for colors; birds and birdcages for decor. Oh so pretty. Actually Montaluce needs very little in terms of decor. It is stand alone gorgeous.

Our Sunday bride is getting married outside as well in October. This bride has actually asked to use our family farm for the venue and we could not be more pleased. We can totally rock the farm. It was made for large events such as weddings. She wants to get married down by the pond and have the reception up on the deck. But I will admit though outdoor weddings make me oh-so nervous. They require Rain Plan 101 detailed to the nth degree. You have to have a tent on standby and then you have to make the call if you'll need it or not a couple of days before and oh my word at the uncertainty of it all. But if all things go as planned, outdoor weddings really are some of the prettiest. So we are super excited about planning this wedding and working with this precious bride and her family.

Then last night we met with a bride getting married in August. You know the thing about our business, we never do the same thing twice. Ever. No two weddings are even remotely similar. I really think that is why I enjoy it so much. It keeps life interesting. This bride is going totally glam. Black and white bridesmaids dresses; touches of pink; rhinestones; pearls and lace. Everything classic, traditional and streamlined. I love this look.

Tuesday morning I was in Alpharetta at the coolest place ever - a linen rental company. Doesn't sound exciting? Oh, you just don't know. I walk into their showroom and it is just packed full of beautiful fabrics, colors and tablescapes. I went down there to get linens for a project I'm doing this evening. I am creating a mock-up of a reception table for a potential client. I met her at the Bridal Show and she loved one of the tables we did for the "Be Inspired" Room. I am re-creating that table but tweaking it a little for her specific needs so we'll see what she thinks about it tonight.

I just have to mention that Bible study was amazing Tuesday night. This "One in a Million" study has already changed me. But I have to admit, this study has raised some difficult questions for me. But the beauty of Bible study with this group is that we can speak openly about our questions and concerns with no fear of condemnation or ridicule. We share hearts for God and each other. What a blessing.

I better run. I've got a working lunch meeting in Buford with some folks I am very excited to meet. They own a super cool company down that way and I can't wait to hear more about it. So I'm off.

But I've just got to leave you with this. While I was running around already this morning trying to get stuff done and blabbering insistently to my husband about what I have to do today, tomorrow and into infinite, he grabbed my face with both hands and said this:
"Stop. Slow down. You are going to miss the beauty of this day. Don't get so busy that you don't see all of good stuff that God is doing all around you. So, shut up and kiss me."

Just gotta love that.

Predictions for 2011

I guess I should have posted this a few weeks ago but I think you would agree it still applies.
I got this via email from a friend who didn't give credit to it's origin.

Top Ten Predictions for 2011

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on earth.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still honor the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praises to God.
7. God will still pour out His blessings on His people.
8. There will still be room at the cross.
9. Jesus will still love us.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

And these things we can be sure of.

Food Friday - Valentine's Day Edition

I know some of you follow me on the What's for Supper segment and some of you don't. Don't worry - no condemnation here. But if you do, you've already heard this. I've been "building" our special Valentine's Day meal for our sweeties this week. My sweeties have already had this Valentine's Day meal as I test and tweak all recipes to our liking a week or so before they make their debut on the segment. So, I must tell you, I thought my boys would eat themselves silly when I put this meal in front of them. They loved it. And that just made me so happy because I love them so much. I happen to think that cooking a meal for your family is a good way of showing them how much you care about and love them. And when a certain someone says, "mom, I swear, this is the best thing you've ever cooked" every time he sits down to eat, I gotta admit, that just makes my heart sing. Oh yes it does. Or when my sweet husband says, "Thank you so much. I'm so glad I married you." (it must be true what they say about the way to a man's heart).

So, here is my Valentine's Day Menu!

Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon with Mushroom Wine Sauce: When I made this recipe for my family, I used feta cheese because we aren't big blue cheese fans. So you can definitely make it your own for your family. And let me just tell you that this Mushroom Wine Sauce was incredible. You could use "real" wine if you have it. I had a bottle of cooking wine that I had gotten at the store and it worked just fine. I'm sure fine wine connoisseurs would be appalled with that last statement. So if you are one, please no letters.

For our meal, we added steamed crab legs to the mix. The boys are huge fans so they grabbed themselves some at the store and had our seafood guys steam them. (If you're interested, this is a complementary service when you purchase the crab legs).

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes: D said you could have put this filling in a pie. Which is huge for him because if there is one thing that he knows something about, it is sweet potato pie. Trust me, these were good. Similar to regular twice baked potatoes, you bake them, then scoop out the insides, mix with some really good stuff, put back in the shells and bake again. Yum.

Green Bean Bundles: Fresh green beans, blanched; gathered in bundles of 7 or 8; wrapped in bacon then baked.

Strawberry Salad: This is a congealed salad using strawberries, bananas, pineapple, and pecans. It's red which makes it a good choice for a Valentine's Day meal. This is D's mom's recipe so it goes without saying that it's a good one.

And finally . . . for dessert . . . Warm Chocolate Truffle Cakes. These are individual cakes baked in ramekins. Full of chocolate goodness. Sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. They really will make you want to give somebody some sugar. I'm just sayin.

So! There you have it! If you are interested, all of these recipes are on the store website, http://www.jandjfoods.com/. Click on the What's for Supper square in the lower right hand corner. The Chocolate Truffle Cake recipe is today's recipe so it will come up when you click the tab. The others are in the archives. But I'll share one here. It's a hard decision but I think this one is the winner.

Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignons with Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion, minced
6-8 whole mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
3/4 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup cooking wine (or a white wine)
4 filet mignon steaks (1 1/2 inch thick)
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions:
1. Put olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, mushrooms, garlic and thyme. Cook, stirring constantly, until onions and mushrooms are tender. Stir in the beef broth, mix well; then stir in the cooking wine. Bring to a slow boil, and simmer until the liquid has mostly reduced. Set aside. This may also be made ahead of time, and reheated.
2. Cook steaks on the grill or grill pan to desired doneness.
3. Place steaks on a baking sheet. Stir together panko crumbs and blue cheese. Top each steak with a layer of this mixture.
4. Preheat the oven’s broiler. Place steaks under the preheated broiler until the cheese topping is browned and bubbly, 3 to 4 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve with warm mushroom sauce.

Enjoy!!

The Prepared Heart

As you know, several weeks ago I spoke to a group of Women's Leaders at a retreat down in middle Georgia. It was a pure joy. But the weeks before that engagement, I kept hearing God whisper in my spirit, "prepare your heart." At first, of course, I assumed the message was for me and me alone concerning this talk for which I was preparing. But it soon became clear that I was supposed to share it. While not sure how or why; that statement kept rolling around in my head and I knew there was a reason.

Then as only God would ordain, I was reading my chronological Bible in the New Living Translation and happened upon Job 11:13:

"If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer!"

The cool thing is that based on my research this is the only place in the entire Bible in any translation that those words "prepare your heart" appear in that exact order. I mean . . . really? So . . . what in the world was I supposed to do with that now? Obviously, God put this all together for a big ole reason and I sure didn't want to miss it. So when I spoke to the ladies on hospitality, while this wasn't the focus of my talk, I felt I had to mention that as women in ministry, you cannot minister to others before you prepare your heart for Him. And let's face it, we really all are in ministry in some form or another. Our ministry may be our children and husband; it may be with our friends or in our workplace. Wherever it is, if you are a believer in Jesus, you are in ministry. It is vital that you prepare your heart for Him.
So I knew when Bible study started up again last night that I had to share this with the girls. The study we are beginning has a powerful word and I just felt that they needed "fair warning" to prepare their hearts for a mighty work of God.

So I began researching what the Scripture says about the heart.

Okay, a few numbers. The word "heart" in the NIV appears over 775 times. It appears 127 times in Psalms alone and 75 times in Proverbs. So while I'm no theologian, even I can figure out that there must be something that God wants to tell us about our hearts. Listen to just a few:

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

"He who has a pure heart . . . will receive a blessing from the Lord." Psalm 24:4-5

"Test me Oh Lord and try me, examine my heart and my mind." Psalm 26:2

"Trust in Him at all times, O people, pour out your heart to him for God is our refuge." Psalm 62:8

And Proverbs has a ton of things to say about the heart:
"A heart of peace gives life to the body." Proverbs 14:30
"The wise in heart are called discerning and gracious words promote instruction." Prov. 16:21
"Keep my commands in your heart. " Prov. 3:1

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Prov. 3:3

And finally:

"But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." Psalm 33:11

Have you ever thought about God's heart? That our desire should be to align our heart with God's heart?

So I placed this challenge to the Bible study girls last night and I'll share it with you here.

Let's ask God to:
1. Prepare our hearts for His Word. The mighty and powerful Word that He has given us in order to transform us. In Psalm 119 it says "to hide His Word in our heart . . ."

2. Prepare our hearts for His Work. I do know enough about God to know that He won't tender our hearts and then not give us something to do with it.
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

3. Prepare our hearts for His Wonder. He so wants to wow us! He wants to show us such extravagant love, understanding, peace, comfort, grace and mercy - we just can't imagine it really.

So, let's lay open our hearts to God and just let Him wash over us. The second part of that verse in Job says "lift up your hands to Him in prayer!" So pray that God will prepare your heart for His Word, His work and His wonder!!!


"Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth;
Give me an undivided heart, that I may honor your name." Psalm 86:11

It's Sunday Night Live - sort of

What I really should be doing is preparing for Bible study tomorrow night. However I realized I hadn't been on this blog for almost a week and that really just won't do.
So, I'll catch you up on all of the wild and exciting things that have been going on in my life. That should take about 30 seconds but we'll do it anyway.

Last Wednesday night I got to catch up with one of my precious girlfriends. She and I are traveling through the chronological Bible together and what a blessing that has been already. I reminded her that we were exactly 1/12th of our way through the Bible!! We high 5'ed like a couple of middle school kids at the end of a ballgame.

Oh and then Thursday was the baby shower! I swear I could just woller in baby clothes, blankets, bibs and the such. It was heavenly. Can't wait for this baby girl to make her arrival towards the end of this month.

Yesterday, I went to the most incredible Bridal show I have ever seen in Greenville. They did an "Alice in Wonderland" themed show and it was way over the top. Chairs, vines, flowers all hanging from the ceiling. The aisles as you entered were lined with moss-covered pots with tulips, hydrangeas, daisies popping out every where. It was gorgeous. I loved going just as an observer. I checked out every one's booth; sampled all of the caterers and cake bakers fabulous food (a girl has to eat lunch) and then went to the fashion show. Okay, so here were the colors of the bridesmaid's dresses at the show: So we all now know that yellow is THE color of the season but there was also lots of royal blue, lilac, turquoise and green. And a few florals thrown in for good measure. I've actually been seeing that alot in the bridal magazines and blogs. Could you see a mass of floral bridesmaids? I'm not so sure.
Although I'm just gonna tell you this: their tablescape gallery didn't have anything on our "Be Inspired" room last Sunday at the Gainesville show. Ours were totally better . . . hands down better.

Then last night, we got all gussied up and went to a fundraiser for a very worthy organization. It was a fun night out with some great friends and good music! The organizers of this event had gathered some really cool silent and live auction items. To my surprise, I was the recipient of one of them. Thank you, sweet husband.

It's almost midnight and I really cannot tell you how bad I need to be asleep but my mind just won't stop whirling. It has been quite the week in our family. It has been really something to tell you the truth. While I've shared above what have been a few of the fun things for the week, trust me when I say that there have been some very emotional things going on. While I can't share them, I will say I have never seen God show up and show off more than He has this past week. He has been a Provider, a Protector and an amazing Comforter to all of us. Praise God for His Mighty Hand that is always working for our good! He truly is good - all the time!

What I Love about February 2011!

Oh my goodness, I have so much to tell you that I am just about to bust. Short version: The Bridal Show on Sunday was awesome! I've got pictures to share and stories to tell but I'll save that for another day. Then last night I went down to 200 Peachtree in Atlanta, a way cool venue (formerly the old Macys and right next to the Mart) for the NACE (National Association of Catering Executives) Event which was amazing. I'll explain later but good gracious, it's already February 1st and in my book that deserves a list of good things about this heart month. Oh yes it does.

What I Love about February 2011
1. One of the girl's moms in G's 2008 graduating class has been intentional. And you know I love intentional. Every month she organizes a lunch get together for all the moms of that class to reconnect. We call ourselves the 08 Moms. Probably not the most original title but we don't care. So for over two years now, once a month we meet at a local restaurant for lunch and just have the best time. I probably wouldn't see these very special ladies otherwise so I look forward to it every month. Tomorrow's our day.
2. On Thursday, the Birthday Group girls will join together to honor one of our own who is adopting a baby. Yep, getting a baby girl!! What could be sweeter, really? I'm praying big time for her because having a newborn in the house will be a change for sure but this is what we've all prayed for for years. Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer in a beautiful bundle of pink.
3. Saturday I'm headed to Greenville to the Wedding Festival. This is the mother of all Bridal Shows and the very best in the Southeast. It's the whole bridal industry on steroids. I can't wait.
4. Okay, I'm totally doing the happy dance for Bible study starting with the Monday night girls next week!! I have missed them like crazy. We are going to travel with the Israelites out of bondage, through the wilderness, and meet them in the Promised Land, doing Priscilla Shirer's "One in a Million" study. I've got something pretty special planned for them on Monday but I'll share that after the fact.
5. Valentines Day. Love the love celebration.
6. The middle of the month I'm going down with some of my favorite girls to the Beloved Women's Conference in Atlanta. I did this last year and as soon as I left there I put this conference on my calendar for this year. It's fun, inspiring, uplifting and a good challenge for your faith. I'm packing my cute new pajamas, fuzzy slippers and lots of chocolate for some midnight talks with the girls. Bring it on!
7. The last week of February will be birthday celebration central at my house. On the 23rd we will celebrate the 25th year of the birth of my firstborn. Now, her actual birthday isn't until the 7th of March but on that day she will be in Italy on a dream trip with her precious husband. The next night, I'll welcome The Iron Roses for one of our girl's big 5-0 party!
8. I'll leave the very next day for a little beach time at Amelia with my significant other. Unlike most folks, we love the beach this time of the year. The sand doesn't stick to your sweat - if you get my drift (no pun intended).

So there you have it. February 2011!