Being a Good Samaritan

About a month ago I was approached by a family friend to write an article for the Good Samaritan Food Bank's monthly newsletter. The Good Samaritan Food Bank is a division of the Chattahoochee Baptist Association.   You know at first of course I thought, I'm sure I don't have time to do that.  And honestly, some days I feel like I'm out of words.  (Hard to believe for me, I know you're thinking it.)  Anyway, my friend asked me to pray about it and I promised him I would.  And I did.  Like so many things, God reminded me that you make time for the things you want to do.  Isn't that the truth?  I sure make time to eat lunch with a friend, read a book or attend various events.   So obviously, that wasn't a viable reason.   I also knew that this would be a different type of writing,  I'll call it "writing with a divine purpose."  You see this would give me an opportunity to share my faith.  The newsletter will be distributed to over 300 families a week who are served by the food bank.  It will also go to supporters of the program.

I had a chance to visit the facility on McEver Road a few weeks ago and wow, I was impressed.  It never ceases to amaze the incredible work folks do on a daily basis to serve the needs of others.  
I grabbed this off of their website as an explanation of their mission:
"The Food Bank ministers to approximately 300 people each week.  There is a nondiscriminatory policy.  Anyone with a verifiable need may be helped.  All clients register by completing an application form and are then interviewed by a counselor to assess their actual life needs.  Counselors share Christ and pray with every client.  Individuals who qualify receive a box of food which includes canned fruits, vegetables, soups, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, pasta, beans, rice, macaroni and cheese, tuna, lunch meat, sausage and bacon.  They also received breads, desserts, and fresh vegetables and fruits.  

Just in case you didn't catch it, counselors share Christ and pray with every client.  The Good Samaritan Food Bank is meeting a physical need all the while sharing the gospel of Jesus.  Y'all this is a very good thing. 

All of this to say, I am honored to be just a small part of this program.  Like I said, I will be writing an article for the newsletter and sharing a recipe or two.  Of course, the recipes will be using the parameters of the food that they receive. 

So if you're interested here is my first submission. 

“Taste and see that the Lord is good …” Psalm 34:8

God is so good.  Goodness is His nature.  The only way to know His nature is to fully experience Him.   We can’t experience Him from afar; we need to get close and personal to be fully aware of God’s extraordinary goodness. The way of life that God has called us to lead, through his Word, is something we taste as we live it.  To experience every aspect of God’s way of life is to taste it.  And it is good.  

Taste is one of the senses God gave us, along with sight, touch, smell and hearing.  God granted human senses to help with our understanding of earthly existence.  We cannot fully perceive the sweetness of honey, for example, until we taste it.  We cannot understand the sweetness of our Savior until we delve into a “taste” of Him. 

Have you ever tasted something so good that you thought you would never forget it?  Think about it for a minute.  Was it a chocolate dessert … maybe a bowl of chicken and dumplings … a sweet potato casserole?   You probably wanted to savor that taste as long as possible. Maybe you closed your eyes just to take in all of the flavors.  Maybe you exclaimed a big ole “yummmm” just to confirm to others your feelings.   That’s the way with God.  His goodness is full of moments to savor.

 God gave us food for our enjoyment.  He could have chosen to give us a bowl of manna every morning as He did with the Israelites in the desert to meet our physical need for food.   However, he chose to shower us to overflowing with all kinds of meats, fruits, vegetables and breads.  What a wonderful God who would give us way more than we actually need.  But isn’t that the way He is in all things, giving us more than we actually need?  God shows us His love in so many ways but none more than His provision.  He can provide for all of our needs, physical and spiritual.  God came as a baby in a manger to save us from our sins so that we may have eternal life.    Wow – what a Savior!

 The following two recipes appeal to both our savory and sweet sense of taste.  This Crunchy Beef Casserole is an easy “one pot wonder” for a family dinner.  The Fabulous Fruit Salad is a great mix of flavors using fruit, nuts and yogurt.   Quick and tasty! So taste and see ….

 Crunchy Beef Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta (can use elbow macaroni, corkscrew or any kind of small noodle)

1 pound ground beef

1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 can fried onion rings

Directions:

1.        Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.       Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse and drain.

3.       Brown the ground beef and drain the fat.

4.       Combine the pasta, beef, soup, cheese and tomatoes.  Pour into a greased 2-quart casserole dish. 

5.       Cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and top with fried onion rings and bake 5 minutes longer. 

Fabulous Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

1 red delicious apple, cored and peeled

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and peeled

2 small cans or 1 large can mandarin oranges, drained

2 stalks celery chopped

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

1 (8-ounce) container nonfat lemon yogurt

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Chill at least 2 hours and serve cold. 

A Day in the LIfe

So how about a Day in the Life post today?  

Technically I'm writing this on Monday to be published on Tuesday.  So if the weather tomorrow isn't as beautiful tomorrow as it is today, I don't want you to be confused.  This is what I did today (Monday) not tomorrow (Tuesday) when y'all will read this.   Oh dear, anyway ...

1. Outside my window ... it is just gorgeous.  Yes, it is mid-December and the weather today is just lovely. A little too cool to put my top down but still beautiful.  D always says that I need to clarify that statement so okay ... putting my top down means the top down on my convertible.  Not really like my top as in my clothes.  Maybe only a man would think of that.  Ha!
So far today I've done the radio show and took a little shopping trip to Sims Pottery to pick up scarves for the New Beginnings ladies' Christmas bags.  We are going up tomorrow (Tuesday) night for their annual Christmas party.  This is a highlight of my Christmas season. 
After that I went to Reeves Wholesale to pick up a few things and then to the alteration shop.  Usually I have the dry cleaners do our alterations but this seemed a little complicated.  Last Saturday, Mother wanted to go to the Belk before we went to the drug store, grocery store, etc.  As she was looking for a new necklace (it needed to be long, everything she has is short and with some of her blazers and sweaters she just needs a long necklace but not too long because then it would get in her way and get hung on everything.  So she would need to wear a blazer like she wants to wear with it and go to Belk and try on the various options.  She thought she might want pearls because that would go with just everything but not real pearls, the fake pearls that look like real pearls.  She has real pearls but they're short and she doesn't want to buy anymore real ones).  So now you know where the over-explaining gene may have come from.  :) 
So we went to Belk with the other 10,287 people who were Christmas shopping.  I really needed to get a couple of gifts so going to Belk was actually fine with me.   After I had purchased the two gifts I needed, Mother was still in the jewelry department so I thought I would just walk around.  I found myself at the sale rack and by sale rack, I mean the one where it says "50% off, take an extra 40% off."  Well, they might as well just give it to me.  And there it was ... just the cutest top - black with white polka dots ... and it was kinda a sweatshirt fabric but in a dressier way ... and it was super comfy.  However, it had a band at the bottom.  I really do not like anything that has a band at the bottom.  So, I had the bright idea to have the super-smart alteration lady take the band off.  And given what I paid for it, I felt like I could justify the alteration costs.  So that is why I was at the alteration shop today.  
After that I called G to see what he was doing because it was around lunch time and I thought he might want to go.  He was headed to Atlanta to follow up about a job (big prayers for this! - hopefully more later) but he didn't have to be there until mid-afternoon so he would love to go with his momma to lunch.  I was having a major hankering for Little Italy's garden salad (the best!) and piece of pizza lunch special.  G was good with that so I was just pleased as I could be that we had the spur-of-the-moment opportunity to chat over salad and pizza.
After that I came home to pick up a Red Velvet Peppermint Pound Cake that I had made and took it to the staff at The Times.  These folks have been super kind to me over the past year allowing me to live my dream of writing and sharing recipes so the least I could do was make them one of my signature Christmas cakes. 
So now, I'm home.  After this, I'll make two recipes for the blog/radio show next week and then cook supper.  And speaking of the paper, in between I've got to start working on next week's article.  I have no idea what that's going to look like so I might ought to give that some thought.

2. I'm watching ... There are two new shoes this season that we just love.  Of course, we still watch Castle, Dancing with the Stars, Scandal, Duck Dynasty, Nashville, Shark Tank ... all of regular favorites but we are really liking the Goldbergs and Madame Secretary.  If you lived through the 80s and especially if you raised your children in the 80s, you will love The Goldbergs.  Interestingly, the show is based on the writers family and experiences.  I don't know how many times we've been watching it and D has said to me, "didn't you have a sweater like that?"  We literally laugh out loud every time we watch it. 
And of course, for my politics-loving husband, Madame Secretary is a sure winner.  I actually really like it, too.  It follows the professional and personal life of the US Secretary of State, played by Tea Leoni.  Very interesting from the viewpoint - is this what the real Secretary of State does everyday? and then how she balances a home, husband and 3 children.  Plus she's involved in a murder investigation of the former Secretary of State. That's a surprise, I know. 

3.  I'm reading ... well, this time of year, I'm a sucker for Christmas fiction.  So I just downloaded on my Kindle Paperwhite "Candlelight Christmas" by Susan Wiggs and "Tis the Season" by Robyn Carr.  I'm not far enough into either one of them to give you a review.  I also just downloaded, based on a recommendation of a friend, "The Power of a Woman's Words" by Sharon Jaynes.  I figure this one would be a good one for me as I'm constantly spewing words everywhere.

4.  I'm wearing ... I'm totally obsessed right now with a grey fur vest that I got at Target a couple of weeks ago.  I think I've worn it about 8 times since I got it.  It's so comfortable.  What do you think?



I've worn it with skirts, leggings, jeans, black pants ... with a scarf, with a statement necklace ... with a grey chambray shirt, grey turtleneck, black blouse, black tunic, and my Riley Clay "He is Enough" shirt, just to name a few.  This is my favorite piece of clothing right now.
Today I have it on with grey leggings, grey/black leopard print flats, the grey chambray shirt, a grey/black plaid scarf and a black tunic. 

5.  I am thinking ... about Christmas.  How I'm doing "Christmas-lite" this year and really enjoying it.  Believe it or not, the only decorating I have done is my tree.  That's it.  Can you believe it?  Next year, I'm sure I'll be back in full force but for this "season," I'm streamlining.

6.  I'm working on ... the January Bridal Show, recipes for January and my column for next week.  I had just the best meeting with the sweetest bride and her mother last Saturday morning.  She's not getting married until next May ( I now have 3 weddings in May) but it was so fun to talk about all of her plans. 

7.  I'm cooking .... about a dozen desserts this week.  These desserts are going about 10 different places.  Thank goodness none of them are staying here with me. 

8.  I'm looking forward to ... Wednesday evening when my family comes together for the Christmas Communion Service at church.  It is hands down my favorite event of the season.  I'm also looking forward to the John Berry concert and a great evening with some dear friends on Thursday;  to this weekend in Tennessee with D's family; to Christmas morning and to January 3rd (when we'll leave for the beach). 

So that's what's in my head for today.  What a random group of thoughts.  :)

Happy Tuesday! 

The Best Christmas Dessert ... Ever!

Last year I did a Pound Cake Challenge on the Cooking with Crevolyn blog.   I made 16 different types of Pound Cakes - it was a blast!   If you want to see the list and the recipes, you can go here.  I must tell you that when I stumbled upon this idea for a pound, I was like ... "shut the front door - this is the best!"  It is the absolute epitome of a Christmas dessert ... Red Velvet Peppermint Pound Cake! 

I've made it many times since and every time it is just as good.  I took a basic pound cake recipe and added the essentials for a red velvet cake.  Then for the frosting, I took a basic cream cheese frosting recipe and added the soft peppermints for the top and garnished with the hard peppermints.  If you are really feeling the peppermint flavor, I've found that adding just about a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the frosting is good, too.

Trust me, you will want to make it!  I also included the recipe in my Times column last Wednesday. 

 
Red Velvet Peppermint Pound Cake: 

Ingredients for Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ cup all-vegetable shortening

• 2 sticks butter, softened

• 3 cups sugar

• 5 medium eggs

• ¼ cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 bottle red food coloring

• 1 cup buttermilk

Ingredients for Icing:

• 12 soft peppermints

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 1 (8-ounce) cream cheese

• 1 box powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Hard peppermint candies, for garnish

 

Directions for Cake:

1.        Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease a 10-inch tube pan with butter and dust with flour or sugar to coat.

2.       Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

3.       Cream shortening, butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add cocoa, vanilla, peppermint extract, salt and food coloring.  Mix well.

4.       Add alternately the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Combine well.

5.        Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes or until pick comes out clean. 

6.       Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack before icing. 

Directions for Icing:

1.        Put soft peppermint candies in a resealable bag and crush. Set aside.

2.       In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Gradually add powdered sugar and then the vanilla.    Cream until smooth.

3.       Divide the icing in half.  Add crushed soft peppermint candies to half and spread on top of cake.  Spread the other half on the side of the cake.

4.       Place hard peppermint candies around base of cake for garnish. 

All is Well

Y'all, I know you must think that I am obsessed with Carrie Underwood since apparently when I see a great video, guess what? she's in it.  If this won't put you in the Christmas spirit, I'm not sure what will.  This is beautiful.  You might have seen it on the CMA Country Christmas special.  They are two of my favorites ... Carrie and Michael W. Smith. 

12 Days of Christmas - for the Dog Lover!!

Can you believe it?  We've come to the end of our 12 Days of Christmas!   I hope you have enjoyed the journey and maybe been inspired in your gift giving.  Just to recap here are our past 11 days of Christmas Gift Giving fun ...

Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush
Day 10:  Big Green Egg Accessories
Day 11:  Keurig Coffeemaker

Today, we are talking all about one of my favorite subject .. dogs. 

Now you may not have a dog and if not, I'm sorry.  We are crazy about ours.  Here are some cool items that your little furry kids might like.  I saw all of these at our local PetSmart, all except the stockings.   I found those online.

1.  Check out this bed from Martha Stewart.  This is adorable. 


2.  This dog blanket is so cute.


3.  These are leg warmers ... for your dog.  Cracks me up.


4.  Mrs. Claus Dress


5.  Ugly Sweater


6.  Olaf Dog Toy - this is too cute to play with.


7.  This is so cute too.

8.  Candy Cane Dog Treat



9.  I think we need these. 



These photos I took in the store because I thought they were absolutely adorable.  This one is an Olaf dog harness - oh.my.goodness. 

This one is a weather resistant coat ... polka dots ... with a fur hood.   It was all I could do to not leave with this.  If they had had 2 I might have.  Have you ever? 



12 Days of Christmas - It's a Keurig?

Well, it's Day 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas!  Today we are talking Keurig Coffee Makers.  But first let's recape ...

Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush
Day 10:  Big Green Egg Accessories

I love my Keurig Coffee Maker but as we know the beauty of it lies in the fact that it makes just one cup at a time allowing everyone to choose their own flavor, caffeine or not, brewing in just a very few seconds.   So I was interested to find out more about the new Keurig 2.0 Brewing System which includes the ability to brew a 4 cup carafe or the traditional one cup.  This smarter Keurig can read the top of the K-cup or K-carafe which is really pretty cool.  So this is the new hot thing from Keurig.  I think it would be a great gift for the coffee drinker in the family.

12 Days of Christmas - Big Green Egg Accessories

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas Gift Giving Guide!  Today I thought we better think about the men (and maybe some women Egg-heads - as Big Green Egg-ers are lovingly called).  So I asked around, looked at some BGE forums and came up with a few favorite accessories for our favorite smoker.   But first let's look back at our past 9 days of fun.

Remember ...
Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners and Products
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush

So here are some of the most useful and favorite accessories for the BGE:
1,  Digital Remote thermometer:   When I asked D about his favorite accessories he immediately said this remote thermometer.  You use it for smoking meat as this device allows you to always know the temp of your grill and the internal temp of your meat. It's not good to open the grill much, if any during slow smokes, and this will keep you aware of the temp at all times.



2.  E and N got D this BGE glove and he loves it.  Better than a pot holder, it is super heat resistant but easy to use when handling all of the hot parts. 


3.  Plate setter:  The place setter is designed to facilitate indirect cooking on the Big Green Egg by providing a heat-directing barrier between the food and the fire, instantly transforming the BGE into an outdoor convection oven. The design of the place setter in conjunction with the thermal properties of the BGE, allows heat to efficiently radiate within the dome while preventing the flames and heat from over-cooking the food.




4.  Grill Brush:  This is patented stainless steel mesh that works much better than a wire brush with no bristles to come loose.  Makes cleaning food off the grates super easy. 


5.  Firestarters - There are several ways to start the fire on the BGE but this is probably the most popular.  D says he has much success with a half of one for our Large BGE.  I have put these in his stocking the last few years. 

This is a great cookbook for BBQ and the fixins' in our humble opinion:  "Wiley's Championship Barbeque:  Secrets Old Men Take to the Grave."   The name of this cookbook caught our eye for obvious reasons when we were in St. Simons one time.  I read it to D all the way home in the car.  It's entertaining  and informative.  You don't have to have a BGE to enjoy this book.




Sidenote:  I loved Wiley's Baked Bean recipe and incorporated a few ingredients like the Rotel tomatoes into my own recipe.  Again, a cooking and recipe bonus - lucky you!     Here's my version of BBQ Rotel Baked Beans:

Ingredients:

1 can baked beans, drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup barbeque sauce

1/2 cup bacon bits

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 heaping tablespoon baked beans

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.  Put all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until it starts to brown and bubble. 

12 Days of Christmas - Cleansing Brushes!

Welcome to Day 9 of the 12 Days of Christmas Gift Giving Fun!

Remember ...
Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners and Products
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite

So let's talk about skin care and products.  About 2 years ago, I started using the Clarisonic Mia cleansing brush.  I can tell a huge difference in my skin.  I finally feel like my face is clean when I wash it.  I have since bought these for my mom and E.  When you purchase the brush, you can choose the type brush head you need; whether for sensitive skin, delicate skin, normal, acne or deep pore cleansing.  I purchased the sensitive skin brush head.  There are recommended facial soaps to use with it but quite honestly, I've found that using plain ole Dove soap works the best.    You do need to replace the brush head about every 6 months.  I just pick up a package of two when I'm at Ulta.  These cleansing brushes are available at Ulta, Macy's, Sephora and I think I saw them at Belk. 

I pulled this from the Clarisonic website to give you an idea of the benefits of using the cleansing brush.  "The patented Clarisonic Sonic Cleansing brush uses a sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to deeply cleanse the skin far more effectively, yet more gently, than traditional superficial cleansing or simple rotating brushes.  The result is noticeably smoother, more radiant skin." 



There are several brands of these on the market.  There is the Clinique Purifying Cleansing Brush and Mary Kay also makes one. 

I just love mine and highly recommend for the ladies on your gift giving list.