Warning!

For about the next week or so, due, happily, to visiting relatives. :-)

See y'all later.

Tim Gallant posted on the Shunammimite woman and parallels in this to other Biblical events. Interesting.

While walking in our upper pasture last week,

in the morning, I saw this leaf.

Psalm 47

"Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

For the LORD Most High is awesome;

He is a great King over all the earth.

He will subdue the peoples under us,

And the nations under our feet.

He will choose our inheritance for us,

The excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah

God has gone up with a shout,

The LORD with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing praises with understanding.

God reigns over the nations;

God sits on His holy throne.

The princes of the people have gathered together,

The people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is greatly exalted."

Amen!

I decided to make a scarf about a month and a half ago, and finished about two weeks ago.
I really like the cheerful red color of this yarn.
This was the first scarf I'd made, so there was quite a bit of trial and error. I looked at some patterns online to see how wide they recommended, but I have lots of trouble reading crochet patterns, so I just improvised. :-) I did rows of triple crochets and rows of single crochets in a pattern. When I had finished length wise, I edged the whole thing with single crochet twice, to help smooth out the imperfections where I'd lost or gained stitches in a row, then edged it with a shell stitch.
It's warm, but the one I'm making right now I think I'll make longer...especially since I'm having so much fun using two yarns on the triple crochets!

Dutch Babies

A very big thank you to Mr. Luker for the Cinnamon Apple Dutch Babies recipe!
My mother made them last Sunday morning, and they were delicious.


I wasn't able to get a picture of the pan before plates were served, but this is my own slice, which was very good, especially with honey (from the honey pot, center top) drizzled over the top. Mmmm...

(For those who missed it, the recipe is in the comments on this post.)

We will definitely be making this again!

Psalm 138
from The Book of Psalms for Singing

With all my heart my thanks I'll bring,

Before the gods Thy praises sing;
I'll worship in Thy holy place

And praise Thy name for truth and grace;
For Thou above Thy name adored

Hast magnified Thy faithful word.
The day I called Thy help appeared;

With inward strength my soul was cheered.
All kings of earth shall thanks accord

When they have heard Thy words, O LORD;
Jehovah's ways they'll celebrate;

The glory of the LORD is great.
Through trouble though my pathway be,

Thou wilt revive and comfort me.
Thine outstretched hand Thou wilt oppose

Against the wrath of all my foes.
Thy hand, O LORD, shall set me free

And perfect what concerneth me;
Thy mercy, LORD, forever stands;

Leave not the work of Thine own hands.

Psalm 138
A Psalm of David.
I will praise thee with my whole heart:
before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
I will worship toward thy holy temple,
and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:
for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
In the day when I cried thou answeredst me,
and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD,
when they hear the words of thy mouth.
Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD:
for great is the glory of the LORD.
Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly:
but the proud he knoweth afar off.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me:
thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies,
and thy right hand shall save me.
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:
thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

Fall is a glorious season.

Mary and Martha

Luke10:38-42
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

The issues here are attitude and priorities. Martha’s self pitying complaint ("Lord, do you not care...?") points out that her sister has left her alone to work. Martha was worried, troubled, and probably resentful. She allowed herself to get into a tizzy ("you are worried and troubled about many things") and then blamed her frazzled state on Mary’s lack of help. She could have meditated on the privilege she had, since the Savior had accepted her invitation, to serve Him in her home, but instead thought on the wrongs she thought she’d been done by Mary. She isn’t criticized for her work in the kitchen, or for wanting everything to be "just so"– I don’t think that was directed at Martha, but at the reader. She isn’t criticized for not sitting at Jesus’ feet, since someone did have to make dinner, after all! Perhaps Martha wanted to be sitting there instead–but someone does have to work in the kitchen, and her attitude about that was wrong. The problems here are her personal attitude and priorities–not that she was wielding the pots and pans.

The other issue is priorities. It was a once in history chance, to hear the incarnate Son of God teach during His time on earth prior to His death, burial, resurrection and ascension into Heaven. Mary knew that hearing Jesus teach was more important than keeping Martha company in the kitchen or helping serve dinner. To put the quote in the previous post into a fuller context, before quoting Luke 10:38-42 Pastor Wilson wrote ‘We are familiar with the story of Mary and Martha and how Martha lost her sense of priorities because she was "cumbered about much serving." ’
The main point of this section (titled "Priorities") isn’t the flaw of Martha but how to avoid misapplying this passage in daily life. Later in that section Pastor Wilson writes, "So if a mother is harried in the kitchen because a number of her children are out in the living room being selfish, this is not a Mary and Martha situation at all. It’s one where she will have to guard her attitude closely, but the children should not assume (when they are required to pitch in) that this is a case of misplaced priorities. Well actually, it is a case of misplaced priorities– theirs."

Although comments I have read elsewhere indicate that others have trouble understanding this passage, I will say that Jesus’ word on what happened here is the final one, since God is the only one who can see the heart and know everything about that or any situation. Mary chose the good part, and I believe that Martha’s attitude was wrong and that it was that which drew the gentle rebuke from the Savior.

(after quoting Luke 10:38-42)

'There are two applications here, and one of them very familiar. Unbroken fellowship with Christ is more important than having the meal turn out "just so."... But the other application is perhaps less familiar, and so it should perhaps receive more of our attention. Mary was listening to the Messiah teach; she was not off in the family room watching television or thumbing through her favorite magazines on the couch. She obviously knew some things were more important than serving in the kitchen. We may also be confident that she knew what Martha knew-- that many other things are far less important than serving in the kitchen...'

- My Life For Yours, by Douglas Wilson, Chapter 5: The Kitchen

Cookbooks!

I own two main cookbooks, a 1963 edition of Joy of Cooking, and Better Homes and Gardens' Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book. (I also like my Better Homes and Gardens Cooking for Today Pasta cook book. It has some good recipes for interesting sauces.)

My mother also owns a Joy of Cooking and Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book. Her Joy of Cooking is from 1975, and is white. Mine is a minty green color. She was delighted when she found me my own Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book, since she had told me that if she didn't find one she felt that she should give me her copy someday when I got married. I was touched that she would consider parting with her treasured cook book for my sake.

Joy of Cooking has just about everything. I made Shepherd's Pie the other day, and it was in there. (Mind you, it told me to make and use 'hash' for the filling, but the leftover soup turned into a very nice filling with some thickening and the addition of some veggies.)
Last week I had a rash notion that I should try to make a souffle. As I look through it tonight, titles sound so good-- Pineapple Souffle, Chocolate, Lemon, Fresh Fruit, and Hazelnut Souffle's all seem to beckon my imagination. Of course, my imagination is hampered slightly by the fact that I can't remember what a souffle is supposed to look like, but my imagination has never been one to give up at small obstacles. On page 203, the authors begin the section labeled "About Souffles and Timbales".
Some excerpts:

'The souffle is considered the prima donna of the culinary world...usually based on a Bechamel or cream sauce...must always be kept away from drafts and be served at once in the ovenproof straight sided dish in which it was cooked...If your guests are assembled, prepare the souffle. If not it may be like the beauty Horace Walpole commented on: "She is pretty with the bloom of youth but has no features and her beauty cannot last." '

I quickly realized that I am nowhere near the level of cookery I'd need to be at to even think about trying a souffle. ;-)
But that is the good thing about the Joy of Cooking-- due warning. The authors go through step by step (occasionally telling you, just in case, not to do something), and explain what you need to do. In this case, I realized that what they wanted from me was not realistic because of my cooking skill and the fact that assembling boys and making sure hands are clean, etc, might take more than the ten minutes that it said was the maximum time before serving that a souffle could possibly sit in a warming oven! Still, it was fun to read about.

The Complete Step-by-Step Cook Book has it's own good things, too, though, most notably step by step photographs of each step on recipes they think are hard, or that if you master, you can make the others using those same skills. I had it out last week reading up about how much yeast they used in their bread recipes. My two loaf batches take 1 T, 1 tsp, and 1/2 tsp, and I think it may be too much.

Family recipes, and recipes I have from other books and friends, are being written one by one into a spiral hard cover notebook that a friend gave me, which isn't very methodical, or alphabetized, but which is I think a useful place to write down recipes as I make them-- usually honey instead of sugar, and half whole wheat flour, and sometimes different baking times.

So... what are your favorite cookbooks? :-)