Stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients per person
1 flat mushroom
1 tsp humus
1 tsp grated cheese

Method
Take the stalk out of the mushroom, chop and replace in the mushroom
spread the humus over the mushroom and stalk
top with a little grated cheese
bake 375/190 for about 15 mins.

Bread and spreading friendship

Psalms 61, 62, 68

Genesis 42:1-17

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

Mark 3:19b-35

1 Corinthians 5:1-8

This does not sound like the bread (recipe below) that I make but more like a sour dough type where it is essential to have a previously made starter fermented from flour and water rather than the modern little balls of yeast that I buy in large quantities at the grocery store. Some of the starter is added to the bread dough and the rest carries on living and growing. Bad starter, or yeast, will give bad bread.

It reminds me of a "friendship cake" starter that went the rounds in Denton. Denton is a village in Northampton. At the time it had a population of about 600 people. Somebody was given a helping of starter for a cake mix. The instructions were to make the cake and then give away 3 lots of starter taken from the dough whilst mixing the cake. The problem was that in such a small community even if one kept one of the starter mixes for another cake for your own family you ran out of friends with whom to share the starter. friends almost became non- friends. Diffidently one would inquire if a friend had already received the cake and rejoice if they had not. Soon there was hardly a household in the little place that was not having friendship cake for their afternoon treat on a daily basis. It even sustained one at elevenses with our morning coffee. Yes that starter worked through the whole village.

I suppose we need to be careful about what we share. last week I visited Denton. I saw friends who I had not seen since 1992 and one who I had kept in contact with. God puts in our way people who are just in our lives whether we see them or not but when we do meet up the time is precious. This brings me to Jesus' comments in Mark 3:34, 35, the end of today's gospel but I shall not go there.

³⁴Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Note: I could not find the copyright information for this photograph but the original can be seen on

http://www.northantsvillages.org.uk/denton/ where there are more photographs and information about the village

Bread

3.5 cups flour I usually use wholewheat but best result is 3 wholewheat, 0.5 white

1 tps dried yeast

1/3 cup oil ( I like sunflower but any is OK, sunflower is sometimes difficult to find in USA but not in Europe)

tepid water to mix ( just right to your finger- neither too hot or too cold)

Put the flour and yeast into a bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre and add about 1 cup of water and the oil. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. add more water slowly, stirring well to absorb it before yo add more. When everything comes together in a nice ball you have finished adding water. If it is sticky you can add more flour if you like. I usually do not, David does. A damp dough gives a crusty bread.

Leave in the bowl until it has risen a bit- how much depends on how quickly you want to cook it. Bread is very forgiving. In Houston I just left the bowl on the countertop, whatever the time of year. In Brussels I have to put it near a radiator.

Heat the oven to 400 deg F, maybe 425 or 200/210 deg C

Place the mix the dough. If you like to get your hands floury then knead it on a floured table, if not or you are in a hurry turn it over and bash down with a wooden spoon whilst it is still in the bowl. Grease either a backing tray or a 1lb loaf pan. Place the dough on the tray or in the loaf pan. Bake about 40 minutes

Leek Soup

This is very loosely based on a traditional Welsh recipe. All measurements are approximate.

For each person

1 medium size leek

1 medium potato

1 thin carrot

1/2 oxo cube or other bouillon cube or just leave it out

1 cup water, maybe a little more

1/2 cooking or granny smith or Cox apple

optional

2 small mushrooms

1 rasher bacon cut into small pieces

1 tbs chopped parley

1 tbs grated cheddar or other strong cheese

1 tps cream or crème fraîche or sour cream or yogurt

pepper

Put the water into a saucepan,

chop the potato into chunks about 1 cu inch.

place in water and start bringing to the boil.

chop the leek and add to potatoes

chop the carrot and add to other vegetables.

Add the bacon if being used.

When the water is boiling add the bouillon cube, stir until it has dissolved

Chop the apple and add to the pot.

Slice the mushrooms and add.

Season with pepper

Whilst all this is cooking chop the parsley and grate the cheese.

When the vegetables are soft mash with a potato masher. I suppose you could liquidize it.

Serve, add the cheese, cream and parsley in that order.

Welsh Cakes

Today I made welsh cakes as it was St David's Day yesterday.

8ozs flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon mixed spice

2 oz marg

2 oz Crisco

2 oz sugar

2 oz raisins or currants

1 egg

maybe milk

(If using 1lb of flour then double all quantities except the egg and add 2-4 tbs of milk)

Put the flour, baking powder and spice in a bowl, add the fats and rub in until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and raisins. add the slightly beaten egg and mix well. The mixture should form a firm dough, add milk a little at a time if necessary. 

Roll out to 1/4inch thick, cut into rounds, cook on a griddle for 3-5 minutes on each side. Cool, maybe sprinkle with sugar (I do not), serve alone or with butter.

Bread Pudding

Well I suppose I can never stick to a recipe.
Here is the original one that I was given to make and my adaptations because I was in a hurry and did not have any whole or 2% milk
1 soft frenc loaf
2 cups half & half
2 cups milk (whole or 2%) I used another 2 cups of half and half as I had 4 cups of it and no milk
3 eggs- slightly beaten
2 cups sugar I probably used about 1.5ish
3/4 cups chopped pecans- I used about 1 cup
3/4 cups raisins- I used about 1 cup
1 tbs+ 1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine I did not use this.

Tear bread into small pieces- mine were failry chunky- I was in a hurry,
Place in a large bowl, add half & half (& milk) Let stand 10 minutes
Stir well with a wooden spoon
Add eggs, sugar, pecans, vanilla, cinnamon
Mix well
Grease a 9x13" pan Pour mixture into pan. Bake 325 deg F for 55-60 mins until golden
Serve warm or cold. Can be topped with whipped cream or whiskey sauce. Personanly I would not contaminate a good pud with more sugar.

Mediations until Easter are on
http://hsechouston.blogspot.com/

I may continue to add recipes from time to time, maybe the odd thought or two as well

Apple Almond Cake

Deuteronomy 6:10-15
Psalm 25
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18

Deuteronomy 6:10-15

It is easy to dessert the way one has been raised and assimilate the habits of those around one. Eating out was a treat, an event reserved for celebrations, possibly not even happening every year. People in the house was a norm, whatever the house was like- clean and tidy or otherwise. Walking, well what other option was there. No wonder Texas is known for its obesity.
Here is a cake recipe, I have baked it myself with far less sugar in it than the ready made one I would have bought if I had driven to the grocery store for one. I hope my friend will join me in my house for a slice.

4 ozs ( 1 stick) butter or margarine
4 ozs sugar
3 ozs almond meal (ground almonds- it took me 15 years to work out that these are the same product)
3 eggs
2 ozs flour
1 apple

Grease a 9inch round pan or 11x6 rectangle pan. Switch oven to 350 deg F.
Soften the butter and beat in the sugar. Beat until soft. add the eggs one at a time with some of the almonds.
Stir in the flour.
Pour into pan

Slice the apple and place on top of the cake. You could sift a little sugar over the top of the cake.
Bake for about 40mins

Words- God's Words and Ricotta Cheese Moussaka

Isaiah 59:15-21
Psalm 117,118
Revelation 2:8-17
John 4:46-54

Isaiah 59:15-21


Words

I beleive that the bible is one of the ways that God 'speaks' to me or directs my thoughts. When a read a verse that seems to jump out of the page at me I mark the and note the date. Today there was such a verse. On 31 October 2003 the verse was
"As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
I pray that God's spirit will be with my offspring throughout their lives protecting them and that they will live lives dedicated to God and his ways. My prayer today is the same as it was five years ago.

John 4:46-54

Miracles

I believe in miracles. Big ones and little ones. I believe that God brought my friend Pat back to life after her stroke, her cancer and her heart disease. By the time she died, of a different cancer she died she could walk, talk and write.
I believe that God hears my thoughts and sorts out my scheduling and when absolutely necessary finds me a parking spot - that really did happen to me once. Today I need a miracle because I believe that God wants us in a different place though life will not be easy there and for that to happen he needs to provide a somebody to want our house at a good price and without me getting it to that unlived in state that society dictates is necessary.

Ricotta Cheese Moussaka

1 eggplant for 4 people, for 2 a chinese eggplant
onion 1 or 1/2 chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
15 ozs can of tomatoes for each 2 persons
italian seasoning,
nutmeg
ricotta cheese about 2 0zs/person
egg (1 for every 2 people)
1-2 cups sour cream

Slice the eggplant and if you have time sprinkle it with salt and leave to drain for an hour then rinse off the salt, then fry it until golden. Also fry the onion and garlic until golden. If I short on preparation time I miss out these steps altogether and just put the onion and galic in a saucepan with the chopped tomatoes and italian seasonings and stew it for a while, sometimes frying the eggplant whilst the stewing is happening.
Grease and ovenproof dish.
Put a layer of half the eggplant then half the tomato mixture then spoonfuls of ricotta cheese then the rest of the tomato and finish with the remainder of the eggplant.
Now make the custard by whisking the sour cream and eggs together. Add some nutmeg and pour on top of the dish. You could sprinkle some grated cheese on top of this.
Bake about half an hour at 375 deg F - watch for the top burning

Macaroons and do not be pompous.

Malachi 3:13-4:6
Psalms 107:33-43, 108
James 5:13-20
Luke 18:9-14

Luke 18:9-14

After this reading it is difficult to say anything except help me Lord.

Today I made some macaroons. Here is my variation of the recipe.

5ozs ground almonds (almond meal)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg white
about 1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix the almonds and powdered sugar until well blended. I used a wooden spoon. add the egg white and gradually add the buttermilk. Do not let the mixture get soon soggy.
Grease a baking tray and spoon the mixture into dessert spoon piles. Bake at 425 deg F for about 15minutes but check frequently to make sure that they do not burn. Take off the tray immediately.

Apple Mist (Snow)

An almost healthy dessert.
About 1 lb of apples
1 egg white
sugar to taste

Core and slice the apples. If you like you can peel them before you slice them.
Cook the apples gently with a little water until they are soft. Mash them.
Whip the egg white until it is firm. Fold it into the apples whilst they are still warm and return to the stove of a minute or two to slightly cook the egg white. Taste and add sugar if necessary.

This is another of Auntie Clem's recipes.

Harvest- again

Psalms 26, 28
Revelation 7:9-17
Luke 10:1-16


Luke 10:1-16

One of the things that I miss about England is Harvest Festivals. Decorating the church with apples and oranges, sheaves of wheat and barley. Michlemas daisies and chrysanthemums. The smell of the fruits and flowers overpowering the normal musty smell of an ancient English church.
It is harvest time now.
Denton church will be having its Harvest Festival and then all the goods donated by young and old will be taken to the parish hall for the Harvest supper of cottage pie and mushy pies and gravy, nice and brown followed by apple pie and auction of the produce.

I know Jesus is talking about a harvest of people. I am glad that I was harvested and brought into his family and give thanks for all our wonderful gifts.

Click here to experience what I am talking about

We plough the fields, and scatter
The good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter,
The warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine,
And soft refreshing rain:

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
For all his love.


Apple Pie
1 +1/2 cup + 1/3 cup flour
1/2 stick margarine
1/3 cup shortening "Crisco" type
cold water

1 lb apples- sliced

Since we are in America it is difficult to buy real cooking apples so granny smith or cameo or gala will do and then no sugar added. With a real cooking apple it is necessary to add sugar. I used to love eating a slice of cooking apple with sugar sprinkled on it.

Rub the fats and flour together until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add cold water to mix to a dough - add slowly as you do not want the dough to be wet and sticky.
Flour a board
divide the pastry into two
roll one lot of pastry into a round about the size of the plate.

line an oven proof plate (8inch) with the pastry
place the sliced apples in the center of the plate
dampen the edge of the pastry with water
roll the other piece of pastry and place on top of the apples
seal the edge of the pastry circles by pressing with a clean finger and knock the edges together with the back of a knife.
brush the top of the pastry with eithera little milk or egg
Make a few slits in the center to apple the pie to breath
Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes until the apples are soft and the pie golden.

Dwelling Place/Recipe Toad in the hole and Yorkshire Pudding

Micah 1:1-9
Psalms 121, 122, 123
Acts 23:12-24
Luke 7:1-17

Micah 1:1-9

My house, my home, the building in which my possessions rest. Really it is little more than that unless it is a place where I can withdraw from contact with humanity.
The desert fathers spent time communicating with God in their remote and minimal housing but even the desert fathers had visitors and ventured out occasionally because they knew that in order to be true to their calling it was imperative to communicate God's love to a loveless world. Julian of Norwich shared her Showings and thus God's love in a new way to her generation even though she did not leave her dwelling place.
Perhaps my dwelling place is nothing to do with where I lay my head or keep my 'stuff' or write my blog. It is wherever I can meet with God and go forth strengthened to share his love.

And the toad lives in his hole.
Yorkshire Pudding Batter
4ozs flour - about 2/3 cup but some recipes use a whole cup which gives a slightly heavier mixture
1 egg
10 fl oz milk and water mixed (about half of each)
Put the flour in a bowl, make a well in the center and add the egg and about 1/4 of the liquid. Using a wooden spoon gradually incorporate the flour with the liquid. Beat until smooth then gradually add the rest of the liquid beating well as you go. This is how I was taught to make it. Actually I put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Place the bowl in a refrigerator for about an hour before you want to use it. (Of course I do not usually do this either)
Heat some oil in a baking tin. When the oil is hot rotate it so that the sides are coated with hot oil then pour in the batter. Bake for about 35minutes at 425 deg F.
For Toad in the Hole you will also need a pound of sausages.
Do as before but lay the sausages in the batter or you can put the sausages in and add the batter. Either way works.

Fruit

Hosea 14:1-9
Psalm 106:1-18
Acts 22:30-23:11
Luke 6:39-49


Luke 6:39-49

We had a tree grow in our compost heap. Rather like Jack's beanstalk it grew and it grew and it grew. Twenty or thirty feet tall it grew. It had large leaves. It had no noticeable flowers or fruit. I would go out and stand underneath it staring into the leafy canopy wondering what if it would ever reveal its identity to me. All I could see were leaves. That is until this year when there were avocados. When I the first one it was small and lonesome then I found some more, unfortunately hanging over the neighbors yard. But we found some more and by September they had matured into the biggest and sweetest avocados I have ever tasted. My neighbor agrees with that too!
Compost heaps are great places for discoveries. I have another little tree growing there. I think the leaves are peach or apricot. We shall have to wait and see!

Of course the real question is how long does anyone have to wait and see what sort of tree I am?

And yes you cannot see the tree in all its glory as it came down in hurricane Ike. We had a glut of avocados so there are quite a few recipes. I used avocados in stir fry, souffle, baked with vegetables and olive oil. Here is the most simple one for my quick and easy lazy way to make guacamole.

1 avocado
1 tomato
1 teaspoon Tony Chacheres Creole Seasoning

Scoop the flesh out of the avocado and smash it in a bowl
chop the tomato into small pieces, add to the avocado, mash some more add enough seasoning for your taste. You can also add lime juice if you like.

Everyday life, everyday recipe, jam tarts

Hosea 4:11-19
Psalms 101, 109:1-4, 20-30
Acts 21:15-26
Luke 5:27-39


Luke 5:27-39

Levi was sitting at his tax booth just doing his job, just as he did every working day. He was not looking for Jesus. He was not up a tree trying to see over the crowd nor was he standing with masses on the roadside trying to get a glimpse of Jesus. When Jesus passed by he stayed in his booth doing his job. Jesus was not relevant to his life.

Will I notice Jesus when he passes by? Will I respond when he calls?

Jam Tarts
1 +1/2 cup + 1/3 cup flour
1/2 stick margarine
1/3 cup shortening "Crisco" type
cold water

Rub the fats and flour together until they resemble breadcrumbs.
Add cold water to mix to a dough - add slowly as you do not want the dough to be wet and sticky.
Flour a board roll the pastry to about 1/8 inch thick.
Cut using a cookie cutter into 3inch rounds and place in greased tray
Put about 1 teaspoon of jam strawberry is good into each tart. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes until the pastry is golden.
Makes about 15 tarts

Spread- Salmon Pate recipe

Esther 8:1-8, 15-17
Psalm 88
Acts 19:21-41
Luke 4:31-37

Luke 4:31-37

37And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area.

"Spread?"
This question is a foreign language to a Brit ordering a lunch at a sandwich joint manned by Southerners. Habitually and without a word a butter goes on our bread. Thereafter other items may be "spread" on the bread, maybe mayonnaise, or jam or honey or Marmite or Nutella. The spread will probably constitute the whole filling of the sandwich though a nice roast beef sandwich might well be enhanced with mustard - on top of the butter of course.
Spread covers the surface and gets to the edges, all parts of the bread experiencing the joy of flavor. Smoked salmon pate on fresh toast though it is passable on crackers, honey joining butter to drip through the holes of a hot toasted crumpet. Toast, or crackers or crumpet are ok by themselves but add that spread and you are transported to an epicurean world.
Thus it was with Jesus. He healed the sick and provided wine for the party and food for the crowd, even money for taxes and fish for nets. The news spread, low level and thinly but it went all over the place and the people came to Jesus to experience his bounty.

Smoked Salmon (Fish Pate)
1 stick of butter or margarine - you may not use it all
1 lemon
6 ozs smoked fish
2 tablespooons cream


I have also made this with cooked salmon, both the Nova and wood smoked salmon, smoked trout, smoked whitefish and canned salmon.

Melt the butter
put the fish in a bowl
add about half the butter and beat with a mixer to mush up the fish and blend.
Keep adding butter slowly until the mixture forms a clump.
Add some lemon juice to taste
Add a tablespoon of cream and taste to see if you want to add more
Refridgerate.

Death and Chocolate not Brandy Cake

Esther 7:1-10
Psalms 116, 117
Acts 19:11-20
Luke 4:14-30

Psalms 116, 117

3 The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came upon me;
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Death binds the mind, it freezes the thinking. Even thoughts of the dead whose death is the overwhelming force in your life do not exist. One just is, trouble and sorrow are the all. Thus it was when our son died. I have heard of a mother who even had to be reminded to go to the bathroom in those days immediately after the death of her baby. Yesterday I heard of an fellow British lady whose son was killed in a car wreck, the memorial service is on Saturday.

Whenever I hear of the death of a child, be it young or old it the memories of Matthew's death flood my mind as I empathize with the parents new to the Lost Child Club. Reading Psalm 116 today reinforced the feelings of loss and emptiness. However much we believe and follow Christ or know about eternal life it does not occupy the same place in our hearts as our child.

There is always the question "How many children do you have?" I hate that one. The muscles of my abdomen and pelvis know how many though I always answer one less because to explain that one child died seems to make the hearer uncomfortable. Why, I do not know. Death is as much a fact of life as birth. So is living with death. And that we do. Eventually the chords of death loosen, the anguish becomes dim and the emotions heal from the cut as a scar changes color and heals; but I can show you the scar where my trunk lid fell on my hand 38 years ago, it is dim but it is there.

6 The LORD protects the simplehearted;
when I was in great need, he saved me.

Yes, simplehearted because that is all that there is, nothing else is in life when death overcomes it. All else dims in comparision.

7 Be at rest once more, O my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.

My friends, the members of our church family ministered to us. They brought us food and organized the funeral service. They just sat with us. They were God's love to us.

8 For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling, 9 that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

And so we do.

The living eat so here is the Chocolate brandy cake with no brandy recipe!

8 ounces (2 sticks) margarine or butter

8 ounces chocolate chips or good baking chocolate

8 ounces 'digestive bicuits' or graham crackers

2 eggs

3 ounces sugar ( 1/2 cup?)

3 ounces red cherries or drained marachino cherries

3 ounces walnut bits

Melt the chocolate and maragine together in a saucepan. I suppose it could be done in a microwave.

crush the biscuits into big chunks -not so that they are in crumbs

beat the eggs and sugar until they are pale and creamy

stir in the melted chocolate mixture and then the cherries and walnuts.

Put into a greased loaf pan or suitable dish or pan.

Store in refridgerator until set. If you need to speed this up you can put it in the freezer for a while.

Note this contains raw eggs

Drenched with Cream

Job 29:1-20
Psalm 45
Acts 14:1-18
John 10:31-42


Job 29:1-20

Freshly baked golden scones, a layer of strawberry jam and a generous spoonful of Devonshire clotted cream, though whipped cream will substitute very well. Lemon meringue pie with thick cream attempting to run over the slice, the cream slightly cracking the light and airy topping; caramel ice cream, an sensation for the tastebuds that is too exquisite to describe; cream on cake, any cake blending with decadent chocolate or rich almond; cream as an enhancing sauce on chicken or pasta. A Brit will pour cream or drop a dollop of whipped cream onto anything. And so it it was for Job all those thousands of years ago.

I was amazed when my American friend told me that the first time she had cream on a cake was in Wales when she was visiting with her husband. Imagine attaining adulthood before experiencing such a blend of flavors.

Job talks about olive oil too, another of my favorites. This brings me to Linguine Alfredo, cream and olive oil in the same recipe, what a culinary delight, quick and easy to concoct, one pot to clean up.

Linguine Alfredo
2 ounces of linguine or any pasta for each person, bowtie is another of our favorites
olive oil
cream
basil
sundried tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
pine nuts or other chopped nuts.

Boil and drain the pasta. If you train it in a colander then return the pasta to the pan. Add a little olive oil, stir and add a few tablespoons of cream until the pasta is coated leave on a low heat to get warm- a minute or two. Add chopped herbs, tomatoes, nuts. Stir and serve.

Roast Lamb

Job 22:1-4, 21-23:7
Psalms 30, 32
Acts 13:26-43
John 10:1-18


John 10:1-18
There were sheep in the field behind our last house in England. They would frolic around the field, graze on the pasture, rest in the shade of the ash tree in our garden. Moms would nurture their lambs and lambs would play with the next sheep's lamb. A bit like us really, daily just getting on with life. When the farmer came to check on them they rushed to him as sometimes he had food.
Is this my attitude to Jesus?

Roast Lamb
some leg or shoulder of lamb
rub with a cut clove of garlic
lay meat in roasting pan
add some leaves of rosemary and sprigs of mint.
cover with foil
roast 375 for 15 mins/lb but not less than 1 1/2 hours

This can aslo be used for any cut of lamb and lamb chops

Strange Ideas

Job 9:1, Job 10:1-9,16-22
Psalm 20, 21:1-7
Acts 11:1-18
John 8:12-20


Acts 11:1-18

Today I bought some Hatch Peppers. Not peppers from eggs but ppers from the Hatch area of New Mexico. A Brit buying hot peppers, a very strange idea. Quite out of character, almost as strange as a Gentile asking a Jew to dinner. Almost as strange as a Jew thinking that God would look on a Gentile as a member of the family. But God did and does.

Hatch Pepper & Shrimp
for each person
1 green onion
1/2 clove garlic
olive oil
1/2 tomato
1/2 tomato
8 shrimp
1/4 cup rice
1/2 cup water
1/8 teaspoon tumeric


Chop green onions & garlic put in frying pan (skillet)with olive oil fry gently with lid on until soft.
Chop hatch pepper & tomato.
Add rice to frying pan fry a little then add water, tumeric and chopped veg.
Cook with lid on add until rice is almost soft about 20 minutes
Peel shrimp
Add shrimp and cook until shrimp is pink about 10 mintues.
Chop parsley and add just before serving. Stir well.


leave salad dressing out to decongele.
chop some parsley if its still edible.

Check the facts

Eve's Pudding
Job 9:1-15, 32-35
Psalms 16, 17
Acts 10:34-48
John 7:37-52


John 7:37-52

In the days before we had a television we used to play Monopoly. My mother did not like playing with us. She thought we ganged up on her so that she always lost all her money and one of us had a pile so big that we could hardly count it. We lived on a house, sort of middle aged by the standards of the village which had Viking remains and this year's model homes. The deeds on our house were dated 1824. This is relevant because it explains partly why the house had nooks and crannies and no central heating.
On the specific evening we ate dinner in the kitchen and retired to the sitting room for the Monopoly entertainment and coffee. The remains of dessert, Eve's Pudding were left on the table.
As the name suggests Eve's Pudding was a dish that Eve might have concocted for the unsuspecting Adam when he tried the delights of the fobidden tree. He would not have know what was under the topping until it was too late and he had fallen in love with the delicious sweet fruit. Sliced apples are covered with a sponge mixture and baked. Pour on hot custard in winter or cream in summer.
It was winter, we ate custard and huddled in the sitting room over our game. When I came back to the kitchen to contemplate doing the dishes the topping was missing from the pud. My immediate reaction was "What's Mother been up to now?" I had hoped that we would be able to have this dessert another day. Everyone claimed innocence.
There were a two people in the house who did not speak, Bong and Jenny. Weeks later when I discovered that the 12 inch tall dog could get onto the table by jumping onto the chairs I knew who have taken the cake. Meanwhile I blamed my mother.
The Pharisees made assumptions and thus could not make a valid judgement.

Eve's Pudding
ovenproof dish
3 or 4 apples
1 egg
2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 ounces sugar
4 ounces flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons milk

Grease the dish
Core and slice the apples sufficient for a layer about 1 inch deep in the dish. If the apples are sour sprinkle with a little sugar but eating apples do not usually need any added sugar.
Mix the butter (or margarine) with the sugar until it is light and fluffy- best done with an electric mixer.
Fold in the flour and baking powder -or use the mixer on slow.
Add the milk to make a soft mixture.
Put on top of the apples
Bake 375 deg F until golden ( about 35-40 minutes).
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well.

Deep Waters & Rock

Deuteronomy 3:18-28
Psalm 18:1-20
Romans 9: 19-33
Matthew 24:1-14

Psalm 18:1-20

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

Windermere has just started to swim. I suppose with a name like Windermere one would expect him to swim though he is named after the Oscar Wilde character, Lord Windermere. Windy swims at the dog park. He is very pleased with himself. If there is a dog in the park who Windy wants to impress then he will go to the pool and swim. He usually hugs the side of the pool but recently he has been going across the pool. I have already tried to fathom the depth of the pool, wondering whether to go in myself or send Becky if Windy has problems. I do not know if the hound is worried about the depth of the water if the fear is a result of my imagination. I am not sure what I fear. Maybe that Windy will forget how to swim, certainly not that a large wave will come and bowl him over then the undertow will drag my furry baby out to sea. There is no ocean. There are no waves.
What is there to fear from the depths of the doggy pool?
Life can be scarry. We can embark on projects that are too much for us. Life and its commitments of time and money can be overwhelming. God is there and in control. I know.

And for Rocks and one of my favorite places see April 3rd.

Recipe

Rock Buns

1.5 cups of flour
3 tps baking powder
0.5 tps mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
0.5 tps ground nutmeg
1 stick margarine
1 cup raisins
0.25 cup dried peel (optional but I would not omit it)
0.5 cup sugar
1 egg
milk to mix

1. Place flour and spice in a bowl, rub in margarine until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
2. Add raisins, peel and sugar. Mix well with a spoon
3. Add egg, mix
4. Gradually add milk and mix until the mixture is a stiff dough.
5. Spoon into small piles on a greased baking tray.
6. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 deg F.

Eat with your tea!