Saturday January 23 2016  REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS

 

Oh my!  What a list of things to do.  I am going from one task to the next slowly and gently.  I have long ago decided that when I retired I was going to quit rushing.  I lived like that for so long that it is a difficult habit to break, but I’m making progress.  I love not rushing.  I do everything, evenly, methodically, with concentration and much enjoyment.  Everything from cleaning vegetables, cutting up huge heads of Broccoli and Cauliflower into clean, bite size pieces.  There is actually an art to it. 

I see food as art.  The beauty of it just amazes me.  I find the creative detail that God designed in food to be absolutely, amazingly beautiful!  Yes, even fresh broccoli and cauliflower.  My broccoli is air drying before I mix it with the cauliflower to create a wonderful salad.  The broccoli and cauliflower salad is probably something most everyone in our society, who attends pot lucks, have made or at least tasted.  It is one of my favorites.  I have the red onion chopped fine and the raw sunflower seeds and craisins in their jars standing at attention waiting to be added to the vegetables in a few moments.  I use Veganaise which is a vegetarian substitute for mayonnaise.  It has healthy oils in it and is delicious.  It is made with grapeseed oil.

Next on my agenda is to prepare my pomegranate by deseeding it so I can make it into a salad tomorrow.  My pomegranate salad recipe was given to me by my friends Lana and Tim.  Tim is one of the most excellent creators of delicious foods. Over the years his recipes (most of them originally his) have become tried and true staples on our table.  Back to the pomegranate.  Just in case you don’t know it, not only are pomegranates a work of art unto themselves, but it is a work of art to deseed them without causing damage to each little seed.  I just went into my kitchen and dug out the instruction pamphlet on how to “do it properly”.  I took a picture that you can enlarge so that you can see how to deseed a pomegranate. Over the years I have revised the instructions on how to deseed a pomegranate to better suit me. For starters I don’t cut into the seeds themselves, but just barely cut off the top.  I also cut a small portion of the bottom off.  I do score it on the ridges of seeds and in the valley of the seeds on the outside of the peel.  I cut a little niche out of the center top that is open so my thumb can grab hold and pull it apart as it breaks into several sections.  I deseed section by section.  Use your thumb to gently push against the direction the seed grows.  It takes 12 to 15 minutes for me to do an entire large pomegranate. 

Okay, here is the recipie for POMEGRANATE SALAD

1 large pomegranate deseeded

1 very large or two normal sized honey crisp apples (my favorite).  It is best to use a firm, tart apple.

Cut the apple into little cubes. Green apples like pippin or granny smith can be peeled or left unpeeled.

4 large stalks of celery diced very small

Gently mix the above three ingredients together in a bowl and douse liberally with a favorite balsamic vinegar.  I use Raspberry Balsimic or Fig Balsamic. 

Refrigerate

It lasts several days in a refrigerated closed container. 

WHEN SERVING, GARNISH WITH WALNUTS.  THE FLAVOR IS WONDERFUL WITH THE NUTS.

I love to eat the salad plain or served on top of a green salad.  It is also a favorite on my morning yogurt.

So, if you’ve ever wondered what people do with those hard, red, beautiful fruits, now you know at least one delicious recipe.  Pomegranates come into season in November and you may be able to buy them through January, if you are lucky.  I buy them by the flat. I wrap them in newspaper and put them in the bottom crisper of the fridge.  They last for weeks that way.  But check the wrapped pomegranates often.  Sometimes a part of them will soften and is not good, but usually there is a portion of it that is still fresh and beautiful.

Well, enough of food.  That is where my mind is today.  As I write Dave is dusting the living room.  He didn’t get it done yesterday, nor the vacuuming.  But, we will have it done by bedtime.  Slowly and deliberately, from one task to the next, in peaceful quiet, we will finish.  What a great place to work!

 

REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS

By Kathleen Martens

January 23, 2016

 

Never take for granted

God’s beautiful food.

Just its beauty and its touch

Puts me in a great mood.

 

Pause to take a look

Of the intricacy of its plan,

It is so amazing

It could never be designed by man.

 

Take for instance a raspberry’s

Tiny liquid cells.

Each one full of juice,

Our hunger pains to quell.

 

We can thank God

For bananas, apples and grapes.

The original fast foods,

For both man and apes.

 

And the list is endless

Of foods God has designed.

He gave such bounty to the world,

Because He’s loving and so kind.

 

So never forget to say thank you,

With a prayer of grace.

When you sit down to partake

At your home place.

 

There are many who do not have

What we expect each day.

So if you are one of the blessed

Remember to give thanks today.

 

My kitchen beckons me!

Have a great day today.  God bless you!

 

Part 6:

8 Keys to Finding God’s Will For Your Life

6) Listen to God’s Spirit.  I experienced a major turning point in my own prayer life when I learned simply to shut up while I was praying. That may sound odd to you, and it seemed odd to me at first.

You see, I used to do all the talking when I prayed to God. But then, several years ago, I read Bill Hybel’s book, Too Busy Not to Pray. That book completely changed the way I approached God through prayer. Since reading that book, I have added a significant component to my prayer life: listening. I take time to listen to what God might have to say to me.

Practically, the way I go about this is to bring a notepad with me when I sit down to pray. Then I write at the top of several pages things like the following:

• “What is the next step in my career?”
• “What is the next step in my ministry?”
• “What is the next step for my family?”
• “What is the next step for my marriage?”
• “What is the next step in my education?”
• “What is the next step in my finances?”

During my prayer time, I meditate on questions such as the above. Often, God will start flooding my heart with ideas and information regarding one or more of those questions. I write as fast as I can as He speaks to my heart. What a glorious experience that is to sense His Spirit on me, guiding my thoughts and words.

Through experiences like this, He has shown me many times with great clarity what His will is for my life. I long for those experiences when He speaks to me like that. Those times are truly life changing.

John 10:27

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/blogs/chris-russell/8-keys-to-knowing-god-s-will-for-your-life.html