Gleanings of Wheat

The past couple of days we have had temperatures in the low 30s, obviously this weather isn't condusive to growing a veggie garden so I'm currently in my "strip the vines of anything usable and either cook or freeze it" mode. I have literally dozens of green tomatoes and bell peppers to deal with. Guess it is a good thing I like fried green tomatoes!

I applied for membership at the church I've been attending since June. A big step for me, but this place just feels like home. As part of the process I had a meeting with the deacons after service this morning and tonight I'm supposed to give my testimony so they can vote on whether I will be accepted into membership or not. One problem, I have a HUGE fear of public speaking...heck, even speaking in a small setting with three men in the room makes me incredibly nervous. I knew when I applied that I would have to do this, and part of me hesitated turning in the application because I'm so scared. But I love this church, the kids love this church, and I feel that if I'm going to ask these people to invest in my life then I need to be willing to invest in the life of the church. Long story short, I'm proceeding after a lot of prayer, and I'd appreciate it if you would pray for me this evening that I would be able to rest in the grace of God and share my story. Than...

I found a neat method for tenderizing cheap steaks, but I don't want to link to it because the post is pretty vulgar. If it weren't so bad I'd link to it because the author of the blog actually created neat little images to explain how the salt works on the meat. Too bad. Here's how it went down: 1 steak, 1 1/2 inches thick or more per person kosher salt (it has to be kosher salt b/c it has large grains) Place the steak on a plate and COAT in salt. Seriously, cover it completely in salt. Let it sit for an hour and then rinse off the salt and pat dry. Preheat the oven to 350 and place steaks in a baking pan and cook for 30 minutes to heat the steaks evenly, remove steaks from baking pan and place in preheated skillet to give the outside some nice color. **Notes** If you mix some seasonings with the salt the inside of the steak will get the flavor as the salt works its magic. I used garlic. Adjust baking time in accordance with how rare you like your steak.

Recently I uploaded tons of sermons to my mp3 player. Some of them, many of them, were from the 2007 Desiring God Conference and others were from my church and still others were rather randomly found but Biblically sound. I hadn't listened to most of them but planned on doing so in the near future. I threw them all in no particular order in my sermon playlist and put the mp3 player in the car for use at school. The first thing I listened to was a sermon Doug gave forever ago that I forgot I had downloaded (great job Doug!), then a message on Biblicial femininity by Carolyn Mahaney which was a great follow up to reading her book and I was very challenged by it. It took me two and a half days to get through these messages, simply because I don't have much time right now, but it was well worth the effort. Really, not much effort involved. I put a pair of headphones on and hit play, but you know how it goes. Yesterday morning I began listening to Helen Roseveare's message ...

Love and Olive Oil hit another home run with tons of cupcakes! Here is their Chocolate Hazelnut Kahlua ones. 1 cup soy milk 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup canola oil 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 tablespoon instant hazelnut coffee powder 1 tablespoon kahlua For frosting: 1/4 cup margarine 1/4 cup tofutti cream cheese (or regular cream cheese) 4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate, melted 2 cups confectioner’s sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons instant hazelnut coffee powder 2 teaspoons kahlua Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line pan with cupcake liners, and oil top of pan to prevent overflow from sticking. Combine the soy milk and vinegar and stir well. Set aside, mixture will curdle. Stir together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl, combine soy milk mixture, oil, sugar, va...

I found an interesting article at Newsweek today. I have always liked commas, but I seem to be in a shrinking minority. The comma is in retreat, though it is not yet extinct. In text messages and e-mails, commas appear infrequently, and then often by accident (someone hits the wrong key). Even on the printed page, commas are dwindling...[T]he comma's sad fate is, I think, a metaphor for something larger: how we deal with the frantic, can't-wait-a-minute nature of modern life. The comma is, after all, a small sign that flashes PAUSE. It tells the reader to slow down, think a bit, and then move on. We don't have time for that. No pauses allowed. In this sense, the comma's fading popularity is also social commentary.

One if my favorite fall treats are apples drenched in stuff. I got this one from Emeril . 4 firm beautiful, unblemished Red Delicious apples 4 wooden sticks, (recommended: Ppopsicle Sticks Vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 cup light corn syrup 1/2 cup water 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 cups toasted sweetened coconut flakes Wash and dry the apples, being sure that they are firm and do not have any bruised spots. Remove the stems from the apples and insert the wooden sticks into the core of the apple to form a handle. Place a silpat on a small baking sheet or cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil and brush with vegetable oil. In a 1-quart saucepan, place the sugar, syrup and water. Heat over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Cook the sugar mixture, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 290 degrees F. Remove the pan from the heat. Swirl the allspice and cinnamon into the syrup and, working quickly, dip the apples ...

When zeal for God becomes more than our persuasion, more than our present argument, more than the methodology we follow, more than the opinion of those whom we admire, more than an idea we understand - and instead becomes zeal for God Himself - such that we see our insignificance, and his infinite worth in the same glance, and we explode in joy at the rightness of that, wishing we might could be less than nothing in order to magnify God's glory. The greatest crime against creation is that on account of sin it no longer reflects (clearly) the glory of God. - From Doulogos

I got this on e from All Recipes. Great, light, just watch the onion as it can over power everything. 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed 1/4 cup onions, diced 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 12 (6 inch) corn tortillas 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped jalapeno pepper sauce, to taste 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). 2. In a medium bowl, mix avocados, onions, and garlic salt. 3. Arrange corn tortillas in a single layer on a large baking sheet, and place in the preheated oven 2 to 5 minutes, until heated through. 4. Spread tortillas with the avocado mixture. Garnish with cilantro and sprinkle with jalapeno pepper sauce.

I've been blogging now for over three years, if you subtract the break I took it'd be more like 2-2.5 years but that is still a good chunk of time spent. As I've said before, I enjoy blogging because it gives me a place to organize and work through things I'm thinking about. Back in August I began my first semester at the local junior college after taking quite a bit of time off upon my graduation from high school. During that time I always wanted to go to school, but various things kept me from doing it. So, it was with great prayer and consideration that I entered into this. This semester much of my time has been taken up with Math and English. I despise Math. Seriously. So long as I can balance my check book I really don't care about numbers. I've got a great teacher though, so it hasn't been completely intolerable. English, on the other hand, has always been a class I've loved. I like to read, I like to interact with what I've read, I like to wri...

Fried chicken , Giada style. The lemon juice gives the chicken a nice citrus-y taste to it, which makes it more interesting than traditional fried chicken. 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons, depending on size) 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 (3 1/2-pound) whole frying chicken, cut into 8 pieces 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 cups olive oil (approximate amount) 1 cup all-purpose flour (approximate amount) Lemon wedges, for garnish 6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, for garnish In a large casserole dish, whisk the lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt to blend. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day, turning the chicken pieces occasionally. In a large cast iron frying pan or other heavy frying pan, add enough oil to come 1/3-inch up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, drain the marinade from the chicken. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with pepp...

Yesterday between classes I came home to eat lunch and had a treat. I was able to watch Every Day Italian for more than 10 minutes, without interruption. Giada was doing southern cooking with an Italian flare. Very interesting. I've got the chicken cooked up and will post the recipe later this week. But this looked really interesting. 5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 2 tablespoons butter 2 ounces pancetta, chopped 1 link (about 6 ounces) spicy Italian sausage, casing removed 3/4 cup finely chopped onion 1 cup chopped red bell pepper 4 ounces button mushrooms, coarsely chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or medium-grain white rice 3/4 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sausage and sau...

I was over at Doug's blog earlier and he mentioned that when he began attending a church recently he had 9 Marks in his mind as a mental check list. It is an interesting post , you should check it out. After reading his post I figured I'd go see what this checklist was exactly. Turns out what I had in my head over the summer as I tried out a new church was basically this list...only I didn't realize it. Well, I decided to do a search to see how many churches in my area are listed on the website. I expected only to see a handful, I know most of the churches in my area and they don't fit the bill. I was disappointed/ surprised/ not really surprised to see that only one church came up within a 10 mile radius of every zip code I've lived in since moving to Illinois. It is the church I've been attending for a few months now, and am currently considering membership. When I widened the search to fifty miles only four churches ended up on the list. That's when I w...

I've been thinking about this blog a lot as of late and how I can best serve others. In truth, when I started this blog I was only mainly thinking of myself. I love to cook, but I hate cookbooks. I never can seem to remember what book I found a certain recipe in, which definitely doesn't make preparing meals any easier. I started this blog so that I could collect recipes I've tried and enjoyed in one place. And it certainly is fulfilling that purpose nicely, but I've been mulling some things over lately which may effect the way this blog runs. I used to have another blog , but I let that one die (in part) because there were somethings doctrinally I needed to sort out as well as making sure I was allowing God to work the things I was posting in my heart. There was/ is a real danger in digging into the Word and not allowing it to manifest change in my heart, and for a while I needed to step back and review that. Since I shut that one down I've missed sharing my rambl...

Inspired by various blogs I read, most recently Matt/Pedalboy/Conrad . I grew up in Florida, a good chunk of that time was spent in the Bonita Springs/ Naples area. While I haven't been back in nearly 10 years there are still things I miss. So here you go: Good things about Florida Being 3 minutes from the nearest beach Swamp buggy races Civil War Reenactments The Everglades The lack of snow The fresh seafood The awesome high school marching bands The lack of snow Throwing rocks at alligators Seeing wild boars...in the wild Dolphins coming up to the boat The humidity being justified since we were SURROUNDED BY WATER The lack of snow Good things about the Chi-town area Tong's Tiki Hut An actual fall season Portillos Finishing high school at the original location of the nation's oldest junior college The friends I've made Being called by Christ will always be linked to my living up here, I think Lots of nature preserves to wander around in Playing in the leaves with my k...

I think I'm going to make pancakes just so I can try this one with the kids! In fact, I think I will for lunch. The recipe for the pancakes is here . 1 cup milk 3/4 cup whole wheat berries 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 eggs dash of salt peanut butter raisins apple chunks shredded coconut 1. Using a glass blender (will scratch plastic), blend milk and wheat berries for 4 minutes on high. (Stop blender intermittently if you're concerned about over-working your blender.) 2. Add baking powder, brown sugar, eggs, and salt to the blender. Replace lid and blend for 1 minute on low. 3. Spoon batter onto a hot greased griddle. Flip pancakes once during cooking (pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles on top stay open). Cook pancakes for several minutes, until done. To assemble the pizza: 1. First, I re-warmed the leftover pancakes individually in our toaster oven (they were too large for the regular toaster). 2. Then I spread peanut butter over the hot pancake. ...