Last weekend when I was walking early in the morning, I passed this cute little cow.  It stopped eating long enough to give me the once-over and allow me to snap her picture, then proceeded to finish its breakfast.

I smiled, spoke a greeting to her, and thought of another cow that I’d seen just the night before as we headed home.  Its head was poked through the fence where it was munching on the one bunch of grasses just outside the pasture where she was corralled.  I heard my husband chuckle as we passed. My thoughts were, “Silly cow,  why can’t you just eat all that good grass around you?”  Her head was twisted uncomfortably under the barbed wire fence in order to have the snack outside the safe field.  That cow probably had ten thousand good pieces of grasses to feed on, but she chose the one kept from her.

In my morning walking time, I was listening to a song entitled, “Hide Away in the Love of Jesus.”  The last chorus says,

After passing the cow, I thought about how often I “stick my head through the fence” to gnaw on the “one bunch of grasses” that my loving Father has removed from me.  He doesn’t want me nibbling on it.  It could be a past grievance that will destroy me if I chew on it.  Or it might be a sin that is under the blood.  The Lord says, “Keep your head over here in the ten thousand joys of my presence!  Don’t chew on things that won’t draw you to me.”

How much sweeter to think on the ten thousand joys than the one bitter thought!  Maybe keeping the picture in my mind of the silly cow with her head twisted unnaturally will remind me to keep my head where it belongs…in the love and joys of Jesus.

Do you tend to stick your head out there to gnaw on things you shouldn’t be thinking about?  Things that will hurt you?  See the barbed wire fence of your Savior restricting you from those thoughts, and “chew” on His goodness instead!

With love,

If you say, “You’re invited for dinner” you’ll probably get a happy groan or two.  Say, “You’re invited for dinner and we’re having Grilled Pizza,” and folks will come running!  Trust me.  I speak from experience!  I recently invited “someone” to dinner and they said they’d think about it.  I told them I was grilling pizza and the immediate response was, “Okay!  I’m coming!”  

It works.  It works because it’s not just pizza – it’s pizza baked on the grill!  The grill gives it great extra flavor that puts it over the top!  

This recipe is fantastic because most homemade doughs take f o r e v e r  to make.  This one is mixed up, kneaded for 5 minutes and is then ready to be rolled out and placed on the grill!  You bake up the shells, which takes about 10 minutes.  Then you top the pizzas and place them back on the grill to melt the cheese.  Here’s what the final outcome looks like…

Could you say “no” to that?  See what I mean?  Grilling pizza with company is just fun!  Everyone gets involved and it makes for a great time!

Look up close at the crust:

Browned, a little charred from the grill and crispy…that’s the result of a grilled pizza!

Here’s the simple recipe:

Grilled Pizza 
Ingredients

Original recipe makes 8 pizzas

 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
 1 envelope Fleischmann’s® Pizza Crust Yeast
 1 tablespoon sugar
 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
 1 1/3 cups very warm water (120 degrees to 130 degrees F)*
 1/3 cup oil
 Additional flour for rolling
 Additional oil for grilling
 Pizza sauce
Other toppings as desired

 Shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Start charcoal fire or preheat gas grill to medium-high heat.

Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough. Dough should form a ball and will be slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic but not sticky, about 5 minutes.

Divide dough into 8 portions. Pat or roll dough on a well-floured counter to about 8-inch circles; they do not need to be perfect.

Brush both sides of crust with additional oil. Using hands, lift each crust carefully and place on grill. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until bottom is lightly browned and top looks set. Using long handled tongs, remove crust from grill, grilled side up, to a platter or baking sheet.

Lightly add sauce and top the grilled side of each pizza crust. Excess sauce or toppings makes the pizza hard to handle. Repeat with remaining pizzas.

Carefully slide each pizza onto the grill. Cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes until bottom of crust is browned and cheese is melted. Remove from grill and serve immediately.

I have tried two different pizza sauces.  Here are both recipes:

Pizza Sauce
Ingredients
2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce
1 can (12 ounces) tomato paste
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 to 2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine tomato sauce and paste. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool.
Pour into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Freeze for up to 12 months. Yield: about 4 cups.

Tomato Topping Sauce

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 tsp pepper
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
10 ounce sliced kasseri cheese

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to pan. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt,  1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic, bay leaf, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until thick. Remove from heat; discard bay leaf.

This is a a great idea on a hot day when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.  Make a batch of the first sauce and freeze so it’ll be ready the day you want to skip cooking inside.  I’ve serve it twice to guests in the last week and everyone gave it rave reviews!  

Have you ever grilled pizza?  Will you try this?

With love from my country kitchen,

I’ve recently started reading a book with friends for a group study.  I have been eager to read this, but hadn’t taken the time to do so.  The book is entitled, Choosing Gratitude, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

My eagerness to read a book on gratitude came from who knows where?  Maybe the perky cover with the daisies drew me in.  Or maybe, just maybe it was the Spirit of God telling me I needed it.  Okay.  I’m going with choice number two.  It’s obvious.  It was in the introduction that the Spirit’s conviction began (who gets convicted in a book’s intro?! One who is guilty!).  Here’s where it began…

“When asked by C.J. Mahaney about areas where he was vulnerable to discouragement in ministry Dr. Cruden responded, “Honestly, I don’t often become discouraged.  I continue to see evidence of God’s work in my life and the lives of those around me, and I am simply overwhelmed with thankfulness to Him.”

I don’t know about you, my friend, but I am too prone to look at what isn’t happening rather than what is!  Isn’t that the devil’s tool?  One looks at the rotten attitude of their children and will focus, hammer, and plant themselves right there, rather than praising them and the Lord for the step of immediate obedience or brave decision to do right.  We may meditate on the one negative comment our husband made, and completely miss the compliment.  The critic in our life at work or in the ministry we’re involved in blows us away, when we know that the only right judge of our motives and heart is the Lord, and that by God’s grace, there are many who are being impacted as a result of His Word going out!

What a sweet lesson I’ve learned – to distract discouragement in my own heart, I must purposefully and intentionally look for how God is at work in my life and others around me!  This will cause gratitude to swell in my heart, leaving no room for the heavy, weighty plague of discouragement!

Have you read Choosing Gratitude?  How are you seeing God at work in your life and others’ lives today?  Rejoice and be grateful!

With a thankful heart,

A Peek into My life this week:

If you could have peek in from the porch yesterday you would’ve seen us enjoying the next to last lesson in our Apples of Gold mentoring group!  Every single week together has been so much fun!  Our hearts seem to get knit closer with each cooking lesson, each time around the Word, and each lunch shared.  I love it when the ladies are able to hang around a bit afterwards and share their hearts, ask questions, and just visit.  I’m going to miss these weekly sessions when they’re over!

This week was all about “Rolling in the dough.”  Who doesn’t like to do that, especially when it involves homemade pizza and an Apple Tart?!

Here’s a peek into our time together:

Click to enlarge

The first picture shows the appetizer one of the mentors brought – Bruschetta.  It was delicious!  The first task at hand was rolling out homemade pizza dough (picture 2), then cooking them on the grill (pictures 3, 4 and 5).  The gas grill gave the dough great flavor.  We each rolled out our own pizza dough, then added the toppings of our choice.

Our lesson was on purity.  These were such good reminders of the warnings and guidance from the Scriptures to stay pure in heart and life!

Be sure to check here on Monday for the recipe and instructions for the Grilled pizzas.  It’s so much faster than most doughs!  I have some of the it in the freezer, testing to see if it will bake up well after being frozen.  I’ll let you know the results on Monday’s post!

In the meantime, what’s been happening near your porch this week?

With love from my country porch,