A Peek Into My Life This Week

If you’ve followed along for the last six weeks, you’ve seen the progression of pictures from our new ladies’ ministry, Apples of Gold. Yesterday was the last of our six lessons.  What a great time we had as we learned about Hospitality.

It was my goal to teach how to prepare a meal ahead of time so that having guests on Sunday after church is do-able.  I shared recipes that can be made and frozen –

As I was encouraging the ladies to do as much ahead as possible so that they can make their guests know they planned for them, I opened the refrigerator door to pull out the Chocolate sauce for dessert.  As the door opened, a decorative glass decanter with faux apples inside came crashing down, hitting the door and breaking into lots of little sharp pieces.  I was stunned, not even knowing what happened or how.  Then, everyone stepped into motion to help pick up the bigger pieces of glass.  Thankful that my husband and son-in-law were at home, I beckoned for their help so that the ladies could go into the living room and have our book lesson.  The men were gracious to clean up all the remains of glass while we sat down to discuss hospitality. 

My first words were, “Sometimes the best laid plans fall through and you have to roll with the punches!”  It was a good lesson for all of us.  Being hospitable doesn’t mean that disasters won’t happen.  But when they do, you can’t let it upset you.  You count your blessings instead.

So if your roast burns when you have guests, or the rolls don’t rise, or the jello doesn’t set, you move on with a smile and know that it’s okay!  Make the best of it and don’t let it get you ruffled.

Since this was our last class  I’ve made two collages, first of the ladies and some of our times together.

 I don’t have pictures of the folks who helped behind the scenes, like our secretary, who made the copies of the recipes for all the ladies, and helped with other printed materials.  Thank you, Jane.

We had child-care workers – Hannah Groce and Bev Yoder, who met the moms and little ones at the church and took care of them for three hours while their mommies were having a blast, laughing, and eating yummy foods learning helpful things.  Thank you, both so much!

There were some who contributed gifts of crocheted dish cloths and fresh flowers for our tables.  We love you, Ellie and Hope!  Thank you!

This next collage is some of the food we enjoyed!  Wow.  Maybe the next class should be a fitness program!

What a special blessing this class has been for all of us.  I thank the Lord for the lessons He has taught us and for the relationships that were built during these six weeks.  I’m praying that in the early fall we’ll be able to do this again.  BCBC members, will you pray about being a mentor or a student?

In your exploits of showing hospitality have you had any “disasters”?  

With love from my country porch,

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.