Foiled Herbed Vegetables

Ingredients:

2 foot strip heavy-duty aluminum foil

1 small onion, sliced thinly

3 C. broccoli florets or entire head

2 medium carrots, sliced thinly

2 medium zucchini and/or yellow summer squash

1 t. dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic salt

2 ice cubes

2 T. butter

1 T. olive oil

Directions: Center vegetables on foil. Sprinkle with seasonings. Top with ice cubes, margarine and olive oil. Bring up foil sides. Double-fold top and ends to seal, making one large foil packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside. Grill over medium-high coals 15-20 minutes in covered grill.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Lemon Iced Tea

Ingredients:

2 large lemons

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 cups fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish

6 black tea bags

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions: Using a vegetable peeler, remove bright yellow peel from lemons.

Combine lemon peel and sugar in a medium saucepan with 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in mint. Cool to room temperature; strain.

Steep the tea bags in 4 cups of boiling water, covered, for 5 minutes. Then remove tea bags. Stir in syrup, lemon juice, 4 cups cold water, and ice cubes. Serve in tall glasses filled with ice and a few mint leaves.

Yield: Makes 8 servings (serving size: 8 ounces)

Peace in the Midst of the Storm

When the world that I've been living in collapses at my feet

 When my life is shattered and torn 

Though I'm windswept and battered, 

I can cling to His cross 

And find peace in the midst of the storm 

 

There is peace in the midst of my storm-tossed life 

Oh, there's an anchor, there's a rock to cast my faith upon 

Jesus rides in my vessel, so I'll fear no alarm 

He gives me peace in the midst of my storm 

 

When in twenty-four short hours, 

Years of living are brought to moments 

And when life's final picture is taking form 

In the dark room of my suff'ring 

There's a light comes shining through! (shining through)

 He gives me peace in the midst of my storm

Psalms 95

1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 

3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. 

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 

 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Not Forgotten

by Charles R. Swindoll Read Esther 2:1--7 

God's presence is not as intriguing as His absence. 

His voice is not as eloquent as His silence. 

Who of us has not longed for a word from God, searched for a glimpse of His power, or yearned for the reassurance of His presence, only to feel that He seems absent for the moment? Distant. Preoccupied. Maybe even unconcerned.Yet later, we realize how very present He was all along. 

Though God may at times seem distant, and though He is invisible to us, He is always invincible. 

This is the main lesson of the book of Esther. Though absent by name from the pages of this particular book of Jewish history, God is present in every scene and in the movement of every event, until He ultimately and finally brings everything to a marvelous climax as He proves Himself Lord of His people, the Jews. 

Mordecai was a descendant of one of those exiled Jews. He was a godly man, and his most significant role was his relationship to Esther. Esther, which is this young woman's Persian name, means "star." This seems appropriate, since she is truly the star of the show, the heroine of the story. The immortal, invisible, all-wise hand of God is working behind the scenes, hidden from human eyes. 

Only such a gracious and all-knowing Being would have His hand on some forgotten orphan, a little girl who had lost her mother and father and was left to be raised by her cousin Mordecai. 

There is a beautiful message here for anyone who has ever experienced brokenness, for anyone who has ever been crushed by life, for anyone who has ever felt that his past is so discolored, so disjointed, so fractured that there is no way in the world God can make reason and meaning out of it. 

We are going to learn some unforgettable lessons from Esther. Here was a little girl who must have cried her heart out at the death of her parents, bereft and orphaned, yet who, years later, would become key to the very survival of her people, the Jews. God and God alone can do such things---

He, in fact, does do such things, working silently and invisibly behind the events of history. And he is working quietly behind the scenes of your life too.

The Big Leagues

by Charles R. Swindoll Read 1 Kings 18:41--46 

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. (James 5:16b--18) 

We read about Elijah and we say, "Wow, he's in the big leagues. He's a spiritual giant. I'm a pygmy in comparison to him. He's in another world entirely." 

Not true. Look again. James doesn't say, "Elijah was a mighty prophet of God." He doesn't say, "Elijah was a powerful worker of miracles." He doesn't say, "Elijah was a model no man can match." James says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." 

That means he was flesh and blood, muscle and bone. As we're about to see, he got really discouraged, and he had some huge disappointments. He had faults and failures and doubts. He was just a man, with a nature like yours and mine. He may have been a man of heroism and humility, but let's not forget his humanity. Elijah was our kind of man! 

So, what kind of man was Elijah? Well, he wasn't afraid to square off with the king of the land or take on the prophets of Baal. The guy had guts, no question. But he wasn't too powerful to pray or too confident to wait or too sophisticated to see rain in the tiny cloud or too proud to pull up his robe and run like a spotted ape down the mountain in the rain and mud, like the roadrunner, thinking, "C'mon, Ahab . . . catch me if you can!" 

No wonder Elijah is the kind of man we admire. Isn't it exciting to know we serve the same God he served? Isn't it thrilling to think we can trust the same God he trusted? And what kind of God is that? He's the God who makes promises and keeps them.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature

2 tablespoons brewed coffee

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup good cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows

Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.

Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions: Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Faith Personified

by Charles R. Swindoll Read 1 Kings 17:24  

When the woman saw that her son was alive, she didn't see Elijah. She saw the Lord.

"Elijah, I've heard you talk about the God of heaven. I've heard you refer to Him in various ways. But now, when I look at this miracle, I know that you speak the truth." 

If you wish to be a man or woman of God, it is essential that you face the impossible situations of life with faith, as Elijah did. 

If you are a young person who desires to live a godly life that will leave its mark upon this world, you must learn early to stand in the shadow of your Savior, trusting Him to work through the trials you encounter, through the extreme circumstances you cannot handle. 

The God of Elijah is your God. He is still the God of impossible situations. He still does what no earthly individual can do. 

Trust Him to do that! Elijah approached the impossible with calmness and contentment, with gentleness and self-control, with faith and humility. 

As I've mentioned from the beginning, Elijah was heroic in exploits of faith, but he remained a model of humility. 

Examine your own life for these character traits and take them one by one before God. 

You might say to the Lord, for example, "Lord, today I want to do what You say regarding contentment; I want to have a calm and gentle spirit. I don't simply want to call myself a Christian. I want to be known as a genuine servant of God because my life demonstrates the truth I say I believe. 

Help me this day to face everything and deal with everyone with a gentle and quiet spirit. 

Help me to be content, even though things don't go my way. 

Help me today with diligence, Lord. I tend to lose sight of the goal as the day wears on. I'm a good starter, but I don't finish well. 

Help me to do a quality piece of work and not to give in to the mood of the moment. 

And, Lord, help me, when You begin to bring to pass these qualities in my life, not to call attention to them, but just to let them flow out of my life in glory to You. Help me to become Your servant, Your man, Your woman." That is how we personify a life of faith.

Neely's Wet BBQ Ribs

Recipe courtesy Patrick and Mark Neely

Sauce:

32 ounces ketchup
16 ounces water
6 ounces brown sugar
6 ounces white sugar
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
2 ounces lemon juice
2 ounces Worcestershire sauce
8 ounces apple cider vinegar
2 ounces light corn syrup
3 to 4 pounds spare ribs
2 ounces Neely's Seasoning Mix, recipe follows

Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a stockpot or large Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Reduce temperature to low and simmer, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, trim the spare ribs, removing the upper brisket bone and any excess fat; this will produce a St. Louis-style rib. Rinse the ribs and season with Neely's Seasoning, and then cover and refrigerate for 4 to 12 hours.


Neely's Seasoning Mix:

4 ounces paprika
2 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon onion powder
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Place a disposable drip pan under the grates of the barbecue and heat to high. Wipe grates with oil to prevent sticking.

When grates are hot, place ribs over drip pan, cover and reduce heat to low.
Baste ribs while cooking. Baste once 20 minutes before ribs are done, and a second time 10 minutes later.

Average sized ribs are cooked rare in 25-30 minutes, medium rare in 35-40 minutes, and well done in 45-50 minutes. These times will vary according to the grill used and the size of the ribs. Small ribs may require less cooking time, while large ribs may need a little more time on the grill. Adjust accordingly

Sunny Broccoli Pasta Salad

INGREDIENTS

Dressing

1/2 cup light mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Salad

5 oz. (1 1/2 cups) uncooked pasta nuggets (radiatore)
8 slices bacon
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 cup small cauliflower florets
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 tablespoons shelled sunflower seeds

DIRECTIONS

1. In small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients; blend with wire whisk until smooth. Refrigerate while cooking pasta.

2. Cook pasta to desired doneness as directed on package. Drain; rinse with cold water to cool. Drain well.

3. Meanwhile, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon.

4. In large bowl, combine cooked pasta, bacon and all remaining salad ingredients. Pour dressing over salad; toss gently to coat. Cover; refrigerate at least 30 minutes to blend flavors.