Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts

Monday, June 24, 2013

A Cloud of Witnesses - Joan S. Hickey, Author

Apple Pie a la Mode
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg white
Additional sugar
 
Directions
In a small bowl, combine first 6 ingredients and set aside. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat.
Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom crust; trim pastry even with edge. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edges. Cut slits in pastry.
Beat egg white until foamy; brush over pastry. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edges loosely with foil.
Bake at 375° for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on a wire rack.
Yield: 8 servings.
Top with ice cream
 
A Cloud of Witnesses – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 
***I am the seventh of seventeen children, from a working-class, Midwestern Catholic family.  In my teenage years, the tension of alcoholism and depression brought my family to its knees.  My parents fought constantly about money.  Teenage brothers and sisters, one at a time, ran away from home.  My fifteen-year-old younger sister, Lisa, got pregnant.  My eighteen-year-old older brother, Charlie, who was smoking a lot of weed and dropping a lot of LSD, got shot in the back hitchhiking home at 4 a.m. through the ghetto and became crippled.  My father’s depression and drinking led to the loss of his job.  When my family defaulted on the mortgage to our house, we sold our furniture on the front lawn in the middle of January, packed our remaining belongings into a U-Hall truck, and made our way out west for a new start.***
 
***Inside I was dying.  The alcoholic family’s code of silence and denial worked in tandem with teenage male conditioning in a toxic way.  I was deeply depressed by all that was happening at home.  I struggled with a tremendous sense of shame.  I had no way to access my own needs and feelings, much less the ability to articulate them or to ask for the help I desperately needed… This whole time was a death-of-God experience for me.  The God of my childhood, with whom I had bargained to save me and my family, was now officially dead.***
 
This is a story that is lived by many others but seldom told.  How can a person expect to live through circumstances so negative and still come out with a positive attitude?  How can they be expected to go through the heartbreaks and horror and still have Faith?  How can they be expected to even believe that the is a real God?  ‘As a young boy Jesse felt called to be a priest.  Part of this was a real sense of piety.  He truly felt a love for God.  The Holy One was the only one he could count on amidst the emotional and physical violence of his family.  At the same time, religion was a socially sanctioned way to escape from the chaos’…  Even though his faith and beliefs faltered over the years, he experienced his own ‘miracle’ that kept him seeking and eventually becoming what God meant for him to be.  He is a board-certified chaplain who works with pediatric oncology patients and their families.
 
Jesse’s story and many others are shared with us in this wonderfully uplifting book A Cloud of Witnesses.  As I read each story I allowed myself to drift into a state of ‘meditation’ and be there for each Godly experience.  The inter peace and tranquility that I received was through each testimony can only be described as beautiful.  I have several friends who are cancer patients and this is a book that I fully intend to pass along to them with hopes that they too will receive the messages being shared by those within this book who experienced them.  I can only say thank you to the author Joan S. Hickey for bringing these words together.
 

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Olivia's Gift - Nancy Carabio Belanger, Author

 
Grandma's Lime Gelatin Surprise
(Feeds a crowd!)
 
1 large or 2 small packages lime gelatine
1 can (20 oz.) pineapple pieces not drained (You need
  1 cup of liquid here.  You may have to add water to make
  1 cup of liquid)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup ginger ale
2 cups boiling water
 
Mix 2 cups boiling water with gelatin and dissolve completely.  Add softened cream cheese to ginger ale and mix well.  Add mixture to gelatine.  Add undrained pineapple and juice (1 cup), mix well.  Refrigerate until firm.
 
 
Olivia’s Gift – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 
“He set before me a book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away from the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wildflowers. And so it is in this world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.” - St. Therese
 
Olivia Thomas has loved and cherished her books of her favorite saint St. Therese of Lisieux for a long time now. She follows St. Therese’s ‘little ways’ in everything she does, or at least she tries. But things are about to change for Olivia when her family are invited to spend a whole month at her Aunt and Uncle’s house on the beach. The house is beyond beauty, in Olivia and her friend Hayley’s eyes as they see it, the ocean and the kids that reside around it. The surrounding houses as well as the people inside those houses all have one thing in common – money, and lots of it. That is except for Olivia and her family. In fact, her family may have to really start ‘pinching pennies’ due to her dad being laid off and not really sure when he’ll be called back to work. But for now, they will enjoy a full month of living in a beautiful home by the ocean.
 
Like St. Therese, Olivia strives to do what’s right. She treats people the way she would like to be treated, shares with everyone and never lies. She’s even started a project of saving her money to sponsor a young girl’s family in Guatemala. But that is all about to change as Olivia and Hayley meet their next door neighbors Brooke and Brandon. Two kids whose family has given them everything they could ever dream of – but love, attention, discipline, rules. They basically do as they please, not caring who nor what is hurt in the process. And meeting these two has put Olivia into a position of shame. Shame that her own family has no money but does have rules that in order to fit in Olivia must lie about owning her Aunt and Uncles home, traveling around the world and being a ‘little rich girl’ that goes to a private school. She must also use the money she has saved for her project to buy things she doesn’t really need just to fit in. But we all know that sooner or later our lies and actions catch up with us. So what does Olivia do to mend her ways? That’s a question you’ll have to find out by reading Olivia’s Gift.
 
Olivia’s Gift is a book that EVERY young girl needs to read. The positions Olivia and Hayley find themselves in are positions I feel sure they can all relate to. I know I could and I’ve been grown for a long time. These situations never change from generation to generation. They are always there and hopefully Olivia’s Gift is a book that will help young girls understand the ‘whys’ as well as the’ what to dos’ when faced with the decisions Olivia had to face. I highly recommend that every parent with a daughter of reading age present her with a copy of Olivia’s Gift. I also recommend that the parents read it too so they can be there to help their daughter through this hurdle in their life.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

One Rainy Summer - B. J. Robinson, Author

 

Squirrel, Rabbit, Shrimp, Sausage, Chicken Jambalaya
From the Kitchen of B. J. Robinson.
One rabbit or four to six squirrels
Two cups long-grain white rice
One onion
Two bay leaves
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt to taste or salt substitute
½ tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
½ tsp. Kitchen Bouquet
Tony Chachere's to taste
1 clove garlic
1 bell pepper
One large pot
Brown or sauté meat in a small amount of oil. Wash rice and add two cups with four cups of water. Dice onion and garlic and add. Add other seasonings to taste. Add others or delete ones you may not like. This is a catch-all recipe for a one-pot meal and types of meat may be substituted. You can combine smoked sausage and chicken or use only smoke sausage or only chicken. Sausage and shrimp or shrimp only is delicious. I think you could use this recipe with most any meat and be happy with the outcome. The recipe is flexible and adds variety to meals with meat of choice. You may also add a small amount of barbecue sauce or tomato sauce if you like it. Basically any seasoning you like may be used for seasoning to taste.
When my four children were young, I cooked many huge pots of jambalaya. It's so easy cooking everything in one pot. Cover with a lid and let simmer until all the water cooks out of the rice. I usually cook it on medium for a few minutes and when most of the water has cooked out, I turn the burner to two and finally to off and let the last small amount of water cook out while the burner is turned off. I have to be honest. I am a cook who doesn't really measure when I cook jambalaya. I use a sprinkle of that and a pinch of this, but I tried to estimate for your benefit. You can use boneless skinless chicken, but I used a whole fryer when I cooked it with chicken. Have fun. Be creative. Make it your own recipe. Surprise your famly with a new one-pot meal that is quick and easy to prepare. I cooked it on the stovetop, but you could probably use a crock pot or an oven casserole with some experimenting. I use long-grain white rice, but you could substitute brown rice. Now, I'm hungry for some good ole Louisiana jambalaya.
 
One Rainy Summer – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish

Quietly, I dragged a chair over the soft beige carpet, took my seat, and pulled aside the curtain. Granny stood at the bottom of the ladder with a man a full head taller, and the two of them headed for the woods on the side of the house. He held her hand, pulled her along after him, and focused a flashlight on the wooded trail that led to the canal. Granny, don’t you know you’re too old to be sneaking out windows and climbing ladders? What in the world’s going on? Granny was a grown woman. Why was she sneaking around with this mystery man? What was going on? Why was my honest, respectful, Bible-reading granny slipping out her bedroom window in the middle of the night like some teenager breaking curfew? I was determined to find out, so I jumped back into my bed and grabbed the heavy volume of Walden. No time to waste. Something was going on, and I knew this book and Granny’s journals held the answer. I made up my mind that this was one puzzle I’d stick with and solve.

After her father's death, Hope and her mother went to live with her Granny in the beautiful Sunshine State of Florida. She loved it. Her best friend Matthew lived next door and the two of them spent hours in the woods, swamp and along the canals and lake. So when she spotted Granny sneaking out one night she knew it would be her job, with Matthew’s help, to find out the secrets that Granny had been keeping. Her first clue was found inside her Granny’s volume of Walden where she had hidden a picture of herself and a handsome man from earlier years and written notations within the margins of the pages. Her biggest clue came when she and Matthew were out searching for the man Granny had slipped out with. After finding him she discovered him to be the same man in the picture hidden in the book. So, who is he and why must they slip around to see each other. Who are they hiding from?

Hope ends up opening up more doors than she ever expected when she learns the true identity of Granny’s special friend Sandy. She also finds that the person Granny is apparently hiding Sandy from is Hope’s own mother. Now she has to find out why.

One Rainy Summer is a book of true love and God’s way of making everything turn out just the way it was supposed to. If you don’t believe in ‘things happening for a reason’ this book just might make you believe. The trust in God that Hope, Matthew, Granny and Sandy have for bringing happiness and love to everyone is written in a beautiful way. And as the story unfolded I couldn’t help but feel the love of the characters as well as the love God bestowed on each of them. A truly beautiful book.
B. J. Robinson makes her home in the Sunshine State, Florida, where she lives with her husband and pets. She's blessed with children and grandchildren, and Jesus is her best friend. Visit BJ Robinson at http://barbarajrobinson.blogspot.com and check out her available books through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo, and Christianbooks.com.
 
 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Gabriel's Chalice - Frank A. Ruffolo, Author

 
Oven Potatoes with Fennel
(One of Frank's Favorites)

20 ounces Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes
1 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and cut in 1" slices
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced finely
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste


Preheat oven 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine potatoes, fennel, onion, parsley, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange mixture in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake, turn occasionally, until potatoes are crisp on all sides, 30 35 minutes. Then Serve.

 
Basil Butter
1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup (or 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
 
Stir basil leaves and lemon juice into butter in a small bowl. Spoon into serving container. Store, tightly covered, in refrigerator.
Spread on bread or place a pat on grilled steak, grilled chicken or hot vegetables.
 
 
Gabriel’s Chalice – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat; Think With Your Taste Buds; A Book and A Dish
 
“This is CNN…good morning. We have an abundance of international news to cover today. We will start with Fred Wallace, just outside of Yellowstone National Park. Fred?” “Good morning. As you may remember, Yellowstone Park Rangers closed the park to the public last week. Increased seismic activity, the silencing of Old Faithful, and the sudden draining of Yellowstone Lake have volcanologists very worried. They are monitoring the buildup of underground pressure at the Old Faithful site and also at the now empty lakebed. They fear that an eruption is imminent. They have moved all reporters fifteen miles away from the park.” “Across the globe, things are far from quiet. In Iceland, Eyjafjallojokull is still erupting, and Mount Pinatubo and Mount Fuji in the western Pacific also continue to be active. The Illyinsky Volcano in Kamchatka, Russia, is now spewing ash, and just this morning, Mount Erebus in Antarctica came alive, sending yet another large pillar of ash into the upper atmosphere. With Vesuvius threatening to erupt in Italy and the increasing seismic activity in South American and Africa, we may be in for a very long winter due to all the ash in the sky.”
 
The year is 2028 and these are just a few of the problems earth seems to be experiencing. The CDC has been dispensed to Russia where a fungus that started by infecting the potatoes has not gone airborne and is now infecting humans. The CDC estimated that over 50,000 people had contracted the disease with a death rate of 40% of those who are affected. This figure will eventually rise into the millions. Then start the miracles. At the space moon lab, Dr. Raphael (Matt) Matteo who holds of a double doctorate in geology and volcanology with NASA, along with fellow crew members from the Moon Base Challenger find themselves involved in the discovery of a cave with an alter that has a chalice sitting on it. As the Angel Gabriel appears to them, they know that the chalice must be taken to earth in hopes of bringing its people together before it’s too late.
 
 
I received this book several months ago but when my computer was hacked I thought it was lost. Last week I finished a great accomplishment that took me 2 ½ years to complete. I had promised God and myself that I would read the Bible from beginning to end and Wednesday I finished. On Wednesday morning before I finished reading the Bible I found Gabriel’s Chalice. I picked it up and read the 1st page. It was Revelation 21:10-11 “In the spirit, he carried me to the top of a very high mountain, and showed me Jerusalem, the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God. It had all the glory of God and glittered like some precious jewel of crystal-clear diamond.” The 21st chapter was the chapter I read on Tuesday night before picking. As I read page after page of Gabriel’s Chalice I remembered more and more of what I had read in the Book of Revelations. It was almost as if this book was explaining what I had read and it was meant to be read after my Bible reading.
 
 
I would like to make a suggestion to everyone. Read Revelations and then read Gabriel’s Chalice. I truly feel that both books will give you a message that you just might need to complete your own life.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Greatest Book Ever Written


About 2 1/2 years ago I was doing a book signing at one of our local Christian book stores.  When the signing was over I decided to just look around the store before leaving.  I ended up finding a book I couldn't leave without.

My Dad was always a religous person at heart and before he passed he became even more so.  He told me once that he had read the Bible 3 times and that he found and learned something new with each read.  I had never read the Bible from beginning to end so I decided that if Dad could do it 3 times I could do it at least once and I did. 

I made God and myself a promise that I would read a chapter each night no matter what.  In the 2 1/2 years it took me to keep this promise I missed 1 night and to this day I can't remember why.  I took my Bible with me no matter where I went.  When I went to Utah to promote my book my Bible went with me.  When I went to Florida for the release of one of my books, my Bible went too.  No matter what time I came in at night I made sure I read my chapter before going to bed.  I completed my promise on September 19, 2012 and feel very proud of myself.  This is an accomplishment that not everyone can claim and I'm glad to be able to include myself in that group.

I grew up going to church and believing but most of my knowledge came from Bible stories that were told and movies that were made about these stories.  Through my reading I've learned there is so much more.  And that added knowledge has made me want to search deeper.  I'm now reading a book titled The Life of Jesus which with it's history of Jeresuleum as well as Christ is becoming a very enjoyable book that is answering my desire to search deeper.

My challange to you is this.  Pick up your Bible and start on page 1.  Make a promise to read a chapter a night and in 2 1/2 years, write your own review for the Greatest Book Every Written - the Bible.

 
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