Sore amazed

Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. (John 13:3-5)

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)
-----

And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch. And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. (Mark 14:33-35) 



And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him... (John 19:17-18)



The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then cometh Simon Peter... and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then... went away again unto [his] own home.

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,

And... she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20)


-----

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)



He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days' prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory.

Who His own self bare our sins

“And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he sufferth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.” (1 Nephi 19:9)

Prophecy: But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;

and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Fulfillment: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,

that we, being dead to sins,

should live unto righteousness:

by whose stripes ye were healed. I Peter 2:24

Pride and joy

I've been thinking and thinking how pride - we've been warned against it our whole lives if we hope to thin the veil, come close to God, and have joy here and now - is what we humans experience as entitlement:

• We reserve the right to be, and
• Deserve to be as we are;
• To preserve what makes us us.

(It's deep.)

Our right to ourselves, and what's deeply rooted in us. Where we're fixed. Where we hold our ground.

I'm a tree with a sizable root, that unseen system preserving and entitling my human-ness, my me-ness here and now. It's that I feel warned against. (That's pride, I'm thinking!) So I'm looking for where in me the axe should fall for that to be stripped away.

Not in my branches but at the root of the tree. 

My right to myself, hmm.

Thinking and thinking about that.

It's deep.

Tell about it

I've been swinging these past few days between humming loudly to myself "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and laughing out loud at Dr. Seuss ditties; savoring Mary Oliver poems and Elisabeth Elliot sayings (my goodness I love this dear woman's life and work) and giggling over Dad's jokes at the table; listening to my sister Sarah's thoughts on sacrifice and family and being absorbed in a Charles Todd murder mystery, second in a week, a hefty hardback... and sighing in satisfaction over the moral of the story at the end of each chapter in "Be the Miracle," Regina Brett's second book.

I've been perusing recipes and practicing (no kidding, three tries) strawberry lemonade cupcakes; and've found a carrot soup recipe that looks by the ingredients to die for good. Today at the store I bought big carrots. The kind you have to peel.

I settled on Mary Oliver (link to a post I did on her...) for my post today.



Enjoy!
-----

“I want to think of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbably and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings.”
― Mary Oliver

“Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?”
― Mary Oliver

“Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”
― Mary Oliver

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”
― Mary Oliver

“to live in this world

you must be able
to do three things
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go”
― Mary Oliver

“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.”
― Mary Oliver

Before the dawn

We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it. Saul Alinsky

From my window 3/26/13. I-15 curving toward Layton; Bountiful temple to right in distance

"Dear George, remember..."

Remember “It’s a Wonderful Life?” George Bailey, this great guy who helps others, loses his business and considers suicide. George's guardian angel shows him how blessed his life really is - and he becomes grateful for everything he has! I honestly think the more thankful we are for what we have the more comes into our lives. (Quote 11)

So here's 26 quotes for today, March 26th, on gratitude:

1. “What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it — would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have.” ~ Ralph Marston
2. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
3. “God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say “thank you?” ~ William A. Ward
4. “Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” ~ Dennis Waitley
5. If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.”  ~ Robert Quillen
6. “When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.” ~ Anthony Robbins
7. “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”  ~ Epictetus
8. “We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. “ ~ Cynthia Ozick
9. “When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. “ ~ Chinese Proverb
10. “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ~ Albert Schweitzer
11. “You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you.” ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach
12. “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” ~ Thornton Wilder
13. “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein
14. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~ William Arthur Ward
15. “Take full account of the excellencies which you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
16. “When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.” ~ Wilferd A. Peterson
17. “Find the good and praise it.” ~ Alex Haley
18. “Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” ~ The Hausa of Nigeria
19. “Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.” ~ Attributed to Jacqueline Winspear
20. “Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.” ~ Author Unknown
21. “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” ~ Rabbi Harold Kushner
22. “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes of which all men have some.” ~ Charles Dickens
23. “Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend…
    
    ... when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present — love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure — the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth.” ~ Sarah Ban Breathnach
24. “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.” ~ Buddha
25. “Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-the-time gratitude, the kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good, even in unpleasant situations. Start bringing gratitude to your experiences, instead of waiting for a positive experience in order to feel grateful.” ~ Marelisa Fábrega
26. “Dear George, Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.” ~ Clarence Odbody (Guardian Angel)

Being close

Last week I went over to Dan and Amy's and Scott's to play with my kids. Amy ended up running errands - alone! Thank goodness for alone time! - and Scott and I tended. The boys don't need, eh, tending so much when I come, my iPad does that job. After pretty rushed hugs and kisses (Joseph threw himself right up into my arms when he saw me!) they eye my purse and kind of wait for me to draw it out. The iPad. Joe often gets it first and Andrew gets gum.

Ellie wants to be held. Scott threw her in the air awhile, then we both lounged around being Ellie's body pillow. She grabs my clothes, prods me, walks on me, lays, sits and climbs on me. Good I'm pillowy, huh!

From Dr. Seuss The Cat in the Hat 
"Then our mother came in
and she said to us two,
'did you have any fun?
Tell me, what did you do?'

And Sally and I 
did not know what to say.
Should we tell her the things 
that went on here this day?

Should we tell her about it?
Now, what SHOULD we do?
Well...
what would YOU do
if your mother asked YOU?"

So it was fun! No Cat in the Hat craziness really, just a whole lot of wiggles - no fish in this house thank heavens! - and doesn't it take a bunch of energy to play! Good for mom to get out by herself. Good for babies and children who have uncles and Nanas about.

I love being close.

Work it out

THE FAMILY: A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."
From Mormon.org: "Living peacefully in a family isn't always easy, but in God’s restored Church, marriage and families are the most important social unit now and in eternity. A parent, a spouse, a sibling—even little children have a lot to do. The effort we put into strengthening our families is the hardest and most significant work any of us will do on earth."

"Keeping a peaceful home and putting others' needs first has a refining effect on us, and it is no coincidence that these things can sometimes be grueling. God meant for us to be tested so we could grow and master skills we wouldn't learn any other way—skills like patience and unselfishness that will help us become more like God and prepare us to live with our families throughout eternity."

"No matter how hard we try, our marriage and home won’t be perfect. If we build them around Christ’s principles stated above, home can be a place of refuge, peace and immense joy."

Time and space

"Stuff doesn't have room in my budget or mental asylum at the moment!"

I laughed at this comment ↑ I found browsing a blog post - by someone who I bet has kids as well as a bunch of stuff! Remember the days?

Gee, lots of pics I have of our kids when they were little show the stuff we had (too much of) back then - and 'cause I wasn't a good dejunker and they weren't good cleaner-uppers it lay everywhere.

Later, remember how much quilting I did? Right in the front room of our house in Ohio? (And cross-stitching before that in Texas?) I battled the "I want more and more and more" urges those years and didn't win. "Stuff" for those hobbies takes up space, so closets and shelves and nooks and crannies in my house and tables I worked on remained loaded.

The garage was full. ('Xcept not after I married Kent, right?) The kids' rooms were. We had hamsters and rabbits in cages, and kitties roaming at one time. No fish - that was Chris my brother. Still is.... I go feed them when he's out of town. Once upon a time I collected used books - love, love to read! (Maybe to escape my very-full world?) The classics, and there're lots of 'em and I hounded paperback book stores growing my stash at home.

Too much Stuff?

Yeah. Because then there's not enough time. Too much of the one takes up too much of the other. There's stashing it, dusting it, sorting it, moving it and replacing it if you have to... and don't forget using it! Too little time devoted to deep slow breathing; long conversations; watching suns set and flowers grow and HGTV; cooking; reading; praying; and keeping all the stuff I do (still) have organized. That can be fun, actually. I went to town with my label-maker in my pantry just yesterday.



In 2000 I gave away a pickup truck load, literally, of cross-stitch books and also quilting material to a woman who would take that be made into quilts to be donated. She had volunteers and the need, and now I had "white space:" Space in my house with nothing in it! I do remember how sad I felt (really tragical) to see my stuff go, then unpredictably I was glad and considerably lightened not to have to take care of it, to know a dozen or more hands - not just mine in the foreseeable future -would handle it and put it to perfect use. I couldn't have done that in my lifetime and yours combined.

I didn't have to take care of it or account for it. Certainly not label it.

And now not only I had space, but time! I wasn't cross-stitching, sewing, crafting quilting or business-ing with any of it. It had all been my business (and busy-ness) in the past, but now it wasn't in my life and wasn't my life. It was not me and I was not it.

(So did a part of me go away with the stuff? Maybe. Die? Maybe. Yes.)

And there, too, was white space. In my life and inside me. In 2000 I was still super busy so I had really no free time, but with the time I gained from giving all that away, I did important things. I mean important for right then in my life - expedient. I went to school and did a ton of homework. Worked full time. Mothered. Took time to write and read and visit family. Decorated my house and became organized (though with three teen aged boys at home, what're ya' gonna' do?) I lost weight and prepared to date, then did that with my freed-up (ha!) time, socializing for months before I met Kent and we married.

We sorted through our yours-mine-and-ours stuff and it was then I was committed. (No, not that kind of committed - not the asylum!) To keeping only what we need. Maybe a few things extra that make us happy. I still have a yours-mine-and-ours house with mom and dad here. They brought plenty of their stuff and it has a place here. "A place for everything and (softly...) everything in its place. "

It's a great feeling to have just what we four need and not - never -

Too much Stuff

p.s. I do, I do cook with barley and couscous, and the whole millet on the other side out of the picture.

Not shrinking

From the Deseret News LDS CHURCH NEWS: “Many of the lessons we are to learn in mortality can only be received through the things we experience and sometimes suffer,” taught Elder David A. Bednar to young adults around the world as he and his wife Susan spoke from the University of Texas at Arlington campus recently. "During difficult experiences—often filled with pain and suffering—character is built, hearts are purified, and souls are enlarged as individuals gain experience and spiritual tutoring."

He spoke of being with Elder Neal A. Maxwell who at the time had limited stamina after going through chemotherapy for leukemia earlier that year. “During the course of our conversations that day, I asked Elder Maxwell what lessons he had learned through his illness. I will remember always the precise and penetrating answer he gave:

‘I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving.’”

Elder Bednar talked about a young couple married only three weeks when the husband was diagnosed with bone cancer and described journal entries written by them where they expressed the “eternally important lessons” learned through experiences associated with the cancer. He visited the couple in the hospital and was asked for a priesthood blessing. He responded to the husband:

“If it is the will of our Heavenly Father, do you have the faith not to be healed?”

He said that as he counseled with the couple they “increasingly understood” that a blessing of healing could only be received if they had the faith not to be healed and were “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [them]” (Mosiah 3:19). “In other words they needed to overcome, through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ‘natural man’ tendency in all of us to demand impatiently and insist incessantly on the blessings we want and believe we deserve. We recognized a principle that applies to every devoted disciple:

Strong faith in the Savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives—even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted.”

From the young man's journal: “Having faith is not necessarily knowing that God would heal me, but that He could heal me. I had to believe that He could, and then whether it happened was up to Him. As I allowed those two ideas to coexist in my life, focused faith in Jesus Christ and complete submission to His will, I found greater comfort and peace.”

“Trusting in the Lord’s will and timing is essential,” taught Elder Bednar. “This story is both ordinary and extraordinary. This young couple is representative of millions of faithful, covenant-keeping Latter-day Saints all over the world who are pressing forward along the strait and narrow path with steadfast faith in Christ and a perfect brightness of hope.  [The couple] was not serving in highly visible leadership positions in the Church, they were not related to General Authorities, and sometimes they had doubts and fears. In many of these aspects, their story is quite ordinary.”



“But this young man and young woman were blessed in extraordinary ways to learn essential lessons for eternity through affliction and hardship...

They came to understand that not shrinking is more important than surviving.”

“Thus, their experience was not primarily about living and dying; rather, it was about learning, living, and becoming.”

Spring snow

Yup, and yup.

Spring, and inspiring things

“Now I knew what it was I had missed in the other two visits, when there had been no time to climb the mountain, knew that it had not been that I had wanted just to see what flowers and birds were there, nor to get to the top,... but rather to achieve something of what arriving at a holy place by mechanical transport deprives one of, the sense of spending, not one’s money but one’s self, to get there.” ~ Eternity’s Sunrise: A Way of Keeping a Diary by Marion Milner



Nourish your eye and your spirit... hiking a mountain will do that; reaching for the top, arriving at a holy place; watching flowers or birds in the way - inspiring. These and other observations large and small... tending... spending of one's self, yes - produce a bright eye, a bloom in the cheek, and happiness all over!

Enough and more

I'm choosing to substitute gratitude for every time today I feel like saying a disparaging word.



“Find the good and praise it.” ~ Alex Haley

Two-fer

Couldn't resist this quilt jigsaw puzzle I saw when I went birthday shopping for mom a coupl'a weeks ago. It would be my birthday present to myself this year, he, I decided, slipping it off the shelf and savoring it in the bag as I drove home.

Do you do that, just love no-big-deal things like this?

Yesterday morning, deciding to indulge a little even as I wrote on my "to do" list on my iPad clean mom and dad's bathroom and get chicken out to thaw and even mundaner stuff, (I know that's not a word) I jotted down make puzzle.

Truly I do do what's on that list, and by 4:00 I was pooped. Supper still to make. Dad said why don't we get take out which I said sure to, then set the table, folded laundry, started another load and then put up a card table and grabbed a folding chair and pried the lid off the puzzle box. Too fun!

I'd sorted the border pieces the day I brought this home - who does that? - and put 'em in a Ziplock bag...



... so, well you know... it worked up fast.



I'm a genius puzzle-maker, what can I say?! (Those are little pieces. Really!) Okay, really, not so much, I'm just ridiculous about quilts and puzzles and this was a two-fer. Fun!

Big and little things

Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things I am tempted to think there are no little things. Bruce Barton

In the very middle of the night I thought of (then dreamt) the episode in the 1975 movie The Other Side of the Mountain where Olympic hopeful (and now paralyzed) Jill Kinmont has recovered from her ski accident to the point that she can clutch at a potato chip with a clenched fist and remove one from a bowl. The scene is specific: her boyfriend has come to her bedside knowing she has great news, and she demonstrates for him this feat, triumphantly - if painfully and deliberately - raising the chip to her face and watching for his reaction.

Jill Kinmont: [laboriously picks up a potato chip from a bowl on her lap] Didn't even break! That's the hardest thing of all. 
Buddy Werner: Jill, aren't you gonna walk? 
Jill Kinmont: Walk? 
Buddy Werner: Yeah, I, I thought you were...
Jill Kinmont: No. I'm never gonna walk. 

I was nineteen when I saw the movie, around the age of Kinmont herself when her life "stopped." (Right?) I was horrified. This one scene impressed me for her friend's callousness and faithlessness... and impressed me for the victim's courage and determined recovery through baby-baby steps, though never again did she walk.

I blogged about this while I dreamed, concluding, moralizing I suppose, it's the little things.

The little chance.
The little acceptance.
The little hope.

In 1955 Jill Kinmont was considered such a promising medal contender in the slalom races at the following year's Winter Olympics in Italy that Sports Illustrated put the 18-year-old Californian on the cover. Three days before the SI cover reached newsstands, Kinmont fell while racing at Alta in Utah. A broken neck left her legs and some of her upper body paralyzed. "The accident... was among the saddest in sports history," the publisher of Sports Illustrated wrote shortly afterward.

Kinmont graduated from UCLA with a degree in German and English, then applied to the university's school of education and was rejected because of her disability. Undaunted, she earned a teaching certificate at the University of Washington and taught remedial reading in elementary schools near there. When she and her mother returned to Los Angeles after her father died in 1967, one Southern California school district after another refused to hire her. She eventually got a job teaching reading in the Beverly Hills School District; then returned to Bishop (her home) in 1975 to teach. She got married there.

Little will.
Little try.
Little setback. (Maybe big.)
Little triumph. (Maybe big!)
Little thanks.

And again.

Kinmont was a public school teacher for 32 years, including 21 years with special ed kids. She oversaw the providing of scholarships to local Native American youth, and had a local following as a painter. 

"My way of wanting to do all this stuff probably stems a lot from my competitive endeavors because I like to focus on something," Kinmont Boothe told the the LA Times in an interview just before her death. "I'm sort of determined."

Character, in great and little things, means carrying through what you feel able to do. Johann Wolfgang von Goeth

Sunday afternoon at Laura's house

Bound to change

“Shake Off the Chains with Which Ye Are Bound”

MARVIN J. ASHTON

"It is true some people do not want to change, even though they may say they do. Only [they] can supply the motivation, and only [they] can decide to change. The Church, the home, the family, friends, and those professionally trained can aid, support, encourage, empathize, and guide, but the work of change belongs to the person. Most often, it is plain hard work."

"Who among us hasn't felt the chains of bad habits? These habits may have

• impeded our progress
• made us forget who we are
• destroyed our self-image
• put our family life in jeopardy
• hindered our ability to serve our fellowmen and our God. 

So many of us tend to say, 'This is the way I am. I can’t change. I can’t throw off the chains of habit.'”



Father Lehi in the Book of Mormon "warned his sons to 'shake off the chains' because he knew that chains

• restrict our mobility, growth and happiness
• bind us to inferior self images created by misconduct and indifference
• keep us confused
• keep us less able to be guided by the spirit
• cause us to lose our way and stumble
• relegate us to lives of no purpose, no light
• weigh heavily on our troubled hearts and souls"

Lehi also reminded his sons that "...they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity” (2 Ne. 1:7). He could have said: 

'If so, it shall be because ye have been bound into captivity by the chains of unrighteous living.'"

"Samuel Johnson wisely shared, “The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken" (International Dictionary of Thoughts,Chicago: J. G. Ferguson Publishing Co., 1969, p. 348).

"Many of us today are shackled by the restrictive chains of poor habits. We are chained by an unwillingness to change for the better. Is it any wonder, in our day as it was in Nephi’s, that God’s pleas are 'awake,' 'listen,' 'procrastinate no longer,' 'believe me,' 'come back,' and 'seek the straight course?' Shaking off restrictive chains requires action. They cannot be wished away. A declaration will never break chains. It requires commitment, self-discipline, and work."

"Awake, my sons;" pleads Father Lehi shortly before his death. "... put on the armor of righteousness! Shake off the chains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust" (2 Ne. 1:23). We need to arise from the dust and enjoy the fresh air of righteousness. We need to move forward in patience, understanding, love, and never-ending commitment."

Soup day for sickies

I got a cold Sunday night after our hectic birthday weekend. It actually came on during the day Monday but I could feel my throat getting icky Sunday night. Monday night Kent knew he was sick too - really Tuesday morning when he was trying to get ready to go to the temple to work; by some good grace (and we know Who) he made it through that day, then came home and got into his soft clothes and commenced feeling terrible.

Prayers and cold medicine and common sense are always in order when two of you are feeling lousy. So is a big pot of soup. Comfort food!

I did up mom's best hamburger vegetable. This recipe makes enough to feed like a crazy amount of people, so we invited Chris over to share. (He he.)

MOM'S VEGETABLE GROUND BEEF SOUP

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 cups baby carrots, sliced
1/2 cup celery, diced
4 baby red potatoes, diced
2 cans green beans, including juice
1 cup broccoli, cooked or raw
4 cups water
3 cans tomato soup
1 12 oz. can V-8 juice

1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup Mix, dry
2 cans creamed corn
Salt
Pepper

Brown beef and onion and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Add water, Lipton Onion Soup Mix, tomato soup, V-8 juice, creamed corn; stir. Add all vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Add more water or beef broth for desired consistency.

You may also add:
Zucchini
Squash
Cabbage
Mrs. Dash Seasoning
Garlic powder
Left over beef broth from crock pot roast if available

Sitting here typing this from mom's recipe book I KNOW I was sick when I made it. I totally forgot to put in celery and potatoes, oops!

It was yummy though.  (How yummy? Scroll to read the last paragraph.)

I made Almost-Famous Cheddar Biscuits to go with it. These are like the copy-cat recipe for Cheddar Bay Biscuits from Red Lobster, 'cept from scratch, not Bisquick. The dough is an easy mix in my food processor - a dozen pulses (three or four after certain ingredients) and you've got biscuit dough. Cheesy biscuit dough!

ALMOST-FAMOUS CHEDDAR BISCUITS
Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine

For the biscuits:

Cooking spray
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, at room temperature
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 ounces grated yellow cheddar cheese (about 1 1/4 cups)
3/4 cup whole milk (I use buttermilk, or milk turned acidic with a little lemon or vinegar; measure the 3/4 cup milk and place in freezer for a a bit if you can until you need it - it'll keep the dough super cold when you add it, which you want. Biscuit dough science for ya'. Pie crust, too.)

For the garlic butter:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, smashed ( roast heads of garlic ahead of time and keep them in a plastic bag in my freezer, then pull off what I need, microwave that from about 10 seconds to 15 and squeeze each clove like toothpaste into my recipe. One clove squeezed into the butter here and mashed.)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Lightly mist a large baking sheet with cooking spray.

Make the biscuits:

Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the shortening and pulse until combined. Add the butter; pulse 4 or 5 times, or until the butter is in pea-size pieces. Add the cheese and pulse 2 or 3 times. Pour in the milk and pulse just until the mixture is moistened and forms a shaggy dough.

Turn out onto a clean surface and gently knead (not much) until the dough comes together. Do not overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough.

Drop the dough onto the baking sheet in scant 1/4-cup portions, 2 inches apart, and bake until golden, 15 to 20 minutes. (11 to 12 in my oven - watch these!)

Meanwhile, make the garlic butter:

Melt the butter with the garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.

Brush the biscuits with the garlic butter and serve warm.

Serves: 12-14 biscuits

It turned out Chris couldn't come for soup at the end of his work day, then when he did come a day later we were eating potatoes and gravy and turkey breast and corn and salad for dinner, which he didn't turn down. He thankfully accepted a container of soup and biscuits to take home. I told him the soup would be better this whole day later anyway and, besides, it'd simmered in plenty of TLC!

Birthday boys

The 12th and 13th were birthdays for two of my little grandsons, Brady, 7, and Joseph, 8.

I like to call my kids or grandchildren on their birthday and sing "Happy Birthday to You!" Brad at 33 this year, whose birthday was last week, just grinned when I called and let me do it. He's sort of embarrassed, me singing over the phone, but oh well.

So when I said to Brady I'd like to sing, Brady said, nah... Like father, like son. Brad was sitting by him and urged c'mon, Nana wants to sing to you; but Brady didn't want me to. I said,

How 'bout as fast as I can? And before he could say no it was happybirthdaytoyou, happybirthdaytoyou, happybirthdaydearbrady, happybirthdaytoyou! and done! Even before he could start laughing, which he did. Brad chuckled and I told them both I loved 'em and got off.

Yesterday I said to Joseph Happy Birthday! and listened to him tell me about his day. I said, well, I'd like to sing "Happy Birthday to You!" if you don't care...

I care, he said. (He's articulate - says "actually" when he talks. Great mind.)

How 'bout... and I sang it faster than a speeding bullet and took him totally off guard! He hooted! Yeah, Nana, that's cool, he said.

We chit-chatted a while (he likes to; had things queued up to tell me about his birthday) and I got off after that, happy with my cute birthday boys.

In acceptance

In her book "Keep a Quiet Heart" Elisabeth Elliot said, "There are a great many things in this life we cannot change. Should we stew and fume and fret and be miserable about it? Or say, 'Yes, Lord... I accept what has been given and I won't make a fuss about what has not been given.'"

"Look not after great things. Small breathings, small desires after the Lord, if true and pure, are sweet beginnings of life. Take heed of despising the day of small things by looking for some great visitation. Thou must wait for life to be measured out by the Father. And be content with what proportion and at what time He shall please to measure."

In Acceptance Lieth Peace

He said, "I will forget the dying faces;
The empty places,
They shall be filled again.
O voices moaning deep within me, cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in forgetting lieth peace.

He said, "I will crowd action upon action,
The strife of faction
Shall stir me and sustain;
O tears that drown the fire of manhood, cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in endeavour lieth peace.

He said, "I will withdraw me and be quiet,
Why meddle in life's riot?
Shut be my door to pain.
Desire, thou dost befool me, thou shalt cease."
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in aloofness lieth peace.

He said, "I will submit; I am defeated.
God hath depleted
My life of its rich gain.
O futile murmurings, why will ye not cease?"
But vain the word; vain, vain:
Not in submission lieth peace.

He said, "I will accept the breaking sorrow
Which God to-morrow
Will to His son explain."
Then did the turmoil deep within him cease.
Not vain the word, not vain;
For in acceptance lieth peace. 

-Amy Carmichael

Patty melt

You know, I tried the best recipe last week! Have to tell you about it.

This is what it looks like in the Pioneer Woman's skillet.

Beef patty melt... look close, on rye!



Here's the best part. While Ree's recipe calls for Swiss cheese, I have me some Horseradish Sharp Cheddar from Costco and while I mix up the meat in a bowl (salt and pepper and Wooster Worcestershire Sauce) and caramelize sliced onions in the skillet in oil and butter gently - love 'em a little al dente, not soggy, so I snatch 'em outta the pan early - I pare slices off the half-round and lay 'em by.

You get a little excited standing around in your apron twirling your spatula while the meat sizzles and smells up the kitchen! Downstairs I know mom and dad are smelling lunch and know they know it's beef. Their favorite. I'm from beef-loving people darn it and have married a farm boy whose own family raised it and whose fridge and freezer were stuffed with it during his childhood... and what am I most thrilled about here?

Mm, the rye bread!

The cheese.

The crisp bite of onion.

Beef cooked, shaped roughly for this sandwich like the rye slice I place on a sizzling griddle. I put my HSCheddar atop, then the patty, a heap of oh-so-golden oh-so-good sweet onions with a bit of bite left in 'em, a sprinkle more of salt and pepper, and the final Horseraddishy-Cheddar... and top that with a buttered rye - all to be turned using my favorite slotted spatula in, like, two minutes. Three to get a golden crusty crunch on the whole darn thing.

Wowsers it's good.

I tell you this to explain why I took the rye bread out of the freezer Sunday after church and - when the rest of the family was having roast beef left overs with gravy and potatoes and green peas you have to eat with a fork, a proper meal - built a patty melt with pot roast! Squiggly bits of marbled roast slathered in (left over) onions sandwiched between robust cheese slices and thin seeded rye, ungrilled this time and with French's mustard added... ↑

Patty Melts

Added by Ree on August 5, 2012 in Beef, Main Courses

Prep Time 10 Minutes Cook Time 25 Minutes

Servings 4

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• 1 stick Butter
• 1 whole Large Onion, Halved And Sliced
• 1-½ pound Ground Beef
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 5 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
• 8 slices Swiss Cheese
• 8 slices Rye Bread

Preparation Instructions

In a medium skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. Throw in the sliced onions and cook slowly for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown and soft.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire. Form into 4 patties.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Cook the patties on both sides until totally done in the middle.

Assemble patty melts this way: Slice of bread, slice of cheese, hamburger patty, 1/4 of the cooked onions, another slice of cheese, and another slice of bread. On a clean griddle or in a skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter and grill the sandwiches over medium heat until golden brown. Remove the sandwiches and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Turn the sandwiches to the skillet, flipping them to the other side. Cook until golden brown and crisp, and until cheese is melted.

Slice in half and serve immediately!