Pecan Pie

You know you're in trouble when your sister calls you to see if you're OK because you haven't posted anything on your blog for three weeks.  This actually happened tonight.

So, my apologies to my readers.  I know I've neglected you the last few weeks.  I had a car accident six weeks ago.  Car shopping (ick) and physiotherapy (ouch) have devoured my free time faster than grasshoppers chowing down on a field of newly headed wheat! 

I do intend to get back to regular posting!

On that note, this is the last week of the month and that means recipe week!  I wondered what ooey gooey delight I could post to serve as a sweet finishing touch to Easter dinner and the answer came in the form of pecan pie!

You can thank my husband for this recipe.  A few years back I discovered his favourite pie was pecan (a pie I had never made before).  The quest for a good recipe was on!  Everyone who's had the pleasure of tasting this pie remains eternally grateful to him!

A warning comes attached to this pie.  It's very sweet and rich.  A cup of tea or glass of cold milk are mandatory accompaniments to it.

For the really adventurous I'm including a never fail pastry recipe.  Guaranteed to be light and flaky every time - no concrete pastry from this recipe!  But, if you don't feel up to the challenge, just go pick up a frozen pie crust and throw in the filling.  People will think you slaved over a hot stove all day!

NEVER FAIL PASTRY
- one recipe makes enough for four covered pies - the extra pastry freezes well

5 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups Tenderflake or Crisco lard (shortening)
1 beaten egg
1 tbsp. vinegar

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder together.  Cut the lard into the flour mixture until crumbly.  (HINT - if you have a Kitchenaide it makes easy work of this step, then you can hand mix the rest,)

Beat the egg in a glass measuring cup, add the vinegar, then add enough cold water to make 3/4 cup of liquid.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour crumb mixture and mix by hand - knead a couple of times on a hard surface to completely mix.

NOTE:  If you want to 1/2 this recipe use the whole egg and just half of the other liquid ingredients.

PECAN PIE FILLING

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup brown sugar
1/3 tsp. salt
1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups roasted pecans

Roast the pecans:
Put 1 1/2 cups pecans on a plate and put in the microwave.  Microwave on high for two minutes.  Turn them over a few times, put them back in for one more minute.  Use a knife to cut pecan into large chunks.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together syrup, brown sugar, salt, melted butter and vanilla.

Beat eggs in separate bowl and add to batter.  Stir until it looks like it did before you added the eggs.

Pour the filling into an unbaked pie shell. Sprinkle the pecans on top.

Bake for one hour to one hour and ten minutes. Pie is done when a knife can be stuck into the centre of the pie and come out clean.

Enjoy!

Difficult Prayer Requests

Have you ever been asked to pray for someone but weren't quite sure how?

Recently I’ve been praying for a little boy with heart problems.  The only option for medical treatment is a heart transplant. 

As I was praying for this little fellow I felt impelled to pray for the family of the potential donor, too.

It may seem obvious to you, but in my past prayers I hadn’t connected the dots.  Suddenly it became clear.  In order for this little fellow to receive his heart, another child would give up theirs.

The answer to this prayer would come through the selfless sacrifice of parents signing a donor card on behalf of their child.  In the midst of dealing with the death of their own child they would make the choice to save someone else’s.

The prayer stuck in my throat and tears of compassion overflowed.  How do you pray in that situation?  A scenario with death and mourning on one side but joy on the other.

I asked God for guidance. 

The parallel to Jesus’ sacrifice came to mind.  Didn’t Jesus sacrifice His life so we could live?  Wasn’t there death on one side of the cross, but resurrection and joy on the other?

Knowing His death is imminent, how does Jesus pray?

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Luke 22:42 (NLT) (I've added the emphasis.)

Jesus chooses to give up His life and saves ours eternally.  A family faces the imminent death of their child and chooses to save the life of another through organ donation. 

A life ends and life is given.

I realized that only God knows what's best in this situation.  So I prayed Jesus’ prayer.

 

I prayed for the family and the sick little boy waiting for a heart.  I prayed for the unknown family and their child, and the difficult decision they would face.  And I prayed that God would take a tragic situation and redeem it in His own special way.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Are there prayer requests you struggle with?  How do you respond in these situations?

Share your thoughts by clicking on "comments" below.

Easy Microwave Brownies

If you like chewy brownies you'll love this recipe.  It's easy, super fast to mix, and cooks for only 10 minutes in the microwave. 

Spread on some Betty Crocker chocolate icing and you can't go wrong! 

MICROWAVE BROWNIES

In a pyrex mixing bowl measure:

1 tbsp. water
2 squares unsweetened (or semi-sweet) chocolate
1/3 cup butter

Cook this for 1 minute in the microwave on high.  Stir, then cook for another 30 seconds, or until completely melted.  Be careful not to over cook and burn the chocolate.

Stir in 1 cup white sugar.
Beat in 2 eggs and 1/2 tsp. vanilla.
Add 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
Stir until mixed.

Add 1/2 cup nuts (optional - I make it without)

Spray an 8" x 8" glass pan with Pam.  Pour batter into pan.

Cook in the microwave at 70% power for 10 minutes.  (This assumes you have a turn table.)

*IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MICROWAVE WITH A TURN TABLE...
Cook 2 1/2 minutes on high, turn 1/2 turn, cook another 2 1/2 minutes on high.

If the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan it's done.  If it's not done, put it in for another 2 minutes.

HELPFUL HINT:

DO NOT keep cooking until the brownies look nice and dry on top, like a cake baked in the oven.  If you do this you'll be chiseling a chocolate brick out of your pan that you can use to stucco the outside of your house!

Remember you're using the microwave.  The
brownies continue to bake after they're removed from the microwave.  They may be pulling away from the pan but still look a little sticky on top.  This is OK.

Let them cool to room temperature, slather on the icing, and enjoy!

Trusting Enough To Let Go

Do you have a hard time trusting God with everything in your life?

 

Trusting God to run your life can be a scary endeavor.  Sometimes I wonder if I really want to put my life in His control.

What if He wants me to give up my personal agenda?  What if my plan for my life doesn’t correspond to God’s?

Can you relate to these fears?

I’m in the process of working my way through a study called, “Power Praying” by Pastor David Chotka, the Senior Pastor at Spruce Grove Alliance Church.  I want to share a message Pastor Chotka delivers early on in the study.  Understanding this message will help you in your struggle to turn control over to God.

Think about this scripture…

“Therefore He (Jesus) is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him.  He (Jesus) lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.”  Hebrews 7:25 (NLT) (I’ve added the italics)

“…to intercede with God on their behalf…” means that Jesus prays for us.  Picture it, Jesus in front of the throne of God in Heaven constantly praying for you.

Do you think no one’s ever said a prayer for you?  Do you think no one cares enough to even bother?  The truth is Jesus cares and He’s praying for you right now, even as you read this.  Regardless of the absolute worst thing you’ve done in your life, Jesus is praying for you right now!

Pastor Chotka makes this comment,

“Jesus was resurrected into glorious, magnificent authority and power.  Jesus was seeing reality from the perspective of eternity.  There were no barriers to His perfect knowledge.  He could see the start from the finish.”  (Power Praying, David Chotka, Page 32)

What does that mean for you? 

Jesus not only knows how your life started and how you came to be where are you today; He sees the bigger picture.  He knows the stuff we can’t understand.  He knows the struggle you’re facing today and sees ahead to the very best outcome for your situation.

Now consider this…

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”  Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Let’s put this all together…

1. Jesus knows what’s going on in your life and is praying for you right now. 
2. He’s got “jumbotron vision”.  He’s able to see your situation from all sides, from beginning to end. 
3. Jesus is one with God, His Father.  His prayers are always in line with God’s will for your life. 
4. When we believe in Christ, God takes every situation in our lives, good and bad, and in time, makes something good come out of them.

To summarize…

Jesus is praying God’s will and God’s will is always the very best we could possibly have.  So there’s no reason to be afraid to trust God in every part of our lives.  We can turn our fear of trust over to God.  He’s a safe haven.  We can rest in His presence.

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

What’s your biggest fear about trusting God?  Share your thoughts by clicking on comments below.

Fiery Guidance Part 2

Last week I posted part 1 of “Fiery Guidance”.  I commented on how encouraging it would be to constantly see visual proof of God’s presence.

One reader, Nicole, left a thought provoking comment…

“I don’t know if I would trust a visual presence – isn’t that strange?  It is so outside my experience of God that I would think I was losing my mind.”

It’s a great observation.  And the Israelites are proof that visual presence of God doesn’t guarantee faithful followers.

The Israelites DID have proof.  Day in, day out, right in front of their noses.  The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

And they still messed up!

They worshiped other Gods (Exodus 32), they rebelled against their leaders (Numbers 16), and they accused God of trying to kill them after He saved them (Exodus 14, Exodus 16, Exodus 17, Numbers 14).  Keep reading through the books of Exodus and Numbers and you’ll see all the times the Israelites didn’t get it right.  And God was right there in front them!

Why is that?

Maybe they were so accustomed to seeing the cloud and fire that God became an “every day” god.  He was just part of their daily routine…

Get up in the morning, look at the cloud.  It’s not moving today, guess we’re staying in camp.  Get up at night, see the fire.  That’s convenient.  Something to light the way so you don’t trip on the path to the outhouse in the middle of the night.

God became convenient, normal, common.

And guess what?  We’re no different than the Israelites.  Even if we each had our own private fiery pillar floating along in front of us we’d still mess up.  We’d still doubt God, just the same as we doubt the GPS when it tells us to make a turn we don’t agree with.

“Oh look, the fire’s turning left up here.  That can’t be right.  God wouldn’t take me into a nasty neighbourhood where I’ll have to talk to homeless people.  I’ll keep going straight for a few more blocks.”

All the while the fiery pillar blazes in front of you calling out, “Make a U turn, make a U turn, make a U turn.  I want you to go and help that person.  You’ll be blessed because of it.”

But we think we know better.  We continue on our straight path and miss the blessing God intended for us.

This raises two questions:
 

1.  How do we go through our daily struggles but continue to trust that God is with us?
2.  How do we prevent God from becoming ordinary to the point that we ignore Him?

The answer to both these question can be found in two places: 

• Our daily time in the Bible
• Our daily time in prayer.

As we read through the Bible we find reassurance of God’s presence. 

• He never deserts us. 
• He carries us in times of trouble.
• He loves us. 
• He can take the most horrible situation and make something good and godly out of it.

When we spend time in prayer we enter into relationship with God.  You can’t hear someone speak if you never slow down long enough to listen.  God is no different.

When we stop talking to God and start listening we hear Him whispering to us.  Our hearts soften and we become more aware of what He wants for this world.

If you’re going through a hard time right now please be assured that God is with you.  In the midst of your pain you may not feel or see God, but He is there.  He knows your struggle and loves you deeply in the midst of it.

Do you make time to stop and listen for God’s voice?  Share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below.

Fiery Guidance - Part 1

Wouldn’t it be great to have visual confirmation of God’s presence?

Think of the Israelites.  From the day they set foot in the wilderness after leaving Egypt they had visible evidence, 24 hours per day, that God was with them.

“The Lord went ahead of them.  He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and He provided light at night with a pillar of fire.  This allowed them to travel by day or by night.  And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.”  Exodus 13:21-22 (NLT)

How reassuring is that?!? Real proof of God’s presence.

I’m especially partial to the pillar of fire.  I grew up on a farm in rural Manitoba.  The closest city was about 100 km away.

When you live in the middle of nowhere outside the “urban glow” you understand what “dark” really is.  Your eyes strain to see, but a black void consumes your attempts.  You’re essentially blind. 

As a kid this was a huge problem for me.  I was afraid of the dark. 

Picture taken from
www.jimwegryn.com/Photos/Photos2.htm
"Old Barn"

One of my chores was feeding the cats.  I know this doesn’t sound terrible, but the cats were housed in our old, ramshackle barn which lay on the opposite side of the farmstead from the house.

The walk to the barn was scary, but at least I had the furry comfort of cats milling around my feet.  The walk back was spine-chilling!  I was convinced hundreds of nasty monsters lurked in the dark recesses of the barn. 

I’d drop the food dish on the floor, turn, shut the door behind me, and sprint to the house, convinced that all the powers of hell were in hot pursuit!

I really could have used a fiery pillar lighting my way! In fact, I could still use one today.  It would be comforting never to have doubts about God’s presence. 

What about you?  Could you use some reassurance of God’s presence in your life?  Consider the following promises from scripture…

• “…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”    Matthew 28:20

• “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.”  John 14:16

• “The Lord is close to all who call on Him, yes, to all who call in Him in truth.  He grants the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cries for help and rescues them.”  Psalm 145:18-19

• “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have.  For God has said, “I will never fail you.  I will never abandon you.”  So we can say with confidence, “the Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear.  What can mere people do to me?”  Hebrews 13:5-6

• “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10

Still not convinced God is with you?  The Bible is full of promises of God’s presence.  Take time to dig deep into the truth of it and savour the promises you’ll find there.

Do you ever need reassurance of God’s presence?  Share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below.

Moral Dilemmas

Last Thursday evening my husband and I went on a date night.  The plan was dinner and a movie.  Given my husband’s American background he wanted to see “Lincoln”, so off we went.

I enjoyed the movie but two uncomfortable thoughts burrowed into my brain and continue to gnaw rat-like away at it.

The first is this…

Does the battle against an evil justify blurring the lines between what’s right and what’s wrong?

Lincoln’s goal to abolish slavery in the Southern United States is the main plot line in this historical movie account.  A worthy goal, though not popular in his time in history.

We all know Lincoln achieved this goal, but the way the movie depicts the journey to get there leaves me wondering if it’s OK to blur the lines between black and white, or right and wrong, if the stakes are high enough.

In the movie Lincoln resorts to bribery, coercion, buying votes, and downright bullying to ensure the bill to end slavery is passed.

I sat with a sense of unease as I watched the story unfold.  Is it OK to use whatever means necessary to get the desired outcome?

What about the controversial torture scenes depicted in the movie “Zero Dark Thirty”?  Can we conveniently turn off moral beliefs when the “greater good” is at stake?

You’re probably sitting there thinking, “They’re MOVIES you idiot…fiction…creative writing…get over it.”  Fair point.

But let’s be realistic.  We all know black and white turn to shades of grey in politics, in business, and in other venues.  And we turn a blind eye, making an excuse, “Well that’s just business.” Or, “It’s politics, what can you expect?”

Whether it’s fact or fiction it still begs the disconcerting question…is it OK to blur the lines between “right” and “wrong” or “good” and “bad” when trying to rid the world of a greater “bad”?

The second thought is this…

The thirteenth amendment to the U.S. constitution outlawing slavery was signed in 1865.  Today we’re close to being 150 years in the future.  At first glance you think, “How far we’ve come”.  Perhaps a more accurate statement is, “How far we have to go.”

Hate crimes and prejudices are still all too common, not only in our own back yards of Canada and the United States, but around the world. 

Granted, slavery no longer exists openly on the North American continent.  But we’re still slaves to our own biases that prevent us from seeing and treating people from other races and religions as equals.

At first glance it’s easy to throw out pat answers to these thoughts, freeing our minds to move on to other seemingly more important questions. 

If we do gloss over this type of thought process I think we cheat ourselves out of an opportunity to open our minds to consider different opinions and ideas.  In doing so we miss out on an opportunity for personal growth.

What do you think?  Do we need to struggle with questions like these in order to learn and grow?  Is it OK to blur the lines of black and white when it serves a higher purpose?  Do we still struggle with human equality issues around the world today?

Share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below.