Chocolate Castles

As Randy and I sat waiting for worship to begin this morning, I began to just listen to some of the things I heard going on around me. As I listened to these conversations I began to get tears in my eyes realizing that everything going on around me is indeed the church. Church is singing and giving all glory to our Creator! Church is hearing Gods Word taught to us each week! Church is a Quiet time of reflection that hopefully points us in the direction to see and know God for Who He is!

Today we celebrated our Victory in Jesus while partaking of the Lords Supper. As I grow in years, this sacrament becomes more special and meaningful to me! It is such a reminder of His great love and sacrifice that was made on Calvary for all of us! But as I said at the beginning of this post, today I began to reflect on what the church means to me and the blessing it is to me! I came away more thankful today than I have felt in a long time. Maybe it is because we had so many months of not being able to attend in Person or maybe I just simply have taken for granted for a long time what God has given to us in regards to The Church. Before church began this morning, it was so great to visit with friends who visited with us and as we talked we planned our next get together.

Today the Church was riding on the elevator with sweet new friends who shared that the wife will need another surgery for removal of cancer and she ask for prayer!

The Church was a lady standing right in Front of me introducing a young man to one of our ministers and assuring this young man that questions he had could be answered! The Church was watching people go over and hug a lady whose husband had died and just loving on her! The Church was seeing 20 people baptized this morning! The Church was visiting with a lady I had not talked to in a while and finding out her neighbor needed prayer regarding a possible move to Tennessee! The Church was having several on our single lady friends come sit over by us and ask how we were doing and how my birthday went. The Church today was old friends who used to live by us stand and visit with us and assure us we need to have dinner soon! The Church was gathering with our small group and hearing Gods Word taught and met a couple who were new to our group! Yes the Church is instituted by God for iour praise and worship and to grow spiritually in our walk with God. But it is so so much more!

Us. God gave us the Church because of His great love for us! As I walked out of the building that was built for us to gather together in His Name this morning, I realized just how blessed we truly are! That the Church being the church would allow us to have “The Church” every day no matter where we are, whether we are in the building or in our own part of our world! The Church is just that. it is people bonded together by the Holy Spirit that gives us so much more than just being able to sit and listen to a sermon and sing a few songs in a building, (Those are just the frosting on the cake). But It is first and foremost, Christ Himself! Living for us and through us that we are so blessed to be The Church! Yes all these are the Church and it is so much more, but these are the things that spoke to me today’

Silver Sneakers VS Blingy Sandals

As most of you oldies, but goodies, out there know, there is an exercise program made just for us senior citizens. A few years back I wrote a blog about the ONE day I actually attended one of the Silver Sneaker classes. Besides me being the youngest one there (there was only 3 or us there as the others had called saying their hips were not healed enough to be exercising yet from hip surgery, shoulder or knee replacement surgery or they had turned their ankle while getting up to get a new tube of Ben Gay, etc), there was truly not much exercising going on. We really never got out of the chairs. The only exercise going on was from a sitting position of raising a leg or seeing if we could make circles with our arms. So today, as I continued to get an alert on my phone regarding the Silver Sneakers classes going on in our area, I begin to think about starting my own class. I think I would call it Blingy Sandals for Seniors. Besides us looking so much cuter than the ladies in their silver tennis shoes, we would at least look like we had more fun than attend a class where all they talked about was post surgeries, future surgeries and surgeries that they needed but just wasn’t quite ready to commit to. We would be in the next classroom discussing where the best sales were for cute shoes, what restaurant we would be going to to celebrate that we really did some exercises, and what new hairdo we would be brave enough to try. When I thought about the exercise we would be doing, they would be based on the exercises I do at home. These are just some of the ones I do daily:

1. not holding on to a cabinet or chair or wall, try to put on a pair of undies, balancing on one foot while putting the other foot in the pant leg, and not fall.
2. getting your arms behind you to hook your bra without getting your shoulder out of socket.
3. tiptoeing across the just mopped floor without doing a spread eagle.
4. lifting up your arms high enough to put your contacts in the first time you try. (which reminds me of the last appt at the optometrist. When I ask if there was an age I needed to quit wearing contacts, he told me as long as i could raise my arms that high to put them in my eye there was no reason to quit)
5. lifting up a king mattress to put the clean sheets on the bed without using your knee to support the mattress.
6. bending down to clean the lowest drawer in the fridge or deweeding the flower beds without getting stuck and not being able to get back up.
7. running around the house trying to kill a fly before company arrives and sees the fly landing on the food they are about to eat.
8. bringing in 10 bags of groceries to save trips back out to the car.
9. Curling my hair every morning with the curling iron without dropping it on my neck and getting 2nd degree burns.
10. arranging furniture when I get in the mood without throwing out my back, quitting halfway through and end up putting it back where it was.

As I think about it, I think the above schedule gives me enough exercise that I will skip any class and just go celebrate with a hot fudge sundae that I did most of the above and it’s not even noon yet. AND…all the while, I wore some pretty cute blingy sandals.

Am making some soup today to take to a friend who is not feeling well! What better food to take than chicken soup? But since her husband will be having some of this for dinner so she doesn’t have to cook I wanted it to have a little more substance to it than just chicken broth! Looking in my pantry I found a can of Cream of Chicken With Herbs. This will work perfectly adding just a little more flavor plus texture than just chicken broth. Delivering this with a small coconut pound cake and corn bread might just do the trick of helping her feel better! After all, we all know Chicken Soup for the Soul and the tummy works so well!

2 cups cut up rotisserie chicken (I use the Costco chicken)

1/2 diced white or yellow onion

1 cup diced celery (when making any sauce or soup that calls for celery try to use the inside ones with the green leafy stalks, adds so much flavor)

1 cup or 2 large carrots, cut into small diced pieces

1 14 oz can of chicken broth

2 cups water

1 (10 1/2 oz) can of cream of chicken soup with Herbs

1 package wide noodles, cooked and drained (12 oz package)

2 tables butter (salted or unsalted)

Garlic Powder, Pepper to taste

Cook and drain the noodles according to package directions. Drain and add 2 tables butter and 2 tables of the chicken soup with herbs. Stir until all noodles are coated. You might not need all the noodles but this will keep them from sticking together and give them flavor before adding to the soup. Set aside

Brown the chopped onion, celery and carrot in about 1 tables oil until veggies begin to soften! Add the chicken broth, the water and the rest of the can of cream of chicken soup with herbs. Stir until well combined. Add the chopped chicken and cover the pan and place in preheated 350 degree oven. Bake until veggies are thoroughly cooked (about an hr). Remove from oven and add enough noodles to get it to the right proportion of noodles to broth. If you like a more broth than noodle/veggie combo, add less noodles, if you like less broth than veggies, add more noodles. You can’t go wrong. Just adjust to your liking. You notice I didn’t add salt. Be sure to taste the soup before serving because with the cans of soup in it, it will require less salt.

Last Friday night we had friends over for dinner. About 4 AM I woke up and decided to change the menu for that evening. As Randy and I were discussing about 8 AM about me waking up at 4 and deciding to change what I had planned for dinner, he suggested that I make fried chicken. That sounded good, but I didn’t want to be frying as they arrived and I don’t like cold fried chicken so I came up with this idea. AND I have to tell you that it really turned out great and we all ate until it was gone. Well, not me, you know me, I had one little piece to keep me in my fighting weight of under 200. But as the dinner was coming to a close for us to move from the table to the couch and visit over Key Lime Pie, I began to think of really how simple the dinner was to make and decided that it needed to be shared via Chocolate Castles. So here it is folks. A simply but oh so yummy comfort dinner for those evenings when you don’t want to serve another pot roast or meatloaf to company.

Serves 4

3 large chicken breasts, cut up into large chunks

1 cup of buttermilk

Pepper and Garlic powder to taste

One envelop of Pioneer Country Gravy Mix

1 (10 1/2 oz) can Cream of Mushroom soup

1/2 cup milk or cream

1 1/2 cups of either all purpose flour or self-rising flour

1 egg, beaten

Oil to fry in skillet

(If you have ever purchased Paula Deen Fried Chicken Coating Mix, I used this in the flour mixture) but if not, just use a little (about 1/2 cup) bread crumbs with the flour for dipping the chicken in )

Soak your cut up chicken breasts chunks in the buttermilk for at least 1 hour. Combine the flour and either the bread crumbs or Paula Deens Fried Chicken Coating in a bowl. Dip each piece of chicken in the flour mixture and set on a plate or paper towel while you heat the oil in a skillet. (I actually use a zip lock bag to coat the chicken with the flour mixture. Makes clean up a lot easier and you can then just throw the bag away after you have coated all the chicken in it.

Turn heat onto medium and heat the oil, when oil is starting to sizzle, place chicken chunks in hot oil and fry each piece until both sides are brown. Try not to turn the chicken pieces over but once to brown, allowing them to cook until done. When done, place the chicken pieces into a pyrex baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. After you have finished cooking all the chicken and they have been placed in the baking dish, set them aside. At this point, you can always set them in fridge (covered) until about an hour before you wish to serve them. But if you are going to be serving them in the next hour after frying them, just leave out of the fridge. Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, combine 1 and 1/2 cups of water and bring this to a boil. Mix the contents of the gravy mix with 1/2 cup of cold water and stir until dissolved. Stir this gravy mixture into the 1 1/2 cups of water in the saucepan. Then stir in the can of mushroom soup and the 1/2 cup milk/cream. Heat this thoroughly and add some pepper to the gravy. Pour about 2 cups (use your discretion as to how much chicken is in the baking dish. You want to cover the chicken but not drown it)

Place gravy covered chicken in a preheated 350 oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes or until gravy is bubbling. Sprinkle some parsley flakes over it and serve the chicken with either mashed potatoes or rice pilaf. We had rice pilaf and baked asparagus to complete the meal. And Of course, you can’t forget to serve Sister Schubert rolls along with this to complete this southern comfort meal. It really turned out delicious and it is not one of our new favorite dinners to serve.

It is summer and fried green tomatoes are on the menu. After searching in 4 stores for green tomatoes, I finally found 3 beautiful ones at a local produce/nursery on Thursday! Also I watched Brenda Gant on her show frying them in chunks instead of slices. It turns out she knows out she knows best. They came out so much better frying them in chunks than slices. Very easy and so good!

I dipped the chunks in a little buttermilk and then coated them in Progresso Italian seasoned breadcrumbs that I had added a little flour to. Fried them in a mixture of olive and veggie oil until crisp on all sides. Sprinkled salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese when done. Laid them on a bowl of cut up butter lettuce and drizzled Olive Garden dressing over that. That made for a most delicious salad!

Well, the rain is still falling and I have to admit that I love these kind of days. It was glorious to work out in the yard this morning before the rain started. I know I haven’t been posting as much but it has just been so glorious to have a yard to work in once again and I don’t think I will ever take windows or yards for granted again! (I really haven’t been in jail; just a very dark condo with not many windows and no yard)And it has been so much fun to have people over for dinner. So many of our friends had trouble climbing the stairs to come over so am also thankful to be in a one story so that anyone who wants to come over can do so! Plus I have to admit that it is wonderful not to carry groceries up the stairs! So tonight we are having some family over for dinner and I thought it would be perfect to have a pork roast since it looks like it is a winter day outside. It is in the 70’s but doesn’t look like a Spring day.

When I went to the store, besides the roast I bought a container of mushroom herb soup for my lunch. I only ate half of it so decided that it would add some extra flavor to the roast.

After searing and browning the roast in a little olive oil, I poured that soup over it and sliced an onion over it. Added about 1 cup of water and sprinkled salt

and pepper over the top. It is now baking in a preheated 325 oven for about 3 hours. About an hour before taking it out of the oven I will mix up a brown gravy packet mix and pour over the top also and add the carrots to the roast! The gravy then will be thick and have the flavors of the roast in it! For side dishes tonight we are having collard greens, fried cubes zucchini, mashed potatoes and carrots ! To top off the evening we will have a coconut cream pie I made last night!coconut cream pie for dessert! So nice to still be having some cool spring days of cooking before the hot summer days. Was also fun to cut some of the blossoms off our magnolia tree for the table! Have I mentioned how thankful I am to be back in a house????

Searching for a folder today in a cabinet, I came across this story my mom wrote back in 1995. It is awful to admit, but at the time she gave it to me I was hardly interested in reading something she wrote. I wasn’t writing stories yet at the time and was going through a divorce and trying to figure out what I was doing. So the story got stuck in a folder and just today sat down to read it. Some of the poems my mom had written through the years for each of my kids when they were born were pretty and sweet, but until today, I had never taken the time to read this story. It makes me realize that so many times in our lives, we tend to pick up and read things that we might think has something of interest to us. Seasons of our lives change and with each of those seasons, our priorities change as well as our interests. Back in 1995, I was in a place of searching what my life would look like being a divorced mom. I was scared and I was feeling like I had failed the Lord in what He wanted for me and from me. Isn’t it interesting that when the Lord lays something on our hearts to do, even if it is not appreciated at that certain time, He will use it for His glory at just the right time. After reading this today, all I could think of is how this story might speak to someones’ heart about Jesus and His love for us. That He truly did come to earth to bring us salvation and hope for a future with Him. As you read this, may it turn your eyes to the Cross of Calvary and your heart to Him.

Written by Hope Michales, 1995 Corpus Christi, TX (I modified it a little as she didn’t see well and so needed some corrections)

My name is Josiah. I am in a dungeon. This is my last night here on earth. It is a very long, yet short night as I await to be crucified in the morning for crimes that I have done. As I lay here waiting for the dawn to come, I begin to think about the time I was around six years old. It was tax time and our village was filled with people. So many that you could hardly walk down our cobblestone streets. My friends and I were playing outside our homes when we noticed a great white star in the East. We were all amazed at it’s brightness and wondered why we had never seen it before.

(Matt 2:1-2)Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, “where is He that is born, King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”)

That was a night to remember for there seemed to be a hush fall over all the city that night. We wondered, but went right back to our playing. Life didn’t seem to change in our village. There were stories, of course, but I was so young, I didn’t pay attention to them. But that star, it seemed to remain for quite some time. i did hear about some wise men and how they had stopped to see Herod to ask him about the one that was born in Bethlehem.

As my last night continued, I began to remember going to the Temple with my parents about that time and as we were going into the temple, there came an old man almost running out of the temple and going to meet a young couple with a baby. I thought it might be his grandson. But as he got near the couple, he took the baby out of the mother’s arms and looking up to the sky he said something like, “Lord, now I can depart in peace, according to Thy Word, I have seen the Savior, you have given to all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2:29-31) Yes, strange things were being heard and happening in Jerusalem in those days.

I also remember one time when I was about eight years old. A decree came from King Herod that all the children two years of age and under were to be killed. I was so glad I was older. Some people of the village said that the one that Herod wanted killed had already fled to Egypt, but I remember all the crying and sounds that came from all over the city. (Matt 2:16-18 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry and sent forth the order that all children two years and younger would be killed. According to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men, that was fulfilled which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “a great mourning and weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they were not.)

Matt 2:13 and when they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying, “arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into Egypt.)

Memories of my life still began to flow thought my mind as the night wore on. One memory was when I was in Jewish synagogue school, I began to get in trouble, not real trouble, but my teachers seemed to be telling my parents that I didn’t have a good attitude and had a smart mouth. I seemed to choose some friends that were not to my parents liking and my teachers were always upset with me. Sometimes I would steal lunches from other boys and I thought it was funny to disrupt the class. My time in school was wasted when in fact, I should have been learning a trade or trying to learn as much as I could. My life would have turned out much differently. Maybe I wouldn’t have been in this dungeon awaiting my death in the morning. But I thought I knew it all.

One of my first remembrances of my father was of us going to the Temple on the Sabbath and all holy days. My parents always observed all the Jewish holidays. My father would always make the required sacrifices. I never could see giving up a perfectly good calf or lamb to the priest to be killed. What a waste of food and money when we could have sold it and had money to spend on other things more important. (Leviticus 5:6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats; for a sin offering and the Priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.)

Around that same memory of us going to Temple, strange things began to happen all around me that I didn’t understand. As my Father would go into the temple to make our sacrifice to the priest (as he did every year or holy day) I remember wondering, why didn’t that sacrifice last longer than a year? Why couldn’t there be a sacrifice that would last longer and maybe for all time? But to be honest, I didm’t give it much thought. I had friends that wanted my attention and I just pushed that thought to the back of my mind and went about my usual routine and continued to play and seek a little adventure.

Oh, there was that one night when a friend and I were out playing and we began to talk about going out on the main road, just outside the city gate where it might be possible to rob one of the merchants as they came into the village for the night. It seemed like such a great idea and a quick way to make some money for ourselves. It was almost time for the gates of the village to be shut and we hoped that maybe a merchant might be running late and be an easy target for us. We found one. We dragged him off his donkey and left him by the road after taking his wares. We got back inside the gates just as they were about to close. We had gotten away with it. That was just to easy. Thus began our downward spiral and the adventure we had been seeking. But why was my heart not filled with the joy I thought would come? Keeping this part of my life from my parents caused me so much guilt, but since my friends treated me like a big shot, I allowed myself to fall deeper and deeper into this type of behavior. After all, isn’t this what life is about? To feel important and have your friends look up to you as a leader?

When I was about eighteen, my parents required me to go with them to Temple on some holy day. There was this boy, he looked to be about 12 years old. He was sitting in with the older men discussing things about God and worshipping God. He seemed to really know what He was talking about. He looked familiar to me, but I hurried on to get out of there as fast as I could. After all, the only reason I was there is because my parents made me come with them, I didn’t think it was important enough for me to stand there and listen so as soon as my parents had done what was required of them, we left. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and be about my own interests. I heard a couple of days later that that boy’s parents ended up leaving him there in the Temple and started back on their way home before realizing he wasn’t with them. Boy I bet they were mad. I wonder if he stayed there in the Temple or did He go out looking for them. Wish my parents would leave me alone for 3 days. (Luke 2: 41-47 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth but Jesus stayed behind. His parents didn’t miss him at first because they assumed he was with friends among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him. Three days later they finally discovered him, sitting among the religious teachers, discussing deep questions with them. And all who heard him were amazed at this understanding and his answers. His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere” But why did you have to search? Jesus asked. “you should know that I would be in my Father’s house.” )

The memories have come swiftly tonight as I await the morning cruxifixction. All the things that seemed so unimportant now come knocking at my hearts door. The memory of Jesus being the talk of the town. As a teenager I remember the villagers saying that he was Mr. Perfect, never doing anything wrong. He was always in his father’s carpenter shop instead of playing with the other boys. We thought of him as a goody two-shoes. His brothers and sisters seemed so normal, like the rest of us, but not Jesus. he did go to school with us but he was always smarter than the rest. His interests were also so different from the others. He wanted to learn all about the Temple and the scrolls that were always read on the Sabbath. All the other parents always ask us why we couldn’t be more like him and why didn’t we take more interest in the Torah. Jesus always seemed to know what the religious leaders were talking about and could answer all the questions they asked.

Well, time marched on and each of us, one by one, left home to seek our fame and fortunes. Some of us traveled around the different villages working at various trades. One day as I was going up and down the Jordan riverside, there was quite a commotion in the river. As I drew closer there appeared a man coming over the hill, walking down to the river. There was a wild looking man in the river dunking people underwater. I later learned that he was “baptizing,” whatever that meant. But as the man walked into the river, the wild looking man said something to him and then something strange happened. At the time, I thought maybe the sun had gotten to me, but when he dunked the man into the water, a white bird came to rest on his shoulder. (Matt 3:13-17 Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John didn’t want to baptize him. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you” he said, “so why are you coming to me?” But Jesus said, “it must be done because we must do everything that is right.” So then John baptized him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling him. And a voice form heaven said, “this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

So since I had no idea what had just happened, I figured that they were just strange religious folks who were taking part in some ritual, so I traveled on. My life seemed to be heading continually downward, and simply could not figure out what I really wanted or how to get the peace I was looking for.

As I grew older still, it got harder and harder to make a decent living. I didn’t like to work hard and was always looking for an easy way to make money. Some friends who thought just like I did told me that they had figured out how to make some easy money. We remembered how we use to go out of the city gates just before they would close and rob a merchant, so we decided that we would simply go back to that, but to maybe take it up a notch. We took to the highways and byways and would find some merchants traveling alone. We would beat them and rob them. I remember feeling so guilty the first couple of times, wondering if we had left some for dead, but each time got easier and we were making a pretty good living, so I pushed the guilt away and continued on. (Luke 10:30 A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up and left him half dead beside the road.)

It is so weird tonight how all these regrets are coming to mind. I guess that is normal for a man about to die in a few hours. I wish I could go to sleep, and not lie here awake thinking about my life and all the things I have seen and done. It is strange that all my thoughts keep going back to that one man whom I have seem so many times in my life but never bothered to stop and hear what He had to say. Why are the thoughts of Jesus so different now than what they were all the years He grew up in the same town as I? All the years of hearing the stories about Jesus and the people He healed. Stories about Him calming stormy waters and there was even a time I heard people in the village talking about Him raising a man from the dead. Could all those stories be true? Did He really heal a man from leprosy? Was that blind man in our village truly made to see? Oh all those stories I would hear as I wandered up and down the hillside. Jesus was always so different from us. His eyes always had such a kindness to them. Why didn’t I listen or pay attention to what He was saying?

This loneliness I am feeling tonight, where are all those “friends” that was always around me? It would be so wonderful to not have to be here all alone. The only one here is the guard and he certainly has no concern for what I am feeling or needing. As I look out this small prison window the light is beginning to come over the hill, outside the city walls. My time is coming quickly to an end. One of the last stories I remember hearing was that this man, Jesus, was tried and convicted because the priests and the Jewish people said that they wanted him crucified. They even released a murderer instead of Jesus. His followers deserted him as well i his hour of need, I was told. But His words were heard as He hung on the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 23:46) Some of my relatives watched Him die and said that He forgave one of the thieves that hung beside him before they died.

(Luke 23:40-43 But the other criminal protested, “don’t you fear God even when you are dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” and Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”) Was the story true that after three days Jesus was raised from the dead and is now in Heaven? Could that be? (They found that the stone covering the entrance had been rolled away. So they went in, but they couldn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. They were puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly two men appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed low before them. Then the men asked, “why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He has risen from the dead! Don’t you remember what he told you back in Galilee that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and that he would rise again the third day?)

Well, dawn is breaking and it is almost time for me to go. I am afraid and feel so alone. I don’t know how many more are going to be crucified today, but probably not just me. They are coming to take me. This empty feeling is just so awful. I wonder….they are unlocking the cell door and taking me out of the stocks. It is now my turn to march up that hill. And it seems that I have to even carry the cross that I am to be hung on. As I look at the ugly piece of wood I see something carved at the top. It is worn and hard to make out, but what are the words that it says? “Hail! King of the Jews” Can it be! IT IS! This is the very same cross that Jesus was nailed to. Jesus, why that can’t be an accident. Jesus, please save me and forgive me for all my sins! I do not deserve to live, please take me home to you today. I”m sorry I never knew you before. Come into my heart Jesus.” Oh this is peace that I have never felt before? We are nearing the top of the hill and I am alone, but no, I’m not. Jesus has His arms wrapped around me and I know He is with me. This peace is so real and wonderful. Thank you Jesus for your love and forgiveness.(John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave HIs only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.)

At the Cross, at the Cross where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight and now I am happy all the day.

Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown and love beyond degree.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe; here Lord I give my self away, Tis all that I can do.

Issac Watts 1707

Last Saturday we had a Kentucky Derby Party. It was such fun to see friends all decked out in their prettiest hats! Even one of the men came in a hat which made him look just he was at the actual Race. Having to admit that I actually forgot to get out of the fridge, a huge fruit salad and lemon squares I had made, I told Randy I guess I’m going to have to start posting a note on the fridge of any dish that needs to be taken out and served. Didn’t find those two dishes until I was cleaning up! We still had the pecan pie bars and brownie bites but I think the dessert hit of the party was the lemon blueberry mini cupcakes with the blueberry frosting. Not only are they so pretty but they are just delicious! Just this morning I have popped two of them in my mouth as I was rearranging the fridge. The lemon cupcakes are simple the lemon cupcakes that are already on the blog and I dropped in about 3 fresh blueberries in the bottom of the mini cupcake liner before adding batter. After cooking this is the frosting I used. It was very simple and made the purée the day before, allowing me to just add it to the buttercream frosting I made Sat morning! Directions below:

Blueberry Purée

• 1 1/2 C blueberries fresh or frozen

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed

• 1/4 C granulated sugar

•

Buttercreme Frosting

• 1 C unsalted butter softened

• 3 C powdered sugar

• 3 Tbsp blueberry puree see above

•

• In a large bowl or stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, beat butter adding 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add in 1 tablespoon of puree at a time, increasing speed between additions. Mix until fully combined and powdered sugar has no lumps remaining . Transfer frosting to a large piping bag fit with star piping tip.

• Store cupcakes in an airtight container for up to several days. Cupcakes may also be chilled and brought to room temperature prior to serving.

Last year watching the Kentucky Derby during Covid, I realized how much I love watching and yelling for the horse that I think looks the prettiest. I realize that that is not how to pick the winning horse, but since I’m not betting money, I just pick out the pretty one. Well, after the race was over, I told Randy I wanted to give a party for the 2021 Derby and of course, he nodded and said, “whatever makes you happy.” He always says that when he wants me to be quiet so he can watch a TV show, just so I won’t pester him. Well, this year, we are finally in a house again (rather than being homeless living out of our car like we did for 6 months in 2019 traveling around before moving back to Dallas to live in a condo which cured me from ever wanting to live in a condo EVER again!!!!. So here we are back in Frisco and baking up a storm for a party on Saturday. Since our friends are all pretty much Baptists, I knew we wouldn’t be betting money so I came up with a solution. Of course, betting always makes it more fun when a race is going on so I came up with the idea that we will bet something besides money. I don’t want to give it away since many who will be here read the blog and I want it to be a surprise. After Saturday I will share the idea so next year if you are so inclined to party down for the Kentucky Derby, you can steal this idea if you like. I think it will be fun to do and also next year (provided we still have friends left after this years party) I am going to add a scavenger hunt to do before the party. That will be taking selfies with things that have to do with a Horse Race. For the menu, we decided on having lots of finger foods since we don’t have room at the table for everyone. Am having appetizers of smoked gouda dip with crostini bread from Eatzi’s and crackers with other dips. The appetizers will be served while friends are arriving and is placing their bets so after the race (which is at 5:57 p.m. this year) we will have the dinner. Thought I would share what we are having in case any of the items look appealing to you for a party. I went on-line to see what foods are appropriate for a KDP and this is what I choose:

Deviled eggs

Sliders (made with chopped beef)

Finger sandwiches comprised of ham, turkey and cucumber-dill

chips

celery stuffed with pimento cheese

Fresh Fruit

Kentucky Derby Pecan Pie (which is basically a pecan pie with chocolate chips)

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

Lemon Squares

Rodelle Brownies

Lemonade, Tea, Sodas, Non alcoholic Mint Julips (yes you can tell this is a Baptist Party)

Will post the results of the “bets” and let you know how it went. Also this is a great way to get to know your neighbors. Any excuse for a party, right?