On an Angel's Wings . . .

Once upon a time an angel looked down from heaven. As he watched he saw a great many atrocities being carried out in the human realm. He was absolutely stunned at what he saw. As he pointed to one unspeakable act occurring, he said to God:

"How can you allow it??? Look at what evil is setting in motion down there!"

"There's no one better than the evil one for creating a tragedy like that!" replied God.

"But God," the angel replied, "That man is one of your people . . . oh, that poor man!"

God turned his sad face and looked at the angel as tears ran down his cheeks. "I gave them the freedom to choose between good and evil," He said. "No matter what they choose, they all have to live there together. Sometimes, those who follow my path and make the right choices are impacted by those who don't." He shook His head slowly and went on . . . "It's always painful when that happens."



The angel protested as he watched the terrible scenario below unfold. "But those people over there, why . . . they have no choice! Evil is being crammed down their throats! Where is the choice in that?"

God turned to look at the angel and patiently asked. "Have I ever let pain go unavenged?"

"No, but . . . " the angel bowed his head and cringed from the sight below, unable to watch anymore.

"Look!" God placed His arm around the angel's hunched shoulders and turned him around to face the earth again. "Look right over there by the wall!"

"That one???" the angel replied. "He looks nearly dead. Is he praying?"

Intense love flashed in God's eyes as he went on . . . "You should hear his prayers! Simple prayers from an aching and broken heart. This is triumph over evil. Trusting me . . . that is the choice." God smiled through His tears, His eyes sparkling with love. "Isn't he magnificent?"

They stood together watching in silence, while tears poured down their cheeks, and finally the angel began to see as God did.



"Now watch this," God spoke softly, never letting his eyes leave the scene below. He called for Michael, the archangel. "Go down and get him, Michael." His tears of joy spilled over. "I'll arrange the party."

"The Lord is near to all that call upon him; yea, he can feel breath when no voice can be heard for faintness."
~John Trapp

The other day I was working on a cake that I was putting together for a special occasion. I had been thinking about it for several weeks planning it in my mind. It was going to be absolutely lovely. A lovely and moist caramel flavoured mud cake, filled with a delicious sticky toffee filling, chock full of dates, raisins and toasted nuts, along with a layer of whipped cream. It's crowning glory would be a white chocolate ganache coating, with a final decoration of a miniature chocolate for each tender slice. I could see it in my mind. This is just to show you that things don't always come out the way I want, or the way they should. The cake . . . it was delicious and moist. The filling . . . it was moreishly scrumptious. The ganache . . . somehow I got it wrong and it all slid off the cake taking the lovely little chocolates with it. It's back to the drawing board for the frosting for me, I think a simple vanilla butter cream icing would be better. I still might keep the chocolates on top. We'll see, but in the meantime here's the recipe for the delicious cake and for the filling. They really were quite wonderful.



*Caramel Mud Cake*
Makes two 8 inch layers

180g white eating chocolate, chopped
185g unsalted butter, chopped
1 cup of firmly packed soft light brown sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup self raising flour, sifted
2 eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F. Butter two 8 inch round cake pans with removable bottoms. Line the bottoms with baking paper and butter the paper.

Combine the chocolate, butter, brown sugar, syrup and milk in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Whisk in the sifted flours and the eggs. Whisk all together until smooth. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans equally.

Bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake tests done and springs back when touched lightly with the tip of your fingertip or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place, in the pans, on a wire rack to cool completely before removing from the pans. Fill and frost as desired.



*Sticky Toffee Filling*
Makes 1 cup approximately

5.3 ounces evaporated milk
2 ounces water
150g white sugar
2 ounces sultana raisins, chopped
4 ounces chopped dates
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ounces chopped toasted walnuts

Combine the milk, sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the raisins and dates. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is nicely thickened and the dates are softened, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and nuts. Allow to cool before using.

Everyday Epiphanies

“Today a new sun rises for me; everything lives, everything is animated, everything seems to speak to me of my passion, everything invites me to cherish it.” ~ Anne De Lenclos

When I was a girl I used to be afraid of graveyards. A good friend of mine lived in an old farm house, just beyond the edge of town, about half a mile away from my own home. In order to get to her house, I used to have to pass by a graveyard that seemed to stretch forever on both sides of the roadway. My heart would quicken and I would race past on my bicycle as if the hounds of hell itself were after me. This was in broad daylight. I would never have dared to attempt it at night!!

As a adult, I love to wander through graveyards. They are so peaceful and restful. Funny how that goes. Time and experience has taught me that the dead cannot hurt me and I love to walk on the pathways amongst the headstones, reading them and pondering on the people that lay beneath them . . . what sort of lives did they lead, were they rich or poor, happy or sad, did they achieve all that they started out to achieve, or did they leave this plane of existence too soon without having ever reached their goals . . . Life here on earth has lost it’s meaning for them. The toils, and struggles and joys from this lifetime are gone and over.



“For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn/or busy housewife ply her evening care . . . The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” ~Thomas Gray

How many days of our own lives slip away from us, unnoticed and un-appreciated? Some days it seems that we are aware of our inner poet and take note of every precious moment we experience, but then again other days we allow to rush by in a tumult of activity and frenzy, never stopping to appreciate or even register the special little moments that are only ours for the taking. And still yet again, it takes the risk of losing something that we hold dear, to jolt us into awareness, to make us take note of all that we have been taking so very much for granted. These are everyday epiphanies. These little awareness’s of all that we have and should be grateful for, of tragic near misses, a myriad of blessings not counted, these little things that go un-noticed until we risk losing them, or have already bid them farewell, these are the true treasures of our life.

Let us take holdof them before it is too late. Let’s give thanks for each morning that we wake up, and for the rain that sometimes falls. Let us never forget that “there but for the Grace of God go I,” and take hold of the blessing that is simply to be found in being, and in being healthy and alive. Lets us give thanks for our work and for our play. Let us rejoice in the accomplishment of a task completed and the tired feeling that comes at the end of a day, and for a day well lived and used.



In short . . . let us cherish our lives for what they are, every little scrap of them, the good and the bad, for they are only ours to cherish and they all too soon pass away. Let us live as if each day were our last. I think if we thought it could all end tomorrow, each of our today’s would be full of more of a sense of all that we hold dear . . . the flowers would smell a little sweeter, birdsong would dance upon our ears with more breathtaking beauty. It should not have to take our losing it for us to appreciate it all . . . take hold of today and live it, enjoy it, cherish it . . . make it count.

Today was supposed to be Tuesday's With Dorie, and I confess that again, I have not done the challenge. Today's recipe was Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding, pages 410 and 411, as chosen by Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle. Todd hates chocolate and, to be honest, I just can't afford to eat a whole bread pudding by myself. Not just cost wise, but girth wise as well! If you would like to see this recipe be sure to check out Lauren's page and of course there will be umpteen bazillion delicious versions to take a peek at on the Dorie Blog Roll Page! I did make Todd a simple and homey dessert though . . .



*Molasses Spice Cake, with Ginger Syrup*
Serves 8 to 9

There is nothing more comforting than the homey smell of a cake full of cinnamon and cloves baking in the oven. When you combine that served up warm with bits of preserved ginger and the syrup drizzled over top with a big dollop of whipped cream, well, you’ve just died and gone to heaven!

CAKE:

¾ cup milk

2 TBS calvados

1 ½ tsp cider vinegar

2 cups plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground cloves

½ cup butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup light molasses (over here in the UK use ½ cup of golden syrup and ¼ cup of dark treacle mixed)

TO FINISH:

4 knobs of preserved ginger, chopped

Syrup from the jar for drizzling

Softly whipped cream

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a non-stick 9-inch square or round baking pan really well and dust the insides with flour. Set aside.

Combine the milk, calvados and vinegar in a small bowl. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and cloves into another bowl. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until completely incorporated. Add the molasses and mix in well. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the wet, mixing well after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and then bake it in the pre-heated oven for approximately 25 to 30 minutes, or until it tests done when a toothpick is inserted in the middle and comes out clean. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool until just warm, or at room temperature.

Cut into 3 inch squares or wedges to serve. Sprinkle each serving with some of the chopped ginger and drizzle some of the syrup from the jar over. Top with a big dollop of whipped cream. Delicious!

PS - My font today has come out all wonky. I have tried to sort it, but am afraid I'll totally mess up so it will have to stay as it is. Computers! Sometimes they can be so annoying!

The Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY, April 20th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
The day is in full swing. The birds have long since awakened and it is with a different feeling that I am awaking than what I normally experience. I guess I have gotten about 3 hours sleep. That is about par for the course when I have worked all night like I did last night. I can only sleep for a couple of hours and then I get a banging headache and cannot sleep any longer without getting up and taking something for it. I am sure I will spend much of the rest of the day dozing and then go to bed quite early tonight and sleep through til tomorrow morning.

I am thinking...
about the Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts that Jen gave me when I was in America and how good they were. It's probably a good thing I don't have any of those in the house today, as I'd probably scarf down the lot! As it is, today will be a huge battle of wills between the good and bad eating angels on my shoulders! (and the bad one is already winning!)

I am thankful for...
All the little things in my life that mean so much. Todd and I were talking yesterday about which people who would be least affected in this world should all the things we take for granted fall by the wayside . . . things like running water and electricity. There are people in the world, mostly in third world nations, that cope with the lack of these things daily. Such is their lives . . . the washing machine is a few rocks in a river, they lug water for miles and miles on their shoulders . . . computers, electricity, telephones, etc. They have no purpose in their lives. These people would hardly notice a difference in their standard of living at all. A very sobering thought that makes me truly thankful for everthing I have been blessed with, and at the same time perhaps I need to suffer a bit more so I don't have as far to fall . . .

From the kitchen...
I have a roast in the slow cooker, along with some vegetables and an apple pie on the counter that I made for Todd at the weekend. I have a cake recipe that I am working on for a recipe contest. You all will be my guinea pigs, well at least as far as how it looks. Todd it the lucky person who will get to taste my results!

I am wearing...
My pajamas of course and I seriously doubt that I shall have anything else on at all today!! C'est la vie!!

I am creating...
Yesterday I did this little painting in between church and work. I called it "Star Light, Star Bright." Yes, I was so tired when I did my last post that I gave you the wrong name for it! Duh! I also want to put together an assortment of notecards for my mom for part of her Mother's Day gift. I know she will love them. She is a great letter/note writer and I am sure they'll come in really useful. Besides, a gift from the heart is the best gift of all!



I am going...
I am going to relax as much as I can today without actually falling asleep! Tommorrow I have an eye appointment. I think I need some new glasses and it's actually long overdue. I have been wearing these same glasses for about 11 years now and they are looking quite dated. I hope my eyes have not changed too much, although I strongly suspect that they have. I have to take them off to do most things nowadays.

I am reading...

I've only just started it, but so far so good. I really enjoy reading auto-biographies and true stories. I also like fairy tales. I know, these are two extremes! When I was younger I loved to read Horror Novels. Stephen King was one of my favourite authors. At the same time I enjoyed books by Taylor Caldwell and also historical romance novels. My tastes have really changed through the years. It's interesting to see just by how much!


I am hoping...
That I will hear back from a certain publisher soon and that it will be positive news. I have been on pins and needles for a couple of weeks now. Patience is a virtue that I am continuously working on!

I am hearing...
Todd has the news running on the television and I can hear protestors making lots of noise. I think this is going to become more common place as the present financial circumstances take a stronger hold on us. I think it will most certainly get worse before it gets better. Yes, it is appalling that we will all have to dig deeper into our pockets to pay more taxes in the coming year, but the alternative hardly bears thinking about. Higher taxation is the lesser of two evils I think!

Around the house...
I can't even begin to think about what needs to be done . . . we'll just save that for another day!!

One of my favorite things...
Is puttering. I am a great putterer! I love to stay semi busy throughout my leisure hours and am always poking about and sticking my fingers and nose into all sorts! I think it annoys Todd sometimes, as I even putter while we are trying to watch a film on the telly. If I sit still for too long I start to fall asleep, so puttering keeps me awake!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Back to Young Women's and Seminary this Thursday evening. We are doing chocolate making in Young Women's which should be interesting! Not too many weeks of Seminary left so we will have to get busy and get cracking on catching up on any lessons we may have missed etc. I am not sure I was that great of a teacher, but I did try. Most evenings I only have one student and I feel rather sorry for him there all on his lonesome! Todd sometimes sits in so that he doesn't feel picked on!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is how sweet my husband is. As I have sat here typing, he has popped down to the shops to pick up a few things and he came back bearing these lovely flowers for me as a gift, just to say, "I love you and appreciate you." Isn't he just the best!! I do love him so.

And there you have it, my Simple Woman's Day Book for today. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

I subscribe to a great little cooking magazine put out by the BBC, called Easy Cook. It comes out about every second month and is chock full of great little recipes for everyday kind of food. As soon as I saw these lovely little open face sandwiches in the latest issue, I flagged them as something that I wanted to make. Simple, economical and very tasty!

*Ham and Pineapple Melts*

Serves 2

Toasted English muffins topped with salty baked ham, sweet pineapple and a yummy cheese topping. These are really, really good. I normally have all the ingredients at hand.

2 wholemeal English muffins, split and lightly toasted
4 thick slices of cooked ham
2 tsp honey mustard (I used honeycup, it's quite spicy and
went really well with the saltiness of the ham and the
sweetness of the pineapple)
4 pineapple rings, well drained and dried off with some paper towels
2 ounces grated mature cheddar cheese
a spash of Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat your grill (broiler) to medium. Place the toasted muffin halves onto a grill pan. spread each half with some of the mustard. Top with a slice of ham, a pineapple ring and some cheese. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes until bubbling and golden. Remove from the grill and spash on some Worcesterhire sauce. Serve immediately.

These go very well with a side salad, but for a more substantial meal such as supper why not make some homemade oven chips to go along on the side!

A Quick Note Before I hit the Sack!

It's 20 past six in the morning and I am just getting in from work. I didn't want anyone to worry because I had not posted. I know that some of you worry if you haven't seen a post from me first thing in the morning. I'll be back later on after I have had a bit of a kip to do my Day Book, and in the meantime here's a little taste of what you have to look forward to later on!

There's the Day book, (hopefully interesting) and of course a tasty recipe:



(It's Ham, Pineapple and Cheese Muffins)

In the meantime though I did a little something yesterday after church before I left for work.



She's a real sweetie. You can see the whole thing on Blossom Time Creations. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. "

Be Back Later today with hopefully something you'll want to read!

Marie's Sunday Six Smile Makers

I missed doing this last week because it was Easter and I had other things I wanted to talk about. It seems like that was ages ago now, but . . . yes, it was only a week! My goodness, how time does fly by. I love my Sunday Six Smile Maker posts. It is a chance for me to look back on my week and reflect on all the good things that have blessed me in the past seven days. I always find it so very uplifting.



How long does it take to eat a Lindt Gold Bunny? Apparently not very long at all!! I love Easter Bunnies, especially Lindt ones. When I was a girl the chocolate Easter Bunny was the highlight of our Easter morning treats. Over here in the UK, most children get a chocolate egg, which is their main treat. They are huge and come in all kinds of varieties. Me, I love me a good chocolate Easter Bunny. I guess I just love what I am used to and, well, Lindt is the best in my opinion! Plus you get a nice little bell to play with when you're finished . . . it also makes it rather hard to sneak nibbles as well, coz that dang bell . . . well, the tell tale jingle gives you away every time!



Digging in the Garden. I did not do a lot myself, because I had to work, but Todd got a lot of digging done in our garden this week. That makes me smile and not just because someone else did all the hard work!! I do love to see the freshly upturned earth and the new plants going into the ground. We lost most of our rockery plants this past winter, it was so cold, and so we have had to put in new ones. We also lost all our geraniums so have put those in new as well. How can you not love a geranium? They are one of my favourites. We have a big strawberry pot that we plant red geraniums in all the holes. Come late spring/early summer, it looks really beautiful. We also planted a lot of containers with some vegetables, such as potatoes, green and yellow beans and tomatoes.



Of course working in the garden brings out Little Robin Redbreast! I love the robins over here. They are so tiny and cute and quite tame really. Whenever we work in the garden we can always be sure that there will be one not too far away, hoping for the tasty treat of a worm or two or three! These pretty little birds always bring a smile to my face, what with their wonderful song and garden antics! (They can be quite combative with each other and very territorial!)



April Showers. We had plenty of those off and on this week. I love April Showers because I know that with each one the earth wakes up all that much more and the trees get greener and the flowers just begin to burst out all over! I was just saying to Todd yesterday that I don't really mind the rain much over here. It hardly ever really just buckets down in torrential amounts, mostly it just sprinkles down, which can be quite pleasant to walk in at times. My first year over here was the wettest autumn/winter on record and it rained every single day, or so it seemed. I soon learnt that you don't melt in the rain. If I'd stayed indoors because of a little rain I would soon have gone stir crazy! Besides, it's always a great conversation opener at the bus stop!!



Speaking of flowers, I do love my pansies. They have been one of my favourite flowers forever it seems! I just adore their little upturned faces and the way their little heads bob about in the springtime breezes. I think I love the purple ones most of all, but any pansy at all makes me smile, they truly do . . .



This little girl made me smile yesterday. I sat down to draw something completely different and she's what came out of the ends of my fingertips. This one is called, "God Loveth A Cheerful Giver," and you can see her over at Blossom Time Creations. Just goes to show that my fingers have a mind of their own. I never know really what is going to happen when I sit down with my paints and brushes. Sometimes even I am surprised!

I finally got to make a recipe for our supper last night that I have been wanting to make for quite a few weeks now! I first saw it in an e-mail that I got advertising this new cookbook I recently picked up called the Worldwide Ward Cookbook. (Remember I talked about that a couple of weeks back) Yesterday I finally had all the ingredients in house and so I made it. It is delicious and finally, finally after a bazillion times of trying other recipes I have a Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe that tastes very close to what you get in a Chinese restaurant! This is wonderful!



*Little Pink Chicken*
Serves 6 - 8

This recipe is attributed to Linda Robinson from the Belgrano Ward in the South America South Area mission of the LDS church. Like me, she loves to cook for the missionaries and always likes to give them a taste of home if she can. This was one of the Elder's who was working in their area's favourite thing from home that his mother always made, so she e-mailed his mom and got the recipe and here it is. She says the elders always love it and after having made and tasted it myself, I can totally see why!! It's fabulous! Thank you Sister Robinson!

2 large chicken breasts
1/2 tsp garlic salt
cornstarch
1 egg, beaten with 1 TBS water
oil for frying
for the Sauce:
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup tomato ketchup
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp salt
2 TBS soy sauce

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and sprinle it with the garlic salt. Let sit for one hour. At the end of that time, coat each piece in some cornstarch. (I put some cornstarch into a bowl and just stirred it all together. I used about 1/4 cup)

Heat some oil, about 1/4 inch deep in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Dip the cornflour coated chicken bits into the beaten egg and then carefully cook them in the hot oil until lightly browned. Scoop out into a shallow casserole dish. Repeat until all the chicken pieces are browned.

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F.

Place the sauce ingredients into a large microwavable beaker. Whisk together. Cook on high for approximately five minutes, stirring it halfway through the cooking time. Pour over the chicken in the casserole dish.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until the sauce is nicely thickened. (Do not cover)

I served this with some egg fried rice and stir fried vegetables on the side. It was wonderful!