Marie's Sunday Six

Welcome to my last Sunday Six for November 2010! It's hard to believe that we are already at the end of the month oncer again. My goodness but the time has passed so quickly, it's a wonder our faces aren't all distorted from G force! Is it just me, or is time passing faster and faster?? I have had a lot of smiles this past week so without further adieu lets get to them!



For the past couple of months, Todd and I have been going with the missionaries periodically to help to teach a female investigator about our church. What a lovely lady she is and so humble and keen to learn. Last evening she was Baptised and what a wonderful evening it was. This Baptism was so very special. It was something we thought would not happen for a long time due to her fear of water. Thankfully she was able to get over that fear long enough to be Baptised, praise God! It was such a spiritual and beautiful Baptism. It took me back to when I was able to finally be Baptised myself and all the wonderful feelings associated with that occasion. It made me smile in a very big way. (Grr. . . I can't believe that I forgot my camera! I had really wanted to take a picture of her afterwards with the missionaries!)



I had been asked to give a short talk on Faith prior to the Baptism. I was very honoured to have been asked and this made me smile in a very big way! It was a great priviledge to have been able to serve this woman in such a special way and I enjoyed every minute of it. Faith in the Saviour is one of my favourite topics and it was my very first time to ever have been asked to give a talk at someone's Baptism! Oh how very happy I was to have been able to do so last evening! It has been such a blessing to us to have been able to help to teach this woman and to have helped her to take this very important step back on her journey back into her Heavenly Father's presence!



We have had one of the coldest endings to a November in a long time over here in the UK. I think snow in November, especially in the more Southern Regions, is practically unheard of, but we do have snow. It may not be a lot where I live in Chester, but it is there and it is coooooold!!! This week, mittens and hot chocolate and central heating have made me smile! Well, maybe not earlier this week when our boiler wasn't working, but let me tell you . . . once they got it going I was smiling, smiling, SMILING!!!



Being able to send my grandchildren a special Message from Santa on the PNP (Portable North Pole) once again this year has made me smile. I hope that they enjoyed receiving it as much as I enjoyed sending it!

The Portable North Pole(PNP) is a free video message from Santa for kids (and adults). It brings the magic of Christmas to a computer near you! Users can have Santa say their child’s name, open a book with their child’s photo, trace the route from the North Pole to their child’s home and let them know what Santa will be putting under the tree at Christmas. All with a few mouse clicks!

The video is magnificent. Your children and Grandchildren will honestly believe that Santa is talking directly to them! I raced through the process with my grandson's details, and less than 5 minutes later I had a fun, personalized message from St. Nick himself - irrefutable evidence that there is a Santa Claus! I love that there are different messages tailored to children of all ages . . . and even grownups . . . making it fun and relevant for everyone in your family.



This little lady makes me smile big time! Here is Mitzie's latest photo. It is hard to get a decent picture of her these days. She usually gets all excited when she sees the camera and starts moving about and all I end up with is a blur!! I was lucky to get this one the other day. She is such a little dear and so very loving. She gets very excited when the doorbell rings! She knows that we will probably have a visitor and she is very sociable! She doesn't bark, but she goes to the hallway door and stands there looking at it, practically willing it to open and allow the person into her presence! We are still trying very hard to train her not to jump up on people. It's slowly getting better. Like anyone she has good days and she has bad days! She is huge joy to us both.



I got a package in the post this week all the way from Sweden. Inside was this beautiful red tin Moose along with some very pretty traditional Swedish Straw ornaments. My friend Marie from Sweden had sent them to me. Oh, how I love them! It was such a kind and generous thing for her to do and I was just thrilled! It really made me smile. He is adorable and I have christened him Merry Moose. He is sitting on our mantle just waiting for me to decorate for Christmas! It won't be long now!

I had a lot of smiles this week, far too many to show you here . . . these are just the highlights. I am so blessed to live a life that is filled with abundant joy. Yes, there are sad times too, but I am so very lucky that I have the faith and strength to pull myself through them. Life is a truly wonderful gift and we should never take any of it for granted.

"When every day seems the same, it is because we have stopped noticing the good things that appear in our lives." ~Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I hope you are able to notice some good things in your life today and in the week to come!



I have been struggling for months to get a decent photo of Roast Chicken. It is really quite hard to get a nice photo of this. Poor Todd has had to sit through one chicken dinner after another in my quest for the perfect photo, thankfully not without abreak in between and something else to eat, for I’m afraid if I served roast chicken to thiskind and gentle man my husband is, even he would rebel after a time! Yesterday I cooked yet again, another Roast Chicken and I didn’t get what I would consider to be a decent photo of the whole thing. I did, however, get a pretty tempting photo of it on my plate . . .



*Lemon and Garlic Roast Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Nothing is more comforting than a delicious dinner of Roast Chicken and vegetables. Crisp skin on the outside, and succulent, flavourful, tender and juicy meat on the inside. This is my way of achieving just that. Lemon and Garlic bring out the best in chicken. The three just go together like peas and carrots!

1 medium sized roasting chicken, about 2 kg in weight
2 unwaxed lemons
3 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 TBS butter
3 sprigs of thyme
Sea Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
A drizzle of olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Take one of the lemons and slice very thinly. Place half of the slices in the bottom of a heavy roasting pan along with half of the sliced garlic. Set aside while you prepare the chicken.

Wash the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Season it well inside with salt and pepper. Loosen the skin over the chicken breasts with your fingers, being very careful not to tear it. Push a few slices of the sliced lemon in under the skin on each side along with some of the remaining garlic slices, 1 TBS of butter and a sprig of thyme. Put the rest of the lemon, the last TBS of butter and a sprig of thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Place the whole chicken on top of the sliced lemon and garlic in the roasting pan. Dust the whole thing with some salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil. Place in the heated oven.

Roast, uncovered for approximately 45 minutes per kg, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Baste the chicken every fifteen minutes after the first half hour has passed with the pan juices.

Remove from the oven and let it sit to rest for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving. If you wish you can skim off all the fat from the pan and make a delicious gravy with the juices that are left behind.

To make a gravy: Skim off all the fat from the pan, except for about 2 TBS. Add several TBS of flour to the remaining drippings and any juices from the chicken. Stir until smooth, and cook over medium heat for about a minute. Slowly pour in 2 cups of heated chicken stock, stirring until it is thickened and smooth. Taste for seasoning. Serve.



And over in The English Kitchen this morning, you'll find a delicious recipe for the Classic Sunday Morning Brunch Cake