Lemon Madeleines

Ingredients

Makes 2 dozen.

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted, plus more for pans
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (not self-rising)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two madeleine pans; set aside.
   Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.
2. Put eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Let rest for 2 hours.
3. Pour batter into buttered pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through, until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to one day.

Check out this Youtube for a rough idea of how it should be done:

Recette de cuisine: madeleines tradition au citron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijc33whYLeo

Never Have I Fallen

Never Have I Fallen

Your lips speak soft sweetness
Your touch a cool caress
I am lost in your magic
My heart beats within your chest

I think of you each morning
And dream of you each night
I think of your arms being around me
And cannot express my delight

Never have I fallen
But I am quickly on my way
You hold a heart in your hands
That has never before been given away

- Rex A. Williams -

Pecan Chicken Sautéed Zucchini

Ingredients

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
( ¼ c honey, ¼ c course brown mustard)
2 oz pecan chips
1 zucchini, cubed
½ pkg dinner rolls


Instructions:

Thaw chicken. Combine honey and mustard;
dip chicken in sauce until coated and dredge in
chopped pecans. Place in baking dish and cook
@ 350 for 30 minutes or until tender.

Serve with sautéed zucchini and hot dinner
rolls / butter.

Fancy Crab Soup

1 can cream of potato soup
(1 soup can of milk)
2 green onions, minced
6 oz processed cheese
2 cans 6 oz fancy white crab meat
(2 t garlic, 1/8 t Cajun seasoning)

Mix all ingredients and simmer on medium low
for 15 to 20 minutes.

Un temps pour tout ! Posted: 24 Jan 2011 04:00 PM PST “Les jours de pleurs pour le deuil de Moïse s’achevèrent.” Deutéronome 38.4 Il y a un temps pour toute chose : “Un temps pour gagner et un temps pour perdre, un temps pour rire et un temps pour pleurer” (Ecclésiaste 3.4). Durant votre existence, vous vivrez des cycles, des saisons différentes. Il est important de savoir perdre et pleurer pour mieux apprécier vos joies et vos victoires. Il y a un temps pour tout, apprenez à vivre votre présent. Antoine Saint-Exupéry disait : “Ce qu'il y a de beau dans le désert c'est qu'il cache des puits ! » Jacques Dutronc chantait : “Dans la vie il y a des cactus”. La vie est un savant mélange de joies et de peines, et finalement cela nous rend plus vivant. Vous devez vivre vos peines sans les écourter ou les prolonger. Vous devez pleurer ce que vous avez à pleurer, puis le temps venu, allez de l'avant ! Après s'être lamenté de la mort de Moïse, le temps de deuil fut achevé et le peuple hébreu poursuivit sa route pour la conquête. Dieu dit à Josué : “Maintenant lève-toi, traverse le Jourdain… en direction du pays que je donne aux Israélites”. (Josué 1.2). Oui, il y a un temps pour perdre et un temps pour gagner. N'allez pas plus vite que la musique ! Réalisez que chaque étape est importante pour votre équilibre. Avez-vous entendu parler de l'horloge qui fit une dépression ? Un jour, elle se mit à penser au nombre de fois où elle devrait “tictaquer” pendant l'année. Sachant qu'il y avait deux tic-tac par seconde, 120 par minute, 7 200 fois par heure, 172 800 par jour et 1 209 600 chaque semaine, l'horloge se rendit subitement compte qu'elle devrait “tictaquer” près de 63 millions de fois pendant les 12 prochains mois. Plus elle y pensait, plus elle devenait anxieuse. En fin de compte, l'horloge devint tellement affolée qu'elle fit une dépression. Confiant son problème à un psychiatre, l'horloge se plaignit qu'elle n'avait pas la force de “tictaquer” si souvent. Le médecin lui répliqua: “Mais combien de tic-tac devez-vous produire à la fois ?” Et l'horloge répondit : “Seulement un”. “Eh bien, contentez-vous de faire un tic-tac à la fois et ne vous inquiétez pas du prochain, lui conseilla-t-il. Vous vous porterez bien, j'en suis certain”. Il y a un temps pour tout, apprenez à vivre votre présent. Une prière pour aujourd'hui Seigneur, je te remets ma journée. Aide-moi à vivre mes joies et mes peines et qu'à travers cela je puisse devenir encore plus fort. Amen. Patrice Martorano

Syber Sam: Jesus vs Satan

Syber Sam: Jesus vs Satan: "Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God ..."

Jesus vs Satan

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.'

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They faxed. They e-mailed. They e-mailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets! They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports They did every job known to man. Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell. Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off..

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan started searching frantically, screaming: 'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!'

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work..

Satan observed this and became irate. 'Wait!' he screamed. 'That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?'

God just shrugged and said, JESUS SAVES

Space to Dance and Perfect Love

Creating Space to Dance Together by Henri Nouwen

When we feel lonely we keep looking for a person or persons who can take our loneliness away. Our lonely hearts cry out, "Please hold me, touch me, speak to me, pay attention to me." But soon we discover that the person we expect to take our loneliness away cannot give us what we ask for. Often that person feels oppressed by our demands and runs away, leaving us in despair. As long as we approach another person from our loneliness, no mature human relationship can develop. Clinging to one another in loneliness is suffocating and eventually becomes destructive. For love to be possible we need the courage to create space between us and to trust that this space allows us to dance together.


Yearning for Perfect Love by Henri Nouwen

When we act out of loneliness our actions easily become violent. The tragedy is that much violence comes from a demand for love. When loneliness drives our search for love, kissing easily leads to biting, caressing to hitting, looking tenderly to looking suspiciously, listening to overhearing, and surrender to rape. The human heart yearns for love: love without conditions, limitations, or restrictions. But no human being is capable of offering such love, and each time we demand it we set ourselves on the road to violence.

How then can we live nonviolent lives? We must start by realizing that our restless hearts, yearning for perfect love, can only find that love through communion with the One who created them.


These two devotionals from Henri Nouwen told me that I still have much to learn about love. I am a student of love and will stay that way all of my life.

Please feel free to send me anything related to relationships. I'd like one day to become a love guru master :o)

Blessings,

Sam

Sunday Prayer

Bless our beautiful land, O Lord,
with its wonderful variety of people,
of races, cultures and languages.

May we be a nation
of laughter and joy,
of justice and reconciliation,
of peace and unity,
of compassion, caring and sharing.

We pray this prayer for a true patriotism,
in the powerful name of Jesus our Lord.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Taco Calzones

1/2 lb ground beef, browned
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can refrigerated pizza dough
1 c shredded cheddar
2 T chopped cilantro -optional
(Salsa, sour cream)


Cook ground beef. Stir in 1/4 c water and 1/2 pkt taco seasoning...
Cook 4 min & set aside. Divide dough in two squares.
Divide meat, cilantro, and cheese on each;
fold over and seal.
Bake on cookie sheet @ 375, 20-25 mins.
Serve with salsa & sour cream.

The Spiritual Work of Gratitude

The Spiritual Work of Gratitude

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.

Henri Nouwen

Here are this year's wishes for you

Here are THIS YEAR’s wishes for you.

May you always make the right moves.

May your cup runneth over with love


MAY YOU ALWAYS FIND SHELTER FROM ANY STORM

May you remain good looking and looking good.

May you find the perfect diet for your

body and your soul.

May you find perfect balance in the

company you keep.

May you have as much fun as you can before

someone makes you stop.

May the worst thing that happens to you come in slobbery pink and furry TAN.

May you manage to MAKE time for siesta.

May all the new folks you meet be

interesting and kind.

May your accessories always harmonize with

your natural beauty!

Should your mouth ever be bigger than your stomach,

may you have a chewing good time!

May you always know when to walk away

and when to run.

AND MAY YOUR FRIENDS ALWAYS

BRING YOU JOY

May 2011 be your

BEST year EVER!!!

White Barbecue Chicken

January 12th, 2011

White Barbecue Chicken

Pesto Potatoes

Sauteed Asparagus

Ingredients:

(3 T mayo, 1/2 T salt, 1/2 T pepper, 1T sugar, 1 1/2 T vinegar, 1/8 c milk)

2 to 3 boneless chicken breasts

---------------
4 medium potatoes, washed & cut in 8th ( whatever that does mean)

1/2 jar prepared pesto sauce

1 small bunch asparagus, trimmed

(Olive Oil)

--------------------------------

Instructions:

Combine mayo, salt, pepper, sugar, vinegar and milk.
Pour sauce over chicken in a greased baking dish.
Cover. Bake @350 for 1 hour

--------
Toss potatoes in pesto. Spread on cookie sheet & salt.
Bake along w / chicken @350 for 1 hour.
Turn occasionally (which I forgot)

--------

Saute asparagus in olive oil until tender, 5-10 min. Salt and pepper

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