Cartoon Church – comment on C.U.’s

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

This made me laugh – check out Dave’s Advent calendar too!

Dinner in 20 minutes – traybaked mushrooms

At the moment, (11 days to go to the wedding!) all I can cope with cooking are simple dishes that require little preparation, a short cooking time and even less washing up! This mushroom dish is just that and so tasty; the flesh of the large mushrooms is meaty and satisfying and the flavour of the Taleggio cheese is complementary to the mushroom’s subtle flavour.

Traybaked mushrooms (serves 2)

4 large flat mushrooms

A small block of Taleggio cheese (Italian cheese from Lombardy where I stayed when I lived in Italy – it’s available in Tesco’s and Sainsburys)

A little olive oil.

Clean the mushrooms with a brush or a damp piece of kitchen towel and using a pastry brush, coat the outside with a little olive oil – you don’t need much. Place in an oven proof baking tray or dish with their stalks facing upwards. Cut 3mm thick slices of the cheese and lay on top of the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms into a preheated oven (200 degrees celsius) and cook for 15-20 minutes.

I serve the mushrooms on ciabatta roll like burgers, the juices from the baked mushrooms poured over the bread like fine gravy. Yum.

J.O.’s fabulous beef stew….my way :-)

On Monday, the small group leaders met for an update and we shared a meal together. Jacket potatoes with beef stew or ratatouille and lots of lovely puds to follow. Anyway the stew recipe I used was a Jamie Oliver one, Jool’s favourite beef stew… I think. BUT instead of frying the onions, sage, vegetables and meat before putting them into the casserole dish, I just put all the ingredients into a slow cooker and let it cook over night. This way of cooking makes the meat meltingly soft and tasty.

For 4

600g stewing steak

50g flour

2 Carrots

2 parsnips

1 butternut squash

a handful of potatoes

1 onion

fresh sage leaves

1/2 a pint of beef stock

1/2 bottle of red wine

Tomato puree

Fresh rosemary leaves

Lemon zest

1 clove of garlic

Peel and chop the root vegetables and the stewing steak into 2cm cubes. coat the steak in the flour and season with salt and pepper. Slice the onion and break up the sage leaves. Put the onion, vegetables, sage leaves and steak into the slow cooker and add the stock and wine and a generous squirt of tomato puree. Give the pot a stir and put on the low heat setting so the meat can cook for 8-10 hours. I cooked mine over night, so all you need to do later in the evening is transfer it to a pan or casserole dish and heat on the hob or in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

As you are about to serve it, chop the rosemary leaves, zest your lemon and finely chop the garlic, mix them together and then chuck this in. According to the big J.O. this creates a fantastic aroma and taste to the stew!

No one is perfect

I am not
who you think I am.

This face is a shop window
Elegantly dressed
To entice you closer
To draw you in
Smiling, chattering
Laughing.
The eyes sparkle
Lights illuminating
Here you think
Maybe you are safe

Yet I am hollow
The glass panes are
cracked, blurred
On closer inspection
The wares on show
Are worn and threadbare
Behind the initial glow
There is darkness
Deep, enveloping

I am not alone
We are all shop windows
With blemishes
To hide

It is easier to deceive
than to confront
reality

Honestly
Bravely
can I admit my frailty?
I am not always who you think I am
By the grace of God
Will I strive to be
Continually broken
reconstructed
Renewed.

There has been much talk in the news and on blogs about the American pastor Ted Haggard and his dismissal. It is much easier to criticise, condemn people who fall from a great height. I am starkly reminded that we are all as crippled by sin and dirt as the next person. I loved this gracious open letter from Floyd McClung about this situation and it challenged me to write the words above.

Today we walk humbly, meekly in the light and pray that the Holy Spirit would equip us to battle with temptations and help us live lives that mirror the life of our Saviour.