Morning Mix-Up

 

I think breakfast is beautiful. I love everything about it.

Especially eggs!

Everyone has had scrambled eggs. But have you ever had eggs scrambled with hash browns? Hash browns makes them taste 10 times more amazing! 

As if that wasn't great enough, this recipe also includes fried ham and loads of cheddar cheese to top it off.

Make it for breakfast tomorrow!

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R E C I P E

 

 

Recipe from Taste of Home’s “Contest-Winning Annual Recipes 2006” cookbook 

2 C. frozen hash brown potatoes 

1 C. chopped fully cooked ham 

1/2 C. chopped onion 

2 T. vegetable oil 

6 eggs 

Salt and pepper to taste 

1 C. shredded cheddar cheese 

Minced chives 

In a large skillet, fry potatoes, ham, and onion in oil for 10 minutes or until potatoes are slightly crispy. Beat eggs, salt, and pepper in a bowl; add to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set.

Remove from heat and gently stir in cheese; sprinkle with chives. Serve with buttered toast.

God of the Mountains

 

"Thy righteousness is like the great mountains." (Psalms 36:6)

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." (Psalms 90:2)

 

The evil in our world can overwhelm our souls. It towers high, looming over and shadowing all we see. 

 

But even greater than the evil, God's righteousness still stands. Before the world began, His righteousness was standing firm, and for eternity future it will continue to endure. 

 

When evil is rightly viewed in light of God’s righteousness, then we understand that the evil we experience in this world exists but for a moment. Evil will have its end, but we will rejoice in God's righteousness for all of eternity!

The evil may overwhelm our souls, but we can find rest in this towering truth. 

His righteousness is like the great mountains.

Rightful Place

"We can read all the books in the world and read the Bible through once a year, and sing our way through the hymnal, but when it is all over, we will never find peace or victory until God is given the place in our hearts that He has in the universe." (A. W. Tozer)

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38)

Cinnamon Puffs

Do you remember when you first fell in love with muffins?

Maybe it was those huge store-bought muffins. The chocolate ones. Yeah. The chocolate ones that taste like chocolate cake. The ones the size of a dinner plate. When you first clapped eyes on one of those bad boys as a 5-year-old, the sun came out and the angels sang as, at last, your greatest dreams had materialized before you. "It's beautiful!"  

Was that the first time for you?

Or maybe your grandma set a plate of fresh muffins on her kitchen table one day when you went to visit her, and that first bite of fluffy sweetness blew you away. "Please more muffins, Grandma!" you pleaded. (Of course you can, this is Grandma you're asking.)

Me, I was never a huge fan of muffins. Me and muffins, well, we just didn't have anything special between us. Sometimes when I had a muffin as a kid (the store-bought chocolate kind) ith sthuck tho the rthoof of mhy mufth. Then I'd be gulping down milk. In my experience, muffins were just thick and simply, bland. It's like it was trying to be a cupcake. But it just ended up being disappointing. 

One day my disappointment changed.

One of those slim cookbooks with multiple muffin recipes showed up in the house randomly (probably by mail) when I was around 14 or 15, and for some reason I couldn't stop looking at it. I don't know why -- I didn't even like muffins! But here I was carefully reading each recipe title, feverishly formulating the ingredients in my mind, mentally working through every step. 

Some of the recipes didn't interest me -- muffins with cranberries and even blueberries sounded as exciting as salad. Skip those! But some others . . . hmm. Some of them stood out . . . 

 Apple muffins with sour cream in the batter. 

Muffins with chocolate chips in them. 

And something called "cinnamon puffs."  

Huh. Something in that title stood out in a silent appeal. "Puffs," as in, not your average "muffin."

Finally, I got a chance to do some baking and I knew it was time to see if these were different than all the other muffins I had ever not enjoyed. I liked the way the batter came together, with sugar dissolving into the melted butter, and eggs added to that and then beaten into a golden, glossy, thick syrup. Finally flour and the other ingredients were ever-so-gently mixed in. Bake them, then dip them in (more) butter and now dip them in cinnamon-sugar, which will become one with the beautiful butter, creating a topping even yummier than frosting.

Finally, while the muffin was still hot and steamy, I took a bite . . . and I couldn't believe how amazing it tasted! Wow! It melted in my mouth like chocolate. 

It was love at first bite!

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R E C I P E

Recipe from the Gold Medal "Let's Bake!" cookbook

1/3 C. butter, melted
1/3 C. sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 C. flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. milk
 

Topping:

1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffins tins or use paper liners.

Mix melted butter and sugar, then add egg. Combine dry ingredients. Stir dry mixture into egg mixture alternately with milk. Do not over-mix. Divide batter evenly among muffins cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Immediately after baking, dip tops of muffins in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar mixture. 

 

Serve warm.

Outside, Inside

Outside: Frosty cold.  

Brr . . . 

 

Inside: Warm kitty. 

Hang your head over . . .

 

Hear the wind blow.

 

Don't you love the way grass bends down after it rains? Weighted down with moisture, they gracefully touch their toes while they soak up sunbeams.

Some things are designed to yield to the harsher elements. The mighty oak stands strong and invincible to the elements, enduring in its stolid resistance. But the strength of other things, like grass, is found in its yielding nature. Flexible and supple, they fly with every wave of stormy wind. Then, as the gales soar far away, they perch there from the ground perfectly unharmed, as if no storm had ever made them quiver.

 

Sometimes endurance is found in yielding to the storm, and sometimes the storm is all wind. It may blow us around, but we'll be okay in the end.

Onion Rings

What to do when Fred Meyer Bush Shopping sends you not sweet onions, but yellow onions, two weeks in a row?

I mean, onions are great in the right proportion in a casserole or a soup, but you can only go so far in consuming that many onions in a reasonable amount of time.

Onions rings would be amazing, I thought, but I've never made them before. And they're probably hard to make. And they won't be any good. Nix that idea.

But it wouldn't be nixed. Like an the aroma wafting from a 1950's diner, it kept coming back to me. 

So there I was in the kitchen, dropping the first battered onion slice into the bubbling oil. Please be good, I pleaded. I could think of nothing nastier than barely-cooked onions coated in a greasy batter that refused to bond to a veggie interior. But my hopes rose as the batter transformed into a puffy golden brown. After cooking the other sides of the onion rings, I avidly placed the first steaming-hot goodies onto a plate lined with paper towels. I eyed them as they cooled, dropping the second batch into the hot oil. Finally, after squirting some ketchup onto a plate for dipping, I took my first bite . . . and . . .

. . . Bliss.

Heaven. Perfection. 10/10. 

 

They. Were. So. Good. 

 

Like, someone-please-stop-me-I'm-going-to-eat-them-all.

How did I not know that onion rings of this magnitude were so simple to produce? It just goes to show ya that our doubts often tend to hold us back from really awesome things.

You might be reading this and you're thinking, Great, now I want onion rings. Uh, let's see . . . Got some onions in your kitchen cupboard? Yeah? Basic staple ingredients? You do? Well then, whatcha waitin' for! You should definitely make some. :) 

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R E C I P E  

 

 

Recipe from Food.com

1 egg

1 C. milk

1 C. flour

3 T. oil
1 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Oil for frying

Slice onions and separate into rings.

Pour oil into a medium or large-sized pan. Heat oil.

Combine all ingredients; stir until smooth.

Dip onion rings into batter.

Let excess batter drip off.

Fry for 2-3 minutes and place on paper towels to drain.

Freezing instructions: place in freezer bags and freeze. To reheat, place on tray in 375 degree oven for a few minutes.