Jack called yesterday and asked if he could spend the night. A lifelong friend was gravely ill and he would not make it for dinner, but he looked forward to spending the night and breakfast in the morning. He remembered my husband’s birthday is this weekend and even brought a gift in the midst of a very heavy evening. His friend went home to  Jesus at 10:30 pm.

Jack is a Texan. How do you cook breakfast for a Texan when you are  Iowan?

I began cooking around 7:30am and everything was ready in 15 minutes.

Grill sausage on very hot pan seering all sides…turn to low and place a few slices of french bread in the grease around the sausage. (Texas Toast)

Crumble 1 sausage in the bottom of your frying pan, turn up heat and slice garlic very thin and place all around the pan. Lower heat to 4 for gas.

Scramble two eggs into the pan…toss generous amounts of cayenne pepper on everything.

Add Cilantro and perhaps some sage or thyme…whatever is available and garnish your plate with salsa.

My husband makes a green chili sauce that is perfect with eggs.

(Recipe is  classified)

Place toast in a covered basket to keep warm and two corn tortilla’s for the eggs.

Elgin Sausage is the only sausage we serve in Texas.

The night before cook sausage and store in the frig. I followed the directions on the Jimmy Dean package.

Cook Pinto beans with a little of the leftover juice from the sausage, salt and pepper to taste and as they become a bit mushy.

Drain all water from pinto beans and store in the frig.

Finely chop lettuce and store in the frig.

Flour tortillas

Shredded Cheddar

Place all ingredients on the tortilla fold and weight with a heavy pan, toast in a frying pan with just a small amount of oil.

We will be enjoying many great dishes this weekend, but I thought I’d share a simple one I prepare for my family for breakfast.
Prepare rice and beans at least a day before. I am not one to veer from the recipe printed on the bag.
Buy one bag of black beans and one bag of whole grain brown rice.

Scramble two eggs

Prepare Pico de gallo …

1 c cilantro

1 c tomato

3 limes

1 c onion

1/2 scallions

1 clove of garlic

Chop everything and place in a jar squeeze enough lime to make it have a slight kick in flavor and salt and pepper to taste.

Spray a little olive oil on frying pan and place tortilla and layer in a little rice, beans, eggs, pico de gallo and top with another tortilla and weight with the heaviest pan available. My family likes a little cheese on theirs but we have this without cheese and it is muy deliciouso either way.

I served it with a kale juice as a nod to my friend Margaret Turewicz. We spent ten days in Puerta Vallarta and she drank Kale juice every day. Our daughter and I could hardly watch her drink it, but now we understand how great you feel. I mix mine with just a little fruit…apple or berries of any kind in the blender to hide the bitter bite of the kale.              

( first of my brothers and sisters… haha).                                                   

Mom needs not a thing, but she did mention after opening her gifts, she’d love some chocolate chip cookies! I made this recipe today with very little sugar and used teaspoons to measure out the dough so each one will be just sweet enough, but not too much for my Mom.

When we focus on what is good and beautiful in someone, whether or not we think that they “deserve it”, the good and beautiful are strengthened merely by the light of our attention. When we choose to see and appreciate what is good and beautiful in our children, that goodness can’t help but grow, and their beauty blossoms forth.                      Katrina Kenison

Thank you Mom for appreciating the good and beautiful in your children.  Blessing us with love as we flowered before you.

Mom Southard’s recipe is my base …page 161 of her cookbook “Taste and See” Southard Family Favorites

1 12 ounce bag of semi sweet chocolate chips
2 c flour
1 tsp, salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 stick of margarine
1/2 – 3/4 c sugar crystals – the larger crystal will fool your taste buds
(depending on how daring you are!)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all the ingredients stirring in the chocolate chips.  Bake for 8-9 minutes and remove from baking pan speedy quick or the bottom of the cookie will darken!

Kenison, Katrina “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” Grand Central Publishing N.Y., New York pg. 169

(Fresh cherries  in season are best)

Sweetened to taste with agave nectar.

Preheat oven to 375. Melt butter in glass Pyrex. Pour on top of the melted butter, the batter made with the sugar, flour, milk and baking powder. Have ready the fruit heated with extra agave or sugar to taste. Pour the hot fruit over the batter. Swirl the top with a spatula and sprinkle brown sugar to cover the top.  Bake for 25 minutes.

Aunt Pat was Marilyn’s cousin I used her recipe for the base and added a few twists…hence the name. She developed the base and deserves the credit.

Aunt Pat was a beautiful lady who loved Jesus and served as a devoted mother and wife traveling the world as an Air Force wife sharing Jesus with everyone she met.

She was born in Virginia but lived out her days in the great state of Texas.

Aunt Pat lived in New Braunfels and was a great hostess.  My first visit to Texas 28 years ago was in her lovely home.  She ironed Todd’s shirt his first day in the Air Force. I never did get the hang of it so by the time we moved to California I became very grateful for the base dry cleaners.

(Todd is growing a whole garden full of spinach and we have already enjoyed it twice!)

8 cups Boston lettuce (or other)

4 medium fresh peaches (peeled and sliced)

4 bacon strips, crumbled

1/4 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp. cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. plain yogurt

1 Tbsp. grated orange peel

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 – 3/4 cup olive oil

Combine in blender first eight ingredients. Gradually add oil in steady stream until sugar dissolves. Pour over salad and serve immediately.

16 servings

Marilyn Southard

P.S. Easy hostess tip…always wash, dry and chill lettuce or spinach ahead of time for extra crunchy salads.

Never cut lettuce or spinach, always tear gently.

Trish

1 3/4 c flour

3/4 c Hershey’s Cocoa

1 1/2 ts baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tsp. of squeezed orange juice

1 c vanilla soy milk

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1 c boiling water

The basis for my recipe came from the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa container.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray Pam on two round cake pans and lightly flour. Combine all ingredients in order, blending well and boiling water in for the last couple minutes. Bake 30 minutes.

Frost with 4 c confectioner’s sugar, 5 Tbsp. vanilla soy milk,

3-4 ts. of fresh squeezed orange juice.  Blend till smooth and fill between layers generously and over the top.

Lay kale leaf flat tearing off stem
Place generous dollop of roasted garlic hummus in the center
4-5 slices of roast beef
2 slices of tomato
2 slices of hot pepper jack cheddar
1 tsp. of horseradish (optional)
Wrap contents in wax paper tightly and weight a heavy book or marble if you have it for just a minute or two.
Place contents in egg roll wrap (wheat)and brown slightly in pan with just a drop of vegetable oil.  Substitue any meat, vegetable, evoo, or spring roll wrap (rice) would do nicely also.

After chicken is strained and in the frig.  Bring water back up to a boil and add dumplings one at a time. Turn heat to low, cover and cook 30 minutes.

I’m setting the atmosphere and tone of the meal, by serving dinner on a low table over our Persian rug. Our friends the Riemann’s were over for bible study one night and Curt had a stunned look as he looked at our sofa.  “I have the perfect rug for you in our garage, it matches nothing in our home now that we’ve redecorated.”

Hence our most lavish material gift given by dear friends lays under our feet every day. Heather and Curt brought me a chocolate cake late one evening on my birthday. There was a soft knock at my door, my daughter asleep, husband on a trip and there they were. I cried I was so overcome they knew my birthday. I was new in town and felt very alone. Heather  is one of my favorite people to cry with, our hearts break for the same things, we also laugh, but many tears, so many tears.  She and Curt are living treasures who love well with Christ-like love.  The most lavish of gifts.

The three wise men and their lavish gifts must have been familiar with the Davidic promise to know to travel to Israel.  It seems they knew the Scriptures better than the Jews themselves, certainly better than King Herrod.  Perhaps they were  Persians, descendants of the great empire of Persian King Cyrus who granted permissions centuries earlier to some of the Jews to return and rebuild their holy  temple in the city of Jerusalem fulfilling the prophecy. ( Ezra 1:1-3) But the Bible does not state where they came from, only that they came from the East.  Resting our feet on our colorful persian rug and enjoying a traditional Middle Eastern meal of lamb, we will read about these Magi, wise men, scholars from the East, remembering that where Israel missed the birth of their king, these men went to extraordinary lengths to come and worship him.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory – this was during Herod’s kingship – a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on a pilgrimage to worship Him.”  Matthew 2: vs. 1-2  The Message

My main dish is the lamb.                                                

Rub lamb with kosher salt, olive oil and coat with minced garlic.

The next layer is mint. Completely coat over the garlic with mint. A jar of dried mint will do if fresh is not available.

Place lamb on a roasting rack in the oven at 425 degrees , reduce heat to 325 and continue to cook till internal temp is around 165-175 degrees.

Serve garnished with rosemary or mint sprigs.