Please Forgive Me

I know I said I would post recipes on Mondays. That obviously is not happening. Please forgive me!! I will post them tomorrow. This weekend will be another busy one. We have the annual school auction on Saturday night. We will more than likely grill out for our feast on Sunday after church. My summer feasts are usually a meat that grills easily and my side dishes will be special salads and other light sides that we normally do not have. I will post this weeks recipes tomorrow.

Have you ever heard anyone say, "our dinners are special every night. We do not have to make a big deal about one particular one." I agree that the dinner table should be a place where family members congregate at the end of a day. It should be a time to reconnect and should be done with all members present as often as possible, preferrably every night. I am not saying you should not have family dinners during the week. I have said previously that I believe your view of the Sabbath can be equated with your view of worship. If your family has daily family worship or even just a couple of times a week, then why go to church on Sunday? If everyday you have a time to worship than what makes Sunday any different? I think we would all agree that Sunday is special and different because it is the Sabbath. Or as my little ones have sadi from time to time it is God's day. I think the point of Sabbath feasting has been missed. It is not just about having a special family meal. If that were the case then I would say sure it is no differet than any other night. But, it is about a celebration. A celebration of our Saviour. It is about setting aside His day and making it center around Him. It is really not about us at all. Yes, we get the added benefit of enjoying the food and festivities, but it really is about Christ.

Julie

P.S. For those of you wondering how my weekly planning is going, here it is. The meal that I planned for this is simple so will not require much preparation. This is the first weekend of really nice weather so yard work has to be done. I am making my grocery list today, I will shop and clean house tomorrow, and cook late Saturday afternoon. Everything on my menu can be done in less than an hour.

This Week

We had a great time feasting with our friends this weekend. The food seemed to go over well. We had a lot of fun pulling out our table for the first time and setting it. I will post a picture soon. I am thinking about this weekend's feast now. I think I will do a peach glazed salmon, asparagus, and couscous. I already have the salmon and a peach jam to glaze it with. Couscous is inexpensive and really good when you put some sauce from your meat in it. I also like to sprinkle some feta cheese on top. Because I have shopped sales, I already have most of the ingredients on hand and will not have to spend a lot this week. Careful planning and sale shopping have allowed us
to feast on weekly basis and enjoy entertaining. Enjoy the salmon recipe. The peach salsa goes great with it and makes for a beautiful presentation. Just put the salmon on a platter and place the salsa around the edges of the salmon.


4 (4 to 6-ounce) Alaska salmon steaks or fillets
1/4 cup peach jam or orange marmalade
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large bell peppers (any color)*, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. Preheat broiler or grill to medium-high heat.
2. Place salmon on a non-stick or vegetable cooking spray-coated baking or broiler sheet.
3. In a small bowl, blend jam, soy sauce, cayenne pepper and ginger. Brush glaze on salmon. Place sliced vegetables on baking sheet, brushing lightly with oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Grill or broil 5 to 7 inches from heat, turning vegetables once, about 10 to 12 minutes, or until salmon flakes with a fork.

Makes 4 servings.

*Zucchini, leeks or squash may be substituted for peppers.


Peach Salsa

2 ripe, but firm medium peaches
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced red and/or green bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon (or to taste) minced jalapeno pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Does it Have to be So Hard?

I have heard people ask the question, does it have to be so hard? No!! If feasting is something you dread, then by all means start over with something you love! I have said this before, but I do not think I can over emphasise it. DO NOT think you have to do what "the Jones's" do. The purpose of starting traditions is to give your family something that you all love to celebrate with for generations to come. I love hearing ideas from others, but sometimes I hear things that I know will not work in my home. We have to be mature enough to realize what works in my home may not work in yours. I have also said before that I love to cook. I love to try new recipes for our Sabbath feast. I like for them to be more on the gourmet side. I would call it it a hobby. Does that mean when I go to someone's home and they serve me a casserole or maybe hot dogs that I think they should have done more. Absolutely not!! i know not every one shares my hobby, just as I would not share their's. Let's all remember that Sabbath keeping is a principal full of many methods. Let's continue sharing ideas while remembering we do not have to use every one we read.

Julie

P.S. I said I would share with you through the week as I prepare for our big feast this weekend. Today I will make my menu in detail and make the grocery list. I will clean the house so on Saturday if we all work together we can do the last minute cleaning very quickly.

Wednesday's Ideas

Today I will give some ideas to make feasting a little easier. Hopefully it will make it easier for those who work outside the home. I asked some friends that either work outside the home or have very busy life styles for some help. Most of them say finding recipes that can be made ahead and frozen are the key. I have a friend that freezes her marinades with her meat. On Saturday all she has to do is pull it out of the freezer and let it defrost, then throw it on the grill or in the oven. I would suggest that if you do not have hours to cook on Saturday, find main dishes that you can put in the oven and not think about again. Having to baste every few minutes or turning it over in the pan can be very time consuming and leave you feeling frazzled while trying to get everything else done. If I had a dining room, I would set the table on Friday or even earlier in the week. I do not, so I have the kids help with that on Saturday morning a then we picnic outside or in the living room floor for lunch on Saturday. The one deal about feasting that I have made with my husband is, I have to have a week's notice if we are entertaining. If we invite someone at last minute then he is in charge of the house work and taking care of the children. I cannot do everything without his help when I have not had the extra time to prepare. These are just a few ideas. If you have more time saving ideas please let us know.

Wow, it seems as though it has been months since we have feasted. It has not been that long. We have had sickness and travel and a few times we feasted with others in their homes. It has been a while since I started my Monday with planning my menu for our Sabbath feast. I do this on Monday so I can plan through the week to make things a little easier on Saturday. We are in soccer season now, therefore I will not have my entire Saturday to cook and clean. This week we will be having guests. We are so excited. A year ago we bought a table with 9 leaves. We had a Mennonite man make it for us. Well, we do not have a dinning room and our kitchen was too small to pull it out. What did we do? We just spent the last two months having a wall knocked out and a little rearranging in the kitchen. The table can now stretch out and seat 18 to 20 people. We will have 17 people for our feast this weekend. I cannot wait. I will do a marinated London Broil because I found it on sale a few weeks back and have enough in the freezer to feed that many. I will do rosemary roasted potatoes, corn pudding, spinach salad and rolls with a flavored butter. For dessert I will do a Chocolate Toffee Trifle. Here are some of the recipes. If you want one that I do not post, let me know. I do not have time now to do them all.


Marinaded London Broil

Rosemary Balsamic Marinade

1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
6 rosemary sprigs, coarsely chopped
Whisk together ingredients. Marinate the meat for several hours. Broil or grill.

Corn Pudding ( This is like a Southern style baked corn.)
2 cans cream style corn
6 eggs
1 cup milk
2 TBS flour
1 stick of butter
1 tsp vanilla
salt to taste
3/4 cup of sugar

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Melt the butter in a glass casserole dish. Stir together all of the other ingredients. Pour into the casserole dish with the butter. Be careful the dish will be hot from melting the butter in the oven. Bake for 1 hour or until the dish is golden on top.

This Week's Feast

Wow, it seems as though it has been months since we have feasted. It has not been that long. We have had sickness and travel and a few times we feasted with others in thier homes. It has been a while since I started my Monday with planning my menu for our Sabbath feast. I do this on Monday so I can plan through the week to make things a little easier on Saturday. We are in soccer season now, therefore I will not have my entire Saturday to cook and clean. This week we will be having guests. We are so excited. A year ago we bought a table with 9 leaves. We had a Mennonite man make it for us. Well, we do not have a dinning room and our kitchen was too small to pull it out. What did we do? We just spent the last two months having a wall knocked out and a little rearranging in the kitchen. The table can now stretch out and seat 18 to 20 people. We will have 17 people for our feast this weekend. I cannot wait. I will do a marinated London Broil because I found it on sale a few weeks back and have enough in the freezer to feed that many. I will do rosemary roasted potatoes, corn pudding, spinach salad and rolls with a flavored butter. For dessert I will do a Chocolate Toffee Trifle. Here are some of the recipes. If you want one that I do not post, let me know. I do not have time now to do them all. I will let you know through the week how I plan and prepare each day.