Thanksgiving Tips - Cooking and Otherwise

1. If you’ve purchased your celery, wrap it in foil to keep it crisp and crunchy.

2. For goodness sake, please do not purchase a pre-made pie crust, unless it’s an emergency. It is painfully easy to make and infinitely better. And you can make it a few days ahead of time and store in the fridge to roll out when you bake the pie. I’ve put the recipe down below, along with the recipe for my favorite turkey-leftover salad sandwich.

3. Plan on 2 lbs. of turkey per adult if you want to have leftovers. Unless you’re masochists like us, then plan on 3.

4. That’s a bag of giblets in there, not pre-mixed stuffing.

5. If you want your turkey to be extra juicy, put it in a bowl (or in a cooler with some ice if it’s too big for the fridge) filled with water to cover and 1 1/2 cups of table salt, rubbed into the turkey until the salt is dissolved. Leave it overnight in the fridge and rinse thoroughly, inside and out, before roasting.

5. Do not roast your turkey below 325 degrees and cook it all day. That creates an ideal breeding ground for bacteria to set up their own Thanksgiving right on the surface of your perfect-looking bird. You don’t want to see your dinner again once you’ve eaten it.

6. A 10-18 lb. turkey, unstuffed, will only take about 3-3 ½ hours to roast at 325 degrees; stuffed – 3 ¾ to 4 ½ hours.

7. As tempting as it may be, do not discuss politics or religion or that thing that your brother did to you when you were 8.

8. Pray before your meal, and give thanks to God, Who is the giver of the enormous bounty on your dining table. Many in the world could only dream of such a blessing.

9. Go for a walk after you eat. Then have another piece of pie.

10. The rules for the day after Thanksgiving are no cooking and wear your p.j.’s all day. That day is quite possibly my favorite day of the year. After working up a sweat the entire day before only to see the meal last 15 minutes, I love to walk into the kitchen in the morning, open the fridge and see at least a day’s worth of leftovers. That means no cooking. I recover with a peppermint mocha to ring in the Christmas season and piece of pumpkin pie for breakfast – with whipped cream.

Happy Thanksgiving!


Pie Crust

1. If your pie crust needs to be prebaked (some pies require the crust to be unbaked), line the inside of a 9” or 10” pie plate with a double thickness of foil, making the inside diameter a little smaller than the plate, but the edges should be long enough to hang over the top. Take it out and set it aside. You’ll see why in the minute.

2. Put 4 ice cubes in a 1-cup measuring cup and fill it with water. Set aside.

3. Put 2 ½ cups flour in a bowl. Add 1 cup (8 oz.) cold butter that has been cut into ½ inch cubes. Rub the flour and butter together with your fingers until the butter has been broken up into 1/8 inch pieces.

4. Remove the ice cubes from the water and pour all BUT ½ cup water out of the measuring cup. Pour the remaining ½ cup water into the dough. Toss the dough lightly with a fork JUST UNTIL the dough is moistened. The secret to a light, flaky crust is simply to work it as little as possible. The dough should look flaky and course and not quite hold together.

5. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently push it together with your hands. If the dough looks smooth, it has been overworked.

6. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and gently shape the pieces into flat, round discs. Cover each disc with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 15 minutes if you’re going to roll it out now, or for 3 days or you can freeze it for up to 2 weeks. If it is frozen, let it thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling it out.

7. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it set at room temperature for 10 minutes. Roll each piece out to be about 1” in diameter larger than the pie plate. Roll gently, from the middle to the outside. Take your rolling pin and starting at one end of the pie crust, roll the pie crust up and around your rolling pin, then unroll it from one end of the pie plate to the other. Do not stretch the dough as you lift it to make sure it is set inside the plate. Fold up the edges and then pinch with your thumb and forefinger all the way around.

8. If prebaking, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prick bottom and sides of crust with fork, including where bottom and sides meet. Gently set the foil inside the pie crust. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 5 or 6 more minutes, or till golden, but not brown. Cool.

Thanksgiving Turkey Salad Sandwich

3 cups cubed, cooked turkey
1 cup sliced celery
½ cup chopped red onion
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup toasted, sliced almonds ½ cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, spread on your favorite bread (or a leftover roll) and enjoy.

Are You a Criminal?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the persecuted church lately. There are people all over the world who, at this moment, are imprisoned for simply putting their faith in Jesus Christ. Men, women and children are being tortured and killed for owning a bible or preaching the gospel.

There’s a story on The Voice of the Martyrs website that talks about a woman, a Christian-aid worker who was a South African-British national living in Kabul working with disabled Afghans. She was shot and killed by Taliban gunmen for “spreading her religion.” You can read the full story here.

If you or I lived in a country where Christianity was persecuted, would we be gunned down for “spreading our religion”? Would we be hated because people we didn’t even know identified us with our Lord?

You’ve probably heard the question, “if being a Christian were a crime, would there be enough evidence for you to be convicted?” How evident is it to all those around us that you or I are believers? What “crimes” could we be charged with?

I believe the time is coming when Christians in America will be more and more persecuted for our faith. Will we ever be imprisoned or killed? I don’t know.

But I do know that in America a little kid who chose to dress up as Jesus for Halloween was sent home from school because his costume was deemed inappropriate. I do know that students are told all the time they are not allowed to bring their bibles to school. And many times employees are not allowed to bring them to work, even to read during their own lunchtime. Even wearing Christian jewelry in the workplace has been seen as a threat.

And I do know that Christians are the only group of people who can be mocked anywhere from real life to television to the printed media and it is acceptable. If any other group were belied as we are, it would be considered a hate crime.

The time is coming. And now is not the time to grow quiet, but rather to be ready in our faith, stand up and boldly proclaim the Truth. People are dying in their sin and we know the cure: Jesus Himself. Let’s pray and ask the Lord how He would have each of us share the gospel. And if we are found guilty, so be it.

“And calling the apostles, beating them, they commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then indeed they departed from the presence of the sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be shamed for His name. And every day in the temple, and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching the gospel: Jesus Christ.” (Acts 5:40-42)

Giving Thanks

I find it rather telling that our world spends weeks looking forward to Halloween and celebrates it every year like there will never be another one, and then immediately moves into the buying frenzy and the decking of halls that is the world’s Christmas on November 1st. Thanksgiving is celebrated as little more than a day when we stuff ourselves silly with poultry, sweet potatoes and marshmallows and watch football.

But we need to stop…and be thankful. We have much for which to thank God.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Thanksgiving comes just before Christmas. Before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus and before we exchange gifts, let us pause for a moment and thank God for giving His only Son to us. Let us thank God for blessing us enough to be able to present that special gift to someone we love, even if that gift is a hug and a prayer (which is all I need this year, in case you were wondering.)

Let us spend the weeks before Thanksgiving praising God for all He has done in and through our lives this past year and for all He will do in the coming year. This year may Thanksgiving be a day of true celebration as we search our hearts and give thanks and glory to the One from Whom all our blessings flow.

A friend sent the following to me. I think it will help to refocus our hearts that may have become a little grinchy.

I AM THANKFUL:

FOR THE WIFE WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT, BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME, AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND WHO IS ON THE SOFA BEING A COUCH POTATO, BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME, NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM EMPLOYED.

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT MEANS WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.

Roots

I was thinking the other day, praying really, about the roots of bitterness. I have always thought that the roots of bitterness were the very beginnings of unforgiveness. But as I was praying the other day, a thought occurred to me. What causes the unforgiveness? Unforgiveness may be weed seed from which the stalk of bitterness grows, but what burrows that weed deep into the soil is pride.

We all have people to forgive at one time or another. That’s no sin. But what allows that unforgiveness to hang around too long and to eventually take root is pride. Pride keeps us from forgiving. Pride is the root of all bitterness. It is the character weakness that precedes the unforgiveness that allows it to linger in our lives like a stinkweed.

Pride is an ugly, haughty, vengeful belief in one’s own superiority that spreads its tentacles and grabs a hold of our hearts and doesn’t let go without a fight. Pride convinces us that that person is not deserving of our forgiveness. That we should hold onto our unforgiveness like some prize after a fight. But what pride forgets is that we don’t deserve forgiveness, either.

But God, (those precious words that interrupt someone’s existence to give them life) showed us true humility when He sent His only Son to be the bridge between us and Him; but Jesus was born a poor child and died a sinner’s death to grant us forgiveness; but the Holy Spirit allows Himself to be contained within us to ever so patiently and gently teach us and shape us, and pull out roots….

“Follow peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord; looking diligently lest any fail of the grace of God, or lest any root of bitterness springing up disturb you, and by it many are defiled.” (Hebrews 12:14-15)

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 5

Merciful

Last time we saw that once we have obtained righteousness through Jesus Christ, we then live out that righteousness which inherently means loving God and loving others. That is, we choose to show a sacrificial form of love regardless of feelings or circumstance.

Most would reserve that type of sacrifice for those whom they deem to be deserving. But God, of course, has other ideas.

“Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

Mercy by its very nature is given to those who do not deserve it. And truthfully, none of us deserve it. We are sinners saved only by the grace of God. God loved us while we were still sinners by sending His own Son to die in our place. Jesus was the supreme example of sacrificial love. He was merciful. Now we can take the mercy that has been given to us and let it be poured out to those around us. So, how do we do that?

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And to him who strikes you on the one cheek, also offer the other. And to him who takes away your garment, do not forbid your tunic also. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you desire that men should do to you, you do also to them likewise.

For if you love those who love you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks do you have? For sinners also do the same. And if you lend to those of whom you hope to receive, what thanks do you have? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. And your reward shall be great, and you shall be the sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil. Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:27-36

Those can be some very hard words to hear and even more difficult to live out. I think many times we read that and think, metaphorically, Christians should do that. Or we may even try to turn the meaning of those words into something a little bit more palatable. But they are what they are. And God means for us to live them out. When was the last time you showed love to someone you considered an enemy? Not our “western” type of “feeling” love, but God’s sacrificial, putting-actions-to-our-beliefs type of love.

When was the last time someone used you and you prayed for them? Or someone took something of yours and you didn’t become indignant and demand it back? Our knee-jerk reaction is usually to plead our rights. Again, I take you back to the cross.

Jesus could have claimed His right to lord over all of us, and indeed He is Lord and had that right. But He chose to waive that right for something He regarded as greater: purchasing our freedom from sin and redeeming our souls back from a path to hell solely for an intimate relationship with each and every one of us. He died so that we could live.

And as the Lord is our example, we, too, are to give up our rights. As Christians who have died to the flesh, there is no seeking a life that seems “fair.” There are no rights for a dead man or woman. If we have hidden our lives in Jesus Christ, then we will do as He did: show mercy. We will love the unloving. We will do good for those who hate us because of Jesus Christ. We will bless those who curse us. We will treat all persons as we, ourselves, would want to be treated - the Golden Rule.

But don’t mistake that for foolishness. As a perfect Father, God would never give something to someone that would harm him. And that can include things that would otherwise be good gifts, if someone is living rebelliously and would use the gift poorly.

Liken that to a parent showing wisdom in not giving a teenage son or daughter a car if the child has shown a careless or irresponsible attitude towards driving. A car in that case could be a fatal gift. In that situation, showing mercy would mean not giving a car until perhaps the teenager has grown up and grown more responsible.

Mercy is shown in many ways and we need to always be in prayer seeking God to give us wisdom about the best way to show mercy in every circumstance.

And God promises that as we show mercy to others, it will be turned around to us, and we will be shown that mercy. I don’t know exactly how that works in God’s economy, but I do know that in order for someone to show God’s mercy, that person has to remain abiding in the Vine. There is no strength, no wisdom, no sacrificial love given to others without the One Who has exampled it and Who imparts it to us so that we can turn around and impart it to others. And when a person spends that much time kneeling before their Savior, there is bound to be a heart full of love and repentance from their own sins. And a heart that is contrite is a heart that will receive the full measure of God’s mercy.

So fall at your Master’s feet and receive mercy once again. Then take that mercy and purpose to pour it out on others for a greater purpose than desiring a life that is "fair" or seeing that we ensure our rights: to show the love of God here on this earth. And that love carries with it blessings that will follow us into eternity, something our "rights" will not do. God's love can win hearts into the kingdom of God; it can show compassion to those who have walked away from their faith and see them come back; it can help others grow in their faith as they see that though they have faults or weaknesses or struggles, God loves them and they can be useful to the Lord as they are strengthened and encouraged in Him.

Experiencing joy now and treasures in heaven are better than rights anyway.

The "Be-Attitudes" Part 4

Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

Last time we were reminded that it is the meek who will inherit the earth. At the moment it looks as though it’s not the humble but the rich and powerful who own the world. Kings rule kingdoms, rich men and women own corporations and the millions and even billions of dollars that flow into them. Celebrities own our attention and garner the praise of millions of people all over the world. People hunger and seek after wealth and fame and a place in the halls of history. But they are not satisfied. There is no quenching their thirst for more. An emptiness continues to gnaw at their souls that nothing, it seems, can fill.

But the meek who have been filled with the Holy Spirit have been given a new appetite.

“Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness! For they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

Believers in Christ Jesus have been given an appetite for righteousness. Our spirits have been given life through the Holy Spirit and our new spiritual life hungers and thirsts for the food that will nourish it: righteousness.

Don’t get tripped up by the word righteousness, though. We may tend to think that means living a perfect life, but that’s not it. It is only in Jesus Christ that we are made righteous. The sacrifice made for us on the cross and then received into our hearts and minds has granted to us the righteousness of Jesus. And the Holy Spirit now within us craves to live out that righteous life through us.

What can trip us up, though, is the fact that we now have competing appetites – the one we had before our lives in Christ, the fleshly appetite, and our new spiritual appetite.

We fed our flesh, or our own physical and emotional desires, before Christ, by basically doing what we wanted. We lived lives that were against the will of God. We were selfish. We found pleasure in sinful ways. We lusted after things that were not ours. We walked through each day without consulting God, the Creator of our very own lives.

Even though we now have a new appetite for spiritual things, a desire to live pleasing to the Lord, to walk with Him and to do His will, we still have a choice. We can choose to continue to feed our flesh, or we can hunger and thirst after righteousness. Those who choose to continue to try to fill the void in their souls with the things of the world: money, sex outside of marriage, drugs or alcohol, materialism, or anything else that is not of God, will continue to be empty. Their spirits will starve. But those who choose to live by the Spirit and allow God to feed them will be fulfilled.

Feeding our spirits the food of righteousness entails two things:

1. The first is simply being in a right relationship with the Lord.

Even after we’re saved we will still sin and though that sin can’t steal our salvation, it will begin to cause separation between God and us if we aren’t careful to acknowledge the sin and ask for forgiveness. But we must crave the relationship with God more than we desire the sin. And when we do we will continue to be filled with the power and strength and love that can only come from God.

2. The second is living out that righteousness in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Jesus said, “‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.’” (John 4:34)

So, what is God’s will for us? People ask that question all the time and we have but to open God’s Word to see the answers.

Some examples are:

The first and greatest one: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt. 22:37)

The second greatest follows it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39)

“In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1Thess. 5:18)

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:22)

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it..” (Eph. 5:25)

Do your own word study in the bible of the will of God and see what you find.

A Christian who feels empty is a Christian who is continuing to feed their flesh with the things of the world. The world never satisfied us before, why would it now?

God saved us for a purpose: to worship Him, to carry out His plan for our lives and to further the kingdom of God. It is only as we nourish our spirits that we will be filled with the righteousness and holiness that make us able to know God, to trust Him, to praise Him, to worship Him, to be led by Him, to serve Him, to be a witness for Him and to love Him with all our hearts.

If we will choose to hunger and thirst after righteousness, God will fill us in a way that no worldly thing can. And when we finally meet our Lord in heaven, we will hear those long-awaited words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matt. 25:21, 23)