COME AS A CHILD LESSON 149 THE NINTH COMMANDMENT

THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

It appears that we will still be pondering the fact that God and Abraham were up on that mountain discussing the Ten Commandments all the way through the Christmas season and right up into the coming of the New Year.   

At least we will be starting off the new year with the commandments of God fresh in our memories and in our hearts!  This will be good and worth all the study and meditations that we have done. We only have two more commandments to look at.

If one thing about the coming year is better because we have studied and committed ourselves to keeping these commandments; the world will be a better place in which to live!

There is SO MUCH to be said about each of the commandments that we can only touch partially on all the points of each one in the brief space of these blogs.  We could actually discuss the facts surrounding these passages for weeks and weeks.  There is so much to consider! 

Today we will ponder the ninth commandment that God gave to Moses.  We can read it word for word from Exodus 20:16.  The New International translation reads:  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”  Some other versions read:  “false witness” instead of using the words “false testimony.”  They all mean the same thing.  It is actually very simple.  When you speak of someone else; be truthful! 

 There are various degrees and reasons as to why this particular commandment matters so much to God. 

Sometimes getting to the total truth of a situation is a life or death matter!   

You can falsely accuse someone of something and they can be convicted for things that they did not do!  The consequences of this can be astronomical.  God’s own son died such a death.  Many of God’s beloved people have died such deaths.  If you hurt God’s people, it is as if you have wounded the heart of God.  He does not take this lightly.

One little slip of the tongue, whether intentional or by mistake, can change someone else’s life forever.  The tongue is a horrible weapon if used in the wrong way. 

Have you ever had someone commit slander against you? 

I grew up in a small town and moved away later.  Sometimes I am amazed to hear the false tales of things I never did; things that come back to me from a few true and loyal old friends who still live there and know better.  For many years some of these things broke my heart.  God has healed those broken places now; but maybe because of such experiences this commandment speaks to me of a Father who loved his children so much that He warned them ahead of time that such things would happen, and He even cared enough to chisel a law down in stone to forbid it.  How well our Father knows us.  How well His provision of love covers us and heals us and makes us whole.  All we have to do is listen and obey.    

People can pay dearly for mistakes they NEVER made because of ugly gossip and rumors from jealous and revengeful people.  It is very sad; but this happens all the time.

Have you ever had such a situation happen to you? 

Unfortunately, most of us can name at least one very hurtful time when our neighbor gave false witness against us.  In most of these situations we never really know all of the reasons why such things happened just the way they did.  There is usually some unknown factor at play.  Human nature is very strange and hard to figure out; but God understands this.  Rarely do people have enough integrity within themselves, without the prompting of God's Holy Spirit, to confess their mistakes and ask forgiveness.  Perhaps that is part of the reason God gave this commandment.  He wanted to make sure we understood that this is NOT okay.

 We all can name times when we stood innocently by not understanding why things were like they were because we were unaware of some false testimony floating around in the background among our friends and neighbors, even affecting those that we hold most dear.   More often than we like to know, the very innocent are often stained and shunned for years because of such incidences! 

Bearing false witness is a horrible sin, and God doesn’t let these things go unnoticed.  He is watching.  There is an old saying that is very true regarding this commandment:  “Beware for your sins will find you out.”

God is probably looking at all of us and shaking His head constantly, wondering when we will ever grow up and grow into a Kingdom way of life that allows room only for truth and love. 

God NEVER wants us to give false testimony against our neighbor. 

Innocence is a very beautiful thing; but it can quickly be destroyed by people who act like a pack of vicious wolves prowling around trying to destroy all that is good.  In today's world this really is an ugly fact as we think about elections and various untruths that have been presented from both sides of the fence during election campaigns.  There sometimes seems to be a new prevailing philosophy called "win at any cost."  This commandment counters that type of living and puts us back into a world based on reality.  What makes some people think that it is okay to lie in order to bring about some Utopian theories that are based on only partial truths?  Because someone said something is so in order to bring about circumstances that benefit their platform does not mean it is truth.  The end never justifies the means.  Lies, rumors and untruth keep people from having a level playing field.  It is not just and that is not the way God conducts His business. This is the logic of murderers and thieves; not sane people.  All that God's people say and do is to be based on solid truth.  

Truth is ALWAYS the best policy; even when it hurts.  

Without direct truth one little fib leads into another and another until it takes at least 100 lies to recover from that one little tale.  Christian people are not to live their lives like this. 

If you do not know the truth, it is best to remain silent.  As Jesus once said; “Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.”  The truth is always less complicated and much easier to explain.

The God of the Universe is a fair and just God.  A false witness perverts justice.  It tries to make lies truth and truth lies.  This often happens as a means to achieve power, greed or to cover some secret crime of the one who perverts the truth.  If we are to imitate God in all that we do; we must have truth in order for justice to prevail in the land.  Yet often in today's world, it is the one who lives out truth that is accused and slandered.  How should this be handled by the godly?

It can be said that a good conscience is a wall of brass that will be able to stand against a false witness.  Jesus never had to defend Himself.  He simply spoke truth and nothing else.  Keep your conscience pure before God, and He will come to your defense when the time is right.  Time proves all things. 

Do you know someone who has been falsely accused?  If you do not stand up for that person you are as guilty as the person doing the accusing. 

We should defend our brothers and sisters against false witness and be careful not to let falsehoods continue.  Remember the acts of Jonathan as he took up for his friend David against the slanders of King Saul.  It would have been easy for Jonathan to ignore this situation and not have a confrontation with a King; but the defense of his brother was important, because Jonathan had a truly loving heart. 

Those who truly love do not slander. 

To bear false witness is to sow discord among the brethren.  Solomon wrote of this in Proverbs when he said in Proverbs 6:16 that “There are six things that the LORD strongly dislikes, seven that are an abomination to him:  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” 

A false witness undermines God’s covenant with His people.  The covenant is based and founded on truth and falsehoods distort the whole concept and present a bad, wrong and incorrect image of what should be a good and godly people living together in truth, love and righteousness.  A good witness can be destroyed in a hurry by those who plot and use such falsehoods to their advantage.  This is one of Satan's greatest tools in bringing down the people of God.  Perhaps that is why the scriptures tell us that God strongly dislikes a false witness.

It was actually a false witness that sent Jesus to the cross where He took on the burden of paying for our sins.  He was falsely accused of blasphemy.  They said He could not claim to be the true Son of God.  His resurrection from the dead became the true witness that countered the false witness.  The truth always wins, be forewarned! 

Because He was innocent and perfect we are now able to be free and cleansed of our sin, and even those who accused Him falsely, if repentant could be forgiven.  False accusations bring only death and destruction; but truth and repentance brings joy, resurrection and restoration!

Throughout the pages of the history of mankind there have been many martyrs who have died deaths due to false witnesses.  Stephen is one of the greatest examples after Jesus.  Stephen told the council that Jesus had come mainly to fulfill the law and the prophets.  For this they said he spoke against the temple and the law.  This council of Pharisees were so very wrong to perceive this!  As Stephen died they saw his face shine like the sun; and they saw the witness of heaven in Stephen’s countenance.  How different things will be in the final judgment when these same accusers will have to look upon that face again.  There will be no one to collaborate with their lies in that day.  Each man must give an individual account before God for his own sins. Every idle word will be recalled. The truth is all that will stand in that day. 

There will be judgment for those who bear un-repented false witnesses in the end of days.  There are numerous biblical examples of God’s anger against such people.  One example is that of Jezebel who had two men to bear false witness against Naboth which led to his being stoned to death.  It was all about greed, over the possession of a vineyard that she wanted King Ahab to own.  Jezebel met with a cruel and horrible end.  

As in all of the commandments that God gave to Moses on the mountain; Jesus came along later and explained them even further. 

In Matthew  Chapter 19 we read of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he should do in order to have eternal life.  Jesus answered him by telling him if he wanted to enter into life that he should keep the commandments.  When the man heard this he asked; which ones?  Jesus specifically repeated:  “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Did you catch the fact that in order to have eternal life we need to not bear false witness against our neighbors?  

I’m just glad that the conversation with Jesus started out with Him clarifying the fact that only God is perfect.  None of us can keep this commandment as we should, but we can try, and we can repent when we fail.  The thing we have going for us that the rich young ruler lacked is that we live in a time of grace.  We are all over here on the other side of the cross.  God is showing all of us mercy!  It will not last forever.  There will come a time when the fullness of time arrives and that last sinner has repented.  Only God knows when that will be.  It is important that we all are living in repentance and covered in the blood of Jesus when that moment arrives.  It matters that we are living in truth.

Let us turn from slander and false witnesses. 

Let us show mercy and grace and love to one another. 

Let us live as much as possible in peace with each other, and let us pray for Christ to return so that He will be able to usher in a government of peace. 

This is the season for peace on earth.  Let us be living out the words and not just singing them in a sweet little song. 

Let there be peace on earth; and let it begin with me!

Let there be peace on earth; the peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Father, brothers all are we.

Let us live with our brothers in perfect harmony.

            

SEASONS - A POEM OF WINTER

BY SHEILA GAIL LANDGRAF

I open my back door to a windy blustering day and try to find my cat.

His water bowl is frozen over. 

I pet him and bring him inside to get warm.

I feed him warm milk by the fire and watch him curl up in a ball content and happy to  purr the day away.

I step out of the warm house to get the mail and feel the cutting wind blow sharply across my face. 

Winter is here. 

It comes slowly spreading its dark shadows across the land.

With no warning at all; it has arrived. 

The darkest days of the year begin, bringing cold, pouring rain. 

It is time to pull out my heaviest coat.

As I hear the silence grow I recognize this soft sound of winter 
It comes tiptoeing into our world with quiet steps
Steps that fall gently around those spaces of my life that are usually loud and full of sound.  
But now there is a hush on the land as everyone waits on the cold to pass.
They stay huddled inside under piles of blankets.

 The birds have all flown away and I miss their lovely songs.

Those few who stayed behind are now shivering under the eaves of someone's house, hoping to catch some heat from the outside walls as the smoke billows out from the busy chimney tops.

Straight and tall and waiting, the black trees stand against the gray sky and shiver.

Winter brings a different dance, one that is whirling and dark.

I must find my warm hat. 

I will begin to wear my wool scarf again.

 Just when the sky is grayest and you think all joy is lost;

The merry red and sometimes rusted sleds come out of hiding.

Tow-haired boys pull them along the hillsides with slippery ropes.

Big eyed little girls grab their scarves and mittens and run outside to play.

Snowmen appear and begin their dance up and down the lane.

White flakes drift through the crisp air and land on very cold noses.

Passing carolers stroll along singing as if they were not even cold,
Their outlines stand against the dark sky, all bundled inside their coats and mittens and scarfs. 

Christmas comes alive and lasts for twelve days in the best places.

It is a nice break into the gray bleakness of the silent season.

On New Years Day I look out the window and see dark even in the middle of the day.  What a strange time to be turning a page and beginning again.

Do all good beginnings not seek for light?

Remembering the secret to problems that can’t be solved right away;

 I grab my favorite book from the shelf and temporarily take a summer vacation.  There is still light inside my heart and imagination and it warms the room.  Sipping Chai tea that my daughter made in my big overstuffed chair, I snuggle deep into a story and read right through the darkest days of winter.

 After good distractions from all my favorite authors I find myself sitting by the fireplace with warm memories that will last me till spring,  I drink in the luxury of basking in an unexpected moment of  absolutely no activity and my soul realizes that winter is just a short snuggle until the sun decides to shine again.

As I bundle up and head out the door for errands my heart is cheered with the lovely unexpected and unanticipated surprises of winter.  I finish my errands and stop for a small treat, a pleasant reward for braving the cold evening air. 

Looking out the storefront window while sipping hot chocolate I ponder the fact that the stars shine brighter against a winter sky. 

The skyline of the cityscape blinks back at me as if to give a special winter’s greeting.  It stands crisp and bright and glowing against the night sky, lovely and unafraid of tomorrow.

And every winter comes and goes this quickly with its sneaky little moments of warm memories that make up for the cold weather.

Why am I surprised every year all over again?

MONDAY WEEKNIGHT MENUS - PLANNING MEALS FOR CHRISTMAS EVE

MAKING COOKING AT HOME EASIER
MENUS THREE AND FOUR

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf) 

FROM THE HEALTHY VERSION OF THE SEASONS OF LANDGRAF CASTLE COOKBOOK; VOLUME 2

So here we are in the final lap of the Christmas Season!  

No need to stress over meal prep and grocery lists!  I’ve done that for you this time. Today's blog turned into a double feature!  

Here is a simple Christmas Eve lunch menu as well as a Christmas Eve dinner menu.  I hope it makes your holidays a little lighter and you have a lot more free time to relax and enjoy those that you love and are inviting to your home for Christmas. 

If you are like me, you will need to have your guest come on THEIR schedule instead of yours, and that may make things a bit complicated unless you keep it simple.  The very first rule of holiday entertaining for the sane is “keep it simple.”

Typically, this holiday only last for two days; Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (unless you are doing the twelve days of Christmas) so rule number two is to totally forget about your diet and enjoy the day!  Yes, I DO like to keep these recipes healthy whenever possible, but this is a holiday celebration; feel free to indulge yourself!  Just don't overdo.  You can’t diet 365 days a year, and it is healthy and good to give yourself little rewards for all the other days you have stayed true.  Celebrate!  No dieting allowed.  And remember rule number one.  I’ll say it again…..Keep it simple!

Have you ever tried cooking two festive meals on Christmas Eve with a two year old granddaughter in tow?  It is a great balancing act for sure; but do I want to give up my time with my granddaughter to slave over a stove????  The answer is easy; it is a definite “NO!”

That is why I do all the heavy cooking and preparations the day before Christmas Eve, and have it all ready to go into the oven on THE day.  This really eliminates the haste of meal prep on that special day we all want to visit and have fun.  Only certain dishes will work for this.  I’ve picked an easy to prepare beef dish for Christmas Eve Dinner.  I’ve found a few perfect recipes that are simple, tasty and elegant and can be prepared ahead of time.  What more could you ask for on a holiday?  I’ll run through the whole routine with you, if you are interested in some ideas, and if you like; all you have to do is follow instructions, ready? 

Let’s do Christmas Eve lunch first!

CHRISTMAS EVE LUNCHEON:

The small for-lunch-crowd at our house on Christmas Eve consists of my Mom, my granddaughter, my husband and me.  The larger crowd comes in the evening.  Some years I do brunch for the early gang, and some years I do lunch.  This year it will be lunch.  I’ve tried to join these two events on our Christmas Eves without success for many years.  I finally gave up and went with what worked.  Now it feels like a normal routine.   When the adult children were growing up this gatering time in the daylight worked.  They could be around for lunch.  Now they are working and can only attend in the evenings, so we see them later.

My Mom can’t stay up too late or drive home after dark.  She likes to sleep in her own bed at night; and I can’t seem to get her to spend the night in my VERY comfortable guest room.  She isn’t up to the schedule of the arrival time for when my retail-working adult children begin to arrive on Christmas Eve (anywhere from 8 p.m. – 9 p.m., and then we often party all night long); so we have resorted these days to having Mom over for lunch, and we spend the day chatting and catching up on each other’s lives and doing Christmassy things with her during the day and then seeing our grown children and their families later.  We even have children from another state that can’t seem to make it to our house until New Years weekend.  Well, that's okay because everyone with children needs to be in their own home at Christmas.  We will see that part of the family (that brings my two grandsons) for New Year's this year, and that is another story for another day. 

Sometimes between lunch and dinner most Christmas Eves,  we may attend a candlelight service at a nearby church, or ride to some special mid-day Christmas Eve event together (the four of us.)   I love it when Mom wants to join in on these things. Sometimes we just relax at our home.   Always we have a nice brunch and/or lunch together, no matter what other activities we decide to pursue.  

I always want to volunteer to babysit with our two-year old granddaughter for the whole day on Christmas Eve while her parents work their last shifts before Christmas.  That way she gets to spend some Christmas time with her great-grandmother, and we get to enjoy some Christmas time with her too, away from the crowd that surrounds our tree on Christmas Eve.  We usually give her a few early gifts and that way she even remembers who they came from!   I love seeing her and my Mom together too.  It is a very special day for us!

I keep the lunch simple but tasty.  This year I’ve chosen one of our favorite soups to eat whenever the weather outside begins to be a bit nippy.  I call it “Christmas Eve Soup.”  I’ll make up some special cornbread with broccoli inside to serve with it; and I will have a cheese and fruit tray and a gelatin salad too.  I’ll have a dessert tray full of Christmas cookies, candies and some Key Lime pie afterward.  Practically all of this can be done ahead the day before and just pulled out of the refrigerator and/or re-heated.  That way we get to enjoy more visiting time and have less cooking time to worry with.  I’ll put on a pot of coffee to go with desert later and make some sweet tea to go with our lunch.

I’ll serve these foods up on the pretty Lennox Christmas China that Mom gave me a few years back when she and my Dad downsized.  She will still get to enjoy the pleasure of using these dishes that graced her table at their farm for so many years in the past.  It will be festive, simple and elegant.  I’ll serve this lunch at my bar-height table in my cozy little Christmas kitchen, and it keeps me from having to re-clean and reset the dishes in the dining room in a big hurry before our Christmas Eve guests arrive later for a more formal dinner at the end of the same day.

Here are the recipes I will be using for lunch:

CREAMY LIME AND PEAR SALAD

Ingredients:

1 can (15 ounces) pear halves

1 package (3 ounces) lime gelatin

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed.

1 can (20 ounces) unsweetened crushed pineapple (drained but save juice on the side)

1 cup chopped pecans (toasted and divided into halves)

1 carton (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

Drain pears and pineapple and reserve the juices.  Set fruits aside in a bowl in the refrigerator while you make the rest.  Pour juices into a small saucepan and bring juice to a boil on top of stove.  Stir in gelatin until completely dissolved.  Remove from the heat and cool slightly.  Pour pears, crushed pineapple and cream cheese into a large bowl and mix together with hand mixer or food processor.  When all is well blended stir in the chopped pecans.  Fold the jello mixture into this mix and blend again.  Stir in the whipped topping (I use Cool Whip) and mix well.  Pour final mix into an ungreased 11 inch x 7 inch dish, or any decorative mold that you wish to use.  Refrigerate until well set.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining half of chopped pecans.  (This recipe yields eight servings.)

BROCCOLI CORNBREAD

(This dish is always a lot of fun to serve because the broccoli is a surprise which adds flavor and interest to the every-day dish of regular cornbread.  On holidays I use a premixed cornbread just for simplicity and to save time, but I rarely do this the rest of the year.  At Christmas, I’m all about easy!.)

Ingredients:

2 packages white cornbread mix

4 eggs

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup cottage cheese

2/3 cup melted butter

Directions:

Prepare a casserole dish.  Mix all ingredients together and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cut in squares and serve hot with butter.

CHRISTMAS EVE SOUP

(I love this recipe because it taste so good on a cold winter day, but it is SO EASY to make and easy to prepare ahead.)

Ingredients:

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomato sauce

1 pack Hidden Valley Ranch Powered Dressing Mix

1 can Rotel

1 can black beans

1 can white shoe-peg corn

1 can pinto beans

2 lbs. cooked lean ground beef, drained

1 cup water

1 onion, chopped

3 Tablespoons minced garlic

Sea Salt (to taste)

Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Sautee the onions and minced garlic, then fry the beef in a skillet on the stove, being sure to drain off any excess grease.  Transfer that to a soup pot and add all the other ingredients.  Stir well and heat until hot.  Add in the salt and pepper that you desire, then; simmer a few hours before serving.  (Grated cheddar cheese is a nice topping and I like to serve thin crackers with this too.)

Such a simple Christmas Eve lunch; but I promise all who eat it will enjoy a tasty meal.  My Mom doesn’t like a big fuss; so this suits her well.   I’ll let you pick out your own favorite cookies and candies and pie.  I can’t do it all for you! 

I also like to serve a fruit and cheese tray before this meal as an appetizer.  I’ve found that adding oranges (sliced) and pomegranates (sliced open with the colorful seeds spilling out the sides) to the Christmas fruit and cheese trays always makes it a bit more festive.  I just pull together some assorted cheese cuts with a platter of grapes and apple slices and add those little touches to it.   I halve the oranges and slice them very thin and stack them in pretty random designs leaving a few whole oranges placed here and there for an artistic touch with scattered crackers and chips and dips in little crystal bowls.  Maybe a few taper candles here and there or even inside the whole oranges????  These little things make soup and cornbread look like a feast fit for a king. My husband says I don't really care about eating the food and I just want to be artistic with the table; perhaps he has a point - that is one of my favorite parts of preparing a meal.

So we usually laugh the day away and spend time sharing our gifts with my Mom and my little granddaughter; then when it is dark, the rest of our Alabama immediate family members begin to come in from a long day of retail sales management and other such jobs.  They will be exhausted, and I love greeting them with a nice glass of wine and some appetizers when they walk in the door.  They often head for the coffee pot first! 

Soon their shoes are tossed over in a corner and they have changed into some more festive party clothes and they are unwinding and feeling ready to party.  They all also come in the door HUNGRY!!!!  This suits me fine, because I have a very festive Christmas Eve Dinner already prepared by the time they arrive.  Most of it is simply re-heated and ready-to-serve.  I have set the dining room table the day before, and it is all festive and waiting on its occupants.  All I have to do is light the candles and set out the food.  EVERYTHING is prepared ahead and either just re-heated or refrigerated until needed.  Easy-peazy – simply  due to a bit of prep time spent the day before.  The aroma of the meat will be drifting through the house and mixing with the smell of the cookies and sweet snacks.  It will not be long before everyone makes their way to the table and we offer up a prayer of Thanksgiving to God for another year of blessings. 

By this time I will have set out a more elaborate fruit and cheese tray than we served earlier on the cozy kitchen table (I’ve cleared and put away everything from the earlier luncheon.)  This time I’ll add a few olives and cold veggies and some cream cheese with red and green pepper jellies to the fruit and cheese mixes.  Nothing hard at all; just festive and colorful.  We will drink water, tea and wine with coffee later when we enjoy our dessert. 

We will serve ourselves from the kitchen and eat our meal in the dinning room, which I will have set in a festive pattern using my favorite dishes all covered with Cardinals in the snow.  As we begin the meal, I will light the candles on each end of the table, and as we have dessert later we will light the Hannukah Mennorah, as Hannukah starts on Christmas Eve this year.  We celebrate a Christian Hannukah at our home each year.  (We are NOT Jewish, only in our hearts and through adoption into The Kingdom of God.)   This   means lots of festivities will be uninterrupted for the next eight days, including Christmas Day, which we have come to realize is actually positive evidence of the fulfillment of the meaning of the message from that first Hannukah that spoke to say God is still with us!  He is sending a Messiah!  It will be a great miracle and He will be The Light of The World.   This is the way we, as Christians, will  celebrate the Miracle of Messiah that the Hannukah story so symbolicly points us to!  God was  in the miracle business back then, and He is still doling out Christmas miracles every year; if you just open your eyes and look around.  As we light the Christ Candle of the Advent wreath on Christmas Morning we wiill remember more of the same; of Emmanuel; Christ with us!  We will celebrate the miracle that made it possible for God to come to dwell on earth!  How significant all these beautiful candles are!  How significant it is that they all point to the miracle of Christ!

The Christmas Eve menu this year is Old Fashioned Cheery Coke Salad, Rolls, Red-Wine Infused Beef Tenderloin With Mushrooms and Gravy and Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Modern Day Green Bean Casserole.  There will be White Chocolate Cheesecake with Blueberry Topping for dessert as well as the assorted dessert trays I have prepared ahead full of assorted Christmas candies and cookies. (My granddaughter especially wanted some chocolate covered cherries.)  You know my assorted tray of cookies and candies will include some glazed donuts; which are traditional for serving at Hannukah!  There; you now have yet another excuse for throwing your diet out the window for a few days!  

Here are the recipes I’ll use:

OLD FASHIONED CHERRY COKE SALAD

Ingredients:

20 ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained and reserving juice.

14.5 ounce can of dark sweet cherries in heavy syrup, drained (but reserve the juice.)

1 large package of cherry Jello (8 ounce size)

1 12 ounce can of Coca-Cola

½ cup chopped pecans (walnuts work too)

Directions:

Drain the cherry syrup and pineapple juices into a saucepan setting the fruit aside in the refrigerator until needed.  Bring the fruit juices to a boil, remove from heat and whisk in the Jello.  When Jello is fully dissolved add in four cups of Coca Cola. Transfer all to a large bowl and add in fruits and nuts.  Pour into whatever mold you will be using or an oblong casserole dish.  Chill in refrigerator for 3 – 5 hours before serving.

RED WINE INFUSED BEEF TENDERLOIN

(This is a favorite for Christmas Eve at our house because it may be prepared in advance.  If you chose to do so, just bake and slice meat as directed, then return meat to the pan and cover with the drippings on top of the meat.  Refrigerate safely for up to two days.  To reheat simply bake covered in 350 degree oven for one hour or until heated through.  If you desire the non-alcoholic version; simply substitute water for the wine. This recipe serves four and I double it for my gathering of 8)

Ingredients:

2 large onions, sliced thin

1 beef tenderloin (have your butcher trim the fats)

1 can (10 – 12 ounce) condensed French onion soup

1-1/4 cups of dry red wine

½ cup ketchup

8 tablespoons minced garlic

½ cup brown sugar

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

Sea Salt (to taste)

Fresh Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

1 pint fresh mushrooms and one chopped onion sautéed together in1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Place sliced onions in a large shallow pan.  Cut small one-inch deep slivers into your meat in eight separate places.  Fill those slivers with the minced garlic.  Rub the meat with some salt and pepper.  Top the onion slices in the pan with the meat.   Sautee some mushrooms and onions in extra virgin olive oil.  Pour the sautéed mushrooms and onions over the top of the meat. Mix the remaining ingredients well and pour them over all.  Cover the whole dish with foil.  Bake the covered dish for three and one-half hours or until the meat is tender.  Let stand covered for ten minutes before slicing.  Serve topped with drippings.  (If you are cooking this ahead of time and refrigerating and heating again, let it cool, then slice and recover with the foil, then keep it refrigerated.  On the next day, simply place in the oven at 350 degrees F for one hour to reheat before you serve  Remove the foil and continue heating for 10 more minutes..  You may want to reserve some of the drippings to make a separate gravy dish on the side but be sure to leave some of the drippings around and over the meat.)

CREAMY GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

Ingredients:

5 pounds Russet potatoes

2 tablespoons sea salt

16 ounces half-and-half

8 tablespoons minced garlic

8 ounces grated parmesan

Directions:

Peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes.  Place in a large saucepan adding the salt and cover the potatoes with water.  Bring the potatoes to a boil over medium heat then reduce the heat to a rolling boil.  Cook until the potatoes are tender and fall apart when picked with a fork.  Set aside.  In another saucepan add the minced garlic and the half-and-half and heat over medium heat until it simmers.  Remove from heat and set aside.  Drain the water from the potatoes.  Using a hand- held mixer and a large bowl, mash the potatoes and slowly add the garlic and half and half mixture, then the parmesan.  Give this a few minutes to thicken. 

(I’m going to cook these potatoes ahead of time then put them into a crock pot to heat on the next day.  I’ll give them about two hours to heat up and add more half and half if they get dry before time to serve.  SO GOOD!!!  We never eat potatoes at our house except for special occasions; so that adds to the fun for me!)  That extra side of gravy you make from the meat drippings can also be available for the potatoes.  I also like to have little crystal containers full of grated cheese and green onions and bacon bits for toppings if anyone desires.  This turns out a lot like a potatoe bar.)  

MODERN DAY GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans

8 ounces roughly chopped mushrooms

5 strips bacon

1 cup thinly sliced onions

3 tablespoons minced garlic

½ cup almond meal

1-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

 3 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons cracked black pepper

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Drizzle Olive Oil on the thinly sliced yellow onions.  Sprinkle them with one teaspoon of sea salt.  Mix until onions are coated well with oil and salt.  Spread onions evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes until the onions are brown and crispy.    Put one teaspoon of sea salt into a pot of water and bring it to a boil.  While the water is waiting to boil sautee the garlic and mushrooms and pieces of bacon together, stirring over medium high heat on the oven in a skillet.  Remove ends of the green beans and break into halves and drop into the pot of boiling salty water.  Boil the beans for five minutes then remove and place into a bowl.  When the mushrooms, bacon and garlic are golden remove them also and place in another bowl.  With skillet empty and now heated to medium low, add one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and then one cup of almond milk.  Add half of almond meal and whisk all together until it disolves, then repeat adding other half of almond milk and almond meal, whisking all the time over a medium simmer.  Add 2 teaspoons of sea salt and two teaspoons of cracked black pepper and keep whisking until the mix becomes the texture of heavy cream.  Reduce the heat and stir in bacon and mushroom mix.  Add green beans and stir all together.  Pour all into a medium sized casserole dish.  Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Remove foil and sprinkle onions on top.  Place back in oven and bake for five more minutes uncovered.  Enjoy this healthy, natural side dish with no guilt!  

I’ll save the best for last with this yummy dessert I’ll serve with coffee.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE WITH BLUEBERRY TOPPING

Ingredients:

FOR THE CRUST:

2 cups crushed graham crackers

1 cup slivered almonds

½ cup white sugar

¼ cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons caramel topping

FOR THE FILLING:

1 pound white chocolate, chopped

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

¾ cup white sugar

4 eggs beaten

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE TOPPING:

½ cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

¼ cup water

1 pint fresh blueberries

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

Make the Crust:  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Make the crust in a food processor or with a hand-held mixer.  Blend together the graham cracker crumbs, almonds and sugar until the almonds are ground fine.  Pour in the melted butter and caramel while processing until mix is combined.  Press the mixture into the bottom and half-way up the sides of a 10 inch spring-form pan.

Make the filling:  In a metal bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate, stirring until smooth.  Remove from heat and set aside.  In a large bowl beat the cream cheese and ¾ cups sugar until smooth.  Beat in the eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time.  Beat in the flour and the vanilla and blend in the melted white chocolate slowly, beating until the filling is well combined.  Pour filling into crust.  Bake in the middle of preheated oven for one hour then turn off the heat and crack the oven door open just one inch, letting the cheesecake cool in the oven to room temperature.  The secret to keeping the cheesecake from cracking on top is to do this, and let it sit for several hours before moving it.  Cover loosely and refrigerate overnight before removing from pan.

Make the topping in a saucepan.  Combine ½ cup sugar and cornstarch.  Stir in water and blueberries.  Bring to a boil then simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.  Press through a fine sieve.  Stir in lemon juice.  Allow to cool and store in a glass jar until you use over cheesecake.      

Well, we usually enjoy a meal similar to this one and then move to the living room to open our gifts under the Christmas tree.  After we have had our festive fun we all go back to the kitchen for coffee and more desserts. It has become my custom to give away an AnnaLee Elf, so we will draw for that.

Before long it will be time for one two-year-old little girl to get to bed in time for Santa to come at her house; and the house will begin to empty out.  It is always so strangely quiet when everyone leaves!

We will have a brief pause and then it will be Christmas Day!  

Time to light that tall candle in the center of the Advent Wreath that stands for Christ.  Time to remember that God sent us a precious Savior!

Most likely we will attend a church service on Christmas Day.  Some years we like to be lazy on Christmas Day and stay home.  Anyone who wants to come by is always welcomed.  Sometimes we get a call from a little one saying she wants us to come see what was under her tree on Christmas morning, and we scurry around and head right over to share her excitement.  Some Christmas Days are spent at my Mom's house visiting.  You never know - and we like it to be mostly unplanned!  

  

At the end of the day – it is worth every minute of the preparation.  If any of this helped you with your own Christmas planning; I’m glad.  

Each celebration is a bit different and each family has their own favorite things and traditions, but it is fun to share our ideas and recipes and notes.  I would love to hear about some of your traditions and holiday routines.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

May God's greatest blessings be yours in this joyful season!