Northgate RV Park, Athens, Alabama
Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. ~ Proverbs 16:20
Today was a lesson on dealing with frustration. I’m not always very good at that – – at least not initially. I tend to blow up and/or get really flustered at first, before I acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s presence in my life. You know, that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and last but certainly not least, self-control gift we’re given when we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Sometimes I get so out of control, that I forget about what He can and does, do for me.
So here’s what happened today –
I planned on spending at least half the day in the kitchen. I had two kinds of cookies to bake, among other things. The Ginger Krackles recipe makes a ton of cookies, so I cut the recipe in half, mixed it up and put it in the frig to chill. So far, so good. I was organized – – mixing these first freed up my only beaters and bowl to mix up the Chocolate Chips; I had set out my butter the night before so it would be room temperature; I had all my supplies out and ready to go. I felt great! Everything was going swimmingly!
I forgot I sometimes can’t swim very well – especially as I get older.
Time to mix up the Nestle Tollhouse batter! And that was going well too. Until it wasn’t.
When I had it mixed, the batter was the consistency of pie dough. That’s NOT what that batter was supposed to be like! I checked the recipe on the chip package and everything was measured right. What in the world happened??? Fortunately, I had the recipe in my cookbook in my laptop, so I checked.
Oh no!!
2 ¼ cups of flour – – – not 4!
Eventually, once I allowed the Holy Spirit in and calm me, I realized what happened. When I cut the chip bag open (organized, remember?), I had inadvertently cut off the ‘2 1/’ and left just the ‘4’ showing! My brain doesn’t always calculate very quickly. Well, I should say, not usually. That’s what I need Blaine for, but he was outside doing Blaine stuff, so he was no help.
I finally figured it out that if I double everything except the flower and add a half a cup, it should come out right. But I didn’t have any more butter soft, nor am I equipped for all that dough! Hand mixer, small space. It’s not like I can perform a huge cookie operation here. But if I didn’t get them right, it would’ve been a huge loss, and I’m not just talking money. 😊
I think my mixing bowl weighed 10# by the time I was done.
Anybody want a cookie – – or a few dozen?? The ones I have in the refrigerator to chill, will have to wait until Thursday. I don’t have time to bake any more until then.
Guess I’d best share (a lot!) with my brother next week! : )
In the midst of baking all these bazillion chocolate chip cookies (I think we have enough to last us until we come home in September!), I decided to multi-task and make a batch of crack. You remember crack, don’t you? That white chocolate concoction that’s filled with peanuts, crasins and M&Ms? It’s really easy to make and is a wonderful snack! The name says it all, and that’s why I don’t make it often, but we’re going to my brother’s for Thanksgiving, so I had to share the love. 😊 But because I was rushing between batches of cookies, I didn’t spread it out evenly enough on the pan and when Blaine started breaking it up (because he likes to help me out when he can 😊), he was having trouble breaking some of it up because some areas were so thick. If it’s not one thing, it’s another today. Grrrr . . . .
And now for the absolutely most rotten news we received today.
Blaine was finally able to get a copy of the police report from when the semi hit us, although it wasn’t easy. You’re supposed to be able to order the report for $10 on-line, but it wasn’t working. He had to call, and the guy he talked with was also having a great deal of trouble. Apparently, the officer didn’t do his paperwork correctly. Eventually, the guy figured it out, made the change and Blaine was able to see the report.
The officer said we were at fault!! How could he possibly come up with that definitive conclusion? That’s what he told us at the scene – – that unless the crash site had definitive evidence, he wouldn’t be able to assign blame. But his diagrams and reporting of the incident says that he agreed with the truck driver that we cut him off! We were soooo upset! Even though we weren’t actually cited, it will still affect our insurance if the trucking company seeks reparations.
And Blaine’s kicking himself for not going to the actual scene with the officer.
And I said a prayer, turning it all over to my Father to take care of. Either with wisdom for Blaine, or just making the entire thing disappear.
Good thing I’d planned more comfort food for dinner. Swiss Steak and mashed potatoes. But even that was fraught with issues. I’ve never made this meal in our current electric skillet, and I couldn’t get the sauce to stop boiling – unless I turned it off. Well, that’s not a solution now, is it?? I was not a happy camper. Nothing really burned, but my sauce evaporated. I have a note on the recipe that it can be made in the crockpot. Guess what? Next time, that’s where it’s going. At least it still tasted really good! 😊
Upon reflection at the end of this day, I realized that all that frustration not only served no purpose, but reflected on my faith. We just learned recently about searching your heart to see if you really trust God or not. “Do you trust Him enough to rest in Him?” Most of the time, I think I do. But not today.
However, all the cookies turned out wonderfully, the crack is fine, dinner was good and had just the right amount of sauce for the meal, and that crash report? Upon further inspection of the paperwork, Blaine discovered multiple errors in reporting – our address is wrong, there’s no information on the coach other than the license plate number, which is wrong, and several other things. It might be a little more difficult for them to track us down should the trucking company decide to look for us. Had the accident been our fault in any way, we absolutely would’ve reached out and taken responsibility, but it’s not. So we won’t.
And it leaves me to wonder – – – is this God’s way of answering my prayer from earlier today?
SWISS STEAK
2 pounds tenderized round steak
¼ C. flour
¾ t. salt
½ t. pepper
3 T. butter
1 large can stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato juice
Preheat an electric skillet to 325 degrees.
Trim any excess fat from the steak and cut into serving size pieces (3-4 pieces) Mix flour, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag. Add the steak pieces and shake to coat, pressing the flour into the steak before removing. Melt the butter in the skillet. When it’s hot, add the meat and brown on both sides. Add the tomatoes and juice, cover and cook for about 2 hours.
Serves 4-6
HINT: Can also be made in the crock pot. Just brown, cover with tomatoes and juice and cook on low for 7-8 hours.