Better late than not at all – right? The LOFT
Graphic by Kerry Messer

topic this week is Fall Recipes. 

Cranberry Pie.

I’ve been making this since about 2007 and it is one of my favorites. However, I dare not make it often as it is way hard for me to resist piece after piece. I have some right now in the frig that I am thus far turning a deaf ear to.  :)

The recipe says fresh cranberries BUT if you happen to keep cranberries frozen in your freezer you can serve this pie anytime. 

1 cup fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar 
1/4 cup chopped nuts ( I use pecans)
1 egg
1/2 cup flour (cake flour works well)
1/4 stick of butter, melted
2 T shortening, melted (I use coconut oil instead – shortening is a no-no in my kitchen)
Line an 8-inch pie plate with wax paper – give it a little spray with oil. Spread cranberries over the plate, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup of sugar and pecans. Beat egg, add remaining sugar, and beat well. Add flour, butter, and coconut oil and mix (if the batter is too thick I thin it with a little milk). Pour over the cranberry mixture. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I can attest it is delicious either way – warm or cold. 

As with all my recipes, I tweak them almost every time. So with this one, I have been known to add more than 1/4 cup of pecans :)  And with the flour, I throw in a pinch of salt and baking powder/soda – just a little because I like a cakey texture. 

Oops! One more tweak! I always add at least a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the batter.

Hope y’all like it! 

Day 316 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

Graphic by Kerry Messer   

This Week’s Topic at the LOFT: “Intimacy with Jesus” (What does that look like for you? How do you abide in the vine? . . . )

How do I abide? Only by the Grace of GOD! I have said it more than once: If I were GOD I would have killed me a long time ago. And yet I’m still here – can only be His GREAT GRACE and His EXTRAVAGANT LOVE! It took a long time for me to come to the place that I was willing to admit to Him and to myself that I was a hell-deserving sinner but when I did, HE set me free! Owning (only by His grace) my innate depravity passed to me from Adam and Eve enabled me in a moment of saving faith to receive JESUS’ righteousness – His gift to me and the greatest happening in all my life. This fact, this knowledge, this knowing HIM keeps bringing me back to obedience again and again; to that state of abiding in Him – Intimacy with Him.

Prayer, Scripture, and obedience are my keys to sanity, peace, and joy. Prayer, Scripture, and obedience to Scripture is the only way I know to ABIDE in JESUS. And when I am faithful to Prayer, Scripture, and Obedience, His Presence is more real to me than breathing. Please don’t get me wrong, even in periods of slack, He is always with me. I am confident of that but when I am faithful to prayer and Scripture Obedience, we enjoy each other’s company a WHOLE LOT MORE.  It’s good. Very good to enjoy His Company in the little things and the big things! I must always, always be mindful that HE IS GOD but I am also blessed to know He is my BEST FRIEND, and I am learning to be His Friend. :)

James 2:23 And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend.  via James 2:23 AMP;CJB – And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled – Bible Gateway.

Day 308 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie

It is nearly time to work on next week’s  (Graphic by Kerry Messer)LOFT topic – this week’s is Blogging. Why do I blog? That’s a good question. From time to time I ask myself that! :)

One morning in 2003, I think, I had a particularly sweet time with ABBA – He gave me a nugget of truth and encouragement and without thinking I shot off an email to five of my girlfriends sharing the nugget with them.  They liked it! And decided I should do that on a regular basis. I did. For years. And in time my emailing list was more than 100 – my server didn’t like it much. So in order to get each day’s devotion to my list I had to divide the addresses into four groups for e-mailing.  Then around 2007 I got the brilliant idea to BLOG. Which meant my email friends would be required to sign up at the blog to continue getting the devotions via email — some did. And then along came Facebook. It’s been a helpful venue to get the blog to more people. 

For many years I was driven, perhaps that is an adequate word, to get a devotion written and out there every week day. In the last couple of years not so much. Not sure why. I miss writing when I don’t discipline myself to sit but often I don’t as is evidenced by the sparseness of my posts. I hope the drive will return. Perhaps a new season will bring it. 

Writing opens one’s soul, I think, and when that writing becomes public a huge responsibility comes with it. Has it not been said the pen is mightier than the sword? (source) And so I think I can honestly say I blog because I hope to influence. I hope to make a difference – a good difference for every Reader. And I lean heavily on The HOLY SPIRIT for this. When He inspires me not, I have nothing to say. That’s it! 

A happy weekend my Friends. 

Reset your clocks Saturday night — Fall Back! Yeah!! One more hour of sleep! 

Day 304 of 2014, a day to give Thanks.

Kathie