Come for Supper – Page 2

Come for Supper, Entertaining, Family Fun, Feast on This, Fun with Friends, Recipes

Come for Supper – Asian Hot Pot Party

December 18, 2016January 27, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

This party was originally featured in my book, “Come for Supper? the memoirs of a reluctant hostess“ (now out of print).

It is one of my kids’ very favorite parties I ever threw while they were still living at home. It is also one of the favorites of my cooking club group, who helped me test some of the recipes in the book.

It’s like an “Asian fondue” party! Everyone cooks their own food — which is a reluctant hostess’s dream party, right? All you have to do is collect some equipment, do some grocery shopping, do a little slicing, dicing, and chopping, mix up some sauces, set up tables, toss a CD in the player, and decorate. Voila! (– or however they say it in Chinese).

So now, imagine yourself invited to my house for Chinese…

You come knocking on my door and can hear music from the Orient playing faintly, and you can also smell what smells like dinner cooking (in reality it’s just chicken broth and hot peanut oil). You’re dressed in your best Asian get-up (complete with a coolie douli hat, because that’s what I asked you to in the invitation) and as you ring my doorbell, are excited for me to turn that knob and invite you inside. When I do, you find me decked out in a green t-shirt with Chinese scribbles across it, my hair tied up with chopsticks, and wearing flip-flop house slippers on my feet. Inside the house there are paper umbrellas hanging upside down from the ceiling over the lights, and little paper lanterns strung about. Some little Chinese fans scattered on the tables and around. Vases of bamboo set around as gifts for guests to take home after the party.

Some of my other guests have already arrived and are wearing red silk dresses, tank tops with black leggings, and one is wearing a white Gi, tied with a yellow (beginner’s) belt. There is laughing and mingling as everyone crowds into the kitchen to pour themselves a drink. Your options are hot Green, Oolong, or Jasmine tea, Bubble Tea, a shot of sake, or a cold imported Chinese Tsingtao beer.

The music that is playing sounds a little bit like a Chinese version of Manheim Steamroller, so you ask, “What is this playing?” and I answer, “It’s Twelve Girls Band!” Hmmm…nice choice, right? My daughter turned me on to them.

And finally, when everyone has arrived, we take our places around the tables. There are two. Each has been set up with a “hot pot” in the center. The wok at one table is filled with a steaming hot liquid bubbling inside. On either side are platters of raw ingredients, meats on one side and veggies on the other. At each place setting around the table is a bamboo mat, with a small platter centered on it. A set of chopsticks lays across it, and each is flanked by several small cups of sauces of various colors.

At the other table is a wok of hot peanut oil. The platter to one side is egg roll wrappers, little cups of water, and a bowl of filling , and on the platter on the other side are various raw meats and veggies and a bowl of tempura batter. The guests sitting at this table get to fry their supper. Their place settings are the same.

I gather my guests to the tables and ask if we may join hands, as I play an audio version of the Lord’s Prayer being spoken in Chinese (from YouTube) and then we pray the same prayer together in English.

And with that, I explain to everyone how we’ll select a meat or veggie from the platters using the fondue forks, and then plunge our selections into the hot broth to cook. After a minute or so we can bring the morsels to our personal platters and spoon on whichever sauce we’d like to try. After half an hour or so those seated at the broth wok will take their personal platters and trade places with those seated around the hot oil wok to make egg rolls and tempura things. And then, when everyone has had a chance to try everything, I’ll toss a bunch of noodles into the broth wok and in a few moments serve a small cup of noodle soup to each of my guests.

Of course we all sit around the woks and cook and eat until we are so full we can’t breathe, and that’s when I suggest we leave those tables and gather in the living room for games. I have several set up to choose from: Go, Mahjongg, and Chinese Checkers (even though I’ve been told Chinese Checkers aren’t really Chinese – although if you turn my game tin over to the underside it says, “Made in China” which is good enough for me. Of course everyone is welcome to refill their drinks, and those who are up for learning a new game can sit down to it. Those who know already how to play are encouraged to teach others, and those who are not into new and complicated games can play Chinese Checkers. We all had a set of those at home when we were kids, right? Easy. Only trouble is Chinese Checkers is over in a short time and boring after a while, so for a backup activity I have a Chinese movie all ready to go.

Although the Chinese do not eat dessert (or take beverages) as part of their meal, they do snack on sweets between meals. Their sweets traditionally consist of fruit or almond cookies. So I have a big fruit platter set up in the kitchen with cut up melon, bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, grapes, berries, and whatever else is in season at the grocery store, along with a platter of crisp Almond cookies, and those yummy rice krispy type treats made with sesame seeds that they serve at my favorite Chinese place on main street, plus a big pile of Fortune Cookies (which also are an American invention, but at least from China Town in San Francisco).

My sister has this fun little tradition of adding “…in the bathroom” to the end of all Chinese fortune cookie fortunes, which makes them kind of funny, so I of course suggest we do that. And everyone reads theirs, and we all laugh, because we’re supposed to. And it’s a little awkward, so we refill our drinks and grab some dessert, and head out to the family room to play our games or watch the movie.

What is the movie, you ask? Well, you have your choice: I have China Cry for the Christian crowd, who possibly wants to be inspired by a flick about faith, or I have the Karate Kid for all of us who remember that from what, the 80’s? I have a Bruce Lee flick, and a Jackie Chan. Or, I also have the Season One episodes of Better Late Than Never, with Henry Winkler, George Foreman, Terry Bradshaw, and William Shatner saved on my DVR for anyone that missed that and wants a good laugh. (They are probably available on Hulu or Netflix too, and the NBC website).

(In mybook I also suggested that a host of this particular supper may want to invite some missionaries from their church who have returned from China and would have interesting stories to share, pictures, and treasures that we could touch and pass around. I also suggested that we could talk as a group about going in on a donation to support a missionary we know, or give a donation to an organization that gives out Bibles in China, or give a money gift to a couple adopting a child from China).

When we’re ready to call it a night, I hand out fireworks (just sparklers and party poppers and the safe backyard varieties) and we all wander out to the front yard to end our night with a BANG! But not too big of a bang because all the neighbors are sleeping. Shhhhh! I have little red goodie bags also hanging in the trees and ask everyone to go look for one by flashlight and take with them before they head to their cars. They have little trinkets from the dollar store in them, a chinese jump rope, some small candies, and a few shiny new quarters – because that’s what I’m told they do in China. As each guest gathers their things to leave there are kisses and hugs all around. Engines begin starting and lights start flipping on, and one by one the cars drive away. I stand there and wave, then turn and contentedly wonder back inside my house with a heart full of great memories and a sink full of dishes to wash. I can’t think of a better way to wreck my kitchen.

MONGOLIAN HOT POT
You’ll need a platter of meats and a platter of veggies, cut up and ready to cook fondue style.

Meats: Scallops, Shrimp, Chicken breasts (cut into strips), Beef (flatiron steak cut into small strips), Pork (loin, cut in small strips or pieces). Place meats on a platter with partitioned wells (like a serving set for tacos) would be ideal. This way the meats won’t mingle and contaminate each other in their raw state. I cut my meats and wrapped my platter in plastic wrap, and stored in the refrigerator the morning of my dinner. Be sure to clean cutting surfaces with warm, soapy water and Clorox wipes between meats and when finished.

Veggies: Carrot coins, cut on the diagonal and then in half, Celery slices, cut on the diagonal and then in half, Snow peas, Cabbage leaves, Broccoli florets, Green pepper slices, Zucchini-cut on the diagonal and then in half, Mushrooms (straw or shitake), Green onions, cut on the diagonal.

Additional ingredients for the soup: bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, and noodles (I don’t really care for the traditional cellophane noodles, so I substitute Ramen or thin spaghetti), garlic cloves, and a smidgen of honey. I also like spicy Thai peppers and cilantro but not everyone does so ask your guests before you add these to the pot, as they can easily be added to individual bowls of soup instead.

Add chicken broth to a shabu yaki, (or electric wok, or an electric skillet or large fondue pot). Fill to about an inch or two below the rim. Place in the center of the supper table. Be sure to wrap the cord securely down a table leg so no one accidentally trips on it and pulls the hot pot over. Plug into a power source and set the temperature dial at the boiling point (about 215 degrees F).

Hot Pot is like fondue. Guests are seated at the table with plates and samplings of sauces. Each uses chopsticks (or fondue forks), takes meat and veggies from the platters, and cooks in the boiling broth. They bring their cooked morsels to their individual plates and dip in their choice of sauce (recipes below) before eating. Once everyone has tried everything and is near being full, noodles are added to the pot, along with the additional ingredients (mentioned above), and then everyone is served a bowl of soup.

NOTE: After my supper I wrapped up all my leftovers and the next day made the best stir-fry ever with all the meats and all the veggies, and what was left of the sauces. If you prefer, this would also be a great idea for your Chinese Supper. Instead of making ‘hot pot’ as above, place all of your ingredients out on the table in the same manner, but replace the broth pot with a hot wok and a little peanut oil instead of broth, and let your guests make their own little “stir-fry” concoctions that they cook themselves. Kind of like a self-serve Mongolian Grill at home.

SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE
3 Tablespoons Cornstarch or tapioca starch

1 cup water

2/3 cup rice vinegar

1 1/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

½ teaspoon of red food coloring

In a saucepan dissolve the cornstarch in the water, add the remaining ingredients. Heat over medium high heat until sauce boils and thickens.

PLUM SAUCE
2 cups plum jam, jelly, or preserves

1 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger

4 teaspoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons soy sauce

4 teaspoons wine vinegar

Mix jam and applesauce in saucepan. Bring to boil. Combine ginger, cornstarch, and soy sauce, vinegar. Stir into jam mixture. Cook stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Cool. Refrigerate until serving time. Bring to room temp before serving.

HOT MUSTARD
½ cup dry mustard

4 Tablespoons peanut oil

4 Tablespoons water

½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

½ cup white vinegar

Mix mustard and oil in small bowl. Gradually add the 4 Tbsp. of water, stirring constantly to form a smooth paste. Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in saucepan. Gradually add the cup of water and vinegar. Blend thoroughly. Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens. Gradually add to mustard mixture, stirring constantly until blended. Refrigerate until ready to use. Serve at room temp.

TERIYAKI SAUCE
1 cup pineapple juice

½ cup packed light brown sugar

4 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons peanut oil

1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan, simmer to blend flavors.

GARLIC GINGER SAUCE
2 Tablespoons ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

½ cup water

4 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup soy sauce

Mix all ingredients. Use as a dipping sauce.

DUCK SAUCE
1 small can cling peaches in heavy syrup

¼ teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

4 teaspoons red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon water

Drain pieces and reserve juice for something else. Mash peaches with a fork or potato masher until well crushed. Add mustard, ginger root, vinegar, and Chinese Five Spice. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to sauce, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, continuing to stir, until thickened. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Bottled Soy Sauce (try Kikkoman, which is slightly sweet, and La Choy which is more salty)

EGG ROLLS (this recipe was given to me by my Japanese/American friend, Cyndi)

1 (16-oz) pkg Jimmy Dean regular sausage

Shredded or chopped Napa cabbage (a green cabbage will also work)

½ pkg of bean sprouts (approx. 2 cups)

¾ cup grated carrot

Grate about 2” of ginger root on top

Mix together by hand. Lay one egg roll wrapper on work surface and place a heaping spoon of the meat & veggie mixture in the middle. Fold the wrapper as shown on the packaging. Get a little water on your fingers and moisten the final corner of the wrapper so that it will stick and seal the roll. They must be cooked fairly quickly after they are made as the wrappers will become soggy if wrapped up and stored in the fridge for very long. And they can’t be fried and kept for very long either, as they lose their crunch. They should be the last thing you put together for your meal, moments before your guests arrive. Or, let your guests make these themselves, just as with hot pot above. Have the meat mixture and egg roll wrappers (and small cups of water) ready for each guest to assemble on his or her own.

Set up an electric wok with enough peanut oil for deep frying (again fastening the cord down a table leg so it isn’t accidentally tripped over). Oil temperature should be about 360 degrees F. Consult your owner’s manual. Drop a few egg rolls at a time (not more than 4 or it will cool the oil too much) into hot oil and turn once in a while during frying so they cook evenly, until golden brown. Lay on the rack or drain on paper towels. Serve with soy sauce, hot mustard, or sweet and sour sauce.

TEMPURA: You can also mix up a batch of tempura batter and let guests batter their Hot Pot meats and veggies instead and fry them. When I had my Hot Pot party I set up a soup table and a fry table. I sat the girls down around the soup (Hot Pot) and the men around the wok. I intended to have my crowd eat for a while at each table and then switch, but the men liked frying and didn’t want the hot pot, so they ended up frying egg rolls and tempura things and passing to us, and then just had a small bowl of our noodle soup at the end.

TEMPURA SAUCE

½ cup chicken stock

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons cream sherry

2 Tablespoons grated daikon (Japanese radish)

2 Tablespoons peeled and grated fresh gingerroot

Combine first three ingredients. Just before serving, stir in daikon and ginger.

((( Or just use a boxed mix. That’s easiest! )))

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

Come for Supper, Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Italian Meatball Beerrocks

September 16, 2016September 16, 2016 mrshlovesjesus

I’ve never considered myself a good cook, just a gal with a collection of pretty good recipes that manage to turn out decently every so often. Many times, in despiration, I’ve invented things based upon the contents of my cupboards and refrigerator, and predictably crashed and burned with many EPIC failures over the years, but once in a great great while even a blind squirrel gets a nut, and here’s the nut I ended up with recently.

I’d fretted all busy day about what to make for supper. Opened the fridge in between loads of laundry and errands. Surveyed the cupboards between mowing and paying bills. Inspected the freezer between my shower and mopping the floors. Nothing was jumping out at me. Whatever plan I had come up with before my last trip to the grocery store a few days ago was totally escaping my memory. The whole day had now passed and here I was AT crunch time, almost in a panic, hubbie about to walk through the door, and me with still not a clue what to make. The only thing jumping out at me from the fridge was the tube of crescent rolls I’d bought to make sopapilla cheesecake.

I sat down for a quick read of my devotional and there found offered below the scripture, commentary, and prayer, a recipe for “Meatball Sandwiches” … Hmmm… ?

I had a package of Italian meatballs buried in the bottom of my freezer. I had purchased them to make Zuppa Toscano soup a few months ago, but then never made it, because hot summer weather and soup just never seemed to trip my trigger. And niether did speghetti.

What if I used those meatballs and the crescent rolls to make some kind of Italian Beerrocks?

Ingredients

1 pkg Spicy Italian Meatballs

2 sticks of mozzerella string cheese (the ones I had were “Hot Habanero”)

1 tube refrigerator crescent rolls

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Marinara Sauce

Garlic Powder

Italian seasonings

minced serrano chile

Instructions

1. First I cooked the meatballs according to package instructions, in the oven on 375*F, but for only 20 of the 30 minutes recommended.

2. While they cooked, I opened the tube of Crescent Rolls (gosh I hate that – gives me heart failure every time), and laid them out on my work surface and separated the sections. Then I sprinkled each triangle with garlic powder, and some Italian Seasonings.

3. Next I made my marinara sauce, since I didn’t have any jarred speghetti sauce or Butoni in the fridge. I poured two cans of crushed tomatoes into a sauce pot and whirled them with my Braun-wand-thingy until there were no chunks. Then I added about a tablespoon and a half of some Pizza spice I had in my cupboard and about a tsp of Italian Seasonings. And because I like things a little on the spicy side, I added a little bit of minced serrano chile that I had in the fridge. I set the pot on the stove and turned the burner to medium and let the sauce come to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

4. When the meatballs were cooked I removed them from the oven and sliced them part-way with a knife to make room for a piece of string cheese.

5. I placed a spoonful of marinara onto each dough triangle, then put a little pile of shredded parmesan (about a tablespoon worth) on top of each spoonful of sauce.

6. I cut my string cheese sticks into 4 pieces and placed a piece into each meatball, and set a meatball on top of each pile of sauce and parmesan, on each dough triangle as shown in the illustration.

7. I rolled each triangle up tightly, by first pulling the corners up and over the meatball, and then rolling it towards the far corner as shown here:

…And when I had formed nice tight balls, I pinched all the open places closed, and laid each ball on my cookie sheet, about 4″ away from each other to give them room to expand. (NOTE: 1 tube of dough makes 8 rolls. To make the meatballs and dough come out equal, you would need 3 tubes of dough and two 1-doz. pkgs of meatballs. Or, if you just want to make 8, you could cut the remaining meatballs in half and add half to each bun before rolling them up).

8. I placed the cookie sheet into the oven (350*F still warm from cooking the meatballs) and baked them as directed on the dough packaging – about 13 to 15 minutes.

This is what they looked like when they were done baking.

I served my little Beerrocks with a cup of warmed marinara to dip them in. They were delicious. Hubby even thought so. And, because they got the seal of approval from him, I thought I would share them with y’all … just in case you are in a pinch over what to have for supper, and happen to have all these same ingredients tucked away in your cupboards! 🙂

Note: These are only as good as the meatballs you make them with. Not all meatballs are created equal. I can totally vouch for this HEB brand, found in the meat section of the supermarket, or you can make your own if you have a terrific recipe.

Suggestion: Serve with a side Caesar Salad, or a nice cucumber salad (cucumber slices, red onion slices, bell pepper slices, and split cherry tomatoes in a sweet vinegar and oil sauce), or some cottage cheese and fruit, or just some carrot and celery sticks. The kids will love them too!

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14, KJV

((( P.S. Thanks Ms. Karen for the inspiration!!!!! )))

Come for Supper, Feast on This, Man Food, Recipes

Spicy Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese

September 5, 2016May 3, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

Ingredients

1 16-oz bag Large (or regular) macaroni

1 Stick of butter

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp. Salt (or more to taste)

1 tsp Ground Pepper Melange (or less to taste)

1/2 of a sweet, white onion, minced

2 Serrano Chiles, stems removed, minced (mince the seeds also for heat, or discard)

1 7-oz can chopped Hatch Green Chiles (mild)

1 cup whole milk

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 8-oz pkg Shredded Cheese (*Mexican Blend), plus ADD an extra 1/2 cup of Pepper-Jack Cheese, grated

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400*F.

In a large pot, boil water and cook macaroni to “al dente” as instructed on the package. Drain off the water and place macaroni in a buttered baking dish large enough to fit, or use two baking dishes (one for enjoying shortly and one that you can freeze for later, or one you can give away to your busy daughter, a sick friend, or the elderly gentleman next door). Set macaroni aside while you make the sauce.

In a large saucepan on medium high heat, place the stick of butter and let it melt. Add the flour and whisk together until blended. Cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Add the salt and pepper. Add the onion, Serrano, and green chiles. Let cook until onion is tender. Add milk and chicken broth, whisking to make sure it doesn’t have any lumps. Let it cook a few minutes to thicken and then remove from heat. Add the *cheese and stir to blend. (* I like the HEB Mi Comida Mexican Cheese blend with Cotija, Manchego, Asadero, Muenster, Oaxaca, and Quesadilla cheeses, and then I add a little pepper-jack as well.)

Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni and use your spoon to make sure it completely seeps down into the macaroni, every last millimeter of it.

Lay a piece of foil loosely over the top and place the dish in preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes. Adjust cooking time if using two pans – it won’t need to bake as long. Make sure it is bubbling all around the outsides and a little bit in the center, that’s when it’s done!

Goes very well with a nice crock pot roast (I like to make two – one to eat right away and one to freeze and use for other dishes later, like Stroganoff, Roast Beef Hash Casserole, Beef Quesadillas, Veg Beef Soup, BBQ Beef Sandwiches, SOS, Loaded Baked Potatoes, etc.). I like to pull mine so it soaks in all the juices.

Pot Roast and Mac & Cheese make just a Jim Dandy plateful of down home comfort food on a busy back-to-school night! Just add whatever vegetable you wish. I’m a big fan of Butter Beans, which are super easy-peasy. Just pour the frozen baby lima beans (the little green ones that come in a bag in the frozen section) into a pan of about 2 or 3 inches of boiling, salted water. Let the beans cook, covered for a few minutes in the rapidly boiling water until tender (the instructions are probably on the package, I’ve just never looked). As soon as they are just tender (I don’t like them mushy), drain them and toss a half a stick of butter in with them and let it melt and soak in. That’s it. That’s the way I like them. They can keep warm on a low burner of the stove, swimming in that creamy butter for a little while, if you like. Grind a little pepper melange on top and serve when you’re other dishes are ready.

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” Genesis 9:3

Come for Supper, Entertaining, Feast on This, Fun with Friends

Theme Luncheons for Every Month of the Year

June 6, 2016August 23, 2022 mrshlovesjesus

Planning a luncheon? Here are twelve personally tested plans, complete with posters, menus, decorating and music suggestions, and recipes for a complete meal, along with desserts and beverages, paired with matching activities, for small, medium, or large groups.

The posters featured for each party can be printed and posted in a break-room or mailroom of your workplace, or if your gathering is non-work related, they can be printed and used as paper invitations and individually mailed out. Or they can be posted in a closed-group on Facebook, texted to your guests, or emailed.

SEPTEMBER

Theme 1: Back to School Picnic

If the weather still permits in your neck of the woods, consider making this an outdoor event. Either dress up some picnic tables outside, or lay down large blankets on an area of lawn, under a big shade tree. If the weather does not permit, dress up the indoors to look like a picnic. Place a few fans for cool breezes, and set up a CD player with a sounds of nature CD – I personally love anything featuring the Rocky Mountains.

Sounds of the Rocky Mountains

Dan Gibson’s Solitudes, Rocky Mountains Suite

Rocky Mountain Rain

Sounds of Yellowstone (and check out all the “National Park Series” Nature Sounds CDs)

Decorations: Red checkered tablecloths, with centerpieces of baskets of apples, hand bells, cups full of sharpened pencils, and slates with sticks of chalk laid across each.

Table Games and Diversions: Pose trivia questions from the game, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, available as an APP (google play or apple store) for your phone.

Luncheon:

OCTOBER

Theme 1: Peanuts, It’s the Great Pumpkin

Decorations: Cover the tables with earthtone tableclothes (plain brown, plain orange, plain hunter green, plain yellow, etc.). Create centerpieces with Hobby Lobby scarecrows, small pumpkins, Indian corn, corn stalk bundles, small decorative garden rakes, and colorful fall leaves (paper).

Go with the Peanuts Great Pumpkin Theme for the paper plates, napkins, etc., and for background music play a nice piano music CD. OR, Amazon even sells the Peanuts Movie Sountrack, and Peanuts music CD’s featured in the cartoons.

Table Games and Diversions: Get a fall scene puzzle started for people to work on as they eat, and drink, and chit-chat. OR, print several puzzles (secret codes, sudukus, riddles, Hangman, mazes, etc.) and place on the tables for guests to solve.

Luncheon:

NOVEMBER

Theme 1: Pilgrims and Thanksgiving harvest theme

Decorations: Pilgrims, Indians, and Mayflower ships, Cornucopias filled with corn, gourds, pumpkins, etc. and turkeys.

Music: We Gather Together by Craig Duncan is a wonderful choice, or Thanksgiving – Windham Hill collection, or try several others that will pop up when you do an Amazon search.

Table Games and Diversions: Cover the tables in light colored paper and leave colored Crayola markers around for people to randomly jot down things they are thankful for. Or, look for disposable Thanksgiving tablecloths at the party stores with puzzles and coloring images all over them.

Luncheon:

Theme 2: Elections

Decorations: Patriotic with Democrat and Republican symbols

Table Games and Diversions: Election trivia and candidate profiles, absentee & voter regristration cards.

Music: God Bless America: The Ultimate Patriotic Album, American Patriot Lee Greenwood, Why I Love Her John Wayne, God Bless The USA – 17 Inspirational Songs Of Faith & Freedom From Today’s Top Country Artists .

Luncheon: Lasagnas (meat, chicken, veggie), garlic toast, green salads, Italian Sodas, red and white grape juices served in wine glasses, Italian Cream Cake

DECEMBER

Theme 1: Christmas Tea

Decorations: Find or make little stockings for each guest and fill with a candy cane or other small gift and use to decorate the tree. Bring in a CD player and a variety of Christmas music that will appeal to everyone’s taste and play it continuously. Stew some good smelling potpourri in a crock-pot.

Table Games and Diversions: Scatter Christmas Trivia cards around on the tables.

Luncheon:

Zuppa Toscana Soup

*Assortment of Christmas Cookies & various flavors of teas

JANUARY

Theme 1: Football Tailgate Party

Decorations: Cover the tables with green yardage line tablecloths. Pile footballs, pennants, and pompoms in the center for decoration.

Add some excitement with an NFL Power and Glory CD, or the more recent NFL Films Original Music by David Robidoux Promotional Release (2007), Fox Sports Presents: Game Time! ~ Various Artists, Stadium Anthems: Music for the Fans ~ Various Artists, and ABC Monday Night Football Jamz ~ Various Artists.

Table Games and Diversions: Fold little paper “footballs” for each table and show your guests how to play table football, using their fingers for goal posts. See how to play at wiki-how or better still…watch this You Tube video.

Luncheon: Three varieties of Chili (red, green, and white chicken), plus a buffet of toppings (green onions, cheese, sour cream, chopped jalapenos, etc.). Serve non-alcoholic beers, sodas, and Mug Cakes for dessert. (click here for chili recipes) or (click here for mug cake recipe)

Flier shown below was from a luncheon where the Super Bowl was being played in San Francisco so I went with the foods from that area. It was Peyton Manning’s last game, and Michael Ohr (whose story is told in the movie Blind Side) played for the Carolina Panthers in this match-up.

*Ask everyone to wear his or her sports team shirts or colors.

FEBRUARY

Theme 1: Academy Awards & Hollywood Walk of Fame

This is a great theme to do to honor your guests. Make them the stars of the party!

Decorations: Cover the table in Black, Silver, and Gold table cloths. Put centerpieces of film reels, film strip, movie trivia cards, clapboards and balloon bouquets. Hang gold stars and spot light and camera decorations from the ceiling. Roll out a red carpet from the entrance of the room to the center. Make a Hollywood Walk-of-Fame star tile for each guest with their name on it.

Music: Beautiful Hollywood was my choice!

Games and Diversions: Lay out several packets of sticky notes and pens. Ask guests to write compliments for the other guests on the sticky notes and place them on each person’s star. Let each guest take their Walk-of-Fame stars home.

Luncheon: Decorate the buffet with a sign that says, “Studio Commissary.” Recipes for this luncheon can be found here.

Theme 2: Valentine’s Day

Decorations: Cover the tables in pink paper with sheer lace over the top. Toss around rich red paper hearts, heart shaped boxes of chocolate, rose peddles, and cupid and heart shaped balloons. Set up the boom box with CD’s of romantic love songs.

Games and Diversions: Set out the makings for valentines, red construction paper, white lace, little stickers and stick-on jewels, Cupids, small dowel rods and arrow heads and fletching that can be attached to the ends after it is woven through the heart, black sharpie markers. Ask everyone to participate in a Valentine exchange, just like the kids do at school. Everybody makes a special box for their place at the table, and everyone deposits special “Valentine” notes into each person’s box (compliments, jokes, poems, thank-you notes, etc.). Also, put everyone’s name in a hat and have each person draw out one name to be a secret pal to for the next six months.

Luncheon: Gazpacho soup or Borscht (hot or cold), heart-shaped shrimp sandwiches, Strawberry smoothies or white sparkling cider, Red Velvet Cake for dessert.

BORSCHT

8 cups beef broth

1 pound cooked tender beef stew meat or sliced Kielbasa

1 large onion, peeled, quartered

4 large beets, peeled, chopped

1 leek chopped

3 stalks celery sliced

4 carrots, peeled, chopped

1 large russet potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1 14 oz. can stewed tomatoes

3/4 cup chopped fresh dill (or parsley)

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)

1 cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Bring 4 cups of the beef broth, the beef stew meat, and onion to boil in large pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes.

2 Add remaining 4 cups broth, beets, leek, celery, carrots, and potato; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

3 Stir in meat, cabbage and 1/2 cup dill; cook until cabbage is tender, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in vinegar.

Ladle soup into bowls. Top with sour cream and remaining 1/4 cup dill.

Serves 6

GAZPACHO

3 cups tomatoes, red ripe, seeded and diced
2 cups red bell pepper, diced medium
2 cups red onions, diced medium
1/2 cup celery, diced medium
2 cups cucumber, diced medium
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups organic vegetable juice
pinch cayenne
1 teaspoon cumin

1 Mix diced tomato, peppers, red onions, celery and cucumber together in a medium bowl.

2 Divide the mixture in half and separate in two bowls.
3 Add garlic to one of the bowls and empty into blender. Add vinegar to the blender and puree until smooth.
4 Add the vegetable juice, cayenne and cumin to the blender. Blend.
5 Add the puree to the bowl of diced vegetables.
6 Refrigerate overnight. Garnish with lemon and cilantro.

Serves 8

SHRIMP LUNCHEON SANDWICHES

1 small package (3 ounces) cream cheese

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

dash garlic powder

1 cup chopped cooked cleaned shrimp

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1 teaspoon grated onion

20 to 40 slices white sandwich bread, lightly buttered

Blend cream cheese with mayonnaise; blend in the ketchup, mustard, and garlic powder. Stir in shrimp, celery, and grated onion. Use as a filling spread only in the center of two slices of sandwich bread. Or if you can squeeze two cookie cutter cuttings out of a slice of bread, spread the filling in each of the opposing corners of the bread. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut the sandwiches out. Toss the scraps. Makes about 1 cup of shrimp sandwich filling, for about 20 sandwiches.

MARCH

Theme 1: Saint Patrick’s Day (Lucky Leprechaun Theme)

Decorations: Cover the tables in light green table cloths or paper. Cut out dozens of various sized dark green shamrocks from construction paper. On each shamrock write an Irish blessing. Scatter these blessings around on the tables. Set out small black kettles filled with gold foil covered chocolate coins. Set up a CD player with Irish pub music, or Celtic music, or Riverdance music playing.

Table Games and Diversions: Ask your guests to choose one Irish Blessing from the table. Have each guest stand and recite their blessing to the other luncheon guests in their best Irish accents.

Luncheon: (Reuben Sandwich recipe) (Strawberry Scones recipe)

Theme 2: Easter (If it falls in March)

Decorations: nests with colored eggs in them, and pans of real green grass with eggs nestled in them.

Table Games and Diversions: Print out several famous lines from various Bible movies and let guest guess the movie and actor who said it.

Host an Easter Egg Hunt. Pick the day, maybe the Thursday before Good Friday. The night before, go and hide plastic eggs all over the building. Hide some in each person’s desk and more in the break room. Tuck little jellybeans, Hershey kisses, and/or cute notes (fortunes or blessings) inside the eggs. Place a small paper basket on each person’s desk with a note inviting him or her to the Easter egg hunt at a specific time. The instructions should tell them that eggs have been hidden in their personal space and in the break room and that all they find are theirs. Also inform them that the person who finds the most eggs will win a special prize so that they need to put their number found next to their name on the poster in the break room. This is a lot less work if you can find an accomplice to share the labor and expense with you. The prize can be anything you want: car wash tokens, movie passes, pizza gift certificate, post-it notes and colored pens, a pedicure/manicure, etc.

Luncheon:

APRIL

Theme 1: April Showers Garden Party

Decorations: Cover the tables with light blue paper and set rubber duckies and rubber boots as centerpieces, filled with Tulips, Daffodils, and Hyacinth. Play a CD of The Sound of Summer Rain, and Thundering Rainstorm.

Table Games and Diversions: Purchase a small clay pot for each employee and let each guest fill a pot with small fish aquarium pebbles. Let them then attach an imitation flower to a pen with floral tape, and then poke the pens down into the pebbles. Each guest now has their own little pen pot.

Luncheon:

Theme 2: April Fools

Decorations: Cover the tables with Newspaper. Toss several gag type props around on the tables (silly eye goggles, mustaches, big wax lips, silly hats, etc.)

Music: Try a parody music CD like Forbidden Broadway 2001 a Spoof Odyssey, Best of Allan Sherman, or The Smothers Brothers.

Table Games and Diversions: Monkey See, Monkey Do! Discretely tape a monkey to the bottom of one person’s chair. The person who finds the monkey under their chair during the luncheon must do something nice for someone AND and then cleverly hide the monkey in someone else’s desk or chair somewhere else in the building. Keep the game going all month. The person who receives the monkey pays the nice deed forward and discretely passes the monkey on.

Luncheon: (See recipes here) and (here) (pictured below in clockwise order: Bundt Pan Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza with Mozzerella “Icing,” Shepherd’s Pie Meatloaf cupcakes with beet juice colored mashed potatoes for frosting, Yellow cake with “speghetti” piped frosting/Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut chocolate meatballs/Red Berry Jam drizzled as “speghetti” sauce, Chex Puppy Chow in a pet bowl, Fish crackers in a fish bowl.

MAY

Theme 1: Cinco de Mayo – Fiesta

Decorations: Cover the tables with Mexican blankets, Use sombreros, piñatas, maracas, ponchos, and pottery for centerpieces. Also have a nice mariachi band playing on the CD player for ambience.

Table Games and Diversions: Learn Spanish words by scattering Lotería cards around on the tables. Play Lotería after or during luncheon.

Luncheon:

Theme 2: Mother’s Day

Decorations: cover the tables in pretty floral tablecloths with lace tablecloths layered over. Use teapots and teacups and little wrapped tea bags for centerpieces.

Table Games and Diversions: Honor the MOMS. Ask each of the staff to bring a picture of their mom that we can post on the Guess Who? Board. Each photo will have a number on the front of it so staff members can guess what mother goes with which staff member.

Luncheon: Make your own sandwich bar with assorted breads, cold cuts, cheeses, condiments, lettuce, sprouts, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., a large veggie tray, potato chips, assorted beverages, and Indoor Smores for dessert.

Indoor smores — Make Smores INDOORS… Place sterno cans into metal candle holders, set on coasters, remove lids and light with a BBQ lighter. Place graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars in serving dishes set between the sterno cans. Let your guests skewer a marshmallow with a kabob skewer and then roast over sterno flame until toasted. Use a canning jar magnet to replace lids on sterno cans to extinguish the fire. Let sterno cans sit until completely cooled before packing up.

JUNE

Theme 1: Beach Party

Decorations: Cover the tables with large colorful beach towels. Use beach balls, flip flops, Frisbees, sand box toys as centerpieces. Play a CD of Beach Boys music on continuous play, or a Sounds of Nature Ocean Waves CD.

Table Games and Diversions: Guessing Jars. Set a large jar filled with items (jelly beans, peanut M&Ms, paperclips, teabags, etc.) on each table and let guests turn in one guess each for the jar on their table. The one closest to the right number wins the jar.

Luncheon:

Theme 2: Father’s Day

Decorations: Cover the tables in brown paper. Use tackle boxes, fishing lures, and nets for centerpieces. Hang a sign on the door that says, “Gone Fishing.”

Have several tall-tale fishing stories printed out on paper that you can lay around. Have the guys bring pictures of their big catches that you can post on a board.

Table Games and Diversions: Set out a half dozen of those electronic fishing games, that look like the handle of a fishing pole with a rod and reel, that you cast and then watch the video screen to see if you caught anything. Ask around… you probably have a few people on staff that have one and will donate it to the lounge for a month.

Luncheon: Fish and Chips. Bake up several batches of battered fish and fat French fries. Offer lemon wedges, tartar sauce, and malt vinegar as condiments. Brew up some fresh sun tea and lemonade. And indoor smores for dessert.

JULY

Theme 1: Red/White/Blue

Decorations: Anything flag-like or military, or founding fathers. Play a patriotic music CD.

Table Games and Diversions: Have a frog-jumping contest using plastic frogs. Have a picnic with various yard games set up (sack races, three-legged races, hula hoop contest, croquet, Frisbee, volleyball).

Luncheon: Do a Salad Bar, canned soda pop (in coolers), and serve popsicles for dessert.

AUGUST

Theme 1: Dog days of Summer

Decorations: anything dog related, stuffed animal dogs, collars, dog food bowls, leashes, obedience school ads, rolled up newspapers, fire hydrants, etc.

Table Games and Diversions: Dog trivia : funny dog names, famous dogs and dogs of movies stars, dog tricks. How many words can you make from the word Dashhund, or German Shepherd, or Wiemeriner, or Catahoula, etc.

Luncheon: Hot Dog Bar (with all the trimmings/toppings)

Bible Study, Come for Supper, Easter Traditions & Recipes, Feast on This, Holidays, Hospitality, Testimonies & Personal Stories

FIRSTFRUITS

May 15, 2014May 31, 2020 mrshlovesjesus

Are you ready to accompany me on another captivating adventure into the Biblical Feasts of Israel? Are you as addicted to this series of adventures as I am? If you missed our first excursion into the Biblical holidays of the Hebrews, please get your passport up to date by clicking on the link under recent posts (or here: The Lord Our Passover) to catch up, and then be sure to come back here for FIRSTFRUITS, the second stop on our tour.

“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16

The Firstfruits observance rose out of the sawdust of the construction of the very first ever “church” (the tabernacle) and its priesthood. The Hebrew people, wandering in the desert, on their way to the Promised Land, were instructed to give their first best of their first spring crops to God and in return God would bless their spring harvests. He would also use these offerings and tithes to fund the operation and ministries of His house on earth.

“But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses…to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.” There you shall take your offerings, your sacrifices, and your tithes. “And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.” (Deuteronomy 12:5-7)

God established that His people (the Hebrews) seek His dwelling place (the tabernacle), and go there, packing their tithes and offerings, partaking of the communion (which had been established between Melchizedek king of Salem and Abraham their ancestor in Genesis 14:18-20), and there rejoice before the Lord.

“And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide.
And you shall go to the priest in those days…then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God. And you shall say…I remember what you delivered me from ‘and now behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which you, O Lord, have given me.’
Then you shall set it before the Lord your God and worship before the Lord your God. So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the Lord your God has given to you and your house, you and the Levite and the stranger who is among you.
When you have finished laying aside all the tithe of your increase…and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your gates and be filled…then you shall say, ‘I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people…’”
(Deuteronomy 26:1-15)

According to Leviticus 23:9-12, the priest would wave a sheaf of green barley from each offering of the new harvest before the LORD (north, south, east, and west); a male lamb was then sacrificed as a burnt offering to the LORD; there was also a grain offering of unleavened bread made with oil, and a drink offering of wine.

Green barley

I took this photo of a crop of wheat growing in a field near my house. The farmers all around me planted winter wheat in their fields last year. When spring came, with perfect warm and dry conditions, most of them were counting their chickens, as the saying goes, hoping to cash in on the terrible, relentless drought we were suffering with exactly the right low maintenance/minimum water required crop. I enjoyed watching as the beautiful fields of green slowly began turning amber gold, and the warm Texas sun dutifully accomplished its work.

One late afternoon weeks before the harvest those still green grains got bent over and blown down by a tornado and wind squalls. The gusts mischievously pounded the crops with down drafts in the night while we were all sleeping, and in the morning when we rose the fields looked as if aliens had crafted crop circles in the night, or as if herds of elephants had bedded down in the middle of them. Every field was sculpted with strange mazes and patterns of wheat pinned to the ground in random fashion. The farmers kept their optimism that their crops were still harvestable.

Just when the wheat was almost perfectly aged and ripe for harvest, south Texas got smashed with a month of flooding rains. Inches and inches of rain. Rain that carried houses away, washed bridges away, washed all our firewood and even our picnic table away, and filled up all the lakes and rivers to overflowing. The wheat fields sat in standing bogs. After a few weeks the amber waves, well, what remained of them, began turning a grayish tan. Even so, the farmers held out hope that the sun would come out, dry everything out, and there would still be something enough to salvage.

The sun did eventually come out. The wheat did eventually dry out. When the wheat was finally dehydrated enough for harvest the farmers turned the key on their gargantuan tractors, and lowered their combine blades down to the ground to rake up their pitiful, drowned, and wind damaged wheat. The blades dragged across rocks and hard clumps of dirt, in an attempt to reap every kernel possible. The damage to their equipment ended up exceeding the small pittance they netted from those fields. There was little to no profits that year, only tax write-offs and equipment repairs.

So when I read this scripture about green barley I realized that there is still a lot of faith to be had between green FIRSTFRUITS and that actual golden harvest, at least in south Texas.

“Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the firsfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” Proverbs 3:9-10.

“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. And try me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sake, so that he will not destroy the fruit…” Malachi 3:10-11.

“Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20

The Firstfruits Resurrection

Now, here again is a mystery which gambols and pirouettes on the chiastic ring structure of scripture – the focal point of all the mysteries, Jesus! Let’s begin with the amazing coincidence that Jesus, our male Lamb, sacrificed, arose from the grave on the very day of Firstfruits – three days after Passover/Unleavened Bread.

“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order; Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

So, not only did Jesus rise again, but as He did, He waved a “firstfruits” offering to His Father in heaven, as our High Priest, passing through the rent curtain of the Holy of Holies on earth and entering the Holy of Holies in heaven.

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Matthew 27:50-53

We learned in the Passover study that Jesus’ body is the unleavened bread, pierced, striped, and broken for us. His shed blood is the wine of the new covenant. When we partake of the communion, we remember His sacrifice until that day when He shall eat and drink it anew with us at the wedding feast of the Lamb, in His kingdom.

“We have a High Priest, (in the order of Melchizedek Gen. 14:18 ) who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” Hebrews 8:1,2,5.

Jesus is the first-begotten of the Father (Heb. 1:6); the Firstborn of Creation (Col. 1:15-16); the first-begotten of the dead (Rev. 1:5) and is the Firstfruits of those who are to be resurrected (1 Cor. 15:20-23). And just as He is our Firstfruits, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18).

There are 50 days between the waving of the green barley and the next “firstfruits offering, the waving of the two loaves of wheat bread. Those fifty days are called “the counting of the Omer.” Each day of the Omer a sheaf of grain is waved by the priest before God.

“So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Our High Priest, Jesus, spent the first 40 of the counting of the omer showing Himself to His disciples and others, by many infallible proofs. He spent the time preparing His disciples, telling them He would be gone for a while, and though they grieved over it, it was to their advantage that He go, for unless He went He could not send the Holy Spirit back for them. He instructed them that after He was gone to go and take their place in the city and wait until they were given the seal of promise. Then He went to the Mount of Olives where He bid farewell to all and a cloud hid Him away. His beloved disciples then went and waited, as instructed, as we also must, for the promise of their redemption.

“…but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:23)

“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

The green barley was the waving of the firstfruits – and corresponds to the resurrection of the O.T. Saints. The Lord descended into Paradise after His death on the cross to preach the gospel to them, and sprinkle His blood on the mercy seat for them, and they were resurrected.

The two loaves that are waved at Shavuot/Pentecost represent Jew and Gentile, who are commissioned by Jesus to take the gospel (plant and water seeds, in the fields which are white for harvest) to all the word. Jesus waved them to the north, south, east, and west. It has taken 2000 years, but the gospel had to be preached in all the world as a prerequisite for Jesus to return for His bride. When our job is complete, He will rapture the living and resurrect the dead of His church (N.T. Saints).

“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

Our Lord has gone to make a place for us! His promise that He will return for us is the seal of the Holy Spirit, which came at Shavuot/Pentecost, at the firstfruits of the wheat. We accept His bridal contract when we ask Jesus to live in our hearts and take His cup (communion). The dowry He paid was His blood on the cross. The Bridal gift that He left is the gift of the Holy Spirit who can only come to live in us when we are made clean by His blood sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies in heaven.

Acts 2 was the “early rains” upon the fields. There will also be “latter rains” poured out, Joel 2:28-29 just before the Lord comes for His church. The wise virgins had their lamps full of this, but the foolish did not. See the blog post about the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (in the list of recent posts on the right side of this page).

* * *

There is a famous credit card commercial on TV that asks, “What’s in your wallet?” In the same vein I ask,

“What’s in your BASKET?”

This is the question on my heart now every time I walk down the isles of the big box stores at Easter, strolling among the purple baskets, green baskets, yellow baskets, pink baskets, and blue baskets…baskets filled with candy and toys…baskets for little girls and little boys…baskets filled with grass and eggs. Longaberger baskets, Peterboro baskets, and great big Texas baskets filled and decorated with bread, or flowers, or fruit, used as centerpieces on our dining room tables. What’s in your basket? What do you have to present to the Lord?

With our High Priest now seated in His heavenly sanctuary, what firstfruits will we present to Him in our baskets?

There is one thing I know, we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out when we die (1 Timothy 6:7). Not our riches. Not our fame. Not our social calendar. Not our church attendance. The only things to follow us to heaven are the souls of people whom we have invited to the great banquet, AND our other good deeds, which were done in obedience, and in secret, without fanfare, if they survive the fire (done out of love) – 1 Corinthians 3:14-15.

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

“And he who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together” John 4:36.

I wonder, could the firstfruits in our baskets be the PEOPLE whom we’ve brought to the house of God (church), shared our faith with, helped in times of need, and fed and fellowshipped with around our tables?

Are my firstfruits fireproof?

Why was Cain’s offering not accepted (Genesis 4:3-5)? I believe there is a big hint in the wording of the scriptures that tells us he gave an offering, but it was not of his “first” fruits. Abel’s offering, on the other hand, was of the “first” born of his flocks.

Also…

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

And perhaps the biggest of all, if we do the good we know to do out of obligation rather than love, we may as well not done anything at all (1 Corinthians 13:3). Love suffers long, is kind, does not envy, doesn’t parade itself, and if not puffed up. It doesn’t behave rudely, seek it own, or easily provoked. It thinks no evil. It doesn’t rejoice in other people’s misery, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and never fails.

Something the Holy Spirit put in my heart to consider also is Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled with your brother, then come and offer your gift.”

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them” Revelation 14:13.

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I’m excited for our next adventure in the feasts (the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost). You’ll find it under the title: Happy Firey Tongues Day! Come take your place at my Lord’s table, and let us sup together these blessed feasts that the Lord has laid out for us in His word. Let us be rich and well fed on the Word that we may have hope for our future!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Bible Study, Come for Supper, Easter Traditions & Recipes, Feast on This, Holidays, Hospitality

The Lord Our Passover

April 16, 2014October 18, 2018 mrshlovesjesus

The word of God is such a trip! Passover was the first Jewish feast that opened the wardrobe door for me into a fascinating “kingdom of Narnia” waiting on the other side. The feasts of the Hebrews are sooooo darn …well, enrapturing! They paint a portrait of such amazing detail about our Savior, in a parable sort of way, that’s hidden in plain sight. The feasts are a living picture of God’s beautiful, hospitable plan for His people (Jew and Christian) – each with a humble beginning, a kind of boring ritual middle part, and then an <angel chorus> let there be light – gleaming fulfilment in God’s kingdom. Each is a dim reflection, a copy and shadow of things to come, given to us by a God who, like those feasts, was and is and is to come. We Christians are grafted in with our Jewish brothers and sisters, and they with us, as two parts of a whole. We come together at this Passover feast for a full and rich understanding of our Creator and His amazing plan of salvation.

Christian, come celebrate Jesus the Christ this Easter in a way you never imagined. And Jewish person, come dine at the table of the Lord, the Last Supper, and drink the cup, and break the bread, and comprehend the beautiful covenant He has made with us both.

“I [Jesus] will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29

We never know what an act of hospitality will mean in the grand scheme of things. All we know is that God expects us to do it. He has set Himself up as our example and He promises we will be blessed if we show hospitality out of love for Him. Moses, who was on the run from the Egyptians for killing one of the task masters over his cruel treatment of a Hebrew slave (which were the people of Moses), encountered the incredible hospitality of Reuel (Jethro), a kenite shepherd and the priest of Midian. And because of Jethro’s generosity to open his home, Moses was kept safe from his enemies, and was free to hear from and commune with God, and in the process, found his purpose and calling in life. (Exodus 2)

God said to Moses from the burning bush: “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)

Moses went to Pharaoh and beseeched him to “Let my people go!” But Pharaoh would not, not until God sent plagues, and a final plague that would take the life of every first born male in the land.

To be spared this plague, the people of God were instructed to take a lamb from their herds, a year old male without flaw or defect, on the 10th day of the month Nisan and keep it until the 14th day Nisan. This gave them time to inspect the lamb to make sure he had no flaws, and it also gave them time to get to know their lamb and become personally attached so that he would not be just a lamb, but their lamb.

The morning before the Passover, the Jewish people were instructed not to use leaven (yeast) in the bread they made that night, perhaps because leavened dough takes time to rise and the people would not have time for that. The Hebrews were also instructed to slaughter their lamb at twilight, and to use the blood from that lamb to paint the door frames of their homes. The innocent little lamb became their substitute for the death sentence (final plague) to “pass over” them. They were to roast their lamb over fire, eat it all that night, and burn up all the leftovers. The meal also included bitter herbs, which God intended to be used by the children of all future generations to ask the questions that would enable the Passover story to be told and retold and practiced from generation to generation, until the feast would be fulfilled by God. (God’s great plan has been to release us all who are slaves of sin, and brings us all into His rich kingdom, flowing with milk and honey).

The spirit of death indeed passed over God’s people that night, but not the Egyptians, and in his grief Pharaoh finally let God’s people go.

Did you know … that Passover has been observed by the Jews continuously for the last 3,500 years? It is the oldest observed feast in existence.

This is what a modern Jewish Seder looks like. It tells a story going backwards and forwards that I am blessed to share with you.

JEWISH SEDER TRADITIONS

Because leaven is used as a metaphor for sin in the scriptures, Jewish homes are thoroughly scrubbed (kind of like a spring cleaning), to rid them of every single tiny particle of leaven that might be hiding in the cracks and crevices, the bottoms of pants pockets, or lingering in bowls, pans, or on the kitchen utensils before Passover.

We can all observe this practice symbolically by taking to heart the words of the psalmist, king David:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Passover begins at twilight and often lasts until midnight or longer. The meal begins with the lighting of the candles on the table, and the meal blessing is given by the woman of the house:

We, who have metaphorically been sitting in darkness of God’s great plan can imagine a candle being lit in our hearts tonight as we study the Jewish Seder and heed the words of Isaiah 9:2:

“The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16)

As the woman of the house, I offer a prayer that God will speak to your heart and bless the words that I’ve placed here as food for your soul.

In Hebrew tradition, the youngest person is to sit to the right side of the leader at the table, and to his left is the guest of honor.

AT THE LAST SUPPER: It is traditionally believed that John, the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the younger son of Zebedee, one of the pair that Jesus called Boanerges, or “Sons of Thunder” was the youngest disciple. Perhaps this is what triggered the discussion (arguement) between James and John and the other disciples, who would sit on His right and left in the kingdom of heaven (Mark 10:35-45 and Matthew 20:20-28). If John would get to sit at Jesus’ right, of course their mother wished that her other son James would get to sit on His left. And of course this caused a hue and cry with the other disciples (Luke 22:24). Jesus lovingly rebuked them (and remained discreet about the seating arrangements of His kingdom), except to say…

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28)

“I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Luke 22:29-30)

THE FIRST OF FOUR CUPS OF WINE (Exodus 6:6-7): The meal begins with a cup of wine – the first cup… “I will bring you out,” says the Lord. The father pours the first cup and asks everyone to stand, and then he raises it to heaven and prays the prayer of sanctification (or Kiddush).

THE WASHING: One of the family members brings water and towels to everyone, that they may all be cleansed to handle the food.

Bodily cleansing vs spiritual cleansing: You’ve heard it said that cleanliness is next to godliness. Clean hands prevent the spread of disease, yes, but the Pharisees of Jesus day had become very legalistic about “the washing.” Jesus rebuked them in Mark 7 after His disciples were caught eating bread with unwashed hands. Jesus distinguished rituals and doctrine from true faith by saying, “Whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it enters his stomach and not his heart…what comes out of a man…evil things overflowing from his heart, those defile a man” (Mark 7:18-23). In other words, a pure heart is better than clean hands. That is the goal of our Savior – to give us a clean heart.

THE GREEN VEGETABLE: A green vegetable is dipped into salt water and eaten. It symbolizes that Passover happens in the spring, and the salt water represents the tears of the pain and suffering of slavery.

God’s word says ( in Genesis 8:21; Proverbs 22:15; Psalm 51:5 and Ephesians 2:1-3) that we are born with a sin nature. I wonder, does that grieve us? Because of our natural bent to sin we prove that we are slaves of sin. It is a commonly preached doctrin that humanity was made a slave of sin in the garden of Eden. For many of us it’s a tearful struggle to truly overcome the powerful temptations that constantly barage us – and to have the strength to stand up against Satan’s flaming arrows that are incessantly fired at us. God sees our tears.

THE MATZAH BROKEN: There are 3 pieces of Matzah (unleavened bread) in a linen bag on the table. In a traditional Seder the head of the house removes the center piece (afikomen), breaks it in half, puts half back and wraps the other half of the broken piece in a napkin and hides it somewhere in the house.

Afikomen is a Greek word (the only Greek word in the entire Passover) and simply means – I came. Isn’t that interesting? It was not part of the observance in Jesus’ day. It was added to the Seder by the Rabbis later; and it represents the lamb, and tradition holds that it must be eaten.

AT THE LAST SUPPER: Jesus broke bread with his disciples and said it was His body that was broken for us. Matzah is unleavened (leaven represents sin) cracker-type bread. It is pierced with a fork and has stripes on both sides from the grill that it is cooked on. Scripture tells us (in Isaiah 53:5) “He [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

FOUR QUESTIONS: In Exodus 12:26 the children are to ask what is meant by this service. And so the youngest at the table (and often reclining on the leader) gets to ask the traditional questions that will tell the Exodus story: Why is this night different from all other nights?

On all other nights, we eat either leavened or unleavened bread; why on this night do we eat only unleavened bread?
On all other nights, we eat all kinds of herbs, but why on this night do we eat only bitter herbs?
On all other nights, we do not dip even once, but why on this night do we dip twice?
On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but why on this night do we eat reclining?

AT THE LAST SUPPER: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of the His disciples, whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). This seems to confirm that John was the youngest, and sitting to the right of Jesus at the Last Supper.

THE SECOND CUP…I will rescue you from their bondage. A second cup of wine is poured and the questions are answered with a long and detailed story of the history of Israel, from Abraham’s calling out of Ur all the way through to Moses and the 10 Commandments.

Each plague is described and a little wine is poured out for each.

The Passover Plate is part of the telling of this story. Before the second cup is consumed Psalm 113-118 (which is the Hallel – a word that means praise) is spoken.

It is believed that the Levites chanted this Hallel while the Passover lambs were being sacrificed.

THE MATZAH DIPPED: After a second “ceremonial” hand washing, the top Matzah and what is left of the middle afikomen are broken up and given to each person at the table. Each person dips the bread into the horseradish and haroset (a sweet apple concoction) and then eats it. It symbolizes the sweetness of God’s redemption from the bitterness of slavery. There should be enough horseradish on the bread to cause the person eating to shed tears.

AT THE LAST SUPPER: “[Jesus] rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded” (John 13:4-5). Jesus is the sweetness and the one who washes us. “And Judas, who had dipped with Jesus, went off to his task, as a slave of sin.”

THE MEAL: At this point the lamb is served, with bitter herbs and Matzah. Modern meals include fish, matzah ball soup, glazed chicken, stuffing, potato kugel, honeyed carrots, stewed fruit, and sponge cake. (This is the menu I fervently desire to serve my guests for Easter Dinner at least one Easter in our lives).

AT THE LAST SUPPER: “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:15-16)

This just melts my heart, that it was Jesus’ fervent desire to eat this one last meal on earth with His closest friends. Perhaps it was the sweetness that would get Him through the bitterness of the Cross. The taste of which would linger on His tongue as He was bruised for our iniquity. It should linger in our minds until that day when we can savor it WITH HIM, in His kingdom.

It simply astounds me how Jesus was the fulfillment of so much history, but how he is the pivoting point in the chiastic structure of scripture that also shows us our future. These feasts are a picture of what has been, and what is coming, so clearly illustrated in this verse. Jesus celebrated with His friends a meal that had been part of all their lives for all their lives, and part of their culture for as long as people had lived on the earth. And He tells us that it has yet to be ultimately fulfilled in heaven. This very feast, this very meal. Oh my … just very cool!

THE MATZAH FOUND: After supper the kids are excused to go look for the hidden piece of afikomen. Like an Easter Egg Hunt in a way. Whoever finds it is rewarded, and the piece is broken up and shared by all.

THE LAST SUPPER: “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26) “which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (Luke 22:19)

This is the communion bread, the bread of the covenant, and the Holy Communion that He instituted with us His church, that we all practice to this day! And may we continue to practice this ritual, as our Hebrew brothers and sisters practice Passover/unleavened bread, until the day we are seated at His table eating it with HIM! 🍴🍪🍷

THE THIRD CUP…the cup of redemption, is poured and sipped, and one of the children goes to the front door to see if Elijah the prophet is there to welcome him in (Mal.4:5).

AT THE LAST SUPPER: Jesus presented “the cup after supper” (Luke 22:20). “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. This is the cup that Jesus used to institute the Holy Communion, which He asked that we keep in remembrance of Him.

In Matthew 17:10 the disciples asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say Elijah must come first?” Jesus said that Elijah has come (He was referring to John the Baptist – Mal.4:5-6; Luke 1:17), and is coming to restore all things. How curious that Elijah and Moses appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration, since the first Passover came through Moses and during Passover feast the Jews look for Elijah. The name Elijah means Jehovah is God.

THE FOURTH CUP…I will take you as My people. The cup of acceptance or praise is poured and drank.

AT THE LAST SUPPER: Jesus did not sip of this cup. “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22:17) “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

CLOSING HYMN: The Seder ends with the singing of the last part of the Hallel (Psalm 115-118).

THE LAST SUPPER: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Matthew 26:30)

*Much of the information for the Jewish Seder Traditions came from: The Feasts of the Lord, God’s Prophetic Calendar from Calvary to the Kingdom, By Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal

WOW! Is it a coincidence that Jesus and his disciples sang, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone?” Psalm 118:22

Remember the leaven that is purged from all Jewish homes before Passover? Paul, a former Jewish priest said, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) which connects directly to the ancient Passover practice of removing all leaven from Jewish homes.

Is it a coincidence that Jesus was perfect, without sin, and that he was crucified on a cross at the exact time as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered and prepared?

Is it a coincidence that fathers break and hide the middle piece of unleavened bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in the exact timeframe when Jesus was taken from the cross and buried in a tomb?

John the Baptist (the New Testament version of Elijah) called Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29-30).

John, the apostle, who reclined on Jesus at the Last Supper definitely believed Jesus to be the Passover Lamb, referring to him as such 27 times in the book of Revelation.

And Simon (Cephas), whom Jesus renamed Peter, for on the rock (the New Testiment translation of Petra – where the name Peter comes from) He would build His church, said “we were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from aimless conduct received by tradition from our fathers, but the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

And Philip hearing the Ethiopian reading Isaiah the prophet, asked if he knew what he was reading when he read “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before it shearer is silent…” and beginning at this scripture, Philip preached Jesus to him.”

Jesus, it says in Hebrews 9:28, was offered once to bear the sins of many. He was without spot or blemish (Hebrews 9:14).

Jesus our Passover (Rev. 5:9), made atonement for our sins at His death, and as our High Priest forever went and sprinkled that blood on the mercy seat in heaven (Lev. 16:3, 14; Rom. 5:9,10).

When Jesus ascended to heaven forty days after Passover (see my Bible study blog post for Firstfruits), He sent the Holy Spirit back for us, as promised, (see my Bible study blog post for Pentecost) to live in us when we accept Him as Savior and make Him OUR Lamb, as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13-14; 1 Pet.1:3-5; Rev. 5:6).

The Holy Spirit invisibly seals us (marks us) on the day we believe. God knows whose are His (2 Tim. 2:19), because we have His Spirit inside of us to mark us.

Marks in Scripture:

“Do not come near anyone who has the mark” (Eze. 9:6). In Genesis 4:15 God placed a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him for what he did to his brother. The mark protected Cain, just like the Passover blood protected the Israelites.

And just as God saved his people Israel from the plague of death in Egypt, Ezekiel tells us of a man dressed in linen with a writer’s horn at his side (Eze. 9:2,11) who will “Go through the midst of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it” This seal will protect them from the one whose job it is to destroy everything wicked.

This part of Ezekiel (9:3) sounds very much like what Revelation tells of a warrior/angel who places a seal on the servants of God, of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (Could this be an application of the blood atonement reserved for God’s chosen people, His elect?). This seal is marked on their foreheads (Rev. 7:1-8; 14:1) (akin perhaps to the phylacteries of the original priests (Exodus 28:38; Exodus 13:16; Deut. 6:8).

These elect are the firstfruits to God (Revelation 14:4).

After that remnant of Israel are sealed/marked, then Revelation says we are all gathered together, of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, and we shall all worship at the throne of God with palm branches in our hands (Rev. 7:9-12 Palm Sunday in heaven, or likely the Palms we shall bring for our Sukkah’s – which you can read about in my Feast of Booths blog post); for death shall have no dominion over us (John 6:54, 57, 58; Rom. 6:9-11).

Now this one should give you goosebumps, if you don’t already have them … a footnote in my Bible (New King James Version Spirit Filled Life Bible, Thomas Nelson Publisher) for Ezekiel 9:4 says, “the Hebrew word for “mark” is taw, the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which in the ancient script looked like an “X” or a cross.” A CROSS, really? Is that amazing? Rev. 22:13 says that Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. What the disciples thought was the end of their Messiah, was just the beginning of a new testament, with an amazing end. What were Jesus’s last words as He gave up His last breath on that cross? “It is finished!” Therefore, He who began a good work in us will see it on to completion (Romans 9:28 Philippians 1:6).

Of course Satan, ever attempting to counterfeit God, will try to force his mark on people (Rev. 13:16). He masquerades as an angel of light. Beware and be watchful. His mark will be a requisite for anything to be bought or sold. Oh how I desire to either be with Jesus by then, or be completely self-sufficient and off the grid – and content with such things as I have, and part of a body of believers who takes care of each other (Acts 4:32). For those will be terrible times.

In Revelation 22:4 it says that we who have the Spirit shall all see God’s face, and the Lamb, and His name shall be on our foreheads. Amen. Christ, our Passover and the I AM, is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb.12:2).

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6

Bible Study, Come for Supper, Devotional, Entertaining, Feast on This, Hospitality, Testimonies & Personal Stories

Welcome…

June 27, 2013April 15, 2020 mrshlovesjesus

Welcome…

…to my new adventure in writing… (I’m just horsin’ around, really).

Sooooooo…if you’ve stumbled upon this post today by some divine fortuity, and lavished even one precious minute of your life (that you’ll never get back) upon reading my stuff, I hope and pray you leave with something eternally useful in your heart.

GIFT OF HOSPITALITY – HO HUM

The Lord has been patiently prodding this stubborn old mule/me for years to fan into flame the gift – if you want to call it that. But my obedience to obey ebbs and flows as the ocean tides. One season will bring a warm current of inspiration, and as it runs through will have me twirling and tossing about in swirling eddies of eagerness. I’m coaxed from my inhibitions, like a feral cat out from under a rickety porch, to crack open my front door, peek with squinted eyes outside to see who might be there, and even muster the courage to inv… to inv… to invite you inside. Encouraged by your warm response I might feel eager to throw an even bigger shindig next time.

But just as surely as the autumn leaves fall off the trees, a cool wind will blow in my heart (life gets busy, or sad, or new interests vie for my attention; a dish will go awry, friends will cancel last-minute, or the heartwarming comedy I so carefully constructed somehow ends in tragedy – ugh, drama). The disappointment loosens my grasp on that high place where I had climbed to. I lower my sails, dump my plans overboard, pull up the anchor (or actually it’s the welcome mat), switch off the porch light, turn the deadbolt on my decorative, etched glass door…and retreat into the depths of my quiet abode with just my loved ones and my thoughts.

The funny thing about a comfort zone however, is that it is only serene and nice for a while, and then it becomes dreary, and boring, and lifeless. Ho-hum! In my lackluster funk I make up my mind that I am sick to death of all the same old dishes, and begin to only half-heartedly piddle in the kitchen. All my meals end up as “blackened” (something) – the smoke alarm becomes our new dinner bell. The answer to what’s for dinner is met with, “Are you talking to me?” in my Jersey Mike’s Godfather voice …or “TAKE OUT!” I give up wanting to cook even more, because I have no (nix, nada) desire to clean up the mess afterward. Ho-Ho-Ho-humbug!

The longer this season lasts, the more lowly I feel until desperate for friendship I’ll dust off my Bible and invite Jesus for coffee. God bless Him, He is always faithful to bring a sermon, steer me to a new recipe, drag me to some new person, or march me by a holiday, and before I know it His warm El Niño will drift back into my heart again. His latter rains will fall on my parched and sun-baked soul, and what-do-you-know I’m floating in the great flood plain again.

God’s word, the company of Jesus, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit never fail to re-persuade me that LIFE IS ALL ABOUT THE TABLE – and our calling to it is irresistible.

This blog is my homely confession but handsome voyage. Could it also be yours?

COFFEE WITH DAD

Many years ago, one summer Sunday morning, I was a young mom with young children, and a brand new Christian. Husband was gone to work and I was ready to leave for church, but my car wouldn’t start. I called my dad to ask him what could be the matter with it, hoping it might be something simple that I could fix, and then be on my way. He said he’d be right over, and the generous, helpful man that he predictably was, in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, was there. We popped the hood and he worked his magic, as dads always do. He made the old jalopy live again. But by this time it was a half hour past the start of church and I decided I didn’t want to walk in late. So I made a pot of coffee, put the kids in their play clothes, and Dad and I sat for a visit.

My dad and I have had our share of “philosophical” conversations over the years, and a few about religion. I’ve never seen my dad read the Good Book, or grace the pews of God’s house, except for the time when he and Mom came to my baptism, but that isn’t to say he is devoid of religion. I may never have sought to be baptized (saved) if not for my dad, who made it clear he hoped his girls would all do that for him some day. His mother (my grandmother) was certainly a Spirit-filled, God-fearing woman as well, and had to have had at least as much influence on him as she did on me – his daughter.

This particular day, as the flowers prayed and the birds sang, Dad and I had church at my table. We sipped our brew and explored the back roads of many religious topics until our little heart-to-heart finally found a bench to rest on. Out of a quiet moment he asked me if I thought Jesus was the sort of man who would sit down and have a cup of coffee with you. Being a very new Christian at the time I didn’t know very much of my Bible, but the Holy Spirit dropped a scripture in my thoughts just then, and with assurance I spoke, “Oh yes, I think Jesus is exactly that kind of man. It says in Revelation, ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me’” (Revelation 3:20).

I think both our hearts burned within us just then. Dad sat, quietly, thinking, and then he gathered up his hat, sipped the last drop from his cup, and said, as he went to the door, “There have been a few times in my life when I felt close to God, but this might be the closest.” And with that he placed his cap and was on his way.

I cherish this and all the good memories, for Dad is now a prisoner in the dark world of dementia, a mere whisper of the man he once was. He is fragile, and old, and many miles away from me now. As I write this he’s in a nursing home recuperating from a fall in which he broke his hip. I called Mom this last Veteran’s Day and asked her to pass on my “Happy Veteran’s Day” wishes to Dad. I was surprised when she said, “You can tell him yourself, he has been very lucid today. In fact he just asked about you.” “He did?” I replied in astonishment. “Yes, he said, where’s my Colleen? I seem to have lost track of her.” It reduced me to tears instantly! …And again now as I write about it.

Dad didn’t talk long, but we got to hear each other’s voices, and for a brief moment God filled my heart another time with affection for him, on this meandering, uncertain road of life we journey. I hope God used our chat that summer day. I hope my dad trusted Jesus in his heart and found his peace with God. Jesus certainly used my dad to speak to me that day too. For it was after that I began to realize, and piece together in my heart, a portrait of our Father’s kingdom, and His ministry at the supper table.

If you read His word and follow the bread crumb trail, the sum of the Bible points us to a meal with Jesus. The first scraps to fall from the Master’s table are in Genesis, where God gave Adam and Eve a garden for their table and communed with them there (Genesis 2:8-9; 3:8). It follows them out of the garden, leads into an ark (Genesis 7:1, 16), and back off again (Genesis 8:20). “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs…behold I establish my covenant with you and with your descendents after you” (Genesis 9:3, 9). The bread crumbs lead Abraham to the land of promise (Genesis 12:7, 8) and into a tent by some terebinth trees (Genesis 13:18) where he had a meal with God. “Then Melchizedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.” (Genesis 14:18) He blessed Abraham, and Abraham gave him a tithe. And God made a covenant (a name change and circumcision was established) with Abraham there (Genesis 15).

The Lord and two others visited Abraham’s tent later and received Abraham’s hospitality, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by…” (Genesis 18:3-5). And when Abraham sought a wife for his son Isaac, his servant encountered the plentiful hospitality of Laban, Rebekah’s brother (Genesis 24:31-33, 54-55). And thus God taught all of us, His children, about hospitality.

God staked his tent in the Wilderness with us here on earth, broke bread (or manna) and passed the offering plate through Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy; teaching us to share the bounty of our crops and herds (our tithes and offerings) to help the needy (Levite, stranger, fatherless, widow). From one great deliverance (Passover) to the next (Purim) God teaches His people to celebrate with feasts. Hot dishes have been passed from one judge’s table to another, one king’s table to another, and one prophet’s table to another, until they found their place at the Last Supper – a rehearsal of Passover but also a glimpse of the future Wedding Feast of the Lamb. For it was at this supper that Jesus instituted the Holy Communion and said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). He told of this Heavenly Feast in Matthew 22 and Revelation 19:9, giving us glimpses of heaven, and something to look forward to.

Jesus, in his earthly ministry, said to the wee little man, Zacchaeus, “Come down from there, for I’m coming to your house,” And to the church of the Laodiceans in Revelation He announced, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). God has been our host and asks to be our guest. He teaches us to be both good hosts and good guests. His Spirit flows into and then out of each of us. I have found God’s WORD to be a magnificent tapestry of the art of breaking bread. He is the Father of it and His word begs us to learn to practice with Him, and to look forward to a fulfillment in heaven. This is the spirit and inspiration behind this blog, although it is comical, almost scandalous that God would have me (honestly me?) put together a blog about hospitality.

Surely He jests.

EATING & DRINKING – GOD’S DESIGN?

My sister is a Baptist and you know what they say about Baptists don’t you? Well, they love to eat! Her church has about as many food fellowships as worship services. I’ve been included to participate in many of them, and although some may call it excess, I think they are wise indeed. “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children” (Matthew 11:19). Every feast established by God in scripture is a shadow of things to come – a rehearsal of a future event. “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ” Colossians 2:17.

When tax collectors and sinners drew near to Jesus, to hear Him, the Pharisees and scribes of that day also complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them’ (Luke 15). So Jesus spoke parables to them. He told one story of the prodigal son (the wayward son who squandered half the family wealth – as we do also when we spend God’s gifting on ourselves and our own pleasures). When he returned home (as we do when we accept Christ as Savior), his father (like our Father in heaven) ran to him (even though his sins were great) when he saw him returning home and coming down the road. With tears in his eyes he hugged his neck, kissed him, and blessed God that he had returned. The son asked forgiveness, but the father never mentioned his transgressions. Instead, he called for the best robe, a ring, and sandals for his feet. And after that, he threw a grand feast with music and dancing, because his son had been lost and now he was found. I believe that is the picture God wants us to see of heaven. It’s exactly what I believe is going to happen. That is how thrilled I believe our Lord will be to see us and welcome us to heaven, and to His table.

THE SUPPER TABLE – A COPY & SHADOW

It is a shame to admit what we in this country have done to the supper table (shoved it off in a special room that nobody goes into, made a shrine of it, or piled it high with unfolded laundry and school books – wait, am I the only one?). God didn’t intend meals to be in front of the TV (not that there’s anything wrong with that on occasion), and surely He intended for meals to not be a necessary evil, but a blessing. God made us to need food. He gave us fruits and vegetables, grains, fishes and meat to be received with thanksgiving for nourishment. But beyond that, He gave us herbs and spices and tongues and taste buds to ENJOY the flavors. Why would He do that? Surely He knew some of us would have no self-control, or that we’d eat all the wrong things and for all the wrong reasons, and make ourselves sick, or develop allergies, or make endless diets to fix endless problems? Stop the merry-go-round for a minute and think…maybe we wouldn’t have all those issues if we went back to eating our meals with gratitude, at the table, with our Unseen Guest.

“And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you” Deuteronomy 12:7

Maybe if mealtime was a retreat and destination rather than a filling station beside the busy highway of life we wouldn’t have to count calories, check our plate size, or worry about the cholesterol count – the Lord would bless that food to our bodies for strength and health. And that satisfying meal would sustain us to the next one. Maybe if we took the time to savor truly delicious food (coupled with rich conversation) we wouldn’t have such an addiction to garbage food (and gossip)? Perhaps if we made the Lord the center of the experience we’d have His blessing upon it, and all the diets and obesity would go obsolete. I don’t know…just sayin’.

Here’s an idea. Would you be willing to give it a try with me? Shall we make the effort to make at least one dinner a month (for now) into a “special occasion?” Shall we gather around the table and eat before the Lord? This doesn’t have to be a huge production; it just has to include reverence and gratitude, and our Master – who has provided it. We don’t have to be limited by my scanty recipe suggestions, or be wrangled into cheffy cuisine – but sometimes a new cookbook inspires my enthusiasm. And if we’re too nervous to cook, there’s always take-out. The main thing is that God, family, and friends are gathered around, that there is love, and a table is at the center of it – and that we learn what God’s heartbeat is about eating with others, with friends and strangers, with family and with Him. For if we learn it, I know (I just know it) we will be blessed in it. We’ll see the big picture.

Are you in this with me? Are you ready to find a blessing? Our kids might even want to invite their friends over to show off their cool mom’s creativity with food and music and decorations. Then again, you might be thinking, “No kids, just hubby!” Send the kids away for the evening and surprise the husband with a gourmet meal and romantic evening. Maybe there are no kids or they are grown and moved away. Maybe there is no husband? What if the next time we ate a meal out all by ourselves, we sought out another who may be in the restaurant all by themselves, and we shared the meal and a grace with them?

Who knows that God placed us here for such a time as this? Do we know our neighbors? Why not have them over and pay them back for all the snow shoveling they did with their groovy little machine over the winter, or thank them for the times they watched the house, took in our mail, watered our garden, watched the dog, and made it look like we were home when we were away. Wouldn’t it be nice to show our appreciation by making an evening unforgettable for them!

Maybe there are some new neighbors (or acquaintances at work…or church)? Shall we introduce ourselves, treat them to a home-cooked meal, and in the process introduce them to … well … God’s Supper Table, and give them a glimpse of heaven?

In the pages of this blog I’ve shared themed meals and recipes from all over the world, for the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind; here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but we are all one in Christ. This gospel shall be preached in all the world, and all the nations will be gathered before the Lord, for He has redeemed us from every tribe and nation, every people and language.

I’ve shared some of the most precious things I’ve learned from scripture. And I’m passing along a hodge-podge of other little things too (crafts, projects, hobbies, etc.) as life has brought them to me, I am sharing with you.

I hope you’ll enjoy my little cul-de-sac on the Web. It is all God’s doing. I hope you’ll join with me also in fanning into flame this gift that God has placed within us. Let us not forsake the gathering of ourselves together, or neglect the spiritual nourishment that our earthly bodies so desperately need.

May our Lord bless and keep you forever! IJN Amen

So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labor all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

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Ingredients

Instructions

“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14, KJV

((( P.S. Thanks Ms. Karen for the inspiration!!!!! )))

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Ingredients

Instructions

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.” Genesis 9:3

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SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

*Assortment of Christmas Cookies & various flavors of teas

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

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“For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16

* * *

“What’s in your BASKET?”

Are my firstfruits fireproof?

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“I [Jesus] will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” Matthew 26:29

JEWISH SEDER TRADITIONS

*Much of the information for the Jewish Seder Traditions came from: The Feasts of the Lord, God’s Prophetic Calendar from Calvary to the Kingdom, By Kevin Howard and Marvin Rosenthal

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-6

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Welcome…

“And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you” Deuteronomy 12:7

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