Not sure if I've said this before, but it's been a while since I've felt close to God. You know that passage John 10:27 "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" or John 10:3-4 "...He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice." Well, I got lost and stopped hearing His voice. I was so busy and distracted, I didn't know where He went.
I feel like a baby Christian in so many ways trying to relearn His promises, how to go to Him, and how to hear Him. He's been faithfully bringing me closer, hearing my cries and responding. : ) I can see it.
Anyways, I want to write down some coicidences from this past weekend. I haven't been to church in over a month. Different things kept coming up on Sundays. I finally was up early enough to visit this one church I've been hearing about, but once there, I kept feeling like I should go to another church Menlo Park Presbyterian. I debated dismissing this (I was so tired and it was so hot), but I remembered a story a friend had recently told me about her father passing away. She told me that she was learning to listen to that little voice we all hear because something the night her dad passed had been telling her to go with him when they said goodnight, but she hadn't and he had died later of a heart attack. We're so quick to dismiss it, but that voice has always been right, and I was hearing it again, so after this service finished I drove to a 2nd sunday service at MPP, and heard this message...http://mppc.org/learn/sermons (click on the "Judge" sermon)...over Micah 6:6-8 about God's call to us to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly. I was really glad I went. The message was challenging and spoke to some things I've been thinking about. Later that night I met up with some friends I hadn't seen in a long while. At some point the conversation moved to healing, as one of the girls had just been witness to and a participant in miraculous healings by faith and prayer alone. This led into a conversation about different ailments they had grown "used to" to the point that they didn't even remember what normal was like or what being truly healed should feel like. I partially wanted to laugh in hearing this because it reminded me of the mornings sermon where the pastor talked about how we as humans have a power to grow "used to" evil the way his family had gotten used to the smell of skunk in their home to the point that we don't even know what normal is like. I spent some time on Monday praying about different things He had put on my mind this weekend. Among many things...for His guidance and His voice. This mornng when I woke up, the first tweet on my google homepage read...
"jasontarn: Micah 6:8 "and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness." LOVE kindness not just show it. Hard words!"
So funny. I asked my friend what moved him to write this. It was in his devotional this morning. Could totally be a coincidence, but it brings me joy nonetheless. : )
I haven't been able to find many sites that takes published recipes and reviews them, so I'm going to try to start my own here. Once a week I will try to try a different recipe and give updates on how they work out.
1sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 16-ounce package all-butter puff pastry or half of 17.3-ounce package regular puff pastry), thawed
1/2cupheavy whipping cream
2tablespoonsall purpose flour
1tablespoonbutter
3 1/2cupssliced leeks (white and pale green parts only; from 3 large)
1/2poundandouille sausage, cut into scant 1/2-inch cubes
2large garlic cloves, minced
1/3cupdry vermouth or dry white wine
11.5-ounce package concentrated classic seafood stock (such as Glace de Fruits de Mer Gold) mixed with 2 cups water; or 2 cups bottled clam juice
1/4teaspoondried thyme
18-ounce red-skinned potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2poundsdeveined peeled uncooked jumbo shrimp, cut into 1-inch pieces
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out pastry on floured surface to 12-inch square. Cut out four 5 1/2-inch rounds. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet; bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheet. DO AHEADCan be made 1 day ahead. Wrap airtight and store at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk cream and flour in small bowl. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add andouille and garlic and sauté 4 minutes. Add vermouth; simmer until liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Add seafood stock mixture and thyme. Bring to simmer. Add potato and cook uncovered until tender, about 6 minutes.
Add cream mixture to skillet; stir. Simmer until sauce thickens and boils, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat. Add shrimp; simmer until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Divide hot filling among four 1-1/4-cup baking dishes. Top each with pastry round. Bake until filling bubbles, about 5 minutes.
Notes: I didn't have 4 1.25 cup ramekins so used one large 5 cup ramekin. I also wanted the ramekin filled with puff pastry, not just topped, so lined the inside of the ramekin with a sheet or pastry and pre-baked it along with the top.
Final Results
I was really pleased with the presentation, smell and taste of the potpie. My only regret was that because I was short on time, I tried to do the prep while cooking which caused the leeks, spices and wine to cook down longer then they should have and therefore lost some of their flavors in the filling. I'd advise having all the ingredients well prepped ahead of time and to not cook anything longer then the recipe specifies. Despite that, the taste of the shrimp and spiced sausage were great compliments and paired quite well with the extra white wine we had from making the filling.
(A garlic, pepper, butter string beans and potatoes side dish which was nicely prepared by the fasting tester. : ] )
The recipe was time consuming due the the sheer number of ingredients, but relatively simple to prepare. Out of 5 I'd give it a difficulty rating of 2.5.
Overall, I'd give the recipe 4 stars. Fun to make and easy to personalize. Will definitely use this one again.
I feel like I get a glimpse of what it's going to be like to get old whenever I get sick. Keep thinking there's going to be a day when it doesn't go back. Makes me all the more grateful when it does. We take so much for granted.. standing up, moving, eating, breathing, bowl movements. Puts our pursuits of happiness in perspective.
A friend sent some encouraging words today..."Prayers softens hearts and makes the impossible possible, the degrading tolerable, the naughty humble, and the future hopeful."
A few weeks ago (1/15) a few of us went to visit our old sonship leader. She is pregnant with her 3rd child and this one's been a lot harder then the last 2. She was in far more pain then usual, and in her last month the baby still hadn't turned. The doctors were scheduling a premature C-section for the 28th for the baby's safety. Prayer is sometimes scary because it's hard to know how God will answer (sometimes feels like he's not), but this time felt different. Maybe because it was with Jen who is such a prayer warrior herself. Just knew He would answer. She went to the doctor's wednesday for the surgery and they told her to go home because the baby had indeed turned! : ) Maybe a coincidence. Maybe God. Won't force a view, but know my own belief.
Hopefully a little encouragement to those in need of prayer today.
