27 marzo 2013

My First Attempts to Amish Baking

Amish Oatmeal Cake

by Linda Fleck

Used from: TextBook

DIRECTIONS - INGREDIENTS

CAKE:
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 2/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
FROSTING:
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts, chopped (if desired)

1
Mix oats and boiling water together; set aside for 20 minutes. Cream butter and sugars together thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Blend in oatmeal mixture.
2
Sift together remaining dry ingredients. Fold into batter. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured 9” x 13” baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
3
After baking, but before cake cools, mix frosting ingredients together thoroughly and spread the frosting over cake and broil about 2 minutes or until it browns. Watch carefully as it burns easily!!

Delicious!!!!!

25 marzo 2013

Para los amantes del camino y del Camino...

Acabo de saber de esta serie de vídeos YouTube... La experiencia del camino es increíble. La experiencia del Camino, más...

14 marzo 2013

Walking the Labyrinth

Today I experienced a new discipline, the discipline of walking the Labyrinth.

Labyrints are not mazes (cup-de-sacs and dead ends; more than one entrance and more than one exit and are designed to make us lose our way). Labyrinths have the exact opposite purpose: they are designed to help us find our way.

The Labyrinth is an ancient tool for the spiritual journey. Walking the labyrinth may be called "prayer in motion" (Dr Lauren Artress).

"It is solved by walking" (St Agustine).

"Walking the labyrinth is a spiritual discipline that invites us to trust the path, to surrender to the many turns our loves take, and to walk through the confusion, the fear, the anger, the grief that we cannot avoid experiencing as we live our earthly lives. The labyrinth is a place where we can open ourselves to the Holy Spirit. We can ask for guidance and pray for ourselves and our loved ones. It calms the confused mind and the chaotic, fearful heart. It allows us to release all that is in our way of relating to the Divine: our hard-heartedness, our judgements, our impatience. The healing power of gratitude often visits the heart" (Straja Linder-King).

Most of the experiences that occur in the labyrinth are unexpected. They are guided by a sacred wisdom, a creative intelligence that knows more about what we need than do our conscious selves"(Dr Lauren Artress).

This is the labyrinth setting at the Ashland Seminary chapel.

As I got to the center I was able to experience a new, fresh and profound experiential understanding of the cross of Christ. And I came out a bit more sorted. Thank you God for Jesus!

12 marzo 2013

At the Potter’s House

My pot is/has:

Three parts
Round
Top opens
Different shades of the brown color
Rugged feel
Pale and mate colors inside
Rugged bottom (fire cooked?) - more rugged than rest
Top edge larger than pot itself
Handle twisted
Decoration even but a brown uneaven line
Cannot be held with one hand (at least my hand!)
Circular line round shape, Vertical line, vertical shape
Imperfection on one side
A few tiny little holes
Inscription at the bottom

My pot is different because it was made for a special and unique purpose. It was made intentionally and not randomly. Despite its ruggedness it is to be used for the best. Yes, it has imperfections but still will be used to accomplish its purpose.

"... I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. ⁵Then the word of the Lord came5 to me. ⁶He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-5