Some Thoughts On The New Year...And Some Food!

I thought I would recap the food we had on New Year's Eve. These little bites would be great for Valentines Day as well!

One-Bite Baked Brie with Grape-Pecan Compote

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake 2 cups of small red grapes and 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil for 25 to 30 minutes, until they burst and are very soft.

Combine grapes with 1 tsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp of lemon zest...and a pinch of Kosher salt.

Cut brie into cubes and place in phyllo tart cups.

Bake 5 minutes.

Mix toasted pecans into grape mixture. Top brie with grape compote!

We love our appetizers for these special get togethers!

Roasted Shrimp!

Fresh Granny Smith apples and Bosc pears for the Gouda-Beer Fondue.

Gouda-Beer Fondue, fresh fruite, pimento cheese, chicken salad, Savory crackers, homemade cocktail sauce and  roasted shrimp. And The Veggie Tray!

Can you tell that we are a cooking family? Mom's counter-top is full of spices, oils and  tea bags in case someone calls for a quick pitcher of Sweet Tea!

And here is a good idea...

This pic is from Christmas. I thought this was an interesting idea. My sister-in-law used a strip of festive wrapping paper as a table runner! Fun idea!

Well, friends, we are well on our way into 2015. 

The Lord is bringing healing and peace to me as I seek His Face in the New Year. I'm not necessarily asking: what does He want me to do, or wondering: what do I feel I should be doing...but rather, just Him...just seeking Him.

I was working with a group of teens last Spring and asked them: What would change (if anything) if you knew that you were completely loved? One student said: Everything. 

The group talked about how they would be more generous, more gracious to themselves and others. 

This makes me think...What would change in me if I believed that I was completely loved by Someone (big "S")? How would I be changed, when I believe that God loves me?

Generous, gracious, patient, kind...all the fruits of the Spirit!

I'm praying "That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!" 

Ephesians 3:18-19 AMP

Feasting on the Love of God...that is La Bonne Vie Y'all!