God With Us

Every Christmas, I am struck by a passage in Matthew that quotes the prophet Isaiah.

'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'

--which means, 'God with us.'

God with us. With us in the muck, the mire, the darkness, the sadness, and the pain of life on earth. I think about Jesus, born into the darkest of circumstances. Into a poor family who seek shelter from the elements in a place where animals are kept. Into an occupied land. Into oppression and fear and sorrow. Into a world that did not recognize Him or look to protect Him.

And I think about our wish for peace at Christmas. But Jesus didn't just show up for the peaceful, easy moments, the beautiful, well-lit nativity with the gently smiling cow and the well-coifed Mary. He came for the worst and the hardest moments. And He is there in our hardest moments, as well.

This Christmas, Immanuel is my prayer. God, be with us. With my brother on a distant shore, in harm's way and homesick. With my husband in his troubled dreams. With my parents in their anxiety. With me in my trembling heart. Immanuel.

Hope your Christmas Eves are all peaceful and full of joy and love. But even if they're not, I hope you feel the presence of Immanuel, God with us, here at Christmas, wherever we are.

elizabeth

Sausage and Rice Stuffed Peppers

Yesterday was cool and rainy and I was definitely feeling the whole kitchen thing. I had spotted a recipe for stuffed peppers attached to a coupon in the Sunday paper a couple weeks ago and clipped it. Here’s the modified version I made for dinner last night.

Ingredients:

• Cooked rice (I used Basmati but it would probably be great with Jasmine or brown rice, too)
• Large red, yellow, and orange bell peppers (1 pepper a person)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 package fully-cooked chicken sausage (I used Johnsonville Chicken Apple Sausage and it was delicious) thinly sliced/diced
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/2 package of fresh mushrooms, chopped (I used portabella but I think cremini or anything else would work well)
• 1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
• 1 teaspoon, fresh sage, fresh oregano chopped

Cook rice. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Remove pepper tops and seeds.

Brush with olive oil inside and out. Lightly salt and pepper inside.

Roast peppers, open tops up in oven for 30 min.

While peppers are roasting, saute sausage, onion, mushrooms, and herbs with 1-2 T olive oil on stovetop. Add chopped apple. Cook until all tender.

Stir in rice and heat through.

Fill peppers and serve. Garnish with pepper tops, if desired.

This was a light, satisfying meal and served about 4. Will totally make this again. I think it’s a company-worthy dish and looks so pretty on the plate. I also think this would be yummy without the meat, for any of my vegetarian/vegan readers.

 

What about you? Anyone have a fall recipe they’ve been itching to try?

love, elizabeth

PS: I hope you’re getting excited because it’s going to be Friday very soon…in case you haven’t heard, I’ll be announcing the fall giveaway!

How to Look Like a Cook When You Don’t Feel Like It

Need a yummy fall-ish Sunday dinner recipe? Have company coming for a meal? Need to impress your mother-in-law with you’re a-mazing cooking prowess? Just don’t feel like making a big, fancy meal today?

Meet the best slow-cooker recipe you will ever make. It’s pretty much a staple around our house and Kyle’s absolute favorite. It’s my stand-by, my old faithful, my uh-oh-we-invited-our-neighbors-to-dinner-and-I-don’t-have-time-to-cook recipe…

Cranberry Chicken

2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken (I like boneless, skinless thighs but you can use whatever)

1 16-oz can whole cranberry sauce

2 T dry onion soup mix

2 T instant or quick-cooking tapioca

Where are the rest of the ingredients?? you ask. What kind of game are you playing, Elizabeth?

The directions are kind of complicated so read slowly. First, dump ingredients in crockpot (I usually go chicken, then berries, then tapioca and soup mix, followed by stirring). Next, turn crockpot on (this is very important and I have forgotten this step in the past). Wait 2 1/2-3 hours (if on high) or 5-6 hours (if on low). Eat.

Seriously, though. I have never had someone NOT love this meal. You can serve it with anything. I like mashed potatoes or baked sweet potatoes (like I’m doing today) but you can also use rice, pasta, bread, or just a side salad or veggies. The leftovers heat up great, too, and are delicious on a sandwich.

In case anyone’s wondering, the original recipe comes from Better Homes and Gardens’ All Time Favorites Slow Cooker 2005. Just so we’re clear that I didn’t invent this impossibly perfect slow cooker meal.

What about you? Anyone have a recipe they can’t live without?

love, elizabeth

PS: It will make your home smell like you’ve been slaving away in a kitchen all day, cooking like a fiend. When, in fact, you went to work, got a pedicure, went for a walk, read a novel, took a hot bath… and then set the table. Bam.

Humble Abode: The Thrift Store Aesthetic

Ever open a magazine and see a gorgeous high-wingback chair or a beautiful table setting and, after completely falling in love with it, catch sight of the tiny little letter of a pricetag that isn't so tiny? Yeah. Me, too. So I find myself memorizing images from magazines and making a mental shopping list for the next time I'm "junking."

Vintage is a sneaky, manipulative word. It's the materialist's nicest of way of saying "used." And it makes buying "used" things seem hip and progressive, rather than trashy and cheap. But the biggest difference between the word "vintage" and the word "second-hand" is in the number of zeros before the decimal point. And you know what bugs me most about "vintage" items? That Fiestaware is just an opinion away from a Goodwill bin. Seriously. That "buyer" who works for the vintage boutique paws through piles of junk to find things that are truly worthy of the label "vintage." So you know what? I'm doing it, too. These "Humble Abode" posts are going to highlight the vintage things in my home. You know why they're vintage? Because I got them secondhand. That's the only qualification. Some things are from thrift stores and garage sales, some have been passed down from my mother and my grandmother, some things were even rescued off the trash heap!

In our entire apartment, I can only legitimately think of three pieces of furniture purchased new. The sofa, an armchair, and an end table (already falling apart, I might add). Everything else is on its second, third, or fourth reincarnation.

I'm excited to share some of them with you!

I love to hunt for dishes. Here's the table set for dinner tonight.

One of my favorite things is to mix old and new dinnerware. So we have the silverware and white square plates that were wedding gifts, the red quilted placemats from my mother's dining room, the green and purple plates from Goodwill, embroidered linen napkins that belonged to my great-grandmother, and copper napkin rings my parents received as a wedding gift.

The green plates and purple dessert dishes were 59 cents a piece at the thrift store and stacked randomly on different shelves. If you can't tell, I'm a fan of the jewel tones. I managed to put a set together after digging through for awhile. Total: $4.72.


Anyone have a favorite set of dishes or tableware that they either use everyday or save for special occasions?