Cooking by the Book

Cookfest 2007

I absolutely stink at cooking.

So we had a bunch of people over to our dorm so that we could cook for them. I actually found this out the day after my roommates had agreed to do it, and I found my name signed for me on the email invite. Dang. So I cooked my brains out.

I've had some bad cooking experiences before:

(1) I had a hankering for sardines one day, and so I went out and bought some cheap-o sardines (the 99-cent kind, not the King Arthur's kind). I thought, 'You know what? I like sardines, but I ALSO like swiss cheese!' So I took some swiss cheese, put it on my paper plate, then put the sardines on (I tried to dry them off pretty well), then put another layer of swiss cheese.

This must sound so nasty so far.

After I stuck it in the microwave, I took it out to find some lukewarm swiss cheese with grease bubbles all over it, and there was fish juice all over the bottom of the plate. The bottom swiss cheese was soggy from the fish juice, and the tastes did NOT go together.

Yeah, it also smelled really bad, so I took it out immediately and threw it away.

(2) I thought I could bake some cookies without a recipe once when I was much younger. I tried making them with just flour. I forgot the sugar. I took a bite out of one, and all this powder junk popped out into my mouth. Mmm!

(3) I put salt on Cinnamon-Raisin Bread since I picked up the Morton's instead of the Dixie Crystals. I also thought it was a great idea to cook it on the George Foreman grill, but that just made the bread taste like the chicken I cooked on it the day before!

It just gets worse from there in terms of mess-ups...

So I mixed up and baked some pumpkin cupcakes. They were actually pretty decent, and they would have been really amazing had I put frosting on them. Exhibit A:


We cooked up some chili, and I did most of the mixing, dumping, etc. Thanks to Adam's mom for the recipe. It gave my roommates massive digestive problems, but it tasted good to me, and I didn't have any trouble with it (which is odd since my stomach isn't that strong). Exhibits B and C:

So yeah. It turned out pretty decently. I think I'll invest some time in becoming a good cook. I think it would be romantic if I could fix a nice meal for a future wife if she's had a bad day and I have the time. I can't use 'I can't cook' as an excuse for not cooking! I've got some time to learn.

However, I wouldn't mind having a wife that can cook really really well! haha, corny yet true ending. G'nite & God bless you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. - Psalm 73:26

The Eleventh Hour

Last-Minute Provision

Sometimes God provides balm in the midst of dryness, water in the midst of drought, joy in the midst of struggle, and promise in the midst of frustration.

That being said, I now have a pastoral internship offer from an Assembly of God church in the area for January. The pastor, his wife & kids, and a few others from the church took me out to lunch, and paid for my meal. The pastor there said that he wanted me to write my own job description in terms of what I would like to do in the internship, and that they would love me to be used by God there for the Spring semester. Of course, if I wrote, "DOMINATE THE UNIVERSE," I hope the board of Elders would turn it down, lol.

That being said again, I am praying hard and will fast about it this week as to whether this is the right offer. I'm absolutely rejoicing about the offer. I had one offer from a Baptist church, but I was really praying for one in the A/G, because I really do feel prompted to pastor in either an A/G or Nondenominational church. So overall, the offer looks too good to ignore. I am thrilled about the job description part, too, because I can hope to be used according to the mix of gifts which God has given me. So I'll take some time with that if this is the right place. We shall see.

But really, how many times does God provide for us in the Eleventh Hour? At this time, we've run out of patience, and we begin to despair...but then He provides just at the right time.

I'm really thrilled, because just as the Lord said in Matthew 7:7-8 --
Ask and you will receive...
Seek and you will find...
Knock and the door will be opened unto you....

We are not worthy of His attention in prayer, but because of the work of Jesus and through His shed blood, we can go to Him with confidence, just as Hebrews 4:14-16 states. Expectantly pray! Ask, Seek, and even Knock persistently! I believe that if God puts a desire on your heart, He will bring it to pass if you follow His path and rely on Him to bring it about, and so I'm very thankful for even the offer, and as it looks, the opportunity to serve there. Sweet.

(And thanks, Joe, for the random picture of me playing DDR)

So, reader, do you have an 'Eleventh Hour' story?