From Me To You

I stayed up rather late last night writing the previous blog post...finally I was like "I need to go to bed!" crawled in under my cozy blankets...but I couldn't sleep...G-d had other plans...a rhyming novel apparently ;)

From Me To You

© K.Taylor Written December 21, 2012

I looked for Christ in Christmas

I looked in the stockings stuffed to the brim

I dug to the bottom but I didn't see him

I looked on the tree so shiny and bright

but got distracted by the cookies and twinkly lights

Then I looked for him in the presents a bit

but saw only the cards labelled "From ol Saint Nick"

I looked for Christ in Christmas

but didn't have much luck this year

then came Easter, surely I could find him here!

I looked in the Easter aisle here than there

lots of chocolate, but I didn't see Jesus anywhere!

I went to church had a stale square wafer,

two teaspoons of juice in a tiny cup made of paper

but I can count to 3 and things just didn't add up

Finally I looked in the bible,

that's where we should've start,

and as I dug deeper

 it cut straight to the heart

I learnt Shabbat is a sign

of seasons and cycles of time

 All through G-d's word there's this recurring theme

G-d has something call "moedim"!

For pete's sake why didn't I know!?

HaShem appointed His times long ago!

We begin with Pesach

celebrating G-d's great redemption

Our chains were broken and we were set free 

from Egypt's bitter bitter slavery

We eat matzah for seven whole days

cause chametz represents arrogancy

and there's just no room for that

 in what Yeshua did for me 

Shavuot we stood under a cloud

heard the words spoken clear and loud

and three times we repeated our vows

Yeshua is the bridegroom! 

Yes yes I see it all now!

Rosh Hashanah the trumpet will sound

and you better be ready

it just might be Him who's comin to town

Ten more days to get things straight

then it's time to pass through the judgement gate

We know we have sinned 

we know we have done wrong

so we fast on This Day all the day long

"We have erred and have caused a great breach

because your commandments we didn't keep"

The righteous he covers they'll never be lost

the wicked however are strained out like dross

Then out comes the lumber for a seven day feast!

We live in a sukkah...some might call it the least

but it's not about what we make with our hands 

it's about the provision G-d gave us in the desert sands

The cloud and the fire that guided our way

The Rock that followed

giving us water each day

The tag on the end is the last of the assembly 

"Shemini Atzeret" which represents eternity

Oh how awesome the Olam Haba shall be!

When the Mashiach shall forever dwell with me

No it doesn't stop there!

Chanukkah we commemorate His strength and might

remembering the Maccabees and their holy fight

and rededicate ourselves to Him when the menorah we light

as we kindle a new flame each consecutive night

And lets not forget Purim!

The spiel, the mask and disguise

all to remember how G-d used Hadassah

through ways that seemed quite normal or hidden

to save us from those who from the world wished us ridden

She became Queen Esther

but you see she had a hidden identity

which brought us salvation in our time of great need

proving that even when we don't see

HaShem is always here for you and me

Yes where ever I opened and looked 

It wasn't hard to find Mashiach at work

Christmas and Easter on the other hand?

G-d never said "use it to worship Me"

Nope! Open the book, go look and see!

I also learned the things that HaShem had to say

about people who changed His feasts and His ways.

Combining holy with polluted things

Then calling it "kosher" 

forgetting the curses the mix brings

That's when it hit me and I couldn't ignore it

He has an order and I've gotta stop messing it up

after all it's the least I can do - after He drank my cup

poured out His blood and saved me from sin's power too

So now I am wondering..what about you?

Maybe it's time for you to search too?

Cause it hardly seems right 

these things that we do,

when we let the light of His Torah shine through

No I am not condemning

Heck! I was there too!

But G-d kept me up late last night

to write this little note entitled "From Me To You"

 and I'm just wondering what you'll do

cause this time G-d's having the party

....and He's invited YOU!

My family has been on the awesome journey of Torah for over ten years now. Sometimes it's hard to express it all to people...especially at this time of year. Please feel free to share with your friends! This was HaShem's doing so if it can be of use in sharing why you do what you do....DO IT! Then let me know how it went!!! :o) Shabbat blessings to all!

Meal of the week!

Broccoli salad, Challah, and Chicken Shepherd's Pie

 No secrets! I am going to share my brand new recipe with you!

Left is a snap shot of this past week's Erev Shabbat meal and might I say, in all modesty, that it turned out delicious!!

I started out knowing I was going to do something with mashed potatoes and chicken and this is what happened!

Dice for quicker cooking

Prepare your potatoes however you like them. I peeled mine because our potatoes had some scab this year so the skin isn't so nice. But if you have nice smooth skinned potatoes there is no reason you need to peel them.

Do as many as would suit you. I did around 10 cups (cubed) and the finished casserole would have easily fed our family of 4 plus 6 guests(no leftovers), so a cup per person might be a good guide if you are not sure.

When mashing I added 1/2 butter, 2 tbsp of cream cheese and salted them to taste. 

* if you desire to make this recipe without the dairy then you could try using almond or rice milk to make your potatoes extra creamy

Use only light olive oil when frying

  Drizzle some light olive oil in a shallow pan and saute as much or as little onion as you wish. I like a lot of onion so I sliced a whole Spanish onion. Along with that I added:

2 sliced portobello mushrooms

1 red bell pepper, sliced

2 cups of chicken (or two breasts worth, that had been previously cooked and sliced)

1 frozen pesto cube (you could sub. fresh basil or get pesto sauce in the store)

1 tsp of sweet smoked paprika

salt and pepper

and about a 1/4 cup of water just to keep the moisture content up.

stir well when adding milk and flour

 Once it's just nicely sauteed, turn down the heat and add a drizzle of milk and a bit of flour to thicken everything up and give it a nice sauce. *Once again if you desire to keep the dairy out of it, use almond or rice milk. You should end up with something that looks like the picture to the right ->

grease well - it makes cleaning up a breeze!

Grease your pan well, scrape the chicken mixture into it and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese...sorry no substitute I can think of for that! Cover with half of the potato mixture, sprinkle with cheddar cheese if desired and finish spreading potatoes. Sprinkle top with pepper and dot with butter. This can be done ahead and kept in the fridge until shortly before the meal. Heat at 350 in the oven until heated through.

It proved a winner for a Erev Shabbat meal because I was able to make it ahead, put it in the fridge and have everything cleaned up long before supper time. We also had lots left over for a meal during Shabbat as well!

Shavua Tov!

You'll Need
potatoes
chicken
1 red pepper
1 large onion
portobello mushrooms
pesto or fresh basil
sweet smoked paprika
salt and pepper
cheese (optional)

THE TZADAKAH JAR

In keeping with the tradition of giving Tzadakah (charity) before lighting the Shabbat candles on Erev Shabbat (Shabbat eve = Friday night). I made this special Tzadakah jar. I picked out a nice glass jar from the recycling and first removed the sticky label goop with rubbing alcohol. I used a special ceramic/glass paint from Michaels's craft store (some ceramic paint you have to bake in the oven to cure but this kind was just the air dry version.

On facing sides I painted
 a tree, reminding us of the tree of life in the garden of Eden, Torah: being a tree of life, the righteous are liken to as a tree planted by a stream of water etc. Around the top I wrote the word "Tzadakah" both in hebrew and transliterated.

Before lighting the Shabbat candles everyone drops a few coins into the jar and we bless the L-rd for the mitzvah

"Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, who sactifies us with Your commandments, and commanded us about the Tzedakah."

At the end of the year it is donated to a charity, traditionally one in Eretz Y'israel (the land of Israel).

NOTE **This is not meant to be the only charity given throughout the year.