A Merrier World with Food

Food is a gift from God. At the risk of sounding cheeky, let me explain, although that might not be necessary. If you have ever sat before a dinner table adorned with the entire spectrum of foods from the Food Pyramid, you'll probably agree with me.

While it's obvious that food is necessary for our survival, we often neglect to delight in it. And just like everything else in a Christian's life, we should approach even food from a Biblical worldview. This doesn't mean we should feel obliged to pray superfluously after every bite, but it does mean we must recognize where the gift came from: the Giver.

In Genesis 2, we are given the account of "life in God's garden," a blissful Eden in which God gave lots of "yeses" and only one "no." He is a just God of many allowances. Another evidence of God's mercy to Adam and Eve in the garden was to make "every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." And among those trees, the pair could eat anything they wanted. ANYTHING. Except, of course, from one tree.

All this to say that God blessed Adam and Eve through food--that was a gift to them. It was meant to provide a means of fellowship between each other and between them and God. And we can only assume that each tree bore a different fruit; some, tangy; others, sweet. Again we see God's favor in granting His people variety. How thankful should we be for the decision whether to make an apple, peach, blackberry, or sweet potato pie with a graham cracker, flaky, one-layer, or two-crust pie, and then whether to adorn it with whipped topping, ice cream, or both?

Having said all this, then, it behooves me to emphasize how willing we, as Christian women, should be to bestow others with the gift of food. I can probably recall what baby gifts many people gave to us before Eli was born, but I can definitely recall every meal prepared in someone else's kitchen. This gift of food is a blessing in many ways:

• It requires time. And a lot of work. Even though this isn't necessary in preparing meals for someone in need (a bucket of KFC works just fine sometimes), there is something meaningful in knowing that sweat and *sometimes* tears went into making a meal for someone other than yourself.
• It is a Biblical picture of the Proverbs 31 woman who "brings her food from afar" and "rises while it is yet night to provide food for her household and a portion for her maidservant" (Proverbs 31:14-15).
• It satisfies one of the most natural, God-given desires we experience: hunger. And in a time when cooking for yourself seems impossible (after a surgery, a death in the family, or when your world is being rocked by the sounds of a screaming newborn), there's nothing more peaceful than knowing someone else is caring for you in that way.

There are many other ways for women to minister to those in her community, but I address this one because of the impact it had on me almost one year ago with Eli's arrival. When the world was literally closing in on us as we adjusted to being parents, how precious it was to benefit from someone else's work--someone who wanted to encourage us in that way.  Thanks be to God, the giver of all good things, including peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and filet mignons (no offense to all the vegetarians who read this blog).

To "put this on the ground," I'll include a recipe that a sweet friend made for us. Absolutely delicious!

Shepherd's Pie (using London Broil instead of ground beef)

Basic pot roast:
2 lbs. London broil
one box onion soup mix (Contains 2 packs use both)

Place London broil in a crock pot. Sprinkle the contents of both onion soup packs over the top of meat. Just cover meat with water. Cover and cook on high until fork tender, about 4 hours.

Pie filling:
2 Shallots finely chopped
1 lb. Carrots coarsely chopped
2 Cans of white corn (yellow and white corn mix is okay, but white corn is best)
1 Bag frozen peas
2 lbs cooked roast meat picked and shredded
All drippings from your roast
1 stick of butter
1/2 C. flour
1 box beef stock
Saute' your shallots in the largest pot you own until clear and tender. Add your roast drippings, carrots, corn, and peas. If the roast drippings do not cover the vegetables use the beef stock to just cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil and cook until carrots are tender stirring occasionally to make sure there is not any sticking. While the vegetables are cooking, in a small sauce pan make a roue by melting the butter and whisking in the flour. Make sure to stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes (just long enough to cook flour). Remove from heat and set aside. Once your carrots are tender, transfer veggies to a bowl leaving broth in the pot. Using one spoon full at a time whisk in your roue allowing broth to come two a simmer with each addition. The roue will thicken the sauce. Continue adding roue until the sauce is a consistency slightly thicker than gravy.* Now fill your containers. You can do this one of two ways. You can either add everything back in the pot including the meat, but if your pot is not big enough then use plan B. Plan B: place some veggies and meat in desired container and pour sauce over contents until covered. Either way do not over fill containers because we still have potatoes to put on each pie filling.

Basic Mashed/Creamed Potatoes:
5 lbs. Yukon Gold Potatoes (washed, peeled, large diced)
1 stick of butter
Milk (not sure how much)
Salt

Wash, peel, and do a large dice on the potatoes. Just cover potatoes with cold water. Generously salt the water. Bring water to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender.** Once fork tender drain and place back in pot. Add butter and begin whisking with an electric mixer. You are trying to make thick creaming mashed potatoes that can still hold their shape. Add milk until this is accomplished. Usually no more than 2 cups. Now pipe or spread over Shepperd's pie mixtures.

Freezing Instructions for Glassware:
If using glassware and freezing, line glassware with foil first and then fill with pie contents. Place in freezer until hard. Foil and pie should then easily come out of glassware. So remove from glassware, wrap in plastic wrap and return to freezer. When thawing, remove plastic wrap, place in container that was originally used to freeze, place in fridge, and allow to thaw for several hours.

Bake Shepherd Pie at 350 45 minutes to an hour or until top is slightly brown.***

*After using the roue if the sauce is still not thick enough you can make more roue by using equal parts floor and butter.
**Fork tender: Place on a plate and mash with fork. Fork should easily pass through potato. Use this as an opportunity to taste your potatoes. If they are not quite salt enough add more salt and give them another couple minutes.
***Do not bake before you freeze.