Celestial Light

I like the generous religious sentiments of the first half of the twentieth century. This one is worthy of any great collection of interfaith prayers:

Etsy shop: MarinaPetroFineArt

O God of infinite beauty and perfect love,

At this hour of peace and calm, I open to thee the moon-window of my soul's chamber.

Flood it, gracious Father, with the celestial light,

Fragrant with the winter plum
Of thy divine love and purity.


Bedtime Prayer for a Japanese Girl
The World at One in Prayer, H. Yuasa
Found in Go With God, Jim Bishop, c1958

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Candlemas

Etsy shop: PatsPaintings

Candlemas is celebrated on February 2nd, midway between the December solstice and the March equinox.

Learn more about Candlemas: Project Britain

It's also a good day to celebrate the inner light, "the true light that lights every soul who comes into the world."

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Stewed Lentils

Etsy shop: KristineBoysen 

Here is a basic recipe for stewed lentils or, as I prefer to call them, well-cooked lentils. If cooked long enough and in plenty of water, lentils will produce a thick brown sauce that makes it an excellent topping and color contrast for white jasmine rice.

Well-cooked Lentils

1 cup lentils
3 cups water
1 and 1/4 t. salt

Pick over and rinse the lentils. Place lentils and water in a 2-quart pan.
Heat on high until water begins to boil. Cover and turn heat down
to low. Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. When fully cooked,
the lentils should appear slightly broken with a sauce surrounding them.
Stir in salt. Cover again and let stand to thicken.

--Use commonly available brown lentils. No spices are necessary.
--I like to serve these well-cooked lentils in a stew plate, nestled with 
jasmine rice and a colorful vegetable like mashed sweet potatoes. 
--A generous dollop of sour cream on lentils is heavenly!

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Expectant Mother

Etsy shop: GiolaAlbanoMotherArt 

As my younger daughter nears her due date, I found this poem on a small square of yellowed newspaper, which had been placed in a book of prayers that had belonged to her great-grandmother:

Expectant Mother

  God bless her loving heart and bless
  The little heart within
  The tiny baby and the life
  That shortly will begin

  God bless the future mother of
  The infant girl or boy
  Who will become her happy child
  And all her pride and joy

May she be calm and comfortable
And undergo no strain
And in her hour may there be
A minimum of pain
         We praise her and we thank her for
         The mother she will be
         And for her courage to create
         And help humanity
                  God bless the woman who has wed
                  And sought to build a nest
                  God bless the future mother and
                  The baby at her breast.

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There's Something Within

Myrlie Evers-Williams gave the invocation at the second presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. You can see the transcript and video at: The Washington Post. She closed with the following profound words, spoken so eloquently:

 Etsy shop: NikolWikmanArt

There's something within me that holds the reins.

There's something within me that banishes pain.

There's something within me I cannot explain.

But all I know America, there is something within.

There is something within.




P.S. These words are adapted from an old song. One version of the song can be heard at Benson Sound.

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Frozen Berry Pie

Etsy shop: manguloveart

Frozen Berry Pie

My favorite combination of frozen berries is:
2 cups raspberries
2 cups blackberries
1 cup blueberries

A mixed berry pie, like this, is affectionately called a Bumbleberry Pie.


Frozen Berry Pie

5 cups of frozen berries
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
Dough for double crust pie

Prepare your favorite pie dough or use store-bought, refrigerated pie dough.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sugar and flour. *
Place frozen berries in a dough-lined pie plate. Sprinkle the sugar mixture
evenly over the berries. Gently tap the mounded fruit to allow the sugar
mixture to settle into the berries. Cover with second round of pie dough.
Place pie plate on a cookie sheet to catch drips and bake for 70–80 minutes.

My favorite mix of frozen berries is 2 cups raspberries, 2 cups blackberries, 
and 1 cup blueberries. Small bags of frozen berries can be found in the freezer
aisle of most grocery stores.

* You may need to add one tablespoon of cornstarch or other thickener. Berries that you know were picked fully ripe, such as when you pick your own, release more liquid. 

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Canned Peach Cobbler

Etsy shop: BytheBayArtist

Canned Peach Cobbler

Fruit filling:
29 oz can of peaches in heavy syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/8 t. nutmeg

Dough:
4 T. softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 and 1/4 cup flour
1 and 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

First, allow butter to soften at room temperature. Then, work on the fruit filling.
With slotted spoon, place canned peaches in a small bowl. Save 1 cup of heavy
syrup. In a 2-quart pan, mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add reserved syrup to sugar mixture. Mix well. Heat and simmer 2 minutes,
stirring constantly. Slice peaches into bite-size pieces. Stir into the hot mixture.

After butter has softened, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a deep-dish pie plate
into the hot oven to heat thoroughly. (Also, a cookie sheet to catch drips.) Now,
make the dough. Use a mixer to cream the softened butter, sugar, and eggs.
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into creamed ingredients.

Last step hint: peaches and pie plate must be very hot for dough to bake thoroughly.

Heat the peach mixture again until it is steaming hot.  Loosely form the dough into

8 balls and place on a dinner plate. (7 balls in a circle and 1 in the center) Take pie

plate out of the oven and pour hot peaches into it. Place balls of dough on the 

top in the same formation. Bake for 30 minutes.

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