Wisdom Wednesday - James 4:13-15

This week our Good Morning Girls group has been studying James 4: 13-15. 

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

These verses are very humbling if you really take the time to read them and thoroughly study them. The subtitle in my Bible says "Let God Plan your Life" right before these verses. I think that that subtitle pretty much sums up these verses for me. Another point that was brought up by other girls in my group is not putting off to tomorrow what we can do today. Making excuses not to do something that we know needs done like house work, assignments, spending time with our husbands/kids or even spending time with God, is a very easy thing to do. However, we do not know what tomorrow will bring for us. This past week with what happened in Japan really reminded me of this. Thousands of people have lots their lives and how many of them put off things or had plans for their lives that they no longer can do?

 Definitely something to remember as we go about our lives this week! 

Fully Rely on God, 

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Link of the Day

... is this bit of hilarity from our Pater of Prowling.

Things That Make Me Smile

Here is an explanation of this series of posts.

Fresh rosemary from our garden.

Explosions in the Sky

I've passed the last week at home with my family, and during all the week it was raining so hard that I coudn't be happier! But after all the rain, I had a lovely night with Rose and Jesus, dringin gin and chatting.

(Explosions in the Sky)

Oh, btw, say "Hi hi" to my new Melissa by Alexandre Herchcovitch brogues! I've been in love with them for so long... yaw!

World of Good, Rescue Style

Bless me, Father, for I has sinned. It's been nearly three years since I've WOGged.

Longtime and beloved friend of the blog, Foxfier, our Precentor of Measurements, showed me this story of an amazing rescue in Japan.

The sound of a baby’s cry amid the rubble seemed so impossible that soldiers searching a tsunami-smashed village dismissed it as a mistake.

But it came again. And they realised they had not been hearing things.

They pulled away wood and slate, dug back thick oozing mud – and there was the child they were to describe as a ‘tiny miracle’ ...

One of them picked her up in his arms, wrapped her in a blanket which had been handed to him and cradled the child as his colleagues crowded around, not believing that someone as young as this had survived when all hope had been lost.

The tiniest survivor was cold and wet and crying, but she is believed to have suffered no other injuries. Why she did not drown remained a mystery.

But the soldiers were somehow able to trace her overjoyed father, who had been taking refuge in his wrecked home with the rest of his family.

Japan is filled with amazing rescue stories, but this one is particularly surprising. I wouldn't think a 4-month-old baby could last that long. She must have had Help.

For more WOGs, a description of why we WOG and an opportunity to join the WOG Squad, see this post.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

It'll be St Patrick's day in a couple of days, and I thought it fitting to share a shepherd's pie on this Irish festival. That raised an all-important question though: Is the shepherd's pie British or Irish? I always thought of shepherd's pie as a classic British thing, but others (the Irish?) claim it's Irish. Oh well. I'm doing it Indian-style anyway. Yes, indian. I want the kick of spice in my pie.

I adapted a Gordon Ramsay video recipe for the classic shepherd's pie--the man's brilliant, I love how no-nonsense he is. But I also incorporated the spices in kheema matar (spicy minced meat with peas i.e. matar. I didn't use peas, so it's just a masala mince)-- this man is brilliant too-- for an extra special touch of spicy goodness.

Masala Kheema Shepherd's Pie

serves 4

Ingredients

for the filling

500g lean minced lamb (if it's beef, it'll be cottage pie)

2 large onions, grated

1 large carrot, grated

handful of mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 tsp ginger, grated (or 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste)

1 cinnamon stick

2-3 cardommom pods, crushed

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp garam masla

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 cup whole plain yogurt

sea salt, black pepper

1 tbsp flour

for the mash

3-4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 egg yolk, beaten

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp parmesan + extra to top (optional but it's a secret ingredient that'll lift the dish)

sea salt, black pepper

Method

1. Boil potatoes.

2. Add oil to a hot pan, and the whole spices to toast.

3. Add the minced meat, breaking it up and searing the meat to get the caramelised brown. Season.

4. Grate in the onions, carrots, garlic and ginger. This helps them to disintegrate into the sauce better, a Ramsay tip, which is why I didn't add the onions before the mince like what vahchef did. Also add in the flour to cook out, this will help thicken the gravy later.

5. Add the mushrooms, ground spices and tomato puree, cook for 3 min more, then add the yogurt and let simmer for 10-15 min.

6. Meanwhile, your potatoes should be cooked. Drain, mash and season. Add the egg yolk, butter and parmesan to the mashed potato.

"mash that deserves to sit on my mince"

7. Add the green chillies and garam masala powder to the mince and continue to cook uncovered till you get a dry gravy. You don't want a soggy shepherd's pie. Also a good idea to pick out the cinnamon stick (and the cardamom pods) now.

8. Tip the filling into a baking dish, then top with the mashed potato and another sprinkling of parmesan. Fork through (important, to get the crispy edges!), and dot with butter.

9. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 min, or till golden.

Serve with a light salad, hopefully more indian style with thinly sliced red onions and cilantro.

How can you not love a good shepherd's pie? You can't go wrong with buttery parmesan-mashed potatoes and minced meat that's coated with rich savoury gravy , but add to that the piquant flavour and aroma of spices, and it's definitely a winner for the singaporean in me!

This is part of Hearth and Soul Blog Hop #39, Tasty Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday.

The Japanese Are Amazing

Let's see here, they get a 9.0 earthquake and a monstrous tsunami, but they still manage to get their nuclear reactor back under control.

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. engineers at a nuclear plant restored water to safe levels, helping drive down radiation after residents within 30 kilometers (19 miles) were ordered inside to avoid contamination.

Water supply at reactors No. 1 and No. 3 stabilized and radiation readings at the front gate of the plant dropped to a level that isn’t “harmful to the human body,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said this afternoon in Tokyo.

Almost any other country dealing with either one of those two problems would have been completely crushed.

Elsewhere, our Monastery of Miscellaneous Musings has photos and videos.

Bunny Napkin Placecard Holders

Isn't this little napkin bunny cute?  Do you see the little wad of cotton ball for the tail?  


Because we have always lived far from family, Easter was one of those holidays that was often spent with friends.  I remember this Easter with the bunny napkins well.  We had a french student, Anne-Gaelle, living with us.  Her family came for Easter.  They brought this huge chocolate Easter Egg.  It was HUGE and we laughed and gasped as we imagined them carrying this enormous orb all the way from France.


It was so "over the top" impressive, I used the chocolate egg for the centerpiece of the kids' table.  We took out a small hammer and let the kids all take turns "cracking" into the egg.  It was toooo  much fun and the kids have vivid memories of this holiday.


Anyway, my memories made me digress (now I need to go dig up a photo of that incredible egg).  


Adding to Easter memories  was a trip to  Bath, England. The most delicious smell of roasting lamb was being cooked in the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed.  So?  Big surprise?  I'm cooking lamb for Easter. 


Back to the Martha Stewart bunny napkin placecard holder thingys.  I dare say, I am easily distracted.


I saw this idea for table napkins on the Martha Stewart site for Easter ideas (Easter bunny fold napkins).   Her napkins were dinner napkins made out of pure linen.  I didn't have any of those.  I did, however, have these little dessert napkins I picked up because the pattern attracted me.  You could use any paper napkins.  Even the plate sized paper napkins would work.


I thought I would follow her fold pattern to see if it worked on a much smaller scale.  I thought I could place these little bunnies on the table and stick place cards in between the bunny ears.  It wasn't difficult. They don't have to be thrown away afterwards but can be put in a plastic bag and used again.


Hippity-hop!

Gi-Normous Chocolate Egg - New York

PRAWN RAVA FRY

Ingredients:

Medium sized prawns .... 1/4 kilo

For marination:

Garlic paste .............. 1 tsp.

Ginger paste ............ 1 tsp.

Turmeric powder ..... 1/8 tsp.

Cumin powder ......... 1/2 tsp.

Coriander powder ... 1/2 tsp

Garam masala ........ 1/4 tsp.

Salt ......................... to taste

Oil .......................... 1 tbsp.

Lime juice .............. 1-2 tbsp.

For coating:

Egg ..... 1

Corn flour or rice flour ... 1 tbsp.

Salt ......... to taste

Semolina/rava ........... fine variety

Bread crumbs.

Oil .......... to fry

Method:

1. Clean and de-vein the prawns leaving the tails intact. Marinate them with the ingredients mentioned above for marination. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

2. Beat the egg and corn flour or rice flour adding a pinch of salt.

3. Heat oil in a pan to deep fry the prawns.

4. Dip each prawn first in the egg mix and then coat it with breadcrumbs and semolina. ( you can prepare and refrigerate them until you are ready to fry )

5. Deep fry the prawns for 6-7 minutes until done, taking care not to make them brown in colour.

6. Serve them immediately with hot chilli sauce.

Source: TV Show - Chakh-le Academy

NDTV Good Times (Chef - Aditya Bal)