EnTITLED

This weekend my family took part in an activity that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to except that my Man is a pastor. This weekend my Man was a pastor with a title-less sermon. Around here, the titles of sermons are either things of beauty or targets of ridicule (usually by me and maybe one or two others =-). In my humble opinion, when I am asked for my creative input, sermon titles are things of beauty and when my Man decides to go it alone...targets of ridicule.  I love, learn from, and look forward to my Man's sermons. I'm a fan and a loyal one at that, I just think sermon titles are maybe-kinda-almost not on the top of the list of things at which this minister of mine excels.

Last week's sermon title was good enough, "Off with the Old, On with the New," and dealt with sinful aspects of life that we must forsake to live the life of a Christ-follower. I thought it should have been called (in hindsight) "What NOT to Wear." Catchy huh?

The sermon for this Sunday was taken from Colossians 3:12-17 and included the apostle Paul's instructions to Christians about what characteristics we are to appropriate in our lives. Colossians 3:12 says, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience..."

Imagine my happiness when I received a text message in the middle of last week that said, "Need help with a sermon title." I don't get these requests as often as I feel that I should, so I called my Man and said, "What part of Corinthians are we in this week?"

"Colossians," said he probably thinking where we've been for the past few months! Where have you been wifey??

"Oh right, Colossians, what's the sermon about?" (Like I said, I'm a fan.) After bringing me up to speed on the major points of Sunday's sermon, he asked for a title.

"Give me a bit, I'll have something for you," I promised.  Then I began to prepare dinner and only thought of one measly suggestion after which I gave the matter absolutely no consideration!  A few days later, as he was preparing to go to the gym my pastor Man said, "What was that title you had the other day? I can't quite remember it." (Already, my title had not succeeded if it was forgettable only a day or so later!!!)

"Dressing for a Blessing," I said with mild irritation at my obviously forgettable title idea.  My Man wasn't in love with it either and suggested,

"How about 'What a Christian Should Wear'?"

"Hang on, I was just put to sleep," I teased, "what was that again?"

"OK, I'm going with 'What to Wear'."

"Better," I said, "but not wonderful. Go workout, I'll have something for you when you get back." As the car pulled out of the driveway, I texted reinforcements.

My sister Becky (remember her?) is always quick with a quip so I enlisted her help.

I texted, "Need some quick witted help...." and explained what we were after.  As Becky's mental wheels began spinning, I called my Mom who was at that time en route to my other sister's home in South Carolina to lend a hand with sick children and ailing adults.  "Hmmmmmm," said my Mom loving the challenge.  Soon title suggestions began rolling in...

"How Do I Look?"

"Rags to Riches"

"NOT another Hand-Me-Down"

"Extreme Makeover: Soul Edition"

"Dressed for Success"

"Dress for Your Best"

"Say YES to the Dress!"

"The Clothes You Leave Behind"

"What Are You Going to Wear?"

"Dressed to Bless"

"One Size Really DOES Fit All"

It took my sister only a few minutes to come up with some of those fun titles. It took my Mom only a few short miles and seven calls (each call she said would be the last =-) back to me to think up some of the others.  The "winning title" ended up coming from my Mom's final call which she made to assure me she wasn't texting while driving which I had accused her of doing. 

She called me to tell me that she had, in fact, pulled "way off of the road to send you that text." Just before we ended our conversation she said "How about...

and sooooooo.....

Here she is

Winner and current Title-Holder...

...the pastor's Mother-in-Law, 

who, upon receiving the news of her victory, said that she was 

"just so happy to have been nominated!!"

AND,

if, for ANY reason, the pastor's Mother-in-Law is unable to fulfill her duties as Miss Sermon Title...

...the pastor's Sister-in-Law will assume the title of Miss Sermon Title.

{Just for kicks, the sermon can be listened to by clicking>> Whose Name is On Your Label?}

Cabbage? Are You Kiddin' Me?

Everyone has that one dish that they take to a grieving family or to the dinner that follows the funeral.  One relative of mine is famous for breaking out the Texas Sheet Cake for such occasions, my Grandma always took sweet beans, my other Grandmother took green beans with ham and bacon in them.

I often arrive with cabbage casserole.

Now if you like cooked cabbage, this is the meal for you. If cooked cabbage isn't your cup of tea, you still may want to give this a try because it is wonderful and the cabbage is so "dolled up" that some folks don't even realize that cabbage is an ingredient! In fact, the last time I made this dish for a funeral dinner folks asked me for the recipe for "that noodle dish you brought".

Over the weekend I had the privilege of cooking this recipe for my Grandma and the rest of my family. Among my gang, loyalty to cabbage casserole runs along the boy/girl divide. The girls love it, the men and boys...well you know my Man, and my son and my father seem to be on his team for this one. It was  a good thing we had some detractors however, because us gals plowed through that 9 x 13 casserole in just 2 sittings.  Grandma really liked it and missed out on the second serving, so I made more the next day for lunch. It's kind of addictive and you'll understand why in a moment.

I first tasted this cabbage casserole at a pot luck dinner at our church "in the South".  The pastor's wife and I had never tasted anything like it before, so she hunted down the dish's owner, snagged the recipe, and shared it with me. I've been taking it to funeral dinners ever since.

Here's what you'll need...(recipe follows AS WELL AS a link to the printable recipe :-)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and then remove the outer layer of the cabbage's leaves and rinse the cabbage.  Next, cut the cabbage into 1 inch squares

and place in the bottom of a sprayed casserole dish.

Place enough cabbage into the dish so that it's about an inch to an inch and a half deep. This usually takes about half of the cabbage.

Chop 2 tablespoons of onion (more if you like) and sprinkle it over the cabbage.

Drizzle 1/2 of the melted butter over the cabbage and onions,

add salt and pepper.

In a small bowl combine 1 can of cream of mushroom soup with one cup of mayonnaise. 

(What's not to love??)

Spread this mixture over the cabbage.

I've found that adding the mixture in dollops evenly spread over the top and then smoothing the dollops all together works well.

Crush one sleeve of Ritz-like crackers and pour in a small bowl.

To that bowl add one cup of sharp cheddar cheese...

...and the other 1/2 stick of the melted butter.

Stir to combine and, 

you guessed it, sprinkle evenly over the cabbage et al.

Bake for 30 minutes for a "crisp-ish" bite to the cabbage, or 45 minutes for a more tender taste.

In addition to the divine smell in your house while this bakes, and the awesome taste of all that butter and  cabbage, you will find that it is super easy to just go ahead and make two casseroles while your at it. You'll probably want one dish to come home to when you return from the funeral dinner!

Cabbage Casserole
(Click here for printable recipe)

~Recipe~

1/2 of a medium to large cabbage chopped into one inch pieces

1/2 medium onion chopped

1 stick of margarine (divided)

salt & pepper to taste

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup mayonnaise

1 sleeve Ritz-like crackers (crumbled)

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

O Jackie!

Each time Molly scoots off with my Mom and Grandma I receive an emailed photo like this...

I cannot imagine why my daughter insists on covering 47% of her face with these sunglasses when in the presence of my mother.  Molly is way too young to remember this particular fad's creator. In fact, I'm almost not old enough to remember this fad's creator. 

Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis, wife of the late president John F. Kennedy, began wearing large Hermès sunglasses in the late 1960s after her marriage to Aristotle Onassis.  She is pictured below in her famous frames:

It does occur to me that I do know someone who may perhaps be old enough to remember this fad in all of its glory...

...make that TWO someones! 

My Mom and Grandma are never without their "Jackie Os" as we call them. 

Which probably explains why Molly tends to look like this when she is in the company of these two fine fashion icons...

...as they say...

"When in Rome..."

Saved by the Books...

Oh it was loud. After two weeks of Kate and then Molly being at Grandma and Poppy's house, our home finally held its quota of four pairs of feet, three of which were running to and fro and hopping and thumping.  There were six lungs in various pitches of squeals and whoops echoing off of the walls at the very time of evening when things should have been at least simmering down a bit and even approaching calm. The owner of the set of lungs that was not, at the time, shrieking, was, as usual doing what she'd been instructed to do and was making preparations for bed.

I LOVE THIS CHILD!!!

The others...well, after three dozen or so warnings, they were still just being loud. I finally howled, "That's IT, everyone on the couch! Get out the library books and READ!!"  

We are not against mandatory reading here. If it hadn't been so close to bed time, I would have gone a step or two further and handed out sentences of sweeping and Swiffering followed by laundry with a dishwasher unloading extravaganza for the finale.  It was the approach of bedtime that saved them from certain servitude.  The approach of bedtime and this sight that met my eyes as I turned the corner... 

I fully intended to be the one reading to the girls, and expected the 

oldest noisemaker to read on his own.  Happily, they all had other plans.

Cole kept the girls' attention much better than I ever have.

It may also be worth noting that all three children accidentally

 learned a bit about Holland from this cozy children's picture book.

They thoroughly enjoyed this book, I think in part, because the blonde character

 (pictured on the cover) slightly resembles their mother. Maybe. A little?

This is the third book in the Knuffle Bunny trio.

After Knuffle Bunny found his way to the end of his adventure, I feared that the magical spell the children seemed to be under would dissipate and the thumping and squealing and running and thumping and thumping would begin once more.

Enter Olivia.

We absolutely adore her. We discovered Ian Falconer's creation during Kate's toddlerhood, when it became obvious that Mr. Falconer had captured the essence of Kate with an illustrated pig.  

We own the first two in the series, 

Olivia and

Olivia Saves the Circus.

Many more Olivia books have been written about this delightful pig, and finally, after a three year wait Olivia is back and she's visiting Venice...

 ...and my son lent his voice to her tail...er...tale.

Olivia usually makes us smile, but when we read about 

our favorite pig encountering airport security...we cracked up!

...and then began to calm down a bit.

Next in the queue was none other than...

I wondered if Cole would draw the line at reading about Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique but he didn't have the chance...

Kate decided that she could handle this one and read the story to Molly and me.

 Ok, just me,

Molly wanted to go back and check on Knuffle Bunny.

It's a wonder isn't it, how a few trusted children's books, snagged from the library, can save the sanity of a weary mom, 

hush squealing siblings, 

and take children on trips around the world all without ever leaving the couch!!

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations--something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”~Katherine Patterson, children's author.