Sun., May 6, 2018

Genesis 6:21 – Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.

Contrary to the bible verse, I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer. With summer coming, I like to try and minimize the amount of food carried over from one year to the next.

Friday, we had plans to visit our friends, Howard and Rhoda. We would pick up Friday night fish and eat at their house. Wanting to take along a dessert, I checked the freezer. A few lingering containers of last year’s rhubarb were still hanging out. A double-banger: I would help clean-out the freezer AND get to make one of my favorite desserts. If cleaning out the freezer means sharing food with others, I’m all in.

I love rhubarb. There are many, many different ways to make it. My favorite? Rhubarb crisp. There are a variety of recipes. I want oatmeal in my version. Here is my favorite recipe:

Notice: I’m not afraid to write in my cookbooks. (This is how I knew that I had the right recipe.) For years, I never thought to write in my Bible. While attending seminary, a professor talked about making your Bible your friend. He shared how he writes in his Bible to help him find certain passages more quickly. I immediately embodied his strategy and have been using it ever since.

If writing in a Bible is OK, then should writing in other books be OK? As well as cook books? You bet!

So, while the first pot of coffee was brewing early Friday morning, I whipped up the rhubarb crisp and popped it into the oven. Fifty minutes later, a heavenly aroma was wafting through our house. The rhubarb crisp was done. This is what it looked like. I made a double batch from the recipe:

We had a wonderful evening with our dear friends, Howard and Rhoda. At the end of the meal, I was happy to hear they also like rhubarb as I served up the crisp. Yes, I broke my “no sugar” rule and had just a little bit of rhubarb crisp. The urge was stronger than my willpower.

Thanks, Howard and Rhoda, for hosting us on Friday night. We had a great time.

We made a little exchange before we left. Rhoda had read about Rick’s “lost” rain gauge. While at the hardware store on Friday, she picked up a new one. The lost rain gauge dilemma has been solved! We brought home a new rain gauge. They are enjoying the rest of the rhubarb dessert.

For Rick’s new rain gauge, as well as tasty rhubarb crisp, I am grateful.

Hospitality is one of the spiritual gifts we sometimes overlook. Thanks for bringing into our lives wonderful people like Howard and Rhoda. As Howard’s health continues to change, we pray for him and others struggling with Parkinson’s disease. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

P.S. – I brought along Joanna Gaines’s cookbook, so Rhoda would have a chance to thumb through it as well. She was very impressed!

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