Ina, I love you. The Barefoot Contessa was the inspiration for my roasted brussels sprouts that we happily devoured for dinner a couple nights ago. Roasting these little powerhouse packages of nutrients gives them a whole new level of flavor; rich with a touch of sweetness.
Fresh brussel sprouts, outer leaves removed as needed and halved
Bacon
Salt & Pepper
Preheat oven to 400º.
Lay bacon slices in a shallow baking pan (11×17) and bake until done. Remove bacon but leave enough bacon fat in the pan to coat the brussel sprouts. Spread brussel sprouts out evenly in pan, stirring to coat the sprouts with the bacon fat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake about 20 minutes.
Crumble bacon and stir into sprouts when they’re done.
Next time, buy more sprouts!
You can leave them whole, just cook another 15 minutes or so.
Why oh why did it take me so long to try this? We loved bacon-wrapped asparagus, but I have never tried it on the entree. I don’t know why! There is also a Rachel Ray recipe for bacon-wrapped shrimp and scallops on the Food Network site, that I’ll try soon.
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
8 slices bacon (recommend Wright’s thick sliced)
freshly ground black pepper
oil for baking dish
If you want to spice this up a bit, use any combination of herbs, spices, or marinade that your heart desires.
Oil your baking dish with olive oil or butter. Fold the chicken thighs over and wrap one slice of bacon around each piece. Place in dish with the ends of the bacon tucked under the bottom. You don’t need toothpicks to secure the bacon. Sprinkle liberally with pepper and bake @ 375º for 30 minutes and broil another 5-10 minutes to crisp up the bacon. I baked it a little longer and didn’t broil it and the bacon was crispy enough and the chicken cooked through.
Its the last day of January and winter will slowly draw down here in the Mid-south. We are already appreciating the extra moments of evening daylight and the daffodils are popping though the soil. Good and welcome signs!
I saved this song for last because I’m corny like that. I hope the daily gospel songs have brought some sunshine, or should I say Sonshine, to your long winter days.
TETELESTAI!
The greatest note of triumph ever sounded in the ears of a startled universe was that sounded on the Cross of Christ— “It is finished!”. That is the final word in the redemption of humankind. –Oswald Chambers
You can tell when a choir likes what it is singing!
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. John 17:4
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head,
and gave up the ghost.
John 19:30
It Is Finished
by Bill and Gloria Gaither
There’s a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man’s soul or it’s loss
On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha’s hill
The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God’s son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries
It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there’ll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord
Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn’t know that the war had been won
Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages
Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free.
If your church doesn’t preach the blood of Jesus Christ, find a church that does, child. “Its still the blood that saves from sin. Its still the blood that cleanses within. Its still the blood of Jesus that brings vict’ry to me.”
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.
Revelation 1:5,6
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Revelation 1: 7,8
Its Still the Blood
by Lois Gail
Once I wandered in sin’s black night
And there was no way I could make my wrongs right.
Then that old accuser to the Lord did cry,
He is a sinner and now he must die.
Chorus
And it’s still the blood that saves from sin;
It’s still the blood that cleanses within,
From the highest star in heaven, to the depths of the sea,
It is still the blood of Jesus that brings vict’ry to me.
Then I heard a voice saying, “Father, I’ll go.
I’ll pay his sin-debt in Calv’ry’s flow.
I’ll bear in my body the marks of the cross
To save that child who is sin-sick and lost.”
There are those who rely on the works that they do,
And some men count on the times they pray through.
But when the battle’s over and my last song is sung.
I’ll go home through the blood of my Father’s precious Son.
