A return to the delights of food...

Some of you may not know, our brother Benjamin is ministering as an intern for Vision Forum Ministries in San Antonio, TX for 6 months. Here he is pictured with the two other interns on their first day. 

While we are delighted at this opportunity for Benjamin to serve alongside godly men for a ministry that has blessed us in so many ways, we sorely miss him. 

One specific downside to his being gone was a temporary apathy towards food. Ben was one of the most appreciative persons in our family when it came to food and his daily encouragement provided the inspiration we didn't even realize we were getting... till now. A reminder to be always thankful!

In spite of our lack of posts on the subject, we have still been eating... :o)

 and putting away fresh food in anticipation of winter cold.

A particular Lenz favorite is Pesto:

Our basil was wonderfully productive this year. Just 15 plants yielded several bushels!

We process 2 cups of basil, 1 cup walnuts and 4 cloves garlic, and then add 1 cup olive oil in a slow steady stream. Add 1 1/3 cups of fresh grated parmesan cheese, 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper and process. Add 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/4 cup hot water and process briefly again.

You can freeze this for basil pesto all winter:

Or eat it fresh mixed with 2 lbs. of noodles. We recently found some whole wheat spaghetti noodles made with just water and whole wheat. I thought they were delicious. I expect we'll be making our own noodles eventually.

Another unexpected blessing this year...

We have several apple trees on our farm but unfortunately we had a poor yield this year due to a late frost. The apples we harvested from our trees were all promptly turned into pies and crisps or eaten fresh. 

Our family loves applesauce; we spread it on our pancakes and it features in many of our cakes and sauces adding sweetness and zest without processed sugar. You can imagine we were thrilled when Sam brought 6 bushels of Haralson "thirds" home from the local orchard!

I think I underestimated my project time a bit. Sam came to my rescue at midnight to help run the last few apples through the Squeezo, which, by the way, is a marvelous machine. We simply cut the washed apples in half, boiled them in 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes and run them through the sieve extricating the seeds and peels and yielding ready to process sauce.

The two bushels we didn't process should keep well in the root cellar for at least 3 months. 

I am not picturing the 75 quarts of tomatoes and V8 so you'll have to take my word for it.

Enjoy the excitement and joy of this changing time of year, celebrating the provision of our Creator in every season.

Romans 1:20

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse..."

Have you ever balanced on the brink of a lake and gasped when the wind at your back to swept your breath from you out over the dancing foam and then tossed it back in your face filled with the living scent of spray and sun?  Has your heart ever burst in praise when the sun fits a dawn-shaft to his bow and pierces the eastern edge of a gray blanket of water with a flash of gold?  Did you ever sit next to limpid waves and try to count every myriad shade in the rolling dip of the noontide swell?  Have you ever lifted your paddle to let a canoe rest on the glowing mirror of water at dusk and made dimples in the glass with your fingers?

Every such lucid testimony to the nature of God has served its purpose well if it makes the human heart cry glory His name.

The old hymn says it well:

“Shout to Jehovah all the earth

Sing to Jehovah with gladness

Before Him come with singing mirth

Know that Jehovah He God is.”