Favorite Dinner Recipe

When I was newly married and we started to have company for dinner frequently,  I decided that I would not waste time or energy in being nervous about how my dinners turned out and whether or not our guests would like what I served.  I announced to my husband that I would do my best, but if any meal did not turn out..we would simply retire to a restaurant where everyone could be assured of a good meal. He laughed and said he had no fear that the meals would not turn out.  It's been many years, and never once have we had to resort to taking our dinner guests to a restaurant.  Here is my favorite recipe from throughout all these years. This is an Oriental dish.

Beef With Mushrooms and Celery

1          Teaspoon Salt
1/4       Teaspoon Sugar
1          Tablespoon Cornstarch
4          Tablespoons Soy Sauce
1          Teaspoon Sherry Wine
2          Medium Onions,  sliced
1          Pound Beef, sliced thin
            several stalks celery, sliced
1          Can Bamboo Shoots.....can increase this amount
1          Can Water Chestnuts...sliced or diced......can increase this amount
1          small can Mushrooms..........can increase this amount
1          Package  frozen PeaPods
1/3       Teaspoon Accent in 1 cup water


Saute beef to brown in oil.  Remove from stove and drain.  Saute onions until slightly brown.  Add mushrooms, soysauce, peapods, celery, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and meat.  Heat thoroughly.  Add mixture of sherry, cornstarch, salt, and sugar and accent.   Continue to cook for a few seconds until gravy thickens, stirring slowly.  Serve hot.  Serves 4 to 6. 

This is a really versatile recipe, you can add or subtract vegetables, double the recipe, add more meat if you like....experiment until there is enough to feed all you wish to feed and meets your taste test.  The prep time is longer than the cooking time..it really cooks up very very fast....and it cooks all in one pot.  Try it in your wok if you have one.  It is really good served over rice.

God's Wife

An eye witness account from New York
City, on a cold day in December,
some years ago: A little boy,
about 10-years-old, was standing before a shoe store on the
roadway, barefooted, peering through the window, and shivering
With cold.

A lady approached the young boy and said,
'My, but you're in such deep thought staring in that window!'
'I was asking God to give me a pair of
shoes,' was the boy's reply.

The lady took him by the hand, went into
the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks
for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water
and a towel. He quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back
part of the store and, removing her gloves, knelt down, washed
his little feet, and dried them with the towel.

By this time, the clerk had returned with
the socks.. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him
a pair of shoes.

She tied up the remaining pairs of socks
and gave them to him.. She patted him on the head and said, 'No
doubt, you will be more comfortable now.'

As she turned to go, the astonished kid
caught her by the hand, and looking up into her face, with tear
in his eyes, asked her.

'Are you God's wife?'