Beginning and End

 

 

 

 

 

 

                    

 

 

 

 

 

SIN

Beaten, Mocked, Thorns

Pain not earned.

 

CROSS

Darkness, Quaked, Torn

The scriptures fulfilled.

 

DEATH

Conquered, Raised, Scarred

But not broken.

 

VICTORY

My sin, His life, God’s glory

Satan has lost.

 

FORGIVENESS

Grace, Love, Mercy

Life from death.

 

FOREVER

Together, Complete, Praise

Beginning and end.

 

 

with love and prayers,

Megan Besing



 

 

www.meganbesing.com

Ham Gravy Recipe* THE BEST GRAVY EVER!



Just in time for Easter.

Growing up anytime my family had a cooked ham…We’d have ham gravy. I thought this was a normal American Tradition. You know, like you have turkey at Thanksgiving.  As an adult I bounced around the states following my military husband, where I had several wonderful opportunities to share Holiday meals with strangers-who would become our dearest of friends, and learned…Most people had No Clue what ham gravy was.

And that is a minor life crisis! Because Ham gravy is the best gravy ever!

Today I’m going to show you what ham gravy is incase you have never had it, and provide a recipe* so you can make it too. ( I use the word recipe loosely, as I never measure, and it always comes out differently each time.)  J

       1.       You may choose to cook your ham in a crock pot or an oven. Pour some water in the bottom of the pan so the ham doesn’t dry out and to make sure you have enough drippings to make your yummy gravy. BUT…Do not place anything else on your ham: no pineapple, no cherries, no brown sugar mixture that may or may not have come with your ham. NOTHING! If you place anything to sweeten your ham, your gravy will be…well gross! Cover the ham with a lid or foil and cook according to the package’s timed directions.

       

 2.        After your ham is cooked, carefully pour the juices

 from the ham into a separate frying pan.

3.       Pour about a ½ cup of cold water into a glass. Then add a heaping tablespoon of corn starch mixing it into the cold water with a fork until the corn starch is dissolved and no longer sticks to the bottom of the glass. Then set aside.

   4.       Heat ham drippings in your frying pan on medium heat. Never. I repeat, Never-Ever add salt to your ham drippings or gravy. Trust me it will be salty enough as is! When the drippings are boiling, whisk in the water/corn starch mixture. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom. Once thickened reduce heat to low. This step shouldn’t take too long, if it is, and the gravy is  still too thin: repeat step 3 with a smaller amount of water and corn starch.

5.       Once the gravy is the consistency you desire (remember gravy usually-almost-always thickens more as it cools.) I then add a browning/seasoning sauce to the ham gravy. Just a few drops will go a long way! I mainly use this to make it a rich brown color, not for the flavoring. I want to taste the ham. J

 

     6.       Pour the gravy in a gravy bowl or place directly onto the desired food. And enjoy the wonder that is HAM GRAVY.

 Left over gravy can be heated in the microwave. (Warning it will be lumpy.)

Or you can add a little water and  re-heat in a pan on top of the stove.

Let me know what you think of the best gravy in the world!

Or perhaps you already knew about the joy that is ham gravy...

Do you prepare it differently?

If you loved this recipe try my Grilled Marinated Pineapple

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter...Or perhaps more properly put:

  Happy Resurrection Sunday!

with love and prayers,

Megan Besing

www.meganbesing.com

author of:

The Rancher's Want Ad Mix-Up

A mail-order mistake…

Or a made-to-be match?

When Della Mae Wagner’s train arrives in Missouri, she’s shocked to find that the couple who hired her don’t just want a teacher for their grandsons but a wife for their son! After a broken engagement, marriage is not in Della’s plans. And Hank Lamson isn’t pleased—with his parents, with his unexpected guest or with Della’s unfairly appealing smile. But his plans to send her packing are foiled as his family comes to love her…and he feels the walls around his wounded heart start to fall.

Find it here.

Through our weaknesses and dealing with the haters.

Sometimes in the middle of the night I’ll wake up and in my sleepy state I will see a shadow that isn’t supposed to be there. My heart will race and about a jillion scenarios will fly through my head. Thankfully my practical self will take over. Forcing my eyes shut I’ll tell myself: when I re-open my eyes if--and only if--the shadow is coming closer, am I allowed to start panicking. (I never said my practical self was logical.)

                And guess what…sometimes the shadow does move. It is then in that moment, I will reach for my glasses. (Right, did I forget to mention I have horribly bad eye sight? Let’s just say my husband says my glasses can help people see Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon.)

So with my glasses now on, I can see…Nothing. That’s right, peering through the darkness wearing my amazingly high prescription glasses, I can see no foreign shadows lurking in my room.

               

                This week I received my first ever ‘hate mail’ for my writing. It was creepy, weird, and well, really cruel. (Now I know why Taylor Swift wrote her song: Mean.) I could feel the beginnings of panic inching up my spine. Only after asking for wisdom did I finally put on my ‘glasses’ and see the hateful email for what it really was:

Showing God’s glory… DO WHAT?

(If you read the email, you’d think I’ve gone nuts.)

But stay with me!

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I didn’t need a stranger telling me all about my writing weaknesses. After all I live with them. I know them very well! But for whatever reason at this moment in my life, God has chosen to use my weaknesses to share the news about Him.

                If I never become known for my skillfully crafted writings, that’s ok. (Especially, if it means receiving less hurtful letters from haters. Lol)

               I know I can’t spell. I know I don’t use commas correctly, and I so know I have a very limited knowledge of what writers call ‘the craft.’  And I hate that. I’m working to better all of that. But I also know this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

                In your daily lives are you listening to the craziness of the world? The haters, the imaginary lurking shadows? Sometimes it is easier to shrug and say, “Yah, that dude is totally right. What in the world am I thinking…?”

Before you start panicking, I encourage you to stop and put on your “glasses”—and make sure the prescription was given to you by the Lord.

                See I’m not retiring my writing pen anytime soon, because God’s still working on me. (and you :) ) And when He’s done, I know the world will see how little of it was achieved by me.

                Are you seeing shadows?

Put on your glasses. Keep your eyes on Jesus, and let Him use your weaknesses to show His awesomeness!     

Because when I am weak, He often makes me strong.

with love and prayers,

Megan Besing

www.meganbesing.com

Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV)

If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy this one.

Author of:

 Amazon      Barnes and Nobles

The Mail-Order Brides Collection: 

9 Historical Stories of Marriage that Precedes Love

Escape into the history of the American West along with nine couples whose relationships begin with advertisements for mail-order brides. Placing their dreams for new beginnings in the hands of a stranger, will each bride be disappointed, or will some find true love?

Perfect for the Preacher by Megan Besing
1897, Indiana
Fresh from seminary, Amos Lowry believes marriage will prove to his skeptical congregation that he’s mature. If only his mail-order bride wasn’t an ex-saloon girl, and worse, pregnant.