Sew Happy Friday – An Easy Tablecloth

 

The O’Neil sisters at Running with Sisters posted this really easy tutorial for making a tablecloth.  Since fabric wide enough for the average square or rectangular tablecloth is often more expensive and not as common, they came up with a neat idea for using regular 44” fabric (or anything close to that) by cutting it and putting a “runner” down the middle.  I think it looks very nice, and I think this project would qualify for a beginner level too.

This could be done in any fabrics that you think would go in your dining room, and you can easily switch the solid and print around or use two complimenting prints.  An added bonus is that it wouldn’t be hard to size this for smaller or much larger tables.  You’d just need to do the math to know how much fabric to buy.  Wide tables might pose a problem, but the center strip could be cut wider in that case.  I’d like to try this pattern with some strawberry fabric. :-)

One thing I’d do, though, is tuck in the raw edges of the hem so that it would last longer and wouldn’t develop “strings” hanging down around the edges after washing.  The mitered corner would have to be adjusted slightly, but I don’t think it would be that hard to figure out.  If you have a serger, you could just finish the edges with that before hemming.

The Thousand Word Project – Green Leaf

 

Anyone know what this is?  :-)

Only to Know – A Poem by Allie Starbright

 

Only to Know

Only to know that the path I tread
Is the path marked out for me;
That the way, though thorny, rough and steep,
Will lead me nearer to Thee!
Nearer to Thee! nearer to Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, to Thee!
Only to know that the path I tread
Is bringing me nearer to Thee!

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Evening Song – Showers of Blessing

 

Ezekiel 34:26  And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

The Thousand Word Project - Fiery

 

Delicious Roasted Chicken

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes.  I first published in on my birthday in 2009.  I hope you enjoy it. :-)  If you don't like thyme try another herb that you prefer.  It would be good with sage or oregano or basil or other similar herbs.

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Here is a simple recipe that makes great tasting chicken! This is based on a recipe which I altered slightly by Marcella Hazan that was published in AARP magazine.

Roasted Chicken with Lemons

3-4 lb. chicken, washed and patted dry.

Salt

Pepper

Dried Thyme, crushed

2 small lemons

Butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut excess fat off of chicken (Do Not remove the skin).  Rub with a generous amount of salt and pepper both inside and out.

Wash and dry the lemons. Soften by rolling back and forth on the county while pressing down firmly with your palm. Puncture it in at least 20 places with a fork or skewer. Place both lemons inside the chicken.  Close the opening with toothpicks or a trussing needle and string.  (Do not make it airtight.)  Tie the legs in their natural position with string, if desired. (This is mostly useful for making it easier to turn the bird.)

Butter a roasting pan generously and place the chicken in it breast side down. Dot the chicken with bits of butter. Sprinkle lightly (three or four pinches) with crushed thyme. Place it in the upper 1/3 of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn chicken breast side up. Try not to puncture the skin, but don't worry if you do as it will still be good. Sprinkle top of chicken lightly with crushed thyme. (The top should be pretty well buttered with what you used to grease the pan. No need to add more.)

Cook another 30-35 minutes, then increase the temp. to 400° and cook 20-25 more minutes or longer depending on the size of the chicken. Use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat (the breast) to check for doneness.  It should read 180°. Make sure you are not touching a bone when you use the tester. There's no need to turn the chicken again.

If it seems to be getting too well done on the outside and the inner temp. is not high enough yet, you may want to cover it lightly with aluminum foil to continue baking.

Serve the chicken whole and cut it up at the table. Leave the lemons inside until the bird is carved. They add a wonderful flavor to the broth in the pan.

I recommend serving this with a rice dish and pouring some of the broth over it at the table!  Delicious!

Hard Questions - Is It Biblical for Women to Wear Pants?

 

This is a critique I wrote of an email a reader received some years ago.  It probably will not end the way you expect, so please don’t make assumptions going into it. :-)  This is a long article, but I hope that someone will be helped.

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One of our readers received a letter from a friend in which the friend was giving a lot of excuses as her justification to wear pants. They include what appears to be her own inventions and probably things that someone who has "freedom in Christ" spoon fed her.  Based on the title of this article, you may have come here expecting something different from what you are actually going to read.  The point here is not the "pants on women" issue.  It's a lot bigger than that.  Please don't get sidetracked on that issue and miss the main point.  The main point is that a lot people are messing with scripture, misinterpreting it and actually calling God a liar in order to avoid dealing with the subject of modesty in general.  Please consider carefully where you are getting the justification for you own "liberty" in regards to not only dress, but also any other areas of life.  We may all be guilty at times of redefining scripture to excuse ourselves of sin or carelessness.

My replies in purple Arial font follow the statements made by the woman which are preceded by >>. Her spelling has been left intact for the most part.

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>> How do I explain old covenants and new covenants to you? There are
>> SEVERAL covenants in the bible...did you know that? Each time a new
>> covenant was made, the "rules" changed.

This is not true. If you study the covenants of the Bible you will find that some of them are built upon the others. This is true of the New Testament covenant. It is built on the Old Testament law, for the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Galatians 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. If we did not have the O.T. law of Moses' covenant, we would not know what sin was. If we did not have the prophetic aspects of those covenants we would not know what it was that Christ came to fulfill. Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

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