Cooking Skepticism and Thoughts about Jacob

I thought maybe cooking lettuce would not work. I asked a couple of times about this and no one answered my specific question, so I tried it--with fear and trepidation.

I served it up and it was quite nummy. I of course added a dollop of Daisy (light). The three of us ate nearly all of it, there was enough for four. Dan came home later and warmed it in the microwave, I would not recommend that way of reheating. It made the chips soggy.

So, another cooking situation I had this week. I wanted a "roast beef like my mom made". I should have done it like I had seen her do it for 24 years (or more). I didn't, I went to the internet for help. Sometimes the internet is the right answer, sometimes Mom's ways are best. I read a couple of sites that said to preheat the oven to a very high temperature and then put the roast in for a certain amount of time and turn the temperature down, or to turn it down as soon as you put it in. I followed (kind of) one that had the vegetables (carrots and potatoes) on the bottom of the roaster and the roast on top of the vegetables. I won't do it that way again. I heated the oven to 450˚ and put the roast in. I had let the roast sit out at room temperature for a couple of hours and made several slits in the meat and stuck in some garlic cloves. Salt and pepper were added along with olive oil.

I let it be for 30 minutes and then turned the temperature down to 400˚. I cooked it there for an hour. The recipe I followed said it would be done now. I knew a bit better than that. But, I didn't really know all. I then turned it down to 225˚ and roasted it for about 2 or more hours, I am not exactly sure of the timing.

I took it out and followed several people's recommendation of letting it "rest" before slicing into it. So, while I tried to rescue the vegetables (story to follow) and make gravy, the roast rested.

The potatoes and carrots were not even close to being cooked. Potatoes can be so tricky!! I threw them into the microwave hoping to get them cooked further. I know from experience that it is not the best way to make a potato, but I had to do something to make them at least edible. I didn't want the meal to be a complete fail. But, having made bread in the bread machine, I knew I was going to have at least one redeeming factor in the meal...let them eat bread!! (They were probably thinking, "Off with her head!")

So, roast was rare--almost mooing. Potatoes were almost as hard as rocks. Carrots were shrivelled up in a way I cannot even express in my vocabulary. Gravy was good. Bread was good. BUT!!! The meat, although way more rare than I prefer, the flavor was WONDERFUL!!!

Lesson learned. Mash the potatoes, skip the carrots, cook the meat longer, and always serve bread.

Now, on to Jacob. I was reading today in Genesis the account of when Jacob decided to leave Laban--his twice father-in-law and set up a home of his own. He was leaving for several reasons, fleeing really. His brothers-in-law were grumbling about him because he was successful and his father-in-law's attitude had changed about him. The story struck me because I think of all the times the in-laws in stories just don't get along. Just like present day. Parents usually think their children don't know what they are doing (which I know is usually the case) but then you bring in another person, not really part of the family and that person really doesn't know what they are doing. I know this isn't the case in every family, but it does kind of make me chuckle that even way back then, it happened too. Jacob was so mistreated by Laban, tricked into marrying the ugly sister before he could marry the beautiful one. He endured. He endured for many more years and then God told him to go home. Thankfully, the wives (sisters) agreed and were willing to go with him. God blessed Jacob for his obedience and tomorrow's reading will tell me how things went with Jacob reuniting with his brother whom he had duped out of his birthright.

The Bible is not a boring book.

Thanks for listening.