Reblogging - Grillards

There are certain foods that I cook by the TLAR (That Looks About Right) method. Grits, cornbread, greens, gumbo, grillards, vegetable soup, chili. I just cook them. So here is a TLAR kinda recipe.

Marinate about 1 to 1 and a half pounds of round roast/steak in red wine, Lea & Perrins, pepper and onion salt for a couple of days in the refrigerator. Cut the meat into 2 inch cubes and pound the meat until it's about a quarter inch thick. Pound using a rolling pin or smooth rubber mallet -- don't use one of those meat tenderizers, because they cut the fibers instead of loosening them up. Brown the meat off in a hot pan with olive oil -- searing the flesh, not cooking. Put the meat in the crock-pot. Saute now 1 large or 2 small onions, some celery and a bell pepper (The Trinity). Right before it's done, add in your garlic to taste (one clove to 5 cloves, crushed). Don't add too soon or the garlic will be bitter. Add this into the crock put when a little more than transparent. Since you are doing this right after breakfast, and since you either made bacon or sausage, add the drippings in the pan. Add a stick of butter or so until you have, uh, enough. Probably about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup. Add flour in equal amounts -- from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup. Cook this mixture until it is dark brown, stirring constantly. (This is called a brick roux.)

Add a can of tomatoes, diced. Then fill the can with wine and pour it in. Stir this mixture -- it will be very thick. Put it in the crock pot with the meat and aromatics. Cook in the crock pot on high for 3 or 4 hours, then on low for 3 to 4 more hours. IF it seems too thin, after 3 hours, make another roux and add it to the pot. It tends to thin as it cooks. It's done when it is a uniform brown color and the meat is falling apart.

Cook some cheese grits -- start with 4 cups water to 1 cup quick grits -- then put in a dash more grits. Fresh stone ground is best. Make sure you have a dash of salt in the grits. Cook covered, stirring frequently until it gets to the volcanic bubble stage. Cut the heat and add about 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Add a half a stick of butter. Stir until they are done, then add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Ladle out grits into a bowl until half full. Let them set up for just a little while. Then ladle up some of the grillards -- a more or less equal amount onto the grits. It should look like a pool of brown gravy on with a thin rim of grits around. Ummm....

Hot sauce on the side with salt and pepper -- a fresh green vegetable like snap beans or asparagus. Iced tea. Red wine. Fresh yeast rolls. Umm, umm. Yes.

Morning Prayer - John 1

Hear us, O God, in your dear love,
Let our prayers rise to you above,
And help us, this and every day,
To live as truly as we pray.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Lord, I thank you for the faithfulness of your servants. I thank you for their committment and the grace and love that come from you through them. I thank you for that great cloud of witnesses that surround us -- the saints who are dwelling with us and those who have gone on before us. Thank you for friends, for those I know in real life and those I have met via the internet who minister to myself and each other, mostly unaware. I pray for those today who are sick and ill and suffering -- in spirit and in the body.

Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
Govern and uphold them, now and always.
Day by day we bless you;
We praise your name for ever.
Lord, keep us from all sin today;
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy;
For we put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope;
And we shall never hope in vain.

Morning Prayer - Magnificat

Luke 1:26-38

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”³⁵The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Morning Prayer - Psalm 139

Psalm 139
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Morning Prayer - Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear Desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

O Wisdom,
O Holy Word of God,
You govern all creation with your strong, yet tender care.
Come, and show your people the way to salvation.
(The great "O" antiphons.)

Morning Prayer - Philippians 4

Philippians 4:4-9 -- The Message

4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6-7 Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9 Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.



Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come
among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and
the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.
BCP - preface for Advent 3.

Morning Prayer - Lo! He Comes, With Clouds Decending

Lo! he comes, with clouds descending,
once for our salvation slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
swell the triumph of his train:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.

Every eye shall now behold him,
robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at nought and sold him,
pierced, and nailed him to the tree,
deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
shall the true Messiah see.

Those dear tokens of his passion
still his dazzling body bears,
cause of endless exultation
to his ransomed worshipers;
with what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
gaze we on those glorious scars!

Now redemption, long expected,
see in solemn pomp appear;
all his saints, by man rejected,
now shall meet him in the air:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
See the day of God appear!

Yea, amen! let all adore thee,
high on thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory;
claim the kingdom for thine own:
Alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.


Words: John Cennick (1718-1755), 1752;
as altered by Charles Wesley (1707-1788), 1758;
and then altered by Martin Madan (1726-1790), 1760

Morning Prayer - from the Book of Common Prayer

Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. -- Mark 13:35, 36

Psalm 41
1
Happy are they who consider the poor and needy!*
the LORD will deliver them in the time of trouble.
2
The LORD preserves them and keeps them alive,
so that they may be happy in the land;*
he does not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
3
The LORD sustains them on their sickbed*
and ministers to them in their illness.
4
I said, "LORD, be merciful to me;*
heal me, for I have sinned against you."
5
My enemies are saying wicked things about me:*
"When will he die, and his name perish?"
6
Even if they come to see me, they speak empty words;*
their heart collects false rumors;
they go outside and spread them.
7
All my enemies whisper together about me*
and devise evil against me.
8
"A deadly thing," they say, "has fastened on him;*
he has taken to his bed and will never get up again."
9
Even my best friend, whom I trusted,
who broke bread with me,*
has lifted up his heel and turned against me.
10
But you, O LORD, be merciful to me and raise me up,*
and I shall repay them.
11
By this I know you are pleased with me,*
that my enemy does not triumph over me.
12
In my integrity you hold me fast,*
and shall set me before your face for ever.
13
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel,*
from age to age. Amen. Amen.

Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to you, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto you; and then use us, we pray you, as you will, and always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Morning Prayer - Psalm 145

Psalm 145

Refrain: Great is the Lord and highly to be praised.

1 I will exalt you, O God my King, •
and bless your name for ever and ever.

2 Every day will I bless you •
and praise your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the Lord and highly to be praised; •
his greatness is beyond all searching out. R

4 One generation shall praise your works to another •
and declare your mighty acts.

5 They shall speak of the majesty of your glory, •
and I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

6 They shall speak of the might of your marvellous acts, •
and I will also tell of your greatness.

7 They shall pour forth the story of your abundant kindness •
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, •
long-suffering and of great goodness. R

9 The Lord is loving to everyone •
and his mercy is over all his creatures.

10 All your works praise you, O Lord, •
and your faithful servants bless you.

11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom •
and speak of your mighty power,

12 To make known to all peoples your mighty acts •
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; •
your dominion endures throughout all ages. R

14 The Lord is sure in all his words •
and faithful in all his deeds.

15 The Lord upholds all those who fall •
and lifts up all those who are bowed down.

16 The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, •
and you give them their food in due season.

17 You open wide your hand •
and fill all things living with plenty. R

18 The Lord is righteous in all his ways •
and loving in all his works.

19 The Lord is near to those who call upon him, •
to all who call upon him faithfully.

20 He fulfils the desire of those who fear him; •
he hears their cry and saves them.

21 The Lord watches over those who love him, •
but all the wicked shall he destroy.

22 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, •
and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Refrain: Great is the Lord and highly to be praised.

King of the universe,
you show the bright glory of your reign
in acts of mercy and enduring love;
raise the spirits of the downcast
and restore those who have fallen away,
that we may sing for ever of your love;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayers for Charlotte, Anita, Margaret, Bill, Peggy, Lynn, Dale, Amy, Kay, Allison.  Glad thanks for answered prayer this morning!

Morning Prayer - Psalm 86

Psalm 86

Refrain: All nations you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, •
for I am poor and in misery.
2 Preserve my soul, for I am faithful; •
save your servant, for I put my trust in you.
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord, for you are my God; •
I call upon you all the day long.
4 Gladden the soul of your servant, •
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. R
5 For you, Lord, are good and forgiving, •
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer •
and listen to the voice of my supplication.
7 In the day of my distress I will call upon you, •
for you will answer me. R
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord, •
nor any works like yours.
9 All nations you have made shall come and worship you, O Lord, •
and shall glorify your name.
10 For you are great and do wonderful things; •
you alone are God. R
11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; •
knit my heart to you, that I may fear your name.
12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart, •
and glorify your name for evermore;
13 For great is your steadfast love towards me, •
for you have delivered my soul from the depths of the grave. R
14 O God, the proud rise up against me
and a ruthless horde seek after my life; •
they have not set you before their eyes.
15 But you, Lord, are gracious and full of compassion, •
slow to anger and full of kindness and truth.
16 Turn to me and have mercy upon me; •
give your strength to your servant
and save the child of your handmaid.
17 Show me a token of your favour,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed; •
because you, O Lord, have helped and comforted me.
Refrain: All nations you have made shall come and worship
you, O Lord.

God of mercy,
who in your great love
drew your Son from the depths of the Pit,
bring your people from death to life,
that we may rejoice in your compassion
and praise you now and for ever.

Now it is time to awake out of sleep,
for the night is far spent and the day is at hand.
Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed,
for the night is far spent.
Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armour of light,
for the day is at hand.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ
and make no provision for the flesh,
for the night is far spent and the day is at hand.