Tag: Food

Posted in faith, Food

There’s so much more to come

Posted on by William Douthwaite
  • “Food distributors announce recalls. Do you have any of these products in your pantry? Details right after this.” You keep watching through two minutes of commercials, hooked by the announcer’s teaser.
  • The first thing you see at the restaurant is the appetizer menu. Looking down the list, you’re suddenly a lot hungrier than you were when parking the car.
  • As you browse the new fiction at the library, the paragraphs on the inside cover flap catch your attention. You want to find out more about a mysterious character in an intriguing situation.
  • A glimpse of a mom or dad gives you a clue what a young woman or man will look like in twenty years. For better or worse, that’s the DNA they’ve got to work with.

All of the above comes to mind when the apostle Paul describes the Holy Spirit as “the deposit (down payment) of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” (Ephesians 1:13,14). The faith-working Holy Spirit in us is a reminder that there is much more to come. The world around us seems to unravel more each day. People let us down. Nothing seems to last very long. We too quickly lose the ones we love.

On the other hand, God holds the universe together. He’s faithful and eternal. Nothing can separate us from his steadfast love that never ceases. His new morning mercies make us stay tuned for more details, create a craving in us for more, lead us to read the book, and imagine what we’ll be like one day.

Posted in Life

Seafood? No thank you.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Durenne Loris on Unsplash

Last month, we took my son and his family out to supper at a nice seafood restaurant in Saint Augustine. As we were looking over the menu, I overheard an interesting conversation at an adjacent table.

“I’m allergic to all kinds of seafood. What else do you have?”

The menu was filled with wonderful appetizers and entrees. With dishes ranging from gator tail to butterfly shrimp to the catch of the day, I had a hard time deciding on what to order.

I listened with interest as the waitress explained to the seafood-allergic customer that they had little to offer a hyper-allergenic customer.

Why? Why would you come to a seafood restaurant if you were allergic to all fish and shellfish? What were you thinking? What did you hope would happen?

The boyfriend was beside himself. This was a bad idea. No matter how you look at it, this was going to be a bad night. She’s pissed at you. You’re both hungry. There’s nothing on the menu you can order.

You might as well just go somewhere for dessert.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

I’d try a little bit of everything

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Daily writing prompt
Where would you go on a shopping spree?
View all responses

I’m not much of a shopper. I’m more of a buyer. When I walk into a store, I’m on a mission. I have a list. I get what’s on my list. I check out. And then I go home.

However, I can see myself “spreeing” in a place with a vast assortment of food and drinks. (Is that even a word?) It could be a row of food trucks, vendors booths, or free samples at Costco. That’s where I would spend a lot of time and money.

I can picture myself wandering from barbecue to pizza, asian and creole, and then to baked goods and ice cream. In between, how about a soft pretzel or nachos? Sample craft beers and whiskey. No huge platters or meals. Let’s do small portions of many different tastes.

Posted in cookies

We are printing cookies!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

We are printing cookies!

Well, kind of. We just added an Eddie Edible Ink Printer from Primera to our cookie business’ arsenal of equipment. It is amazing how quickly cookie cutters, icing tips, boxes and packaging, food coloring, and little pokey things for smoothing icing accumulate in the kitchen, the bedrooms, and on the dining room table. I suspect they are being fruitful and multiplying when we’re asleep.

The Eddie printer is amazing. It prints a picture with edible ink right on an iced cookie. Here are the first few that I made as I figured out how the printer worked.

You can print any text or picture right on a cookie. Once you get it set up on the computer, it only takes a few seconds. It’s pretty amazing.

I unboxed the printer yesterday. All I had to do was put the carousel in the front, hook up a few cables, pop in the ink cartridge, and I was all set to go.

Unfortunately, most of the software is for Windows and I have a Mac, but I found out a few workarounds from YouTube videos. I found a nice Elsa and Anna picture for my first efforts, one we can use for a fourth birthday party in a few weeks. The other design is for a conference. Once we get them baked, I’ll have to learn how to print them on a different shape. That will be my next challenge.

One of the hardest things to do when custom icing a cookie is lettering. This makes it a snap. Anything I can print on paper, I can put on a cookie! Photographs, logos, cartoon characters, maps, words, dates, anything.

Do they taste good? You better believe it. Butter, sugar, and frosting come together to make you reach for another…and another…and another.

If you want to see more of what we’re making stop by backseatgracebakery.com. We’re printing cookies!

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Manna again?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Star of the Sea on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Numbers 11.

What’s something you could eat every day?

Great question. Some would say pizza. Ice cream comes up a lot. I have a granddaughter who would choose potatoes. Other granddaughters can’t get enough peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Plenty of people begin their day with a donut to go with their coffee.

Once in a while I hear someone extol the virtues of Waffle House. I’ve only eaten their once and that was enough. A friend of mine proudly tells the story of eating at a Waffle House all three meals one day. Better him than me.

Manna was the miracle provision of God to keep his people fed in the wildernss. After a couple of years, though, it was getting old. “There is nothing but this manna to look at” (Numbers 11:6). At that time they didn’t know they still had thirty-eight years to go.

In his song “So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt,” Keith Green imagines some creative ways to serve up manna (skip to 3:36 if you’re in a hurry):

Oh, manna waffles
Manna burgers
Manna bagels
Fillet of manna
Manna patty
BaManna bread!

So what blessings are you sick and tired of? Family? Job? House? Car? Church? Closet full of clothes? Food?

Chances are you prayed for those things. God provided. God’s been providing for a long time. And all you can do is complain.

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Are you going to eat that?

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Leviticus 11.

At least once a month, lunch at the fraternity featured, “BLT – down all the way!” as Randy would mimic his favorite New York deli. I have to admit that we Gentiles made sure our Jewish brothers witnessed how much we enjoyed bacon as they settled for other leftovers.

I’m not saying they were devout. I only ever saw them go to synagogue on Yom Kippur. They didn’t eat pizza for the first three days of Passover week before they caved. None of my Jewish friends could explain the story of Hanukkah in December. But they drew the line at bacon and rare roast beef. I know, that’s not blood in rare roast beef, but that’s what they claimed they were avoiding. I would imagine they grew up in homes where those foods were avoided. (We Christians weren’t especially devout at college, either.)

Leviticus 11 is filled with dietary laws. Pork was unclean and off-limits for Israel. Swimming fish were fine, but shellfish was prohibited. It was OK to east locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. What about lizards? Nope. No roadkill, either.

I find it interesting that holiness, at least in this context, was determined by your choice of food and contact with a dead animal. In hindsight, we know that may of these rules were for health reasons. They distanced God’s people from the pagan culture around them, who didn’t have as many regulations.

I read with interest those restaurants shut down by the health department. Sometimes, I’ll think, “Didn’t we eat there just last week?” I try not to think about that.

As New Testament believers, no foods are off limits (Acts 10). But I still try to distance myself from artificial sweeteners, chemicals, and processed food, along with too much fast food. I feel better, and feel better taking care of a body the bible calls a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Let’s do lunch

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Anastasia Shuraeva on pexels.com

A “through the bible” devotion from Leviticus 3.

One of my favorite things to do with the church preschool was to eat lunch with the students. The table was short and the chairs were tiny but my lunch was much like theirs: a sandwich, some fruit, something sweet, and sometimes a little bag of chips. Sometimes I would wait to eat with the teachers, who had their lunch during nap time. Those were the best times to connect with everyone at the school.

The peace offering of Leviticus 3 is like having God show up for lunch. This sacrifice wasn’t about sin, but about the peace they already had with God. Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). People of faith, trusting God’s promises of salvation, can enjoy some food together with the Lord. As someone who enjoys eating, I like this chapter of Leviticus.

There are some important instructions to take note of. The fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the long lobe of the liver are God’s. Apparently, those fatty parts were the best parts, and of course, God always gets our best. You like bacon, right? That’s fatty. (I know, they didn’t eat pork. But I do.) How about butter? Fatty. A ribeye steak is delicious because it’s nicely marbled with fat. Cheese? You get the idea.

Oh, and don’t eat the blood, either. Blood is about life in the bible, and life belongs to the Creator. So the blood is his, along with the fatty parts.

I wonder what God would think of school lunches?

  • Imagine the all-knowing God looking at his lunch tray and wondering, “What kind of meat is this?”
  • Do you think he would trade something in his lunch for something in yours?
  • If he brought his lunch to school, what kind of lunchbox do you think he would have? If he bought his lunch, would he be excited about pizza day?

God is great. God is good. Let’s do lunch! (I told you Leviticus would be fun!)

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Today’s lesson: food!

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Dushawn Jovic on Unsplash

A “through the bible” devotion from Exodus 16.

There’s truth to the saying, “You’re not yourself when you’re hungry.”

A cute baby turns into a monster when he or she decides they want to eat. children get restless as snack time approaches. Your dog or cat sits and stares until you relent and fill their food bowl. Wedding guests get snarly as table after table is called to the buffet line ahead of them. “Just wait till I get my hands on whoever ate my lunch from the break room refrigerator!”

Hungry people are irritable, rude, impatient, and nasty.

“The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The sons of Israel said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!’” (Exodus 16:2-3)

Suddenly you wish you were back in Egypt making bricks? Your taskmasters fed you that well? You miss Pharaoh’s home cooking?

Probably not. But now you’re ready a theology lesson. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “I have heard the grumblings of the sons of Israel; speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’” (Exodus 16:11,12). One of the best ways to get to know God is to be hungry and then eat. Then you’ll know that he is the Lord your God.

If that’s the case, then I’m learning about God all the time. I get hungry a lot. I often forage in the kitchen for a meal or a snack. That’s my kind of education. It sure beats sitting in a seminary classroom!

Over time I’ve become a lot less demanding and much more grateful for my daily bread. Some of that comes from having to buy and prepare the food myself. But it’s also because I’ve grown in grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Posted in Food

Review: JoJo’s Country Cafe in Deland, FL

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The cool, breezy morning had given way to a hot summer day by the time our grandson’s baseball game was over last Saturday. We didn’t mind the early drive to the field, but now we were hungry. A quick search of nearby restaurants on a maps app guided us around the corner to JoJo’s Country Cafe in Deltona.

As we pulled into the strip mall parking lot, we saw JoJo’s, along with the usual tattoo place, barber shop, 24 hour coin laundry, and other assorted businesses. Tucked away between some hotels and a housing addition, the strip mall had been there a while. Our initial reaction: “Sketchy.” But it got decent reviews, so why not give it a try?

JoJo’s is a typical breakfast and lunch place. The coffee was hot and strong, but only tasted average. My wife and I split “JoJo’s Platter”, which included eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, and toast. We added a pancake, too. The good was good. As I told her, “It’s hard to get breakfast wrong.”

I thought the decor was interesting. There was no rhyme or reason to the stuff hanging on the walls. There were some old photographs, a US Flag, a bible verse, some old signs, and a framed flower. A few old Uline catalogs were scattered around. I guess people like to page through those. (Actually, we did that, looking at some boxes and shipping materials.) None of the coffee mugs matched. In fact, ours advertised banks in Texas. I’ll bet they purchased these at a thrift store.

It was 10:30 on a Saturday morning, and we were the only customers there. The restaurant must be crowded on weekdays or earlier in the morning. Only one other couple wandered in for some lunch.

On a shelf behind the counter, my wife noticed large boxes of cereal. Nothing appeared on the menu, but we could have asked for a bowl of Cheerios or Raisin Bran. Neither of us have seen cereal offered at a restaurant for a while.

Overall, JoJo’s wasn’t a bad place for breakfast. The average reviewer gave it four out of five stars. That sounds about right. I doubt we’ll ever be in this neighborhood again, so I’m glad we stopped in.