For Friday, April 15th, 2011

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

APRIL 15th, 2011

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side

It's FRIDAY!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DS#2!

May the dear Lord bless you today and always!

May brooks and trees and singing hills
Join in the chorus too,
And every gentle wind that blows
Send happiness to you.

Irish Blessing

Happy Birthday!

THINKING

Quality time comes out of quantity times.

Here's Eugene Peterson's paraphrase in The Message:

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

Philippians 4:8

NEW IN THE KITCHEN

April 15th is National Glazed Ham Day

When we plan our Easter holiday menu, we always start with ham. It is so convenient today to find the pre-sliced spiral cut hams in the market. Make your Easter Dinner Glased Ham a tradition for your family meal.

Look for a ham that's pre-sliced. Otherwise you'll have to slice it yourself with a sharp knife, then the glaze will be applied.

Baked Honey Glazed Ham

1 6-8 lb. ham

2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
Whole cloves
Unsweetened slices fresh or canned pineapple rings

maraschino cherries

1 cup ginger ale or 7 Up

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. or if pressed or time, 300 degrees F. Place the ham in a roasting pan. Score the fat on the ham making a diamond pattern.

In a small bowl, combine prepared mustard, brown sugar, and honey. Rub the ham all over with the mustard-honey sauce, pressing sauce into the cut marks. Stick a whole clove in the center of each diamond. Using toothpicks, secure slices of pineapple to the ham. Then in the center of each pineapple ring, secure maraschino cherries with toothpicks.

NOTE: If preparing half a ham, cover the cut end with heavy-duty aluminum foil, secured with toothpicks, to keep the meat from drying out.

Bake the ham, fat side up, from 2 to 4 hours depending on the size and weight of your ham or until internal temperature reads 140 °F. on a meat thermometer. Baste every 30 minutes with ginger ale.. Later in the cooking, baste with pan juices. When done, remove from oven and transfer to a carving board. Let the ham stand for 30 minutes before carving.

When slicing, cut away the rind and any excess fat. Then cut into slices, as thin as possible.

Add accumulated carving juices to the remaining sauce and serve separately. Arrange the meat on a warmed serving platter.

Makes 6 servings.

I've never tried using ginger ale before but it does sound good. Other wise I do usually use brown sugar, cloves and pineapple slices. DD and her hubby will be baking our ham this year and I'm looking forward to it.

PRAYERS

Keep us safe, Lord, while we are awake, and guard us as we sleep, so that we can keep watch with Christ and rest in peace

Amen

Please pray for God's protection of

our troops and HIS wisdom for their

commanders.

Lord, hold our troops in

your loving hands.

Protect them as they protect us.

Bless them and their families for the

selfless acts they perform for us

in our time of need. I ask this in the

name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

AND bless our Police Officers, Firefighters

and Paramedics and EMT's

GOD BLESS YOU!

AROUND HOME

Guess what April 15th is. Go ahead, take a wild guess. If your wild guess was Take A Wild Guess Day, you have some strange guessing issues. Anyway, if you're a fan of hunches, speculation, conjecture, or even good old-fashioned gut feelings, I'm going to venture a guess of my own and say that you're in for a real treat!

Have a great Friday!

COUNTING THE DAYS

A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.

Author Unknown

67 DAYS UNTIL SUMMER!

Keep looking ON THE BRIGHT SIDE of things.

A little smile, a word of cheer,
A bit of love from someone near…

Love,

ma