Goals and Delusions

Since many in my family need sugar free and/or gluten free, I decided to make raspberry oatmeal bars that filled the bill. I even asked two ladies at church to pray for a divine anointing that I would be able to follow a recipe.

And I tried! I really did! But who knew you have to read the whole recipe first to get things right? You’d think being 68 stinkin’ years old I’d have it figured out by now! NOT!

I started off with good intentions and organized my tools and ingredients with care. I was going to make a double recipe, and I believe I did the math correctly. The recipe had a long list of ingredients. It seemed there was an abundance of sugar substitutes, but hey! What do I know? Some people like their raspberries very sweet. I had blended everything but the raspberries into the bowl before I realized something was amiss.

I had assumed that the crust and crumb topping part of the recipe would be separate from the raspberry filling. It wasn’t.

I finished it anyway and popped it into the oven. You can tell you haven’t cooked in a long while when you have to figure out how to set the timer on the stove. To add insult to injury, it seems my oven is running hot and the bars ended up on the dark brown to burnt side. In the process of taking the bars from the oven, I burned my hand.

On top of that, I was making quiches for the rest of the week when I cut my thumb from stem to stern which is the medical term for bleeding like a stuck pig.

In the midst of my delusions that I could cook something worthwhile, I realized that a trip or two to Walmart and Sam’s sounded really wise. I have decided that St. Paul was correct in his teaching – “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly.” Even though he was talking about spiritual gifts, perhaps I can also apply it to my cooking abilities and lack of the same.

Final note. Ronald and my mom both enjoyed the overly sweet gunk. And bless his heart! Ronald even helped me clean up the kitchen!

Second final note. I did persevere and made a second batch of bars which turned out just like I wanted. Miracles do happen!!!

Blessings

KB