12 your fork and Recipes

there was a woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three months to live. as she was getting her things in serving, she contacted her pastor and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes. she told him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. the woman also requested to be buried with her favourite bible., everything was in serving and the pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very important to her., more thing , she said excitedly. what s that came the pastor s reply. this is very important, the woman continued.. i want to be buried with a fork in my right hand. the pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.. that surprises you, doesn tsp it the woman asked. well, to be honest, i m puzzled by the request, said the pastor., woman explained. in all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, i always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, keep your fork. it was my favorite part because i knew that something better was coming..like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. something wonderful, and with substance! so, i just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and i want them to wonder what s with the fork then i want you to tell them: keep your fork..the best is yet to come, eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. he knew this would be 1 of the last times he would see her before her death. but he also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. she knew that something better was coming. at the funeral people were walking by the woman s casket and they saw the pretty dress she was wearing and her favorite bible and the fork placed in her right hand. over and over the pastor heard the question what s with the fork and over and over he smiled., during his message , the pastor told the people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. he also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. the pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either., he was right ., next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you oh so gently, that the best is yet to come..

light olive oil or 3 tbsp canola oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, minced, salt, fresh basil, minced, black pepper, white kidney beans or 1 (20 oz) can great northern beans, albacore tuna in water, drained and flaked, scallions, sliced, red sweet bell peppers or 1/4 cup yellow sweet bell peppers or 1/4 cup orange sweet bell pepper, chopped, leaves bibb lettuce (optional)

margarine (not tub !) or 1/2 cup butter, softened, brown sugar , packed, egg yolk, flour, baking powder, salt, egg white , fork beaten, nuts, finely chopped (your favourite), red jam (your favourite flavour)

english muffins (fork-cut), tomatoes , cut into 12 slices, pepper , to taste, crispy bacon (use more bacon, if desired and the crispier the better), american cheese (white or yellow , your preference)

all-purpose flour, brown sugar , packed, baking powder, raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed ), grated apple, your choice, eggs , fork-beaten, vegetable oil (canola can be used), buttermilk (or reconstituted from powder ), all-purpose flour, brown sugar , packed, ground cinnamon, margarine or 3 tbsp butter, hard (not soft)

chickpeas, drained and mashed with fork, parsley or 1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped, jalapeno pepper, very finely minced, white vinegar, dried onion, minced, ground cumin, dried garlic granules, egg, beaten to blend, self rising flour, cheddar cheese, coarsely-grated, salt and pepper, to taste, oil , for shallow-frying, flour, sesame seeds, your favorite salsa

plain english muffins split in half ( i use a fork and insert it all around and they split easier.), cream cheese, cherry , black , berry jam or your favorite jam.

beef roast , any cheap cut, olive oil, onions, sliced, whole rosemary, basil leaves, condensed tomato soup, garlic, chopped or crushed, dry vermouth (can leave out but it s just not the same), paprika, bay leaves, cracked peppercorn, worcestershire sauce

italian sausages, removed from casings (mild or hot, your choice , about 1 lb), olive oil, divided, onion, chopped, stalks celery, chopped, carrots, scraped and chopped, garlic cloves, minced, fresh italian parsley, chopped, dried oregano, red pepper flakes (optional), italian plum tomatoes , with juices crushed with a fork (i like san marzano tomatoes, which are a little more expensive, but well worth it), dry red wine (such as chianti), canned low sodium chicken broth (or homemade , if you have some on hand), cannellini beans, drained, dried ditalini , cooked al dente according to package instructions (or any other small tubular pasta), salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste, freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese or pecorino romano cheese, to taste

tuna in water, drained and separated with fork, mayonnaise (this is approximate -- use only as needed), celery ribs (chopped ), onion (diced ), sweet pickle relish (or dill pickle relish as per your choice to taste), eggs (boiled and peeled -- eggs are optional), pepper