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‘The Star Thrower’ and the Difference You Can Make

In 1978, author Loren Eiseley published an essay called “The Star Thrower.” It recounts a beach walk by a narrator...

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Soundscapes for Restorative Sleep and Mindfulness 

In the hustle of daily life, finding moments of peace and tranquility can sometimes feel like an impossible dream...

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Soundscapes for Restorative Sleep and Mindfulness 

Cappuccino Frozen Pie

Posted on by Lidia Bastianich

Ingredients

Crust
12 chocolate graham cracker sheets
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. instant espresso
pinch kosher salt
5 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
Filling
1 qt. coffee ice cream
2 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 c. sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a food processor, grind together the graham crackers, sugar, instant espresso and salt to make fine crumbs.

2. With the processor running, add the melted butter and process just to combine.

3. Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch pie plate, making sure the crumbs are evenly distributed.

4. Bake until the crust is crispy, 10 to 12 minutes, then cool completely before filling.

5. Remove the ice cream from the freezer to soften it a bit while you make whipped cream. In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream and sugar to soft peaks. Add the sour cream, and whisk until it is just combined.

6. Freeze overnight (wrap tightly in plastic to keep the taste fresh) or until the cream is frozen. To serve, cut with a sharp knife dipped in hot water.

Serves 8.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 550; Fat: 40g; Cholesterol: 115mg; Sodium: 250mg; Total Carbohydrates: 43g; Dietary Fiber: 0g; Sugars: 27g; Protein: 6g.

Read Lidia’s inspiring story from Guideposts’ The Joys of Christmas 2018!

Copyright © Diana DeLucia; recipe from Lidia’s Mastering the Art of Italian Cuisine by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali, © 2015 by Tutti A Tavola, LLC, by permisison of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.

Candied Carrots with Feta

Posted on by Shellie Rushing Tomlinson

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs carrots 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
Salt and pepper Lemon juice
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 °F. Cut carrots lengthwise into thin strips. Whisk together balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add brown sugar.

2. Toss carrots in dressing and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until carrots are tender and browned, stirring every 15 minutes.

4. Transfer to a serving platter and gently toss with lemon juice and feta.

Serves 6 to 8.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 130; Fat: 8g; Cholesterol: 15mg; Sodium: 260mg; Total Carbohydrates: 12g; Dietary Fiber: 2g; Sugars: 8g; Protein: 3g.

From Hungry Is A Mighty Fine Sauce, By Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, with permission from Barbour Publishing. Photograph by Carey Eubanks Tomlinson.

Calico Corn Salad

Posted on by Henry Tindal

With a full-time job and my own catering business on the side, I appreciate food that can be prepared ahead of time, like this colorful, zippy salad. My family and friends are glad to sample the new dishes I prepare, especially when they turn out as good as this one.

Ingredients

2 packages (16 ounces each) frozen corn, thawed

4 small zucchini, diced

1 large sweet red pepper, diced

2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies, drained

1 medium onion, chopped

2/3 cup olive or vegetable oil

¼ cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2–2½ teaspoons ground cumin

1½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Preparation

1. In a bowl, toss corn, zucchini, red pepper, chilies and onion.

2. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine remaining ingredients; shake well. Pour over the salad and stir gently. Chill for several hours or overnight.

Serves 8–10

Caleb’s Comfort Cake

Posted on by Diane Hill Roark

Ingredients

1 c. butter (2 sticks), softened
½ c. butter-flavored shortening
3 c. sugar
5 eggs
¾ c. sour cream
1 Tbsp. butter extract (or lemon or almond extract)
2 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. buttermilk

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. With an electric mixer, cream together the softened butter and shortening

3. Add the sugar to the creamed butter and shortening. Cream for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mixture is fluffy.

4. Add five eggs, one at a time, and mix until the yolks disappear, about 1 to 2 minutes.

5. Blend in sour cream, extracts, salt and baking powder.

6. Gradually blend in the all-purpose flour and buttermilk.

7. Spray a Bundt pan with cooking spray, and pour in batter.

8. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Allow the cake to cool completely, about 20 to 30 minutes. Turn out onto a cake plate, and add topping of your choice.

Serves 12.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 590; Fat: 28g; Cholesterol: 125mg; Sodium: 370mg; Total Carbohydrates: 76g; Dietary Fiber: 0g; Sugars: 52g; Protein: 7g.

Bumbleberry Jam

Posted on by Trendle Wells

Any mixture of berries will do. It depends on what’s ripe and fresh. In June use raspberries and blueberries. Later, it’s blackberries and gold raspberries.

Whatever you use, I promise when you open a jar in January, you’ll taste summer.

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Ingredients

4½ pints mixed berries

½ pint cleaned, chopped rhubarb

1 1.75-ounce package low-sugar pectin (I use SureJell)

4½ cups sugar

½ teaspoon butter

Preparation

1. Place mixture of berries and rhubarb in a 6–8-quart saucepan.

2. Mix pectin with a ¼ cup of sugar in a small dish and add to fruit mixture. Add the butter.

3. Bring to a full, rolling boil, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. Stir in the rest of the sugar, still stirring constantly. Bring back to a rolling boil and let boil for 1 minute.

4. Remove from heat and spoon off any foam that has collected on top.

5. Fill sterilized jars with jam, leaving at least a finger’s-width of space at the top.

6. Process according to instructions on homefoodpreservation.com.

Read about how one family made friends selling Bumbleberry Jam at their local farmers market.

Building 429 Frontman Jason Roy Speaks on Fatherhood and Forgiveness

Posted on by Jessica Toomer

Jason Roy isn’t afraid to be honest.

I discover this after a late-morning phone call on the day his Christian band Building 429’s new album Unashamed is set to debut. After realizing we hail from the same hometown—Wilmington, North Carolina—trading favorite local haunts and forgiving each other for being alumni of rival high schools, the lead singer confesses something most artists are not wont to admit: he actually reads reviews.

READ MORE: MATT MAHER ON PLAYING FOR THE POPE

“Last night, a review popped up on Twitter and I knew I shouldn’t read it but I had to,” Roy says. “I clicked on it and it was the best review I’ve ever been given for any record I’ve ever made.”

We agree he shouldn’t read any more—in case others prove to be more critical—and start unpacking Unashamed, the Christian band’s 9th studio album, a marked departure in sound from any of their previous records.

Building 429 – whose members include Roy, Michael Anderson, Jesse Garcia and Aaron Branch – is known for their catchy lyrics, sweeping anthems and fist-pumping beats. Their latest album showcases all of that along with a more vulnerable side to the men.

Songs like “Be with Us Now” speak to the late-night theological conversations on tour buses the band had where they questioned why people would ever be ashamed of their faith.

“The idea of the title of the record is that you have to be unashamed of your story of brokenness before you can be truly unashamed of the Gospel,” Roy says.

Roy has seen this play out in his own life.

A child of divorce, Roy was constantly on the move while living with his mom and stepdad. When he felt something missing from his life, he decided to move to Texas to live with the father he only saw once a year. What he hoped would be a fresh start turned out to be something frightening.

A power lifter who was struggling with the aftereffects of extensive steroid use, Roy’s father was, at times, abusive.

“It was a really weird thing,” Roy says. “I knew my dad loved me, but I was scared to death of him at the same time.”

Those early years were tough; Roy faced bullying at school and at home for his Christian beliefs. His father didn’t share his faith and had a hard time connecting with him because of it, but the one thing they did bond over was music.

“He bought me a drum set. He put a guitar in my hand when he had no money. He provided a place for me to learn how to play music.”

Roy also attributes his own work ethic to his father’s strict regimen.

READ MORE: BIG DADDY WEAVE BRINGS ‘BEAUTIFUL OFFERINGS’

“He was a marine drill sergeant,” Roy jokes. “He woke me up every morning at 5 a.m. and we ran 3 miles together. Even when I was tired, wanting to go back to bed, he’d say ‘It’s all a matter of attitude.’ That has served me so well. I would not be a part of Building 429, 15 years later if I didn’t have that in my head; ‘Don’t Give up, don’t quit, It’s all a matter of attitude.’”

Roy addresses his evolving and complicated relationship with his father on the track, “Stronger.” He sings about the bullying he endured and ends with, “Maybe someday we’ll find a way to love each other.”

“A long time ago, I decided that I was not going to hate my father for who he could never be, I was going to love him for who he was,” Roy says.

The singer, who is also a father now, says he’s been grateful for the chance to heal his relationship with his dad and to witness the amazing change he’s undergone – his father is now a man of faith, a fan of Roy’s music and a doting grandfather to Roy’s two children.

Roy hopes that by laying down his shield and baring his own story through this latest record, he’ll help others realize that they’re not alone in their struggles.

“That is the great lie of this life; that you’re the only one,” Roy says. “As believers, we’ve bought into this [idea] that ‘Sunday morning best’ means that we should come into Sunday morning service perfect. The church is not for perfect people. Our story of brokenness is not what disqualifies us for use by God, it’s what qualifies us. God gets the glory when a broken person is used to do something spectacular.”

Bubba Watson on the Bible and the Lessons His Parents Taught Him

Posted on by Brett Leveridge

Hi, Guideposts. I’m Bubba Watson. I’m a father, I’m a husband, and I’m two-time Masters champ.

We were at a charity event, a putt-putt goofy golf, and a kid asked me my favorite Bible verse. And I said, “The whole Bible.” Because you’ve got to use the whole Bible. You’ve got to believe 100% of the Bible to get through life, because life is very difficult. It’s very challenging. And so the whole Bible to me is the whole key.

How the Bible helps me cope with anxiety? It goes back to, again, reading, understanding, and knowing what’s most important in life. And I lost that many times over my life trying to gain perspective, but trying to see that there’s more important things than my career, there’s more important things than money, there’s more important things than objects, and it’s not about the trophies.

My trophy should be being the husband my wife needs, being the dad that my kids need, and then friends, family, and keep going. But, you know, it’s realizing what’s most important in life. So when I look at the Bible, it’s the whole story of the Bible that helps me deal with many things.

The most important thing my mom taught me was to work hard, dedicate yourself to whatever you’re doing, grind through it. Because I’m a golfer, doesn’t matter what the weather’s like, practice in the rain, practice in cold weather. The same thing the Bible says, work hard at all you’re doing, everything you do, give it your best.

The most important thing I’ve learned from my dad was telling the truth. He said, “All you have in this world is the truth.” In this book that I put out I try to let everybody know all the things that I go through, all the things that I’ve been through. And again, trying to use that to go forward, to move upward, and to learn from that. And so my dad always put that in me, always put that in my head at a young age, is to tell the truth. No matter if it hurts you or hurts somebody else, you have to tell the truth so they know that they can trust you 100%.

Maintaining my spiritual wellbeing is talking to my wife, talking to my Sunday school class, my Bible study class, trying to understand the Bible more, understand where I’m going in life, and understand what’s most important. So it’s a team effort. It’s a lot of people you got to interact with to make sure they hold you accountable. So it’s a long process and I’m learning it every day, but that’s the goal, is to move forward and move upward closer to Jesus.

Brenda Gantt’s Strawberry Cake

Posted on by Brenda Gantt

Ingredients

Cake
1 box white cake mix
1 tablespoon White Lily self-rising flour
1 small box strawberry gelatin
¾ c. vegetab.e po;
1 c. fresh or frozen strawberries (thawed until mushy)
4 large eggs
Icing
1 stick butter
1 box powdered sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
½ c. frozen strawberries (thawed)

Preparation

1.Preheat oven to 350°.

2. For cake, mix together cake mix, flour, gelatin, oil, ½ cup water and strawberries.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with a mixer after each addition. Divide batter among 3 (8-inch) round cake pans that have been greased and floured.

4. Bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

5. For icing, beat butter with a mixer, gradually adding sugar, until smooth. Add vanilla and strawberries, and mix well. Avoid adding too much syrup from the strawberries or icing could become too thin.

4. Frost cake layers with icing. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.

Serves 12.

Nutritional Information:  Calories: 390; Fat: 23g; Cholesterol: 80mg; Sodium: 115mg; Total Carbohydrates: 43g; Dietary Fiber: 0g; Sugars: 40g; Protein: 3g.

Recipe from It’s Gonna Be Good, Y’all by Brenda Gantt (83 Press, 2021).

Read Brenda’s inspiring story from the February-March 2022 issue of Guideposts!

Bread Pudding

Posted on by Lance Nitahara

This delicious treat is fragrant with cinnamon and vanilla bean.

Ingredients

12 oz. butter 3 c. sugar
2 ½ loaves crusty French baguette 9 whole eggs
6 c. heavy cream Pinch kosher salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cinnamon, to taste

Preparation

1. Cut butter into walnut-sized cubes. Bring butter and eggs to room temperature, about 45 minutes.

2. Slice baguettes into 1/2-inch slices and lay them in a baking pan, closely packed. Repeat in two more layers.

3. In a large pot, combine heavy cream, vanilla bean seeds and pod (or vanilla extract). Heat slowly over medium heat for about three minutes, or until mixture reaches 110°F. Turn off heat.

4. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until very smooth, about five minutes.

5. Crack eggs into separate bowl. With mixer on medium, add eggs one at a time, allowing each to fully emulsify before adding next. Scrape down bowl and run mixer for another 15 seconds.

6. Remove vanilla bean pods from cream. While running mixer on medium (use whisk attachment if you have one), slowly and steadily add cream until fully incorporated. Add pinch of salt and mix to combine.

7. Pour custard over bread until all slices are covered. Grate a liberal amount of cinnamon on top. Cover and allow custard to soak into bread for a minimum of 45 minutes.

8. Preheat oven to 350°F. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. When custard has fully soaked into bread, cover with foil and place pan into a slightly larger pan. Carefully fill larger pan halfway with boiling water.

9. Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake 30 minutes more, until brown and bubbly.

Serves 20.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 510; Fat: 43g; Cholesterol: 240mg; Sodium: 200mg; Total Carbohydrates: 30g; Dietary Fiber: 0g; Sugars: 22g; Protein: 9g.

Don’t miss Lance’s inspiring story about how he came to be the winner on the Food Network show, Chopped.

Download your FREE ebook, The Power of Hope: 7 Inspirational Stories of People Rediscovering Faith, Hope and Love.

Bread Made with Love

Posted on by Kimberly Onufrock-Bracco

There’s nothing quite so homey as the smell of baking bread.

I know. I’ve been baking bread as long as I can remember.

Yes, now there are bread machines, but I can’t imagine using one. For me, a loaf of bread is more than flour, yeast and water. It’s what’s kept my family going for generations. It has truly been the staff of life.

One of my earliest memories is watching my grandmother bake bread in her old-fashioned kitchen in a fishing village in the frozen north of Canada. She had a wood-fired stove. I sat in the warmth sipping a tiny cup of tea Grandmother made me.

She stood at the counter kneading dough and telling stories of her childhood. Her mother died in childbirth. Grandmother helped take care of her siblings. She had to learn to bake bread when she was a girl. The family couldn’t afford store-bought. She’d been baking so long I’m sure she could’ve done it blindfolded. She glided around the kitchen like a dancer, every move seeming effortless. It was only when she opened the stove to tend the fire that I saw baking bread was work as well as art.

A blast of heat whooshed out and Grandmother’s face flushed in a single triangle-shaped spot on her forehead. I always watched for that spot. It was a sign of the effort—and the love—that went into her bread.

Grandmother taught my mom to bake bread and Mom continued the tradition. Our kitchen didn’t look like Grandmother’s. It was modern, with pine cabinets, shiny counters with metal trim and a wall-mounted oven. But whenever Mom baked bread, it felt like northern Canada. Just like Grandmother, Mom told stories of her childhood in that Canadian fishing village.

“It was so cold!” she said. “Everywhere snow and ice. I used to sit by the stove while Mom made bread. That was the coziest spot in the house.”

We didn’t have a lot of money growing up and Mom worried about Dad getting laid off. The only indication I ever saw of Mom’s anxiety was when it came time to punch down the dough. She plunged her fist in fiercely, as if she were releasing her worries. Then, calm, she divided the dough and put it into bread pans. While the bread rose, I ran out to play.

When the dough was puffy, Mom dotted it with butter and slipped the loaves into the oven. Soon that heavenly smell wafted out the window. Like clockwork my friends began turning up, asking, “When’s the bread going to be done?” Mom pulled the bread from the oven, dabbed the loaves with butter and set them out to cool. Then came my favorite part, a slice for everyone!

Ordinarily we didn’t bake bread in the summer. Too hot. One year, though, money was tight and our car broke down. We couldn’t afford repairs. Mom walked to the auto shop looking worried. When she returned she was smiling. She pulled down the shades, turned on the fans and set to work. Soon the kitchen was sweltering.

“Why are you baking?” I asked.

“The man at the garage agreed to fix our car in exchange for some of my bread,” she said. “I know it’s hot, but we just have to do it.” Soon the loaves were ready. I saw the sweat trickling down Mom’s neck. On her forehead was a triangular-shaped red spot. Just like Grandmother’s.

I bake bread these days not because I have to but because I love to. When I first began I had to look at the recipe for every step. Now I almost feel Mom and Grandmother moving around the kitchen with me.

Sometimes it’s more than a feeling. If the day is very warm or I’m in the kitchen a long time I feel my face get flushed. I glance in the mirror and see, on my forehead, a triangular-shaped red spot. From Grandmother to Mom to me. A sign of a family tradition, bread made with love.

Try Kimberly Onufrock-Bracco’s bread recipe and watch her make it!

Braised Sausages with Chiles

Posted on by Donald Link

This hearty, flavorful main dish is just the thing for cool autumn evenings.

Ingredients

1 tsp. canola oil 1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
4 4-oz. pork sausage links 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 12-oz. bottle amber beer 2 Tbl. Creole (or whole-grain) mustard
½ c. red wine vinegar 4 rosemary sprigs
1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 tsp. salt
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and julienned Steamed rice, for serving

Preparation

1. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and sear for 5 minutes, turning as necessary until evenly browned.

2. Add the beer and vinegar and cook for 1 minute, until slightly reduced.

3. Add the onion, red pepper, jalapeño, garlic, mustard, rosemary, and salt and toss well to combine.

4. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the peppers are soft, the sausage is cooked through and the sauce begins to reduce and thicken, 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Serve over rice.

Serves 4.

Nutritional Information (using one cup rice per serving): Calories: 530; Fat: 38g; Cholestrol: 85mg; Sodium: 1640mg; Total Carbohydrates: 19g; Dietary Fiber: 1g; Sugars: 3g; Protein: 21g.

Reprinted from the book Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link’s Louisiana by Donald Link. Copyright © 2009 by Donald Link. Photographs copyright © 2009 by Chris Granger. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Random House, Inc.

Boy Scout Breakfast

Posted on by Alice Hunt

There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning to sizzling bacon, potatoes and eggs frying in the skillet.

Ingredients

5 pounds red potatoes, diced once cooled

1 pound thick-sliced bacon, diced

¾ cup green bell pepper, diced

1 medium onion, chopped

6 to 8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

5 to 6 large eggs

Preparation

1. Boil potatoes in a large pot of water until they start to feel soft, but not mushy. Before they cool completely, peel the skins. Dice the potatoes and set aside.

2. Fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium-low heat till fat is rendered. Drain off some of the grease from the skillet.

3. While continuing to brown bacon, add the green pepper and onion and cook thoroughly. Add the potatoes to the pan, and heat until the mixture is hot throughout.

4. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, letting it melt down into the mixture. Then stir in the eggs, cooking them all the way through.

Serves 4 to 6

Read how this dish became a family favorite in Dad’s Boy Scout Breakfast!