So often, caught up as we are in the cobweb of life, we forget to thank God for all the gifts He's given us. So many times we ignore the simple things, the little joys He has prepared for us. So often we take them for granted. Today I want to thank Him for something very simple and easy to make but very... delicious...Caramel pudding. It's amazing how such simple ingredients can be combined into something so special. If you haven't tried it yet, here is my recipe:
CARAMEL CREAM
Ingredients:
1 pint of milk
5 eggs
5 tbspoons of sugar + 7 tbspoons for the caramel syrup
vanilla sugar
1. Heat the 7 tbspoons of sugar in a saucepan, stirring continously until it's fully melted (it becomes brownish and liquidy). Pour the syrup in an oven-proof bowl and turn it around to coat inside the bowl.
2. Mix the milk with the 5 tbspoons of sugar and the vanilla sugar and bring it to the boiling point.
3. Beat the eggs and pour the hot milk gradually
4. Pour the composition in the bowl you coated with the caramel syrup.
5. Put water in a tray and place the bowl on the tray in the pre-heated oven.
6. Cook at 180 degrees for about 35-40 minutes (or until the composition becomes like a pudding).
7. Let it cool down a little and put it in the fridge.
Enjoy cooking it and eating it!
Caramel Cream
The Little Girl Who Wanted To Save The World
The confession of a girl whose daily routine included praying for everything and everyone.
When I was a little girl, my greatest wish was to bring everything inside, where it was nice and warm. Every night after going to bed, I used to close my eyes and pray for all the people and the objects I could think of, begging God not to leave anything out in the cold. The very thought that I might have forgotten something was unbearable. I desperately tried to think of everything – people and trees, dogs and street lamps, grass and buildings, toys, cars, elephants and birds.
It was like an exercise of memory. I did it with passion and conviction, as if it all depended on me, as if it was my duty to make sure everything was fine. I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, because once the door was closed, it would never open again. There were no second chances. I had to make sure nothing was forgotten. I can still remember the anguish coming with the realization that it was humanly impossible to think of everything, that it took just a little flaw in the memory, a little gap in the mind to lose something forever.
The world was a huge place and I loved all the things and the people in it. I didn’t want any of them to be lost, no matter how little and insignificant. The night out there was cold and lonely and the wind was blowing like a restless soul, but in my room it was warm and cosy. In my room, there was love.
As I grew up, I started losing more and more. The old anguish of leaving things out in the dark has never really left me, but it took another form. Every time I lost something or someone, it kept creeping back into my soul, as sharp as a knife, tormenting me. It spoke of unknown tortures like the power of remorse, the blow of despair and the thought that, no matter how hard we tried, it was not within our power to save the ones we loved. The world became a scary place, where everything seemed out of control.
Even now, after so many years, I’m still fighting in my mind to save as much as I can of the people and the objects around me. To protect them from the wind and the cold. It is so important to become aware of things, to touch them, to love them, to redeem them. In many ways, I’m still the anxious but determined little girl who wants to bring everything inside. The thought of leaving anything out still hurts me, and so does the realization that one day the door will close forever and there will be no second chances.
My Earliest Memories
The first objects and people, tastes, sounds and dreams I can remember.
My earliest memories go back to the time when I was two or three years old. The first thing I can recall is a vague, indescribable sensation that I later associated with my conscience. The best way to describe it is a huge tasteless and shapeless sea I carried inside, the virtual space where all the future shapes and concepts were going to be formed.
The first objects: My toys. The plastic bear in a pushchair. A white rubber puppy seal with a red ball on its nose. A little doll dressed in red – later my mother said it was Little Red Riding Hood. A clown lifting weights. A Chinese cyclist on batteries (my dad’s favourite). Those toys do no longer exist. Or if they do, I don’t own them anymore.
What happened to them? The bear in a pushchair: I threw it out of the window of our second floor apartment. By the time I went down to get it, it had already gone. The puppy seal (a lovely toy): I lost it on a snowy winter day. I took it with me on a sleigh ride with my mother. By the time we returned home, we realized it had mysteriously gone.
The first sounds: My mother’s high heels on the pavement – music to my ears. The fairy tales on my old vinyl disks – ‘Puss in Boots’ and ‘Diamonds and Toads’. My father’s voice singing old folk songs. The sound made by the clown when he was lifting weights – a horrible crunch. My father trying to teach me to say 'r'. A dull, repetitive sound I kept hearing in my ears after going to bed. Later I found out it was my own heart.
The first people: My mother gently rubbing my forehead when I was lying in bed with fever. My father letting me walk on his back –a good massage for his rheumatism, he thought. The two little girls next door. The younger so sweet, the elder a monster – she used to terrorize both me and her sister. The nurse coming in to give me penicillin injections.
The first tastes: the rubber taste of the teat – one day I suddenly decided I hated it. Semolina pudding. Spinach. Effervescent Vitamin C.
The first book: “Mother and child”, a huge book with red hard covers – a guide for young mothers.
The first nightmare: a man with a black hat trying to break in.
And many, many more – but I will stop here before I get too carried away. The one thing they all have in common is that they arose from the same shapeless sea... If I asked myself how much that sea had changed over the years, it would be very hard to answer. I can still feel it inside, the way it was then, but I can’t tell whether it belongs to the present or to the past, whether it is still there or it's just the memory of it haunting me from times long gone.
21 Books of Bible Crossword Puzzles
Bible crossword puzzles are a good way to become more familiar with the Bible and improve the knowledge you've already got, while keeping your brain active and fulfilling your need for entertainment at the same time. This list contains 21 books of biblical crossword puzzles you will definetely enjoy solving. They are suitable for both children and adults, and can be used in learning activities, social challenges and competitions, Bible quizzes, etc. If you are both a dedicated Christian and a passionate crossword puzzle solver, you might find something here to keep you happy for a long time.
1. Bible Puzzles: Crosswords
2. The Big Book of Bible Puzzles (Big Book Series)
3. World's Greatest Bible Puzzles - Women (The World's Greatest Bible Puzzles)
4. World's Greatest Bible Puzzles - Stories (The World's Greatest Bible Puzzles)
5. World's Greatest Bible Puzzles - Men
6. Bible Crossword Puzzles: 200 Crossword Puzzles to Enhance Your Bible Knowledge
7. 101 BIBLE CROSSWORDS VOL 1
8. 101 BIBLE CROSSWORDS VOL 2
9. Bible Crossword Puzzles
10. Bible Puzzles: Crosswords
11. Classic Bible Crossword Puzzles
12. Fun With Scripture: Lectionary Word Searches & Bible Crossword Puzzles
13. A BOOK TO LEARN WHO's WHO IN THE BIBLE CROSSWORD PUZZLES
14. Bible Crossword Puzzles Daily Planner-1997 Calendar
15. Crossword Puzzles Bible Characters from the Old Testament (Puzzle Books)
16. The Complete Book of Bible Trivia Crossword Puzzles
17. Itty-Bitty Bible Verse Crossword Puzzles (Itt-Bitty Bible Activity)
18. Criss Cross Your Way Through the Bible: 40 Bible Crossword Puzzles for Kids (Little Library)
19. Chapter & Verse Crosswords and Other Puzzles
20. Bible Crossword Challenge: Big Print Bible Puzzles #23
21. Bible Quotations Crossword Puzzles
5 Things That Make This Moment Unique
Have you ever wondered what makes a moment unique? What makes it different from all the other moments? Moments have a short life, they come and go, being replaced by others. But as you learn to cherish their magic, you realize that, rather than being just one among many, each moment is special and has a life of its own. Here are five tricks that can help you.
1. Look at your watch. What's the time when you're reading this? It's 7:13 PM GMT when I'm writing it. What's the date today? Probably my date is different from yours. (We share different moments and yet somehow it feels like sharing the same. We've already crossed the barriers of time.) So look at your watch and think of the current date. Now consider this: it's a combination that occurs for the first and the last time in history. And you are the witness of it. It is your combination. Your special moment.
2. Have a look around you. Where are you? What can you see? Probably a place you're familiar with. But this place has never existed in the presence of this time combination before. It is a brand new place. Your own very special place. Different from all the other places in the universe. Unique. Just like you. Can you feel the magic of “here and now”?
3. The third element that comes into the equation is… YOU. You make this “here and now” unique. If Time and Space had been enough, God wouldn't have created Man. You make this “here and now” so special. Think of what would happen to this time and space combination if you were somewhere else right now. It would die. You make it live. By being here now. By being who you are. And last but not least, by being aware of it...
4. Coming back to space now… When you looked around you, all you saw was what your eyes allowed you to see. But your knowledge and experience tell you there's much more than that. What you can see is the smallest of the concentric circles. Your mind can draw the other ones. A room. A building. A street. A city (or maybe a town, or a village). A state, a county. A country. A continent. The Earth. The Milky Way. The Universe. Maybe there are more, but we don't know them all. Now make the return journey, starting from the biggest concentric circle towards the centre of the smallest one. Can you visualize where you are? You're part of something great, something magic, something extraordinary. Think of all the other things that are happening right now in the other parts of the world. Of all the computers that are turned on. Of all the languages that are spoken. Of all the planes that are taking off or landing right now. Of all the people who are eating, or sneezing, or making love. Of all the babies who are born. Of all the people who are dying in accidents or on a hospital bed. Right this moment. Think of all the stars and the black holes in the universe. Of all the planets that are light years away from us. And think of you having the chance to live this moment, to be a part of all this, here and now.
5. To this combination of elements, you can add countless others. The more elements, the more magic. It could be the sun shining through your window. Or the sound of the rain. Or you biting your lip. It could be a fly on your monitor. Your nose itching. A thought that has just crossed your mind. A memory. The fragment of a song that's playing on your CD-player. A film promo on TV. Your cat playing with a toy mouse. The smell of your girlfriend's perfume. They are all so precious. Because they all have something in common: they belong to this unique moment in history. Your own very special moment.
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