Extracting the Goodness

I spent a few hours in the kitchen yesterday and enjoyed trying my hand at some new things.  I've made homemade vanilla extract before and decided to branch out into other extracts.  So I made both orange and lemon extract. You just peel or grate the rind of 6 oranges or lemons and add one cup of vodka.  It needs to sit for about 4-6 weeks in a cool, dark place and then I can strain it and use it. 

I've been wanting to make cheese for quite a while and finally decided to try my hand at it yesterday.  I made the easiest kind possible; Queso Blanco.  It was surprisingly easy.  When it came time to strain the curds, I didn't have cheesecloth big enough so I ended up using a piece of fabric that I'll never use for anything.  It worked better than the cheesecloth would have.

Now that I've done it, I just need to purchase rennet and then I can branch out into other types of cheese.  Love it!

Lesson learned: Don't use so many veggies.  I had no idea how much cheese I'd get from a gallon and a half of milk so overdid it.  I'm breathing out onions and garlic!  lol

I went grocery shopping yesterday and because it was the day after Valentine's Day, Aldi had a dozen roses on sale for $4.99.  Great deal!

Initially, this was just going to be a blog post about food and new ventures in cooking, but then I realized that extracting the goodness is a metaphor for our lives.  God gives us so many good things and yet, so many overlook those blessings.  Do you know that the very fact that you can draw a breath each day is a gift?

We can either choose to look at all the many things the Lord does for us or we can focus in on the problems.  We can choose to be positive and joyful or we can be negative.  It's a choice.  No matter what you face, we can choose to meet each challenge in faith or we can fixate on the problem and spiral downward. 

My desire is to bring glory to God and I know that only happens by giving Him thanks in all things.  My initial response may not always be the right one, though I'm getting better at it.  Practice makes perfect. :-)

So I want to continue to look for the blessings.  To laugh at myself and see the humorous side of life.  It doesn't change the problem, but it certainly changes my attitude towards it.  And that is the best way to extract goodness from life!

Psalm 65:11 (HCSB) ~

You crown the year with Your goodness;Your ways overflow with plenty.