MARIE'S MUSES

Phrenologists claim that they can tell what type of person you are, or will be, by the bumps on your skull. Graphologists claim they can read your character through your handwriting. Physiognomists claim that they can read your character by the shape of your nose, the set of your jaw, the texture of your skin.

These are somewhat complicated ways of judging a person’s character. I have a quicker method and it requires no special skill or knowledge. Find out the consuming passion of a person’s life. Their greatest love. Is it love of money and possessions? If so, then no matter what the subject of conversation, it will come back to money and what they have, time and time again. Or is it love of gossip? Then it will show on the face and their eyes will light up and sparkle at every juicy tidbit and spicy comment made about an other and they will delight in sharing the same with you. I could go on and on, but I can guess that you have the picture of what I am getting at by now. Everyone takes on the countenance of what they love most and it shows in their faces, their actions, the way they live their lives, their character.

That’s why Faith is so important to me. If you get to know and love the great creator of all things, the love and joy we feel from doing so cannot help but shine through and show in the way we carry ourselves and how we live our lives. I cannot think of a better character to have than that of my Heavenly Father, and I’m not afraid to let it show. J

I had the young women’s mutual activity last night and we had a great time together. We were working on creating journal folders, so we were setting up all the pages and dividers. There are several characteristics we aspire to in Young Women’s, and we have a theme that we all try to memorize and hold close to our hearts. It goes as follows:

We are

Daughters of our Heavenly Father,

Who loves us, and we love Him.

We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times

And in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9)

As we strive to live the Young Women’s values, which are:

Faith

Divine Nature

Individual Worth

Knowledge

Choice and Accountability

Good works and

Integrity

We believe that as we come to accept and act upon these values,

We will be prepared to

Strengthen home and family,

Make and keep sacred covenants,

Receive the ordinances of the temple,

And enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

We stand for truth and righteousness.

That is the theme of our folders as well, and through the coming year we will be filling it up with handouts and work sheets of our various exercises and activities that we experience as we each grow and learn. I think the Young Women’s is a really valuable program for girls. In a day and age when young people seem to be floundering and wandering about with no sense of purpose or standards it gives these young girls an anchor, standards to aspire to, and some stability to cling to. It helps to teach them that they have a worth that goes far beyond the lies that the world would teach them, and that they are special, unique creations of a Heavenly Father that loves them very much. I think it’s a really good thing and I’m proud of each of our girls. They’re not all members of our church. About half of them that come out on Thursday nights are friends of the girls that are members. They are a really nice group of young ladies and I’m really happy that they feel comfortable enough in our presence that they want to join us on that one night a week. There are far worse things that they could be doing. I sure wish I'd known about this when I was a girl.  I'd probably have made a lot better choices in my early life and a lot fewer mistakes!!!J

The next time you have a hankering for one of those special sandwiches that you can get at the many fast food joints that we have, stay home and make yourself one of these. You’ll never go out for one again. The homemade version is infinitely better for you and a lot tastier as well!

Serves 4

If you like a bit of spice, then this is for you! Tasty and very easy to make. You’ll never settle for the fast food version again. You can make this healthier by broiling the chicken filets if you wish, rather than frying.

1/3 cup of hot pepper sauce

2/3 cup water

1 cup plain flour

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper (you can use more if you are so inclined!)

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp paprika

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast filets

4 burger buns, or 8 slices of nice bread (I used an oat and barley loaf here)

8 tsp of good quality mayonnaise

4 lettuce leaves

4 thick slices of tomato

Oil for cooking

Combine the pepper sauce and water in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, paprika and garlic powder in a shallow bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Put the chicken filets into a plastic baggie, one at a time, and give them a good bash, without tearing them, until they are about 3/8 of an inch thick.

Working with one piece of chicken at a time, coat them in the flour mixture, then dip them into the pepper sauce mixture and then again in the flour mixture again, making sure they are well coated. Set aside on a plate and repeat until you have all four pieces coated.

Heat about ¼ inch of cooking oil in a large skillet. Once it is hot fry the chicken fillets for about 4 to 5 minutes on each side over medium high heat until they are light brown and crispy. You may need to do this in batches, so keep the ones you have done warm in the oven while you do the rest.

Toast the faces of the hamburger buns under the grill or if you are using bread, in the toaster. Spread about 2 tsp of mayonnaise on one slice of each of the four buns/slices of bread. Place a tomato slice on the mayonnaise and then stack a lettuce leaf on top. Place the cooked, warm chicken filet on top and then place the top half of the bun/bread over top. Serve hot.