Gorilla Bread and wild tongues

Good morning-ish...


Made a little breakfast for my sweet middle school girls' impact group this morning.  If you have ever heard of monkey bread, gorilla bread is like that but with a little BAM.  I got it from Paula Dean.  So you know there is at least a stick of butter and a pound of sugar (butter makes it better).  I modified it a bit.  Here's the recipe....

Crazy Gorilla Bread

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (you don't have to have this... I added this for a deeper flavor)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese (I used low fat cream cheese... like it's going to make a difference in this recipe... but hey, when you can save a few calories, why not?)
• 2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped ALMONDS (paula uses walnuts)
• chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a bundt pan (I've used a casserole dish before) with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts (sprinkle chocolate chips on top... I tried it this time and it was pretty good). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert (or just leave it in the casserole dish and spoon it out). 

Watch out... somebody might smack you... it's that good.  

So we had crazy gorilla bread, fruit from the farmer's market, yogurt, and milk.  YUM!  I love these girls and it is so much fun to sit down with them every Saturday morning and laugh and talk about life.  They are so funny!

Ally and moses are a little confused...

Today, Lindsey talked about the power of our words...

We've all been hurt before by someone else's words.  And I'm pretty sure we've all hurt someone with ours.  Our tongues are so powerful.  Just as a small rudder steers a vessel or a bit controls the direction of a horse, so do our tongues guide us.  If we spew out gossip, lies, and hurtful words our tongues will send us down a path that will end in loneliness, bitterness, and a place far from the Lord.  Sometimes it's hard to be nice to the people that we love... let alone those who are mean to us.  But Ephesians says we are to say things that lift other people up, not tear down... I think this means in conversations when the person is in front of our face and even when she isn't in the room, to nice people and mean people, to people we love and those we don't.  Paul tells us to "get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every from of malice" (Ephesians 4:31) and be "kind and compassionate... forgiving as God forgave us" (4:32).  When we open our mouths to hurt someone, we forget who God is and who we are in Him...  God is gracious to forgive us, but we don't want to forgive others.  We say with our mouths that we love God... but out of the same mouth we hurt those who HE loves.  

Who can you love today with your words?