Forget your Finances - Dinner! (& Pear Crumble)

This last weekend when we entertained, I’d say that our whole evening was centered on the topic of courage.

No Talk of Finances?
As our guests arrived, I warned each couple that our evening was not going to be consumed with talk about our struggling economy, or how our stocks are all plummeting …

No, we were going to forget about our finances, just for the evening, and do what we all knew and craved. Every person in our home that night knew how to exercise their gift of giving – and that was giving and participating in meaningful conversation.

What took place in our home was real entertaining for real people!


Every Good Gift
My husband and I have had a vision over the years to give of ourselves in our home and to others. We’ve been given a gift of a good marriage. And during these years of raising our children, we’ve been challenged to use this gift in our home by inviting other couples in, and by being authentic with one another and talking about real life issues.


As we celebrated old friends moving back into our neighborhood, we gathered for appetizers, delicious cranberry feta green salad, fresh bread, salmon and roasted potatoes and green beans. A very light-tasting Pear Crumble was served for dessert.


Yes, the food was delicious, but what will be remembered more than anything is the deep level that our words took us to. And the spirit and mood that were set! As my husband and I reminisced about our time, we both decided people of a variety of faiths would have loved what took place around our table.

5 Hours of Talk
For five hours, as we sat around our dining table, we talked about important things (no, not finances!). Really, to sum it up we spoke the language of love and of courage, and it was very challenging talk!

We all decided that our homes and churches and our nation need women and men with more than active hearts and keen minds. We need people with courage! And to be real with you, some of the topics we covered were the many marriages being torn apart, recovering from sexual abuse, troubled children, a legal but compassionate response to immigration, and the struggles between church and parachurch organizations. Again – real life issues.


Dinner came and went, as I jumped up in between courses to wait on our guests. As we engaged in the battle of courage - of standing up for what is right in this world, no matter what the cost - bodies were leaning forward, tones of voices were rising in passion, tears were being shed, and our ears were very open to the spirit moving!

Five hours later, I believe we summed up the message, that courageous faith will empower men and women to serve and protect those who are weak and vulnerable.

Are we really supposed to cocoon ourselves and protect ourselves from the world? Or do we take the risk of giving and loving others, in every capacity that we are capable of?

Yes, it’s about Courage
That capacity for us last night was saying “yes” to entertaining. As we had some very, very courageous folk around our table, I was challenged in a much greater way, as I was awakened to this provocative call and my faith was stretched, even outside of my comfort zone!

Courage and Food
Once again, I am amazed at how God can draw us out, and open us up, and stretch and use us - over an easy home-cooked meal (I delegated the meal 3 ways - with Anni and Carrie), in our very simple home.

What is the most interesting conversation you’ve had over a meal lately?


Pear Crumble
Peel, core and slice 6 large pears. Place slices in 8 lightly sprayed ramekins. Sprinkle 2 tsp. of rum over the slices in each ramekin. Set aside.


Combine 4 Tbsp. butter, ½ cup quick cooking oats and ½ cup chopped pecans in a small skillet. Cook over medium heat until lightly browned.


Stir in 4 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp. ground allspice, and ¼ tsp. ground cloves.


Sprinkle topping over the pears.


Making Rum Cream
Combine 1 cup of Vanilla Ice Cream (softened), 4 Tbsp. rum and ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg.


Stir well, then store in freezer. Twenty minutes before ready to serve the Pear Crumble, remove from the freezer to soften.


Bake the ramekins at 375 for 30 minutes, or until pears are tender. Right before serving, put a small scoop of the softened Rum Cream on the warm Pear Crumble.


1 Year Ago on RE: "The Conversation" - Men & Entertaining