curate and celebrate

AWAKEN AND RENEW

So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy yourr own desires. You didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just ask God who chose you is holy. For the scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as "temporary residents." For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with gold or silver which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

Through Christ you have come to trust God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living Word of God. As the scriptures say,

"People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the Word of the Lord remains forever."

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1: 13-25 NLT

ASHEVILLE BEFORE HURRICANE HELENE

TWEAK AND NOURISH

WEEKEND PASTA INDULGENCE: HOMEMADE TAGLIATELLE, PAPPARDELLE, AND GNOCCHI. My husband was absolutely inspired to whip up some homemade pasta after catching an episode of our beloved cooking show "Michela's Tuscan Kitchen"! With our trusty pasta maker ready for action, he embarked on creating not one, not two, but FOUR tantalizing pasta dishes: SPINACH GNOCCHI WITH SAGE BROWN BUTTER, TAGLIATELLE WITH MUSHROOMS, TAGLIATELLE WITH SHRIMPS AND MUSSELS, AND PAPPARDELLE WITH BEEF RAGU. Let me tell you, each dish was beyond exceptional! Whenever I indulge in homemade pasta, my heart sings for that fresh, unbeatable taste over the usual dry packaged pasta.

After savoring a bowl of tagliatelle with mushrooms and another of pappardelle with beef ragu (one per day, of course), I felt like I had reached my pasta limit for the weekend. So, I decided to switch things up and opt for zucchini ribbons as a delightful substitute for pappardelle. Usually, I spiralize the zucchini, but this time I went for larger ribbons. Being quite particular about texture, I kept a close eye on it for that perfect doneness. Let me tell you, this healthier twist was just as gratifying as the original deal!

SPINACH GNOCCHI WITH SAGE BROWN BUTTER

TAGLIATELLE WITH SHRIMPS AND MUSSELS

TAGLIATELLE WITH LOTS OF PARMESAN

TAGLIATELLE WITH MUSHROOMS

PAPPARDELLE WITH BEEF RAGU

ZUCCHINI RIBBONS

ZUCCHINI RIBBONS WITH BEEF RAGU

CREATE AND EVOLVE

BATCH SEWING: SCRUB CAPS.

ENLIGHTEN AND IGNITE

REPURPOSING FLOWERS, TWIGS, LEAVES TO CREATIVE ARRANGEMENTS: Even though I compost, I like to preserve flowers from friends and family. I also like to harvest from the garden and make use of dried flowers, twigs, and leaves. In these recent arrangements, I saved dried okra, lavender twigs, dried anthurium, dried roses, dried rose leaves, and dried basil flowers.

REFOCUS AND DELIGHT

A GLIMPSE OF MY NEW BIBLE: THE JESUS BIBLE NIV. I like my new NIV Bible. I appreciate the notes, summaries, descriptions, and commentaries included on every page.

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