I sure do love food :)

If there's one thing I despise, it's restaurant secrets. I love going out to eat. I don't like to do it all the time, cause I really do enjoy cooking and if you eat out all the time, it loses it's Pizazz and you start feeling fat. But every once in a while, it is fun to get all dolled up and go out to a nice restaurant. My latest favorite has been Carraba's. I think tonight was my fifth time going there, but I really love it. The first couple of times i went, I ordered the salad with my meal. Well, i soon learned that was a mistake, because the minestrone is the only way to go. I don't usually order soup over salad, and I can't remember what made me want to try it, but I did once, and now I'm hooked. be warned: it looks disgusting when they bring it to you, but mmm mmm, it is delicious. And my favorite thing to order is the Speidino de mare. It's shrimp that has been breaded and grilled. On the menu it says shrimp and scallops, but I always just ask for all shrimp and they appease me. And it's good to get it with Fettucine Alfredo on the side... that isn't on the menu either, but they'll give it to you if you ask. Well, back to the point: restaurant secrets. Another marvelous thing about carrabas is that they do the whole olive oil and bread dip combo thing. Now, at first, i didn't like it, cause I didn't know what I was doing, I'm not big on just bread and oil, but I quickly learned to sprinkle a little of the sea salt in there and dip the bread so as to scoop up some of the little herby stuff they put in there, and it is most fantastic! I asked what it was and they gave me a pretty good answer, but then at the end they said, plus we put in some secret spices that even the waiters don't know! WHAT! These people are feeding me stuff they don't even know the identity of?! Well, who cares, it's good. I mostly am huffy puffy cause i want the recipe. Also, there is this lovely little place in Lexington called Stephano's. They have the worlds absolute best chicken salad. I didn't like chicken salad til I tried theirs. You can buy it by the pint. It costs $9.00. (They think a lot of it too. ) Again, I ask the waitress what's in it, and all I got was "Dukes mayonaise and some secrets spices." What's up with the secrets these restaurants keep?! I won't even tell you about the time I made "olive Garden Chicken Marsala" from a recipe off the internet. Needless to say it did NOT taste the same! (I think I have a secret Italian affinity or something... I'm noticing a trend here.. ) Anyway...I guess it's what keeps me coming back for more.. I can't make it myself, so I gotta go there to get it... This might be a stretch to find something meaningful in an otherwise pointless blog, but I think i do the same thing with God. A lot of times I try to make a situation or circumstance reflect Him in a way that he just isn't in... It's those times when it's all Him and none of me.. when I go to him without money, without a"recipe", poor and begging that he satisfies me so fully. I can't make it myself. I don't know the recipe, and I've looked it up everywhere and it just isn't the same.. I think we often go to God and ask forgivesness for this or that... we repent and we think that is enough. The church teaches that, and I think it is partly true. But there is a large part that we are missing. We must repent not only of our sins, but also our self righteousness. We tend to say, "I'm sorry for my sins, I'll try to do better." Sometimes we say, "I'm sorry for my sins, with your HELP, I can do better." We must be poor before the Lord, acknowledging that it is ONLY Jesus that allows us audience with God the Father. There is a caedmons call song that says, "The best Obedience of my hands dares not appear before thy throne." Jesus's righteousness is all we have. Our best efforts at the recipe never quite match up to the real thing. Jesus is the only real thing. Blessed are those who Hunger and Thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied... mmm mmm, I'm Hungry!