Never Judge a Congealed Dessert

I had a craving for Strawberry Pretzel Salad today. With a ride to the commissary, I bought my ingredients in eager anticipation. It's a chilled, warm-weather dessert common to potlucks and picnics of which I completely avoid. I am not a big fan of congealed foods in general or fluffy cottage cheese salads. Their appearance is simply unappetizing and sold in delis and cafeterias alike to whom? I don't know!

(Converted Disclaimer: My mother-in-law makes the best ever mandarin orange and pineapple salad with cottage cheese...yep, one of those unapproachable salads but its the only one I am willing to put on my plate. She had been making it for years and my husband loves it! It's delish! It is now one of our favorite summertime side-dishes.)

My first experience with this mouth-watering concoction was brought to our small group a few years ago by my dear neighbor. Until then, I dare say such a dish has never entered our home...not even on the Blacklist of Picky Eaters. It simply didn't exist. Forcing a cheerful smile while ushering it to the sideboard, I was having a 2-minute mental face-off with this averted wiggly dish of my suspicions. My inside voice was saying: "Don't force your over-rated gelatin goodness on me...you make me shutter!"

There it was, in its accidental frozen state yet somewhat held an appeal in its presentation. Everything my dear neighbor touches or creates is beautiful and it had temptation of its own despite my prejudice. My small list of aversions are not public record so no harm in trying something new, right? She continually apologized for it being too firm to serve. "It was too slow to set-up" in time for arrival so she placed it in the freezer but forgot to monitor it. She was short of horrified. It was very stubborn and refused to exit the pan in pretty portions well beyond the proverbial first serving.

Our guys split off to another area and the three of us sat there with our frozen strawberry-pretzel salad. It was comical as each one of us tried to eat it without flipping it off the plate unto the floor. Lots of giggles and comments later, we lapped up every smooth and crunchy morsel. I was enraptured by all of the textures and flavors including its congealedness. I regret the decades of denying myself such heavenly goodness. Thank you, dear neighbor, for opening my eyes to a time-honored potluck and deli delight! YUMMO!

So, back to my craving, with our limited selection of kitchen tools, I had to crush the pretzels with a large plastic spoon against the side of a bowl. I wanted to double the amount of pretzel crust because it is my favorite part! That proved to be very laborious. I was missing my nice professional-grade Kitchen-Aid food processor as I poured more pretzels into the bowl. (It's still in a crate being shipped overseas.) Crunch, crunch, and more crunching. This was quite pain-staking for a dessert and I drifted off into personal reflection. For whatever reason, I began thinking about all of the mommas in the world who were presently hand-milling their own ration of wheat for the day. What do they think about while preparing bread for the day? What do they hope for or desire for ease? How weary they must be and yearn to provide more for their families. Sheepishly, I was just making a congealed dessert.

Lord, forgive my smallness of mind and shallow outlook towards Your provisions. I am amazed at how You speak to me in simple ways. Help me to be mindful of those without and to do all that I can to help those around us in need. Show me ways to be Your hands and feet. May Your name be lifted up and Jesus seen clearly. Thank you for reminding me to exercise greater humility and thanksgiving for all that I am blessed with to take care of my family. Help me to train my children to be sensitive to the things that are on Your heart. Amen.