Name: Stuffed Chicken, Cyprus Style
Ingredients: 1 Roasting chicken; 3 tb Vegetable oil or butter; 1/2 c Blanched, slivered almonds; 3/4 c Raw long-grain white rice; 1/2 c Dry white wine; 1 1/4 c Water; Salt; 1 ts Ground cinnamon; 1 pn Granulated sugar; 1/2 c Currants; Butter or vegetable oil (butter should be melted)

Grace is not only the divine act by which God initiates our spiritual life, but also the very power by which we are sustained in, nourished, and proceeds through that life. The energizing and sanctifying work of the indwelling Spirit is the grace of God. After Paul had prayed three times for God to deliver him from his thorn in the flesh, he received this answer: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). Although Paul undoubtedly derived encouragement and strength to face his daily trials by reflecting on the magnificence of God’s unmerited favor, in this text he appears to speak rather of an experiential reality of a more dynamic nature. It is the operative power of the indwelling Spirit to which Paul refers. That is the grace of God.

Sam Storms

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Vegetables, Grains	Greek	Greek, Poultry, Main dish	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1		Roasting chicken
3	tb	Vegetable oil or butter
1/2	c	Blanched, slivered almonds
3/4	c	Raw long-grain white rice
1/2	c	Dry white wine
1 1/4	c	Water
		Salt
1	ts	Ground cinnamon
1	pn	Granulated sugar
1/2	c	Currants
		Butter or vegetable oil (butter should be melted)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash and dry the chicken, reserving the liver, and set aside. In a medium
saucepan, heat the oil or butter and saute the almonds and liver, then
remove with a slotted spoon. Chop the liver and set aside with the nuts.
Add the rice to the fat in the pan and saute over medium heat, stirring
constantly, then pour in the wine, water, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Cover
and cook for 12 minutes, or until the rice is almost tender. Stir in the
almonds, liver, and currants and remove the pan from the heat.
Spoon the stuffing into the large cavity of the chicken and close tightly
with skewers.  Truss the chicken and brush the surface lightly with melted
butter or oil.  Set in a baking pan, breast side up, and bake for 1 1/4
hours, or until tender, in moderate oven (350 F), turning with 2 wodden
spoons every 20 minutes and basting frequently with drippings. Remove the
stuffing from the cavity and transfer to the center of a warm platter.
Carve the chicken and arrange around the stuffing. Serve warm.
Note: For a popular mainland version, substitute pine nuts, nutmeg, and a
little chopped celery and parsley, and soaked bread for the almonds,
cinnamon, and rice.
From: "The Food of Greece" by Vilma Liacouras Chantiles. Avenel Books, New
York.
Typed for you by Karen Mintzias
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“The Wages of Sin is Death. Repent Before Payday”

1. Fasting increases our sense of humility and dependence on the Lord (for our hunger and physical weakness continually remind us how we are not really strong in ourselves but need the Lord). 2. Fasting allows us to give more attention to prayer (for we are not spending time on eating). 3. [Fasting] is a continual reminder that, just as we sacrifice some personal comfort to the Lord by not eating, so we must continually sacrifice all of ourselves to Him. 4. Fasting is a good exercise in self-discipline, for as we refrain from eating food, which we would ordinarily desire, it also strengthens our ability to refrain from sin, to which we might otherwise be tempted to yield. 5. Fasting also heightens spiritual and mental alertness and a sense of God’s presence as we focus less on the material things of this world (such as food) and as the energies of our body are freed from digesting and processing food. 6. Fasting expresses earnestness and urgency in our prayers: if we continued to fast, eventually we would die. Therefore, in a symbolic way, fasting says to God that we are prepared to lay down our lives that the situation be changed rather than that it continue.

Wayne Grudem