Hosting Parties is Biblical

"...Prepare a guest room for me, for I trust, 

through your prayers I shall be granted to you" 

Philemon 22

Even before Mother gave the responsibility to me in my early twenties, I had hosted many of the holiday cooking at her house and sometimes at my sibling’s houses. Since I liked it so much, Mother finally gave the family holidays to me.

Today, my home is a large farmhouse, built in the 1820s. It’s nice but it needs much help. It has odd smells, stains, and is very static in the arrangement of furniture. While many people have visited, entertaining has limits.

In the winter, with the woodstove cranking out the heat, guests are elbow to elbow on the opposite side of the room, far enough so as not to be charred. To watch the sports on the television causes a major shift and someone inevitably, from the next room, looks through or over the semi-circle of the fortunate facing the screen. In the summer, the decay of the fallen down barn invades through the open windows.

 

Without a proper dining room, it takes imaginative rearranging. To accommodate more than six, a sheet of plywood lays atop my table. This means shifting the refrigerator against the cupboards by the kitchen sink, thus rendering four useless and causing a shortened counter top. While the stove is in use, no one can sit on that side of the table until all the cooking is complete.

 For all of this, hosting is wonderful and I would do it more often.

My hosting imagination has designed a specific Dream House. It has the normal master bedroom with full bath, kitchen, guestroom, home office, and household bath with washer and dryer.

However, my fantasy has yards of floor space, set with easily rearranged furniture. To accommodate crowds, there’s a custom kitchen with at least two ovens, a six-burner range, a grill, separate freezer and refrigerator, an island with food-prep sink, and long reaches of counter space. There’s casual serving dining bar with stools but the capstone is comfortable dinner seating for a dozen with addition to serve more. To have such a venue sounds wonderful.

I love cooking. I love hosting. I love the gathering of all the hundreds of paraphernalia my guests may never notice. I like searching for new and exciting recipes. I love giving gifts and trinkets. I love the table settings and centerpieces. I love doing the little things and arranging the surprises.

Hospitality, and kind, friendly behavior 

should be a trait highly visible in Christians

My largest entertaining accomplishment to date is organizing a Harvest/Hunter’s Supper at my home church. While I didn’t do all the cooking or necessary gathering, I was the go-to person. Even so, credit goes to our small congregations’ involvement and the praise was all to God’s blessing the event.

"It was awesome!"

The turnout was fantastic and we fed almost hundred people, many who had never been in a church before. I couldn’t stop praising God.

Another ministry opportunity came as my Husband and I hosted a Thanksgiving Day meal at our church for the people in our congregation who had no place to go. That was very satisfying knowing they weren’t sitting alone on this day of giving of Thanks.

Anyone who enjoys cooking enjoys watching their guests eat what they’ve prepared. When the only sound is rattling silverware, you know you succeeded. Like when a stranger buys one of my paintings without ever meeting me. My work has spoken for itself and my presence is unnecessary for their approval.

“(be) hospitable, a lover of what is good, 

sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled” Titus 1:8

My Dream House is an inviting place where people want to be. It is open to Missionaries, pastors and their wives, and other traveling guests. I imagine holidays, ceremonies, Bible study groups, children’s Bible groups. Best of all, I imagine inviting unsaved people for good food and fun. In my open home, I’d introduce them to my Jesus and His free salvation. I would tell them of heaven and its awesome splendor that outshines my temporary house on earth.

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” 

Colossians 3:2

Looking to Heaven and describing my Dream House? It’s a slimy, water-slogged, decaying, moldy mud hut compared to my Heavenly Father’s house.

"But while I’m on earth, I would like to host parties, 

especially where Christ is always welcome

 and gets to meet with people at my table"

"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, 

sweetness to the soul and health to the bones"

Proverbs 16:24

Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

A recipe that supplies the right dish for any occasion is the best recipe.

• *Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

• Dump Cake

• Crazy Cake

• Wacky Cocoa Cake

• Depression Cake

• Eggless Cake

• One Bowl Cake

  (*See recipe below)

I grew up making Poor Man's Chocolate Cake. As time went by, I learned I was making all these others as well. I would exchange favorite recipes with someone and we would laugh because it would be the same cake, only under a different name.


From the mid 60s through the 70s, my family was on the lower end of the economic scale in our town. Father struggled to make ends meet and he slipped into alcohol troubles pretty quickly, which led to more troubles in our family. He always seemed to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, doing the wrong things.

But Father was a very good engineer, and machinist, designing gadgets that would enhance our lives, yet they never quite came to fruition. He could draw a 3-D plan of an engine, or a machine, or some mechanism, and do it from several angles and cut-away drawings. I regret that none of his drawings were saved.

We lived without electricity for 11 years of my life  (Age 4 - 15) The power lines stopped a half mile from us on the east side and a mile from us on the west side. We were the only house on this 'power-less' stretch of road and the power company wouldn't connect the lines just for one household. There was no way we could afford to pay to have them put in.


We were poor, and without electricity. We had a hand pump in the kitchen and a convenient little building at the end of the shed. We used kerosine lanterns and lamps. We had battery operated everything; radios, tape players, record players and even a Television.

Father began machining the blades for a windmill, using the IT lab at the High School during Adult Education classes. He didn't need the classes, just the tools. But it never was finished and the huge blades rusted in the shed over the years. He drew the entire structure in detail and those drawings fascinated me.

One convenience Father did rig was a gravity-fed system that brought the oil to the furnace in the basement and the oil/gas stove in the kitchen.

One of the things we children got from living 'off the grid' so to speak was an immense amount of freedom. Mother and Father liked to go dancing, fishing, and out to play card games 83 or cribbage with friends, leaving us kids home for the evening or the night and sometimes the whole weekend. I suppose that would be frowned on today but we children loved it.

Amid our wild, crazy nights of freedom, I learned to cook.

It wasn't so much of a need, for Mother saw we had something to eat; I did it because there were no restrictions against it while we had the run of the house. For a time there were five if us children, then my oldest brother left at age 12 to live with a family near where he worked and my older sister, at age 17, went to live with friends in Massachusetts. That left three of us, my next oldest brother, myself and our little sister. We had a lot of fun. It's great when your best friends are your siblings.

I began simply with eggs, toast, fried potatoes, and all sorts of canned food before age 7. Before my eighth birthday, I was making cookies, cornbread and muffins, biscuits and bread puddings. When

Mother and Father discovered I could cook, the kitchen was available for me any time. Before age 9, I was up to American Chop Suey, potato salad and meatloaf. Fish from the lake nearby our house, I would fry or bake. I made stews and soups, rice and pasta dishes.I learned to bake chicken, turkey, and roasts before age eleven. I was baking pies at age 12.

And somewhere in there, I learned how to make Poor Man's Chocolate Cake. It is still my favorite go-to recipe if an occasion calls for cake. It is a simple recipe, easily enlarged or reduced. It can be layered or single, as cupcakes or minis.

There is another aspect to simple recipes and detailed drawings. God designed intricately for the salvation of everyone and described it to us throughout the entire Bible.We also have the simplicity of it in that Jesus death on the cross and His ressurection is the absolute best recipe for salvation. 

I learned God loves me

My salvation is easily the best recipe.

 "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17. (NKJV)

 Jesus crucified once = eternal salvation

 That's a good presentation for eternity.

* Poor Man's Chocolate Cake

Grease an 8 x 8 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 Tablespoons vegetable/canola oil
2 Tablespoons white or cider vinager
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water

In medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (You may sift dry ingredients but it is not necessary) Add remaining ingredients. It is best if the vinegar is the final addition as it tends to work fast. Mix quickly, beating or whisking until the batter is smooth and creamy. Pour into cake pan and cook for 25 to 30 minutes. I usually cook it between 27 & 28 minutes.

Cool cake and frost with your favorite icing.

Mini cakes with peanut butter frosting