Pineapple-Coconut Bread Pudding 
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 c. cream or coconut cream*
½ tsp. salt, divided
1 loaf stale French bread, cut in 1" cubes, or a pound of other bread, cubed
1/2 tsp. cardamom
3-4 eggs 
1 c. whole milk or coconut milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. shredded coconut

If your bread isn't already stale and dry, put the bread cubes in the oven at 375 until they're dried out.  
Make a caramel sauce- combine 2 Tbsp. juice from the canned pineapple with 1/2 c. sugar in a saucepan.  Heat on high until brown, stirring often.  Add 3/4 c. cream; stir until the caramel chunk has dissolved.  Add 1/4 tsp. salt.  Pour about half of this into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Save the rest.
Mix together bread, undrained pineapple and cardamom.  Dump into a 9x13 pan.  Using the same bowl as before, beat the eggs, then stir in 1/4 c. sugar, the remaining cream, milk, vanilla, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Mix until  sugar dissolves.  Pour all of this over the bread and let sit for 5-20 minutes to soak.  Sprinkle the coconut over the top.                                          

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until center is set.  Serve warm, with a little of the remaining caramel sauce drizzled on top.

*If you don't have cream, use milk instead, for a total of 3 cups.  Also melt 1/4 c. butter and beat it in with the eggs.

 

This may seem like an odd topic for a blog with a name like "The Provident Homemaker".  However, part of the meaning of 'provident' is 'preparing'; and we have some serious mental and spiritual preparing to do.  So what is this about?

There are a number of words that are no longer understood to mean what they used to; words that have been intentionally corrupted.  I've been watching for them; they include emotional trigger words like "liberal", "rigorous", "liberty", and "discriminate".    After reading this article about a possible ban in Cincinnati on reparative therapy, I got wondering about the word choice in the phrase 'sexual orientation':  (Turns out, this law proposal was sparked as a revolt against parental rights, not only retaliation against God's word. Read the article.)

Turns out that I now have another word to add to my "words co-opted" list: 
"Orientation". 
"the act or process of orienting" or " the state of being oriented". (Dictionary.com)

At i.word.com, "orient" includes this: 
1 a :to cause to face or point toward the east specifically :to build (a church or temple) with the longitudinal axis pointing eastward and the chief altar at the eastern end
c :to ascertain the bearings of

2 a :to set right by adjusting to facts or principles
b :to acquaint with the existing situation or environment

3 :to direct (as a book or film) toward the interests of a particular group

4 :to cause the axes of the molecules of to assume the same direction"

In other words, orientation is a PROCESS of getting your bearings, setting a course, getting every molecule of your being to align, facing a particular direction. This contradicts the claims that one is born this way and unable to change that. It denies the human ability to grow and adjust, and especially denies the power of the Savior and his Atonement. In addition, the origins of the word actually point to Christ:

orient (verb)- etymonline.com  "c. 1727, originally "to arrange facing east," from French s'orienter, literally "to face the east" (also the source of German orientierung), from Old French orient "east," from Latin orientum (see Orient)
The east, as you may know from one of the earlier definitions above, or from the common LDS ("Latter Day Saint"/"Mormon")  practice of having the angel on our temples face that direction, is emblematic of facing and welcoming Christ. Not only does the light of the world rise each morning in the east, but that is the direction Christ is to come from at his coming in glory as our king.

As phrased by Elder Lynn G. Robbins at a recent LDS Conference, 'Which way do you face?'

Do you face towards the family as created by God and Nature?  A mother, a father, bound together by covenants and promises, determined in their loyalty and support to each other and to their children.  It is the basic unit of society, the intended privilege of every child, and when it fails, neighborhoods, cities, and nations are left trying to pick up the pieces; pieces that cannot be completely picked up and mended by human hands.   Does the traditional family matter?  Yes!  It is at the core of God's plan for our happiness. He commanded our first parents, Adam and Eve, to multiply, to provide bodies for His spirit children, and then to teach those precious spirits in the Lord's way: the way of growth and safety.  

What about our day?  Paul warned that "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." - 2 Tim. 4:3-4

As a modern apostle, Dallin H. Oaks, once said, “followers of Christ [must] think differently than others."  (“As He Thinketh in His Heart,” 8 February 2013). Jesus' response to the mocking Pharisees was, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts:  for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

Humanism says there is no right, no wrong and no God. Instead, I assert that this life is Act 2 in a 3-act play, and God gives inspired commandments to enable us to have real happiness now and the best possibilities in that next, much longer, Act 3.  As we learn to think like God, we can develop the ability to see the genuine truth of all things, and will tap into the power to align our wills and actions to his Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.