Dishing Soul Food in the Kitchen: Designed for Life

By T.T. Carole

Dishing Soul Food in the Kitchen is the second in the Designed for Life series. It is an inspirational book that promotes personal development, spiritual growth, and life empowerment by combining into parables the art of interior decorating, the truths of scripture, the relevance of spiritual concepts, and the unpredictability of contemporary living. The delightful mix of true stories is designed to be a call to action that encourages enlightened thoughts and informed behaviors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543410440

T.T. Carole

The author has a rich and multifaceted background, including as a professional in corporate America; as a business owner and operator in the world of interior design; and as a student, coach, teacher, and motivational speaker in ministry and religious studies. She’s devoted most of her adult life to studying and pursuing various interests and has gained academic qualifications from various colleges, universities, and professional certification programs along the way from the likes of Columbia College, Missouri Baptist University, the Evangelical Training Association, Light University, St. Louis Community Colleges, and others. Her love for educating herself in order to not only enrich her life but to also in some way enrich and nourish the lives of all whom she feels destined to touch, her passion for sharing lessons she’s learned in order to help to teach and inspire others, and her desire to do the work she believes that God has designed for her life have culminated into the writing of this book, which she plans is the first of a five-part series.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by T.T. Carole.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5434-1045-7

               eBook           978-1-5434-1044-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Rev. date: 03/28/2017

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"We must recreate an attractive and

caring attitude in our homes and in our

worlds. If our children are to approve of

themselves, they must see that we approve

of ourselves." – Maya Angelou

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am most thankful to God the Father, the Master Designer, who entrusted me with this body of work.

I am grateful for my family, friends, and fans who keep me encouraged with their contributions, and their trust, honesty, and prayers whenever I secretly lose heart. Special thanks to my sisters Henryne and Barbara for their time and special contributions.

I am deeply indebted to my beloved parents, the late Henry and Viana Shannon who laid the foundation for the family and always did the best that they could for us.

Lastly, I am encouraged that even though I do not know how or whom, someone will be blessed through this body of work.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. ~ Proverbs 3:5,6

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

T. T. Carole celebrates life, first, as a child of God; then as a successful author, coach, teacher, motivational speaker in women’s ministry and religious studies, and as a studied designer and businesswoman. The ‘Designed for Life’ book series is the culmination her love for educating herself; her desire for enriching the lives of all whom she feels destined to touch; her passion to inspire others to be all that they can be by sharing her lessons learned; and her aspiration to do the work she believes that God intended for her to do.

Contents

Introduction

Breath of Fresh Air

Tête-à-tête

Preface

Tête-à-tête 1

The Soul of the Home

Daddy’s Up to Something

Fanning the Flames

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: Simple Crab Fried Rice Recipe

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 2

The Perfect Layout

You Asked for What?

A Double Portion

The Fork in the Road

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: The Basics

Know Your Kitchen

5 Budget-friendly Ideas for Refreshing Surfaces

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 3

Power

What’s in a Name?

Each Called by Name

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: About Energy Efficient Appliances

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 4

The Pantry

Bread of Life

Living Water

One Tree, Many Fruit

The Legend of the Vicar

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: Ideas for Organizing the Pantry

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 5

Spice of Abundant Life

"The Science of Salt

The Healing Power of Honey

Leaven: Friend or Foe

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: Herman or Friendship Bread Starter & Cake

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 6

The Essential Kitchen Tools

The Vessel: Blessed and Set Apart

The Measuring Cup

The Knife and the Sword

Fed by the Long-handled Spoon

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: Cousin Helen’s San Diego Coleslaw

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Tête-à-tête 7

The Feast

An Inconvenient Truth

A Prayer for the Feast

Tips and Tricks for Kitchen Design: The Art of Setting a Table

thoughts~reflections~ideas~memories (#Trims)

Thanks and other Announcements

Endnotes

INTRODUCTION

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed

is the one who takes refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8

Breath of Fresh Air

I am a designer. Designing for me is like breathing. It is a passion I inherited from Abba Father, who is the Master Designer and Creator of this great universe.

Whenever I am not working on a project, I enjoy writing about it. This is where I attempt to merge natural concepts with divine precepts.

My desire in doing this is not only the possibility of teaching someone a new skillset, but also (hopefully and more importantly), to inspire people to aspire to become more aware and enlightened about the ménage a trois that happens between the heart, the head and the Holy Spirit of God during the intercourse of the mundane experiences of our everyday life.

Whether it is about life, lifestyle, faith, belief system, or other, some people like to use the catch phrase, ‘it is what it is’. I am good with that, but I like to respond by asking, Yes, but is it all that it can be?

The more that I live to give, I realize that life becomes