Everyday Miracles

Yesterday a miracle occurred!

Because of all the bad windy weather that came through, I opted to stay home from work, and because I was home from work, one of my girls asked if I would take her to her place of employment around 2:00 (normally she walks or catches a ride with her boyfriend). We left the house at 2:00, stopping by the bank on the way, then headed to The Dollar Tree where Cyndi works. '

I always take the back way into this shopping center, and yesterday was no exception. There is not usually much traffice on this road, even with Christmas shoppers out and about. As we passed the apartments and neared the shopping plaza, a car pulled out in front of me. CRASH - you all know what that sounds like! Breaking glass, metal or plastic bending and breaking...

I was going fast enough that the airbags should have deployed. They didn't!

We each got out of our vehicles, expecting some serious damage to our vehicles. Nothing could be seen, but the cars were still adjoining each other. I backed up and surveyed the scene again. Still no evidence that an accident had occurred. Not a dent or scratch could be seen on either vehicle. We pulled into the parking area she had been leaving, and I surveyed the road - nothing there! We exchanged information anyway, and I gave her a hug as I left and told her not to worry about the mishap (she was rather shaken, I think).

So what had made all that crashing breaking noise? I don't know, but I do believe it was a miracle that neither car sustained any damage. Perhaps we were both in need of a miracle yesterday - not the least of which was love being extended to the other party, or feeling the lighter load of not having the burden of having to get a car repaired.

One good thing that came of this accident, which I had been worried about for a couple of weeks: I was able to get new tires on my car. And boy did I need them! They were already worn and needing to be replaced. Yesterday's skid pretty much took off the remaining tread on the front, so it was off to the tire store (and they couldn't see any damage either). '

My next miracle happened at the tire store. I was expecting to pay at least $200/tire (and more likely $250/tire if I wanted anything decent). It just so happened that they were having a sale on their tires, and the cost for tires guaranteed to last at least 80,000 miles (with free replacement if they didn't) was less than $150/tire - and they threw in a gift card to a local grocery store to boot! (They said the gift card was left over Thanksgiving promotion, but since they still had a few left, they weren't going to waste them.) That was really a nice savings, especially since I had to borrow the cash for the tires.

I tend to think that we have miracles happen every day, but we often fail to recognize them for what they are. So what miracles have you experienced lately?

Now since we are talking about miracles, here's a recipe I discovered last year:

Christmas Miracle Fudge (Semi-dark chocolate version)

1 12-oz bag of semisweet chocolate chips
1 14-oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp butter (1/8 of a cube)

Melt everything in a saucepan on low heat, stirring until it's smooth. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Add nuts, if you wish. Pour into pans and allow to cool slightly before cutting into squares.

For a sweeter milk-chocolate fudge, only use 1-1/2 cups of chocolate chips (about 3/4 of a 12-oz bag.)

For larger batches, just double, triple, or quadruple everything. It will still come out fine.


Oreo Cookie Fudge

3 6-oz. pkgs. white chocolate (if you use chips, buy Ghiradelli - they work the best)
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups coarsely chopped Oreos or other sandwich cookie (about 20 cookies)

Melt the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat. Fold in cookies. Spread evenly into a prepared pan. Cool until firm. Cut and enjoy!