The Winter Kitchen

   It's nice to have a fresh idea once in a while!

At Christmastime, my daughter-in-law told me that in 2012 she intends to try one new recipe each week. Amy's only been married six months ... and when I'd been married six months I was probably also trying new recipes all the time (heck, I was still learning how to cook at that point ... Amy at least already knows how).

After 40 years of domesticity, though, I typically stick with the tried-and-true, and only try new recipes occasionally.

But Amy got me thinking, and looking through cookbooks (we own MANY cookbooks, actually - they are one of the several things my husband "collects.")

So, last night I needed to use up the last of the Christmas ham - and I found a recipe on Campbells.com which was quite tasty.

Today I shopped for groceries based on two recipes I read the other day. Later this week I am going to make Artichoke Chicken from Allrecipes.com. Tonight I made Moussaka from my "Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook."

I think I'm going to follow Amy's lead, and try a bunch of brand-new-to-me recipes for a while!

I sure did make a mess in the kitchen tonight! And then, of course, I had to clean it up. But it was fun! And the Moussaka tastes quite different and good.

On a similar note, last week I started baking my own bread again. I used to bake bread when Josh was a tot and I was a stay-at-home mom. (Josh is Amy's husband ... so now you know how long ago THAT was.)

When my kids were home, I baked 2 to 3 loaves at a time a couple times each week; and I only made basic white bread.

Now I need to bake only one loaf at a time, because it's just me & Mike home to eat it. And although kids turn up their noses at other-than-white-bread, Mike & I like lots of different breads. We've been eating bakery bread almost exclusively since Josh moved out 2 years ago.

So: Last Friday I made 10-Grain bread. Monday I made Rye. Both of those were from packages intended for bread machines. Because I didn't have any recipes at hand for ONE loaf, and didn't know how to divide the yeast; and because I wanted to make sure I really want to do this before investing in all sorts of different flours.

But after two loaves of freshly-baked bread, I am SOLD! Kneading bread dough is always therapeutic, and also good exercise. So, I got a single-loaf recipe from my BFF Kathy, and tonight I bought a JAR of yeast, some BREAD flour, and some WHOLE WHEAT flour. It will be time to bake again by Friday, I think.

Probably when summer comes we will go back to bakery bread (or else buy a bread machine) so as not to heat up the kitchen.

By the way, WINTER finally arrived here in Western Michigan on New Year's Day. That is most unusual. I, for one, did not mind a bit having a "green Christmas," but alas, the cold and snow was bound to come sooner or later. So if Life gives you cold weather, you may as well bake bread.

Fall Cleaning

   I am so weary - but it's a good weary.

I took a week's vacation from my job, specifically to do my fall housecleaning.

I don't do spring and fall cleaning the way my mother and grandmother and their mothers before them did. I do zone cleaning. I do not tear the whole house apart and live with disarray for a week or so whilst the cobwebs get swept out.

I learned zone cleaning from either Good Housekeeping or Women's Day magazine, back in the 1970s - when my stupid generation was all-about "Women's Lib."

I have always hated Women's Lib. It surely did not liberate me!  I, au contraire, was obviously born in the wrong generation. I love to keep house, raise children, cook scrumptious meals. I love this sort of vacation that I have taken this week: I get to pretend I am a full-time homemaker.

Most years, though, I do my spring and fall cleaning in the evenings, when my husband is at work, (since I work first shift and he works second).

I had an extra week of vacation to use up yet this year, and he cannot get the time off right now; so I set this week aside to bless myself by doing my fall cleaning in the daytime. I am loving every daylight moment of it!

I am so weary! But it is a good weary!

... And having the man home with me these mornings to see what his trophy wife does to keep his home so charming?: Priceless!

I have one more day off. Then the weekend. Then back to the trenches on Monday. Three more birthdays, and I will, Lord willing, be old enough to "retire." Then I can, at last, and forever, be what I have always wanted to be: a full-time "homemaker".  (Sorry, Libbers, but I have always hated you. You didn't liberate me. You made me conform to your definition of meaningful contribution. You are welcome to take my vacant position in the Rat Race when I retire. By the way - the Rats win. Just sayin'.)

This is for you, JD

   When young, impressionable, hopelessly floundering but so danged intelligent

Misfit, yet outstanding among my peers in the eyes of my elders

Wanting to fit, wanting to feel ...

Feeling guilty for my fortune

Unwilling to admit my misfortune

Searching (no: WAITING) for purpose for ME

I wasn't KNOCKED off-course

I didn't WANDER off-course

I jumped

Headlong into anything, anything, that was OTHER

...

Hardly a soul that could look at me knew

So intelligent, articulate, seemed so mature

(God knew)

JD - you will know you are mature and on-track

When you look in the mirror, and see the grown-up version

Of the person that you were when you were wee

And you do not hate that tyke

Or the people who loved him

Housekeeping

I dusted upstairs and down tonight, and then the power went off for almost 3 hours. (A squirrel had done something at a substation a couple miles from here.) So I had instant coffee and bread with peanut butter for supper.

 

When I got my electricity back, I read a bunch of blogs, and even managed (after several attempts) to upload a new Multiply profile picture.

 

Then I figured out how to fix my notification settings over on Facebook. (They have been awry since the last Facebook "upgrade" a few weeks ago ...)

Then I screwed something up on Facebook and so sent my daughter-in-law a message asking for help on that.

Then I cleaned out my Yahoo inbox, which had gotten out of hand in the past 24 hours.

And now I have written a blog.

Totally random at 11:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time

   Why is my thought-life so very framed by everything I read, most of which is suggested to me by others: my husband's passions, my pastor's passions, whatever is "trending" on Yahoo or Facebook ...

Or else I randomly open up my Bible and let my thoughts wander about from there ...

I do not know what to think, what to decide, about the opinions that are so very strongly held by others. OMG, everybody I'm associated with has strongly-held opinions.

I can see everybody's point. Honestly ... I can.

Which makes me (in their humble ... um, I mean arrogant) opinions: pointless.

Computer Lingo

Who invented binary code?  And how do you count in base 2?  Or is it even base 2?

The first time I ever heard of computers was in 5th grade - "new math"(circa 1962, approx.) - they taught us to count in base 2:

1=1, 10=2, 11=3, 100=4, 101=5 (there are only 2 digits: a zero, and a one).

I googled my questions, and received the following responses:

"The binary number system was first invented back around 1679 by Gottfried Leibniz. The modern, or present day binary code was developed by Claude Shannon."

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_numeral_system

So, that is how computers compute?

Most people count in base 10.

At least that is what the math teacher told me in 5th grade in 1962.

I'm glad I am not required to fully understand it in order to use it!  (My computer, that is.)

Inspire Me!

            “I’m just trying to keep him alive, until the Lord can do something with him.”

            That’s what a girlfriend in Christ told me once about one of her nephews, or grandsons, or children.  I don’t remember which.

            Prodigal children – I have been a Christian adult long enough to notice that every family’s got some.

            In the parable told by Christ, the Prodigal comes home.

            I happen to know from experience, that not every Prodigal comes home alive.

 

            Every Christian pastor probably gets the question, multiple times from multiple sources, worded in various ways: “What can I do to keep from losing my children.  And: how can I make sure that GOD doesn’t lose my children?”  (This is worded various ways.  I am speaking more pointedly than most would dare to speak.)

 

            When I was a senior in high school, I took an honors Creative Writing class.  One of my classmates, Joy, was a decent writer.  She and I weren’t friends in high school. Both of us were shy and nerdy, but we didn’t connect on that basis back then, like the nerds in today’s trendy movies do.  We were, at that time, terminally shy and nerdy.

            Forty-plus years have passed, and Joy and I re-connected (actually connected for the first time) on Facebook a few years ago. We’re friends now. 

            Joy’s husband is a pastor.  Joy is a pastor’s wife.  Joy and Bill have had some prodigal children.  I have had some prodigal children.  Joy and I have talked a little about our prodigal children, and a lot about the usual Facebook stuff:  We “like” each other’s photos and witty sayings.  We promise to pray sometimes about this or that.

 

            Joy doesn’t live in our home-state of Michigan any more.  Her parents still live here.  Two years ago, Joy and her husband came up to visit her parents; and Mike and I spent an afternoon with Joy and Bill at the John Ball Zoo, here in our home town.

            Joy’s husband had, at that time, recently self-published a non-fiction book.  He gave us a copy.  I tried to read it through, and so did Michael.  It is on a shelf somewhere.  Sad to say, I do not even remember what it was about ...

 

            Joy and Bill came back to Michigan this week.  I met them for lunch today, and we had a delightful one-hour visit.  Two of their daughters married last summer.  My youngest son is marrying this coming Saturday.

            Bill has self-published another book.  He gave me a copy.

 

            I read his book tonight.  I am reading it through for the second time!  This book needs to be professionally published, and promoted.  It is a very short novel; Bill calls it a parable; it weaves a tale of multiple generations, giving timeless insights and hope for families.  OMG!  It imagines, quite realistically, the rest of the story of the Prodigal Son:  forty years, and two more generations.  You have got to read this book!  It’s an easy read, and will break your heart, then put it back together again.  The story feels like a mirror.  You will see yourself, your friends, your parents, your children, and God in this tale.

 

            Proofreading errors abound.  (Joy, what were you thinking?  I hope Bill didn’t pay for too many copies of the first edition!)  I am marking my copy the second time through with proofreader’s marks, and wishing I actually remembered all the marks that proofreaders use. I worked as a professional proofreader in 1970, but that was a long time ago.

            My cousin, Julie, is an editor for a major Christian publisher.  I am going to do whatever it takes to persuade Julie to read Bill’s book.  Heck, I think I’ll even offer to pay her to read it if need be.

            As soon as I had read the final page tonight, at 9 p.m., I made an impulse phone call to Julie’s cell, but got her voice mail.  I am not particularly eloquent on voice mail.  I simply asked her to call me.

            Then I started re-reading, and proofreading.  Then I thought maybe I ought to call it a night and head for bed.  Then I got the bright idea that I should write this blog. 

If I post my blog link to Facebook, only two of my Facebook friends will follow the link and actually read this blog.  One of them is Joy.  The other one is Julie.

 

Julie!  You pumped me with questions and used my stories for your Sunday School class ... Can I call in the favor?  Will you read my girlfriend’s husband’s vanity-press novel?  It only took me 2 hours to read it, and I didn’t want to put it down.  Oh! and Bill doesn’t even double-space between sentences like I do.  (Pet-peeve of Julie’s)  Bill does, however, let “spell-check” autocorrect for him.  Bah!  (But we can fix that!)  You’ve got my cell number.  Give me a call, please!  This is probably the busiest week of my life so far ... but I’m taking the time to try to pique your interest because I’m convinced this book will appeal to a very broad audience.  It speaks to a need I am constantly asked to pray about in every life and family I know.

 

How can you get to the “happily ever-after” in the too-true story of the Prodigal Son?