Winter Revisited

Today is the second day this week that I've woken to a powder-dusting of snow, but today I'm treated to the sight of it falling--only a few flurries at first, but now the deluge. I love watching snow fall, floating and swirling through the air. It dusts the ground, gradually graying in the remnants of another year, bathing the world in paper-white--the gracious promise of a fresh start approaching.

In the fourth grade, my class was assigned a winter acrostic. We had to write a poem based on the word SNOWFLAKE. I remember sitting with my mom, who believed that I had something real to say about snow; she gently prompted me to reach for the right words, not to settle for the easy ones, guiding me towards the joy of discovering their power and precision. I still remember that poem by heart:

SNOWFLAKES
by Jennifer Danielson, age 9

Snowflakes falling.
New and white.
Oh, so cold! Yet cozy.
Whispering quietly, they
Flow from the sky.
Lovely.
Are the snowflakes
Kaleidoscopic?
Each one unique.
Snowflakes are a wonder.

Happy seeking!

For Alex: CHESTNUT RUMAKI

Last week my friend Alex in France asked me to put more savory recipes here on my blog. She writes,

"We're doing the roasted garlic thing with friends on Sunday (will report back). I need more!!! Like what you've made for dinner last night, how you whipped it up in no time, and how it must be just amazing. Poor Philippe is stuck with frozen foods because I lack ideas and time. You can save my taste buds, and help me impress Philippe.  Even more roasted garlic-like ideas! You can be proud of bringing some taste bud parties into our Parisian flat."

Well, Alex, here is another "roasted garlic-like" idea, just for you. This is an amazingly simple recipe that my mom makes every year for her annual Christmas party the day before Christmas Eve. We pass them around on a little silver tray, and they disappear in about 30 seconds. All you need is two ingredients, some toothpicks, and an oven--et, voila! A delicious, earthy, savory appetizer with minimal effort--especially good on cozy winter evenings...

MOM'S CHESTNUT RUMAKI
 













(My mom likes to roast these long and slow at low heat, about 300(F) (or 150(C)). She partially cooks them  in advance, refrigerates, then heats them to finish cooking right before the party. You can do that--or, to speed the process for immediate enjoyment, try my suggestion below.) Makes 25-30 pieces.

• 1 pound of good bacon strips, cut in half crosswise (into 4 to 5 inch strips)
  
• an 8 oz. can whole water chestnuts
  
• 25-30 toothpicks
  

Line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Drain water chestnuts. Snugly wrap a chestnut in one strip of bacon and secure by firmly inserting a toothpick down the center through each chestnut. Place in baking pan. Repeat until you're out of chestnuts or bacon (whichever runs out first!). Put in cold oven and set to 375-400 degrees Fahrenheit ( 190-205 degrees Celsius). Let roast until the bacon is sizzling and deep golden brown and crispy-looking (anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on how done you like your bacon; may take longer if your oven needs time to heat up and you have thick bacon!). Remove the rumaki to a paper towel to drain briefly. Serve hot!

These go great with stuffed mushrooms,  or a tray of cheese and apples, the Love of Your Life, and a cozy fire :o) Bon appetit!
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More savory recipes to come. I'm thinking "cozy, slow-cooked winter dinners". Check back later this week. In the meantime...

Happy seeking!

Refreshments Served

Earlier this week I joined my husband for the two-hour trek down to Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette for a benefit dinner hosted by his seminary staff. After the meal, two of Jeremy's fellow students and their wives spoke about their experiences in the program. During her speech, one of the wives--a sweet young woman from Brazil--shared some of the lessons God has taught her throughout this process of loving a minister-in-training, of being a minister's wife. After listing some more common wifely lessons of patience and hospitality and the like, she said something unexpected that caught my ear, touched my heart, and refreshed my soul:

"We've learned that the only expectations we're required to live up to are God's."

It was a simple statement, made without a hint of defiance--a mere fact, and the only honest way to live as a Christian. One might adapt to a particular culture or church climate out of love, graciousness, or even polity; one might desire to please another human being, and change his or her behavior accordingly. But at some point, we fail each other; our feelings get hurt; we realize we promised what we couldn't give, or that we didn't count the cost; we're rejected; we reject others. Basing our promises and resolves on other people's expectations is a good recipe for frustration and failure, since people on either side are bound to change their minds. But God's mind has been made up since the beginning of time, and will not change. He is clear and just and good in his expectations, and provides every tool we need to live up to them, in Christ. You simply don't get this from other people, however saintly or steady they seem.

In both worldly and evangelical cultures that place impossible burdens on women, it's refreshing to remember that a true standard, pure and just and constant, exists in God's Word. Our most important job, then, as Christian wives or single women, is not to please everyone, to keep things running smoothly, or to become the next Martha Stewart or Susanna Wesley; it is not to appear slim, seamless, and impeccably sane; it's simply to know God's word and to live as Christ did, committed and submitted to the will of the Father as it is therein revealed:

"Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."-Ecclesiastes 12:13 (ESV)

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" -Micah 6:8 (ESV)

Living up to God's expectations may cause others to forsake us, as they forsook Christ; but we're not left without a promise:

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."-John 14:21 (ESV)

Happy Birthday, Auntie Junie!

My mother comes from a family of nine children. She's the youngest of the girls, with three older sisters. My Aunt June, pictured there on the left, was just barely a young woman when my mother was born, and helped to raise her. Maybe her maternal hand in her siblings' lives predisposed her to see my generation--her nieces and nephews--as grandkids, and to spoil us accordingly. To me, my Aunt June is my grandma, in spirit; my earliest memories include baking and shopping with Aunt June, playing dress up and staying overnight at Aunt June's, begging to go over to Aunt June's on Sunday afternoons after church. We swam in Aunt June's pool all summer long, cousins galore on every side. She'd pull us out of the pool one by one and take us around her perennial gardens--which were everywhere, and glorious--and let us select an abundance of blooms, which she'd clip and wrap in a wet paper towel and tin foil for us to take home.

"Junie" always had tins of home-baked cookies and brownies on her counter for visitors, a continued tradition Jeremy especially enjoys when we stay at her house during visits home to Massachusetts. She has a secret chocolate chip cookie recipe that she's turned into a darling business; they are always the first thing you smell when you walk in her door. When I was tiny, I used to sit up on her counter and help dump the ingredients for them into a big yellow bowl before she'd beat them together. Once, I got it into my head that the shortening we used, so slick and thick and white, like frosting, would be the most delicious thing in the world, if only I were allowed to taste it; she finally let me, and I learned with some chagrin that the most delicious things in life are made up of downright nasty things that must be mixed together in just the right way and tortured in the oven before they can really be enjoyed.

The flavor of our family has changed much over my 28-and-then-some years; we cousins are all grown up, and some have moved away; we've achieved and struggled, been blessed and burdened; we've all, young and old, wrestled with personal demons and faced plenty of defeat amongst the occasional victory; there've been marriages and divorces, feuds and reconciliations; there've been brilliant births, and there've been staggering deaths. But it's the good mixed with the bad that has made this life, our family, and at the calm, warm, cozy center of it I see my Aunt June. She's always been there, trying to add sweetness and color to our world, carrying on with her work, her many labors of love that keep bringing us all together. I can't imagine life without her, and I thank God for her many lessons, her ceaseless prayers, and her constant love--and her cookies. We can't forget the cookies!

Happy Birthday, Junie! We love you!

Thanksgiving Tradition: THANKSGIVING MORNING BREAD

One year around Thanksgiving time when I was in grade school, my teacher read us a story about an old lady with a secret cranberry-orange tea bread recipe, and a man who tried to steal it. I can't remember the ins and outs of the story, nevertheless the title, but I do remember that there was a recipe for the coveted tea bread at the end of the book, and everyone in our class got a copy to take home to our families. I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving morning, something festive for us to munch on until the mid-afternoon dinner. My mom accommodated me, and it became a tradition for many years to come. The custom stopped, or rather, sputtered a bit, when I went off to college, since I couldn't make it home most years to carry it on. I think they made it in my absence, sometimes--maybe even in these years I've spent the holiday with Jeremy's family in Indiana. For my own part, I haven't attempted the recipe in many years. Last weekend I remembered it, though, and the sad little stained recipe stationary I wrote it on, and asked my mom to e-mail it to me to post for you here. Once again, she obliged.

Looking over the recipe after all these years, I was puzzled by a few things. Now that I've made my share of other tea cakes and quickbreads, I couldn't figure out why this recipe required the sugar to be mixed in with the flour, and the butter to be cut in to the dry ingredients, as if for pastry. I remember doing it way back when I was a little girl using two big butter knives--and awkward and complicated task for such short arms--but I didn't ask questions then. I just followed the recipe. Now, I'm not so trusting. The recipe also called for zero vanilla, and--in my opinion--too little butter. My mom says she likes the hard, crunchy crust the bread develops while it bakes for over an hour, but to be honest that was always my least favorite feature of the bread. Maybe it has to do with not creaming the sugar with the butter, I don't know. One way or the other, this year I made the bread for me and Jeremy, who's never had it before, so I was free to experiment and followed my gut: I added a couple tablespoons of butter, which I creamed unabashedly with the sugar, and added vanilla to add some depth of flavor. The batter was delicious, all light and fluffy, but dense at the same time, brimming with walnuts and cranberries, sitting high in the pan. The bread was even better, dense and fragrant, still with a pleasant crust, but not quite so crunchy as the original version's. Make it the night before so all you have to do is heat it up. Add a touch of butter, or eat it plain by handfuls straight out of the pan. Yum...

SEASON SEEKER'S

THANKSGIVING MORNING BREAD

Preheat oven to 350 (F). Butter and flour a 9"x13" loaf pan.

Prepare and set aside:

• 1.5 cups chopped fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional, but delicious)

Combine in a small measuring cup:

• the grated or finely minced zest of one orange
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a separate small bowl, combine:

• 2 cups flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

In larger mixing bowl, cream together:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tbs. butter

Beat in until fluffy:

• 1 egg

Add a few Tbs. of the orange juice mixture to the butter mixture and stir briefly to loosen it. GENTLY stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Then stir in half of the remaining juice, following with another 1/3 of the flour mixture, repeating until all is combined. Don't overmix! Fold in the cranberries and nuts. Bake for 1:10 or until toothpick comes out clean from the center. Serve warm or store in air-tight container for later. Enjoy!

And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, especially my family and friends whom I will see in a few weeks! I'm thankful for all of you! In the meantime...

Happy Seeking!

Thanksgiving Traditions: WAYSIDE SQUASH

Several years ago my cousin Lisa gave me a little New England cookbook full of recipes collected from some of the area's most famous inns. One whole section is devoted to the historic Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Massachusetts, just 20 minutes away from where I grew up. With its quaint pastoral landscape and rich colonial history, Wayside Inn is a favorite stomping ground for several generations of my family. My parents were married in the Martha Mary Chapel up the road and had their reception at the inn; my older sister, Liz, was married outdoors in the garden area the summer I met Jeremy on one of the season's most beautiful afternoons; on a chilly autumn evening a year later, he and I had our rehearsal/"thank you" dinner for our wedding party and various contributors in one of their private fire-side dining rooms. We were stuck on having our wedding at our own beautiful church, but I still wanted to include Wayside in our plans, somehow.

The inn and its surroundings are good for more than just weddings, though; the area has been the sight of countless dinners and gatherings for our growing family. Up the road is an old grist mill built by Henry Ford. Jeremy and I would picnic there on warm spring weekends. Further up the street is the dreaded and glorious penny candy store, which hasn't changed much over the years (except that now you'd be pretty hard-pressed to find any candy that costs a penny!). My aunt June used to take us there and give us a dollar to fill little white paper bags with sweets; then we'd stop in the nearby doll shop, wander out back to see the flock of white geese that lived by the water, and visit the old fashioned general store next door, where there is still (last I checked) a giant wooden barrel full of massive sour pickles. It always reminded me of something you'd find in the hold of the Mayflower. It smelled sour, earthy, salty...and very, very old.

All sorts of smells and tastes and memories are tied up at Wayside, from my earliest childhood up through my newlywed years, reminding me of all I have to be thankful for. One of my and Jeremy's favorite side dishes at the inn is the whipped butternut squash. Lo and behold, I found the recipe in the little cookbook my cousin gave me, and it was the first thing I made. I've been making it for thanksgiving for several years, now, and it really tastes just like Wayside's. I adapted it to simplify the measures here. Try it for a taste of late autumn in New England; double it for a really big crowd. Enjoy!

WAYSIDE INN'S

WHIPPED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

Make this recipe the day before you plan to serve it to give the flavors time to develope to prime deliciousness...

Peel, seed, and cube a 2-3 pound butternut squash. Place cubes in medium-large saucepan and cover with water; add a tsp salt. Bring to a boil and cook 10-12 minutes until fork tender. Drain and discard water. Return cooked squash to pan. Add:

• 2-3 Tbs. butter
• 2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. REAL maple syrup (optional; *see note below*)
• a good pinch EACH of cinnamon and nutmeg**
• 1/2 tsp salt, plus pepper to taste**

*Do not even THINK about using "maple flavored" products or imitation maple syrup!!! If you don't have any of the real stuff, or find it too expensive, just replace with an additional Tbs. of brown sugar.

**Be careful with seasonings at this point; they will really develop in the fridge overnight, and you don't want to overdo it.

Whip with electric beater on high speed until very smooth. (This has a homestyle quality to it; if you're looking for velvet-smooth consistency, try passing it through a food mill.) Cool and refrigerate until ready to serve; heat up and stir, adjusting any seasonings to taste. Makes about 2 1/2 cups. Enjoy!

Happy Seeking!

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Recipe adapted from New England Historic Inns Cookbook, Mahoney Publishing Co., Needham MA, 1994. Original recipe by Longfellow's Wayside Inn, Sudbury, MA.

Sunday Slim-Down Week 4: Learning to Be Nice

In last Sunday's fitness post, I described the frustration of enduring a week of harsh self-deprivation with ZERO weight loss to show at the end of it. I admitted my own diet insanity and acknowledged that if a friend of mine were in my shoes, I'd give her some gentle advice to be kinder to herself, more patient with her body, and more reasonable with her goals. I said I might even tell her to eat MORE, if she was that hungry all week. Above all, I'd remind her that there is more to good health than numbers, and to give the process some time and patience. For the first time in decades (mind, I am only 28), I took my own advice.