Sunday, October 19, 2008

China Warm-Up

Larry and I are counting the days until our trip to China to see Charlotte and Maryann and those lovely parents of theirs in November. But this weekend we got a little "warm-up" for the visit! -- three Skype visits with Micah and family.

The next best thing to actually being in China was exchanging "hellos" with Charlotte as she sat in her favorite spot in front of the computer, earphones in place. Super to catch up with Micah a bit and watch Jodi duck in and out in her apron to say hi as she was making dinner. Even Mr. and Mrs. Zhou got in the act-- bringing over baby Maryann so we could have a peek! Sure wish I could speak Chinese to those nice people.

Yep, we're counting the days-- It's 33 today, less tomorrow!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Kitchen

If we have crossed paths in the last 4 months, you most certainly already know that we have a new kitchen! Thanks to hours and hours of hard labor on Larry's part, it's done!! All buttery yellow and shiney new! And today I put on a few finishing touches. I painted the french door out to the little porch a warm golden color and over the kitchen window I painted "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. Psalm 107:1" in a cozy script.

You'd think after a few weeks of being back at cooking up dinners in the new kitchen the excitement would have worn off-- but no! It makes my heart happy every time I crank up that super stove burner or rinse dishes in the perfectly shaped sink.
In honor of the new kitchen and with great thanksgiving for the lovely gift that it is to me, I'd like to pass on my favorite newly discovered recipe that I've been making there:

ORANGE CHIPOTLE CHICKEN

butter
4 chicken breasts
1 1/2 tab soy sauce
1 tab marmelade
1/4 cup green onions
toated almonds

Brown the chicken in butter 5 minutes on each sice. Mix marmelade and soy sauce and brush onto chicken.

then the ORANGE CHIPOTLE SAUCE

3 tab butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tab garlic
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tab brown sugar
1 tab orange marmelade
1 chipotle pepper, minced

Brown the onion in butter, Add garlic and basil. Then stir in the orange juice, broth, soy sauce, sugar and marmelade. Put chicken into the sauce and simmer for 6 minutes. Serve garnished with the green onions and almonds.

And to serve along side the chicken:

CILANTRO RICE

1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 cup cialntro
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 minced chipotle
1 1/2 tab lime juice
1 tsp oilive oil

Cook rice with water and salt. In the food processor puree the cilantro, onion, chipotle, lime juice and oil. Stir this mixture into the rice when it is done cooking. pretty and delicious.

With a big green salad --greens, avocados,oranges, feta-- it's a spicey, yummy meal. Que aproveche!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Intentionality

It must have been 20 years ago that I remember thinking about a few people I admired deeply-- Paul and Jenni, my Dad and Jose Maria of Utrera. And I tried to think of the common thread that made them so admirable to me. I came up with the word "intentional." They spent their days, made their decisions with great intentionality.

Lately that word has come up quite often. Last year in JH when Jac taught on Intentionality, it sparked some great discussion on defining values and living them out. For Jac, it was loving God and loving people. Last Sunday, first Jay Kessler landed on Intentionality wrapping up his sermon on Lot and Abraham-- and then in Joint Heirs Larry read this verse:

"Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity," (Ephesians 5:15)

In the car last week, I heard a psychologist on NPR talking about happiness. He said the people who were the most happy were those who had defined values and lived up to their own expectations for themselves according to those values. That could mean a lot of different lifestyles depending on a what a person does value. But it sounds like intentionlity to me! For me it's keeping in my mind the values of living a life pleasing to God and one that loves other people unselfishly-- not as easy as it sounds on paper.

When you're in your 50's, you realize you have less opportunties left to live (Epsh 5) than you used to! Luis Palau said your life is a coin you can only spend once. So my hope is to spend my remaining opportunities with great intentionality.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Two Books

I keep a list of the books I've read in a little notebook by my bed. But I've just finished two books that I would love to remember well enough to jot them down here. They could scarcely be more different, but both were great reading for me...

I'll start with "Talking with My Mouth Full." Written by Bonny Wolf, an NPR commentator, it's the food book I would have loved to have written. Every chapter is a different food theme, followed a by a handful of corresponding recipes. She starts with the history of the bundt cake and moves on through her favorite kitchen tools, passing on family recipes ("Family cookbooks have recipes for Jell-O salads and Christmas cookies. No recipes call for foie gras or truffle oil."), crazy state fair food, Thanksgiving dinners and famer's markets from San Francisco to Spain to Israel... She writes personally of friends who cook and dinners she's given, in a very down to earth sort of way. You'd just like to drop by her house for lunch and exchange a few recipes.

More importantly, I just finished "Reasons for God" by Tim Keller. He answers questions culled from years of good talks with skeptics and as a pastor of a large church in Manhatten he's met a few of those. He treats their point of view with respect and understanding and presents, it seems to me, a wonderfully fair-handed look at important questions such as the validity of all religions, or suffering in the world. The books feels as though it was written by a modern day C.S.Lewis and in fact, Keller names him as an influence in the acknowledgments. The book draws widely from a deep range of writers and thinkers, from Bono to Flannery O'Connor, from Nietzsche to G.K. Chesterton. The value of the book for me lies in the way that it confirmed my faith and at the same time brought me up short in matters of sharing financially in a world that has so many physical needs and also gave me a new view at sin in my life that I had managed to overlook for some time. I love God more for having read this book. I wish it were on the bookshelf of every person who wants to know the truth about God.