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Over the edge...

The story of Jonah has been resonating with me lately, but perhaps in a contrarian approach. Whether this can be part of its intended meaning or not is up for debate; yet the message still stands.

If you recall, Jonah went the opposite way the Lord told him to travel, having no desire to preach to the people of Nineveh. He hopped on a ship that was headed in an entirely different direction. When he did, that vessel had nothing but trouble, and was about to be shipwrecked when he announced, in so many words, "Hey, it's me that is the problem. Get rid of me, and things will calm down for you and you will survive the storm."

So they threw Jonah overboard.

The Jonah side of the story is easily understood; go the way God wants or there can and probably will be significant problems and even destruction ahead.

But just for today I'm thinking about the other side of this equation. Has there been, or is there now, something or someone in my life that should very likely be "thrown over the edge" so I can experience a smoother sail? Not that peaceful seas are necessarily what God plans for us, or at least lets us go through in order that the truth and peace and lesson may be given.

I threw "Jonah" overboard.

It felt, and feels, more peaceful.

As to whether this choice will bless me, or change the turmoil we have had ever since "Jonah" was on board (quite coincidentally, perhaps?), I do not know.

But it was the right choice.

Hail to the Chia

Norwegian Apple Pie

Pretty low in fat (especially if you just use egg whites).

Extremely easy.

Moist and yummy.

What else do you want? :-)

Give it a try.

Norwegian Apple Pie

2 eggs (4 egg whites can be substituted)
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup chopped nuts
2 cups diced apples

Mix together all ingredients. It will likely seem unwieldy at first, but the moisture from the apples will change the consistency to a batter of sorts. My mother bakes this in two greased eight-inch pie pans at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, but I usually bake it in a prepared 7 x 11 pan for slightly longer.

Using turbinado sugar and whole wheat flour probably will work, although I haven’t tried it as of yet.

Best show on TV?

Yeah, probably. Even though USA Today said so, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association agreed with another Golden Globe (they gave 'em the Golden Globe last year too, and Jon Hamm won the Golden Globe for Best Actor last year).

It's a curious addiction, and hubs has inadvertently caught the bug as well. When I have some money, I'll want to buy season one and two.

making the most of what we have

A very kind friend who sells apples has been giving me their "factory seconds". Sometimes they doubt that I would want them, but I grew up on a farm and know good and well how to use those apples! Especially at present, I do not want to waste a thing if I can help it, so I've been looking at a couple cookbooks for ideas. "Too Many Tomatoes" is a book I have blogged about before, with a killer recipe for zucchini cake, and the one I'm going to mention today.

The "More with Less" cookbook came out over thirty years ago. Mennonites put it together as a way to eat well on a reduced budget. Their goal really was to use less of the world's resources, and back in 1976 that was a little more cutting edge than it is now, as you might imagine. My mother bought me this book and I used to use it somewhat regularly, but I'm using it a lot more now. The newer versions might be updated (mine is from the 80's) but the older book's recipes aren't always necessarily healthy (although lots are). They aim first for cheap and effective use of resources. Sometimes they use weird stuff like MSG once in a while, but I just eschew those recipes.

After all the ways I've used apples, of which I will chronicle in more detail later, I really thought some apple butter would be great. However, I wasn't really thrilled about using a whole ton of white sugar in apple butter, and my enthusiasm for using Splenda was pretty low as well. So in the "More with Less" cookbook I found a recipe that worked pretty well...my hubs really likes it. Go get this cookbook, or be really cheap and check it out of the library.

Honey Apple Butter

7ish pounds of peeled and cut up apples

Cook the apples and then process for applesauce. I just stuck them in a crockpot all night and then the next morning used a stick blender--that worked fine.

Add 1 cup crushed pineapple, 1 1/2 pounds honey (the size of container you can get at Aldi, for example), and 1 cup apple cider vinegar or cider, to taste. You could also add some spices--maybe cinnamon, nutmeg, you get the drift.

I took the removeable crockery out of my crockpot at that point and put the apple butter in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours, stir once in a while. This is to remove some of the water and make it thicker.

You can freeze it, but I put it in cleaned and sanitized jars. Stir with a plastic or wooden spoon (no metal!!!) to get air bubbles out if necessary, but there probably won't be air bubbles. Clean the rims scrupulously, and add the lids and bands. Five minutes in a boiling water bath worked just fine. Then I removed the jars and sat them on my kitchen counter. All of them sealed, which was encouraging.

**addition: it had been a while since I canned anything, so remember...heat differences are a no no! make sure your jars are sitting in hot water to stay warm and your apple butter is just-cooked and still warm! temperature differences are a problem...don't put cold jars in a boiling water bath, or they may break.***

Sometimes when life isn't going along so swimmingly, it is nice to remember that friends care, and that some things can go right--like this recipe.

This is a yummy breakfast treat, although of course it works any time of day.

Great, cost-effective gift!

Mrs. Fezziwig gave us a lovely gift. This is well suited for our current economic times.

We received a loaf of italian/french bread (the Kroger kind, that you bake at home to finish to a nice crusty loaf), a bottle of olive oil, and a container of Carrabba's type herbs. At that fine restaurant, which is something we really can't afford at present, the waiter brings out crusty bread and pours olive oil on a plate, and tops it with a very nice herb blend.

Mrs. Fezziwig even included a laminated copy of the recipe so we could easily make more ourselves, and preserve the recipe for safekeeping.

Carrabba's Bread Dipping Spice

1 tablespoon minced basil
1 tablespoon chopped parsley (Italian is best)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or ground sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
1. Combine all of the ingredients, EXCEPT oil and lemon.
2. Put in a small food processor (I used my little food chopper). Chop briefly until all ingredients are about the same.
3. Stir in oil and lemon juice.
4. TO SERVE: Combine about 1 1/2 teaspoons spice blend to 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil on a small Dish.
5. Dip sliced bread in mixture.
6. French bread is good.
7. ENJOY.

I think you will need to get a membership to print the following, possibly, but this is the page to print and laminate for your friend who is receiving the gift.

And here's a recipe link just for Mrs. Fezziwig: her favorite Carrabba's Chicken Marsala. :-)

Are they "glittens", or are they "moves" (rhymes with gloves)? :-)

Saw these a few weeks ago, and hubs got them for me for Christmas. They are so darn practical and lovely. Sometimes they are called gloves/mittens, and I have also seen them called "glomitts". Whatever the name, they are wonderful for doing things outside and quite adjustable for walking, which I love. REI describes them as

"Our warm mittens quickly convert to fingerless gloves whenever the need arises for nimble fingers and thumbs. Fingertip covers flip back and secure out of the way with rip-and-stick tabs; thumb covers stay back without assistance."

Yep, they work as advertised. Thanks to Judy for the tip!

Another church bites the dust.

Our church has closed its doors as of Sunday. Well, we didn't have any doors of our own, which was okay with me, but that was the date of our last service. We are merging with another church, which is more like saying that some of the members will be going together to another church.

The closing was inevitable. The church was in a part of town that is now quite international, both legal and illegal, if you catch my drift. Contrast that with our (mostly) whiteness, which wouldn't be a draw for them. The biggest church in the area had dwindled down to around a hundred members, closed its school, and sold its large church building to a spanish-speaking Catholic congregation. The remnant of those left from that church moved south to try to regroup.

My impression is that the church that is absorbing our church, so to speak, was essentially looking for another pastor and an improved worship band (I'm biased, but our is considerably better than theirs, and hey, I was in the music biz for more than a few years, so that's my "professional" - ha - opinion).

My analogy for this transition is that of an arranged marriage. The two groups of elders decided this would be good, but they didn't even bother coming over to spend an entire service with us...not once. A number of people at our church are enthusiastic, and I will not rain on their parade. They talk about us all being in the body of Christ. My answer is, in a group of ten Christian guys, they would not all be equally good mates for me.

They're a lot more conservative than us. The more conservative members of our church will welcome that, and I'm glad they will find a home. They also have a number of buildings, which has been important to a number of our members. I think buildings are vastly overrated, but I would agree that this church uses theirs more than most.

There's a lot of stress in our lives and this doesn't reduce it, but we will still have the chance to see our friends, at least for a while. We think of them as being our family. Some friends won't join us at this church, and that seems like the right decision for them.

My experience with churches that say they want to reach out and have more members is that they seem to generally want just more people like themselves.

I don't want to be assimilated into this way of thinking and acting, but I also don't want to fight the battles with even gently convincing others that we do not have to all be the same.

I still want people to be comfortable with wearing shorts and sandals to church, to have meaningful community, to stretch boundaries of worship and service, and maybe to have some church people reach out to us which hasn't happened a lot even at our present church.

Yes, I will keep my eyes open to look for positive signs, because I know that God can bring them. But I'm looking for other options. I can't wait for spiritual sustenance, and can't fight the battles of being different and not wanting to be merely turned into a conformist to their culture.

So I'll have the interesting journey of looking for some other spiritual sustenance. I've been through this before, when a church we attended in another state had a significant problem, and we decided we needed to stay and help minister to people, but we attended another church Sunday evenings to get some spiritual food.

This isn't the first church closing we've dealt with. But the last one involved questionable activities on the part of the pastor, so it is nice that we aren't dealing with that this time.

God has something planned! Will be interesting to see what it is.

If you are a praying person

Please pray for us. We are, indeed, grateful. God will prevail! He surely does take His sweet time, however...life's dragging on the bottom right now with wave after wave of bad news.

We continue to practice "On The Other Hands". Even told kiddo about them, and now they remind me of them with regularity. If a sixteen year old tells you they like your idea, as a 40-something you come close to fainting.

At any rate, things are really rough for the nashbabe and nashdude, but God has always taken care of us before, so why would He stop now? That's what I keep trying to tell myself. Sometimes, truly, it does seem like an attempt at brainwashing, but a renewed (i.e., "washed") brain ain't all bad if it's good and true stuff, eh? Yeah, yeah, I know. My feelings are all stressed, pained, frustration, fear, etc. But feelings aren't necessarily the truth. There I go telling myself that again.

I believe, help my unbelief. If God wanted me at the end of my schemes, my plans, my ideas, my attempts to control, BINGO! TARGET ACHIEVED!!!!

Thanks, I really appreciate you!!!

Kitty Ninjas

I blatantly stole this from my friend Kruse Kronicle. But seriously folks, he actually has a very erudite, thoughtful blog. This photo in no way represents his commentary. You can experience it for yourself here. Not bad, not bad at all.

Why is he so brilliant? I have a sneaking suspicion that the Scandinavian heritage he possesses has a little to do with it. Although if he has actually consumed lutefisk, I retract my statement. ;-P

Plane Crash

That is a peculiar title, I'm sure, but two weeks ago we were witnesses to a plane crash that almost led to our buying the farm, I suspect. Not that the farm isn't bought already, but I digress.

We went to Long Hunter State Park to get out of the house a bit. As we drove to the park entrance, I saw an older-looking plane flying extremely low to the ground. The airport isn't far from that location. As we drove a bit further into the park, we saw the plane coming right at us as we drove next to the only clearing in miles, that the pilot had chosen for his emergency landing.

Neither the tail nor the landing gear had been spared, so the plane was essentially out of control as it sped up the incline of the clearing, right at us. It all happened so fast. Right before it would have hit us, it veered to its left and stopped. The pilot, thankfully, was unhurt. Two weeks later, the plane was still at the crashlanding site where everything occured.

Video report here. Despite what the video said, we did see the pilot. The guy on film said "I'm stayin' here 'til the news cameras get here." Obviously, we didn't. Talk about getting shaken up.