a few more years shall roll

Photo by Nikki Ellis.
I’ve loved all foods Cuban for a while . . . restaurants Alma de Cuba, Cuba Libre gave me tastes in Philly and most recently, I ate at Amor Cubano at 111th and 3rd in Manhattan, where I came away wanting to find a recipe for Vaca Frita so I could make it at home.

I already had planned to have friends Daniel, Elise, Nikki, and Scott over for dinner last week, so once I started working on the menu, I got pretty into it. I had never attempted Cuban food but give this girl a recipe and I can make it happen.

First, narrowing down the recipes. I found these two recipes for Vaca Frita http://cubanfood.blogspot.com/2009/05/esthers-vaca-frita.html and http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/vaca-frita-crispy-beef. I probably followed the first one more closely, until the end, where I did let the shredded meat sit in the lime, garlic and olive oil for a good hour before searing it. I cooked the beef on the stove-top the night before, not in slow cooker or pressure cooker, and then finished it right before dinner.

Then, I found two recipes for Ropa Vieja, but really ended up sticking to this one because it had more complex flavors in it. Again I made this the night before and just heated it up in the crock-pot after work before dinner.

***I had a little trouble tracking down flank steak for the two beef recipes, but at the fifth grocery store/butcher, there it was. (Rossville Bi-Lo, by the way)

Made black beans–first time (I’m ashamed to say) I’ve made beans not from a can. They were so delicious and easy that I will definitely be making them again. This recipe is excellent! I used an orange pepper instead of the green pepper, for color and because I used the two green peppers for the beef recipes and didn’t want to go out to the store again. The balsamic vinegar is such a good addition here. And, waiting til the end to add salt means that your total sodium content will be less, but the flavor is top-notch. These I served over basic rice.

When I stopped at the local tienda/fruteria on my way home from church Wednesday night to pick up limes and tomatoes, I saw the plantains and realized I needed to include them in this meal.

And, then I found this recipe, which really was the star of the evening. As you may have picked up, if you know me at all, I enjoy a little bacon in my life. Sooooo . . . when a recipe popped up that combined slightly sweet plantains with bacon, I figured it would have to be about the best thing ever. And it was. I cooked the plantains longer than 10 minutes (more like 20)–because they weren’t super-sweet. The skins were yellow and spotted, not totally black. I just mashed them by hand. Super-easy and the flavor combo is to die for.

Here’s a glimpse of how my kitchen was looking during all this fun: What you can’t see is how much GARLIC went into this meal. Three heads, I kid you not.

With chopped avocado and sour cream as our accompaniments, and some homemade sangria brought by Daniel and Elise, we had an amazing meal and great time together. (Nikki added some of my favorite cookies in all of the world for dessert. Niedlov’s Ginger Molasses)

Here’s some more photos from Scott:

From his instagram (cool way of making photos look old i-phone stuff)

Oh yeah, and I made this for our pre-dinner drink on the porch:
vermontucky lemonade. Might be the best summer drink I have ever tasted.

So, next time you’re having people over for dinner, don’t go with your old stand-by recipes, like I am often tempted to do. Try something new. It’s a lot more fun!!

If there is one thing I’ve learned since moving South, it’s that greens are best when paired with some manner of pork product. Mostly, I have discovered this at church dinners at Resurrected Baptist Church (where I’ve learned to answer the question, “Greens?” with a definite “Yes, PLEASE.”) Now, of all the things I could write about this snow week–yes, a week of being off work and mostly homebound–I choose to share a recipe that involves both greens and pork product. I could tell you about the media I watched (Despicable Me, Just Wright, The Social Network, season 3 of Arrested Development), the books I finished (The Warmth of Other Suns, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Redeeming Singleness), the sleep I got (9 hours every night!), the house I did not clean, but really, what’s important here?

That’s right. Lardons.

I escaped my house on Wednesday and visited Link 41, a local sausage maker that also happens to make bacon. I bought a package of back bacon, and it was the best decision I made all week. I used one piece to add to pizza on Thursday for dinner, but today tried out a recipe from my America’s Test Kitchen cookbook with a few small changes.

Pasta with Canellini and Pancetta Link 41 Bacon
The cast of ingredients:

After collecting my ingredients, I chopped up that bacon and put it in my cast iron pan with a little olive oil (probably not necessary) and cooked it til it looked like this:
Here is where I must give due honor to the French for coming up with the word “lardon.” That’s what these little chunks of heaven are called. It could not be a more appropriate word. It is what it is.

I added onions: chopped garlic: & cannelini beans:
along with some chicken broth (lowfat, of course. Ha!).

Meanwhile, in the pot of boiling water next burner over, I added a bunch of fresh angel hair pasta (the recipe called for penne, but the angel hair worked well.

While that cooked (about 2 minutes), I smashed some of the beans to thicken the sauce. After the pasta was drained, I added 2 cups of arugula and spinach (see, this is about healthy eating. GREENS), some lemon juice which really brightened the flavor, and the sauce. And stirred it up like this:

And then, I put it on a plate, covered it with freshly shredded parmesan, and ate it.

Then I visited my friends Corey and Sheila and did not breathe garlic breath on them or their son, Solomon.

And that, my friends, is my snow week story of how I ate salad greens without eating salad. Also about lardons.

The past two weekends, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing two friends’ weddings. Last weekend, my friend Dawn got married on the beach in Ocean City, NJ, and it was a joyous celebration! For the first wedding, I actually got to sign the marriage license as a witness (so yes, it really did happen!). I was also serving as the photographer, which I’ve done a few times for other friends. I’m by no means a professional–and that usually shows in the pics, but I do really enjoy trying to capture some good moments.

My friend Tiffany has been part of my small group that meets on Wednesday nights the past two years. She’s been engaged a good portion of that time, so it was wonderful to see the wedding day arrive. It was also great to see so many in my church pitch in to help–from the decorations, to the delicious catered reception (from pretty much the best cook in Chattanooga, who also happens to head our church kitchen committee), to the musicians . . .

Here’s the bride and groom, listening to a prayer from her grandfather, the father of the bride’s father, who officiated the ceremony.

Someone joked with the bride to ask if she didn’t have any ugly friends, because the bridal party was so beautiful. Check them out.

The whole party was a blast to photograph. We had some fun.

And the bride and groom were just gorgeous. I love them. And am so thankful that they let me be part of their day!

Seriously, look how beautiful.

Generations of beauty . . .

But, one of my favorite pictures is this one of kids who were running around playing and came over to pose when I pulled out my camera at the reception.

I’m still in process of editing more of the photos, but what fun!

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain of triumphant gladness;
God hath brought forth Israel into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot through the Red Sea waters.

“Alleluia!” now we cry to our King immortal,
Who, triumphant, burst the bars of the tomb’s dark portal;
“Alleluia!” with the Son, God the Father praising,
“Alleluia!” yet again to the Spirit raising.

I love the triumphant triune praise of the last verse of this hymn!

Last weekend and into this week, my brother Mike and sis-in-law Robyn came with Molly and Stephen for a long-awaited visit, and we thoroughly enjoyed Chattanooga for a few days. Mike and I found a place to watch the Penn State game (VICTORY–and another one this week!) and caught up a little. A full day with church family on Sunday (including an amazing lunch). Monday we met up with friends at the Creative Discovery Museum, which is nearly as much fun for adults as kids, I think. The kids had a blast.
Monday night, met up with friends of Mike’s from fellowship for dinner at Tony’s Tuesday, we hit up the Chattanooga zoo, Coolidge Park, Good Dog, and the carousel, and wandered up Lookout Mountain, before coming back home for a grilled steak dinner with some other friends in Chattanooga.

I do have pretty much the cutest nieces and nephews in the whole world, by the way. (and two more on the way before Christmas!)

A late night conversation on the back deck and the visit was over! It went by way too quickly and was a not-so-welcome reminder of how far from my family I really am. But, I’m thankful that all my siblings have now gotten down to visit here in Chattanooga. Still not sure I can claim Chattanooga as my town just yet, but it is great for hosting visitors.

Yes, you read that correctly. The two highlights of my Saturday (food-wise) were the pint of fresh figs I bought from Crabtree Farms, a local farm just five minutes from my house, and delicious homemade chicken tamales from Tienda Jalisco.

I was out grocery shopping since I’m having a few people over for dinner tomorrow evening, and I stopped by the farm to see if they had cilantro (which I learned is a cool climate plant that doesn’t do too well here in the Mid-South). They did have pints of the most beautiful figs, and I snatched up one to snack on and to have with some goat cheese and honey tomorrow as part of dinner. Look how beautiful they are:

Seriously, so good! I had to take a bite of one while I was capturing the shot:

By the time I was at the farm, the torrential downpour had already started (like we haven’t gotten enough rain this week, thank you very much!), and I was soaked, but determined to try to find cilantro. I tried two small groceries (one Guatemalan owned and one Mexican owned), and I came away with chorizo and these delicious chicken tamales instead of the illusive herb, cilantro. At Tienda Jalisco, they have homemade tamales (pork or chicken) for $1.50 each. When I’ve stopped by before, they’ve either run out or had pork  ones, which I like too. Today, though, they had chicken, and I ordered three. See below:

Everything I’ve eaten from this place has been great. Homecooked, authentic, and, best of all, in my neighborhood.

All that to say, I got distracted from my cilantro hunt, and I decided to change the recipe a little so I won’t need it anyway.

The non-food highlight of my day: my first choir practice with the Resurrected choir tonight. Imagine, if you will, me, who can’t sit down at the piano and pick out a tune without the written music despite 9 years of lessons, trying to learn songs without the music in front of me. Or worse, on the second song, having a hymnal in front of me and realizing that we were singing nothing like the music written there. Oh, it was good for me! I need fresh challenges in my life, and this will certainly be an enjoyable one.

Yup. I am pretty excited that Andrew is coming to do a concert at Covenant College. My work here is done.

Seriously, though, I am really looking forward to not only having him in concert, but having a student luncheon with him. We do this kind of event with guest speakers that come to campus, giving them a chance to get to know our students and and vice versa. With Andrew’s thoughtfulness and good humor, as well as his experience in the music business, in getting his writing published (two novels so far), in creating community among artists and others, I think we’ll have a great conversation. The demand for seats at the lunch has been HIGH!

Now that classes are in full swing, and the campus is buzzing with activity, and chapel services are completely packed out, my job makes so much more sense. I realize that one of the challenges of being overseas for the summer is coming back to the quiet of August on a college campus. It’s not til the students show up that my work takes on its fuller significance, and it’s easy on a quiet day at the beginning of August to forget that. But I remember it when I am sitting on the steps outside Carter Hall talking to students and staff about what we’ve seen in other parts of the world, when two girls drop by my house for quick visit since they were in the neighborhood, when I shared a meal with a senior who’d just returned from India and we just realized we were dealing with some of the same challenges in returning home, when a student shares how God has changed her heart over the weekend and I can see the gospel shining in her face as her eyes well up with tears of joy.

Singer Adele sings my theme song of the summer (thanks to Matt for introducing me to the song, via this line) . . . The people I have met are the wonders of my world. Adele sings about London and you can view her singing it here. Adele Hometown Glory

When I look back the past few months, I am struck by the people that have crossed my path. Some photos here.

From speakers at the college where I work, to the group of freshmen I traveled with to Europe for two weeks, to the two shop workers in a large city in the middle east who grew up under Taliban rule and wanted to hear the story of the nativity, to friends from the middle east who speak in very different ways about the events in their country than anything I read in the headlines (but also want to hang out and watch The Half-Blood Prince with us!), to the students I grew with and loved this summer, to the people who shared their stories of coming to faith from backgrounds that many consider hopeless and too dark for redemption.

How did I get this privilege? Seriously. I could not have planned this life that I live. And, sometimes I forget to be thankful. I think of what I don’t have, of what I would like to add to my life, and then I am reminded that I have everything and yet I still receive more. I get hit in the face with how big our world is, how amazing the people in it are, and how God is working all over the place!

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to perhaps my favorite city in the world:

I love that in the evening, so many people stop and sit on these benches and just look at the sights around them. I love that vendors sell fresh corn on the cob for 1 lira and big containers of watermelon chunks for the same price. I love the way the sun hits the buildings. I love the bright colors of the head scarves and the green gardens.

And, this one gives new meaning to “street lights”:

I am enjoying being in Belgium, first of all. I like that it can be cloudy in the morning, and yet sunny in the evening. I like that last night at 11:15 when I crawled in bed, there was still a bit of light coming through my skylight. I appreciate being away from 90 degree weather in Chattanooga.

Yesterday, though, I had to laugh at the weather.
4:40 wake up to rain and the first light of the day
9:40 a little warm, but dry on the walk to the train station
10:10 train was a little late, and it began sprinkling
10:40 downtown Brussels, no rain
10:52 downtown Brussels, downpour of magnificent proportions while we waited at the tram stop
11:00 ran two meters to the tram and got wet.
11:20 got off our tram stop and ran to a block to church in serious downpour. arrived late, dripping wet. attempted to use tissue to dry off. fail.
12:35 looked outside at the pouring rain and decided to stay for coffee time after service
12:45 looked outside and saw the sunshine
2:00 sat down at cafe near Grand Place and soaked in the sun. actually got a little hot.
6:30 left house of our new friends (after an amazing meal of chicken, veggies, and couscous along with mint tea). as we walk to tram and train station, wind now blowing and temp has dropped about 15 degrees.
7:30 walk from train station home and remark on the beautiful, calm, warm evening.

*Wow, wouldn’t I have SUCH an interesting Twitter feed? All weather, all the time live from Belgium here. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m leaving for another country on Wednesday, where the weather is much more predictable.

I am a city girl at heart, I think. While I enjoy driving through countrysides and experiencing open spaces, I am much more intrigued and energized by the variety of people, places, sights and sounds in cities. Being in Brussels and stopping by a flea market and picking up on conversation in French, Flemish, Arabic, Spanish, Turkish, Italian is something I want to experience again. And again.

Look at this scene from the Grand Place: the people are much more beautiful than the architecture.

This past saturday, I joined the local public library, checked out 6 books on Ireland to begin planning my six days there (they didn’t have any on Belgium, where I’ll be the week before Ireland), grilled with my new Weber charcoal grill. For my first attempt at grilling, I made the following:

a burger (with feta)
onions
portabellas
boneless pork chop with dijon maple glaze
butternut squash

Fear not, I did not eat these all in one sitting (it was three meals in one), but I figured I should go ahead and use the grill space and heat while I had it.

So, here was my plate on the table for a late lunch:

Here is the butternut squash, which finished cooking while I ate the burger/onion/mushroom pita sandwich:

I’m still figuring out the vents on my grill, but the first outing was a success.

I’m submitting a few photo entries to the blog. . .with a little explanation.

One of my favorite of more recent traditions is my annual Christmas Eve eve gift exchange, sleepover, and brunch with four of my close friends in Philadelphia. We began four years ago (I think) meeting at Joyce’s home. She decorates her home beautifully for Christmas, so we all enjoy celebrating there. We snack and exchange gifts in the evening, and then the next morning we collaborate and have a lovely brunch together. The photo above shows one of Joyce’s beautiful tea cups on the breakfast table.

Even though I’ve moved away, I hope that this gathering remains a part of my Christmas celebration in years to come. My friends gave me a particularly sweet gift this year–a scrapbook of some of our adventures together–from trips to the Adirondacks, Vermont, and, most recently, Ukraine to celebrations together to our times in choir (where we all met and became friends). It’s a special treasure!

Christmas decorations, at least. I wasn’t going to get a tree this year, but my sister and brother-in-law and their six kids were stopping by on their way to Alabama for Christmas, so I thought I’d go ahead and get one. I got it a few weeks ago–it’s one with the roots and all, which is a lovely concept in theory, but not so great when one lives alone and cannot carry it inside. I should have wised up when it took three guys to put it in the back of my car to get it home.

I did buy a lovely large galvanized bucket to keep it in, but the bucket leaks, so I can’t keep it as well-watered as I would like. I’m pretty sure it’s going to die before I can replant it (not to be a pessimist or anything, and I do try to water it as well as I can, but it’s dropping needles and I have to leave it for a week while i drive to Pennsylvania for Christmas). Next year, I will get a cut tree.

Here’s a photo of my house from the outside, but you can see the tree inside:

Here’s a view from inside:

Good Christmas memories already this December:
–Lessons and Carols at Sewanee
–Reading Luke 2:1-20 in Chapel for Covenant’s (less formal) Lessons and Carols
–Getting to see Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God concert twice. One in Huntsville and one in Nashville.
–Having family visit even though I live so far from “home.” So much fun to have my house full of kids!
–Niedlov’s bakery and their Christmas stollen.

More to come as I travel north on Friday, visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Va, before heading to Philly on Saturday.

i doubt anyone even checks this little blog anymore, but i thought i might just put a little post in. i’m in lookout mountain, ga, staying in a student apartment at Covenant College, with all my worldly goods in storage somewhere in Georgia (seriously, I have no idea where they are). i’m waiting to find a new house to live in to go with my new job here at the college. tomorrow afternoon, i’m going to check one more place out and try to make up my mind on what I want to buy. my house is philly sold in a hurry, although managing all the details while traveling in Ukraine and Turkey was quite interesting.

i’m excited about this new opportunity, back to working with students and helping them think about life and work. it does feel like i’m on some kind of big road trip, having packed up my car, and driven for days, visiting family and friends along the way, and staying in a place where i’m not really unpacking. it always takes a while for a place to feel like home for me, but i think a big step will be having a place to call my own. for now, i’m eating lots of prepared food and living with very white walls and institutional furniture.

when it’s been so long since the last entry, i’m not even sure where to begin. it’s like trying to sum up my ‘accomplishments since graduation’ for my 15th high school reunion. i’m wondering what consititutes an accomplishment. somehow that’s easier than writing down my “best memory from high school” since i’ve forgotten most of my high school experiences!

i’ll list instead my best memories/accomplishments during last week’s vacation in the adirondacks:
1. sleeping in until 10:30 am one day
2. watching roman holiday
3. hiking eight miles (i have the raspberry branch scratches on my ankles to prove it)
4. sailing for the first time (ok, so i just rode, while my friend Joyce sailed)
5. quoting pride and prejudice lines with my friends [i believe it is of great doctrinal import]
6. finishing stephen ambrose’s band of brothers; starting orhan pamuk’s snow
7. studying five psalms with four of my good friends
8. eating great food–salmon, sauerbrauten, beef bbq, chicken tagine, hot dogs over the campfire
9. enjoying cold sleeping weather and clear starry nights
10. finding a great diner on our way home

now, when i try a household project, it’s usually ripping up carpet or cleaning the living room. my sister and brother-in-law, on the other hand, are renovating a huge house, from a shell into something livable. the photos are part way through the project in February–they’ve done a lot more since i took them. it makes me tired just thinking about all that work!

i’m excited that they and their five kids might come visit me over Easter weekend.