Fullness

What began in my mind as a birthday post for Oldest daughter--her 20th birthday celebration at the end of January capped a wonderful month of family togetherness--has expanded its borders into something more...full. And while our time together inspired me to write of the fullness of Oldest Daughter's life, the fullness of our family life was juxtaposed with it, as we once again walked together, side by side.

Adding to her Christmas Break from school, Oldest Daughter spent her January/Winter Term with us in Jordan, preparing for and giving a solo concert, fulfilling her Winter Term project requirement.

Though we enjoyed the pleasant strains of violin music this summer when Oldest Daughter was home, January's concert was the first time we enjoyed the fullness of what Oldest Daughter's playing/performing( in some ways, a distinct aspect of playing) had become since her senior recital, performed in May 2008; the maturity and openness of her musical expressions was notable.

Observing the high degree to which the audience, full of long time friends and acquaintances from the community, delighted in Oldest Daughter's performance, I began contemplating the place of music, particularly live music performance, in the life of a community. Most in the audience were not aficionados of classical music, though more than a couple made comments about how Oldest Daughter's music moved them, and " carried them away to another place to enjoy beauty." Fullness of community by sharing music, beauty--beautiful music; I'm still thinking about these things...

Oldest Daughter was able to share some more of this fullness with some our our little friends--they were learning about the orchestra and came over for a special lesson about the violin.

We enjoyed fullness of fellowship and fullness of stomachs as we share some of Oldest Daughter's favorite Arab dishes with family and friends in a celebratory birthday dinner. Featured fare: Koosa Mahshi, zucchini with meat and rice stuffing, and Ma'loubi, an "upside down" dish of fried cauliflower, savory chicken, rice, and toasted almonds.

I delighted in the fullness of my relationship with an "older"daughter, who raised up from infanthood, has become a dear friend, confidante, and close sister in the Lord. God's ways are amazing!


At the end of our month together, and on Oldest Daughter's birthday, we headed just out of town, to a long-time favorite area of the countryside to enjoy each other in the fellowship of the Lord and in his creation.

In a greening field, studded with anemones and limestone we prayed together, rejoicing in the fullness of family that we had enjoyed in Christ the past month; and we prayed for Oldest daughter as she prepared to return to Oberlin, thanking God for the fullness of life that she has and is yet discovering in Jesus as she walks with Him, and asking Him to draw her ever closer to Him even as she travels far from us.

Love Words

Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

In the title of her second chapter, Love Words, Marilyn McEntyre employs a lovely paronomasia (or, pun but puns are are generally humorous) . Shortly into the chapter her double meaning is made evident:

"...So our task as stewards of the word begins and ends in love. Loving language means cherishing it for its beauty, precision, power to enhance understanding, power to name, power to heal. And it means using words as instruments of love."

The encouragment to love words and to love by words reminds me of ideas I considered this summer when I read a few excerpts of Plato's Phaedrus via The Art of Assertion:

( Phaedrus 261a) : "Such soul-leading is a liberal power, one which in its finest and fullest manifestation is a form of love: the finest rhetorician not only loves wisdom, but also loves others who do so. The finest rhetor, then, is a friend...The best university is a rhetorical community of friends, and the ultimate purpose of this book is to teach the reader how to live within such a community with words so full of care that they release the light of brilliance." p.13

-and- "The care of words and things--that is, the care of things through the care of words--is a generous, disciplined forum: this human activity is rhetorical throughout, the true influence of friends who have, as Phaedrus puts it at the close of the Phaedrus, 'everything in common' (279c), in particular the shared motion toward the real. pp 13,14

In Praise of Prepositions~
In celebrating particular parts of speech, McEntyre higlights the deep and amazing work of which prepositions are capable, connecting and showing relationship not only between words, but between the objects, persons, and ideas which they name. I have been considering and reflecting on the words from a hymn, taken from an ancient Celtic prayer, "St. Patrick's Breastplate".

Christ be with me, Christ within me.
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

"...prepositions help us, as Henry James put it, to 'understand things in relation,' which he claimed, is the only way they can be rightly understood." p.37

Love words.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

We are snow wimps here in Jordan--light snow flurries were grounds for locals schools to declare a Snow Day. But, since this will likely be one of our coldest days of the year, it is the perfect time to share this new recipe, compliments of my friend, Susan, via another friend, Robyn (thanks!). Susan served it to us last week and we immediately requested the recipe.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

3 cups milk
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant coffee
1 teaspoon vanilla

Over low heat, whisk all the ingredients into the milk. My kids like this served with a squirt of whipped cream--of course!

Caring for Words

"Language is the means by which our rationality and our relationality are enabled simultaneously." Ken Myers, creator and host of Mars Hill Audio Journal, captured my attention and inspired my imagination when he made this statement while introducing his conversation with professor, poet, and author, Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. I love Meyers' introductions and often find them as enlightening and thought stimulating as the conversations themselves, however in these case his proposition was but a foreshadowing of a thought provoking dialogue about to begin.

With four teenagers at home (for one more day) we had recently been discussing the twists and turns our use of language has taken over the years, individually, communally, and culturally. (Hmm, I wonder who instigated these discussions...) Thus, the observations made by Meyers and McEntyre served to confirm some of my own reflections and to bring some of my intuitions into the realm of ideas by furnishing them with words.

I quickly ordered McEntyre's new book and after reading one chapter decided that she is an author of whom I would like to read more~she's also written three books of poetry on the art of Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Van Gough and I enjoyed perusing her website.



Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre

I haven't yet finished this book, so this isn't a proper book review, but rather an ejaculation of enthusiasm for McEntyre's ideas and the gracious and loving way in which she expresses them. The first chapter, Why Worry about Words, elicited copious underlining:

She effectively employs an environmental metaphor in her discussion of language:

"Like any other life-sustaining resource, language can be depleted, polluted, contaminated, eroded, and filled with artificial stimulates. Like any other resource, it needs the protection of those who recognize its value and commit themselves to good stewardship."

"Caring for language is a moral issue. Caring for one another is not entirely separable from caring for words."

"As unable words are lost, experience becomes cruder and less communicable. And with the loss of subtlety, clarity, and reliability of language, we become more vulnerable to crude exercises of power."

On Conversation:
"to converse was to foster community, to commune with, to dwell in a place with others. Conversation was understood to be a life-sustaining practice, a blessing ,and a craft to be cultivated for the common good."

And all this from just the first six pages.

One final quote of a quote, and perhaps this is only back-patting--I always find it encouraging to enunciate a thought or idea only to read it elsewhere in more elegant language by someone much smarter than myself. Dear husband and I were discussing the the relationship between morality and language and I proposed that a deterioration of language portended a deterioration of the understanding of truth, and ultimately, morality: "So our language goes, so go we." Dear husband countered that the opposite was true. Soon after I read this claim by George Orwell, quoted by McEntyre:

"[The English Language] becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible."

It's always nice when we can both be right.

Diario dell Cucina~Risotto alla Zucca

One of the lasting memories I have from my visit to my brother and his family who live in lovely Tuscan village overlooking Florence, is the food. That inspirational memory is due in large part to the culinary proficiency of my sister-in-law, Shandra. I was in awe of what she could whip up in her typically small European kitchen--if I remember correctly you can't open the dishwasher and the refrigerator at the same time--or something like that!

Shandra says that cooking traditional Italian food has for her been a window into the culture and she once shared a story with me which illustrated the the care and concern Italians show for the quality of their food: she was summoned to the primary school which her boys attended for a very important parents' meeting. The topic under discussion and even debate: the quality of the pasta the children were receiving for school lunch.

I've requested recipes from my sister-in-law in the past so I was very pleased when she began posting her kitchen notes on Facebook, and then her recipes at Diario della Cucina. Last week, thanks to Shandra's risotto tutorial, I made my first risotto, Risotto alla Zucca (Pumpkin). I had long wanted to try making risotto, but had heard that it was a fussy dish, easily ruined. Shandra's About Risotto post primed the pump and and when she posted her Pumpkin Risotto recipe, I went shopping.

With the cost of imported foods in Jordan, risotto will not become everyday fare, but it was a delicious treat. Per Shandra's instructions, I made sure to release all my stress before begining so that it wouldn't be absorbed by the risotto. (I think it's like pie crusts sensing hesitancy and fear.) I even made Artist Son stop practicing his drums ("The risotto absorbs the stress? What??) and turned on some YoYo Ma for stirring to.

Risotto alla Zucca
(served in a bowl I purchased with the help of my sis-in-law in a Florentine market)

Making the risotto was not difficult and the results were delicious. My children had never before eaten risotto but they all liked it, especially my Carbo Kid (Active Son) and Tayta; "This is better than mac and cheese!" I made my brodo, or chicken stock, to be used in making the risotto, early in the day and then I roasted the already boiled chicken in the oven to serve with the risotto, first topping it with an impromptu tomato-leftover-handful-of-fresh-basil-clove-of-garlic sauce I made in the blender. I also drizzled the chicken with olive oil and sprinkled it with a little sea salt.

nota bene: quantites for butter and parmesan cheese: 3 T butter and 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (though I used Grand Padano as it is more readily available to me).

Next up: Tuscan Beans and Ribollita

The Four Teenagers Picture

January 2010 is the Month of Four Teenagers: Tayta turned 13 on Christmas Eve, and Oldest Daughter will celebrate her 20th birthday at the end of the week; sorta wish I could freeze this moment in time, at least for a few more weeks.

The Four Teenagers

Happy 13th Birthday, Tayta

Tayta, my youngest child, turned 13 on Christmas Eve (I'm back blogged from December) and for one blessed month I have four teenagers at home (Oldest daughter, home for her January term will be 20 at the end of this month). With a perception of others' needs beyond her years, Tayta is the second mother in our family; God has blessed us, her family, and many more besides with her gracious heart of caring service.

Small children and babies delight her to no end and she is a favorite babysitter to many of her little friends.

Tayta and Friends

This summer, when she wasn't nurturing children she delighted in helping our garden cat raise five kittens...


or creating fantastically yummy deserts for us.

Tayta's Pink Peppermint and Chocolate Pie

Tayta's empathetic nature shone through when I recently lost my voice: I could only whisper. The older kids chuckled and snickered when I whispered at them but Tayta, she whispered back. We had conducted half a conversation when I whispered to Tatya that she didn't have to whisper back to me. Looking surprised and smiling she replied, "I didn't know I was whispering."

What a beautiful young woman you are becoming Tayta, and may the coming year be one in which you continue to grow in the beauty and grace of God.

Where shall we see a better daughter, or kinder sister, or a truer friend?
~Jane Austen

Imitating to Learn

In the modern world of education it may be counter-intuitive that submission to a fixed literary structure could encourage elegant, creative writing, but writing by this method of imitation was, in fact, the process by which masters such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Milton learned to write. When I read The Writer's Workshop, by Gregory Roper, I knew that I wanted to use this book with my two high-school boys; writing was certainly not their favorite activity and I was looking for a way to make the learning process pleasant and profitable for all of us.



Shortly after I decided to use Roper's book, Cindy Marsch of Writing Assessment Services began offering an Apprentice Workshop, using this very book. Active Son was enrolled post haste and Artist Son just completed Part I and is heading into Part II. The combination of this book and Cindy's tutorial services has been the perfect mix of theory, prompts, and helpful feedback for both sons to begin discovering their own writing voices by imitating the voices of others.

Below is short essay on creativty written by Artist Son, and published on Cindy's writing blog.
The assignment which prompted this essay was from the chapter, "Voices of Definition", and asks the student to take a definition developed in a previous assignment and express it in the voice of Sojourner Truth, former slave and abolitionist, in her speech, "And Ain't I a Woman?"

It is certain that in today’s fallen world creativity is greatly admired. It is generally celebrated in the artwork of modern artists who grab any passing thought and put it on canvas. They are considered “creative” for their splashes of paint and bold strokes of the brush which politely skip over meaning and evoke emotional responses from the viewers. But is that the essence of creativity?

Some say that creativity is free, easy, and merry; that it soars through the clear skies with nothing to clasp it and bring it down. They say that it touches ideas and then dances on with as much reliability as the wind. I’ve tried to integrate these ideas into my own artwork. I’ve tried to chase after my own fantasies. I’ve tried to abandon reality completely. I’ve tried to become enveloped with giddy illusions. I expected a change in my works and assuredly it did come, but I find no real beauty in them now. All I find is confused ideas, so unclear and distant that they are not even distinguishable from one another. And am I not creative?

Others say that creativity is “getting in touch” with one’s inner self, and unleashing it. We all possess a fantastically creative side but it is found within the deep recesses of one's being. I have searched. Nearly every possible aspect of my soul have I brought into the light and examined. When confronted with a blank piece of paper I have closed my eyes and sat in the quiet, seeing, searching, probing within. I did not find it. And am I not creative?

of us just modestly, quietly, conservatively creative? ;-

Still others say creativity encompasses not only the good, but also the evil, the unproductive and oft destructive. They view dark and morbid intent as a subject of creativity, a thing to dwell in and be moved by. The good, the right, the true; they are forsaken for the pursuit of the wicked, the disparaging, and even the indolent. I also have dipped my fingers in that foul water to test it. What I felt was not the cool refreshing creativity as they called it, but a vile mere that tried to suck me in. I withdrew my hand. And am I not creative?

Even after surfing the wave of fantasies and dreams, and “getting in touch” with my inner self, and languidly waiting for creativity to show up at my door, I found it eluded me. So then, what is creativity and where does it hide? But first: why does creativity exist at all?

Is not all our creativity a reflection of God’s creation which he made to be perfectly ordered, and perfectly good? Did not God give us our creativity? True creativity is found in Christ, the original creator, not in any other. Because our inconsequential creative efforts exist only as reflections of Christ’s perfect creativity, we can be creative only if we rightly create as he did: in truth, in beauty, and in goodness.

Books Received

A couple weeks ago I mentioned this site:

Free delivery worldwide on all our books

and their seemingly "too good to be true" offer. But it is true and two weeks after placing my order I have received both books, shipping free. Happy day! And, happy reading.

Fish with Preserved Lemons and Tomatoes

The fish I prepared using this recipe from Cooking Light, and found online at myrecipes.com was so delicious, it would be worth preserving lemons to make this dish and this dish alone.

Cooking light has called the recipe Fish Tagine with Lemons and Tomatoes, probably because of the dish's traditional Moroccan flavors, however it isn't cooked in a traditional clay pot, or tagine, nor is is a slow-cooked stew.

I've reproduced the recipe below; I followed this recipe almost exactly with the following exceptions:

~I used more lemon (1/2 a preserved lemon) .
~I used regular paprika.
~I used blacks which tasted somewhat like Kalamata olives.
~I used catfish fillets. I bought these on accident but was very pleased with their consistency and flavor; no fishy taste at all.

Note: this recipe requires a 30 minute marinating time.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 6 ounces fish, 3/4 cup vegetable mixture, and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped whole lemon
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 pitted green olives, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds mahimahi (or another firm white fish)
  
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion (about 1)
• 4 cups coarsely chopped seeded tomato (about 2 pounds)
• Cilantro leaves (optional)

Preparation:

Heat a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add lemon, 1 tablespoon water, 1/2 teaspoon oil, and sugar; cook 3 minutes or until water evaporates and mixture just begins to brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.

Place remaining 2 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at high for 10 seconds at a time just until oil is heated. Stir in saffron; let stand 10 minutes.

Combine lemon mixture, saffron mixture, chopped parsley, and next 7 ingredients (through garlic) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add fish to bag, and seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Layer 1 cup onion slices and 2 cups tomato on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Remove fish from bag, reserving marinade. Top tomato with fish; pour remaining marinade from bag over fish. Cover with remaining 2 cups tomato and remaining 1 cup onion. Cover with foil. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven.

Transfer fish and vegetables to a serving platter. Drizzle remaining liquid over fish. Garnish with cilantro leaves, if desired. Serve immediately.

I've served this with rice and with couscous. This makes a lovely company meal. Delicious! (note the "outstanding" rating on myrecipes.com)

'Twas the Season

...to take a break from the routine of daily life, emerge from our piles of books and everyday meals, and celebrate the advent of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the life that he gives us. Though we began our advent celebration four weeks before Christmas by reading, singing, meditating, and discussing the Promise fulfilled, we didn't break for our physical preparation and celebration until a week before Christmas.

Tayta digging out the wall

Our first day of Christmas break, a day which should have found me baking and wrapping presents, I declared a field trip to the nearby Jordan Valley; I was unable to pass up the amazing opportunity to join real archaeologists as they excavated the largest Middle Bronze Age fortification discovered (five meters thick!) at a site they believe to be the Biblical Sodom. Eschewing the baking in favor of the dig turned out to be one of the best decisions I've made in a long time; this was a wonderful experience which I hope to write more about someday soon.


We nervously watched the US weather situation turn from bad to worse, grounding our beloved Oldest Daughter for three extra days and we rejoiced upon her return. So nice has it been to have her helping me in the kitchen or just sitting and debriefing her semester over a cup of coffee.

Tayta and Artist Son undertook their annual creative building project. My sole contribution was finding the rainbow Twizzlers at the supermarket.

2009 Rainbow Gingerbread House

We feasted on festive food,

and enjoyed the company of good friends whom we just don't see enough of during the year.

We laughed heartily as our grown-up sons (and friends) got down and shook it up.

We delighted in a traditional New Year's jaunt through one of Jordan's remaining pine forests

and, the first wildflower sighting of the new year.

The sublime Cyclamen persicum

And now our noses are back in the books, I am shunning sugar, and Active Son and I are striving to get those college applications and essays finished this weekend; and all that with a bad head cold. The celebration was grand while it lasted.

Thankfully, Emmanuel, God with us, is a reality we can celebrate all the year long.

When life gives you lemons...

...preserve them. Fresh lemon is one of my favorite cooking and baking ingredients so when I saw mention of preserved lemons in one of my Middle Eastern cookbooks I  knew I needed to try preserving them myself. Preserved lemons are part of the Moroccan culinary tradition, which would technically make them North African rather than Middle Eastern, but their flavor is distinctly Mediterranean. Think lemon olives. After reviewing a few recipes I came up with the recipe below and it worked perfectly.

Preserved Lemons

10 lemons, thin skinned works best
1 1/2 cups rock salt (I use coarse sea salt)
1 litre boiling water
juice of one lemon
8 cardamom pods
a few pieces of cinnamon bark
about 12 peppercorns
2 red chilies
2 bay leaves
olive oil

-Soak the lemons in water for three days, changing the water daily.
- Make deep cuts in the lemons, dividing them into quarters but not separating them completely. You can see how I've cut my lemons (sort of) in the picture above.
-Pack the cut lemons generously with salt and arrange in a glass jar.
-Add the cardamon pods, chilies, and bay leaves. I sliced my red chilies and distributed them around the lemons. These are optional and depending on how large/small and hot your chilies are you may want to use more or less--or none at all. I found other recipes that didn't include cardamom so you could leave that out if you don't have access to it.
-Pour the boiling water, lemon juice, and any extra salt over the prepared lemons Top it off with a thin layer of olive oil. If one liter isn't enough water to cover your lemons, add enough to just cover. If you add much more, add more lemon juice too.
-The lemons will be ready to use after one month.

These are really very easy to make and add a deliciously intense lemon flavor to cooked dishes. I'll soon post our new-favorite-fish recipe which includes preserved lemons, so start a jar of these today. They look very pretty in the kitchen, besides.

Very good news for book lovers in Jordan and beyond

I'm not sure how I, bibliophile, internet purchaser of books extraordinaire, and contriver of plans to get books to Jordan at a reasonable cost, missed this site and their incredible offer:

Free delivery worldwide on all our books

When a friend told me about this site yesterday I thought it couldn't be true, yet I rushed home, checked it out and placed my first order of two books. Even my husband, who sometimes cringes at the amount of books I've accumulated--on behalf of our family, of course--received this news with gladness as the amount of money we've spent on shipping books over the years could probably make a nice down payment on a little house--only a slight exaggeration.

The Book Depository has been in business since 2004 and stocks over two million titles--many of the books I searched for were available, and often at Amazon-comparable prices. And speaking of Amazon, I love, love, love their service and feel slightly guilty at even the thought of diverting my book buying business elsewhere but free delivery is a seriously good offer that I can't pass up when the next cheapest shipping option is $10 a pound--that, or trying to bum a ride for a few books with friends or even friends of friends who are traveling to Jordan.

Seriously good offer, seriously good news.

Longing for Home

Even before reading Oldest Daughter's plaintive and pitiable Facebook status yesterday morning-- "no inclement weather, please. i want to go home."--I had noticed a status trend developing over the past couple of weeks:

I can't wait to go home!
One more final and I'm home
3 more days!

From Odysseus striving towards Ithaca, to the Israelites wandering in exile, to the throngs of college students flooding airports, man longs to return home. Or, like Abram and Aeneas, he searches to find home.

As I reflected on the meaning of home, my thoughts dancing back and forth between the physical and the metaphysical ideas of home, distinct yet intertwined, I considered that the meanings were inseparable . The hope of home is a theme woven throughout the Biblical narrative; it is also one of the sublime themes God writes on the hearts of all men, a theme that is woven into the narratives of our lives. Perhaps this is something of what the author of Ecclesiastes meant when he said that God has put eternity into the heart of man.

But, what is this hope of home, this longing for a place where we will find familiarity, completion, acceptance, rest? G.K. Chesterton says it beautifully in the last stanza of his poem The Christmas House:

To an open house in the evening Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

In his book, Prodigal God, Tim Keller writes about home, "The houses we inhabit are only inns along the way."

Jesus is the homeland, the home, the rest. The Incarnation, God come into his created world makes it possible for us to come home.

A Healthier Artisan Bread

Below is my recent modification of the Artisan Bread recipe and method I wrote about here. Since I've become comfortable with the original recipe I thought it time to do a little experimenting in an effort to produce a healthier loaf of bread. This is what I've come up with so far:

A Healthier Artisan Bread
(following the method here)

3 T sea salt
3 T yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
6 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup cracked wheat
1/3 cup ground flax seed
1/4 cup millet
6 1/2-7 cups warm water

Mint Fudge

Simplicity is a key objective in our Christmas kitchen this year and this recipe for mint fudge, from my dear friend, Linda, is helping us attain that goal while still enjoying some festive and celebratory treats.

~Mint Fudge~

250 g. semi sweet chocolate (1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips is 300 g. so we just used the whole bag)
2/3 can sweetened condensed milk
83 g. white chocolate (1/3 of the amount of semi-sweet chocolate)
1/3 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. mint extract
couple/few drops green food coloring

1. Prepare an 8x8" square pan by lining it with waxed paper.

2. Melt the semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler (ours, makeshift, is a pyrex bowl resting in a saucepan, but not touching the bottom) and add 2/3 can sweetened condensed milk. Spread this mixture in the prepared pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the mint layer.

3. Melt the white chocolate and add the remaining 1/3 can sweetened condensed milk, mint extract, and food coloring. Spread this mixture over the cooled fudge layer and cool. When cool and firm, cut. Makes 36 pieces.

And if you are fortunate enough to have a baking daughter like Tayta, making this fudge is as simple as saying, "Please."

I'll Be Home for Christmas

The House of Christmas

G.K Chesterton

There fared a mother driven forth
Out of an inn to roam;
In the place where she was homeless
All men are at home.
The crazy stable close at hand,
With shaking timber and shifting sand,
Grew a stronger thing to abide and stand
Than the square stones of Rome.

For men are homesick in their homes,
And strangers under the sun,
And they lay on their heads in a foreign land
Whenever the day is done.
Here we have battle and blazing eyes,
And chance and honour and high surprise,
But our homes are under miraculous skies
Where the yule tale was begun.

A Child in a foul stable,
Where the beasts feed and foam;
Only where He was homeless
Are you and I at home;
We have hands that fashion and heads that know,
But our hearts we lost - how long ago!
In a place no chart nor ship can show
Under the sky's dome.

This world is wild as an old wives' tale,
And strange the plain things are,
The earth is enough and the air is enough
For our wonder and our war;
But our rest is as far as the fire-drake swings
And our peace is put in impossible things
Where clashed and thundered unthinkable wings
Round an incredible star.

To an open house in the evening
Home shall men come,
To an older place than Eden
And a taller town than Rome.
To the end of the way of the wandering star,
To the things that cannot be and that are,
To the place where God was homeless
And all men are at home.

~Let every heart prepare him room~

Homecoming

" Little Adele was half wild with delight when she saw me. Mrs. Fairfax received me with her usual plain friendliness. Leah smiled; and even Sophie bid me 'bon soir' with glee. This was very pleasant: there is no happiness like that of being loved by your fellow-creatures, and feeling that your presence is an addition to their comfort."

~Jane Eyre

Dear Oldest Daughter, how we look forward to your soon-to-be-with-us presence; it will certainly be an addition to our comfort.

Taking a Break

It's been a full semester so far: two high school science classes, a junior high writing class, a high school Great Books class, and college applications and essays for Active Son; we were ready for a break. So, the day after hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for many friends we packed up the car and headed south to rest on the beach for a couple days.

It was still warm enough to do a little snorkeling
(at least for the guys)

Artist Son skipping rocks in the Red Sea

Relaxed!

Turkey once, turkey twice, cooking turkey soup with rice

As our post-Thanksgiving pot of turkey soup simmers on the stove, I'm thinking that I should have posted this favorite recipe before Thanksgiving, giving anyone who doesn't already save their turkey carcass a heads up to do so; though you can make an equally delicious soup using chicken. So beloved is Turkey Carcass Soup-perhaps I should consider modifying the name- at our house, that everyone will willingly give up a round of turkey leftovers if they know that turkey will be used for soup.

This is the most used and best loved recipe from my Jane Broody Good Food Book, which I acquired in the first years of married life. My "adjusted" version:

Turkey Carcass Soup

~A good soup begins with a good stock~

Stock
1 large turkey carcass, broken into pieces (today I'm suing two smaller carcasses
water to cover the carcass ( I use 35-40 cups, approximately)
4 onions coarsely chopped
a few ribs of celery with leaves, if available
4 carrots, chopped
1 large turnip, chopped
5 cloves garlic
salt (a put a couple of tablespoons in now but you can add more later when you make the soup.)
4 bay leaves
a handful of fresh parsley (or some dry)
2 tsp dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer it for 2 to 3 hours. When stock is ready, strain it--I use a mesh sieve. Remove any remaining turkey from the bones before discarding them.

Soup
1 cup minced onion
6 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup butter
6 cups diced carrots
3 cups diced celery
3 cups finely chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup flour
36-42 cups stock
2 Tbsp sage
2 cups brown uncooked brown rice
6 cups diced turkey meat
1/2-2/3 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

(I use my food processor to chop/mince all the vegetables but the celery, which I chop by hand.)

1. In a large stockpot, saute the onion and garlic in butter until soft.
2. Add carrots, celery, and mushrooms; cook the vegetables, stirring them, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
3. Add the flour, and cook the mixture, stirring it, for another minute.
4. Add the stock, sage, and brown rice. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about an hour.
5. Add the turkey meat, salt and pepper, adjusting seasonings. I sometimes add a few shakes of hot pepper sauce instead of black pepper.
6. Sprinkle the soup with parsley just before serving.

As you can surmise from the quantities of the ingredients, this makes a very large pot of soup. You could halve or even quarter my recipe. Tonight we will enjoy this pot with friends and I will store some in the freezer for our traditional Christmas Eve supper. And, there may still be enough for another meal...