Down to Size

Today I'm loving the feeling of downsizing but I haven't always felt so cheery about the prospect or the process. For the last six months we have been slowly preparing to move house, and that for the first time in ten years. When we moved to our present house we were making the conscious decision to upsize: homeschooling four growing children who needed places to study, play, practice instruments, entertain friends, etc. And then there was the growing number of books we seemed to be accumulating.

One word to describe the last ten years of our family's life: full. Full days (and nights), full relationships, and, I finally had to admit it this January, full cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, and Rubbermaid tubs. I can empathize with essayist Anne Fadiman's recollection of the their pre-move New York City closets (only we don't have closets, but free standing wardrobes, trunks, and whatever else I can find to store things in) :

"Our (closets) held layers we hadn't seen for years. New Yorkers, lacking attics and basements and garages, treat their closets like trash compactors (or, to put it more charitably like the squeezing machines that turn duck breasts into canard presse')."

At least I can be thankful that I don't have an attic, basement or garage to clean out.

When I first realized the scope of my downsizing task I did a fair amount of whining and moping. How was I expected to live without _____ ?? And, where would I put____ ?? Dear Husband was firm. He drew a floor plan complete with measurements and informed me that if didn't fit, we couldn't take it. Made sense, but I still whined a bit. Tayta, ever the comforter, volunteered to absorb two bookshelves into her bedroom ("I think bookshelves a nice decor item.") and Artist Son agreed to take another. We're still not sure where the ping-pong table will go, but that is Dear Husband's concern.

Today I sold the last two pieces of furniture that we are not taking with us and both were picked up this afternoon.

This large chest freezer was often full during the past ten years. I emptied out before we went to the States last summer and didn't refill it when we returned. So far, so good.

This wooden shelf was a bit of a sentimental piece: though not a carpenter, Dear Husband crafted it for us 23 years ago when we moved to Jordan. Our budget was slim, furniture was expensive, and wood furniture was extremely expensive. Our landlord had an empty room under his building and let Dear Husband set up a little workshop. He made our first bed, too, though that was passed along many years ago. Everything I want to keep on the shelf has to be absorbed someplace else--I'm still working on that.

Only the actual packing remains, but after all the sorting and purging it really doesn't seem so ominous. I laugh at the packing.

Summer Wildflowers

Though summer is definitely not prime wildflower spotting season in Jordan, there are a very few summer blooms breaking up the monotonous dusty brown landscapes. Both these wildflowers are found in my west Amman neighborhood, along roadsides, and in fields.

Echinops polyceras

The Caper bush is an interesting and unique Mediterranean plant which I have written about here. Look for them growing through the cracks and crevices of limestone walls and rocks.

Capparis spinosa

Szechuan Style Noodles with Chicken

If my blog seems to be morphing into a food blog, the preponderance of posts of late being recipes, it is because much of this summer has been about preparing food; kids are home from college, kids college friends are visiting kids home from college, and we're enjoying having friends in for meals and coffees during these summer months when our schedules are accommodating.

Szechuan Style Noodles is a favorite family dish which I made last week for eight. Lauren's friend, Holly, requested this recipe, making it a good candidate for my blog. My recipe is adapted from a recipe shared by friend, Alyse, who credits Helen Chen's Chinese Home Cooking.

This recipe makes a lot but if you're not feeding company, you'll enjoy the leftovers--perfect for lunch. And if you've been reading this blog for awhile you've likely discerned one of my cooking philosophies: Why make a little when you can make a lot?

Szechuan Style Noodles with Chicken
serves 8 hearty appetites

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds thin spaghetti
3 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in small pieces (see picture)

1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/4 cup sesame oil
4 teaspoons grated or finely chopped ginger
2 large cloves garlic (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/3 cup light soy sauce (not to be confused with light salt soy sauce)
4 teaspoons sugar
red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup thinly sliced green onion
few handfuls of cilantro (unless you are Holly : )
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds


Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water just until tender. Drain the noodles, rinsing them with cold water. Drain thoroughly and mix with 3 T. sesame oil; place the noodles on a large platter or in a large bowl--my Italian pasta platter/bowl is perfect for this dish.

Saute the chicken pieces in a little oil with some spices. I gave the chicken a few shakes of a prepared Monterey Chicken spice mixture that I had on hand, but you could also use salt and pepper, a little lemon pepper, etc. Set cooked chicken aside.

Combine the next set of ingredients (tahini through red pepper flakes) in the blender and process until smooth. Pour over the noodles and toss to coat. Arrange chicken on top of the noodles and sprinkle with green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Since this is served at room temperature, you still have time to make a side dish:

Carrot Salad with Chinese Dressing:

1 or 1 1/2 pounds of carrots, peeled and grated (I like the coarser grate for this salad)

Dressing: (And most of these ingredients are already on your counter, unless you are a very tidy cook)
5 T rice vinegar
2 T water
1 T olive oil
1 T lemon juice
1 T sesame oil
1/4-1/2 tsp pepper
1 T sugar
optional: 1-2 T toasted sesame seeds.

Mix dressing ingredients and toss with carrots.

Art Blog

Artist Son, aka Andrew, aka Drew the Artist, is launching an art blog where he plans to share his AP Studio Drawing course experience through words and drawings. If you are interested in that sort of thing you can find him here. I'm opting for the email subscription--available on the right-hand toolbar.

Humble Harvest

Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;
The marigold, that goes to bed wi' th' sun,
And with him rises weeping; these are flow'rs
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age.
~~~

Shakespeare, Winter's Tale

I am particularly taken with this humble harvest of hidcote lavender as it is the first harvest of two small bushes I began from seeds a couple springs ago.

When Life Gives You Plums

I was not expecting such a bounty. We have two small plum trees in our garden, planted by our landlord; one was planted about four years ago, the other, just two. Though young, both were covered with small plums this summer. We had been gathering small bowls full as they ripened--just enough to snack on, really--but, the other day I noticed that most of the plums were ripe so asked Artist Son to take out a bowl and pick the rest of the tree. An hour later, helped by a ladder and Tayta, he delivered four large bowls of plums to my kitchen table.


I had never done anything with sweet plums but eat them fresh--that seemed the best use of them and I'd never before had very many at a time. It was Tayta who encouraged me that we could "do something" with them. "Plum cobbler and jam!" she suggested. She did a little searching online and once I realized we wouldn't need to peel them I was ready to begin processing plums--really, very easy. One of the first things we admired was their lovely colors. You don't notice those so much when you are biting into them rather than cutting them.

Our small plum halves and thirds seemed just the right size to use in a the Strawberry Summer Cake recipe below, so we did. I think we like the plum version best--just the perfect tartness. We've made (and eaten) two of these so far.

Plum Summer Cake

And, who knew that plum jam was so delicious?! We found out. PBJs are in renewed demand at our house and we've already eaten nearly two pints of the 20 I canned this week. (I used Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin for Less or No Sugar Needed Recipes. Cook jam recipes are included in the box.)

Plum Cobbler

Finally, we made a giant plum cobbler to enjoy with company on Tuesday, and I'll cobble the rest of the harvest tomorrow. This was our first ever plum cobbler and it was delicious! In the picture it looks similar to the cake, but there is a lot more syrupy fruit at the bottom. All the years I've lived in Jordan, the dessert I've most missed is blackberry cobbler. Plum cobbler is a very good and even close substitute. I only wish I had discovered it 20 years ago. This cobbler served 12.

Plum Cobbler for Company

10 cups fresh plums, pitted and sliced
1 3/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the prepared plums and mix gently. Place the fruit mixture in a large baking dish--I used a deep 9 inch X 13 inch pan.

1/2 cup sugar
3 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
3/4 cup milk
3 eggs

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened. Drop the batter by spoonfuls on the plums. Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees F, making sure the batter, especially in the middle, is done. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Delicious! But then I'm very partial to baked fruit desserts.

The Brotherhood

One of the things I so appreciate about Dear Husband is the way he has faithfully discipled our sons into a brotherhood. Yes, he is still the father and they, the sons, but they are also, all three, friends and brothers in Christ. It brings me great joy to see how they enjoy each other in a new and deeper way as Active Son and Artist Son mature, and now, as Active Son has been away at college and returned home for the first time.

Dear Husband has taught his sons to love of God and his Word, and to that end they faithfully meet together for study and prayer each week. And, as guys, they like to DO things together--lots of sweaty, dirty laundry has been a blessed part of our family's heritage. Last week they hiked together through Wadi Hasa, along the Zered Brook, the biblical border between Moab and Edom. Dear Husband considers it the most beautiful river gorge in Jordan. Active Son has hiked it twice before with Scouts, but this was Artist Son's maiden trip.

The Brotherhood in Wadi Hasa

Today, Active Son and Artist Son finish up a week of coaching 10-13 year old kids at baseball camp; I've loved hearing their after-hours discussions of the kids and how they can help them improve their skills. This afternoon, as they once again filled their water bottles and headed out the kitchen door together to summer softball practice, I realized what a defining scene this has been in life of the Brotherhood. Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness to these men.

My Summer Cake

Deb Perlman of Smitten Kitchen hopes that her Strawberry Summer Cake will be my summer cake. I say she gets her wish; this cake was so simple and so delicious.

Strawberry Summer Cake
Adapted, only slightly, from Martha Stewart

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups flour -OR- 3/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup barley flour, which Deb recommends for it's "silkiness" and "subtle creamy, nuttiness" I had some barley on hand, which I ground in my neglected wheat grinder so I happily followed Deb's recommendation. Superb!
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound (450 grams) strawberries, hulled and halved

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter deep dish pie pan or a 9 inch (smallest of my set of three) spring-form pan.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, beat butter sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla until just combined. Add flour mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer, overlapping them slightly if necessary. Sprinkle an additional 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 60 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly sweetened, lightly whipped cream.

{Edit} We've ended up baking our cakes for over 60 minutes--one, more like 90.

This cake was the perfect accompaniment to a morning coffee visit in the garden with a dear friend--the rest of the cake was polished off by my family (before noon) who requested I make another one. I'm thinking to try it with peaches...

Tour for Peace Begins

We were glad to welcome Lauren's violinist friend, Holly, to our home this week as they prepare to begin their musical Tour for Peace. Micha, the videographer, arrives tonight.

Besides the requisite practicing, Lauren and Holly have spent many hours this weeks in "arts administration", writing emails and making phone calls to finalize their arrangements in the West Bank. They plan to leave for Nablus on Monday but before they leave they will begin their tour by sharing their music and interacting with Jordanian students participating in a cultural exchange program sponsored by East West Initiatives.

Holly, Lauren, and Micha are blogging at Tour for Peace.

Almost

The blog is mostly empty, but the nest is full...

The college students are home for the summer!

...the garden is in bloom, providing a restful haven of inspiration for students trying to finish spring studies...

...the bougainvillea is just beginning to bloom...

...as is the fragrant jasmine...


...the plums are beginning to ripen...


...and the air is full of the melodious songs of blackbirds and the longed-for music of Oldest Daughter's violin.

Sweet summer is just around the corner...

Holiday Fare~Two Recipes

These dishes aren't everyday fare but they are favorites that we enjoy on special occasions. We brought both to Easter lunch with friends last month and both recipes were requested--I didn't forget, but just got a little sidetracked.

This is our favorite salad and on most days the main ingredients can be found in our fridge and pantry; we enjoy living in a land of inexpensive and delicious feta cheese and tomatoes! I posted this recipe a couple years ago but I'm re-posting it as I've made a few corrections/modifications. It is adapted from Women's Weekly Cooking Class, Middle Eastern.

Tomato, Feta, and Green Onion Salad

1 lb. feta cheese (you could use less)
about 6 tomatoes, depending on size
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint (or more if you've got a potful in your garden)
about 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
3 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
Coarse sea salt to taste

1. Cut tomatoes into wedges, remove seeds, and chop tomatoes finely.
2. Whisk oil and juice in small bowl until combined; add onions and mint. Mix well.
3. Combine the mint mixture with the tomatoes and let marinate for about 1 hour, but I've also made this without time to marinade and it is still delicious.
4. Crumble the cheese in (about) 1/2 inch chunks on a plate or platter.
5. Spoon tomato mixture over the crumbled cheese and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts and sesame seeds. Salt to taste.

Carrot Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting and Glazed Nut Topping

This is a good carrot cake recipe but it is the frosting which makes this cake so delicious. I vividly remember when carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting came into vogue in the 1970s: My mom made one and I found the cream cheese frosting irresistible--so irresistible that I put my finger on the frosted cake for "just a taste" so many times that I created a margin of un-frosted cake around the circumference of the pan. Yes, I was found out. This frosting is even better as it starts with browned butter. Think toffee/cream cheese frosting. I didn't lick the cake this time, but I do confess to eating a few teaspoons from the mixing bowl.

Carrot Cake
Adapted from Sam's Famous Carrot Cake recipe:
3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups finely grated carrots
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple w/juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two layer 8 or 9 inch layer cake pans. In a bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a larger bowl or mixer combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well. Add carrots and walnuts, whisking/mixing just until blended. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees until golden and toothpick comes out clean--about 35 minutes (but Tayta's not sure. The original recipe had it one larger pan baking for one hour.) Cool the cakes about 20 minutes on a cooling rack and then remove from the pans.

Brown Butter Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Melt the butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter turns a nutty golden-brown, about 4 minutes. Pour into a small bowl and let stand until the solids settle at the bottom of the bowl, about 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the bowl to the freezer and chill until just firm, about 20-30 minutes. Using a spoon, carefully scrape the butter from he bowl, leaving the browned solids at the bottom. Discard the solids.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and the brown sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar and continue beating until fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Note bene: once when Tayta made this we had to add a little more powdered sugar so that the frosting was firm enough. Make sure your butter is "just firm" all the way through and not liquidy before beating it with the cream cheese.

Nut Topping
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the nuts and cook, stirring, until the nuts brown slightly, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in brown sugar and salt and stir until the sugar melts and the nuts are glazed. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool in the skillet. Arrange in a ring around the frosted cake as shown in the picture above. Credit goes to Tayta for the creation of this beautiful and delicious cake.

The frosting recipe is from the Oct/Nov 2010 issue of Fine Cooking (I was a sucker for those cooking magazines at the grocery store check-out while we were in the States last fall). The topping recipe was adapted from a recipe in the same issue.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills.
When all at once I saw a crowd.
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And winkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay;
Ten thousand saw I at a glance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company;
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought;

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

~William Wordsworth

Alas, no fields of golden daffodils are to be found in Jordan, but "my heart with pleasure fills" when the graceful poppies toss their red-bonnet-ed "heads in sprightly dance."

Art Show

This year has been an artful adventure for our family as Artist Son has worked his way through the Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art-Drawing course. I say it has been an adventure for our family (the four of us at home) because although it was Artist Son who spent up to 15 hours a week thinking, composing, sketching and drawing, we the played the role of supportive patrons who had a lot to learn about what it takes to make art.

As the end of the course approached and we realized that Artist Son had produced 24 final drawings, we decided he should put on an art show--with his agreement, of course. Dear Husband rose to the challenge of turning our adjoining sun porch, living room, and family room into an art gallery: furniture was moved, drawings were hung, easels were improvised. Tayta made cakes--four of them, and it was a good thing as many friends showed up to see Artist's Son's work and to encourage and support him.

Artist Son provided helpful Gallery Notes with an brief explanation of each drawing.


We weren't able to hang all the pieces at eye-level, but that didn't stop some of the serious art aficionados from getting close enough to appreciate the detail Artist Son accomplished in his stippled drawing.

I was impressed to see and hear some of the particulars that Artist Son's friends noticed and appreciated in his drawings.

Yesterday Artist Son hit the button and submitted his online digital portfolio and today DHL picked up his five piece quality portfolio which will be delivered to the AP readers in the US. He hopes (okay, okay, mom is hoping more than he is, but...) to post his entire portfolio online in the near future, but short of that I will post my very favorite piece from his portfolio.

I get a little teary when I look at it for any length of time. The piece is titled, "Boredom" and it is one of the pieces that was sent off today in the quality portfolio. It is a self-portrait and the setting is the side yard of our house. The bar he is hanging from used to bear a grape-vine and the trees in the distance are olive trees. A dear friend who has had three teen-age boys also picked this one as her favorite. We should receive this drawing back sometime this summer and Artist Son says I may have it. It will be one of my treasures.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls--With Improvements

I realize that I make a bold statement by claiming to improve on Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. Pioneer Woman, herself, says, "If I had to pick one recipe of mine that I could incontrovertibly claim is the best there is, it would most definitely be cinnamon rolls. " And she is supported by thousands of readers, many of which publicly back her claim. I agree, this recipe is the best I've ever tried--with a few modifications.

I have been making cinnamon rolls for many years using just two recipes: for many years I used Fanny Farmer's recipe and a few years ago I started using a Betty Crocker recipe which used mashed potatoes in the dough. Most of the time these rolls turned out well, but the dough wasn't consistently great. I finally gave Pioneer Woman's widely acclaimed recipe a whirl a few months ago. The dough is wonderfully soft, yet not sticky, and very easy to work with. It rises perfectly every time, not just most of the time. And, the PW's signature icing includes my favorite cinnamon roll flavors: maple and coffee. I had been making maple icing for some time, but never thought to add the coffee--perfect!

My "improvements":

• Add two tablespoons of ground cinnamon to the dough. These are, after all, cinnamon rolls. We tried the first batch without this addition and found the dough to be a little bland.
• Cut the salt to 2 teaspoons.
  
• Seriously reduce the amount of butter spread on the rolled dough. PW's recipe calls for 1 1/2-2 cups melted butter. Instead, I used 1/2 cup softened butter, spread on the dough with a butter knife or small spatula.
  
• Instead of 1 cup of white sugar I spread 1 1/4 cup brown sugar on the rolled dough.
• I cut the delicious poured maple/coffee icing recipe in half and instead of pouring, I spread it with a small rubber spatula. Half a recipe added plenty of sweetness to these rolls--even sweet-tooth Tatya agrees.

As I cruise around the recipe blogs I am humbled by the fantastic photography and detailed pictorial tutorials. I just don't have the time or inclination to do all that so here is my Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls--with improvements--Recipe in basic black and white, or you can follow PW's fab tutorial. PW keeps it real, I keep it simple:

Phase 1
-Mix in a heavy bottom pan:
1 cup sugar
1 cup oil
1 quart whole milk
-Heat to scalding and take off the stove.
-Let cool for 45-60 minutes--until it is lukewarm and the right temperature for mixing in the yeast.
-dissolve 5 teaspoons yeast (2 US packets) in the milk mixture and let sit for a few minutes until the yeast begins to react.
-mix 2 Tablespoons cinnamon with 8 cups of flours and then add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and mix thoroughly.
-Cover with a cotton dishtowel and let rise for 1 hour or a little more.

Phase 2
-The dough should have risen nicely in an hours time. Next, mix together:
1 cup flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
-Add this flour mixture to the risen dough, stirring to mix well.

Phase 3
-On a floured surface, roll out half the dough into a roughly rectangular shape (not too thin).
-Spread with half a stick of softened butter.
-Spread 1/2-3/4 cup brown sugar over the butter.
-Sprinkle some more cinnamon over the the brown sugar. Hint: I add just a little white sugar to ground cinnamon which I put in an old spice bottle/shaker. The added sugar makes it easier to distribute the cinnamon evenly.
-At this point you could add some chopped walnuts before you roll up the dough--Dear Husband always appreciates this effort.
-Roll up the dough.
-Slice into rolls. I slice my rolls about 1 1/2 inches each and I usually end up with about 15-16 rolls per half-batch, 30-32 total.
-Place rolls , not quite touching (or just barely touching), in a greased baking pan.

At this point you can let the rolls rise another 30 minutes and then bake, or you can cover and refrigerate them overnight, and bake them in the morning. I've done both and they turn out equally good.
-Bake for about 18 minutes at 375 degrees F, or until golden.

PW's Crowning Touch: The Maple-Coffee Icing:

1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons brewed coffee
2 Tablespoons melted butter
pinch salt

Spread over cinnamon rolls--I use a small rubber spatula--about 3-5 minutes after the rolls come out of the oven. Let cool and enjoy!

Note Bene: You can also refrigerate the dough before rolling it out, if you have or need the time. This makes the dough a bit firmer and just a little easier to work with.

My kitchen has seen the production of nearly 300 cinnamon rolls over the past couple of weeks: Tayta made (with my advisory help) a quadruple batch to raise money for her sister's Kickstarter project and tonight, Tayta and her two friends made another quadruple batch to sell at the ball field tomorrow. This time they are raising money to help rescue young woman from human trafficking bondage. Their youth group, spurred on by the vision of one of these dear young girls, has raised over $400 to help these young women.

Email Subscriptions to Quotidian Life

This might be a good way-to-keep-in-touch solution for:

(a) friends (and family) who don't get on the internet much, and when they do, don't think to check blogs.

(b) friends who are tired of clicking on only to find I haven't updated.(Springtime in particular seems to be a high-living, low-blogging time of year.)

Thanks to Blogger's new service, you can sign up for email notifications of Quotidian Life blog updates--see the sidebar on the right.

THE CROSS
by John Donne

SINCE Christ embraced the cross itself, dare I
His image, th' image of His cross, deny ?
Would I have profit by the sacrifice,
And dare the chosen altar to despise ?
It bore all other sins, but is it fit
That it should bear the sin of scorning it ?
Who from the picture would avert his eye,
How would he fly his pains, who there did die ?
From me no pulpit, nor misgrounded law,
Nor scandal taken, shall this cross withdraw,
It shall not, for it cannot ; for the loss
Of this cross were to me another cross.
Better were worse, for no affliction,
No cross is so extreme, as to have none.
Who can blot out the cross, with th' instrument
Of God dew'd on me in the Sacrament ?
Who can deny me power, and liberty
To stretch mine arms, and mine own cross to be ?
Swim, and at every stroke thou art thy cross ;
The mast and yard make one, where seas do toss ;
Look down, thou spiest out crosses in small things ;
Look up, thou seest birds raised on crossed wings ;
All the globe's frame, and spheres, is nothing else
But the meridians crossing parallels.
Material crosses then, good physic be,
But yet spiritual have chief dignity.
These for extracted chemic medicine serve,
And cure much better, and as well preserve.
Then are you your own physic, or need none,
When still'd or purged by tribulation ;
For when that cross ungrudged unto you sticks,
Then are you to yourself a crucifix.
As perchance carvers do not faces make,
But that away, which hid them there, do take ;
Let crosses, so, take what hid Christ in thee,
And be His image, or not His, but He.
But, as oft alchemists do coiners prove,
So may a self-despising get self-love ;
And then, as worst surfeits of best meats be,
So is pride, issued from humility,
For 'tis no child, but monster ; therefore cross
Your joy in crosses, else, 'tis double loss.
And cross thy senses, else both they and thou
Must perish soon, and to destruction bow.
For if the eye seek good objects, and will take
No cross from bad, we cannot 'scape a snake.
So with harsh, hard, sour, stinking ; cross the rest ;
Make them indifferent ; call, nothing best.
But most the eye needs crossing, that can roam,
And move ; to th' others th' objects must come home.
And cross thy heart ; for that in man alone
Pants downwards, and hath palpitation.
Cross those dejections, when it downward tends,
And when it to forbidden heights pretends.
And as the brain through bony walls doth vent
By sutures, which a cross's form present,
So when thy brain works, ere thou utter it,
Cross and correct concupiscence of wit.
Be covetous of crosses; let none fall ;
Cross no man else, but cross thyself in all.
Then doth the cross of Christ work faithfully
Within our hearts, when we love harmlessly
That cross's pictures much, and with more care
That cross's children, which our crosses are.

...and a wonderful meditation on the cross by Peter Leithart.

Camping Food

Frozen hot dogs, peanut butter and jelly, pita bread, fruit, chips, and potatoes wrapped in foil which didn't bake through as I didn't know to pre-cook them, all unceremoniously carted down to the Rummana campsite in plastic shopping bags, sustained us during our first Wadi Dana camping adventures beginning about thirteen years ago. We've come a long way since then, each year learning a bit more about the fine art of preparing camping food that not only nourishes but also provides pleasure--and sometimes even a little envy from our friends at the next camping table. But it is envy in good fun: we enjoy sharing with each other the best of what we bring and we tuck away new ideas of what we'll bring the next year.

One of our first family camping trips to Wadi Dana---the frozen hot dog days. (This picture graced our Christmas card that year. I had planned to take the picture in Dana and had instructed the kids that the family picture must be endured FIRST--thus our cleanliness--and then they could go off and play with their friends.)

Back at the Bedouin/Eating Tent:

When we first began camping at Dana we couldn't find a cooler or a decent camp chair to bring with us but we now have a large white American cooler, third hand from an American Embassy family who brought it in with their shipment. All non-perishable food is packed safely in Rubbermaid containers, hauled over as extra-baggage pieces over the years. We are camping in style! Below are recipes we enjoyed this year in Dana:


Camping Pasta Salad

This has become our traditional first lunch when we arrive at Wadi Dana. Thanks for this great camping meal idea goes to some Swiss friends whom Dear Husband and the boys camped with in Wadi Rum one summer. The pasta is precooked, drained, and stored in a ziploc bag. All the other ingredients are pre-cut and stored in baggies or small plastic containers. When we arrive at the campsite all we have to do is to mix the ingredients in a large bowl and dress it with olive oil and a little coarse sea salt and spices.

The ingredients for this salad are flexible, depending on what you have on hand, but here is what I used in Dana:

One 500 gr. bag pasta, cooked and drained
sliced olives
cubed mozzarella cheese
tomatoes (cherry or grape are nice but I used regular ones cut into chunks, too.)
chopped red and yellow peppers
olive oil
chopped fresh basil (or dry if you don't have fresh)
maybe a little lemon pepper and or sea salt

You could also saute some vegetables instead: onion, garlic, zucchini, eggplant. Just depends what you have on hand.

Fellow camper, Jackie, shared this great dip with us:

Black Bean Hummus

1 clove garlic
1 15 oz. can black beans, drain and reserve juice
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 Tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Whirl all ingredients in the food processor, scraping down the sides. This is good served with pita chips--we make our own in Jordan!

This year the prize for the most ambitious camping dish goes goes to Tiffany. I could hardly believe my ears when I came back to the eating tent after an afternoon hike and Tayta ran up to inform me that Tiffany was making onion rings. "Really? Real onion rings? How is she doing that??" With a small propane burner and a small pot of boiling oil. Amazing. I would never have thought to attempt it. The onion rings were delicious and she made plenty to share. Here is the recipe she used from allrecipes.com.

A few more camping food notes:

• We now bring our french press with us so that we can enjoy coffee with the baked goods that Tayta provides;
• A typical Australian hamburger is served not with pickles but with sliced beets. Quite nice.
• Twice baked potatoes are a delicious substitute for baked potatoes. Made ahead of time and wrapped in foil, they need only be re-heated in the fire.

The Grandeur of God~Wadi Dana

Last week the city folk got out of town to enjoy each other and the unique beauty of a small yet grand corner of God's creation. We love Amman, but it is after all a city, and we anticipated--with no small hope of temperate weather--escaping the traffic, pollution, grimy streets, and winter-chilled houses for the warmth, wide open spaces, star filled night skies, and rugged beauty of Wadi Dana. I was hoping for, as writes Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Grandeur of God:

"The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man's smudge and shares man's smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod...

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs-
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings."

In the vastness of a nature never spent we joyfully rediscovered the dearest freshness deep down things.

I used to be an English-Garden-beauty kind of girl but now it is the expansive, sandstone terrain with its sparse but exquisite flora which captures my imagination.

The silence serenaded me as I walked the trails and sat on sandstone rocks, letting the sun melt away a couple months worth of winter chill.

I think I understand why so many migratory birds pass through Wadi Dana on their way to and from Europe: I can imagine they are enjoying themselves as I watch them float effortlessly through the gorge, riding from one wind current to another.

Palestinian Sunbird

The broom, in full, fragrant bloom was a-buzz with hundreds of bees. This particular bush was so big that I could easily imagine the prophet Elijah taking shelter under it as is mentioned in I Kings 19--without the bees!

This bird, among others, found it a choice shelter.


Rains had been light this year and flowers few, but once I focused my desert eyes I was not disappointed with the flora beauty I found.


Brightening the landscape in chartreuse clumps, the Euphorbia looked especially fine. And if one looked very carefully they could find a tasseled hyacinth putting on a show:

Leopoldia comoso

Somewhere along the way unruly clumps of wild mustard became more beautiful to me than beds of tulips...

and the late afternoon vision of desert sage than a bunch of long-stemmed roses.

I didn't spend all my time alone: we scrambled and hiked...

and otherwise enjoyed each other's company.

Our shrinking family--sniff, sniff. And when did Artist Son get so tall??


Up next: Wadi Dana, The Food

Resurrection Letters, Volume II~He Makes All Things New

From a favorite soundtrack for the Easter season:



"All Things New"

Come broken and weary,
Come battered and bruised 

My Jesus makes all things new, all things new 

Come lost and abandoned,
Come blown by the wind 

He'll bring you back home again, home again

Chorus:
Rise up oh you sleeper awake 

The light of the dawn is upon you 

Rise up oh you sleeper awake

He makes all things new

All things new 

come frozen with shame,
Come burning with guilt,
My Jesus loves you still, loves you still

Chorus 

Bridge:
The world was good, the world is fallen,
The world will be redeemed,
The world was good, the world is fallen,
The world will be redeemed 

So Hold on to the promise,
The stories are true.
My Jesus makes all things new,
The Dawn is upon you.



Chorus

Holy Sonnet XIV~John Donne

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.