He Loves Us Into Obedience

From Ray Ortlund today:

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.” Jonah 3:1

We are all like Jonah, and we know it. What hope do we have that the world will feel gospel impact through us? The word of the Lord graciously comes to us a second time and a third time and a gazillionth time. God loves us in spite of our disobedience; he also loves us out of our disobedience and into obedience. We are going to Nineveh, that place of scary obedience.

Okay.

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Perspectives

Have I shared this before? I don't think so ... this is the video with which we opened our 2009 Peacemaker Conference. I got to teach an all-day workshop last Friday and part of a one-hour workshop on Saturday, and my prayer for each event was that people would, above all, be captivated (again or for the first time) by a vision for the Gospel and its impact on our everyday lives.

Perspectives from Peacemaker Ministries on Vimeo.

Haiti -- Give!

I have lots I could actually blog about today, but here's all I'm going to say: if you haven't already, consider making a donation -- even a small amount -- to support relief work in Haiti.

Here's a photo essay of the devastation. To see entire neighborhoods leveled, people buried and sleeping in the streets breaks my heart.

There are lots of great ministries mobilizing relief and taking donations; Justin Taylor recommends a good one here -- and $24 provides a 20 lb box of nutritious food (and potentially bottled water?) to a family.

Picture of the Day

Click on the picture to get a full-sized image (please, it's so much better that way!).

This was in one of the M*slim villages in B-desh that we visited on my last day there. A whole group of beautiful women sat on grass mats awaiting our arrival and very brief visit. I now have this dear woman's face on my computer desktop.

My thought when I look at her is, "God, continue to be with this sister, bless and keep her, and make your face to shine upon her, and give her peace."

Below is the same picture, but less cropped.

Food I Made, or Am Making, This Weekend

It's been a weekend of good eats! (with the exception of greasy brewpub popcorn that served as dinner on Friday night):

French Onion Soup. I like this recipe not only because it tastes great, but also because doing the onions in the oven keeps hands-on time to a minimum. I took a cue from one of the commenters on this recipe and caramelized the onions in the crockpot -- about 10 hours on high (!), and they were getting to a nice shade of brown, which I finished off with a little bit of time in more heat in the oven and on the stovetop. The only downside of doing the onions this way was that I woke up multiple times Friday night to the extremely strong smell of cooking onions. It's not a bad smell, just not a "sweet dreams" smell ... cook yer onions in the crockpot during the day :)

Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Spread. No link for this -- I made it up. Was trying to think of an appetizer for a Saturday night dinner party and decided to make some extra caramelized onions with the FO soup batch, then I pulled them out, chopped 'em up and mixed them with some fresh goat cheese and a couple of toasted almond slices. We warmed it up slightly (just enough to be easily spreadable) and served it with flatbread. Delicious!

Pioneer Woman/Pamela Anderson's Caesar Salad. This recipe caught my eye a while ago, partly for the aesthetics of serving it with whole romaine leaves (it's pretty dramatic to just put two whole leaves on a salad plate), and also because of the citrus tang. The croutons were good, but I added some garlic salt to them as I didn't think they had enough garlic flavor. I also mixed the olive oil and parmesan cheese into the rest of the dressing since it was really strong on lemon as a stand-alone. I don't know if I'd make this recipe a lot, but it was good, so I'll definitely make it again.

Roasted squash. This was pretty but didn't have quite the flavor that I was hoping for. Last weekend I roasted some zucchini and yellow squash and had drizzled butter over them, with a bit of a red pepper/oregano seasoning mix. Both HH and I preferred the butter version, even though it's obviously not as healthy as an olive oil version.

Roasted Asparagus. This is a great, simple favorite for us. Just arrange asparagus spears on parchment paper, brush them with olive oil, grind some sea salt and dried garlic over them, sprinkle a small amount of parmesan - or other (I used grated Jarlsburg) cheese, and then bake until the cheese is melted and the asparagus is cooked.

Frosted Halibut. I don't know what the real name of this is, but it's one of my mom's favorite halibut recipes and it was the first time I'd done it on my own. Basically, you just mix light mayonnaise with dijon mustard (maybe a tablespoon of mustard per cup of mayo), then spread a thick layer over a halibut steak, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on it and bake until the halibut is done (it should flake easily). Five minutes before it's done, sprinkle slivered almonds over it. Because of the mayo, this recipe is very forgiving -- you could overcook the fish and it would still be moist and delicious. Everybody I know who's tried this has loved it even people (cough, cough, HH) who don't like mayo OR mustard!

Magic Quinoa. Growing as one of our favorites -- I don't even need to look up the recipe anymore!

Moscow Hot Chocolate. Have you tried it yet? Because you should.

Mini Asian Crab Cakes. A recipe I came across earlier this week and happened to have an occasion tonight to try them (Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!). Except I think I'm going to use our leftover halibut (with the sauce scraped off) instead of crab. So they're not really crab-cakes at all. I think the flavors should be just as good...I hope.

Just one more, no wait, two...

Colorado Cache Shrimp. Actually, I'm not sure where this recipe comes from, but I think it's one of the "Colorado" cookbooks (there's Colorado Cache, Colore, Collage, Creme ... and they're all great). My mom does this a lot so, again, there's no recipe. Combine equal parts olive oil, sherry and soy sauce, along with a generous portion of minced garlic. Marinade raw, peeled shrimp for 30 min-1 hour (it doesn't take long to marinade shrimp). Then grill (I supposed you could also fry them) for just a couple of minutes (don't do it for too long; shrimp get tough quickly). I'm planning to serve them over an Asian spinach salad tonight. (ooh, I just realized I'd already blogged this recipe last summer as "melt in your mouth shrimp." They really do!)

Salted Chocolate Vanilla Bean Cookies. All I'll say is, "these are good." You should try them. And then share them with me.

Happy cooking, and thanks everybody who's given me feedback that my food blogs inspire you. It's so fun to share something that's fun for me!

Split Pea Soup!

We're supposed to get up to 10 inches of snow tonight! What better to have for dinner than a hearty, warming soup! And one that's ridiculously good for you to boot!

I found this Curried Split Pea Soup recipe on the food network website; it's an Alton Brown recipe. What inspired me to try it was that out of 93 ratings, I only saw 3 that weren't 5 stars. People loved this soup, people!

Also, we loved this soup!

And we love exclamation points! But that's an issue for another day. ! Sorry, just had to get another one in.

Right now, I'm going to tell you a little bit about how good split peas are for you. But before I do that, take a few minutes to read about the worst foods in America for you: here's one list, and here's another. Did you catch that? Msnbc.com has named the worst food in America an appetizer at Outback Steakhouse that has 2,900 calories and 182 grams of fat. And we wonder why America has an obesity problem -- it's the Aussies' fault! Just kidding; I regularly drink mochas from Starbucks that have, um, eek, 580 calories in them (for the venti size; but I usually don't go that big).

Now doesn't that just make you crave some healthy (and cheap!) split peas:

• They are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which means they catch nasty cholesterols.
• The fiber also helps make you regular and minimizes irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulosis.
• They are the right kind of fiber to balance blood sugar - great for everybody, and especially for diabetics and hypoglycemics.
• A bunch of the minerals help your heart.
• The potassium helps with high blood pressure.
• A cup of cooked peas has 16 grams of protein! Now that deserves an exclamation point!
• The isoflavones can help prevent breast and prostate cancer.
• They have huge amounts of molybdenum, a trace mineral that helps detoxify sulfites, which are a preservative in just about everything.

In short, split peas are good for you, and this soup recipe has a great, creamy, slightly complex flavor and texture -- it's actually worth a try even if you don't like regular split pea soup. They're quite different in texture and flavor. Oh, and we paired it with a nice spinach/ham/cheddar salad and a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread.

Keller on Prevailing Prayer

Ouch:

"Prayer should be constant, not sporadic and brief. Why? Are we to think that God wants to see us grovel? Why do we not simply put our request in and wait? But sporadic, brief prayer shows a lack of dependence, a self-sufficiency, and thus we have not built an altar that God can honor with his fire. We must pray without ceasing, pray long, pray hard, and we will find that the very process is bringing about that which we are asking for – to have our hard hearts melted, to tear down barriers, to have the glory of God break through." ~ Tim Keller

Confession of Sin

Here is the confession of sin that our church used in our liturgy this morning. It really struck me as one that hits at the heart of "older brother" types like me.

Leader: Lord, please forgive our sins and set us free from them. We confess to the sin of pride:
People: We have been sure of our own goodness and importance and have looked down on others. Help us to appreciate the true worth of other people.

Leader: We confess to the sin of envy:
People: We have been displeased when others have been more successful or sought after than we have been. Help us to rejoice when others prosper.

Leader: We confess to the sin of anger:
People: We have lost our tempers, nursed grievances, and withheld forgiveness from others. Help us to be patient and understanding with everyone.

Leader: We confess to the sin of self-indulgence:
People: We have had enough, and more, yet have neglected the needs of others. Help us to deny ourselves so that others may not be in want.

Leader: We confess to the sin of unchastity:
People: In one way or another we have used your gift of sex wrongly. Help us to create and uphold right relations between men and women, inside marriage and outside it.

Leader: We confess to the sin of laziness:
People: We have been lukewarm in our faith. Make us eager to do your will.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.

Promise of Forgiveness: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24

Sunday afternoon treat: hot chocolate recipe, plus a bonus!

I saw a recipe for homemade chocolate syrup a while ago and it's been bouncing around in my mind as something I'd like to try. Today seemed like the perfect day to give it a try -- laid back, cold outside, inside with puppies curled up in front of the fireplace, both HH and I are working at our respective desks. So I gave it a try.

Here's the recipe:

1 c. water (I used about 3/4 c. water and 1/4 c. milk to make it a little richer)
1/2 c. sugar
2/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the water and sugar together in a pan and bring to a boil. Whisk in the cocoa powder and salt and simmer for around 3 minutes (be careful -- the bottom seems like it will burn easily, so turn down the heat and stir constantly). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Now for the BONUS: HH dipped his finger in the syrup and declared it quite delicious, but I decided to see if I could push it over the top. We stocked up our liquor cabinet over the holidays and then didn't use much of it, so I googled "vanilla vodka and hot chocolate." I came up with this recipe for Moscow Hot Chocolate, and adjusted it as follows:

1 oz vanilla vodka
1/2 oz amaretto
3/4 c milk
chocolate syrup (probably 1/4-1/3 cup, or even more!)

Heat the milk; whisk in the chocolate syrup to taste. I added more than I would have for plain hot cocoa since I knew I'd be "watering down" the chocolate taste a little with the alcohols. Add the liquors. Now to really push it over the edge, I topped it with a little whipped cream that I'd flavored with a generous dash of vanilla and powdered sugar. Delicious!

"Oooh, that is really good!" ~HH

Honestly? I don't think you should have to wait for a cold, lazy Sunday afternoon to give this a try. (oh, and you can also use the chocolate syrup in chocolate milk, on top of icecream, etc, etc)