Dinner Guests

Last night I had one of my local clergy colleagues and his wife over for dinner. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while, and I'm kind of embarassed it didn't happen sooner, but I'm glad it finally did. It was great to get to know each other better and share stories. And it really helped to know that I am not alone in the challenges I face, because I've been facing some big ones lately. I enjoyed cooking for some people (instead of just myself) for a change. I didn't make anything too fancy or complicated, but it turned out well. I did salad and turkey chili, which I've made before. But I also tried some new things. I made homemade biscuits, and a pear cranberry crisp. The biscuits tasted great but I cut them a little small I think. The pear crisp was reallllly good, definitely one to make again. It's amazing the difference sharing a simple meal can make.

Cranberry Craziness

Yesterday I was getting my hair trimmed and my stylist told me about a Cranberry Festival that was going on this weekend in a town not tooo far away. She warned me to get there early if I decided to go. I didn't have much else going on this weekend and got my sermon done early so I decided to head out there this morning. I didn't get up and going too early this morning so it was at least an hour after the festival opened, and wow were there a lot of people there already! Despite fighting the crazy crowds (seriously I could not believe how many people were in this teeny town!) I had a good time browsing through tents of crafts and handmade items, and got a few things for myself and a few Christmas gifts. I enjoyed some funnel cake, cranberry ice cream (never had it before) and pumpkin fudge (all very healthy choices - haha). I also tasted some wine from a local south Jersey winery and bought a few bottles to bring home. I stopped at a few stores on the way home to get a few more crafty things (got some ideas at the festival), some baby gifts, and a storage bench that I've been wanting to get for the foot of my bed for a long time. I think it was a successful outing!

Thinking About Food

So I just spent an awesome few days talking and learning about ethics and theology related to food production and distribution and hunger, visiting farms, and hanging out at a lovely camp in the woods with some old and new friends. I already had an idea for what to try through my blog this month and after my retreat I'm even more excited about it. I'm going to spend the month doing a lot more cooking and trying out new recipes, especially for produce in season. I know it's not realistic to try a new recipe every day or even every other day, but I'm going to try as many as I can this month. I already have several books and recipes sitting on my shelf and my mom just happened to recently get me a subscription to "Healthy Cooking" magazine, so I shouldn't have a hard time finding ones to try.

mmm Panera

I should've written this post a lot earlier in the day, because I had a longish meeting this evening and now it's late and I'm tired and don't feel like writing much. But I wanted to at least post something because I didn't yesterday. And I didn't yesterday because it was a long day. A pretty good day, but a long one. I started with the two Sunday morning worship services, then led a memorial service, then drove to Trenton for the Synod Ordination Service. (Four worship services total!) Ordination services are great to be part of because they remind me again why I do what I do, and its always exciting to be there to support other new pastors. I also got to have dinner with my friend Ray, and had a nice time catching up with him, and enjoying Panera, one of my favorite places. I really wish there was a Panera close by where I live. Anyone who has ever been to Panera with me only gets one guess what I had to eat!

Eating More Simply

Several of my bloggy friends have been writing lately about eating more "real" food, as in food that is either bought and eaten as is (fruit, vegetables) and food that isn't processed and pre-packaged. I think it would be very difficult to get rid of all processed foods from my life, and that's not what they're doing either, but it isn't hard to make a few changes here and there. Some of it is just realizing I actually can make some of things I buy in the store, like granola. So that's what I made! I recently purchased the More-with-Less and Simply in Season cookbooks from the Mennonite community.






More-with-Less basically does what the title says, and gives a lot of "real" food recipes. That's where I got my granola recipe. There are a few different granola recipes in the book so I looked at them and adapted them to my tastes. It was VERY easy to make, and as someone who doesn't really love baking/cooking, I like easy! I'll likely experiment with different ingredients in the future, but for this batch, I did the following:

Preheat oven to 325
Mix together in large bowl:
4 c. rolled oats
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. sliced almonds
1 c. sunflower seeds
Bring to a boil:
1 c. honey
1/2 c. oil
1 T cinnamon
Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets. Bake about 30 minutes, stirring often. (*I stirred every 10 minutes, and ended up only baking for about 25 minutes.) Watch closely toward the end, not allowing the granola to become too dark. Allow to cool, then break into chunks.

This made a batch probably about the equivalent in size of two of the boxes I would buy in the store, and I still have leftovers of all the ingredients for future batches. I have raisins, and bought some dried cranberries, but didn't include them in the mix because I figure those are things I can add in as I eat it. It's tasty, easy, better for me, and (I'm pretty sure) more economical.

I look forward to trying out making my own yogurt next! I'm also hoping to try some of the spring recipes in the Simply in Season book. The idea for this book is also probably obvious by the title, it's focusing recipes around produce that's in season. Some of the produce in season in spring that I especially enjoy are strawberries, lettuce/spinach/greens, peas, and mushrooms. Do you have any favorite recipes that highlight spring produce?