It’s Soul Food Friday! Congratulations! You’re dancing across the finish line into the weekend! Here are a few of the things from my week that I think you might like…
Daughter Katy shared this Buzzfeed article with us it and it has brought so much joy into my Twitter feed! Check out some of the posts from Exploding Unicorn.
And…Who doesn’t love Fixer Upper and want to be best friends with Chip and Joanna?? This week Joanna posted a recipe for a lemon pie and I just happened to have (most of) the ingredients so I made it for my small group dinner.
Yum! It was definitely a keeper, and since I only had one can of sweetened condensed milk instead of the THREE in the recipe, I could call it a Lo Cal version. So Score! It just made a thinner layer of filling.
Lastly, I’ve read two fascinating books this week.
I got the precious gift of having lunch with my friend Sharol while we were in D.C. She lost her husband to cancer just 4 months before we lost my brother David and is such a wise and godly friend. She also is doing her D.Min focused on how the church can help people die better. She suggested the book When Breath Becomes Air which John and I immediately got on our Kindle.
It’s a memoir written by a neurosurgeon who chronicles his journey with cancer, mortality, and quality of life. It may not be for everyone, but I found it engrossing, perhaps because it paralleled much of our experiencewith my brother David.
The other book is also a memoir by a woman who has struggle with deep depression – Still Life.
About now you may be thinking, “Boy Debbie Downer, do YOU know how to choose books!” But, I found this book also super engaging and helpful to me as someone trying to understand what others may be going through. I definitely recommend it.
That’s it for me! Have a joy-filled weekend, and let me know what’s making your heart sing!
Yay Weekend! I know these Friday posts are such a hodgepodge, but I hope you each find something to delight, inspire, or motivate you.
Some of you will be into the Super Bowl, some not, but I pray this weekend God will meet you and refresh you in ways that only He can.
First, a quote from my friend, Sharol Hayner. Her husband, and our friend, Steve, died just over a year ago.
As for us with my brother’s death, this has been a year of absorbing the reality of loss and trying to choose joy, and envision life again.
Sharol sent an update this past week which included this reflection. Her image has been one that has rolled around in my head all week. It is beautiful and hopeful and maybe as helpful to you as it’s been for me.
Grief is like living in a house with many rooms, each with a different name: sadness, anger, fear, celebration, remembering, joy, gratitude. A friend suggested that the key to abiding in this house is to leave the door to each room unlocked and even opened. I frequently visit these rooms and will occasionally get stuck in one of them. I’ve learned that I must keep the door open so that I can get out. This has been helpful when a room overwhelms me and I am tempted to lock the door from the outside and never enter or lock the door from the inside and never leave. I will always live in this house as it is God’s place for me. But the house itself isn’t named Grief. It is named Life. There will be new rooms in time. Gratefully, I don’t live there alone. God is always there, ready to meet me and walk with me into each room. Many of you are there with me as well.
Along those same lines…If everything in your life feels broken, this may be the song you need today.
Any I have to share my favorite picture of the week – Muslim girls waiting to fist-bump the president, taken after Obama gave a speech in Baltimore against anti-muslim rhetoric.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
“There are voices who are constantly claiming you have to choose between your identities. … Do not believe them. … You fit in here. Right here. You’re right where you belong. You’re part of America, too…You’re not Muslim or American, you’re Muslim and American. And don’t grow cynical.”
On my nightstand…The Art of Memoir. You guys! Oh my goodness, this book! It has me obsessed. Each sentence feels like I need to chew it like a cow chewing her cud, squeezing every bit of flavor and nutrition out of it.
And there is so much there to absorb! It is fascinating whether you’re an aspiring writer or a reader. One of the reviewers wrote: “…Anyone yearning to write will be inspired, and anyone passionate to live an examined life will fall in love with language and literature all over again.”
Here’s a sample…
“That’s the quality I’ve found most consistently in those life-story writers I’ve met. Truth is not their enemy. It’s the bannister they grab of when feeling around on the dark cellar stairs…”
I took this book out of the library but it’s all I can do not to grab a pen and underline huge chunks of it!
Lastly…For those Super Bowl party goers or watchers...I tried this recipe recently (the easy version) and had people ask for the recipe so I thought I’d share it here as an option for a Super Bowl party this weekend. Enjoy!
Super Bowl Sunday Hot Corn Dip Recipe
So there are two ways to do this – the easy way is by using this or any similar corn salsa you like:
If you use a bottled corn salsa just skip down to the mayo part 🙂
You really can totally play with this, but here’s the “real” recipe:
2 TB butter
3 1/2 cups corn kernels (can use corn from 4 ears of white or yellow corn or use canned mixture)
1/2 ts. salt
1 cup finely chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped green onions (green and white parts)
1 jalapeño seeded and minced (I’d omit)
1 tsp minced garlic (I’d use more)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup (4 oz) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 cup (4 oz.) Sharp cheddar cheese shredded
Tortilla scoops or Frito scoops for dipping
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt 1 TB butter in leg heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn, salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 min. Transfer to bowl
Melt remaining TB of butter in the skillet. Add the yellow onions and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are wilted, about 2 minutes. Add the green onions, jalapeño and garlic and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, or until veggies are softened.
Transfer to the bowl with corn.
Add mayo and 1/2 of Monterey Jack cheese and 1/2 of Cheddar cheese, mixing well.
Pour into 8 inch square baking dish (or whatever).
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake until bubbly and golden brown – 10-12 minutes.
Yield: 6 cups of dip. 12-18 servings.
That’s it for me. What has been delighting, inspiring, or motivating you this week?
The other book is also a memoir by a woman who has struggle with deep depression – Still Life.
