03/01/2016

  • My Table

    Dear One,

    Prayers change you.
    Love sustains you.
    Trust frees you.

    In and through every experience
    I am your sustenance.
    I hear through your ears,
    see through your eyes,
    speak with your tongue.

    Your care and compassion are my love made manifest again and again.
    Making room for strangers at your table
    is my highest call, your greatest freedom.
    My table is bountifully prepared.
    My invitation is heard by all,
    feared by some, yet enjoyed by those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

    I complete
    I heal
    I hold
    I sustain
    I satisfy
    I fill and quench the hunger and thirst of the lonely.

    Come to the table I've set for all.

25/12/2015

  • Two Bean Masala Hummus

    Two Bean Masala Hummus

    2 Tbsp oil
    2 onions chopped
    8+ cloves of garlic crushed
    2 Tbsp/inches of fresh ginger minced

    2 Tbsp garam masala (or better yet channa masala)
    1 tsp salt or to taste

    3 x 15 oz. tins of beans (2 garbanzo, 1 kidney) rinsed.

    2/3 c water

    1/4 to 1/2 c. oil

    3 limes (juice only about 1/3 cup)

    In a large non-stick skillet, carmelize onions over medium/low heat (30+mins).
    Add garlic, saute until translucent then stir in the minced ginger for about 3 min.
    Add the masala spice and salt until all smells fragrant and picks up all the oil. Stir in the rinsed beans.
    After it seems to be hot add water and simmer until heated through and some of the water evaporates.
    In a blender put oil and lime juice and some of the beans mix. Pulse.
    Keep adding beans and pulsing until the hummus is to the consistency you prefer.

    Makes 3+ cups hummus

    IMAG1788

     

  • Christmas 2015 Morning Time Saver

    Christmas 2015 Morning Time Saver

    ingredients:

    2 Tbsp oil
    2 onions chopped

    10-12 slices sandwich ham cut into 1cm pieces

    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp pepper
    pinch of nutmeg (optional)

    8-9 cups diced bread cubes(4 Phnom Penh size baguettes)

    7 eggs
    2 cups milk
    1.5 cups whipping cream (or use part milk and part melted butter)

    1.5 cups shredded sharp white cheddar
    3/4 cup green onion chopped (sprinkle 1/8 cup on top when finished baking)

    directions:

    The afternoon of Christmas Eve takes about an hour to assemble.

    In a large skillet, carmelize onions in oil over med heat. Add ham and saute until it picks up some brown corners. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

    In large bowl mix bread crumbs with onions and ham and 1 cup grated cheese and half cup of chopped green onion.

    In a blender put eggs, milk, and cream. Pour over dry ingredients and mix together.

    Put all into a 9x13 oiled (lined with parchment?) pan or pyrex cassarole dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

    About an hour before you want to eat, remove plastic wrap, top with more shredded cheese if wanted.

    Bake 50 min at 350.

    Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onion on top, let sit 10 min before serving.

    6-8 servings.

    Christmas 2015 Morning Time Saver

    Christmas 2015 Morning Time Saver

16/08/2015

  • Insist on receiving a blessing

    Dear One,

    Turn toward my face, lift up your heart, give your attention to me. I am your Source, your Guide, your Strength. With each day my grace is made manifest in your thoughts, your words, and your deeds. You are the bearer of my Life, my Light, and my Love. My burdens are rich with blessing. My gifts are filled with grace. My call is remarkably creative. All beauty is mine, all truth, and all healing. My wisdom reaches beyond the glory of the heavens. I delight in revealing myself to the humble, in surprising the truthful with grace, in overwhelming the contemplative with my presence. Be bold. Stand in my way. Wrestle with me. Insist on receiving a blessing from my mouth. My words remain alive into eternity.

    Amen

29/06/2015

  • Freedom's Overflow

    Dear One,

    For freedom I have set you free

    Your joy is a gift to others

    Your grace gives others life

    You peace is an oasis for others

    Your faith refreshes others

    Your heart heals hope in others

    Your words provide momentum

    Your life is an example of options to others

    Your stories add dimensions to the stories of others

    Your friends see your heart

    Your enemies encounter a mirror  of truth

    Your co-workers feel their load lightened

    Your fellow church folk appreciate your faithfulness

    Your neighbours appreciate your candor and open-heartedness

    Your fearlessness in the face of the world's challenges gives courage to all who observe

    Go in peace... Stand in your freedom... Rest believing in my unending goodness.

10/05/2015

  • A Heart's Widening

    Dear One,

    As you hold loved ones near your heart, as thoughts of them fill your mind, realize I share your holding heart and mindful thinking.

    My Being is uniquely expressed  in and through you.

    I am created anew and made real through your thoughts, your words and your deeds.

    Your capacity to represent me is unlimited.

    You are able to do greater things than you're able to ask for or imagine because of my faithful promises to you.

    I will complete the work I've begun in you.

    This work includes revealing my presence and your belovedness.

    Nothing in heaven or earth or under the earth is able to distance you from my ever-present Spirit of Love.

    "All shall be well..." St. Julian

07/12/2014

  • Open wide your heart...

    Dear One,

    Let your heart be calmed by my peace, my provision and my presence.

    Let your mind be fed by my words, my thoughts and my deeds.

    Let your body be cared for by my healing, my tenderness and my compassion.

    Allow receptiveness to define every facet of your being.

    Bear witness to my transforming grace, my generous compassion and my illuminating love.

    You've only known and be able to share the fragrance of these qualities not the flavour.

    You have yet to taste and see my true goodness.

    You've known the shadows.

    I promise you will savour the substance, sustenance and strength of my Joy!

    Keep on moving, keep on caring and keep on loving.

    Open wide your heart to the heaven and freedom I continually create for you.

12/12/2013

  • Candied Pomelo Peel

    Candied Pomelo Peel

    Candied Pomelo Peel

    IMG_4739 IMG_4732 IMG_4736

    3 cups of pomelo peel cut into slices trimmed of most of the pith

    Water to cover peel by about 2 inches

    750 ml water

    750 ml measure of sugar

    3 cinnamon stick

    1 cup granulated sugar

     

    Trim pomelo peel, cut into slices, take off most of the pith  (seemed to be about 2/3 of the peel of a large pomelo). Water to cover peel simmer for an hour with the cinnamon sticks. Drain.

    Put water and sugar in a pot, add peel and cinnamon. Bring to a boil then simmer for 2-3 hours until is reduced by about a half to two thirds, taking out the cinnamon stick half way so they don't break down the peel too much. Drain syrup into a bowl and keep to use with soda water as a spiced citrus flavor or in black or iced coffee. In a not-stick pan or surface pour 1 cup sugar. Gently mix in the peel strips. Allow to dry over night uncovered. then seal with additional sugar or dip in dark chocolate for a powerfully flavored treat.

    modified from this recipe

     

     

30/11/2013

  • Egg & Tomato with Cilantro Butter - 3rd Recipe from Wuhan, Hubei, China

     

    IMG_4697

     

    1/2 T corn oil

    1/3 cup chopped red onion (chopped up the whole onion and put the rest in a plastic container in fridge to use later)

    pinch of white pepper (McCormick)

    1 T chicken essence (Knorr) (1 tsp. would be enough of N. American chicken bouillon powder)

    1 large tomato diced

    2 eggs, scrambled in bowl with 2 tsp water

    1 tsp butter

    3 T fresh cilantro

    Fry up the onion in oil until translucent, or better yet, browned around the edges, over med/high heat. Add pepper stir, then chicken essence stir again. Fry up the tomato a bit before adding the scrambled eggs w/water. When eggs are set make a well in the middle of the pan add butter, melt then put in cilantro cover for a minute then open when cilantro is wilted and stir all together.

    I added the cilantro later because I forgot... so I fried it in the butter and put it on top of the tomato egg mix it was okay but I think it would be better added earlier. Also adding a 1/2 c. of chopped fresh mushrooms of any variety while frying the onions is a nice option. 

    Serve over hot rice.

    Serves two.

     

     

     

29/11/2013

  • Spiced Honey Lemon Glögg - 2nd Recipe from Wuhan, Hubei, China

    IMG_4692 IMG_4693 IMG_4694IMG_4698

     

    1.5" Ginger peeled & thinly sliced

    1 lemon remove zest carefully before juicing

    3 small star anise

    3 sticks cinnamon

    4 T. sugar

    3 T. honey

    6 cups water

    simmer for one hour (or longer to taste)

    Enjoy in your favourite mug... hot as a cold remedy or more.

    I was thinking of the Ikea recipe, Glögg,  which was such a morning comfort in holiday seasons past.

    For my cup, I simmered a few hours so it reduced to about about 2 or 3 cups in the pot... I ladeled about a 1/3 c. into my cup and filled the balance with boiling water. I think I could add a bit more honey or sugar... but with my voice gone and a cough still hanging on this batch is better without more sweetness.