November 2009

Thanksgiving Feasties

by Jessica on November 26, 2009

in Uncategorized

With our recent rash of food-related posts, I wasn’t going to bore you with a long thread of all the things we make for Thanksgiving. However, it is like the food holiday of the year, and…well…I can’t resist. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday and the start of the fast-paced, “look now or you’ll mis it” holiday season. I’ve been planning and scheming for a month now and have tons of things I want to try, have drooled over, and swear by every year. Along with what we make, I’ll list a few recipes I dream of trying in the next few years.

Turkey

Potatoes

Green Beans

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Stuffing

Cranberry Sauce

Stay tuned for our post on dessert! Dessert is so epic it warranted its own post.

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The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University

by Jessica on November 24, 2009

in Books

A year ago after reading AJ Jacobs’s A Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, I heard through the grapevine that his former assistant Kevin Roose was had just completed a book detailing what it was like to spend a semester attending Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University as a student. After visiting Falwell’s Thomas Road Church for research for A Year of Living Biblically, Roose arranged a semester away from Brown University and enrolled at Liberty, taking a full class-load of bible-based curriculum.

I don’t endeavor to read many books like this, but I knew that if Jacobs had any influence on Kevin, his outlook and approach would be immensely fair, thorough and objective. Digging around on Amazon, you’ll find hundreds of “in-depth” books and stories on evangelical culture and similar religious movements, and although many contain factual information and analysis, more often than not they are dripping in cynicism and an overall disrespect that even  someone who isn’t overly religious (me) would find over-the-top.

I found this book to be a very insightful read. As someone constantly exploring issues of faith, religion and its direction/influence on my life, it was refreshing and more than a little reassuring to find someone else asking the same questions, struggling to reconcile the social politics, and not being afraid to challenge what he believed. I think sometimes the best way to find direction is to explore ideas you don’t know or think you’ll be immediately turned off by. Roose doesn’t get saved {spoiler alert} and returns to Brown as an intact social progressive, but he comes away forever changed by people he once thought he’d never even connect with.

The Unlikely Disciple not only takes you through his experiences of living as a faith-driven fundamental Christian college student, with its expected rules about dress code and dating, but he really lets you in to how it changed him and made him feel. He doesn’t hide the struggles, the insecurity, and the many questions he was asking not in a quest for a better story, but for himself. He also shatters stereotypes as he tells the different stories of the young men and women who you never hear anything about independently of mainstream media labels.

Who should read this book?

  • Any Christian who wonders how the un-indoctrinated view believers and their practices
  • Anyone preparing to be an pastor, evangelist, missionary, or Christian educator – especially in a post-modern society
  • Anyone planning to go to a Christian university (you’ll understand the pros and cons of these institutions better after reading Kevin’s book)
  • Anyone on staff at Liberty University
  • Liberals who have made sweeping generalizations about fundamentalist Christianity without honestly investigating it themselves.
  • Anyone who wants to read a tremendously thought provoking and highly entertaining story.

Happy Reading!

Jessica

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Vanilla-Gingerbread Latte

by Jessica on November 23, 2009

in Food

Neil loves coffee, that’s no mystery. I love coffee too, but I like foo-foo coffee. Concoctions with non-coffee flavors, and obscene amounts of chocolate or candy. I don’t sip, I gulp. I savor the whipped cream and chocolate shavings and am almost brought to tears when the cup is nearly empty. In my teeth-grinding attempt to save money however, I’ve cut back and am always looking for ways to duplicate my little luxuries by DIY. CHOW recently asked a handful of restaurant owners for the recipes to their seasonal flavored coffees  and Chef Robert Hellen’s Vanilla-Gingerbread Latte made my list.

Ingredients

For the sugar mixture:
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
For the spiced simple syrup:
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ginger mix from above
  • 1 scant teaspoon vanilla extract
To assemble:
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 1 expresso shot (1 to 1/2 ounces)
  • Graham cracker, for garnish
  • 3 tablspoons simple syrup from above
Ingredients
  1. For the sugar mixture: Mix all ingredients together: Mix all ingredients together.
  2. For the spiced simple syrup: Mix all ingredients together.
  3. To assemble: Steam milk and froth top, if you have an expresso maker. Pour expresso shot into a cup. Garnish with a graham cracker and a drizzle of syrup, if desired.

{Recipe via Chow & Image via Treehugger}

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Spicy White Chicken Chili

November 18, 2009

This is by far, our favorite winter crock pot recipe. We traditionally make it on New Years as the main dish, and it is always a hit. You can mash up some of the beans and add a few pinches of flour if you like it a bit more thick. I have found that if [...]

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Our baked Jalapeño popper creation!

November 18, 2009

So we had a lot of left over jalapeños from the garden and we really did not want them to go to waste so being that I love spicy food I suggested we try making our own jalapeno poppers! Well, when searching for the right recipe I was really not too excited about making a meal that [...]

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Pig Pineapple & Jalapeno Pizza on Beet Crust

November 17, 2009

This is definitely a unique one. Clever title, definitely wining points for unexpected appearance. I’ve never heard of beet crust, but it has my curiosity peaked for sure. Would you try it? {Via The Cooking Photographer, found on Tastespotting}

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Winter

November 17, 2009

{Image via DonkerDink} All this rain just makes me wish for it to be snow. I love when it snows at night and it feels like the world just gets small and more intimate. You can go outside and not hear a single sound, and everything looks brighter. Better than grey anyhow.

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