Potato Salad

Nothing says 'summer picnic' like potato salad. You could, of course, leave out the bacon...or you could jump in the lake and swim a little longer! This recipe makes enough dressing for a rather large salad - enough to share with your sister-in-law who doesn't like potato salad, but thinks this one is divine!

Ingredients

5 lbs red baby potatoes

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 package bacon, fried and crumbled

2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped

1 1/2 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

3 tbsp grated Parmesan

3 tbsp ranch dressing

2 tbsp mustard

4 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1. Boil the potatoes until they are tender; cool.
2. Cut potatoes in halves, thirds or quarters, depending on how big you want the pieces.
3. Throw in red onion, bacon, parsley and dill.
4. Mix together remaining ingredients to make a dressing and stir it into the salad.
5. Chill before serving. It's best if you leave it overnight to let the flavours blend.

Grilled Corn

I experimented with grilled corn last summer and was pleasantly surprised. It takes longer than the traditional boiling but I think it's worth the extra time. I did find that the leftovers the next day were a little tough - an excuse to eat it all up for dinner!







Ingredients
Corn on the cob, husks removed
Butter or margarine
Salt and pepper

1. Place the corn on a piece of foil.
2. Spread butter on the corn and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Wrap up the corn in the foil.
4. Grill 45 to 60 minutes, turning every 15 to 20 minutes.

I kept burning one side of the corn because when I was turning it, I couldn't figure out which side was already cooked. The solution to my dilemma was to label the sides of the corn from 1 to 3 with a sharpie. It's okay if you think I'm weird.

Vanilla Syrup

You know those bottles of syrup lining the shelves at your favourite coffee spot? (Unless you're a redneck and the most exciting thing at your favourite coffee spot is roll up the rim.) I accidentally made it one day while I was making baklava. It's a long story. You can use whatever flavour you can find. Vanilla, of course, is the easiest get. However, if you know someone who sells Watkins products, the sky's the limit! I use this syrup to sweeten homemade yogurt.

4 cups water
8 cups sugar
1/2 cup vanilla

1. Boil water and sugar to 100°C (use a candy thermometer)

1. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

1. Pour into glass bottles. This recipe will fill two bottles like the one shown below.

Chocolate Crinkles

I found many different versions of this recipe on my favourite recipe websites. This version is my favourite because it uses oil instead of margarine, butter or shortening. (Just because oil is quicker to measure and my life is too busy.) Sometimes, substituting oil for margarine changes the taste and makes cakes or cookies bland in comparison. This is an exception.

Ingredients
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) for coating

1. Mix together cocoa, sugar and oil.
2. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Stir in vanilla,
4. Add flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Chill two hours.
6. Roll dough into balls and coat with icing sugar.
7. Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 8 to 10 minutes. It's difficult to tell when they're done because of the chocolate colour. Take them out the oven sooner rather than later or they'll be hard.

Rejoice for Winter is Past

My lover spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Song of Solomon 2:10-11

For someone who loves to write, I seem to be the absolute worst blogger when it comes to finding the time to write down all the things in my spirit. My silence over this past winter is not because I have nothing to say. I am simply speechless listening to what God is saying. So for the two or three people that actually read this blog, have patience with me. I shall return to write it all down. For now, just know that God is far from silent. I start to write it down and then something happens:

I stop. I pause for just a moment. And then I am overwhelmed.

Selah.

At the end of March I was driving home and looked up to see Canada geese flying overhead. Tears filled my eyes and I whispered, "winter is past". As the words escaped my lips, I knew that I had just declared something far more significant that the seasonal transition from winter to spring. 

Aslan is on the move...

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

3/4 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups white flour
2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Extra white sugar for coating

1. Cream margarine and sugar.
2. Beat in egg, then water and molasses.
3. Add dry ingredients.
4. Shape dough into balls and then roll them in white sugar.
5. Place them on a cookie sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
6. Bake at 350 F (180°C) for 8 to 10 minutes, depending how big you make the cookies. They shouldn't turn brown on the top or around the edges. If they are over-baked, they will be hard. 

Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

This afternoon as I was taking a patient's blood pressure, our conversation went something like this:

"I have such nice, slender arms, don't I?"

"Of course", I replied. "

She smiled. "Your arms are much fatter than mine. They're toned though, so it's not too bad, but mine are still smaller."

As I walked down the hallway towards the nursing station, I briefly glanced down at my arms and wondered, "Do I look fat?"

The comparison game. We have all played it at some time or another, some of us more than others, but I would dare to predict that each one of us would admit that at least once during our lifetime, we have measured ourselves by someone else's measuring tape. The remarkable thing about this particular conversation is that my patient was well past ninety years of age and diagnosed with dementia. Yet, even at this stage of life and in this frame of mind, the need to compare herself with another has persisted. I find this fascinating, but also a little bit sad and a little bit disturbing.

I have a mirror that hangs on a wall in my bedroom (except for the first day I hung it on the wall and it came crashing to the floor at 5am and I realized I should never attempt anything handyman-related but should always call my dad). I am compelled to look into it every day. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me each and every flaw". It faithfully tells me my nose is too big, my mouth is too small, my ears are too crooked, my skin is too oily, my pores are too big, my eyelashes are too short, my body is too chubby and no wonder I can't find anyone to marry me because I am just that ugly. Those of you who know me are likely shocked that I would have such a mirror and surely it must be a mistake. I would go as far to suggest that no one has observed any of these characteristics that I so ashamedly display on a daily basis. Yet they must be real because my mirror tells me so. After all, the mirror doesn't lie. Or does it?

A very long time ago, in a far away place, there grew a garden. In that garden perfection dwelt. The perfect man. The perfect woman. Perfect beauty. Perfect relationship with a perfect Creator. You all know the story of how shame entered the human race. What you may have never realized is that something else happened on that day. (Don't make me quote a Biblical reference for this!) All the mirrors from that day forth were affected in such a way that when one gazed upon its reflection, instead of portraying what really was, it took into account every hurtful word, every criticism, every negative thought, every abusive act, every lie that taunted 'you're not enough' and so created a filter that essentially removed all that was beautiful and good. As if this wasn't tragic enough, it also created such a lure, a desire so compelling, to keep looking into that reflection, so that every time the created one passed by the mirror, she couldn't help but pause, if only for a moment, just to be reminded one more time, that she was not enough.

It is a very good thing that the story does not end here. There is a way to break the curse of the enchanted mirror. Heaven knew that many thousands of years later, beautiful creation would still be under it's evil spell. These words were penned...

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully* and wonderfully** made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well...the king is enthralled by your beauty. All glorious is the princess within her chamber; her gown is interwoven with gold. In embroidered garments she is led to the king." (Psalm 139&45)

Every time these words are spoken in the face of the mirror's reflection, every time she allows these words to penetrate her spirit, truth begins to destroy the cursed filter and one day she wakes up to discover a true reflection of beauty and worth.

The King of Heaven finds you magnificently beautiful. You take His breath away. He pauses to look at you before you awaken, whispering words of love into your ear. His gaze follows you all day long until the moon hits your face as your eyes close in sleep. The angels are jealous because the Creator has eyes only for His bride, His created one, His chosen delight. His great desire is that the spell would be broken and you would see yourself through His eyes. Beautiful.

* full of awe or reverence

** awesome, wondrous, miraculous, astonishing, amazing, astounding, phenomenal, extremely fine, excellent