My flour tortilla tutorial

After mixing the very warm water in with the shortening, flour and salt. I roll the dough on to a floured surface and cut it into 16 pieces. I usually make a kind of fat "snake" and cut it into pieces.











Roll one piece out on the floured surface.












This is about as hot the griddle is. The heat is important. Too hot, they burn. Too cool and they turn into crackers. I usually have to play with it the whole time.














It gets covered with little bubbles
















When there are bubbles all over, I flip it over. Sometimes I'll get one giant bubble. I just poke it with a knife.














This is what it looks like after I turn it over. I leave it for just under a minute, depending on the heat.









Here's the pile of delicious, finished tortillas!
YUM!

Awww, our new computer "wall-paper"

This morning when I opened the computer, I found that Will had changed the wall-paper to this. Two peas in a pod, huh? Will and his daddy. *smile*

Mongoose of will vs. cobra of feeling

Decisions, decisions. Having decisions to make implies uncertainty and sometimes insecurity and instability.

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to a program on the radio and the men were discussing the decisions now facing college graduates. Decisions that previous generations never faced. Because of all of them, many were in therapy or at least needing to see a psychologist. Decisions about work. What kind of work, where, with whom, for how long. Previous generations chose a profession and stuck with it. This one will do many things, for one thing because they CAN do just about anything that they want. Both men and women. Lifestyle choices face them. Of course, for our Christian kids, we hope some of those decisions are moot points, but the choice of when to get married and who to marry and how do you decide face our children, too. The discussion resonated with me because I can see that struggle in my own children and their friends.

Then Sunday I was reading Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard and he describes this same condition calling it "modernity". He says because we've given up commitment to ritual and personal relations that we're left having to sort of "invent the wheel" with new decisions.

In the

modern condition, feeling will come to exercise almost total mastery over the individual. This is because people in that condition will have to constantly decide what they want to do and feeling will be all they have to go on. People are overwhelmed with decisions and can only make those decisions on the basis of feelings.

Willard goes on to talk about this same feeling of overwhelming decision making felt by Tolstoy, contrasted with what he saw in the life of the peasant who had

solid tradition of faith and community that provided a ritual form of life-and death. The result was that they knew what was good to do without regard to their feelings. Individuals in their roles knew without thinking about it what to do with their minutes, hours, and days. The overall order in which they lived usually gave them great strength and inner freedom derived from their sense of place and direction.

In conclusion he says,

Self-control is the steady capacity to direct yourself to accomplish what you have chosen or decided to do and be, even though you 'don't feel like it'. The mongoose of a disciplined will under God and good is the only match for the cobra of feeling.

We need to pray that our children will have their roots in the knowledge of God and what it means to glorify him and enjoy him, so that HE will be their guide during this awesome stage of decision making. Strong families and solid teaching in the church will anchor them, helping them to do what's right even when they FEEL like doing something else!

I feel so rich!

After looking and not finding the small packages of Scottish Oats in the grocery store where I usually got it, I ordered 25 pounds from Bob's Red Mill. It came last week. (See date on bag!)




I figured it would not be good to just store it in the paper bag, even though we do eat it up very fast. So I filled 13+ bags that can be vacuum sealed.

Now we have enough oats to last us until... maybe summer?

I made oatcakes last week that turned out delicious and lasted only a few days.

Think I'll make some more today.

Recipe:
1 1/2 c. oats, 1/2 flour 1/2 t. sugar, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. baking powder, 1/4 c. butter . Cut together like for a pie crust, slowly add 1/2 c. hot water. Roll out about 1/4 in. or less (depending on how thick you like them) on a floured surface. Cut in triangles or with a cutter. Bake in 325 degree oven about 25 minutes. Cool on rack. They are delicious with cream cheese, cheese, butter and jam...anything you'd put on a cracker. And so healthy. All that oatmeal! Boy, am I rich!

Like a bridegroom

Is the sun. If I didn't know the Creator, I would be a sun-worshiper. I love the sunshine! I can't stay in bed after the sun has risen. I sit in a certain spot in my living room in the morning just to catch those first rays of the rising sun on my face. In winter I sit in the sunshine on the floor and read. I have energy. It makes me smile.

Yesterday was in the 50's and I went on a long walk in the sun. Lots of people had the same idea, and all were cheery. Everyone smiled and said hello or commented on the beautiful day.

I'm so thankful for these breaks from winter's icy grip! We had three wonderful sunny, "warm" days this week.

However, this morning we are setting our jaws, gritting our teeth and bracing ourselves for another icy onslaught. High's in the teens, winds 37 mph and snow, come Saturday night through Monday or Tuesday. sigh. Oh, well, it's STILL January. And we may get another break in ten days or so...

To make up for it, maybe, my hibiscus has a flower this morning! *smile*

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his
handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals
knowledge.
In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom
leaving his chanber, and , like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

It's happened!

(Typing as I watch the final prayer of the ceremony.)
This last prayer has a great ending, using verses, hymns and poetry!

I took a photo off TV obviously, but I figure I have an actual record.

It's been fun watching the daughters. I think it's Malia who has such fun with her camera. Snapping photos through that concert and through out the ceremony today.

The OPPD (electric company) guys came to the door this morning about 9:30 and said they were going to turn off the electricity for about a half hour. Ach, I couldn't believe it! What a day to turn everything off. And with no warning! But they got it back on and I got the TV back and computers reset, so didn't miss too much.

Bush must be sooo relieved!

Will texted me from the ceremony, "I'm there." There's probably a lot of dancin' going on down there. Now for a day of parties. The staff ball isn't until tomorrow, so Will will still be in Washington for that.

I've enjoyed the ceremony, seeing all these former leaders together, listening to more good prayers and speeches and watching people.

Now I guess I'd better do what he said and get off the couch and get some work done!! Like get groceries.

Homemade Oatcakes

You can tell I must not have much to do, here I am writing again.

It is a miserable, dark, cold cheerless day. But Denny's home, so we went out for lunch at Panera. So while we were out, I went to the store and found Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oats, finally. I just ordered 20 pounds online because I couldn't find them. They are oats just like we got in Scotland, not rolled like we have here.

So it cheered me considerably to try my hand at oatcakes. I LOVE oatcakes, with butter, cheese, cream cheese, raspberry jam, even plain with scotch broth. They turned out crispy and delicious! I think I would use a little more salt than the recipe called for and maybe no sugar. But they were so easy. Now I know that that 20 pounds is going to last even less time than usual!

Bialetti Espresso

I've added a new link to my "interesting sites" list. Yesterday a friend from college was telling me about this shop near where she lives. Oh,how I wish I had a shop like this near me!

Anyway, I jump tracks, I know.

My point here is this: all one needs to make a fantastic espresso is one of these coffee pots and a good coffee like Illy or Lavazzo. Actually I buy Caffe Bustelo at the commissary. My sense of taste is not so sensitive as some I know, so I can get by with a cheaper brand!
Not only do I get a fantastic espresso without the big expensive machine, but I use this every morning to make my cappuccino, which is probably a caffe latte. I fill this (a three cup pot) and then heat 1 and 1/2 cups milk in a glass measuring cup for 2 and 1/2 minutes. Then I get a wire wisk and spin it between my hands in the milk for just a few seconds to get the foam. Pour it over the coffee in a very large mug, add sugar to taste and voila! An excellent way to start the morning.
Who needs the big expensive machine?

We Are One Concert, 2009 Presidential Inauguration, 18 January, Washington, DC

We Are One Concert, 2009 Presidential Inauguration, 18 January, Washington, DC
Originally uploaded by TDLphoto

Flickr has a whole section for Inauguration photos. People upload them to a special site. Check it out. Great pictures. This is just a sample.
Just click on the photo for the link.

The Inaugural Fete

peanut gallery in the tree.
Originally uploaded by emilybelz

The photo is "borrowed" from our friend Emily Belz's Flickr pictures. We were wondering if Will was up the tree!

I don't know if you watched the concert in Washington D.C. yesterday or not, but we happened upon it after watching a movie last night. They were re-broadcasting it over and over on HBO. We caught one of them around 9 pm.

America can throw a party, and how! It was exciting, amazing, inspiring to watch and listen to speeches and great music. We felt very patriotic and proud to be Americans at this time in our history. The setting at the feet of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial gave a sense of awesomeness. The crowd joining in to sing "Shout" made us want to get up and dance ourselves.

We are so blessed to be part of a country that can unite and celebrate all its unique characteristics. Power is not only peacefully passed from one man to another, but is celebrated. Yes, we will not always agree, but we can live with one another and accept one another-Jew or Palestinian, Irish or English, Muslim or Christian. Where else, but America?

I'm ready for some more celebration!

A Sweet Evening

Empty nest for a week!

Will left yesterday morning for the big celebration, so since it was just the two of us for dinner, I thought I'd set it up downstairs in front of the fire.

I pulled the couch up, set up two benches and covered them with a tablecloth. We ate minestrone, and the rigatoni with tomato sauce and stir-fry onion-zucchini, red pepper from the night before. Candlelight and a bottle of petit shiraz topped it off. We sat down there until after 9.


We're ready for a long weekend of just the two of us!

Who says there's no romance after 30 years?

Easing the pain of the Alberta Clipper

A very large south-facing window, a pillow and good book.

My book happens to be a warm, soul-satisfying one.

Ah, it makes me feel like cooking Italian, gardening, painting and fixing up anything that is old.

I can get as close as I can. I'm eating fresh, homemade parmesan and oregano foccacia with ham and Swiss. Just need a little arugula to top it off. But the black Greek olives are doing a pretty good job.

Let the wind blow! Where's my book?

Will got Inauguration Tickets!

By FedEx in the mail yesterday. Whoa, they look so cool. The green ones are for the "OFA Staff Ball". I had to ask Will what that was, "Obama for America". OK. The purple ones are the tickets for the actual Inauguration. The color tells what section he's in. He got a paper that has the diagram of the stands along with the screening gate and the nearest Metro stop. Exciting. Momentous. Something that he'll be able to tell his children and grand children about.

He's riding out with friends and co-workers from Council Bluffs, and they're staying with relatives in Bethesda, MD. Pretty exciting if you're 22 years old! Hope the weather is good both for the drive and the actual day.

Now me, no way would I want to go stand out there with millions of people. I'm still an Iowa country girl at heart. The biggest crowd I can handle is at church!

He's got TWO tickets. Hmmm, I wonder who he's going to share the other with?

Guess I've taken a blog break

I didn't mean to. Last week just flew by! I thought once the holidays were over, I'd have quiet days enjoying warm living room sunshine, reading books, tidying up. But things got moving rather quickly!

• Monday I got the house cleaned up after the weekend.
• Tuesday I took the tree down and cleaned that mess up. Got groceries. Car washed.Went out with church ladies in the evening to Wheatfields. Good time.
• Wednesday was run-around day. Got my hair cut. Ran around looking for a good deal on a new artificial Christmas tree. Got one for $30! All set for next year! Went to church to teach my class.
• Thursday I subbed for the Chemistry and Physics teacher. Great classes! They all got down to work...and I crocheted! Thursday evening my uncle came in with his friend Frank on their way to Minnesota. My aunt died on Saturday, so Lester was heading home. We had a rather hectic dinner prep since I didn't get home until nearly 4. Andrew comes in on Thursday to eat on his way to class, so he needed to eat by 5:30. Lester and Frank arrived at 5, so I burned the skirlie, sprayed milk from the mashed potatoes all over the counter, and Andrew ate standing up in the kitchen talking to me while I tried to regain my composure!!! Dinner went great once we got there! Football was the evening entertainment.
• Friday morning we were all up and out early. I did sit down and eat oatmeal with my guests before they left at 7:30 and I left to teach 5th grade at 7:45! That was another wonderful day. Friday evening Will was out, I talked to Linnea for over an hour, then Den and I played rummy.
• Saturday mornings I always talk to my mom for an hour and then sit around in my housecoat reading blogs, Facebook and just enjoying the slow morning. Andrew and Stephanie showed up about 11:30 while I was still looking my best. :) I made them some brunch and we all had a good visit before they headed out to the SAC museum. Got cleaned up after that!!! The presepe got put away and the Christmas stuff on the sideboard. Nice and tidy in there now.
• Sunday is always a good day. Great worship music in church, great sermon. I think we have the best church here ever! Sunday lunch lasted for a couple of hours. We bring out the tea pot and a bowl of nuts after dinner and we all sit and talk for a long time. It's the highlight of my week! As long as no one fights! :) Then last night Den and I went to Bill and Joetta's for supper in their new house! We had a great game of cribbage afterwards. Joetta and I let the men win this time...we don't want to hurt their fragile egos!!!
• God is faithful in all the little things, the daily activities. I'm so thankful for good times as well as the provision of all my needs both spiritual and physical. It IS a wonderful life!

Silence

I've just finished reading this book. Will finished it last week, and I think Linnea read it before him. It was sitting on the endtable, and since I hadn't read a book for awhile, buried as I was in crochet yarn, I decided I'd check it out.

I'm still digesting it. It wasn't a comfortable book to read. I don't really want to write a review, nor can I do it justice. Here's a review I read online that will give you an idea of what the story is about without spoiling the ending.

Of course any time you read a book, you view that story through your lenses. I'm reading it as an evangelical Protestant. It's about a Catholic priest set back in the 17th century during persecution of Christians in Japan. All the while I read it, I kept thinking about how complicated Roman Catholic Christianity is with all its rituals and works. It is so binding. The poor people wanted to confess their sins and thought they couldn't without a priest. How sad to carry that burden! They had set up their own hierarchy to try to remedy this problem. How freeing is the priesthood of the believer! Christ knows my pain, my sin, and is always there. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?" No where.

Then there's always the silence. The silence of God that the priest felt in the face of all the loneliness and persecution.

It was a good book. Any of you around here read it? I'd really like to get in to some kind of book group, so that I could read and discuss the book with others!

Our Sunday School class has been like that reading The Reason for God. We end up sitting in class long after the scheduled time is over. It ends next Sunday. sad. That's another great book if you haven't read it. I've been through it twice now.

He is there, and He is not silent! Hallelujah!

Moving day

Yesterday I went to help my friend move from her old farmhouse, to her new house. It's my Road Goes Ever On place. January in western Iowa after the thaw! I'll take another when it's all white again.

I love a project. I love being busy, so yesterday was a happy day. We got a lot done. I think they will sleep well in the new house....if the fumes from the varnished floor don't get to them.

It is a lovely house. With particularly lovely views!



Here we are sitting at the table in their breakfast nook that faces east and south. I don't think I'd leave the table in the morning... just think of the changing seasons viewed from that window. There is a deck just outside, too.

Here we are two tired ladies! *smile*













New Year's Day Andrew popped in for a few minutes along with his friend Drew and his girlfriend. Drew has been our "other son" ever since he and Andrew met in 6th grade. It's always great to see him again! He's at Drake in DesMoines now, so he's not too far away.

Watch Night Service

This was another one of my ideas on New Year's Eve, but since I wrote two that day, I saved this idea for later.

I was driving around on Tuesday and listening to NPR. They mentioned that the next day there would be a program about Watch Night Services and its history going back to Puritans. (Link takes you to the program on WGBH.) I had forgotten all about that term, and it reminded me of my childhood.

We always went to church on New Year's Eve. I always thought that's what church people did. It was a family celebration. We had games, food, sometimes a Christian film. We always ended with a service that usually included the Lord's Supper, beginning the new year at the Lord's table in the Lord's house with His people. I remember at one party we played "world cities" charades, children and adults playing on teams together. Another party was a scavenger hunt for part of it. Some of those Christian films were pretty corny, now that I look back on them. But this was way before the day of home video, so it was pretty special, especially for a kid growing up without TV!

I found out that this idea is not totally lost. I did a google search and found this article. It is well worth the read.

Why do we have fewer and fewer services together as a congregation? We no longer have Sunday evening services. Our church says they don't so we will come to the Bible study time on Wednesday. But why cut one service? Why not have both? Let's celebrate the holidays of the church. Israel had all their times of celebration throughout the year, but it seems since the Reformation, we've thrown out church celebrations.

Our culture has lost community. And the church is losing community. Maybe I just don't see it as much being in an urban rather than a rural church. But I have talked to several people and read some on the subject; people are longing for community. We have new single people and new families coming to our church. Are we forming a unique community? Our celebrations are often with those outside of our church community lessening the strength of that community. How can we build the strength of our church community while maintaining friendships with those from other churches, as well as staying close to our families not in our church body? I really would like to know.

The Watch Night Service. What a great idea! Let's get together....next year! Oh, wait. This year!

New Links for 2009

Happy New Year!! I hope you all had a super time last night bringing in the New Year. We did.

I have added a couple of links both are about photography. One is my nephew's (brother of luisa and Moot Thoughts.. son of Quid Nunc... that family is really into blogging!) The other two are really one. I found the link on the Caithness website. It's North Light. The man posts photos on his blog, but we can't make any comments there, so I also linked his Flickr page. Right now he has a photo album of 366 photos for 2008 all over Caithness. Linnea, you will love it. He has some lovely photos! Lots and lots of sea and rocks, sand and sky. I could wish for a little more wildlife, but if you go to his blog, there are links to others who do take photos of wildlife. It will give those of you who have never been there a glimpse of the pace we lived for four years of our lives and where both Will and Andrew were born. (The photo here is mine.)

Rose Bowl parade is on TV and we've set up the TV to make sure we catch both the Iowa game and the Nebraska game. Happy Football Day!