Good-bye HMS Bounty

A few summers ago, my husband and I attended the Tall Ship Festival in Bay City, Michigan. We had the opportunity to board and tour the HMS Bounty. This 3-masted beauty was built for the 1962 movie starring Marlon Brando. It was also used in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
She was a crowd favorite because the tourists could go below deck. The “ceilings” were higher so movie cameras on dollies could be used and this spaciousness could accommodate larger groups during  the festival.
Her engine stopped running and she took on water in the Atlantic amid Hurricane Sandy. There is speculation as to why the captain chose to try to skirt the storm, but the decision resulted in his presumed death and the death of one of the crew and the sinking of the ship off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. 14 people were rescued. 

                                            

Tonight I discovered that this replica ship was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. We saw Bluenose II there at the Maritime Museum. The fraternity of tall ships is fairly small. She will be missed.

Operation Christmas Child

 

I have been participating in Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child for several years now. After my sister who worked at the North Carolina distribution/shipping point told me that the 10-14 years-old category had the least boxes, I shifted to buying for a girl age 10-14.

I do have some method to my shopping. I always include candy. I start out at Walmart to see what kind of purses/bags have been marked down. Usually I find a cloth bag in denim or other fabric. Last year it was a sunny yellow and white print hobo bag. This year I had to settle for a tote bag. I usually include a solar calculator and pencils and a tablet or booklet. The pencils this year have the sharpener included in the package. Besides the pencils, I try to include something that can be shared with family or friends; this year a package of combs. You would think children in poverty would want to keep items for themselves, but usually they generously share if given the opportunity. This year I added a bright bandana scarf and a pink hat. The box is full.

I have only “tracked” my package once, and I was disappointed that I was told the destination was Africa rather than a specific country in Africa. These are not the cute toys so many boxes have, but they should be enjoyed by a girl on the brink of womanhood. These girls are in the final years of the program, and any decision they make to accept Christ will impact their own children who are probably not too far in the future.

Why don’t you think about filling a box this year?

Dipping Into A Vast Array

We still have some of the “prettiness” of autumn here, but after much wind the past few days the leaves are quickly dropping. November tends to be the bare time in Northern Indiana. We do have two lovely spruce trees we can see from our bedroom window and the trees behind our condo are white pine so there is some foliage, but the overall impression will soon be stark naked tree limbs, empty brown soil in the fields, and few flowers except mums.

I had planned to include some photos of the retirement village library, but when I went over there this afternoon there were several people using the computers and I didn’t want to include them in my shots.

The library has over 2200 titles of fiction, not including maybe 150 mass market paperbacks that are not on the list. When we first took over the supervision, we had zero dollars to spend on acquiring books. We were pretty much dependent on donations. The Winona Literary Club gave us a gift of $100 last spring. We used almost half of that amount to buy some current books on Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. The residents who have their own computers wanted to become more skilled using that OS and software. No money doesn’t mean no incoming books, however.  Friday I stopped by for a few minutes to return a book, and I found 4 grocery bags full of books sitting on the floor next to the desk. I am still sorting through them, but so far we have 10 Christian fiction books new to us, and 2 non-fiction that we will definitely keep. Word is starting to get around that when a resident of the retirement community dies and the family needs to clean out the apartment, we will accept the books and dispose of those we don’t keep in a responsible manner.

We have some classics, some best-seller authors (Grisham, Cornwell, Steel, Sparks, Patterson), some fairly recently published books (Through My Eyes by Tebow; The Help by Stockett; Unbroken; No Easy Day), and lots of Christian fiction (Kingsbury, Phillips, Wick, Lewis, Brunstetter, Henderson, Blackstock, Thoene, Oke, Snelling, Gist to name a few). We have two residents who regularly donate their Love Inspired line of books mostly in larger and really large print, about 6-8 books a month.

Since I have little exposure to the Christian fiction genre, I am now starting to read a few of these each week if possible, plucking out different authors. With the holidays approaching, I am not sure I can keep up that pace, but I do have my Operation Christmas Child shoebox packed, though I haven’t started any other Christmas gift shopping.

I feel that my husband and I are making a valuable contribution to our retirement community by working in the library. It has its challenges (mostly limited space), but we have been blessed to see how God provides books for the residents. It has given us an opportunity to become acquainted with some of the apartment residents and some of the staff. The library “bowl” is full.

Applebee’s Brownie Bites

I had big plans for Friday that changed because of scheduling a medical procedure that would make me unalert most of the day. I also could not eat anything for breakfast Friday so I decided to splurge Thursday night. My husband and I had eaten Applebee’s Brownie Bites a few times after our Sunday afternoon meal there. We decided to have a “dessert date” Thursday. This delicious small dessert did not appear on the dessert menu, but when I asked if it was available, the waitress said certainly. I guess it is mostly a lunch menu item, but since they have a brownie dessert for $5-$6, they have the ingredients on hand. Just ask.
Mmm. Warm chocolate brownie with ice cream and fudge sauce. Only $1. A serving just right for 1 person so we each ordered one. My husband’s coffee cost twice as much as the dessert. I had a glass of water. If you need a little pick-me-up or treat, order the Brownie Bite at Applebee’s. The ice cream “shooters” also look interesting, but they cost a little more.

Gray Chilly Autumn Day

             

Today is gray and chilly with a misty rain some of the time. I can see thru the arch window on the front of my condo beautiful red leaves of a tree behind the across-the-street condo. This morning when I opened the blinds on the sliding glass door, a black squirrel was pawing thru the scattered sunflower seeds on the patio. My husband’s squirrel-proof bird feeder triumphed again. Little blackie did find something to eat though and ran off under the white pine to nibble awhile before leaving my sight. We had a mourning dove today, too, besides the sparrows. We put the feeder up Monday and are now starting to see a few visitors.

We have had the furnace running on non-sunny days and now have the electric blanket on the bed. We have been turning to comfort food. Tonight we will eat leftovers of a chicken casserole I baked Thursday. Have some left-over chili, too, which should be tasty tomorrow evening before going to the Second Sunday Series concert.

Three-Cheese Chicken Florentine Casserole
1/2 lb. penne pasta (I used farfalle instead this time)       
1 T. olive oil    
1 c. chopped onion                                                        
1 orange or red bell pepper, chopped   
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped                                        
1 (10-oz) pkg washed baby spinach
1 T. dried tarragon
1 tsp. paprika
2 c. cooked chicken, skinned, boned, and bite-size
1 (10-oz) can cream of chicken soup
2 c. cottage cheese  
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. grated cheddar cheese                                                     

In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 8 minutes. Drain.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms to skillet.
Sauté for 4-5 minutes. Add the spinach, tarragon, and paprika. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir together the chicken pieces with the soup and the 3 cheeses. Spritz a 9 x 13 glass pan with cooking spray. Layer the drained pasta, then the sautéed vegetables, then chicken/cheese mixture. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until bubbly and brown, about 45 minutes. Serves 8.

Turkey Corn Chili
Use a 3-quart slow cooker
1 lb. or 20 oz. ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 16-oz. can Brook’s Chili Beans
2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes (for me one of these is fire-roasted canned tomatoes and I leave out chili powder)
1 11-oz. can whole kernel corn
3/4 c. salsa or picante sauce
1 tsp. chili powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt, pepper to taste
Cook ground turkey and onion in skillet. Transfer to slow cooker. Stir in green pepper, beans, tomatoes, corn, salsa/picante, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Can be cooked in large pot on stovetop until heated through.
Serve with shredded cheese, rolls or cornbread. Freezes well.
Serves 4-6

Fried Green Tomatoes

The fried green tomatoes came out pretty well. Having lived in Texas for 2 decades, I know cornmeal is part of “authentic” fried green tomatoes. However, since this was an unplanned addition to our meal due to God’s bounty thru generous gardeners, I had to adapt the recipe using whatever I had on hand. Instead of bread crumbs and cornmeal, I used some Kroger Private Selection parmesan herbed panko crumbs I had bought on sale recently to try on baked tilapia.

I did see some other recipes using panko when I searched again, but I stuck with the original recipe I had printed from the internet, but substituted the panko crumbs for the cornmeal and bread crumbs.  I did follow some tips from other recipes such as salting the slices about 20 minutes before cooking them in order to draw out the moisture to have crispier results. I also sprinkled a little sugar on the slices at the same time as a few people suggested that the green tomatoes could be rather tart. I filled a non-stick skillet with about 1/4 inch of oil. Many recipes suggested much more oil or even deep fat frying.

I should have halved the recipe though. Way too many fried slices for two people to eat. I wrapped the leftovers in foil and will try reheating them Sunday morning to have with our scrambled eggs, but I suspect they will be soggy. The only other thing I would do differently would be to put the flour on a sheet of waxed paper and likewise the crumb mixture. Too many dirty plates otherwise.

 

Recipe:

4 large green tomatoes             1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 eggs                                             2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1/2 cup milk                                  1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour                1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1/2 cup cornmeal

 

Slice tomatoes 1/2 inch thick. Discard ends.

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium-sized bowl. Scoop flour onto a plate. Mix cornmeal, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper on another plate. Dip tomatoes into flour to coat. Then dip the tomatoes into the milk and egg mixture. Dredge in breadcrumbs to completely coat.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil (enough so there is 1/2 inch of oil in pan) and heat over medium heat. Place tomatoes into the frying pan in batches of 4 or 5, depending on skillet size. Do not crowd the tomatoes; they should not touch each other. When the tomatoes are browned, flip and fry the other side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

A Walk In the Woods

My husband bought a trail bike about 6 weeks ago. He heads out from our house thru some trees and college cross-country running trails, crosses Pierceton Road, and then enters the world of Winona Lake trail biking. You can see the trail layout and interesting names on this map. It is a pretty extensive system. Today he wanted me to walk some of the paths with him so I could see what he enjoys so much early mornings. He has a more solitary experience than we had today and often sees deer. Lots of people out in the near-perfect weather of 74 degrees this afternoon. A few of the colorful names are not on the map such as Privy Point and Puke Point but there is signage to that effect.

 

I especially liked the first part of the walk as we traveled alongside part of Cherry Creek. Leaves floated down on the gentle breeze and carpeted the forest. As we started out, we saw a downy woodpecker on a tree trunk. I have missed those since moving to our condo. At our former house, there were several dying and decaying trees which attracted them and other woodpeckers and flickers.

 

 

The trees are still wearing the fall foliage. My little point-and-shoot camera doesn’t do them justice.

 

I had my husband drop me off at the congregant housing part of the retirement village. I wanted to photograph the beautiful mums there. A few peppers and tomatoes in the garden. In the dining room the gardening club puts out produce to share. Mostly green tomatoes today. I picked up a few and I am going to try making fried green tomatoes tomorrow for lunch. I have never tried making those; we did enjoy some in a restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina many years ago. I picked a recipe from the internet. What has been your experience with fried green tomatoes? Any recipe suggestions or tips? I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Tomorrow the temps are expected to plunge into the 50s for the daytime. Fried green tomatoes might go well with chicken noodle soup and chocolate chip cookies.

 Last year the bushes along the side of our house had such nice fall color. I ended up with a hodgepodge today.

The tree I see out my bedroom window is already dropping leaves. I think the drought stressed plants and we will see bare trees sooner than usual. Hope you are enjoying autumn, too.

A Different Perspective

When I spotted Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Something More for $1 at Half-Price Books, I hoped I would find it as helpful and enjoyable as Simple Abundance. I would highly recommend Simple Abundance;  Something More (which I’ll refer to as SM)not so much. SM was written shortly after her divorce and that negatively colors her perspective, especially where she deals with the role and status of women in marriage.

The crux of the book is that over time women lose touch with their authentic selves, instead being buried under the expectations and standards and needs of others. She wants us to reconnect with our real person by examining the dreams, loves, and fears of our past to gain self-knowledge and self-worth, to meet our longing for something more. According to her, we need to learn about self-acceptance, self-determination, self-esteem, self-forgiveness, self-respect, self-sufficiency to become authentic. Unfortunately, she crosses from examining to self-absorption. Me, me, me jumps from the pages.

Here is a quote: “Self-sacrifice is not pretty and noble. It is a deadly sin.” Interestingly enough, she goes on to define sin using the Biblical idea of “missing the mark” stating that is where she got the concept. But she’s not talking about the impossibility of meeting God’s holy standard, but of failing to be our authentic self. Sarah has always had a New Age flavor (using Spirit, The Divine instead of God), but in SM she discloses that her spirituality is an amalgamation of ideas and rituals plucked from traditions she finds valuable. Never mind that she uses the New Testament Greek explanation of sin as “missing the mark” out of context; it suits her purpose and thus is borrowed. She speaks of reincarnation several times, too, but then backs off to say it might mean re-embodiments of our true selves in our different stages of life.

Because of this eclectic borrowing, there is no core of beliefs, and she sometimes contradicts herself. She says she believes in love, but her definition of love is not rooted in any faith tradition. She advises her friend that divorcing his wife of 4 decades is a loving thing to do. Not only does it allow him to enjoy his relationship with his new “soulmate”, but his wife deserves a man who loves her and that is no longer him. Thus he is really doing his wife a kindness. Easy to rationalize one’s behavior when one never embraces a religion as a whole.

So, why even read SM? She does have a knack of making thought-provoking statements, asking valuable questions and incorporating stimulating quotes. Here are some examples of things I found of interest:

1. There are only 3 ways to change the trajectory of our lives: crisis, chance, and choice. Your life is a direct result of choices. Conscious choice is the heart of authenticity. Unconscious choice is destructive and how we end up living the life others choose for us or the expectations they have for us.

2. Women loathe themselves because they haven’t quite fulfilled the promise of their astonishing gifts.

3. Dissatisfaction in a relationship settles into detachment whether we physically leave or not.

4. We settle for a passive rather than a passionate life.

5. How do you define comfort? What represents comfort to you? [Earlier in the book she says to get out of one’s comfort zone; here she talks of creating comfort. A contradiction?]

6. What did you love about the various dwelling places throughout your life? Can you incorporate those into your current home?

7. What have been the best moments of your life?

8. How would you define a good relationship? What elements does it include?

9. “The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate and expand her sense of actual possibilities.”—Adrienne Rich. Whose life have you expanded? Who has expanded yours?

10. “You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself.”—Beryl Markham

11. “Each relationship you have with another person reflects the relationship you have with yourself.”—Alice Deville

Sarah ends SM by encouraging you to reshape, reclaim, and re-create the world in your own image. Discern your authentic needs and wants so you can make the choices necessary to honor them.

Filtering her thoughts thru my perspective, I see a hurting woman trying thru her own efforts to restore a diminished sense of self-worth and lack of self-confidence after a bitter divorce. She hints that we are valuable because we are created by The Divine. There is some truth in that. However, she fails to recognize that she is not worthy of God’s love because of her efforts and behavior, but simply because He chooses to make her the Beloved. She must choose to accept and enter into that relationship to be truly authentic. But it is a path that encompasses self-denial, sacrifice, and service. That is not the something more she is seeking.