Lemon Chicken & Rice Soup and Russian Black Bread

Our dinner tonight consisted of two new recipes, Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup and Russian Black Bread. These were recipes sixteen and seventeen.

For the bread, I didn't use instant coffee because we don't have any and I followed the editor's note at the bottom since we don't have a bread machine. I also substituted molasses for dark corn syrup.

The soup was a recipe I found in my recent edition of Taste of Home (it had lots of delicious looking recipes, expect to see more soon). This one caught my eye because I wanted to make soup tonight and it calls for a lot of Swiss chard, which I happen to have growing abundantly on our porch. It was made in a slow cooker, which we also don't have but would like to have someday when we have a place to store it, unlike a bread machine which I hope never to own. So I actually just used the ingredient list and then did my own thing, which is what I will include in this post. If anyone is interested in the original slow cooker directions, let me know.

Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup

2 T olive oil

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 in pieces

5 cans (14.5 oz each) reduced sodium chicken broth

8 cups coarsely chopped Swiss chard, kale, or spinach

2 large carrots, finely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 medium lemon, halved and thinly sliced

1/4 cup lemon juice

4 t grated lemon peel

1/2 t pepper

4 cups cooked brown rice

I started by heating the oil over medium-high heat and sauteing the carrots and onions until tender. Then I added the chicken and continued cooking until it was no longer pink. Next, I added everything else. I didn't feel like cooking the rice separately and adding it at the end, so I put in an additional 2 1/2 cups of water and one cup uncooked brown rice which worked out well. I let everything simmer for about an hour and then we served it up. 

This was quite the soup. It was strongly lemon flavored, a bit too strongly in my opinion, but Joshua really liked it. Otherwise, I thought it was good. I liked the lemon and chicken combination with the rice and vegetables. The bread turned out great. It had a lot of strong flavors going on, but they worked well together. And it had a beautiful crunchy crust with a soft chewy center. I was concerned when I was making it because the dough was extremely sticky, it was impossible to do anything with it. But it baked just fine and turned out well. Just don't plan on trying to knead this by hand.

Baked Tilapia

We made our fifteenth recipe for dinner this week, Easy Baked Tilapia. The only thing I changed was using fresh broccoli instead of frozen cauliflower. I think I over cooked the dish a bit, but thought the broccoli had great flavor. The fish was okay too, but it didn't pick up the flavors as well as the broccoli and seemed a little bland. It certainly has potential though and was quite easy to make; always a plus for weeknight meals.

Kick Convert 'Em While They're Down

In church today, the pastor offered as a model for proselytizing a man whose approach consisted in befriending people, waiting until the day they appeared distraught, offering to pray for them, gaining their confidence, convincing them to confide their difficult circumstances and corresponding emotions, and then employing the consequent moment of cathartic weakness and trust to make a conversion attempt.

Perhaps we are not far from the day when you will be able to walk into your local Christian bookstore and purchase a pill designed to convert people to Christianity (a "Conversion Capsule," perhaps, or "Messiah Medicine"? Better yet, "Evangelism Elixer" or even "Salvation Serum"?). This pill would not cause conversion directly; instead, the pill would induce a condition of psychological anguish. Churchgoers could then seize the opportunity provided by such anguish to share the Gospel.

Lest you think this absurd, recall that it already happens. I once attended a drama entitled Heaven's Gates, Hell's Flames that functioned precisely to induce in the viewer an experience of psychological trauma; Christianity was then presented as an antidote.

The man who befriends those in trouble differs from the pill and the drama in a significant respect: in the latter two cases, suffering is inflicted upon the victim by the proselytizer, whereas in the former case the proselytizer simply takes advantage of suffering inflicted by some outside cause. Nevertheless, the structure is the same.

There can be no doubt that people are more pliable when suffering duress (as all those who employ techniques of sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, etc. in their attempts to produce cooperative prisoners can amply attest). When we lose our jobs, experience the deaths of those close to us, become depressed, or are simply frightened by morbid theatrical performances we are less able to resist suggestion, process and evaluate information clearly, etc.

To me, however, this is an argument why such situations should never be employed for evangelistic purposes. My father once told me never to make a major life decision when tired or hungry, and I take this to be excellent advice: in such circumstances our ability to make good decisions is compromised. How much more careful, then, should we be of introducing major life decisions to those whose capacities are far more compromised.

The reason is simple, and it is clearly exhibited in Christianity's rejection using the "convert or die" dilemma, in which a person makes a confession of faith at the point of a sword, despite how effective such an approach might be at obtaining conversions. A central tenet of Christianity is that all people are made in the image of God, endowed with a rational soul. To place a person in a position of choosing between Christ and execution is to do violence to that person's faculty of free, rational decision and is therefore prohibited as an assault upon the dignity of that person -- indeed, it is an assault upon the Imago Dei itself.

In the same way, the strategy of proselytizing in circumstances of suffering and tragedy -- or, worse, deliberately inducing such experiences -- does similar violence to the dignity of the person and is similarly reprehensible. This approach takes advantage of a person at his weakest and constitutes an assault upon his freedom and rationality as creatures made in the image of God.

Fishing with Micah

Joshua got Micah's name for Christmas last year and gave him a fishing rod and a fishing trip. Yesterday we got to complete the second part of the present. It was a beautiful day for fishing and we went to a park in Tulare with a stocked fishing pond.

 We didn't end up catching anything, but got a big bite and enjoyed sitting by the pond, chatting and eating fruit snacks.

Afterwards, we stopped by the store for dinner fixings then went back to our house and had steamed mussels, shrimp scampi, french bread, and broccoli for dinner. Yum.

Mussel Men

These two can eat mussels like crazy, they had finished off the first bowl before I had any! Thankfully, there were more in the pan still. We topped it all off with chocolate chocolate chip pazookie with cherry vanilla ice cream and tea.

Pita Bread

I decided I should try making Pita Bread from scratch. So that was what I did today for our fourteenth recipe and we had hummus and pita bread for lunch. It was a bit of effort since the dough had to rise and then you have to roll it all out as individual pitas and try to make them round; that was particularly difficult with the limited counter space we have, I had pitas all over. But they were, of course, quite good.

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Bake

We made Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Bake this week for our thirteenth recipe. I had seen this recipe quite awhile ago on my friend Katie's blog and wanted to try it, but our apartment gets blazing hot when we use the oven so we try to avoid that during the summer and since then I haven't had basil. But this week, due to basil being placed in the mint area at the grocery store and me not realizing it until I got home, I had basil. And I'm glad we did, this was delicious. It was easy too.

Lemon Bars

We made Lemon Bars (also with some citrus we picked while visiting our family in Modesto) for dessert tonight; our twelfth recipe. I doubled the recipe, but tripled the lemon juice and zest which turned out to be a good idea. I think they could have been even more lemony, but they were a big hit and quite tasty. The consistency was good and the crust contrasted nicely with the lemon layer.

Vanilla Pink Grapefruit Marmalade

Our eleventh recipe was Vanilla Pink Grapefruit Marmalade. This is something we know we like, it is one of Joshua's favorites. Heather has made this the past couple years and kept us supplied, but this year I picked some grapefruit while we were in Modesto and thought we should try making a batch. I've only been part of making marmalade once before, but it wasn't too much different than jam, it just required a little extra preparation of the fruit. It took longer than I expected, but turned out well.

Balsamic Peach Chicken

We tried our tenth new recipe tonight, Balsamic Peach Chicken. I used our lavender peach jam for this recipe and it turned out well. I was worried that it might be too sweet or too acidic, but the flavors balanced nicely and the thyme was a great touch. It was easy to make too.

The Timing of Christmas

Much has been made over the struggles concerning the "timing" of Christmas, viz., the beginning and end of the Christmas season. In the same way that I struggled during December to remain in a frame of mind and spirit proper to the Advent season, it has been something of a struggle to remain in the Christmas spirit when so many people seem to be taking down their trees, switching back to ordinary music, and otherwise acting as though the holiday ended as soon as it began.

As I have been reflecting upon this, it has occurred to me that there is a simple logic behind these tensions. We can identify two basic approaches to the holiday season. First, there is a Christian approach, which focuses upon the Nativity of Christ. Second, there is a commercial approach, which focuses upon acquiring profits from the practices of gift-giving (this focus spills over into the consumers, of course, who focus on acquiring "profits" of their own in the form of gifts, though this seems a derivative phenomenon). Neither of these two approaches is pure: the most steadfastly Christian among us are nevertheless infected by the commercial spirit, and even the most efficient of profit-seeking machinations often suffers or employs elements of the religious. Nevertheless, these two archetypes remain at fundamental odds with respect to the status of the Christmas season and of December 25th, which they both revere.

From a commercial standpoint, December 25th is the day that gifts are given. The time period leading up to this day is crucial, because it is the window of opportunity in which people can be convinced to spend as much money as possible. Thus, the "Christmas season" begins whenever people can be made to begin spending money on the holiday -- earlier and earlier, it seems. Once December 25th comes, though, the money has been spent, so Christmas is over.

From a Christian standpoint, December 25th is the day that we observe the birth of Christ. The time period leading up to this day is a time of quiet reflection and preparation, mirroring in some sense Mary's anticipation in childbearing. Once December 25th comes, the party begins in earnest! Christmas is launched on that day, extends through the celebration of Epiphany, and ends with the feast of Christ's baptism, when we transition to a focus on Jesus' adult life.

In the places I have lived, it is the commercial spirit that has dominated. Even most of the Christians I know follow the commercial pattern for Christmas, and all of us have difficulty figuring out the best way to navigate the situation. Sarah and I decorated our Christmas tree at the beginning of Advent, for example, but we also left it up until the end of Christmas.

I am encouraged, however, by the fact that these two approaches exist in tension, not mutual exclusion. That they are often mixed up with each other leads to the problem, because it is easy to slide away from the Christian and into the commercial. For precisely the same reason, however, it is relatively easy to slide away from the commercial and into the Christian. Each decision in favor of Christianity -- observing an Advent wreath, waiting until Christmas to place the Christ child in the nativity set, not decorating the tree until Christmas is at hand, leaving the tree up and singing carols until Christmas is over -- is that much better for our souls.

Thai Chicken Curry (or Not)

We had Thai Chicken Curry for dinner this week, our ninth recipe. I got this one from a Taste of Home magazine.

Thai Chicken Curry

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 in cubes

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 T olive oil

6 green onions, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T cornstarch

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

3/4 cup light coconut milk

1 T lime juice

1 t red curry paste

1 t reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 cups cooked brown rice

1/4 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut

Toss chicken with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until outside surface of chicken is no longer pink. Add green onions and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. In a bowl, mix cornstarch and stock until smooth; stir into pan. Add coconut milk, lime juice, curry paste, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5-6 minutes or until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve with rice; top with coconut.

I had to make a couple substitutions; first, I used regular milk instead of coconut milk. The other one was the curry; I couldn't find red curry paste at the store, so I used curry powder instead. We both thought this was good, but not as a curry. The chicken stock took over the flavor of the dish and I couldn't really taste the curry at all. That was disappointing, but we still enjoyed it as a dinner. I don't know how it would have been if we had been able to used red curry paste, maybe that is stronger.

Roasted Greek Potatoes

I decided to once again break a well known rule of entertaining by trying a new recipe last night when we had our friends, Ben and Juana, over for dinner. This was our eighth new recipe. I made Roasted Greek Potatoes and they turned out quite well. Halfway through baking them I realized I hadn't planned things well because I needed to cook chicken at the same time but at a lower temperature. Oops. I went with the lower temperature and let the potatoes cook longer for the second half and that turned out just fine, but I think they might have crisped up a bit more at the higher temperature. I also think they could have used more salt. The recipe said to salt to taste so I had no idea how much to put on initially; if I make these again (which is likely) I'll plan to measure the salt and try to find a specific amount that we are happy with. Otherwise, I liked them. I thought the combination of garlic, lemon juice, and oregano worked well together and they were easy to make. Our guests liked them too and didn't mind being taste testers; they might even return the favor!

Peasant Bread and Seafood

 I made Peasant Bread to go with our dinner last night, recipe number seven. We wanted to celebrate the great score Joshua got on his GRE test (which really was fabulous, I'm so proud of him) and Midtown gave me a Save Mart gift card at Thanksgiving, so we decided to put it to good use. We bought fresh mussels, clams, and shrimp and had a seafood feast. I made the bread to go with it and everything turned out delicious. The bread was easy to make and tasted great. It had a crunchy crust and a soft airy inside. Great flavor, but lighter than a more typical yeast bread. Joshua decided to get in on the action by trying a new recipe for the steamed mussels and clams. They were delicious and he thought they were pretty easy to make too. It was a wonderful feast.

New Year's Party

We celebrated the arrival of 2014 at my parents' house with lots of yummy snacks and dancing. The boys helped me make one of our favorite New Year's snacks, muddy buddies.

Picture from Isaac

We had lots of fun dancing the night away. Last year Isaac, Jonah, Joshua, and I were the only ones who made it to midnight, but this year Dad, Mom, Michelle, and Evan stayed up too. It was the first time Evan has stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve and he seemed pretty tired, but I think he thought it was worth it, especially when Grandpa and Grandma let him set off his popper in the family room.

The next morning, Mom made pancakes for breakfast and we enjoyed a relaxing start to the day. We got to try out one of our new games from Christmas, Settlers of America. It took awhile to play the whole thing, but it was a fun game.

Fudge Number Four

I made more fudge! This was our sixth new recipe and was given to me by my friend, Kristy.

D.-K.'s Fudge

3 C sugar

1/2 C butter

1 1/2 C evaporated milk

14 oz mini marshmallows

4 C semisweet chocolate mini-chips

 1 t vanilla

3 C chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds, or brazil nuts (filler)

Carefully heat and stir over medium burner, sugar, butter, milk, and marshmallows until mixture comes to a rolling boil. Continue to stir for an additional 5 minutes, being careful not to splash. Quickly add chips and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add filler. Pour into buttered mold. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from mold and decorate.

I realized as I typed this out that it doesn't say when to remove from the heat, but I did that after the five minutes and before adding the chocolate chips and vanilla. This fudge had great flavor. It also had a soft set, I don't know if that is typical of the recipe or if I just didn't cook it long enough. It wasn't so soft that it was hard to eat or melting everywhere, just softer than I prefer. Overall, I was happy with it. And I took it to the New Year's Party, which made other people happy too.