Undeveloped Thoughts on Churchgoing

A few weeks ago, my nephew asked me why Sarah and I go to a different church than he does. I was at a loss of what to say. We believe the Sunday service we attend is more in line with the truth of Christian worship and theology, and we desire to attend a service which is maximally so. Other considerations, such as personal taste, convenience, community events, etc., are secondary to that. I did not think it appropriate, though, to respond in this way; my nephew's parents, who take him to the church he attends, presumably believe themselves to be doing the same, and he is probably not yet at an age where he needs to be questioning those particular beliefs. So what do I say?

The answer that leaps to the tip of the tongue: "well, we like our church better" (or, "we connect with this church better," or, "this church is more our style"). But this answer would be infinitely more damaging than suggesting that his church has theological and liturgical problems! The last thing I would ever want to teach a child is that Christian worship is principally a matter of our own likes, connectivity, or style. Is not the truth precisely the opposite? Worship should be carried out in God's style. Engaging in worship should not principally be a matter of determining what kinds of activities I like, but rather what kind of service God desires to be given.

A church service should have little to do with what I enjoy, connect with, appreciate, or understand. Rather, it should have all to do with what is proper to God. It is then my responsibility to learn to understand, appreciate, connect with, and even enjoy the things of God. Imagine if we approached the Scriptures the way we approach church! "Well, these passages are not really my style..." All too often we find that those taught that church is a matter of personal preference do take the same approach with Scripture -- and one can hardly blame them.

I recently witnessed a few baptisms, and it occurs me to be a good example. Baptism is a bit strange, it does not settle well with modern sensibilities, and many Christian groups have given up on it completely. Nevertheless, Christ makes it an imperative: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

What I "get out of" a service is basically irrelevant; what I give to God is what matters. Fundamentally, worship is about offering to God what God wants on God's terms.

Featuring Cherry Tomatoes

 I found recipes sixteen and seventeen while searching allrecipes for dishes that use cherry tomatoes, since we had a bunch that were starting to go bad. For lunch we had Mediterranean Chickpea Salad. I didn't have the Goya seasoning the recipe called for, so I looked up the ingredients online and used garlic salt, pepper, and oregano instead. The salad turned out well. It was so fresh; it would be particularly good in the summer with some freshly picked tomatoes.

Sensational Sirloin Kabobs were on the menu for dinner and that was great. We can't barbecue and I forgot to get skewers, so I just marinated the meat, cut up the veggies, mixed them all together, and stuck it in the broiler. The result was not as pretty as barbecued skewers, but it tasted delicious. 

Lavender Cookies

We had Ben and Juana over for dinner last night and I thought that lavender cookies would be a complementary ending to our meal. I used the Lavender Cookies recipe from our copy of the Trinity United Presbyterian Church's cookbook, my fifteenth recipe.

Lavender Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 T fresh lavender buds (leaves crushed fine)

2 cups flour

2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 t lemon zest

2 t fresh mint, finely chopped

Heat the oven to 375; in medium mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and lavender. Mix well. In another smaller bowl, measure flour, baking soda, and salt. Add dry mixture and stir until all is moistened. Fold in the lemon zest and chopped mint leaves. Drop by teaspoons on an un-oiled cookie sheet or use parchment paper-lined sheet. Bake 10 minutes, watching carefully (do not over bake).

I didn't have any mint, so I left that out. I had mixed feelings about these cookies. Most of the time, they were delicious, but there were areas that were very bitter. I'm not sure what it was. It might have been a big section of lemon zest or a clump of baking soda. Maybe I just didn't mix them well. Joshua didn't notice any bitter areas though, so he liked the cookies.

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

I made Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins today for my fourteenth recipe. I liked the mix of pumpkin, orange, and cranberry flavors. The muffins have a nice texture and a little bit crunchy top. Pretty tasty.

Smoothies

Recipe thirteen was Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothies, which were a great treat on a warm afternoon. After reading the reviews, I followed one of the recommendations and used yogurt instead of milk. That gave it a nice bit of tang. 

Legoland

 Heather found out that Legoland has homeschool days on most Mondays during the school year and she got the discounted tickets. So the Nickells, Dad, Mom, Joshua, and I headed down south last weekend. We left Sunday and went to the beach when we arrived that afternoon.

We had fish and chips for dinner and ice cream for dessert. 

We finished the day off by taking advantage of the spa at our hotel.

Monday morning was cold and drizzly, but we didn't let that dampen our excitement. And it stopped raining pretty quickly, which we were thankful for.  

First, we toured miniland where they have cities made out of Legos. It is so cool. Here is Washington DC.

Las Vegas.

 New York City.

San Francisco.

Then we started exploring the rest of the park and riding rides. Below is one where you get to pick how extreme your ride is, from 1 to 5. Micah and Isaac rode together and had to pick one because of Micah's height, but Mom and Joshua had a five. It was crazy.

Here we are about to race to pump our vehicles over to the fire and then put it out by shooting water at the window. Joshua, Micah, and I won.

After a fun filled day at the park, we stopped at Rubio's for dinner before making the drive home.

More Strawberries

I found recipe twelve while looking for strawberry tart recipes, so it also involves strawberries; Sweet and Tart Strawberry Salad. 

This was sweeter and had less of a vinegar taste than I was expecting; even though the vinegar came out much more quickly than I anticipated, so I ended up with more than the recipe called for. But the salad was good, almost more of a dessert with the strawberries and sugar. I added some spinach to the mix and that worked well, if I make it again I would probably add more. All in all, this made a great side dish with our steak. Yes, we had steak, which was sort of a new recipe also because it was the first time we have had steak here and the first time Joshua has cooked steak without using a barbecue. It was delicious. 

Rosemary Pecans

My mom found a recipe for Rosemary Pecans in the newspaper awhile back that she cut out and saved for me. She thought they sounded good and that I might like to make them sometime (preferably sometime when she would be able to try them). Since we have a mini road trip planned with my parents and the Nickells, I thought this weekend would be a good time to try the recipe.

Rosemary Pecans (Makes 3 cups)

3 cups raw pecan halves

2 T olive oil

1 T chopped fresh rosemary

Fine sea salt to taste

Arrange pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees until brown and fragrant, about 12 minutes. Transfer while still warm to a bowl; add olive oil, rosemary, and salt; toss to coat. Return pecans to baking sheet to cool.

As you can tell, this recipe is very simple, but it turned out great. The pecans have a rich toasted flavor, with the added taste of rosemary that is distinct, but not overpowering.

Finally, the Strawberry Stands are Open

They say you aren't supposed to try a new recipe when you have guests over for dinner, but I did anyway. Joshua and I had my parents over last night and for dessert I made strawberry tarts. How can you go wrong with fresh local strawberries? The recipe I used was for 1970's French Strawberry Pie, but I made the Shortbread Crust from scratch. Both recipes were pretty simple and the result was delicious.

Of course, I used my mini tart dishes instead of a pie pan and I topped each one with a strawberry fan instead of whipped cream, but otherwise I followed the recipes and was happy with the tarts.

Pad Thai

Recipe nine was a little more of an adventure for us, mostly because we had to track down the ingredients. We made Pad Thai, using this recipe. I was able to find the rice noodles and fish sauce when I did my regular shopping, but not the tamarind paste. It took us a few stops before we found an Asian market. Then we not only got tamarind paste, but also some of the ingredients to make pho. After we found all the ingredients, making the pad thai for dinner was pretty simple. And it turned out great. I thought it was a little more tangy than what I've had in Thai restaurants, but it was a great tasting dish. I think if we make it again we will probably cut down on the noodles just a bit so there is more sauce. The amount of noodles we had soaked up all the sauce. Also, it would have been easier to cook in the wok. I used a big saucepan, but it was difficult to stir. But we were glad it made a lot, now we get to look forward to eating it for lunch this week.

Recipes Seven and Eight

 We tried two new recipes for dinner tonight. Recipe seven was Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Meatballs. The recipe called for Italian seasoned bread crumbs, but I only had regular bread crumbs, so I threw in some Italian seasoning. Also, the sweet and sour sauce had apricot jam in it. We don't have any apricot jam, but with a closet full of many flavors of homemade jam, I wasn't about to go buy some. So we used strawberry jam instead and that worked out great. The meatballs had good texture and flavor.

For recipe eight, I made Brussel Sprouts with Spiced Pecans, this was basically two recipes in one. I found it in a magazine that Visalia sends us occasionally about stuff that is happening in the area (and recipes, apparently).

Spiced Pecans

2 cups pecan halves

1 T brown sugar

1 T melted butter

1 T rosemary

1 T kosher salt 

1/4 t cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Season the pecans with sugar, butter, rosemary, salt, and cayenne pepper. Toss together until the pecans are coated. Return to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Brussel Sprouts (one pound feeds four)

4 slices thick cut bacon, applewood preferred

Pecans, spiced

Olive oil to toss

Salt and pepper to taste

Brussel sprouts

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Have an ice bath ready before you blanch the brussel sprouts. Take a medium bowl, fill half way with water and add ice. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Trim end off brussel sprouts, add to water for 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the size. Remove and put in the ice bath immediately. Drain, let cool, and set aside.

Cut bacon into wide pieces; thick cut is much better. Brown the bacon in a small skillet. Drain on paper towels and set aside. 

Toss brussel sprouts with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through. Remove and place in a bowl. Toss with bacon and spiced pecans. Drizzle with olive oil.

First off, this recipe uses a ton of dishes for one side dish. We decided we prefer brussel sprouts cooked in a skillet instead of in the oven, but that would be easy to change because you cook everything separately. The other problem was that it was difficult to coat the pecans evenly. Some ended up strongly flavored and others were mostly just toasted pecans. That said, we both liked this recipe. The pecans had great flavor (minus the few that were really coated and too strong) and the brussel sprouts, bacon, and pecans went together well.

Easter

He is risen indeed!

We had a little photo shoot when we got out to my parents' house on Easter.

We finally got a nice picture of all twelve of us, even though it started sprinkling on us.

I used a recipe Mom discovered somewhat recently to make rolls for Easter dinner, my sixth recipe.

No Knead Rolls (Makes 1 dozen)

1 pkg yeast

1 1/4 cup warm water

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole grain flour

2 T butter, softened

1 T honey

1 T molasses 

1 t salt

1 t Italian seasoning

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water; add remaining ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Dough will be sticky. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 30 minutes. Stir dough down. Fill muffin cups, sprayed with non-stick spray, half full. Cover and let rise until doubled, 8-12 minutes. Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for one minute, remove to wire rack.

This was another easy recipe that turned out well. I ran out of all purpose flour, so my rolls were more than half whole grain flour, but they turned out well.