PINK DOORS (... part 1)

I’m drawn to old barns.  To me, they have a beauty about them… a mystique of sorts.  They seem to echo “a life well lived”.
 I wonder what stories are held within their weathered walls.  I can be a bit fussy on what qualifies a “cool old barn” and what doesn’t.   A certain amount of wear and tear is charming; authentic size and shape is important; the setting, color.... ect.  All these things factor into whether or not I see a barn as having “value” or not.  That’s why when the owners of a certain set of barns on the way to our family cottage decided to paint the doors and windows HOT PINK… I was aghast!!

Seriously… who would do such a thing to such a beautiful barn!!  Were they trying to be funny?? PLEASE tell me they were just using up old paint!!!  How could they!!  It didn’t look like all the other barns I loved.  To me, it had lost its value.   

HOLD THAT THOUGHT PLEASE,  because I have a story for you.... tomorrow.

GIVING THANKS...

As a thank you to all of you that have been following my blog... I'm going to divulge one of my top secret recipes:  Silver Spoon Cafe Tomato Dill Soup.  Why is it top secret??  First of all, because it's amazingly good!!  Good as any restaurant recipe... which brings us to the second reason I have kept it top secret until now.  It came straight from a wonderful restaurant in Naples, Florida.  I was so in love with this particular tomato bisque that I decided, "why not", and asked the waiter if he'd be so kind as to ask the chef for the recipe.  What do you know... he (she?) gave it to me.  Sometimes in life, all you gotta do is ASK!!

I've changed the measurements into common kitchen terms so that everything doesn't need to be converted... and changed a few ingredients to make it a little more user friendly.  It's a bit "fussy"... but trust me, it's NOT difficult.  SO worth the effort.  A food processor goes a long way with this one.  So here you go... and thanks again for following Beauty in Brown Eggs!!

SILVER SPOON CAFE TOMATO DILL SOUP RECIPE

1 stick butter (always a great way to start!)

2/3 C. carrots, peeled & diced

2/3 C. celery, diced

2/3 C. onions, peeled & diced

2 tsp. fresh garlic, finely chopped

1/3 C. flour

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1-1/2 C. tomato juice

1/4 C. tomato puree (can combine sauce & paste)

1-1/2 C. juice from drained diced tomatoes

3 C. chicken stock

2 TBSP. chicken base

 1 TBSP. fresh dill, chopped fine (or 1 tsp. dried)

3/4 tsp. dried basil leaves

3/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves

3/4 tsp. dried tarragon leaves

1 TBSP sugar

14 oz. heavy cream (liquid, not whipped)

1. In a large skillet, saute the carrots, celery, onions and garlic until tender.  Pour mixture into a food processor (or you can use a blender) and blend until smooth.  Do not drain the vegetables.

2. Pour the blended vegetable mixture into a thick-bottomed pot.  Turn on low heat.  Add flour and cook roux for 5 minutes.

3. Drain the 28 oz. can of tomatoes in a strainer RETAINING 1-1/2 CUPS OF THE JUICE.

4. Combine this juice with the tomato juice and tomato puree.

5. Add the chicken stock and chicken base to the juice mixture from Step 4.  Add this mixture to the cooked blended vegetables and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Add the tomatoes retained from Step 3 and simmer 5 more minutes.  Add the cream, sugar, and seasonings to soup.  Remove from heat.

7.  Serve each bowl (or martini glass!) of soup with a dollop (don't ya just love that word!) of sour cream and a sprig of fresh dill.

Let me know if you try it!!!

YOU'VE GOT MAIL

Is there anything better than getting an email (or better yet a phone call) from one of your kids… or a close friend… for NO OTHER REASON than just to say hi?? See how you are?? “What’s up” is a classic from my two boys that always makes me smile.  How about the simple “hey” text??  I love the open ended feel of it for one simple reason:  IT MAKES ME FEEL LOVED.  Let’s me know the person is thinking of me.  Not necessarily needing something at that moment… just thinking of me.  Checking in.    

I challenge you to make it a point to do the same for your God this week.  Stop in now and then to just say “hi”… or “thanks for that”… tell him when something he created simply makes you chuckle… or whisper a quiet “you’re amazing” when something you see takes your breath away.  I guarantee that you’ll love how it feels. 

There are many forms of worship, aren’t there.  Tomorrow many of us will go to church to worship our God.  What a wonderful opportunity to gather with fellow believers to worship and praise… TOGETHER.  But if you let your worship stop there… you’re missing out on something oh so very precious.   

 

Spend some time with God this week for NO OTHER REASON than who He is.    Because WHO HE IS… is reason enough.

LIFT UP YOUR HEAD

My parents own 150 acres south of the town where I live.  It’s some of the most beautiful land in the area… partially groomed… partially left natural.  Part of the reason I love that land is just because of its shear beauty.  Part of it is because of the number of lifetime memories I have that took place there. 

I had been suffering from some muscle pain last Sunday and decided to go for a walk instead of my usual run.  Thought it’d be fun to take my camera out to the farm since i hadn’t done that in awhile.   I started out at “exercise pace”(of course) and then asked myself when the last time was that I slowed down and just took at stroll through the farm to enjoy the beauty.   So began my stroll.  I prayed out loud to God “Please show me your beauty, Lord… “. 

There’s an area of pretty dense woods that we call the “back 40”… my favorite place to walk on the farm… but it’s also where I have bumped into numerous snakes.  Now one thing you need to know about me is that I’m scared of snakes.  Not just scared… but s-c-a-r-e-d.  Many childhood experiences have left me with a phobia of sorts.  About a ½ mile or so into my walk, I noticed that my eyes were glued to the ground directly in front of me… scanning the ground for those critters I’m so fearful of.   It was then that it hit me.  I can ask God all I want to show me His beauty… but if I don’t get my eyes off the ground… if I let my fears consume me… I won’t see what He wants to show me.    

I have been going through a time in my life I call “the desert”.   Dealing with some personal issues and unsettledness… and have been desperately asking God to show me his plan for my life.   What a shame if all this time that I’ve been frustrated with not hearing answers to my prayers… if the answers were actually all around me… but I was too consumed by my own situation to look up… look around… and SEE what He wants to show me.   The life God WANTS to offer me is much broader than the scope of “my issues”.   In order to see it though, I need to look beyond my fears. 

So my stroll continued… and hard as it was, I took my eyes off the ground and started looking around.  Amazing what you can see when you do.  Photos to follow…

"PEEP SHOW" (note green bug on other weed)

BEAUTY IN BROKENNESS

HIDDEN TREASURE

REFLECTIONS

I love you too, God.

"PORK CHOPS... and applesauce"

If you are repeating the title phrase "Pork Chops... and Applesauce" in your head with the correct tune and “rhythm”… you’ve just dated yourself!!!  (Brady Bunch)

Anyway, I love to cook.  I’m hoping to share a few ideas and simple recipes in Beauty in Brown Eggs.  I’m going to try to keep the ingredients seasonal… because I think it’s a beautiful way to focus on the bounty we have been blessed with.  Have you ever noticed how the foods that are ripe in their natural environments during each particular season truly “fit” the feel of the season??  How refreshing a watery slice of melon or juicy strawberries are during the heat of summer when you are parched??  But come fall, when a chill is in the air… oh my, the rich density of a butternut squash just meets our needs, physically and emotionally.   Our bodies naturally crave the foods that are natural to the area we live in.  SO, let’s focus on enjoying what grows by us naturally…. seasonally.   If you like the idea of cooking with seasonal foods and are into “clean” eating, there’s a cookbook I own called “Clean Food” by Terry Walters.   There are 4 sections, one for each season… utilizing clean ingredients.

First off:  APPLES.  There are endless uses for apples obviously.   I discovered a new and delicious use for them the other day… on pizza.  We had a pig roast at work awhile back, and I was trying to find uses for the leftovers.   I had a hankering for pizza… so when the thought of bbq chicken pizza popped into my head I wondered, why not bbq pork pizza??  From there came the idea of caramelizing some onions to put on top… and then I remembered the notorious combo:  pork chops and apple sauce.  Onions and apples are a beautiful combination as well… and apples and cheese are a classic.  So… why not try it??  With that, “pork chops and applesauce pizza” was born.  

Ingredients are:  

Pizza Crust (my favorite are the “Tiseo’s Frozen Pizza Dough Balls” in the frozen bread section

Pulled Pork (if you don’t have leftovers and can't find in your grocery store, you can purchase it in freezer-ready packages at Blue Star Meats:  www.bluestarcatering.com )

Sweet Baby Ray’s “Sweet and Spicy” BBQ Sauce

One Large Onion (I used ¾ of the one in the picture)

Apples (used 2 of the size in the picture)

Italian Cheese (used the majority of the 2 cup size pkg)

Blue Cheese Crumbles (use sparingly, but i like the pungent taste against the sweetness of the apples)

No exact directions, but this is what I did:  put BBQ Sauce on the crust to the same thickness you would a pizza sauce.  Saute the thinly sliced apples and onions in a little olive oil and butter on med-low until caramelized.  Top with Italian cheese and then sprinkle a bit of blue cheese on top.  Bake at 450 for approx.. 10-12 mins. 

Who would've thought that a phrase from the Brady Bunch era would result in a delicious pizza creation!!  If anyone tries this recipe, let me know what you thought.  

Fall recipes to come:  Pear Pizza, Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Soup, a fun fall cake decorating idea, and hhhmmmm…. you just never know.

Enjoy the change in seasons, everyone!!  It's truly a blessing.

  

LET'S GO FOR A WALK...

Beauty in Brown Eggs isn’t going to be about “my day”… or “my life” per say, but I feel compelled to share briefly the events of TODAY. 

I’ve been dealing with some chronic pain issues that have been going on for some time now… and getting steadily worse.  A few weird things have happened in recent months that caused my doc to send me to the Mary Free Bed Pain Clinic to get a 2^nd opinion on his diagnosis.  And his diagnosis was confirmed: it’s fibromyalgia.  HHHmmmm.  Not a diagnosis I wanted... but certainly could be worse, right??  Not a death sentence… just a life sentence of managing pain.  Incurable… but manageable. There are certainly people everywhere in this world with FAR more debilitating conditions.  I still consider myself blessed with my health.

During the evaluation, one of the 5,000 questions asked of me was if I ever felt hopeless.  I said no.  Later we discussed my sleep issues, and I told them that they’ve gotten significantly better in the past 6 months.  They asked what I attributed that too… and I was honestly able to say that it was the same reason I don’t feel hopeless:  “a more intimate walk with God”. 

One book I’ve read this year that has really helped me key in on what an intimate walk with Christ looks and feels like is “Walking with God” (John Eldredge).  I’d recommend it to anyone interested in developing a more daily type of walk with our Jesus. 

So yes, I was a little weepy for a few minutes when the reality sunk in.  But it was…  different.  I have a peace about me with this.  Somehow I know that God is walking beside me through this.  He walks with me through everything.  It isn’t like in the past where I’d have to dial “911-Jesus” because an emergency had come up and I needed Him once again.  No… this time it’s more like simply turning my head sideways to someone who was there the whole time and saying “Hhhmmm… this kinda sucks.  What do you think??  Where we goin’ now??” 

I have no idea if this is part of some plan God has for my life… or if it’s from the evil one.  But I DO know for certain that God can and WILL use it.  And He’ll use it for good.  Because He IS good.  Time will tell what He has up His sleeve. 

I hope all of you that read this DO also have a daily walk with God.  I’m certainly still in the infant stages yet!!!  But if you don’t, please realize it’s there for the taking.   He’s waiting.   It isn’t just us wanting it with Him either… it’s HIM wanting it with YOU!!!  How amazing is that!!!  Think about it.  The God of this universe wants “in” on YOUR day!!  REALLY??? Yes… really.  

Go for a walk.   Not just today, but everyday.  For the rest of your life.  With God.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11

Let me... entertain you. Let me... make you smile.

It is said that if you are wondering what you were put on this earth to do, look back to your childhood and see what it was you were naturally inclined towards doing.  While thinking about this awhile back, I said “the only thing I really remember loving to do is packing a sack lunch, picking out a blanket, and wandering the woods in the back of my house until I found the PERFECT setting….”.  I stopped mid-sentence at that point.  It hit me then… I’m still doing it to this day!!  Not necessarily a sack lunch anymore, but coming up with setting ideas or worrying about “ambiance”??? Oh yeah.  I’m all there.  LOVE IT. 

One of the categories for Beauty in Brown Eggs will be about just that very thing:  Entertaining.   In it, I hope to share some of the simple… or elaborate… ideas that pop into my head.   Sure, these ideas take work.  But it’s “playtime” for me.  We all have things we love to do, and seeing my friends or family gathered together enjoying a special evening… being able to serve them… brings me joy. 

This past weekend allowed me to put into action one of the “settings” I’ve had in my head for oh… probably 2 years now.  It took awhile to implement because it was so weather dependent.  We needed a dry spell so it wouldn’t be wet… a freeze so the skeeters wouldn’t carry everyone away… a segment of Indian Summer warmth… and a dad who would tell his daughter “go for it” instead of thinking she’d lost her mind.  Well this week was prime.  SO, I headed out to our family farm… clippers in hand… and I started cutting down corn.  Yep.  You heard me right.  Corn.  That was my vision:  a secret room in the middle of a corn field…. with an elegant table… set with china and crystal… white linens and burlap… candlelight and torches… and a 5 course dinner.   

The only thing my guests were told… was to leave their “good shoes” in the closet and put on some old boots… because we would be on dirt.  The only thing they saw when they drove out back, were two torches that beckoned them to look down that specific row… where they could see in the distance, a hint of something out of place.  Something special.  

Anyway, pictures don’t quite do it justice.  You miss how peaceful it was out there… hearing nothing but chatter and laughter of friends sharing food and wine.   You don’t see the occasional bird that swooped down on us.   Or how big the sky looked above us.  The most intimate part of all was when the sun set and the entire area was lit with torches and candles…. and oh yeah, a little Kenny G background music from my friend’s phone. 

I couldn’t help but feel the grand majesty of our God in such a simple setting:  a cornfield.  Sharing prayer with my friends in the quiet of this setting moved me.  His lavish, wild love for us is displayed in the detail of His creation.  Given to us for our enjoyment; created to give Him glory.  And oh what glory He deserves!! 

The fellowship we enjoy with Christian friends is a gift to be treasured for sure… but nothing in comparison to the fellowship that awaits us with our Father.   He waits for us to sup with Him.  To walk with Him in the garden.  Or just maybe… in a cornfield.  

Wherever you are... whatever the setting... whenever the time... He waits and longs to spend time with you.  It's an open invitation.

Thank you God… I love you too. 

....simplicity

For a more modern approach to fall decorating... try a mass of white pumpkins.