And that is why I'm posting it here. Purely selfish reason of wanting to type it out and re-digest it. I've read That Hideous Strength (the third book in the C.S. Lewis space trilogy) before, but it was early on in marriage. There are sections of this book (as I think with most Lewis books) that speak directly to marriage in a way that is probably akin to "convicting" but feels something more positive than that. Of course, me in my prideful quest to attain knowledge of all kinds am often energized when I read something that rings bells of truth. Something that's so solid I can feel it, have surely experienced some aspect of it-likely failing at whatever concept I've come across. This is one of those passages in a "sci-fi" book that speaks to the reality of love in marriage that I imagine most, if not every, married couple comes across. I have said similar things as Jane: "I suppose our marriage was just a mistake". I've felt similar abstract contempt for my husband. And on a few very rare occasions I've heeded to obedience and experienced a growth in love as a result. I wish I was more motivated to repeat that pattern in the moments where the challenge to love him presents itself, but all the motivation in the world seems to fail me more often than not. Anyhow, here it is.
"Child," said the Director, " it is not a question of how you or I look on marriage, but how my Masters look on it."
"Someone said they were very old fashioned. But-"
"That was a joke. They are not old fashioned; but they are very, very old."
"They would never think of finding out first whether Mark and I believed in their ideas of marriage?"
"Well-no," said the Director with a curious smile." No. Quite definitely they wouldn't think of doing that."
"And would it make no difference to them what a marriage was actually like-whether it was a success? Whether the woman loved her husband?"
Jane had not exactly intended to say this; much less to say it in the cheaply pathetic tone with, it now seemed to her, she had used. Hating herself, and fearing the Director's silence, she added, "But I suppose you will say I oughtn't to have told you that."
"My dear child, " said the Director, "you have been telling me that ever since your husband was mentioned."
"Does it make no difference?"
"I suppose," said the Director, it would depened on how he lost your love.
Jane was silent. Though she could not tell the Director the truth, and indeed, did not know it herself, yet when she tried to explore her inarticulate grievance against Mark, a novel sense of her own injustice and even of pity for her husband, arose in her mind. And her heart sank, for now it seemed to her that this conversation, to which she had vaguely looked for some sort of deliverance from all problems was in fact involving her in new ones.
"It was not his fault," she said at last. "I suppose our marriage was just a mistake."
The Director said nothing.
"What would you-what would the people you are talking of-say about a case like that?"
"I will tell you if you really want to know," said the Director.
"Please,"said Jane reluctantly.
"They would say," he answered, "that you do not fail in obedience through lack of love, but have lost love because you never attempted obedience."
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Cauliflower basil pasta
Yep, that sounds weird from the get go. Truly, I think cauliflower is massively underestimated in the vegetable world. It's a superfantastic "filler" veggie that has a mild flavor and willingly takes on the flavors of whatever you cook it with. It contains many of the same nutrients that its relative, broccoli, does, including loads of B vitamins,phosphorus, and potassium. Learn to like it. Not with ranch dip though...that's like putting on a raincoat and then punching holes in it before you go out in the storm.
As usual, I end up creating different foods because I look at the clock and realize it's time to make dinner, and then look in the fridge and realize I'm terrible at meal planning and coordinating grocery shopping with recipes. So...it's a mess of pulling together what I have laying around. Thankfully, fresh and frozen veggies are usually on hand, as well as pasta. The never failing pasta. We alternate between some gluten free multigrain varieties (I'm still working out my frustrating at the gluten allergy trend and truth that I think we shouldn't inhale wheat), whole grain wheat-based, and the basic vegetable infused kind that are multicolored and really flavorful. I had whole grain penne on hand, as well as a 1/4 box of some vegetable infused frilly looking noodle (sorry, I am just fluent in noodle names). I mixed them so we would have leftovers.
Ok I'm sure this sounds like a novella version of a recipe, but please realize I don't measure things, and have to run through the actual process to remember the ingredients because I round them up as I go along. I'll try to be more conventional from here on out.
INGREDIENTS:
olive oil (between 2-4 T I'd say, just have the bottle available to add as you go)
3-5 garlic cloves, minced (depends how much you love garlic...I definitely used 5, though some were small)
white wine (cooking wine for the recipe...though I was drinking white wine while cooking)
15 (ha ok that's an arbitrary guess...but its around there) fresh basil leaves, slightly torn into pieces
cauliflower, cut or broken into smallish pieces without a lot of stem-probably 1 1/2-2 C worth? I
suppose you could use a bag of frozen cauliflower if you wanted to.
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, mostly drained
sliced black olives (i used canned, and didn't completely drain them)-close to a 1/4 C
1/2 C or so of fresh spinach leaves, torn-feel free to use more of this.
10 or so cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
coarse sea salt-maybe 1/4 teaspoon?
HOW TO:
I began by heating a tablespoon or two of olive oil and adding the garlic. I don't brown the garlic, just pull the flavor out of it. Only takes a minute or two. I added the basil leaves and cauliflower, mixed them around to coat them with the oil (you can add more here...don't worry, it's a healthy fat, and the only fat in this dish!), and then added a small bit of the white wine. Just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to help cook things through and avoid early browning. I let these things simmer, so to say, for several minutes, allowing the basil to flavor the cauliflower and most of the wine to be absorbed. When the cauliflower showed signs of browning (which is good-I like to brown it a small bit) I added the artichokes and olives. The small amount of liquid I included from these two canned items helped to keep things juicy but not soaked. I know, that's not very exact. I added some sea salt around this time and then let this mixture cook for a couple minutes before adding the spinach and cherry tomatoes. I do stir things often to make sure all the veggies are evenly coated and exposed to the basil and garlic. I also added some more olive oil once or twice (small bit at a time, like a tablespoon).
Dishes like this, where the flavor sinks in over time, I like to let set on a super low heat setting for 5 or 10 minutes until the dinner table is set, pasta is cooked, etc.
When your pasta is ready, you only need to coat it with enough olive oil to prevent sticking, or butter or whatever you like to use. I think I sprayed mine with canola and tossed it around a bit. Plop some noodles on a plate, and plop the cauliflower etc mixture on top, and mix, don't mix, whatever works. Add salt and pepper to taste, and learn the potential of cauliflower.
I must admit I'm always slightly nervous that these randomly created dishes won't turn out as well when I try to pass them along as "recipes"...I worry I forgot to list an ingredient I added without thinking or something. So good luck....it's pasta, it can't go all that wrong, right?
As usual, I end up creating different foods because I look at the clock and realize it's time to make dinner, and then look in the fridge and realize I'm terrible at meal planning and coordinating grocery shopping with recipes. So...it's a mess of pulling together what I have laying around. Thankfully, fresh and frozen veggies are usually on hand, as well as pasta. The never failing pasta. We alternate between some gluten free multigrain varieties (I'm still working out my frustrating at the gluten allergy trend and truth that I think we shouldn't inhale wheat), whole grain wheat-based, and the basic vegetable infused kind that are multicolored and really flavorful. I had whole grain penne on hand, as well as a 1/4 box of some vegetable infused frilly looking noodle (sorry, I am just fluent in noodle names). I mixed them so we would have leftovers.
Ok I'm sure this sounds like a novella version of a recipe, but please realize I don't measure things, and have to run through the actual process to remember the ingredients because I round them up as I go along. I'll try to be more conventional from here on out.
INGREDIENTS:
olive oil (between 2-4 T I'd say, just have the bottle available to add as you go)
3-5 garlic cloves, minced (depends how much you love garlic...I definitely used 5, though some were small)
white wine (cooking wine for the recipe...though I was drinking white wine while cooking)
15 (ha ok that's an arbitrary guess...but its around there) fresh basil leaves, slightly torn into pieces
cauliflower, cut or broken into smallish pieces without a lot of stem-probably 1 1/2-2 C worth? I
suppose you could use a bag of frozen cauliflower if you wanted to.
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, mostly drained
sliced black olives (i used canned, and didn't completely drain them)-close to a 1/4 C
1/2 C or so of fresh spinach leaves, torn-feel free to use more of this.
10 or so cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
coarse sea salt-maybe 1/4 teaspoon?
HOW TO:
I began by heating a tablespoon or two of olive oil and adding the garlic. I don't brown the garlic, just pull the flavor out of it. Only takes a minute or two. I added the basil leaves and cauliflower, mixed them around to coat them with the oil (you can add more here...don't worry, it's a healthy fat, and the only fat in this dish!), and then added a small bit of the white wine. Just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to help cook things through and avoid early browning. I let these things simmer, so to say, for several minutes, allowing the basil to flavor the cauliflower and most of the wine to be absorbed. When the cauliflower showed signs of browning (which is good-I like to brown it a small bit) I added the artichokes and olives. The small amount of liquid I included from these two canned items helped to keep things juicy but not soaked. I know, that's not very exact. I added some sea salt around this time and then let this mixture cook for a couple minutes before adding the spinach and cherry tomatoes. I do stir things often to make sure all the veggies are evenly coated and exposed to the basil and garlic. I also added some more olive oil once or twice (small bit at a time, like a tablespoon).
Dishes like this, where the flavor sinks in over time, I like to let set on a super low heat setting for 5 or 10 minutes until the dinner table is set, pasta is cooked, etc.
When your pasta is ready, you only need to coat it with enough olive oil to prevent sticking, or butter or whatever you like to use. I think I sprayed mine with canola and tossed it around a bit. Plop some noodles on a plate, and plop the cauliflower etc mixture on top, and mix, don't mix, whatever works. Add salt and pepper to taste, and learn the potential of cauliflower.
Ok...it's been over a year...
Well, obviously I'm the world's worst blogger. The reality is I just don't sit still most days anymore because I am not paid to be at a desk. By the time I can sit still, it leads to falling asleep. But alas, I will give this another try due to requests for recipes. I did get somewhat excited about it after making dinner and some interesting cookies today. I'll try to keep that enthusiasm going...maybe once a week or something. I'll rely on the friends who requested this to pester me regularly about it. That should keep me moving....
First up is the cookie recipe. I modified a recipe someone else created, which was originally designed around peanut butter, cranberries and cashews. We avoid peanuts and all tree nuts for my daughter (which may...cross all fingers and pray....actually not be allergic to all tree nuts. we'll find out in a couple of weeks...my mouth waters just thinking about eating almonds again) so I sort of just used the recipe for a base and modified the key ingredients. I must say I have greatly enjoyed the final result. It does produce a relatively cake-like cookie (as opposed to classic chocolate chip cookies that seem weighted down with butter-for the better of course), which may lead to eating more of them because they seem so light...yikes. With all of that unnecessary stuff said, here's what I came up with.
INGREDIENTS:
2 C all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon (I may have used less since I was changing the overall "taste")
1/2 t baking soda
1 C mashed banana (about 2 good sized bananas)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C vegan butter substitute softened but not at room temp (recommend Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/4 C sunbutter (sunflower seed spread)-this is where you could use whatever nutbutter you can eat
1 T vanilla coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1 t vanilla
3/4 C non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 C shredded sweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 4 ingredients (helpful to use a whisk to properly sift) and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the banana, brown sugar, vegan butter, granulated sugar, and sunbutter until smooth (I detest electric mixers so I mixed it by hand, but you could easily use an electric mixer for optimal texture). Mix in the coconut by hand once it's smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and combine, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Do the usual cookie thing from here...drop onto baking sheets, etc. First round took about 14-15 minutes to bake well, second round closer to 13.
The recipe I was "inspired by" suggested storing the cookies in the fridge, so perhaps that would be smart. Mine are sitting on the counter in a Tupperware container as I type this..hm...might have to go eat one and relocate them.
Good luck!
First up is the cookie recipe. I modified a recipe someone else created, which was originally designed around peanut butter, cranberries and cashews. We avoid peanuts and all tree nuts for my daughter (which may...cross all fingers and pray....actually not be allergic to all tree nuts. we'll find out in a couple of weeks...my mouth waters just thinking about eating almonds again) so I sort of just used the recipe for a base and modified the key ingredients. I must say I have greatly enjoyed the final result. It does produce a relatively cake-like cookie (as opposed to classic chocolate chip cookies that seem weighted down with butter-for the better of course), which may lead to eating more of them because they seem so light...yikes. With all of that unnecessary stuff said, here's what I came up with.
INGREDIENTS:
2 C all purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon (I may have used less since I was changing the overall "taste")
1/2 t baking soda
1 C mashed banana (about 2 good sized bananas)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C vegan butter substitute softened but not at room temp (recommend Earth Balance buttery sticks)
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/4 C sunbutter (sunflower seed spread)-this is where you could use whatever nutbutter you can eat
1 T vanilla coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
1 t vanilla
3/4 C non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 C shredded sweetened coconut
Preheat oven to 350. Combine the first 4 ingredients (helpful to use a whisk to properly sift) and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the banana, brown sugar, vegan butter, granulated sugar, and sunbutter until smooth (I detest electric mixers so I mixed it by hand, but you could easily use an electric mixer for optimal texture). Mix in the coconut by hand once it's smooth. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and combine, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Do the usual cookie thing from here...drop onto baking sheets, etc. First round took about 14-15 minutes to bake well, second round closer to 13.
The recipe I was "inspired by" suggested storing the cookies in the fridge, so perhaps that would be smart. Mine are sitting on the counter in a Tupperware container as I type this..hm...might have to go eat one and relocate them.
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