Pineapple Salad

Pineapple Salad

Just in time for spring, here is pineapple salad.  I take a bit of this, close my eyes, and imagine I am at the beach.  Give it a try!  Eat alongside a fresh green salad or use as a dip with chips. 

1/2 pineapple, diced into small pieces

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 red onion, diced into very small pieces

1 avacado, sliced and chopped

juice of 1 lime

hot pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

     Toss everything but the avacado together and then add the avacado gently at the end.  Think spring, even if all that snow is still outside.

     I love the second half of the poem,  "Listening" by David Ignatow.  It makes me think of nearly every marriage:

Standing beside you,

I took an oath

to make your life simpler

by complicating mine

and what I always thought

would happen did:

I was lifted up in joy. 

Lime Cilantro Dressing

Famous Warhorse Lime Cilantro Dressing

(We pour this over EVERYTHING!)

I will never tell how we retrieved this secret recipe, but it is a very famous salad served at a restaurant in Parker, Colorado called, "The Warhorse Inn"

  Above: Red cabbage slaw with homemade crisped wontons, avocado, and tuna steak

Blend in a blender:

1 cup olive oil

juice of one lime (or 31/2 TBSP lime juice)

1/4 onion

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 bunch cilantro

1/8 cup white vinegar

3/4 TBSP sugar

Little bird (horned lark)  prints in the snow

     I was so excited to finally see the birds coming back to northern Michigan!   The snow storm outside makes me hesitant about expecting spring but the horned larks in our field are a sure sign that it is near.

"The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season."
                                                            - Psalm 145:15

"Then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil."
                                                            - Deueronomy 11:14

Carrot Ginger Soup

Carrot Ginger Soup

I love this soup when winter hangs around a little unbearably long!  This is one of my favorites, although my kids say it is not exactly theirs.  It is somewhat of a bisque and very warming to the soul! 

Ingredients:

2 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
51/2 cups peeled, chopped carrots
2 heaping tsp minced fresh ginger root
11/2 quarts vegetable stalk
7 TSP soy milk or whipping cream
a good pinch of grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper

Zingy fresh ginger complements sweet cooked carrots

Heat the olive oil and add the onion and celery.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until soft.

Stir in the potato, carrots, ginger, and stock.  Bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Pour the soup into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  Return the soup to the pan.  Stir in the soy milk or cream and nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.  Slowly reheat and serve. 

    This morning my husband  read a beautiful story at the breakfast table about a woman who had struggled with a congenital physical disability until she was asked by an elderly man in her church, "What good are you finding in this situation?"  His question changed her spiritual journey and gave her a strengthened and deepened faith in God.  

     If we all asked the question: What good am I finding in this situation? with everything that we do, wouldn't we have a deeper faith and shape every situation to the glory of God?  Try asking yourself this question the next time you struggle with what life brings your way.  And remember that you are never given anything that you can't handle.  

Red Mango Slaw and Marriage

Red-Mango Slaw

     In the middle of winter, I love the tastes of citrus!  Blood red oranges, lemons, and limes are a common ingredient in our daily cooking.  Frequently, I am trying to find sides to dishes that need a bit of flare.  This particular slaw is tart and sweet and adds a lot to a sushi or bean dinner.

Toss together:
2 cups shredded radicchio
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 TBSP sliced green onion
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1 sectioned and diced blood red orange

Whisk and add to above:
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 blood red orange
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lime
2 TBSP honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste

     Waking 

by Stephen Dobyns

Waking, I look at you sleeping beside me.

It is early and the baby in her crib

has begun her conversation with the gods

that direct her, cooing and making small hoots.

Watching you, I see how your face bears the signs

of our time together-for each objective

description, there is the romantic; for each

scientific fact, theres's the subjective truth-

this line was caused by days at a microscope,

this from when you thought I no longer loved you.

Last night a friend called to say that he intends 

to move out; so simple, he and his wife splitting

like a cell into two separate creatures.

What would happen if we divided ourselves?

As two colors blend on a white pad, so we 

have become a third color; or better,

as a wire bites into the tree it surrounds,

so we have grown together.  Can you believe

how frightening I find this, to know I have 

no life except with you?  It's almost enough

to make me destroy it just to protest it. 

Always we seemed perched on the brink of chaos.

But today there's just sunlight and the baby's 

chatter, her wonder at the way light dances

on the wall.  How lucky to be ignorant,

to greet joy without a trace of suspicion,

to take that first step without worrying what 

comes trailing after, as night trails after day,

or winter summer, or confusion where all

seemed clear and each moment was its own reward.

     I loved the recent article in March's Christianity Today entitled "A Holy Tension" by Megan Hill. 

She explains the recent peak of interest in the Fifty Shades trilogy to "a culture seeking to flee sexual boredom" when in fact "God's design (of marriage) actually provides the necessary spark for sustained passion."  She goes on to beautifully describe marriage as "an ever-evolving challenge, and the tension created by meeting that challenge is the key to its passion- and its success."  She also states that "romance can be fueled by an honest acknowledgement of that potential to fail."  I loved the pure honesty in this article and how true that the somewhat mundane happenings in a long, sustained marriage can be full of tension but it is how we deal with this tension which determines the outcome of the relationship.  Never expect marriage to be easy.  Marriage is a challenge.  A challenge that should constantly display love and grace and yes, passion!