This Classical Life

“Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we, thine unworthy servants, do give thee most humble and hearty thanks for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all men; We bless thee for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory. And, we beseech thee, give us that due sense of all thy mercies, that our hearts may he unfeignedly thankful; and that we show forth thy praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to thy service, and by walking before thee in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.”
–1928 Book of Common Prayer

Three other female college graduates and I have started a blog about why we appreciate higher education for women. Well, they started it and invited me to join in :o) One has a Ph.D and another has a Master’s degree; three are stay at home moms and another works outside the home. But we all value college education for women.

http://gotmeacollegegirl.blogspot.com/

Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz is hard to categorize. It’s a rambling, personal memoir written about one man’s spiritual journey. The subtitle is “Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality,” and I think that’s a candid summary of the book itself. Blue Like Jazz isn’t biblical exposition or systematic theology, it’s one man’s musings on some topics related to faith. (more…)

I’d like to write a few full length reviews, but to get my list uncluttered, here are a few mini reviews of recent reads:

Scandalous Risks by Susan Howatch (6) My least favorite of the Starbridge series so far, probably because the narrator is (a) a woman and (b) not a member of the Anglican clergy. I still liked it, just not as much as the others.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (9) Continuing the reread countdown…

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (5) A trashy novel read entirely at Barnes & Noble over the course of three visits. I like his academic thrillers because they are easy to read and move quickly, but they are certainly below the skill of A.S. Byatt and others who write in the genre.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (10) Still continuing the reread countdown. This is my favorite HP book so far.

The protest was a big success. If my digital camera would talk to my computer, I’d post a picture. We had over 70 adults sign in at the protest with 48 hours notice and 125 or more children of all ages. We were the top story of the 5:30 news on one local station and got a very sympathetic portrayal. We’ve decided to use the midwives at the local medical school hospital, who are supposed to be pretty good, and our midwife used to run that program (until six months ago) so perhaps she’ll get rehired there… I can only hope!

Kate’s first birthday party is on Friday. I’ve still got to get everything together (decorations, etc.) bake her a seperate cake and get all the food made or ordered for the rest of us.

We’re headed to Ocean Isle with my parents and siblings on Kate’s birthday proper. They’ve rented a large house and it should be great fun. Mike has to work on Tuesday, so he’ll only be there for the long weekend and Kate and I are planning to stay all week. It’s the longest I will have been away from my husband in our whole marriage!

I think we’re done. You’ll find a link to the left to our old blogger archives with our SP comments. On the bottom-left hand side there is a box with links to our current WP archives.

The old change I want to make right now is to get the calendar to have a link to the previous and next months.

It will all be well relatively soon. I hope.

So, my mother’s best friend, who is 100% Italian, gave me this soup recipe. It tastes fabulous, and everything in it is frozen or canned or what have you. And I don’t feel bad, because the true Italian told me to make it this way! (I’m only a measly 1/4 Italian).

ITALIAN SOUP
In a pot combine, and bring to a boil
8 cups of Chicken Broth (two cartons)
1 can of herb diced tomatoes (different names for different brands, whatever sounds like its seasoned Italian style will do)
1/2 box of frozen spinach (I use chopped)
2-3 cloves of garlic

After the soup is boiling, add and cook until warm
1 bag frozen cheese tortellini

Serve with parmesan cheese.

This is a not so hot version of the Cajun classic. WARNING: I am not Cajun. I’ve been to Louisiana twice, but never to the Cajun parts. I do not make any claims on the authenticity of this dish. It’s just a nice, hearty, one pot meal we have grown to love this winter.

JAMBALAYA
2 t. olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
10 oz.+ of sausage (cajun or kielbasa), sliced
1/2 of an onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
1/2 t. onion powder
t each of salt and pepper
2 c. uncooked rice
4 c. chicken broth (one carton*)
2 t. worchestershire
1 t. hot pepper sauce (more or less, depending on your preference)

Start all the cubing/slicing/dicing. Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Saute chicken and sausage until light brown (about 5 minutes). Stir in onion, pepper, celery, carrots and garlic. Season with cayenne, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cook 5 more minutes. Add rice and stir in broth, crank it up and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer at least 20 minutes, until the rice is tender. Stir in worchestershire and hot pepper sauce**.

Serves 4-6.

* Whole Foods Organic chicken broth or Swanson’s 100% fat free “Natural Goodness” broth is highly recommended!
** we often throw in precooked shrimp at the end, especially the second day we eat it.

Ingredients
1 lb. of Italian sausage, casings removed. (all mild or 1/2 hot and 1/2 mild)
1/2 c. butter
12 large mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large green pepper, diced
1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced
2 t. dried basil (or 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped fine)
1 lb. fettucine (spinach or regular)
2/3 c. fresh parmesean cheese, grated
1 c. sour cream

Directions
Begin the water for the pasta, and cook that when ready. Simultaneously, cook the sausages in a skillet over medium-high heat, remove sausage and set aside. Drain grease. Add butter to skillet and saute mushrooms, garlic, green pepper, parsley & basil until tender. Stir in sausage. Place pasta in a heated serving dish, add sausage/mushroom mixture, parm. cheese & sour cream. Toss and serve immediately. (Serves 4)

Modifications
I often saute things in fat free chicken broth and not butter — unless it is the Sabbath and we are trying to literally eat the fat ;o) I think it tastes the same, and is a lot healthier. I also use light sour cream. If you use fresh basil, you can skip the parsley.