Friendship: Cozy and Sturdy

I had a delightful Thanksgiving break, and in addition to spending a lot of time with the family and friends that I hold dear, I spent a lot of time crafting. Not blogging, obviously. Sorry about that!
Hopefully I will get a few pictures of my craft projects up before too long. Although some of them are top secret, since they are destined as Christmas gifts.
But I just wanted to take a moment to brag on my friends. A few years ago, 6 of us took an afternoon and evening to make a denim comfort (like a quilt, but it's knotted, not quilted) together. We started with a big pile of old jeans, and ended up with a sturdy, cozy comfort with flannel backing. Each of us embroidered our name on a patch, and we have lots of pockets in the quilt. We pass it around, and each person gets to fill the pockets with little gifts for the next girl.
Here's a snapshot of the quilt on my bed:



And here's a photo of my loot. One of my favorite things is a notebook where we all write down something that God was teaching us during the time when we had the quilt- it's fun to look back over the past 2 or 3 years and see where we were and what we were learning.



So tonight, as I fall asleep beneath this cozy quilt of friendship, I will be reminded of the sweetness of dear friends.

Old Time Music

After a lifetime (okay, since I was in 3rd grade) of playing the violin, I attempted to play the fiddle tonight. Same instrument, but a COMPLETELY different style of playing.
My roommate, a banjo player, took me to a... a... I don't know what the specific term is, but a group of people sitting in a circle just playing music. Simple, beautiful, Appalachian Folk music.
I only recognized one song, out of the whole 2 1/2 hours, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be learning a good number of these songs.

I felt so much more comfortable with this style of music than I've ever felt with classical. There is an earthy freedom, a lilting joy, in these tunes.

Reason #92 that God placed me in West Virginia.

Meant to Be

Another pearl in the string of confirmations that God had has placed me here at West Virginia University, living in this home, studying nutrition at this program.

The other day, as the weather was sinking deeper into fall, I decided to change to my flannel sheets. And these sheets, which I was given as a birthday present a few years ago (when I lived in the frigid northwest corner of the old farm house!), are the exact same color as the paint on my bedroom walls in my new house.

Just a little thing, but a sweet reminder that He has ordained every step, and will carry His good works through to completion (Philippians 1:6).


How has God shown up in your life recently?

Relaxation in a Skillet

Sorry it's been a little while since I've written- my plate is filling up with the wonderful tasks of my masters program. I am reading lots of research articles on home gardening, and quite enjoying it once I actually get started.

I took an excruciating statistics exam from 4:15 to 6:45 today, and then I slipped and fell in mud on the way home!

That being said, I needed some nourishment and a few moments to not think about school when I got home.

I was considering baking a sweet potato with raspberries- one of my favorite simple fall dishes, but decided not to heat up the oven. Plus, I'm in love with my cast iron skillet, so why not use it?

(By the way- I ended up using the oven anyways because then I decided to make some Whole Wheat Flax Bread. It's in the oven now and it smells MARVELOUS!)

Here's my original creation (no internet searching for ideas, even!)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Skillet with Greens and Raspberries

1. Chop a sweet potato into chunks (about 1/2 inch)
Place in skillet over medium high heat along with a minced clove of garlic and teaspoon of oil.
Saute for about 10 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are 3/4 of the way soft.



2. Add 1/2 cup of black beans (mine were straight from the freezer, as described in my post on cooking beans) and cook another 3 or so minutes.

3. Roughly chop a handful of fall greens ( I used swiss chard). Toss in skillet along with 1/4 cup of water, and cover until greens are wilted.



4. Remove lid and add 1/3 cup raspberries, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and salt and pepper to taste.



5. Dish and enjoy :)

How to Punch a Pepper

I just wanted to share an idea that a friend of mine gave me recently- a simple method to prepare a pepper without a knife. It's quick, and although it doesn't yield perfect results, it may be helpful when working with youth that you don't trust with a knife, or if you just don't feel like getting a knife dirty.

Step 1.
Position both thumbs beside the stem of the pepper (only one thumb included in photo because the other hand was occupied with the camera).

Step 2.
Apply pressure until the stem recedes into the fruit.

Step 3.
Use your fingers to pull out the stem and seeds.

My New Favorite Convenience Food

So, I've just become enamored with a new vegetable: delicata squash. I've barely finished my lunch, and I can't wait to share it with you, so here it is!

A small squash (5-6 inches in length) is the perfect size for a meal for one person. I just cut off both ends, sliced it in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds (saving them to make roasted pumpkin seeds- a great source of iron!) and placed both halves cut side down in 1/4 inch of water in a covered microwaveable bowl.

It took about 4 minutes to get soft in my microwave. Then, I drained the water, flipped the halves so that the cut side was facing up (looks like little canoes) and threw in a handful of frozen beans, some random spices, and a drizzle (2 teaspoons-even though it looks like a lot more in this photo) of tahini as a source of fat because I didn't feel like using olive oil. I also sprinkled some dried hot pepper over the pile, and the capsaicin is now dancing in my mouth.

I microwaved the squash for another 2 minutes to heat up the frozen beans, pulled it out, and commenced my lunch.

The great thing is that you can eat the entire squash- skin and all, at least according to my friend Sarah. It tastes fine to me, so even if most people don't eat the skin, I think I will.

I ended up needing a dollop of yogurt on top to cut the spiciness, but overall it was delicious.
This "recipe" is super versatile- you can stuff the "canoe" with pretty much anything- pre-cooked meat, tomato sauce, beans, pesto, cooked grains, and any sort of vegetable.

Enjoy!

After a morning of completing nutrition assessments in convenience stores and finding myself ridiculously tempted by the fatty, sugary, processed items (but resisting the temptation to buy anything, I must add!), I'm off to bake bread and quiche and all manor of yummy things for my cousin and his wife who are visiting this weekend. What a fun way to spend a Friday :)

Reflection on Bolivia

Note to those of you who were directed here by a card in the mail: the main reason that I chose to just write the card and direct you here is because I don't have a personal printer. Secondly, I thought it would be fun to send everyone a hand-written thank you note. Thirdly, for those of you who I don't get to see on a regular basis, I thought it might be fun to introduce you to my blog. Please read on...

Bolivia. Anytime I hear someone mention the country, my heart beats a bit faster. I want to ask “Have you been to Bolivia?”, “Where have you been?”, “Did you get to eat salteñas? Sopa de maní?”, “How did you handle the altitude?”

This little country in South America has dominated much of my thoughts for the past two years. It was in the fall of 2009 that I began to prepare for my first trip there with a team of 13, and I spent a month divided between Rodeo and Cochabamba in the summer of 2010. I returned to Messiah College in the fall of 2010, with a love for the people of Rodeo planted in my heart, but with no solid plans to return. When I was asked to lead the trip for the following year, I couldn’t help but see the importance of having someone who had been there before go back to continue relationships and invest in lives. And so I agreed to lead the team.

So I began doing my best over the course of the school year, to prepare a team of 9 women to journey to the village of Rodeo, a remote jewel nestled in the Andes Mountains. And then we went, from July 18 to 29, we traveled by various and sundry forms of transportation to our destination. There were moments of excitement along the way, including a stolen passport (a team leader’s worst nightmare!) but when we arrived in Rodeo, we were able to be fully present in the community.

A few highlights from the trip:

I was able to spend time with Aide (my previous sponsored child who has now moved out of the program) and also with Elizabet (my current sponsored child). I taught Elizabet how to crochet, and she taught me how to spin with a different style of drop spindle than I had used previously.

Spending an afternoon with leaders from the community, hearing about their dreams for the future.

Reconnecting with Food for the Hungry staff members who are passionate about God’s children, and caring for and building up the community.

Growing in relationships with the women on my team.

Here are a few images from the trip:

It was wonderful to reconnect with Aide and her family.

Elizabet teaching me how to spin.

Listening to the dreams of community leaders.

Going for a hike with a group of FH staff and women from our team.

Baking bread with Anacleto, the pastor of the Baptist Church in Rodeo.

I was challenged by:

The fact that sustainable, long-term changes are slow in coming

My position of leadership- a fantastic but humbling place to be.

The need to trust in God’s provision in tricky situations.

As I have returned to the United States, relocating to a new state and beginning a new step in education (a Masters degree in Human Nutrition and Food at West Virginia University), I have continued to reflect on the way that Bolivia has found its way into my heart and nestled into a corner. It’s not just the brown wool backpack that I wear every day, the balls of hand-spun yarn that sit in a basket woven out of sticks that all came from Bolivia. It’s not just the photos that hang on my wall, or the bright and colorful fabric that is neatly folded underneath my bed.

Bolivia has a face. Multiple faces. Of hopeful young children, excited to explore the world through the library that Messiah College helped to construct and furnish. Of community leaders, encouraged to pursue their dreams. Of the mother of my sponsored child, struggling with illness but aided by caring individuals and family.

I don’t know how God will choose to continue my connection with Bolivia, or what that will look like in the future.

But, as I continue to live my life, day by day, I am constantly reminded of God’s grace and provision in my life, and the responsibility that I bear to share from what I have been given.

And to those of you who have supported me in prayer, and financially, thank you. For everything. It’s only because of the army of people behind me that I was able to go.