R.I.P. Leon Redbone

What sad news we've all received!
Leon Redbone has shuffled off this mortal coil at the age of 127 ... or 69 ... or who know what.
Not that it matters how old he might have been - Leon was a man who lived outside of the flow of time, excepting the flow of time in his singing and playing.

I would go on, but he did ask that we not talk about him when he was gone.

He will be well and truly missed.

New Book Alert! - January 2019

Here's a bit of shameless self-promotion.

I've just published a new Bible Study: The 3:16 Journal.
It's available at Lulu, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and probably almost anywhere else you can order a book.

Here's a bit of the Introduction:

The idea for this Journal came to me one day when I realized that 1 John 3:16 (“By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”) is a great verse, just like John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”). Let me say right up front that I don’t go in for numerology, nor for “finding” hidden codes in the text or the chapter or verse numbers of the Bible – not at all. In fact, the chapter and verse divisions we use are not a part of the original text. They’ve been put there for the convenience of the reader – the student of the Word – not because the authors set out to have those divisions. Still, I wondered how many other 3:16s might jump out at me, so the idea here, as in any Bible study, is to explore what God is saying to us in His Word, but this time through that perhaps odd lens of 3:16.

The basic format is a quotation of 3:16 from each book in order (from Genesis to Revelation) with a series of questions to guide your journaling.

I hope you'll take a look, and I hope you'll find it a blessing.

Grace & Peace,
Charlie

Dessertage du Jour - 21 November 2017

Dessert?! On this blog?! Surely you jest!

No, I'm quite serious.

We had a pie party at work today. There were the usual berry, pumpkin, lemon meringue, and so on - even a homemade coconut cream pie.
We got the word early that the organiser's definition of pie did not include quiche - quiche was right out, sadly.

What to do? Chicken pot pie came to mind (and went fairly quickly), but it's probably not all that popular cold, and with only microwaves and toaster ovens around, it might be difficult.

So there remained only one clear option: avocado cream pie.

It's simple, shocking, and actually very tasty.

In a food processor combine:

2 large-ish ripe avocadoes,
1 14oz can of Eagle Brand milk, and
1/3C lime juice.

Process till smooth.
Pour into a graham cracker crust (make your own if you wish).
Chill until firm (1+ hours) and enjoy.

Even the folks who were "afraid" of the pie tasted and enjoyed.

Highly recommended!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Carnage du Jour - 28 May 2017

This will be a huge departure for me - dessert.

That's right, I'm actually going to recommend a dessert here.

Over the years our family has often enjoyed a very simple dessert of angel food cake and strawberry cream. That's what I'm going to suggest here, but with a twist.

The strawberry cream is simply a blend of whipped cream and (thawed) frozen strawberries in their juicy/syrupy stuff. Just thaw them and stir into whipped cream until it seems like the right proportion for you, add a dollop onto the cake and enjoy.

Now for the upgrade.

First, fire up the grill.
Next, slice the cake into serving-sized pieces.
Then simply spray a little cooking spray on the cake (that's just so it doesn't stick) and drop it on the grill.
Turn it to the other cut (and sprayed) side once you have nice grill marks on the first side, and remove when both of them look nice and toasty.

That's it. Remove from the grill, place on a plate, pop some strawberry cream on that cake, and enjoy.

It's actually wonderful - the cake almost tastes like a toasted marshmallow.

Highly recommended,
Enjoy!

Coinage du jour - 24 May 2017

Fete Accomplice (n)


A person who helps to arrange or throw a party.

"The supposedly-unwanted surprise party was a huge success, thanks to the help of my fete accomplice."

that is all

Coinage du jour - 05 May 2017

bouillon logic (n)

A method for deciding whether or not to make stock from scratch.

"With no bones and little in the way of vegetables at hand, it was a simple matter of bouillon logic to use boxed stock for the soup."

that is all

Carnage du Jour - 01 May 2017

This is more an homage than a carnage.
Making some food for Mom while Dad was in the hospital (he's home and doing well, thanks), I thought she might go for something from the past. You know, comfort food.

Thus began the search in Grandma E's cookbook for the Johnny Marzetti recipe.
I didn't find it there.
So ... it must be on one of the 3x5 cards in the recipe box.
Nope.

Alrighty then. I remember that it had equal parts of tomato and cream of mushroom soup, browned hamburger, and kluski noodles. How hard could it be?

It wasn't hard at all, as it happens.

In a large skillet I browned a pound of ground chuck (pro tip #1 - I always salt the hot skillet before adding ground beef to brown; go ahead, try it), adding a bit of minced onion to give it a bit more flavour.
I added to that 1 can each of tomato and cream of mushroom soup (I started with a part of each, but it was clear I needed all of it, so that's the recipe now) and mixed it thoroughly.

While all that was happening, a well-salted pot of water had boiled and received a bunch of kluski noodles (sorry, I can't be terribly precise in my amount here - perhaps half a 16oz bag or so?), bringing them to just shy of al dente. (pro tip #2 - pace Alton Brown, I always add a bit of vegetable oil to my pasta water; I have no doubts it prevents clumping and sticking.)
The noodles were then stirred into the meat and sauce mixture and then scooped into crocks for later heating.
We ate our portion on 02 May after giving it a head start in the microwave to take the refrigerator chill off it and then final heating under the broiler to get the good crispy bits that really ought to be there in the normal straight from mixing it to a casserole in the oven method.
It was quite tasty, and brought back memories of family - just what comfort food is meant to do.