Books: Gilead

January 17, 2010 | Books,Quotes

I’ve recently been told that I don’t deserve what I have.

Standing right behind that, I believe, is a condemnation that I don’t practice religion the way I “should.”

I have heard any number of fine sermons in my life, and I have known any number of deep souls. I am well aware that people find fault, but it seems to me to be presumptuous to judge the authenticity of anyone’s religion, except one’s own. And that is also presumptuous. (p. 173)

This has prompted a lot of self-reflecting and a search for understanding on my part. That search has led me to realize some very important things about the wretchedness of cruelty people visit on each other. It’s so difficult to see the good in others when one only looks for faults.

Let me say first of all that the grace of God is sufficient to any transgression, and that to judge is wrong, the origin and essence of much error and cruelty. (p. 155)

While all this happens, I read a book called Gilead. It’s written by Marilynne Robinson, an Iowa author. In the book, a kind, gentle, old man — a preacher — writes a last letter to his young son. Unintentionally, he also speaks to me when I am in desperate need of kind words.

When I read books is almost as important as what books I read. Reading is not just about content but also context, and it’s not just the context of the words in the books. It’s the context of my life. Seemingly unrelated books I read in sequence often fit together in unforseen ways. I often find myself reading a book at a time when I need those stories or information most because of what’s happening in my life.

It seems to me there is less meanness in atheism, by a good measure. It seems that the spirit of religious self-righteousness this article deplores is precisely the spirit in which it is written. Of course he’s right about many things, one of them being the destructive potency of religious self-righteousness. (p. 146)

And so it is with the old man in Gilead. He’s taking stock, looking back on his own life and looking ahead to his son’s life without him. He’s trying to tell his son what’s important. In doing so, he speaks to several things that have been on my mind lately — understanding the differences of others without mocking or ridiculing the very essence of who they are.

In every important way we are such secrets from each other, and I do believe that there is a separate language in each of us, also a separate aesthetics and a separate jurisprudence. Every single one of us is a little civilization built on the ruins of any number of preceding civilizations, but with our own variant notions of what is beautiful and what is acceptable — which, I hasten to add, we generally do not satisfy and by which we struggle to live. (p. 197)

Some people believe the only way to hear the voice of God is to sit in a church or cathedral and listen to the voice of someone who preaches.

I hear the voice of God in a brilliant sunrise.

I hear it when I look into the depths of my husband’s or my children’s eyes.

You see how it is godlike to love the being of someone. Your existence is a delight to us. I hope you never have to long for a child as I did, but oh, what a splendid thing it has been that you came finally, and what a blessing to enjoy you now for almost seven years.

And I hear it in the words of books I read.

Books: Food Lover’s Companion

January 16, 2010 | Books,Death,Food

When I was putting together my mother-in-law’s recipe for fish soup, I discovered that the author of one of the most-used books in my kitchen had died. Three years ago this month. Sharon Tyler Herbst, who wrote the Food Lover’s Companion (among many other food books), died in January 2007 after fighting ovarian cancer.

Food: Fish soup

January 13, 2010 | Food,Norway

Fiskesuppe

Ingredients
2 pounds (about 4 cups) fish (I use cod and salmon)
1 teaspoon salt
bottle of wine
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups carrots, finely sliced
2 cups leeks, finely sliced
2 tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups broth from fish
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche (see recipe below)
2 cup shrimp
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
Salt
Pepper

Put fish in water and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat just
until boiling and remove from heat.

With a slotted spoon, remove the fish from the
water and cut into small pieces. (Check for
bones.)

Open a bottle of wine and pour
yourself a glass. (Mine was
strawberry wine from Florida.)

Remove fish residue from water with a small
strainer or spoon.

Melt 2 tablespoon butter in bottom of a pot.

Add carrots and leeks and warm through.

Sprinkle flour over vegetables, then add fish
broth. Heat to boiling.

Stir in crème fraîche.

Place fish in soup with slotted spoon. Heat to
boiling, then add shrimp and dill. Salt and
pepper to taste.

Vær så god! ~ Bon appétit! ~ Dig in!

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Crème fraîche
I made my own crème fraîche, thanks to Sharon Tyler Herbst’s Food Lover’s Companion. I changed the amounts to 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3 tablespoons buttermilk. Here’s what she said: “This matured, thickened cream has a slightly tangy, nutty flavor and velvety rich texture. The thickness of crème fraîche can range from that of commercial sour cream to almost as solid as room-temperature margarine. In France, where crème fraîche is a specialty, the cream is unpasteurized and therefore contains the bacteria necessary to thicken it naturally. In America, where all commercial cream is pasteurized, the fermenting agents necessary fo crème fraîche can be obtained by adding buttermilk or sour cream. A very expensive American facsimile of crème fraîche is sold in some gourmet markets. The expense seems frivolous, however, when it’s so easy to make an equally delicious version at home. To do so, combine 1 cup whipping cream and 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from 8 to 24 hours, or until very thick. Stir well before covering and refrigerate up to 10 days.Crème fraîche is the ideal addition for sauces or soups because it can be boiled without curdling. It’s delicious spooned over fresh fruit or other desserts such as warm cobblers or puddings.”

………………………………………………………………………………………

Without pictures

Fiskesuppe

Ingredients
2 pounds (about 4 cups) fish (I use cod and salmon)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter
2 cups carrots, finely sliced
2 cups leeks, finely sliced
2 tablespoon flour
4 1/2 cups broth from fish
1 1/2 cups crème fraîche
2 cup shrimp
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
Salt
Pepper

Put fish in water and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat just until boiling and remove from heat. Remove the fish with a slotted spoon from the water and cut into small pieces. (Check for bones.) Remove fish residue from water with a small strainer or spoon. Melt 2 tablespoon butter in bottom of a pot. Add carrots and leeks and warm through. Sprinkle flour over vegetables, then add fish broth. Heat to boiling. Stir in crème fraîche. Place fish in soup with slotted spoon. Heat to boiling, then add shrimp and dill. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4.

Crème fraîche
Combine 1 1/2 cups whipping cream and 3 tablespoons buttermilk in a glass container. Cover and let stand at room temperature (about 70°F) from eight to 24 hours or until very thick. Stir well before covering, and refrigerate up to 10 days. (Source: Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst, 1995.)

Look behind the picture for a different conclusion

January 12, 2010 | Iowa,Weather,Winter

The sun: and … there it goes

January 8, 2010 | Iowa

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes

Iowa

Clearing the driveway

January 7, 2010 | 2010,Iowa,Weather,Winter

I had to wait until I could feel my feet again before I posted this. We cleared the driveway, which I’m sure we’ll have to do again in the morning.

We even had to clear part of the highway. I don’t think the snowplows were out today, and I saw they weren’t being sent out tonight. That means the whole highway might be closed tomorrow.

The mail carrier surprised me. He actually tackled a good 2 feet of snow and a huge drift in front of our mailbox to deliver our mail. Thanks, Jerry!

We have lots more digging out in our future. And I hope the LP gas lasts throughout the winter because I don’t think we’ll see the tank until spring. It’s buried under a good 5 feet of snow drift.

And if this were a horror movie? This would be the point when the scary voice would whisper-shout, “Get out!”

How many blizzards can Iowa have in one winter?

2010,Iowa,Weather,Winter

I’m not sure I want to know. Unless the answer is “no more.”

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Sarah, you’re always running here and there

January 5, 2010 | Family,Stuff

This is a rat. Her name is Sarah. (Yes, by the girl who likes to be called Sarah when playing dress-up and pretending with her brother and sister.) It’s just about the cutest darn rat I’ve ever seen.

Brrr!

January 2, 2010 | Iowa,Weather,Winter