A Cozy House

We have finished adding furniture and pictures to the downstairs of the house. The dark English furniture goes well with the beams and old pine floors. The artwork in the dining room is by Freke Field, one of Ian's ancestors. Although the space is a bit crowded, we are surrounded by things we love.

Time to Bake

Now that the necessary boxes have been unpacked and the house organized, I have time to bake. What fun to create this Ginger Cake from a recipe my neighbor Phyllis had given me along with a new bundt pan and cake holder. The trick was finding the Guinness Stout. After visiting 5 places and even calling a local pub, I had to wait another day for the grocery store to renew its stock. I now will keep a six-pack in the fridge to use in the future. We tested the cake, and it was good; not as good as Phyllis' version, but I am working on that! We love a local Ginger Ice Cream created by the nearby Walpole Creamery, but the local suppliers have sold out. There is one more little grocery to check... Meanwhile, we also like it with vanilla ice cream. Hungry yet?
Here's the recipe:
Gramercy Tavern Gingerbread
Recipe given to me by Phyllis Goodenough, my neighbor in Neenah, WI
P. 153 Feb. 2000 Gourmet
Serves 8-10
Oven 350 degrees
10 inch bundt pan
1 cup Guinness stout (other dark beers have been used) Sip the rest as you work.
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tb. ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
pinch of cardamon
3 large eggs
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out
excess.
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature.
Sift flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars in another bowl. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to the flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. (Batter is thin.) Bake in middle of oven until tester comes out with just a few moinst crumbs adhering, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.
Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream or ice cream.
Enjoy! I have frozen this quite successfully. It is also good gently warmed.

Snowy February

We have enjoyed another snowfall this week and the snow is piling up! We are cozy inside with the fireplace, good books and the internet.

Speaking of cozy times, Ian and I watched the movie Fireproof last night. It has a strong Christian message about marriage. Have the tissue box handy and watch it with your spouse.

Home in Vermont--February 17

Now back in Vermont after around 5,000 miles, 15 states and 10 different beds, Ian and I have returned to unpacking boxes and squeezing furniture, clothes and dishes into our charming but tiny house. Every day I pray for a miracle of space and organization!
We returned to a beautiful snowy and blue sky Vermont. Our house is cozy and warm; even the mice found it so. Four brave ones met their match in one evening thanks to a new kind of trap that works neatly with a dab of peanut butter. Ian adeptly disposed of our unwelcome guests. Sorry, no pics of this slaughter!

On the road I read three books I can highly recommend. First was Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs--a wonderful slice of life and relationships set in upper New York state. You will fall in love with the characters and wish that you could sit down and have dinner with them.

Next I picked up the current Christian must read, The Shack by William Paul Young because my Nashville friend Kathy Edwards suggested it. It helps the reader picture and get to know the Trinity in a whole new way. I found myself thinking about it when I went to church, talked with people about God and as I went about my day. It feeds your soul. Why do people fight God? Sometimes I get tired of being patient with church member's anger at God and constant challenges to what seems so obvious to me--his love for us.

The next book was passed on to me by Mary and Steve Smith in Houston. We swapped books; they got The Shack and I got Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. It's an autobiography of two men who alternate telling their life stories. Ron is a white man and Denver a black man, and they begin from different backgrounds, but end up in a powerful friendship forged at a mission for the homeless in Fort Worth. Ron's wife Deborah fosters this friendship and prayerfully follows what God is directing her to do. Quite a witness. Some parts are humorous, and other parts make you weep. Read it!

For my devotional time, I am reading Christ, My Companion by Marilyn Chandler McEntyre. My friend Mary Hays in Pittsburgh gave it to me. It takes the prayer of St. Patrick (Christ be with me, Christ within me, etc.) and describes each line of the prayer/hymn. She brings in current literature, poets, and even Star Wars to make her points. Her writing is poetic in itself and beautifully crafted. Each chapter is a jewel and an encouragement. A good Lenten book.

Now I need a next read...

Taking Some Time for R and R in Texas

After several days of meetings, we took a break and headed south to San Antonio and back up via Austin. We stopped at a cute town, Hico, on the way down. The Koffee Kup served a great brunch and had the best sign over its pies. Billy the Kid may have come from Hico. Here is what Wikipedia says:

Brushy Bill

In 1949, a paralegal named William Morrison located a man in West Texas named Ollie P. Roberts, nicknamed "Brushy Bill", who claimed to be the actual Billy the Kid, and that he indeed had not been shot and killed by Pat Garrett in 1881. Most historians reject the Brushy Bill claim. There were numerous points that both supported and discounted the Roberts claim. Despite discrepancies in birth dates and physical appearance, the town of Hico, Texas (Brushy Bill's residence), has capitalized on the Kid's infamy by opening the Billy The Kid Museum.

Visiting Dallas--February 1-4

Ian and I visited Dallas and Fort Worth to stay with friends and visit churches to talk about our upcoming missionary work in Peru. Staying with families has been a joy. As one new friend suggested, each home is its own little microcosm. I could extrapolate that and include all the story elements: setting, characters, theme and dare I say plot? I am the observer, but also one of the characters who comes into the scene, altering the usual flow of events.We talk about our lives, enjoy wonderful meals together, and discover connections. Our conversations wander about topics as diverse as irony, writing a novel, C.S. Lewis' furniture, guns, our children, the Church, Neiman-Marcus (it is Dallas!), good and evil. One topic was a discussion of the book, The Shack--read it!

We were thrilled to find out that Bishop Bill Godfrey and his wife Judith were in Dallas, too, so we met them for lunch along with Susan Kerr (on staff with Christ Church, Plano). They were visiting Christ Church, Plano, and were on their way to England and Spain for speaking engagements. Our last connection had been in Wisconsin last October where the bishop was speaking at Nashotah House.

Our travels have included so many serendipitous meetings of Christian friends we have known from our past and present. Ian refers to them as "Divine Appointments."