Time for me

Unlikely as it may seem I am discovering that the more time I set aside for myself the more time and energy I have for others, Currently, I take four mornings and one afternoon to workout at Curves, and I take two evenings to work on my novel. Kurt and I have also set aside one evening a week for date night. Before instituting these personal times, I was always dragging, and finding ways to retreat into my own space. Now that I have regular times set aside to nurture my well-being and personal interests, I find myself looking for ways to incorporate Kurt and the kids into the other things I'm doing. Working the kids into the household chores is happening more naturally, and I'm doing a better job of training and supervising. I don't mind a kid snuggling next to me while I fold laundry or read. I take a kid along to do the grocery shopping and other errands.
This phenomenon is puzzling. When I devoted all my time to my family, I was less interested in them. Now that I'm being "selfish" I'm eager to be with them. Life is funny sometimes

Nicholas has arrived!

My good friend Michelle on a beach in Costa Rica with her beautiful new son, Nicholas William. Congratulations.

My favorite cookbooks

I've been enjoying cooking and baking lately. As a result my collection of recipe books has been brushed off. Here's a selection of my favorites.

America's Test Kitchen-- The recipes in this book are generally no-fail, and they are delicious. I'm particularly fond of the Crab Imperial Recipe. The vegetable recipes are marvelous. My sister and I decided that we have to get Mother a copy because she actually ate her vegetables this last Christmas.

Cookwise--This book helped me begin to start making up my own recipes. The book is more about the science of cooking than it is a collection of recipes. It really boosted my confidence to know why recipes work and what each technique is trying to accomplish.

Bread Alone--My sister-in-law gave me this book for Christmas. The author's love affair with every aspect of bread baking is inspiring. I tried organic flour as a direct result of reading this book, and you most certainly can taste the difference. I don't bake my bread according to his system because he really is coming at it from a professional perspective, but I find it inspiring.

Cooking from Quilt Country--My mother discovered Marcia Adams and the fact that Amish Cooking is very similar to the cooking we grew up with in Western Maryland. Perhaps it is the influence of the Pennsylvania Dutch and the strong Amish/Mennonite communities in the area. In any case this book has lots of stained pages. I love the Baking Powder Biscuits, the Orange-Glazed PorkLoin and the Amish Apple Pie. The recipes have never failed me.

Mexican Cookery--I received this book as a gift from my friend Aurora. She is Mexican and after tasting my attempt at a Mexican pizza she felt I needed some help. Boy, was she right. The recipes in this book were so new to my palette. I loved the Enchiladas de Polo, and the Uxmal Carrots. I pull this one out whenever I'm hungry for something new and earthy.

The Great American Baking Book--Sam's Club carries lots of interesting recipe books, and this is one of them. The extensive pictures are quite helpful, and the Corn Bread is divine.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook: 1953 Classic Edition--My mother's Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook was one of my favorite reads as a child. I loved trying to talk her into trying new things. This is a reproduction of the 1953 version, but it still has the same feeling as looking at Mother's. The recipes may be oldies, but they're still goodies.

The Joy of Cooking--Believe it or not, I just purchased this recently. I'm really enjoying how thorough it is. No matter what I decide I want to cook this book has relevant information.

The French Chef--My copy is an old paperback I picked up at an estate sale. I wanted it because it shows Julia's Buche Noel. I watched her bake that on PBS, absolutely enthralled. The way she recreated an object from nature with food stimulated my creativity in all kinds of ways. Julia was one of my childhood heroines.

Music, Menus and Magnolias--Regional cuisine is always interesting. My family has been vacationing in Charleston for generations. My father once tripped over an astronaut on the Isle of Palms. This recipe book has great seafood recipes as you'd expect, and a killer turtle brownie recipe. Yum.

Cooking for Fifty--Sometimes I like to think big. My husband gave me this cookbook for Christmas one year. The recipes are very good, and it's fun to cook this much food every once-in-a-while.

Desperation Entertaining--I read this book more for technique and party ideas than the recipes. I don't doubt that the recipes are good, but I just haven't tried many of them. The ideas for putting together low maintenance parties are terrific.

Saving Dinner--This book is a great palette stretcher. We all fall into ruts, and following the pre-planned menus with the ready made shopping lists is a great way to break out of those ruts. Drawing on a wide variety of cuisines the author keeps it interesting without being so out there that the ingredients are impossible to find or the kids won't even think about trying it. This is a great resource for mixing it up.

The Sheltering D

I grew up in a sheltered world, so I thought that if I could just reach beyond the glass of the hothouse I could escape the heat. Life isn't that simple. The broader world has proved itself to be just as intent on deciding who is "us" and who is "not us." But we are all a part of each other. We are all human. I wrote a poem when I was still hopeful that I'd put the dehumanizing life of choosing who to respect and include and who to hate and reject behind me. In it I said that we had "lived" in Auschwitz, but the more I know the world the more I see that I must remove the illusion that the "d" perpetuates. We live in Auschwitz. We live in a world where we permit ourselves to choose who lives and who dies. We live in a world that measures people's merit by standards that can never come close to the truly priceless nature of a human soul.
I believe my faith when it promises me that I will be transformed and that I will leave that wickedness behind me in my own behavior, but the longer I live, the more I see that there is no culture or philosophy or creed that is strong enough to create a world without "not us." The only thing strong enough to counter that is to touch the face of God. Only God knows the truth of our Limbo.

Delinski Glacier

My maiden name is Delinski. I always hoped for something simple, easy to spell like Smith or Jones, but no, I married an Ansorge. I will be doomed to spelling my name forever. Good thing he's worth it.
Anywho, my uncle has worked for the U.S. Geological Survey since before I was born. He can tell you where you can and can't put a telephone pole on almost any continent. I always loved watching him trace the lines on this light box thing that I don't even know the name of. As a reward for helping with a project mapping the Arctic, he was offered the opportunity to have a mountain named after him, but Uncle George is an original thinker. He asked to have a glacier named after him, so they did. I wasn't able to find an on-line image of the glacier, but here is a link to the Wikipedia article that will be written about it, someday.
We're famous.

Life is Delicious!

It's amazing how full of nutritious matter the universe is. Every day offers a banquet of learning opportunities that comes in a surprising array of flavors, some pleasurable, some not-so-much. God is just so much bigger than I ever hoped he was. When you take the time to notice you discover that life hands you the answers you need. What seems like an impossible problem will be answered by an improbable argument. Even the bitter enhances the sweet.
I hope you are enjoying today as much as I am. I think I'll go bake some cake.

Interesting series on the Blog Next Door

My friend Trent, who occasionally plugs my blog, is doing a very interesting series on Augustine's Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love. You can find the first post here.