Creamed Turnip Greens
Prep: 10 min., Cook: 15 min.
(really easy and delicious!) (from Southern Living, Nov. 2007)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (16-oz.) bag frozen turnip greens, thawed (I've also used collard greens)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
5 ounces cream cheese, cut into pieces
Salt to taste
Garnish with Parmesan cheese
Preparation
1. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in onion and garlic, and sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in turnip greens, chicken broth, and, if desired, red pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until liquid evaporates.
2. Sprinkle turnip green mixture with flour, and sauté 2 minutes. Gradually stir in milk, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add cream cheese, stirring until melted. Season with salt to taste. Garnish with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Lightened Version: Substitute 2% or Skim milk and 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
Makes 4 servings
Yes, I'm proudly Southern...love my grits, greens, and even some of the fried food (but won't do that and mess up the kitchen!) I've been obsessed with this recipe ever since finding it and it's especially great in winter...I made today for "Sunday lunch." I do the light version and use lots of shortcuts.
I've appreciated your thoughtful comments on the last post (feel free to leave more)...I know it's a big subject and I've not even barely skimmed the surface. That said, my intention is not to have your "applause", just to merely share with you some of what I've been deeply thinking on. In the past few weeks, my pastor has been doing some great preaching on humility and the pitfall of self-righteousness. Always good to remember. Blessings from me to all of you this Sunday afternoon!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Perceptions...
We are thankful to be safely home, if only for a few days before leaving early next week for Houston! It was a fast and tiring trip to OKC...but filled with precious family time and a sacred funeral service. Several of us participated in the eulogy time, and it was interesting to see how those perceptions were unique to each individual. (also had me thinking that eulogies would be better shared before a person's death!) Our family is so scattered that when we do get together, there's a headfirst plunging into 100% full-blown family-love-fest!! We soak in every moment of togetherness! More than once, I heard the comment of "picking up just where we left off" and we also wondered if we were perhaps having too much fun for the occasion. Always, we find ourselves going back to the beginning of the story...a truly Godly couple who served their Lord well and loved & prayed for us all...we are truly blessed with such a heritage!
There will be pictures at the end! (As a group, we are rather obsessed with picture taking!)
It was a little surprising to learn that several of my cousins are regular readers of this blog. It is always somewhat disconcerting (at least for me) to think about others "hearing" your words...how am I "coming across"? Or...how am I being "perceived"? (perception: the act of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding) I guess one could say "it doesn't matter anyway"...but perhaps it does. (Not to my cousins who've known me forever!, but to those who really know me only in this forum.) As I've noted before, I have realized through blogging just how private about some things I really am. But sometimes I forget that...start "shooting from the hip" so to speak. Forgetting that it's impossible for a few words to adequately encapsulate any big subject...that how I express what I'm thinking at the moment might not portray the whole picture. Ultimately, forgetting that although we think we know each other fairly well in this community, the reality of that might be different. This is just one piece of the really big puzzles of our lives. I do not intend to become an obsessive overchecker about what I'm saying, but I do plan to tread a little more carefully with my words. I think it's interesting how perceptions among even a small group of folks can be really different....one person can read words and deem them really wise while another can read the same words and come to the opposite conclusion. [David Brooks wrote to this idea in his Jan. 18th column (obviously, he was referring mostly to politics, but I think it applies here): "In reality, [all of us] make emotional, intuitive decisions about who[or what] we prefer, and then come up with post-hoc rationalizations to explain the choices that were already made beneath conscious awareness. Decades ago, Kahneman and Amos Tversky argued that human judgment is less a matter of calculating probabilities and more a matter of trying to fit new things into familiar patterns. In making these associations, [we] are trying to perform trait inference. [We] are trying to divine inner abilities from outward signs. At the same time.... We use emotion to assign value to things, thus making decision-making possible. Each of us has an unconscious but consistent way of construing the world. Some of us light up when we see [someone] being intelligent, others when we see [someone being] friendly or sentimental. This is the mode we use every day to make sense of the world." I had learned before of "trait inference" theory, but had mostly forgotten it!]
We could super-spiritualize this idea of how our perceptions come to be...but ultimately, for myself, I can be pretty OK with the reality that there will always be differences of opinions...for me, that should not and can not result in a spirit of exclusivity. I find myself sharing ideas and responding to yours on a variety of levels....logically, cerebally, emotionally, spiritually. I think that's how it's supposed to be...we were created not as one-dimensional beings but as complex humans with the capacity (through grace) to have every aspect of "who we are" transformed by the Spirit. What a lot of progress I have yet to make in that pursuit! Honestly, the journey of my life has distilled what really matters to me to only a few basic truths....primarily, seeking to love God with my whole heart and then my neighbor as myself....the rest is gravy!
I had drafted a few paragraphs along these lines before leaving on the trip...I doubt those will ever be posted. Instead, I want to share some of the great reading I did in the car...read Dennis Kinlaw's We Live As Christ: if you have not read this book, DO SO ASAP!!...it is deeply challenging and humbling (as is most genuine truth). After visiting Half-Priced Books (love that store!!), I also began reading When The Heart Waits (Sue Monk Kidd). I'm not sure what these two writers would think of being grouped together! but it was helpful to me! Kinlaw says: "One of the early marks of the church, evidenced by Paul's relationship with the Philippian believers, is the confidence they had in Paul, and he in them. Their belief in each other came out of their trust in God. It is a dangerous thing for me to believe in a person because of that person's value, and it is a dangerous thing for a person to believe in me because of my value. People are broken reeds and will fail each other. Any hope that people will not fail each other must be based on the goodness, faith , and power of God. What we find of joy in each other will be enhanced because of what God is doing in our lives. I believe in you because I believe in Him!"
And: "It is when one recognizes one's weakness than one can realize the amazing love that condescends to relate to people completely different from himself.When we begin to understand God's incredible and unsurpassable love for human persons, we want to love other people in the way that He does." (both of these quotes are from This Day with the Master)
I will sum up these rather sketchy thoughts on perceptions with some words from Kidd: "It's always difficult and risky to try to put soulmaking into words...My deepest hope is that you'll read not only with your mind but also with your heart, for that is when God strikes music and life into any words."
Now....finally the pics:)
On the way, we stopped in Natchitoches for Lasyones meat pies and red beans and rice...yummo!! I was very happy!
Beautiful Siblings...
Cousins.....
One of my favorite lurkers...:) and a very wise woman!)
My cousin Mark...one of the best writer's I know...(he's concerned that I'm turning Catholic....I promise it ain't so!:)
There will be pictures at the end! (As a group, we are rather obsessed with picture taking!)
It was a little surprising to learn that several of my cousins are regular readers of this blog. It is always somewhat disconcerting (at least for me) to think about others "hearing" your words...how am I "coming across"? Or...how am I being "perceived"? (perception: the act of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding) I guess one could say "it doesn't matter anyway"...but perhaps it does. (Not to my cousins who've known me forever!, but to those who really know me only in this forum.) As I've noted before, I have realized through blogging just how private about some things I really am. But sometimes I forget that...start "shooting from the hip" so to speak. Forgetting that it's impossible for a few words to adequately encapsulate any big subject...that how I express what I'm thinking at the moment might not portray the whole picture. Ultimately, forgetting that although we think we know each other fairly well in this community, the reality of that might be different. This is just one piece of the really big puzzles of our lives. I do not intend to become an obsessive overchecker about what I'm saying, but I do plan to tread a little more carefully with my words. I think it's interesting how perceptions among even a small group of folks can be really different....one person can read words and deem them really wise while another can read the same words and come to the opposite conclusion. [David Brooks wrote to this idea in his Jan. 18th column (obviously, he was referring mostly to politics, but I think it applies here): "In reality, [all of us] make emotional, intuitive decisions about who[or what] we prefer, and then come up with post-hoc rationalizations to explain the choices that were already made beneath conscious awareness. Decades ago, Kahneman and Amos Tversky argued that human judgment is less a matter of calculating probabilities and more a matter of trying to fit new things into familiar patterns. In making these associations, [we] are trying to perform trait inference. [We] are trying to divine inner abilities from outward signs. At the same time.... We use emotion to assign value to things, thus making decision-making possible. Each of us has an unconscious but consistent way of construing the world. Some of us light up when we see [someone] being intelligent, others when we see [someone being] friendly or sentimental. This is the mode we use every day to make sense of the world." I had learned before of "trait inference" theory, but had mostly forgotten it!]
We could super-spiritualize this idea of how our perceptions come to be...but ultimately, for myself, I can be pretty OK with the reality that there will always be differences of opinions...for me, that should not and can not result in a spirit of exclusivity. I find myself sharing ideas and responding to yours on a variety of levels....logically, cerebally, emotionally, spiritually. I think that's how it's supposed to be...we were created not as one-dimensional beings but as complex humans with the capacity (through grace) to have every aspect of "who we are" transformed by the Spirit. What a lot of progress I have yet to make in that pursuit! Honestly, the journey of my life has distilled what really matters to me to only a few basic truths....primarily, seeking to love God with my whole heart and then my neighbor as myself....the rest is gravy!
I had drafted a few paragraphs along these lines before leaving on the trip...I doubt those will ever be posted. Instead, I want to share some of the great reading I did in the car...read Dennis Kinlaw's We Live As Christ: if you have not read this book, DO SO ASAP!!...it is deeply challenging and humbling (as is most genuine truth). After visiting Half-Priced Books (love that store!!), I also began reading When The Heart Waits (Sue Monk Kidd). I'm not sure what these two writers would think of being grouped together! but it was helpful to me! Kinlaw says: "One of the early marks of the church, evidenced by Paul's relationship with the Philippian believers, is the confidence they had in Paul, and he in them. Their belief in each other came out of their trust in God. It is a dangerous thing for me to believe in a person because of that person's value, and it is a dangerous thing for a person to believe in me because of my value. People are broken reeds and will fail each other. Any hope that people will not fail each other must be based on the goodness, faith , and power of God. What we find of joy in each other will be enhanced because of what God is doing in our lives. I believe in you because I believe in Him!"
And: "It is when one recognizes one's weakness than one can realize the amazing love that condescends to relate to people completely different from himself.When we begin to understand God's incredible and unsurpassable love for human persons, we want to love other people in the way that He does." (both of these quotes are from This Day with the Master)
I will sum up these rather sketchy thoughts on perceptions with some words from Kidd: "It's always difficult and risky to try to put soulmaking into words...My deepest hope is that you'll read not only with your mind but also with your heart, for that is when God strikes music and life into any words."
Now....finally the pics:)
On the way, we stopped in Natchitoches for Lasyones meat pies and red beans and rice...yummo!! I was very happy!
Beautiful Siblings...
Cousins.....
One of my favorite lurkers...:) and a very wise woman!)
My cousin Mark...one of the best writer's I know...(he's concerned that I'm turning Catholic....I promise it ain't so!:)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Going Home...
Some of you know, but we've had some weary days around here...my uncle has been so very ill and tonight went to be with the Lord. It's been strange to travel this valley as an extended family...being scattered has made it harder. This journey has been especially difficult for my aunt and family...but also for my Dad and his sisters...losing someone they love so much. So we are preparing to leave on Friday for the funeral in OKC....it will be a celebration of a beautiful life...and we will shed tears of thankfulness that Uncle Jimmy found God......that God never gave up on him (that He never gives up on any if us!!)....that prayer still works and prodigals (like you and me) are still redeemed. But our hearts will still be sad...it's that human part that hates to say goodbye. Being a participant in the reality of death makes me realize anew what things really matter most...how much time we waste on the truly unimportant! How silly our boasting and self-reliance must seem to God! How are hearts are really not made for this world...but long for that world to come. I never want to confuse the trivial with the eternal.
In times like this my heart is always comforted by music. I'm thinking of my old friend Brent's song "Into the Presence of God"....what joy there must be in Heaven tonight!! And I love these words....
"Home Where I Belong"
( Pat Terry, 1976)
They say that Heaven's pretty--Living here is too
But if they said that I would have to choose between the two
I'd go home, going home Where I belong
Sometimes when I'm dreaming It comes as no surprise
But if you look you'll see the homesick feeling in my eyes
I'm going home yes I am going home Where I belong
One day I'll be sleeping When death knocks on my door
And I'll awake to find that I'm not homesick anymore
Cause I'll be home, I'll be home Where I belong
So while I'm here I'll serve Him gladly
And sing Him all these songs
I'm here, but not for long
When I'm feeling lonely And when I'm feeling blue
It's such a joy to know that I'm only passing through
I'm headed home , going home Where I belong
"But now, they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:16
(I blogged on 5/23/07, 5/29/07, and 9/4/07 re: these issues if you're interested...oddly, my aunt is also back in the hospital this week with additional heart work...please pray for her.)
In times like this my heart is always comforted by music. I'm thinking of my old friend Brent's song "Into the Presence of God"....what joy there must be in Heaven tonight!! And I love these words....
"Home Where I Belong"
( Pat Terry, 1976)
They say that Heaven's pretty--Living here is too
But if they said that I would have to choose between the two
I'd go home, going home Where I belong
Sometimes when I'm dreaming It comes as no surprise
But if you look you'll see the homesick feeling in my eyes
I'm going home yes I am going home Where I belong
One day I'll be sleeping When death knocks on my door
And I'll awake to find that I'm not homesick anymore
Cause I'll be home, I'll be home Where I belong
So while I'm here I'll serve Him gladly
And sing Him all these songs
I'm here, but not for long
When I'm feeling lonely And when I'm feeling blue
It's such a joy to know that I'm only passing through
I'm headed home , going home Where I belong
"But now, they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:16
(I blogged on 5/23/07, 5/29/07, and 9/4/07 re: these issues if you're interested...oddly, my aunt is also back in the hospital this week with additional heart work...please pray for her.)
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
What I'm Thinking...
As this new year has stumbled in, I have been a little afraid that my thought processes might have slowed...you know, the general "downing" effect after all the build up to the holidays. But, never fear, dear readers, my opinions and thoughts still abound (much to my own detriment....) so here's what's wandering about my cobwebby brain these days:
On undecorating: So glad I kept it simple...but still have had a bad time of it getting things down and put away...thank goodness for a guest room and a current lack of guests in it:)
On Dieting: I'm not much of a resolution maker, but this is definitely an issue that needs addressing...all of those cookies I made have also been happily consumed by this cook:)...and unfortunately, we Louisianians are now in the "King Cake" season..so who can resist?
On Politics: Back to feeling kindly toward Huckabee...mostly because I think he's the best natural politician of the bunch. (he obviously has a minister's gift of words and connecting)....still think he blatantly "used" his "Christian leader" status in a place where he could manipulate it to get votes...still not sure how far he can make it. So far, these "political games" have been very fun to watch! And....poor Hillary....she really is up against a master political force in Obama. (or maybe I should say we poor republicans!) All very interesting! This is going to be an insane election.
On Hope: Thankful it lies not in faulty, failing earthly systems (why should we be surprised!) but in the never-failing promises of a Faithful God!
On Randomness: Also thankful that He is faithful amidst the randomness of life...not deluded that there is a magical plan in it all, but rather that His faithfulness and my faithful response is viable regardless of the circumstances.
On Legalism: More aware than ever that any "religious system" that focuses more on rigidness than on really reflecting God is bound to leave a wasteland of souls in it's path. My steadfast goal is to not rest upon or defend the works of man but seek the ways of The Kingdom above all else.
On Family: Wishing I could make things better for my loved ones with health struggles...irrationally wishing that "goodbyes" were not a part of the life-cycle....certainly should affect how we treat each other along the way.
On Books: So very excited to get my Amazon order in this morning's mail. (Dennis Kinlaw's This Day with the Master, The Mind of Christ, and We Live As Christ.) Now excited to get reading!! I've already been immensely enjoying Girl Meets God (Lauren Winner)....highly recommend this writer, but please don't be too shocked at some of what she very honestly expresses!
On Relationships: As a longtime single, you begin to wonder if the required adjustments would even be worth it "just for" the sake of "finding someone". You can get pretty set in your ways the longer this singleness thing persists...(and let's face it, I'm no piece of cake!!) But (as I recently heard commented on) perhaps a single person could assess relationship skills in light of successful friendship skills...now in that I've done pretty well! (she says in a proud sort of way!) Actually, I feel humbly grateful for some very special longtime and even new friendships that are above average in any book. Surely, even with or without "mr. right enough" it is worthwhile to make adjustments for any such relationship! I LOVE this Winner quote on friendship: "There are a few people with whom you fit just so, and, amazingly you keep fitting just so even after you have growth spurts or lose weight or stop wearing high heels. You keep fitting after you have children or change religions or stop dyeing your hair or quit your job and take up farming. Somehow, God is gracious enough to give us a few of those people, people who can stretch into, who don't go away, and whom you wouldn't want to go away, even if they offered to."
With that I should probably end...if you only knew the things I think and do not say!!...at any rate, thanks for "listening"!
On undecorating: So glad I kept it simple...but still have had a bad time of it getting things down and put away...thank goodness for a guest room and a current lack of guests in it:)
On Dieting: I'm not much of a resolution maker, but this is definitely an issue that needs addressing...all of those cookies I made have also been happily consumed by this cook:)...and unfortunately, we Louisianians are now in the "King Cake" season..so who can resist?
On Politics: Back to feeling kindly toward Huckabee...mostly because I think he's the best natural politician of the bunch. (he obviously has a minister's gift of words and connecting)....still think he blatantly "used" his "Christian leader" status in a place where he could manipulate it to get votes...still not sure how far he can make it. So far, these "political games" have been very fun to watch! And....poor Hillary....she really is up against a master political force in Obama. (or maybe I should say we poor republicans!) All very interesting! This is going to be an insane election.
On Hope: Thankful it lies not in faulty, failing earthly systems (why should we be surprised!) but in the never-failing promises of a Faithful God!
On Randomness: Also thankful that He is faithful amidst the randomness of life...not deluded that there is a magical plan in it all, but rather that His faithfulness and my faithful response is viable regardless of the circumstances.
On Legalism: More aware than ever that any "religious system" that focuses more on rigidness than on really reflecting God is bound to leave a wasteland of souls in it's path. My steadfast goal is to not rest upon or defend the works of man but seek the ways of The Kingdom above all else.
On Family: Wishing I could make things better for my loved ones with health struggles...irrationally wishing that "goodbyes" were not a part of the life-cycle....certainly should affect how we treat each other along the way.
On Books: So very excited to get my Amazon order in this morning's mail. (Dennis Kinlaw's This Day with the Master, The Mind of Christ, and We Live As Christ.) Now excited to get reading!! I've already been immensely enjoying Girl Meets God (Lauren Winner)....highly recommend this writer, but please don't be too shocked at some of what she very honestly expresses!
On Relationships: As a longtime single, you begin to wonder if the required adjustments would even be worth it "just for" the sake of "finding someone". You can get pretty set in your ways the longer this singleness thing persists...(and let's face it, I'm no piece of cake!!) But (as I recently heard commented on) perhaps a single person could assess relationship skills in light of successful friendship skills...now in that I've done pretty well! (she says in a proud sort of way!) Actually, I feel humbly grateful for some very special longtime and even new friendships that are above average in any book. Surely, even with or without "mr. right enough" it is worthwhile to make adjustments for any such relationship! I LOVE this Winner quote on friendship: "There are a few people with whom you fit just so, and, amazingly you keep fitting just so even after you have growth spurts or lose weight or stop wearing high heels. You keep fitting after you have children or change religions or stop dyeing your hair or quit your job and take up farming. Somehow, God is gracious enough to give us a few of those people, people who can stretch into, who don't go away, and whom you wouldn't want to go away, even if they offered to."
With that I should probably end...if you only knew the things I think and do not say!!...at any rate, thanks for "listening"!
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