Praying Our Way Through Stress - book review

I wrote this book review for my friend June Paul, a Godly woman and friend who has much to share.

June Paul has given us a short book that is filled with Christian wisdom from Scripture. It is designed to bring people through their stress into happier lives with God.  She combines knowledge of various types of stress with stories and verses from the Bible. Her book is the outgrowth of her workshops, where she says people encouraged her to make her information available to a wider audience.  She says, “Part of the good news about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that God wants to help us handle stress and that prayer does work.”  The early part of the book contains short chapters about different stressors, and the later part has some helpful meditations based on the sermon on the mount and the Lord’s prayer.  June Paul gives us a glimpse of people with pain from financial stress, that is based on her work with people.  In addition, the book has useful prayers, poems and songs, some by Ms Paul, and reading resources for continuing assistance. This book is valuable for people living with stress and others who can read it as part of their spiritual journeys.

Long Cold Winter?

This winter has been long, cold and snowy. More snow is expected tonight and tomorrow. Everywhere I have heard people complain about how bad it is. But is it really? I suggest that we are fortunate to live through the winter with the amenities that technology has given us. We have electricity for light in the long cold nights, various types of fuel to heat our homes against the harsh cold, indoor plumbing for necessary bodily functions, cars to drive through the well plowed roads to our chosen destinations.

Many of us can recall some depictions of winter in other times when people lived without the comforts we have. We read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, The Long Winter, about the Ingalls family barely surviving in the Dakota Territory in the 1800s. They stayed in their rural home in bitter cold with little food for the long winter. And they survived to live on in better days. The book, Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, told of harsh winters in Moscow and the Urals in the early days of the Russian revolution. I read the book and remember the movie, in which the wolves howled outside near Zhivago and Tonia while they nestled under blankets for warmth, and Zhivago and Lara while they huddled close to the heating stove where they wouldn’t freeze. That was winter! The movie industry showed it well.

Winter is described with great intensity in the well known poem, Snowbound, by John Greenleaf Whittier (http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/whitt02.html). In our family, when our kids were young, Rick quoted it every time we had a snowstorm:

“The sun that brief December day

Rose cheerless over hills of gray.

And, darkly circled, gave at noon

A sadder light than waning moon.”

That wasn’t all. Rick would call up the stairs to John and the girls, again quoting Whittier’s poem:

 “A prompt, decisive man, no breath

Our father wasted: ‘Boys, a path!”

It was time to shovel the driveway and sidewalk.

As far as I know, this winter, while long and cold, has not been memorialized in literature, although it has dominated television news. The Ingalls family, Zhivago, and Whittier did not have television to show us what winter is like at its worst. They told us what it was like to live with it. We are living with it in greater comfort. We can stop complaining now.

Bread Pudding - Delicious But is it Good for You?

Bread pudding is delicious, but should we eat it? Here are some reasons for and against consuming bread. Then I’ll tell you how to make a little bread pudding so you can decide or just want to eat it anyway.

For bread consumption:

1.      It tastes good.

2.      It is filling.

3.      It helps the grain producing industry (if you favor that).

Against bread consumption (backed up by Grain Brain, a book by David Perlmutter):

1.      If you have celiac disease (gluten intolerance), you might be at risk for developing mental delay, learning difficulties, tic disorders and ADHD.

2.      If you have gluten sensitivity, you might have severe depression and anxiety.

3.      White bread is a simple carb, so your body treats it like sugar. On the way to diabetes, or worsening it if you already have it.

4.      You are likely to gain weight if you eat bread regularly, assuming you eat the standard American diet.

5.      Modern grains, including refined white flour, “arguably our our beloved dietary staple, [are] a terrorist group that bullies our most precious organ, the brain…but also will accelerate your body’s aging process from the inside out. This isn’t science fiction; it’s now documented fact.” (Dr. David Perlmutter, Grain Brain, p. 5.)

Have you heard enough? Bread pudding is a terrorist?

I seldom eat bread, but when I do, one of my favorites is bread pudding. Ok, I know it will do me no good, but like many people, I sometimes deviate from my usual meal plan. If I haven’t talked you out of health ruination, which is a real threat to well being, read on to learn how easy this is to make. To help you avoid too much temptation or weight gain, this recipe makes only a little bit of the stuff. You can bake the dish in your toaster oven.

Bread Pudding for One or Two

2 slices bread (stale is good)

Butter

1 egg

1 ¼ cups milk (I use whole milk)

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup raisins

Nutmeg

Butter a baking dish that will hold a quart or less. I use a standard Pyrex loaf dish. Spread butter on the bread and cut it into dice size cubes. Place them in the baking dish. In a bowl, beat the egg. Add milk, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Pour the mixture over the bread and let it stand until the bread is soaked, about 5 minutes. Add the raisins.  Sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes until it is firm and browned slightly. Eat it warm or cold.

Small Quantity Baked Beans

A cold winter day means staying in and cooking something that takes all day. For people who cook more like Grandma than Julia Child or Martha Stewart, baked beans come to mind. They have no class and are easy to make. They have no exotic ingredients or complicated procedures. They are far better than the canned variety.

I like good home made baked beans. Once upon a time I made them in quantities large enough to feed my family of seven people. Now I live alone so I have reduced the recipe to an amount that will feed one or two. As today’s politicians would say, it has evolved. In other words, it is changed but still recognizable. It won’t be hanging around in your refrigerator for a week unless you choose not to eat.

Remember the poem Snowbound? “The sun that brief December day rose cheerless over skies of gray…”  That’s today but in January. It’s Saturday. It’s very cold outside. It’s a good day to stay home and think about what to do next after doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and mindlessly engaging with Facebook. The good thing about making baked beans is that you can do other things while you wait all those hours for the beans to bake.

It might be possible to start with canned navy beans, but I have never been a fan of them so make no guarantees.

Small quantity Baked Beans

½ cup dry beans such as navy beans or great northern beans

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup (not the imitation kind and not any old kind of pancake syrup)

½ teaspoon dry mustard

¼ typical yellow onion (approximately)

1 slice bacon (optional)

Soak beans overnight, or not, as you choose. Cook the beans, covered, in about 2 cups of water at a simmer for one hour, or until they are soft and start to break apart. Don’t drain them. Put them in a baking dish that holds a quart or less.  Stir together the salt, syrup and mustard and add to the baking dish. Cut the onion into smallish pieces and put in the dish. Cut the bacon into half inch slices and add to the dish. Stir everything together to distribute it thoroughly. Add hot water to almost cover it. Cover the dish and bake for 6 – 8 hours at 285 degrees. Add water during the process if the beans cook dry. Uncover the dish for the last half hour of baking.

Highlights of 2013

The year 2013 was very good for me. I wasn’t impacted directly by the government shutdown or the startup of the Affordable Care Act. I was happy about the direction of Francis, the new Pope, who speaks Catholic (a.k.a. more like the way Jesus allegedly spoke) better than his predecessor. I spent an infinitesimal amount of time wondering why the American people are so thrilled with Miley Cyrus. I finally figured out what twerking is. I said, “ho hum” about the birth of George, the royal baby, and about the craze for selfies.

My year was mostly about changing my residence. I lived with pre-move, move, and post-move. I ended up happier than I have been for years.

Pre move.  In January my brother David and I sold our beloved cottage at Washington Island after having it on the market for seven years. No one had rushed to buy it. We sold it cheap. Suddenly I had a little money. I decided to sell my condo and buy a house. (My brother also bought a duplex, but that is his story.) I found the world’s best realtor at my church, by simply saying, “How is real estate going these days?” In February, Laura and Dick listed my condo for an unbelievably low asking price. Condos are hard to sell, especially in Madison.

After a lot of people looked at the condo, finally someone made an offer. I had expected it to be on the market for about a year.  I accepted the offer in March. I had been looking at houses for a while and found one that was just right. Laura and Dick showed it to me; we wrote the offer and it was accepted within three hours. We had an inspection, and the seller agreed to repair the leak in the roof that had been caused by the neighbor’s tree branch falling onto it.

The move.  I moved the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Moving is stressful when one does it without a husband to do the heavy lifting. I hired a mover. I moved a lot of stuff into daughter Sarah’s basement. Then I rented a storage room and loaded my car with almost everything I could live without until moving day and filled the space. I have a Toyota Yaris, which I have called a baby Toyota, so I needed to take a lot of trips. I decided that a $70 per month storage room was a better investment than a second moving van costing a lot more money.

Moving day, Friday, came. Sasha, my cat, went to the boarding establishment. I gave temporary custody of my perishable food to son John’s in-laws Sid and Barbara, who had space in their extra refrigerator and freezer. The movers loaded the moving van and took it back to their garage. Daughter Sarah and I went back and cleaned up the condo until 2:30 a.m. I spent the remainder of the night at her house. The next day we closed on the condo and the house in quick succession. It was time for the two guys to unload the moving van. After the movers left, son John, grandkids Laura and Ian, and I unloaded the storage room. With two cars it was emptied in a short time. I recovered my cat and food. I had moved. It had been a family event.

Post-move.  Buying a new house means dreaming and prioritizing. It was wonderful to plan after ten years in the condo where one had less flexibility about changes. The house and yard had some needs. New window coverings, replacement carpet for living room and hall, and stopping the leak in the kitchen sink were priorities inside the house. Early summer rains leaked into the finished basement. The carpet remained wet for a month, so out it came from the wet end of the room.  

Outside was the yard, mostly grass mixed with wild mint plants. Mowing the lawn produced a pleasant minty aroma. After planting some small trees and flowers in the back yard, I learned that I had guests there: rabbits. They and roots of the big old maple tree prevented plants from thriving. Tomato and zucchini plants grew but barely produced anything. Flowers had little chance with hungry bunnies there. Sasha and I stood inside at the window and watched them frolicking in my flower beds. Sasha liked them since they are a cat’s natural prey. The cute baby rabbits ate just about anything that grew except the tomato and zucchini plants. They even ate my newly planted raspberry bushes, thorns and all.

I love my yard even though it remains somewhat bare. During the summer I spent many happy days sitting on my lawn chair reading under the silver maple. It would have been even better if a deck had been there. That’s something for the future, along with a door in the back of the house for access. We had our annual family party for the spring birthdays in the yard. It was a chance for me to share my new house with them.

Fall and winter came. I am still thinking about things to do with my nice home. I pulled out the carpet in the bedroom that I call the library, and found parquet flooring in acceptable condition. I was delighted. I hope to uncarpet the other bedrooms sometime soon.

It has been seven happy months since I moved. I’m still loving it.

I did one more thing in 2013, unrelated to moving. Just before I moved, I took a tour bus trip to Savannah, Georgia. That was good, too.

After Christmas Weight Loss

Once again it’s time to take off a few pounds. Every year I give it a try with limited or no success. A couple of weeks of holiday eating can’t be wished off or prayed off even though a good attitude should help. I can’t blame Aunt Molly, as my mother did when she put on extra pounds. Aunt Molly was remembered for her spherical shape. Mother would groan and say, “I take after Aunt Molly.” Did she lose weight with this strategy? No. She spent less time looking into the mirror.

I turn to the books. After all, I spent a lot of my life as a librarian. When I worked in libraries, every January I made displays of diet books to enable everyone to eliminate excess holiday pounds. Maybe my co-workers noticed; I don’t know. I was doing something to help the world and maybe myself. Well, we all know that making displays is nice but it doesn’t bring about weight loss. It’s better to read them. It’s even better to do something.

I have noticed some recent weight loss trends such as intermittent fasting and the paleo diet. Goodbye Weight Watchers and the Atkins program. What became of calories? What happened to too much junk food? Low carb has morphed into low glycemic. The diets and weight loss programs all have books. Pick one and live better. Are we confused yet?

The latest weight loss wonder with book, The Daniel Plan, comes from megachurch pastor Rick Warren in collaboration with Dr. Mark Hyman and Dr. Daniel Amen. It has a different approach. Here is what Amazon.com says about it:  “Revolutionize Your Health ... Once and for All During an afternoon of baptizing over 800 people, Pastor Rick Warren realized it was time for change. He told his congregation he needed to lose weight and asked if anyone wanted to join him. He thought maybe 200 people would sign up, instead he witnessed a movement unfold as 15,000 people lost over 260,000 pounds in the first year. With assistance from medical and fitness experts, Pastor Rick and thousands of people began a journey to transform their lives. Welcome to The Daniel Plan. Here's the secret sauce: The Daniel Plan is designed to be done in a supportive community relying on God's instruction for living.”

I’m not sure how well this works. It deals with weight loss science from Dr. Hyman, the brain connection from Dr. Amen, and grouping from Rick Warren. These three guys have appeared on several television venues to promote their program and their book. They want groups of people to lose weight as Rick Warren has. The two doctors look slim enough already. I haven’t read the book.

Intermittent fasting is interesting. It works for some people. I have read about two types and blogged about one. They are said to be very good for health, as obesity reduction should be. One type, with book, The Mini-fast Diet, is the mini-fast, from weight loss doctor Julian Whitaker, and Peggy Dace. This program works by eliminating breakfast and thus bringing about a sixteen hour fast, with no food ingested from after supper through the morning. I tried it for two and a half weeks and gave up after seeing no results. In the book people said they lost pounds immediately. The other intermittent fast challenge is the fast diet from medical journalist Michael Mosley. The book is The Fast Diet, published in the United Kingdom. This program is supposed to work when the dieter eats 500 or 600 calories per day for two non-consecutive days of the week. The dieter does not go into starvation mode when he/she separates the days or does not eat 500-600 calories every day. The difference in calories is gender related: women 500, men 600. Both the Whitaker and Mosley programs promise weight loss and better health as long as the dieter doesn’t binge on the other days and stays to a diet that is low on the glycemic load.

Here we have three dieting possibilities for the next weight loss attempt. Would it work for Mother and Aunt Molly? Since they have gone to their rewards in the next life, we’ll never know. Will it work for me? Or you? We can check in on that next year at this time, maybe.

Swedish Rosettes

When it’s time to make Christmas cookies, it’s time to make rosettes. Rosettes are crispy delicate cookies made of batter and deep fried in shapes like the floral rosettes for which they are named, or stars, snowflakes or concentric circular shapes. They are beautiful and melt in your mouth. People who want rosettes mostly have to make them. People who want results without process are better off eating something else because the road to rosettedom is about process. You aren’t going to do this in five minutes. Dipping those little goodies in hot fat and waiting for them to turn into heaven takes time.

Is it possible to buy rosettes? I haven’t seen them in grocery stores, although at Christmastime I suspect that we can find them at Fosdal’s Bakery in Stoughton, Wisconsin, where the slogan is “here to make life a little sweeter.”

Rosette making is inexpensive and not difficult.  Rosettes are made from everyday ingredients and fried like doughnuts. They are made on an iron, which actually is aluminum. It would seem awkward to call a rosette iron an aluminum. Rosette irons can be bought in some stores or online from NordicWare or (you guessed it) Amazon.com.

Here is how I make them. Required equipment includes rosette iron and deep fryer. Take your time.

Swedish Rosettes                   (about 3 dozen)          

2 eggs                                                  1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon sugar                             ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon salt                                   oil for deep frying (I use canola oil)

1 cup all purpose flour                        powdered sugar

Have milk and eggs at room temperature. Beat eggs slightly in a small deep bowl. Blend in sugar and salt. Add flour and milk alternately; add vanilla. Mix until smooth. In your deep fryer heat oil to 375 degrees. Put the rosette iron into the hot fat. When it is well heated, remove it from the fat and immediately dip it into the batter. Do not let the batter run over the top of the iron or the rosette will stay stuck and not be removable. Immediately put the batter coated iron into the oil for at least 30 seconds or until the rosette is crisp and beginning to brown. Remove it from the oil and let it drip, then slip the rosette off the iron and drain it on absorbent paper such as paper toweling. Put the iron back into the oil for a few seconds before making the next rosette. Sprinkle the rosettes with powdered sugar.

Some things to know:

That iron isn’t ready to go right out of the new box. It must be seasoned first. I learned this the hard way rather than from my mother, who never made rosettes. If your iron is already seasoned, you may disregard this paragraph. To season it, coat the shaped frying part with oil and put it into the oven (in a dish) at an unspecified temperature (I don’t remember what temperature) and let it bake for a half hour or so. At this point the iron should be ready for rosette making. If you don’t season the iron, the batter will become stuck on the iron. The first rosette onto the iron might stick anyway, so don’t give up.

If rosettes drop from the iron after cooking, the fat is too hot. If they are soft when cooked, they have been cooked too quickly. If they have blisters, the eggs have been beaten too much.

My source says the rosettes will keep for about two weeks, but in my home they have never lasted that long so I make no guarantees. I keep them in a covered container until the wild hordes discover them and start to eat.

Wash the iron in water but do not use soap or dish detergent, or you will undo the seasoning.

It is ok to use cream or diluted evaporated milk in place of the fresh whole milk.

My source for this recipe is The Electric Company Christmas Cooky Book, which I acquired in about 1962 from The Wisconsin Electric Power Company in Milwaukee, the city where I lived for about a year with my new husband Rick. The booklet shows no author and no publication date.

Another source for rosettes is Swedish Food: 200 Selected Swedish Dishes, The Smorgasbord, Traditional Party and Everyday Menus, published in Gothenburg, Sweden, 10^th edition, undated. I got it from my mother, who was not Swedish but loved to cook during her life. Fortunately, the book is written in English.

A third source is a departure from the others. It is a recipe on the back of the package of an angel rosette iron piece that I got from one of my daughters. It suggests use of beer in place of milk. I haven’t tried that. Also, it suggests that you purchase ready made rosette batter. I don’t stand behind that suggestion and have never actually seen any.