Anyway, here are some foodie verses from the ancients that I really am drawn to this morning…

“..the cheerful of heart has a continual feast..” (proverbs 15:15)

“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it”

I feel like there’s been quite a bit of “fine tuning” going on in my life recently. I really do believe that this marathon of a life is sometimes about God walking us though these awful self-awareness times. Man it’s hard because I’ve really done a great job training myself in nasty ways. It’s like I’m Pavlov’s dog (who learned to salivate with hunger every time he heard a bell ring)… every time particular things happen, I get a physical reaction, my whole demeanor changes, and I get NASTY. There are thoughts and attitudes that I let run amuck and that have directly contributed to the deterioration of relationships and to the quality of my own life. Perceptions are now being dealt with, painfully, but with hope. I pray for mercy and and building a bridge of faith as I speak. And you? Have you experienced this? I think I have most definitely experienced this time of “refining,” but this is on such a different level for me. Time to reframe. And it’s time to sew better “seeds” in my life and in the lives of those around me. I am so thankful for growth.

Until next time!

Over the past 10 years, I have fallen in love with cooking. I especially love to try new flavors, new techniques and new recipes. After ‘loosing’ our house, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to cultivate this passion. However, some amazing friends offered to share their home and their lives with us. Not only does my family have a warm, temporary place to live (with lots of laughter and love), but they have given me free reign in their gourmet kitchen… with a gas stove! Ah! Heaven. I no longer feel homeless, I feel home(ed).

Because of the self-sacrifice of others, because of their love and commitment to family and friendship, my family is truly blessed this Christmas season. I’ll admit — I have had a terrible time receiving. But as I am reminded by these ancient and relevant words, “Freely give, freely receive.” I intend to do both.

God bless you at Christmas and throughout 2012.

Love,
Michelle
P.S. We’re throwing down our roots now in the Seattle area! If you’re in town, let’s connect! Man, it’s cold up here. Slightly different than Phoenix.

Roasted Snapper

Our other pet project we’re needing to feed is “Stuff Designers Do.” We we so on a roll last year with putting up Brent’s videos on design tips and tricks. Then the economy pushed back and we had to tend to client work again. Boo. We intend to get back into the swing of things starting this weekend by doing a ton of screencasts. Stay tuned for more Stuff Designer Do tutorial videos!

Happy September everyone!

Peppermouth (June 2011)

There are a lot of influences when it comes to my culinary journey. My grandmother is once such powerful influence. She’s famous (at least in northern California) for her tamales, enchiladas, chili rellenos, and heavenly rice. Rice so fluffy, so tasty with just the perfect amounts of flavoring. Garlic and onion sautéing is one of my top favorite smells in the world, and her cooking always includes those staples. Just about every family gathering included her food, and to this day, people are still ordering tamales from this little, spit-fire woman from Nicaragua.

My Jalapeno (2011)

My mom’s famous pies were the other mainstay for family events, and her snappy and sweet lemon meringue couldn’t be topped! Baking was where it was at for my my mother. Her baked goods (pies, cookies, Swedish pancakes, muffins..) was the freshly made food that I did receive, and man was that incredible!

(multiple) Apple Pie (Nov. 2011)

Like many other baby boomers, my mother was certainly influenced by the ‘canned’ fruits and vegetables revolution passed down from her mom, who lived through a Great Depression, and a couple of world wars. Much of the food of the first half of the 20the century was survival food, food of necessity and convenience. And the remnants of that era ended up on my dinner plate in the form of canned green beans, peaches, pears, etc. We did have a garden for a time, which was amazing, but when life got busy, we leaned on other means to get our veggies. Don’t get me wrong- canning isn’t the root of all evil, and my mom turned out hundreds (thousands?!) of GREAT meals. However I thought I hated vegetables (classic child of the 70′s and 80′s), because I rarely had farm-fresh produce. It just wasn’t very accessible, (perhaps a bit undervalued?) in the urban areas we lived around. So never would I have guessed how much fresh ingredients would play a role in my adult culinary path.

The beginnings of (rice) pasta primavera (June 2011)

Roasted Veg with Indian Spices (2011)

My husband introduced me to the world of grilling and flavor. He experimented often in the kitchen when we were dating, much to my delight!!! He even threw me the most flavorful Thanksgiving dinner one year because I had to work all of Thanksgiving day. He researched and implemented brining techniques, almost always marinated meat, and he perfected the art of moist (not dried out!) BBQed meat. After we married he got a smoker, and can turn out some awesome smoked meat, veggies and fish! I’ve never been a big meat girl, but he definitely brought me around to enjoying and even making it. Dried spices also played a key role in my husbands cooking, which gave him an advantage over the other fellas vying for my attention. (Ha ha.) Brent’s passion for creativity and experimentation in cooking definitely rubbed off on me.

Pasilla pepper (June 2011)

I must admit, the DVR + the Food Network + the Internet have been heavy influencers on my cooking over the past five to ten years. I enjoy learning new cooking techniques from top chefs and cooks and my DVR is constantly cluttered with new cooking shows. I loved printing recipes from the internet. Oftentimes, I’ll watch a show and maybe a month later, I’ll remember the ingredients or techniques and I’ll be able to ‘apply on the fly’ the recipe. I love having a lot of spices and ingredients so that I can turn out a great meal anytime. It’s very empowering to understand cooking temperatures, flavor combinations, and to create foods inspired from countries all over the world.

Roasted Snapper

My sister in law and food allergies are two more significant influencers in my culinary journey. Like me, my sister in law is constantly looking for amazing recipes, techniques and favors. She’s cracked open my brother’s picky eating habits and really opened him up to the world of fresh, home made cooking and baking. She’s amazing in the kitchen and especially excels when it comes to Italian cooking and baking. (She’s Italian, so it’s in her DNA!) I love eating her food and swapping recipes with her.

My incredible sister in law, my marvelous mother, and me! (April 2011)

Oh and did I mention food allergies? My incredible husband has been the recipient of the worst food allergies (and environmental allergies, but that’s another story). And these allergies have only manifested over the past few years. It wasn’t until his 30′s that he had to start omitting massive categories of foods from his diet. We learned the hard way, as he visited the hospital multiple times. This impacted us in several ways. Convenience was gone. We could no longer just eat out anywhere for a quick bite to eat. We had to be sure there were options and accommodations for his meals. We have to basically interrogate servers and restaurant owners to be sure of every single ingredient that goes into his food. This led us to eating out less and less and less. That’s a good thing, I know. But that means we eat mostly at home, and the work of making sure every single ingredient is legit is on our shoulders (and mostly mine). A regular trip to the grocery store takes almost twice as long as it used to, because I’m reading labels, going on the Internet to look up ingredient on my phone, and hunting down not-so-common ingredients.

No Wheat Zone (among other things)

My husbands food allergies have caused me to be way more intentional in my cooking, and has led me to simple, fresh and amazing ingredients I really never would have considered. It does take a lot of work, but I am truly enjoying the challenge. The food bill has gone up a bit, because I HAVE to buy fresh, quality ingredients (but I trust God to help us there!). Even if we’re invited to a dinner party, I’ll still have a meal ready for us at home because nine times out of ten, my husband won’t be able to eat what’s served.

Rice Caterpillar (Christmas Day 2010)

A final influencer is my daughter and my desire to model for her healthy eating habits. So I try to always give her freshly made food, made with love of course! I don’t think every meal or snack I give her is a total win. But as a family, we eat a lot of fresh produce, cook up incredibly flavored food, and she even helps! She visits the farmers market, and grocery stores with me, and shes an excellent tomatillo peeler! I don’t deny her treats, but I try to let her know that they have their proper place: in moderation and not for breakfast (right Brent?!).

Little Miss Tomatillo

I appreciate all of these influencers, even the challenging ones. And I love cooking for people and swapping recipes with them, and even teaching cooking! (Who knew?!) I am so thankful to live in a country and in a time where I can work with incredible ingredients and eat great food. Truly, we are blessed here in the U.S.

'Chokes n herbs (2011)

So for my current culinary challenges right now… I want to really be able to create my own recipes! My husband and I have created a few together, and he’s done several on his own (available on Box.net if you’re interested). However’ I want to truly understand food more & more, and I’m getting a little more creative, to where I’m busting out some good ones! Also, I really want to tackle gluten free baking from scratch. That’s a difficult one, but I am motivated to do it!

Shrimp face (June 2011)

Oh and here are some of my favorite dishes I love to ‘throw down’, over & over again. Some our my own recipes, some are borrowed.

Mainstays that I don’t get sick of:

• Fajitas
• Tamales
• Green rice & stuffed veg poblanos
• Fish tacos
• Tikka Masala
• Indian lentils
• Soy-free Asian stir fry
• Sushi (yes, even the raw stuff)
• Roasted chicken
• All sorts of soups
• Chicken & 40 cloves of garlic
• Roasted, whole fish
• Brown rice salad (with bacon)
• BBQ anything (just about)
• Baked and/or chili beans
• Sautéed, roasted and bbq veggies

I know I’m forgetting some of my ‘regulars’ but I’m starting to get hungry. Which is distracting. So what’s on tap for tonight? A new recipe I’m trying called Buttermilk Baked Chicken. It’s supposed to taste like fried chicken, but healthier! And I’ll be doing the gluten free breading by crushing gluten free crackers and adding thyme and grated Italian cheese. The chicken is in my fridge right now swimming in buttermilk, onion, garlic, lemon juice and hot sauce as I’m writing this. Mmmmmm.

My daughter beating the heat (6/21/11)

Happy Summer Solstice!

So it’s going to be 113 tomorrow here in Phoenix. I am not looking forward to this. Not one bit. I’m drinking hot coffee right now even though it’s 105 outside. I don’t care, I want to ignore the heat! So here are several tips & tricks for living in the south west heat!

• Don’t go outside

This is our “winter” at this time of year. You know how in the icy-north people don’t go outside when it’s super cold? We don’t go outside when it’s super-hot. Maybe at night, when you can trick your mind into thinking it’s “cooler” outside do you venture out. But no one should have any business outdoors – especially little babies, kids and the elderly.

• Go outside if you have a pool

Even swimming in 113 degree heat can be dangerous, but if you must go outside, make sure you’ve lathered up on sun block (at least 20 min prior) and then cannon ball into a pool. For maybe 25 minutes maximum because the sun is still shining on your face. Then head back inside and swim when the sun is mostly down.

• Don’t run errands during the day

I learned this the hard way. My first year of living in Arizona, I owned a ’72 Volkswagen Bug. I was from San Francisco, what can I say? The green bug had no A/C and a lovely hole in the floor. I would try to get things done on my day off, and I would get ANGRY from simply driving around. It was a toss up between a stuffed up heat box (windows up), or blazing-hot wind blowing in my eyes/face (windows down). I would go back & fourth between the two options. Then I realized the third option…. Get things done early in the morning (not past 8 or 9 am!) or after the sun has gone down.

• Melty things, leave at home

Candles, chap stick, lip gloss… All have melted in various cars I have owned. Additionally, sun block and hand lotion turn into molten lava when left in the car too long. I have seared my hands before putting lotion on my hands. It’s dry here! My skin needed the moisture! But I also need a top layer of skin. So do yourself a favor, and don’t leave much of anything in the car.

• Ice down the car seats

After 1 summer of putting an infant in a super-heated car seat (and feeling like an awful parent), I discovered freezable car seat covers. Freeze it, then when you’re out running errands & your car is reaching an interior temperature of 170 degrees (no joke), the frozen cover is cooling off your child’s car seat. It is an absolute must!

• WATER

It doesn’t matter if you’re not a “water” person. You HAVE to drink the stuff in hot weather. Have to. I have passed out a few times ‘working out’ in the sun (hiking, biking, etc.) Mind you, I did have water with me and was drinking it. But I didn’t drink enough. You must drink the water.

• Humidifier

I strongly recommend a humidifier at night if you live in a dry, heated place like Arizona. It’s pretty common to wake up with a bloody nose (not every day, but every once & a while) because it is so dry. Your mouth & tongue feel like sand paper. A humidifier can take the edge off a 3 % humidity day.

• Remember, the rest of the year rocks!

So when people are complaining about icy roads, too many rain days, snow, snow, snow and cold, dreary days… Remember that you’ve got sunshine over 300 days a year! If you can survive the summer, you can live to see another incredible fall, winter & spring!

What do you do to BEAT THE HEAT??

Here’s what she is earnestly hoping for (and wanted me & others to pray for), in her words:

Please pray -

• for me — so I can do a good job facilitating, that is, eliciting and clarifying comments and suggestions, keeping people focused
• for people who attend — so they will actually come up with good ideas, not just complaints
• that the whole evening would be effective and worth the time of everyone in attendance
• that parents would come and would want to become involved with the schools and their children  understanding what a huge difference they can make when they they do so

This school district has seen so many ups and downs (too many downs!). So please pray for her if you get a chance!

The bright day is done, And we are for the dark.

This can be a consolation. As if we could say, “Oh really? It’s all over? OK, I can prepare myself for darker times now. Thanks for the heads-up.” However, we are never given notice when an earthquake, so to speak, will happen. We encounter no forewarning of the specifics, length of time, or the nature of the dark night of the soul. Ancient writers tell us that “there is nothing new under the sun.” I suppose there’s nothing new under the moon either.

And yet, there’s that nagging reality of beautiful, sweet love. The hope for mankind. The sum of all that is good and pure. But why, then does love seem a betrayer? Are you happy with those 30 pieces of silver, love? Are you sleeping again, love? Why are you wispering so quitely, love??

I want love to hurry up and run. Sprint, in fact. I want love in my own way, for my own particular purposes. I want to control it and have it fix everything.

Honestly take a look at love. (Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and the entire sum of the book of Psalms is a great start.) What do we see? We realize, love is not here to screw us up or leave us alone. It is so often counterintuitive. So upside down from the way we think love should be. It’s self-sacrificing. It is small and huge. It denies self. It hopes and is patient. And sometimes it looks like it’s asleep (catch a glimpse of Jesus sleeping in Mark ch 4).

Love is waiting for us to allow it to work around our controlling minds and our terrorizing expectations. Love is waiting to penetrate the quite desperation in our hearts and lives. We have to slow down in the middle of our scurrying. Be careful to catch love’s call.