A View from my Front Door

Having a day devoted to grading essays and reports tends to fry my brain, so I haven’t yet written that great post comparing a Wendell Berry novel and an Anne Lamont novel…It sounds quite interesting in my brain though…

So without those deep thoughts, I just have these views from my front door-

Go ahead and take a picture from your front door!  Be sure to leave a comment here  so we can all check out your blog.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Does anyone know what this is? 

Random Life Notes, #1

I am always intrigued by the search phrases that bring people to the blog, so I check out the Google list every few days.  Today’s list included a search under my name…always an odd one.  Who out there needs to just bookmark the blog?!? :) 

So I Googled myself and noticed that things were different from the last time I Googled myself (side random fact-I like to Google people.)  But this one site, the Living Water Music Project, popped up and brought back some memories, most of them great (but I will always remember the royal blue performance blouses.)

So, after all that, here is my random life note for this post-

Did you know that there is a song written for me?  :)  Yep!  My high school church choir director had a music writing project which involved writing a song dedicated to each choir member.  Every song had some connection to the dedicated member and there was a clue for each song.  I don’t think I ever figured out anyone’s song dedication, but my friend Alison was driven to solve every puzzle.  You’ll have to check out the link to find the clue for my song.

Brunch Food

Here are some recent food finds for all to enjoy.  As I was looking for recipes lately, my goal was to find new recipes for fabulous food that was fast to fix.  I think I did it! 

First, these chicken sausage pattiesare a must make.  Please believe me when I say that they are easy-they are unbelievably easy.  I am able to go down to my wonderful local butcher and have them grind the chicken, so that is a key part to making this easy.  I hate grinding meat!  Go, make these sausages and enjoy a flavorful, non-greasy breakfast patty.

These cupcakesare another new fav-

       

My sister Anna made this salad.  Beet lovers unite!

 

I need this chair…

 This video cracks me up every time!  You’ve just got to see this new product, sure to melt away the pounds while you work. 

Wordless Wednesday

Dorks or Dedicated Learners?

Every once in a while, or rather every once in a very frequent while, my high school students are able to veer a class slightly “off topic.”  This thrills them since it means we spend a little less time exercising our brains to near exhaustion by converting logical arguments to the first form and testing their validity…  It doesn’t bother me though, because I am delighted with our topics of conversation.

This week our off- topic conversation started after I tossed out one of my crazy ideas-

I am thinking that maybe we could have Latin Club next year! (Imagine my wild enthusiasm here.)

What?!? Latin CLUB?  Miss Lutz, are you trying to turn us into dorks?

Me, no, never!  You know that my deepest desire is for you to all be movie stars, pop singers and pro sports icons.

(Oddly enough they didn’t believe this…)

But really Miss Lutz, I mean, Latin CLUB!  No one does this!  You are trying to make us way too weird!

Ok, I will concede that the name “Latin Club” is a bit dorky, we can tweak that.  But the idea-isn’t it exciting?!  We’d have the class once a month, talk in Latin, learn more about literature and history, and read classic Latin excerpts-fun right?

Surprisingly, they were not as enthused about a Latin Club as I was…hmmm…they think I am turning them into dorks.  Being the loving teacher that I am, I gently and kindly reminded them that they are already a bit dorky by some standards, that dorky is all relative, so just don’t worry. 

But in the course of our discussion we were drawn back to the fact that working hard at anything, like in this case Latin, is not popular in many circles these days.  We all reflected on the reality that we are pulled towards the path of least resistance.  We live in a culture of the immediate, the quick, the simple. 

But how bad is this really?  Does it really matter?  I asked my students-what was easy about pursuing wisdom and virtue?  What is the easy way to know the true, the good and the beautiful?  They know there is no easy path to wisdom and virtue.  Our calling is to become more human, to become more of the people God created us to be, to know Him (and thus all of His world) and to enjoy Him forever.  There is something hard about all of this-it involves sacrifice, commitment, loyalty, honor, and it is never-ending. 

And when my class ended that day, my heart was rejoicing, not because I have a class full of Latin dorks, but because I have a class of teenagers who desire to pursue wisdom and virtue.

He is Risen!

Here is one of my favorite Easter songs, written by Keith Green: 

Easter Song

Hear the bells ringing

They`re singing that you can be born again

Hear the bells ringing

They`re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone

Said He has risen, just as He said

Quickly now, go tell his disciples

That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah

He`s risen, hallelujah

He`s risen, hallelujah

Bread Baking Therapy

I forgot how much I love baking bread and all of the relaxing steps that it entails.  Have you ever made a yeast bread?  I hope so!  I have been thinking about bread for the past two days…

I love the warm aroma as the yeast proofs. 

I love seeing the yeast grow, bubbling and brown; what seemed dead is suddenly full of life.

I love it when a huge pile of dry flour amazingly incorporates with such a relatively small amount of water.

I love to see the gluten develop as I knead the bread.

I love the feel of the flour, water and yeast developing into a smooth, warm mass of dough.

I love to check the dough again and again, watching its gradual, steady rise.

I love to feel the gas pockets deflate as I punch the dough down and knead it and then shape it. 

I love to tease the mass of dough into an even, beautiful ball.

I love that moment, right before it goes into the oven, when I slash the very top of the loaf, just cutting a thin layer of the strong gluten strands.

I love the smell of baking bread-it smells like home.

And I love slicing into a loaf and seeing the crumb of this loaf, seeing the beautiful results of all the yeast’s hard work.

I remember now that I love baking bread and I am going to have to do it more often!

Martha Stewart vs. Maxine

You all know who Martha is, and you know that I appreciate so many things about her,

but do you remember Maxine?

So who are you more like?

Martha’s Way* Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugar cone to prevent ice cream drips.

*Maxine’s Way * Just suck the ice cream out of the bottom of the cone, for Pete’s sake! You are probably lying on the couch with your feet up eating it, anyway!  

To keep potatoes from budding, place an apple in the bag with the potatoes.

Buy Hungry Jack mashed potato mix, keep it in the pantry for up to a year.  

When a cake recipe calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead and there won’t be any white mess on the outside of the cake.

Go to the bakery! They’ll even decorate it for you. 

If you accidentally oversalt a dish while it’s still cooking, drop in a peeled potato and it will absorb the excess salt for an instant “fix-me-up.”

If you oversalt a dish while you are cooking, that’s too bad. Please recite with me the real woman’s motto: “I made it and you will eat it and I don’t care how bad it tastes!”  

Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.

Celery? Never heard of it!  

Brush some beaten egg white over pie crust before baking to yield a beautiful glossy finish.

The Mrs. Smith frozen pie directions do not include brushing egg whites over the crust so I don’t.  

Cure for headaches: take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go away.

Take a lime, mix it with tequila, chill and drink!  

If you have a problem opening jars, try using latex dishwashing gloves. They give a non-slip grip that makes opening jars easy.

Go ask that very cute neighbor if he can open it for you.  

Don’t throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

Leftover wine???????????   HELLO !!!!!!!

(I have no idea who wrote this, but I had to have another Martha Stewart post!)