Seeking Simplicity
March 31, 2008|Comments (none)
Just thought I would share some of my doodles from a meeting I attended not long ago. I thought that they were very telling. In fact, it is obvious that I wanted to be home with my chickens, simple life, and garden. While I’m no artist, I think that there is a great deal of meaning in mindless sketches like the one above.
The subject of the talk which inspired my sketches was on integrity/sincerity. The speaker quoted an article written about the root of the word which meant “without wax.” Here is excerpt from that article (by Denis Waitley):
In the Roman Empires’ final corrupt years, status was conveyed by the number of carved statues of the gods displayed in people’s courtyards. As in every business, the Roman statue industry had good and bad sculptors and merchants. As the empire became ever more greedy and narcissistic, the bad got away with as much as they could. Sculptors became adept at using wax to hide cracks and chips in marble and most people couldn’t discern the difference in quality.
Statues began to weep or melt under the scrutiny of sunlight or heat in foyers. For statues of authentic fine quality, carved by reputable artists, people had to go to the artisan marketplace in the Roman Quad and look for booths with signs declaring sine cera, which translates in English to mean, without wax.
For those of us who have chosen a simplified life… we rate sincerity/integrity very high on our list of values.
“Geese appear high over us, pass, and the sky closes. Abandon, as in love or sleep, holds them to their way, clear in the ancient faith: what we need is here. And we pray, not for new earth or heaven, but to be quiet in heart, and in eye, clear. What we need is here.”
– Wendall Berry
Green with… cleanliness?
March 30, 2008|Comments (none)
The kitchen sink is now in fine working order and (as promised) I am posting pictures of the cleaned out underworld of the chemical cabinet.
See? Not so bad now. I’ve also added the cleaning kit (which was once kept in the linen closet since there didn’t appear to be space under the sink). My cleaning kit:
- two toothbrushes
- one scrubby pad
- cloth rags
- a shaker-bottle of baking soda (which I refill from the bulk supply of baking soda)
- Simple Green, a non-toxic cleaner
- Basic-H and Basic-H sprayer (water with Basic-H mixed in)
- homemade furniture polish (½ tsp olive or jojoba oil, ¼ cup vinegar or lemon juice)
- pot scrubber
I fill our sprayer bottles with my own cleaning concoctions. Some of the sprayers came from friends and some were salvaged from church kitchens (you wouldn’t believe what people will try and throw out).
I also took a picture of the cabinet above our washing machine to show you what I use for laundry. My favorite laundry detergent is all-natural with blue eucalyptus & lavender. Generally, I wash our clothing with about half the amount of detergent suggested and add a handful of borax or baking soda. The Downy ball that we have comes from my husband’s bachelor days and is filled with white vinegar instead of commercial fabric softener. Vinegar works just as well as the commercial fabric softeners and is a fraction of the cost. The clothes never smell like vinegar either.
Game on… Game off
March 29, 2008|Comments (none)
The day began with the quest to fix the sink which took us from Lowes to Home Depot. We ended up replacing the entire faucet since ordering the part would take entirely too long. My wonderful husband installed the new faucet (picked out to go with the kitchen counters we plan to install) and then went out to work on the pool after cleaning out the chicken coop. I filled the nesting boxes with shredded paper (a tip we learned about online) and set out two jugs of sun tea. Between cooking and cleaning, I managed to take a few pictures of the chickens and of my pool man:
Last night, we enjoyed the company of our friends/family, Connie and Scott. The Chef de Cuisine, moi, planned to serve creamy Mediterranean shrimp and grilled scallop linguine accompanied by my new favorite recipe: savory bulgur olive bread. I asked Connie to bring the salad. Connie promptly gave me the night off and said she would bring pizza. We love pizza. So it was all settled. I created a little tray of antipasto (peppercinis, jalapeño peppers, mozzarella, jalapeño stuffed green olives, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, artichoke spread, and chunks of savory bread) and set out balsamic vinegar for dipping. Connie arrived with two steaming pizzas and game night was on. After dinner, we watch the Cottonmouths (our beloved hockey team) lose to the Knoxville Ice Bears in their second game of the playoffs.
Recipe for Lacy’s Savory Olive Bulgur Bread:
- 1 cup bulgur wheat
- 3 tablespoons lard or Crisco
- 1 ½ cups boiling chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups cold water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ Tablespoons instant yeast
- ¾ cup warm water
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 ½ Tablespoons molasses
- 4 bantam eggs (or 2 large chicken egg)
- 4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 8 slices of cooked bacon
- 2 cups olives — sliced
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, diced
Place the bulgur wheat and lard in a mixing bowl and stir in the chicken broth. Let sit for about 30 minutes. Add the cold water, molasses, flours, eggs, and yeast. Stir until well mixed, adding the warm water as you go. Knead. Let rest for about 10-15 minutes. Fold in bacon, olives, cheese, salt, and sun dried tomatoes. Divide, shape, and place into bread pans. Let rise until nearly doubled. Bake at 375° F for about 40 to 45 minutes after misting the oven walls with water. For a soft loaf (not crusty), bake at 350° F for 30 minutes without misting the oven walls. Serve with balsamic vinegar and/or artichoke spread.
Note: You can click on any of the pictures for a description and/or to see them full-sized. Thank you!
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