Typealyzer

Interesting:

ISFP – The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

here

If you have a blog and decide to do this, link to your results in the comments! I’d love to read them

Pasta Fresca

As promised (on Twitter), here are some pictures of yesterday’s cooking adventures.

For this recipe, you’ll need fresh basil, spinach leaves, cherry or grape tomatoes, bacon, pasta and cheese. I’m not specific about the last three items because you can choose whatever kind of bacon you’d prefer (turkey, reduced salt, regular, whatevs), whatever kind of pasta you’d like (I chose fusilli), and whatever kind of cheese (the recipe called for Parmesan, but I chose Gruyère After not using it last time around, I decided I wanted to give it a try. Very good. I enjoyed it.)

You’ll want to chop 3 cups of spinach leaves, chiffonade 1/2 cup of basil leaves and cut in half 2 cups worth of tomatoes.

Set some water boiling for the pasta,

And cook the bacon. Once the bacon is cooked and the pasta water is boiling, you’ll want to throw the pasta in: 1 and 1/2 cups worth.

As the pasta is cooking, wilt the spinach. I’m not 100% sure how to do this, but I shifted as best I could. I put the chopped spinach in a different pot (yes, there are four on the elements. I only used three. But I’d like to cite this picture as the (hopefully) only reason my mom doesn’t like me taking over her kitchen. Oh wait, no, this

and the pots and pans are hopefully the only reasons.) Then I added just a splash of water (enough to keep the spinach from burning) and set the pot over very low heat. I left it there until the pasta was ready.

Drain the pasta and allow its pot to cool a little bit. Place the oil in the pot (I used canola oil and added garlic salt to taste; the friend from whom I got the recipe agrees on this step. Garlic-flavoured olive oil is expensive and smells strongly of garlic, but doesn’t taste of it as much.) Then add the pasta back in, along with the bacon (chopped into bits) and toss together.

Add in the spinach (if there is left over water in the bottom of the spinach pot, be sure it isn’t added to the pasta), the basil, the tomatoes, and if the pot/ingredients have cooled a lot, place it over low heat. The final step is adding the cheese and you want it to melt into the rest.

Ooh, looks so good! Just need to add the cheese.

Mm, finished product! Yummy!

We didn’t have any leftovers.

After cooking notes? I would just add more cheese. I thought the flavour of the Gruyère was delish, but wasn’t prominent enough. I wouldn’t add a lot more, but maybe 1/2 a cup instead of 1/3.

because He has always loved me

The stories that resonate most strongly with me are those of transformation, specifically, of rebuilding. But it makes sense, since that seems to be a primary narrative in life. Every significant change in my own life has come through rebuilding. Every significant change in myself has come through rebuilding.

This morning in church, the pastor said,

God’s salvation is not about renovation.

Renovation projects are always based on the assumption that the overall structure of the building is sound. General improvements and modifications are made to the appearance of the building, updating it or simply changing it. But as soon as the structure is touched, it is no longer about renovation. It becomes a question of rebuilding.

God is not interested in renovation, because He knows something that we would choose not to, if we could. He knows that it isn’t just a facelift, a tidy-up, a superficial improvement that needs to be made; He knows that it is the very thing we have built our lives upon that needs to be dealt with.

I have written about this before here. God doesn’t come in to fix cracked tiles or to replace a water-damaged ceiling. He comes in to level the foundation that is causing the tiles to crack, or to fix the structural imperfections that are causing water to leak through.

The entire course of my life has been, and will continue to be, about rebuilding.

It’s actually really cool. Looking back on certain situations and certain times in my life, I can see where God has come in and completely demolished something. At the time, I would be really annoyed or really hurt by it, but after much stubbornness on my part, He would finally convince me to trust Him. And what He put in its place was always amazing. It is always amazing to see Him rebuild. For me, anyway, I usually can’t tell that He is rebuilding until He has almost finished, and it is incredible to see the difference.

There are also times where He knows the heart and soul I have put into building something of my own. I can’t build very well, unfortunately, so He still has to come and make changes, but in those times, He is so gentle with me. Knowing how much of myself I have poured into it, He does not come with a bulldozer. He comes with just Himself (and more often than not, with a brother or sister in Christ), makes Himself comfortable and spends the afternoon talking with me, about everything and anything, and in among that, about why the wall I’ve built needs to come down. And He spends as long as it takes (days, weeks, months) for me to trust Him yet again, but in this case, I have to trust Him enough that I remove the first brick.

In the first scenario, with the bulldozer, it is a construction that should be there but has been built improperly. In the second, it is usually a building that shouldn’t be there at all. In the first, the lesson is in construction, thus the destruction happens quickly, and most time is spent on learning how to rebuild. In the second, the lesson is a lot harder, for it is learning how to take apart something and to let it go. It is a lesson in deconstruction, thus the destruction is what takes the most time. The same amount of self and effort is put into both buildings, but since the second won’t be coming back, there is a great deal of gentleness in the removal of it.

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:18-19

related post at StuffChristiansLike

New Year’s Resolutions redux

On January 1st of this year, I posted a list of resolutions on my Blogger site. That post can be found here.

We are just under two months away from the new year and so I think it would be worthwhile to examine my resolutions and how (or even if) I have improved in the course of the year since making them. This is actually the first time I have gone back and looked over resolutions from the past. Other years I have made them, but they were usually on a looseleaf sheet of paper or buried in a journal or school notebook, and so I never found them again before the new year was upon us. Over the past month, I have stumbled across my New Year’s Resolutions post several times, and so I think it is important that I make some examination of it.

The reason I chose each resolution is listed in the original post. Here, I shall simply state the resolution and how I think I have or have not improved.

1. I will be more decisive.

Hmm. Well, as with anything else, it is a work in progress. But I have noticed that my conversation is moving in this direction. Rather than taking an “I don’t care, whatever” approach, I am more able to approve and forward a plan. I am also noticing a greater initiative taken in bringing plans to fruition. As well, I have become far more able to declare when I don’t approve a plan. In the past, it was often the case that I would shrug and say, “Well, whatever” if I really didn’t want to do something. And while that is sometimes the appropriate response, I am learning to be honest with my opinion and perspective, especially when the person I am talking with would genuinely like to know the truth behind where I am coming from. Unless I notice any serious changes that need to be made in the next two months, I think I can safely graduate this from the list. While it is something I need to keep working on, I think I can safely move my focus in the new year.

2. I will remember that physical activity helps with stress management.

I don’t think it has been a conscious decision, but I have adopted regular physical activity into my lifestyle. Let me modify that statement. I have adopted regular physical activity that I enjoy into my lifestyle. As you are probably completely aware, I have taken up swing dancing, something that I do at least twice a week. I attend a weekly dance and I have enrolled in weekly lessons. As I said, it wasn’t a purposeful move. My thought process wasn’t “I need physical activity to help with stress management”; it was more “I love dancing, how can I get more involved?”. As a result, I have noticed that my stress level is reduced. Granted, it probably helps that I have completed my undergrad degree, but there is more peace and more energy in my life now than before when the physical activity I chose was less purposeful and less enjoyable.

3. I will breathe Scripture.

I composed an email several nights ago and in the course of it, I did something I have not done in a very long time: I quoted Scripture. I unconsciously quoted Scripture. I mean, I knew it was from the Bible, but my thought process wasn’t, “Oh, I think a verse should go here, wait, let me find one.” No, it was something that had been on my mind and in my heart, and so it naturally came in the course of my writing.

This, however, is one area that I know I can continue improving on. I still do not spend enough time in Scripture. It is a lot more regular than it used to be, but I am not purposeful in it, and I do not dwell in it as I would like. I re-read emails, poetry and novels with a regularity that puts my Scripture reading to shame. I do not know it as I would like. This, I think, will be something I keep into the new year. But I would like to focus on it differently. I am not sure how, but I have two months to continue contemplating this.

4. I will find a stronger rein for my tongue.

Uh oh. Yea, FAIL. I haven’t been purposeful about this one at all. This I will keep on my list.

5. I will not be afraid to make mistakes.

Another fail.

It’s funny, I have a lot to say about the areas where I feel improvement, but not nearly as much in the areas where I haven’t improved as I would like to.

If anything, I have become more afraid of making mistakes. So, this will likely stay on the list.

6. I will choose to live joyfully and full of hope.

This is a hard-earned success, one that I think is still hesitant in its display. But I think it is very worth encouraging it to bloom. You can either choose to live clouded by despair and fear or you can choose to live guided by joy and hope. I am choosing the latter. This will probably stay on the list, but I am not sure in what form.

7. I will have fun.

Yay, big success. I have had a lot of fun this past year. I wrote in my original post,

There is much to be done, much to be excited for, much to plan and hope and dream.

And how right I was. This will probably stay on, not because I have failed, but because it is important to remember. It is easy to get caught up in all of the to-do’s and should-do’s, but it is really important to remember to have fun while doing them.

Stay tuned come January 2009 for a brand new list of resolutions, and I would encourage you to think of some yourself. I think there are always ways that we can improve and by writing them down, it does then beg an examination of them later on. If you choose to write them on a public forum, send me a link, and we can see how we all are doing in the months to come.

God bless!

Best meal EVER (hyperbole noted)

I promised a report of the meal I made after the super busy/fun weekend with my friends was done, so here it is. I made scalloped potatoes and chicken tenders for dinner Friday night. Sounds simple/boring, but seriously? De-lic-ous.

The recipe for scalloped potatoes was passed on to me and can be found here.

The chicken tenders I made based on a recipe I found on the same website, but I modified it for what we had in the pantry. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of the process or the finished product, so that will have to be saved for next time! For now, I give you the recipe for the breading I used.

1 cup crushed soda crackers

2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine the above in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat two eggs.

I used three chicken breasts, but might recommend less. I found I was thin on breading by the end.

Using one strip at a time, coat in breading, dip in the eggs and then coat again.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat. Place the coated chicken strips in the oil and cook for 5 or 6 minutes each side.

Things I would change for next time? Less cayenne pepper. They were quite spicy. Deliciously spicy, but a touch too spicy for the audience I made them for. Also, they ended up being too crisped. I would keep a better eye on the cooking process next time.

The scalloped potatoes turned out perfectly. The only change I made for that recipe was to use a mixture of Parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella instead of Gruyère, in part because that is what my recipe-sharer suggested, in part because it was cheaper that way. (Parmesan was cheaper than Gruyère, and when I brought it home, I discovered the cheddar and mozzarella we already had, so decided to mix them).

Despite the substitutions, the meal was delicious. The flavour and texture were incredible and it was just one of those very satisfying meals. It always feels like such an accomplishment to try making something you never have before and for it to end up tasting so good.