Archive for August, 2008

Broken Pieces

Thursday, August 21st, 2008

As children bring their broken toys
with tears for us to mend,

I brought my broken dreams to God,
because He was my Friend.

But then, instead of leaving Him
in peace to work alone,

I hung around and tried to help
with ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,
“How can You be so slow?”

“My child,” He said, “what could I do?
You never did let go.”

I saw this many, many, many years ago – and it has always stayed with me. The hardest thing to do in life, I think, is to learn to let go. Not to not care – but, to simply let go.

We get so used to being in control of things. We fiddle and we fuss and we tweak. When sometimes, like the artist at the easel, the best thing we can do is walk away. Why, I wonder, is that the hardest thing to do? You’d figure just stopping would be easier than continuing to fuss and tweak and fidget. Yet, it seems more difficult to just stop. Ironic, wouldn’t you say?

Potential for dinner

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

I came across this recipe on Cook Think. As with many of the recipes on the site, it looks wonderful. So I’m considering giving it a go.

It’s called Malaysian Chicken Satay. You can read about the dish at Rasa Malaysia, here. The recipe is also located at the bottom of the article or on Cook Think.

Ingredients:

4 chicken legs and thighs or 4 chicken breasts (deboned)
Spice paste
1 spoon Oyster Sauce (Lee Kam Kee brand recommended)
1 cucumber (skin peeled and cut into small pieces)

Spice Paste

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 stalks lemongrass
6 shallots (peeled)
2 cloves garlic (peeled)
4 tablespoons cooking oil
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
4 spoons Kecap Manis (ABC brand from Indonesia recommended)

Timer:

prep: 10 minutes
total: 12 hours

Tools:

food processor
large bowl (or large freezer bag) for marinating chicken
bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 2 hours to avoid burning)

Instructions:

1. Cut the chicken meat into small cubes
2. Grind the Spice Paste in a food processor. Add in a little water if needed. Marinate the chicken pieces with the spice paste for 10-12 hours
3. Thread the meat on to bamboo skewers and grill for 2-3 minutes each side. Serve hot with fresh cucumber pieces

There are tons of other great recipes on Cook Think, and more wonderful recipes like this Satay recipe on Rasa Malaysia. If this looks good, you should totally go browse their sites.

When I make this, I’ll give a review and let you know what I think. If any of you decide to give it a try, please, leave a comment and let me know what your opinion of it is – or how you tweaked it, if at all.

The Omnivore Hundred

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

I saw this over on Chocolate and Zuchinni’s blog and I decided to give it a go.

The Omnivore’s Hundred is an eclectic and entirely subjective list of 100 items that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in his life.

He offered this list as the starting point for a game, along the following rules:
1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten (I’ve used icons instead – borrowing liberally from C&Z)
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

My list follows. I am “missing” 23 items. Not bad.

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