Attitude

I definitely have one; sometimes a good one, sometimes a rotten one.  So, I’ve decided to change how I view THE MESS.

Inspired by one of Simple Mom’s posts last week, I hung a few gentle reminders for myself in the places around the house I find myself grumbling most often.  Above the sink that is usually full of dishes for the lack of a dishwasher and right next to our infuriating 1-square-foot of counter space I hung this:

If the dishes weren’t piled up and the laundry wasn’t mounded for three days on the living room chair, if the carpet wasn’t dusted with dog hair 5 minutes after being vacuumed, if the kitchen floor was sparkly, if I got to complete every craft project I started and cross everything off my to-do list every day… that would mean one thing.  There would not be any of those dearest to me in my life.   It would mean no family meals to litter the kitchen, no boxers or baseball uniforms or cute baby girl clothes to fold up and put away, no zealously affectionate dogs to shush when the baby is sleeping, no family beach excursions to return from and traipse sand onto the kitchen floor.  This mess is their footprints.

This mess is evidence of a house well-eaten in, celebrated in, laughed in, cried in, slept in, woken-up early  in, relaxed in, worked in, loved in… evidence of a life full of precious people whose hearts were entrusted to me by the Creator of the universe.

Above the stove that I am usually hunched over at 5:00pm, hurried to prepare dinner for a tired, shriek-y 9-month old and a husband who insists on undressing in front of the open living room windows the instant he walks in the door yet, curiously, immediately goes into the bedroom to put on mesh shorts and a t-shirt, leaving his work clothes strewn across the couch I posed these questions to myself:

Seriously.  What am I communicating to my husband everyday as I bustle about managing the household?  What am I modeling to my daughter about the attitude with which a mother does her job?  Sometimes those are scary thoughts.  What memories am I making for my family?  What will they remember about how I portrayed the responsibility of taking care of everyone?

For the living room, I’ve got an idea for a painting – that if I ever actually get around to painting, I will be pleasantly surprised – to remind me to think of all the material chaos as “footprints” and to remember that my Jesus tells me, “You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed” (Luke 10:41-42).  The Lord promises me that my plans will succeed if I commit whatever I do to Him (Proverbs 16:3).  Well, phew!  That’s a load off.

However, I know my flesh and I know it won’t be long before I forget this.  Hence, the visible reminders.  And all this is not to say that I will stop taking my job as a SAHM and household manager seriously.  Of course I will, I know what the Lord says about that (Proverbs 31) and I genuinely love my job.  I will always strive for excellence in what I do.  It isn’t my work ethic that needs bolstering, it’s my attitude that needs changing.

I want to remember what it means that I have THE MESS to deal with in the first place.  When I fall short of my goals and ideals, I want to remember that most often it is because I’m not the only person in my life that depends on me.  Hallelujah, what a gift!

What’s cookin’

The floors need mopping, the carpet needs vacuuming, the budget needs balancing, the errands need running, the Mama-daughter dresses are still on the machine, and we’re going out of town on Thursday.  But.  But!  I can justify this!!  Inspiration has hit and I’m treating my little family to a summery feast tonight:  cucumber-watermelon gazpacho and a Dr. Pepper pork roast.

While out to dinner with visiting family this weekend, I was inspired by Sermet (his cooking has been inspiring me since college) to tweak my own cucumber-watermelon gazpacho recipe.  I think this one at Epicurious is a great place to start since I’ve got everything but the celery.  Think I might sub celery seed and see what happens…

And I’ve got a random can of Dr. Pepper.  Hmm.  We never buy soda, so I’m not sure how this ended up in my fridge, but it’s going to be superb on the Boston Butt I found on sale at Publix this morning.  I’m going to try and make this work with my roast.

We’ll see how I fare…  Happy Tuesday!

For my daddy

Daddy,
Thank you for being the shining example of grace and forgiveness in my life.  I love you always and forever.
Happy 30th Father’s Day,
your little goomba

The years have been many, the years have been long.
But at last I’m returning to Daddy and home.
He’s looking my way, though he hardly can see.
God bless my old daddy, he recognize me.

There’s snow in his hair, and I helped to put it there,
A halo of worry and care.
As my daddy grows old, he’s more precious than gold.
For I cherish the snow in his hair.

His shoulders were bent with the weight of the years.
I scarcely could hold back the flood tide of tears.
He walked with a cane as he hurried along
to meet me,
to welcome me home.

There’s snow in his hair, and I helped to put it there,
A halo of worry and care.
As my daddy grows old, he’s more precious than gold.
For I cherish the snow in his hair.

“Snow in His Hair”
by Johnny Cash

inspiration for my day

“You were never meant to go through life by the skin of your teeth but to flourish in the love and acceptance of Almighty God.” – Beth Moore

My first Granny Square!

Yay – I finally learned to crochet!  And thank you, Ivy Mae, for being my life’s ever-willing fiber arts tutor extraordinaire.  Oh, where would I be without your expertise?

I like this yarn.  Ella Rae, 100% wool, though I don’t know the name of the color.  It was actually scrap yarn from my first ever knitting project.  I see more crochet projects looming on the horizon…  Yo-yos and flowers to adorn some onesies, perhaps?

Done.

It feels so good to finish a project.  Her little knitted dress is no longer a WIP.  Now I can finally move on to our Mama-daughter dresses!   But for today, I’m just going to enjoy the feeling of accomplishment… relish watching her get into mischief while wearing her new Mama-made frock.

My beach buddy

Hey, kid! Hang up and drive!

A prayer

I pray for my daughter a lot, naturally.  There is quite a breadth to the petitions – protection, guidance, strength, wisdom, discernment, provision, health…  But lately, I’ve been praying for her friends, for those who will enter her life and influence her forever.

I pray that the Lord will fill her life with people that take her heart seriously and model Christ for her.  People that would seek to edify her, pray for her, and deal with her authentically.

I pray that God gives her friends that really get her – that inspire her to be who He created her to be.  Specifically, I pray for that one girlfriend, the one she’ll call her best friend.

I ask that He prepares Baby S’s heart for meeting her best friend, that when they meet she would just know.  Know that she can trust her, know that this person was put in her life to help her learn and grow, to challenge her, to love her.

I pray that my daughter will learn how to be a good friend.  Not by the world’s standards, but by Jesus’ standard – to lay down her life for her friends.

I pray that, as her mother, I model what it means to be a true friend.  I know that I have so much to learn, so far to go in this area.  I can’t hold a candle to Jesus, or even to my best friend.

So, I pray that her “Tia” will pick up my slack.  Where I lack growth, I ask the Lord to use my sweet BFF – we were so dubbed by our students – to teach my daughter about friendship.  I ask that in our relationship, Baby S would see two women who truly love one another, fight for one another, encourage one another, deal authentically with one another.  I pray that she would want what we have, that she would settle for no less in her relationship with her best friend.

What we have is truly from God.  I knew it the moment I met her, though I couldn’t quite believe it at first.  I’d been so let down by friendships with other women in the past, left wanting for truth and acceptance and forgiveness.  Then all of a sudden, here was this person, this amazing woman of God who, like, wanted to be my friend!

She sees me as valid, as credible.  She takes me seriously, even when I have been repeating myself for 30 minutes saying the same thing in different words to her on the phone when she really has to pee before running to teach her next class.

She never tries to fix me or needs to patronize me.  She makes me feel accepted for who I am and loved for who I want to be.

Since that day, I’ve never looked back.  It’s been all the fun that a best girl is with none of the pretense, all the truth and authenticity without the judgment or the fractured relationship.

She is all the confirmation I need to know that the God I serve will craft this same relationship between my daughter and her future BFF.  May Baby S get as “lucky” as I got.

Amen.

Daring Cooks :: Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi

Yum and y-u-m.  I’ll definitely be making this again – a smashing start for the Daring Cooks!  I made my own ricotta for this dish and it was definitely worth it.  I also added lemon zest to the dough, per one of the suggested variations.  Brightened it up quite nicely, if I do say so.

Zuni Ricotta Gnocchi

Source: From The Zuni Café Cookbook.

Yield: Makes 40 to 48 gnocchi (serves 4 to 6)

Prep time: Step 1 will take 24 hours. Steps 2 through 4 will take approximately 1 hour.

Equipment required:

- Sieve

-Cheesecloth or paper towels

-Large mixing bowl

-Rubber spatula

-Tablespoon

-Baking dish or baking sheet

-Wax or parchment paper

-Small pot

-Large skillet

-Large pan or pot (very wide in diameter and at least 2 inches deep)

For the gnocchi:

1 pound (454 grams/16 ounces) fresh ricotta (2 cups)

2 large cold eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter

2 or 3 fresh sage leaves, or a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg, or a few pinches of chopped lemon zest (all optional)

½ ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about ¼ cup very lightly packed)

about ¼ teaspoon salt (a little more if using kosher salt)

all-purpose flour for forming the gnocchi

For the gnocchi sauce:

8 tablespoons (227 grams/1/4 pound/4 ounces) butter, sliced

2 teaspoons water

STEP 1 – The day before you make the gnocchi, preparing the ricotta. If the ricotta is too wet, your gnocchi will not form properly. In her cookbook, Judy Rodgers recommends checking the ricotta’s wetness. To test the ricotta, take a teaspoon or so and place it on a paper towel. If you notice a very large ring of dampness forming around the ricotta after a minute or so, then the ricotta is too wet. To remove some of the moisture, line a sieve with cheesecloth or paper towels and place the ricotta in the sieve. Cover it and let it drain for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Alternatively, you can wrap the ricotta carefully in cheesecloth (2 layers) and suspend it in your refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours with a bowl underneath to catch the water that’s released. Either way, it’s recommended that you do this step the day before you plan on making the gnocchi.

STEP 2 – The day you plan on eating the gnocchi, making the gnocchi dough. To make great gnocchi, the ricotta has to be fairly smooth. Place the drained ricotta in a large bowl and mash it as best as you can with a rubber spatula or a large spoon (it’s best to use a utensil with some flexibility here). As you mash the ricotta, if you noticed that you can still see curds, then press the ricotta through a strainer to smooth it out as much as possible. Add the lightly beaten eggs to the mashed ricotta. Melt the tablespoon of butter. As it melts, add in the sage if you’re using it. If not, just melt the butter and add it to the ricotta mixture. Add in any flavoring that you’re using (i.e., nutmeg, lemon zest, etc.). If you’re not using any particular flavouring, that’s fine. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the salt. Beat all the ingredients together very well. You should end up with a soft and fluffy batter with no streaks (everything should be mixed in very well).

STEP 3 – Forming the gnocchi. Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. When it boils, salt the water generously and keep it at a simmer. You will use this water to test the first gnocchi that you make to ensure that it holds together and that your gnocchi batter isn’t too damp. In a large, shallow baking dish or on a sheet pan, make a bed of all-purpose flour that’s ½ an inch deep. With a spatula, scrape the ricotta mixture away from the sides of the bowl and form a large mass in the centre of your bowl. Using a tablespoon, scoop up about 2 to 3 teaspoons of batter and then holding the spoon at an angle, use your finger tip to gently push the ball of dough from the spoon into the bed of flour. At this point you can either shake the dish or pan gently to ensure that the flour covers the gnocchi or use your fingers to very gently dust the gnocchi with flour. Gently pick up the gnocchi and cradle it in your hand rolling it to form it in an oval as best as you can, at no point should you squeeze it. What you’re looking for is an oval lump of sorts that’s dusted in flour and plump. Gently place your gnocchi in the simmering water. It will sink and then bob to the top. From the time that it bobs to the surface, you want to cook the gnocchi until it’s just firm. This could take 3 to 5 minutes. If your gnocchi begins to fall apart, this means that the ricotta cheese was probably still too wet. You can remedy this by beating a teaspoon of egg white into your gnocchi batter. If your gnocchi batter was fluffy but the sample comes out heavy, add a teaspoon of beaten egg to the batter and beat that in. Test a second gnocchi to ensure success. Form the rest of your gnocchi. You can put 4 to 6 gnocchi in the bed of flour at a time. But don’t overcrowd your bed of flour or you may damage your gnocchi as you coat them. Have a sheet pan ready to rest the formed gnocchi on. Line the sheet pan with wax or parchment paper and dust it with flour. You can cook the gnocchi right away, however, Judy Rodgers recommends storing them in the refrigerator for an hour prior to cooking to allow them to firm up.

STEP 4 – Cooking the gnocchi. Have a large skillet ready to go. Place the butter and water for the sauce in the skillet and set aside. In the largest pan or pot that you have (make sure it’s wide), bring at least 2 quarts of water to a boil (you can use as much as 3 quarts of water if your pot permits). You need a wide pot or pan so that your gnocchi won’t bump into each other and damage each other. Once the water is boiling, salt it generously. Drop the gnocchi into the water one by one. Once they float to the top, cook them for 3 to 5 minutes (as in the case with the test gnocchi). When the gnocchi float to the top, you can start your sauce while you wait for them to finish cooking. Place the skillet over medium heat and melt the butter. Swirl it gently a few times as it melts. As soon as it melts and is incorporated with the water, turn off the heat. Your gnocchi should be cooked by now. With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and gently drop into the butter sauce. Carefully roll in the sauce until coated. Serve immediately.