Happy Valentine's Day!

Our precious little celebration.

My unbelievable gift!

Soy cansada

I’m tired of being cynical. It takes so much energy to hate this place, to pick out (however legitimately) the wildly unethical or inappropriate goings-on of Southern. I’m tired of taking it personally… people’s issues and sins. I’m tired of the hubris that drives me to see the sexism here directed at me rather than a general sin driven by issues like fear and insecurity. I’m tired of feeling bored or annoyed by my classes. I feel like I’ve fought for years now for truth and a pure pursuit of truth, attempting to convince others and even myself that the nature of Christianity is constant flux (growth, change and revelation). The reality is, I have no one’s ear. I just long to be passive: I long to be an impartial, unemotional observer.

I obviously have very strong objections to both the style and content of Christianity here at the seminary.

So, for hopefully the last time for a long time, I will complain… and then I will shut up.

What I’m sick of externally (outside myself)

-The tired things I keep hearing: marriage as a metaphor; dispensationalism – the word, the concept, etc; complimentarianism – “; unreasoned/oversimplified absolutism; insensitive or disparaging jokes about charismatics or catholics; irrational loyalty to Israelis; the unnecessary and random insertion of Greek words into everyday conversation; the long and unpronounceable names of German or Dutch theologians; southern accents; the “us v. them” of “lost v. saved”; villainizing fallen Christian; hierarchical structure: the popularity (hero-worship) of Dr. Moeller; racist comments (both overt and covert); abortion as the primary ethical dilemma in our culture (it’s not); the assumption that “we’re all on the same page” (we all know what assuming does)

-The tired questions I keep asking: if you have taught the same class for years, why would you ever stumble over your words/not know what to say or how to illustrate a point?; is extreme complimentarianism just about job security for men?; how can we live in this culture and know nothing about it?; where are all of these awesome churches with tight-knit communities that people go to? (as an aside, I love my church); how can you honestly think that any overweight man in a suit doing or saying anything at all is “cutting edge ministry”?; What happened to self-awareness?;

-The things I hate to keep seeing: men in suits; “poor” seminary students with iPhones; men who are proud (prideful) of their knowledge; men who argue to win.

There is a guy next to me in class trading stock, another on facebook… is this the training ground for ministry? Will we be launched from here into prosperous, meaningful ministry, well-equipped for the trials of lifelong mission?

My tone clearly uncovers my personal opinion. But I genuinely do wonder if people really buy-in to this place or if we merely stop our ears, shut out eyes and get through it. Is this a necessary evil to these people? Or is it just a place to show off our shared knowledge? Or is it a remaining safe place – a place to study in a vacuum, escape from the difficult things like relationships and hurting people?

The truth is – and I do know this – I will not be happy with this place. I will never find a place like this to be happy with. This is no longer my world or my desire. This is a means to an end. And so I will probably be here for another 3 years. And I have to stop hating it and just deal.

My one remaining question is: will I leave this place unscathed?

Chris and I have decided so steal the “Jesus fishes” off of everyone’s car, melt them down and make a statue of Dr. Moeller. Not that the seminary needs more sacred cows.
I’m done. I will zip my lips and extract every bit of God I can find from this place, treasure Him in my heart, and remember Africa.

A JOYful Youell CHRIStmas!

Happy Youell C-mas!

Game night!

I can't believe that Dad picked the scent that I've been wanting!

My box from the fam! :_)

Thanks "Nathan"! My new Vera Wang purse!!!

Christmas pic

5:15 am - Santa came!

Some of Chris's presents from his stocking

Some of the loot - my Marilyn Monroe movies and my Guess bag

Our yummy, traditional Christmas dinner.

Our first turkey together

My beautiful Christmas flowers.

My new necklace from Dad!

Thanks for all of the lovely presents!

Thanksgiving Pics

Some pics of our Thanksgiving celebration with the MacPhales and Youells in West Virginia. Fun times!

Joy and Chris with Granny

The younger Youells

With Jeff and Rita

Joy and Chris outside by the fire with Papaw

Mamaw

Papaw - the self-proclaimed lord of the manor

Recipes.6 Crab Chowder

This is to die for and much less fattening than traditional chowder (although it still should be eaten in moderation)

Crab Chowder

3 cloves of garlic
1 med. size yellow onion
1 tsp. chives
1 tsp. capers
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1 T. of white vinegar
1 can of chicken broth

2 strips of bacon
2 cups of crab meat (or imitation crab meat)
1/4 cup of buttermilk
2 cups of half and half

Putting it together:
Start out with the first set of ingredients in a med-heat pot, until the onions are soft (the key to this step is the vinegar, to make it briny and the chicken broth, to cut the fat).

Once this is compiled, i usually put in my cornbread.

(Cornbread: 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup butter or crisco, 1 & 3/4 cup buttermilk, 2 cups of cornmeal in greased breadpan on 450 for 25 min.)

Then, fry up minced bacon... roughly chop crabmeat, slowly add dairy to the soup mixture.

The most important key to the cooking process: do not scald the milk... heat at low-med. heat for 30-40 min. until heated through.

Serve up with cornbread.

It must work because I got a great date night out of it!

Making Cookies! + Recipes.5

COOKIES!

After a wonderful day of errands and time together, we put Horton Hears a Who! and then Speed Racer on and did some serious cookie-making. :)

All of the cookies were made after mixing the initial dough =

Basic cookie dough:

2 1/2 cups self-rising white flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

(mix dry ingredients)

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup Crisco

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup Condensed milk

(I know, it's not healthy... but it's Christmas!) :)

The two super-basic recipes (the sugar cookies for decorating) are regular and chocolate. The regular just gets a tsp. of cinnamon and nutmeg with the dry ingredients. The chocolate gets 1/2 cup of cocoa in the wet ingredients. Yum. We cut the regular as Christmas trees and the chocolate as stars and decorated them!

(I made my own icing out of confectioner's sugar, melted butter, and food coloring)

#2: Peppermint Cookies

Basic sugar cookie recipe but with 2 1/2 tsp. of Peppermint extract in the wet ingredients and 2 cups of crushed Starlite mints (the red and white, round hard candies) in the dry ingredients. The melt beautifully and become a gooey, peppermint cookie. Sooooooo delish

#3: Reese's Pieces PB Cookies

Basic recipe gets 1 cup of peanut butter in the wet ingredients and 2 1/2 cups of Reese's pieces in the dry! Chris can't have chocolate so these are a good M&M cookie or even chocolate chip cookie alternative.

Recipes.4

A little za. It's Chris's favorite food in the world so I try to give him a treat every so often. ;)

Spicy Thai Pizza

The absolute best sauce in the world is: Kikkoman's Thai Style Chili Sauce. You may not have to go to an Asian grocer to get it... it's in our Asian section of the regular grocery store. They key is not skimping out on the dough prep. As long as you're in and out of the house enough to keep an eye on your rising, it shouldn't be too big a deal.

1st: dough. Here's my tip for dough: if you're gonna make it, make a lot. You can fridge it or freeze it or make breadsticks... it's so affordable and you may not always be in the mood to make it, so have it ready.

5 cups of flour
2 packets of quick yeast
2 teaspoons of salt
2 T of oil
2 cups of warm water

Melt the salt and yeast in the warm water for a couple of min.s
Knead it all up.
Let it to go through 2 rising cycles (35-45 min. each)
Knead it out and pull it.

2nd step: Sauce and cheese

Mince 4 garlic cloves and put them in oil, whisking with salt and pepper (you can use egg-white also, it's just more fattening)
1 cup of ricotta cheese
2 cups of mozerella cheese
Thai chili sauce

3rd step: Assemble and bake

Brush the whole round with the oil/garlic mix
Spread the ricotta with a spatula
Spread the chili sauce evenly
Top it with the mozerella, evenly

Cook on 400 for about 20 min.

Yum! Plums would probably be a good accompaniment.

Recipes.3

I'm behind! I've made a few good dishes in the last little bit. This one was for when we had Kendall and Luke over! Fun times! :)

Fried Chinese Dumplings and Asian-Style Stuffing

Those are the two main components to this dish, so I'll detail them one at a time. Both recipes are a little bit labor-intensive but can be done over the course of a couple of days. - you can freeze the dough, refrigerate the filling, puree the beets, etc. in advance. Simplifies it.

Fried Chinese Dumplings

1st: the dough - just a basic flat-bread dough.

2 1/2 cups of white flour
1 stick of cold butter
1/2 cup of cold water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cloves

You probably already know how to do this... just roll it out and punch out rounds with a cup - about 3". Now you can refrigerate this for a while. Just bring it back to room temp before you fry them up.

2nd: the filling - chicken-based

2 chicken breasts
2 cups chk stock
1 small white onion
2 stalks of celery
2 small potatoes
1 stalk of leek
3 cloves garlic, minced
About an inch of ginger, broken off, skin and minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper

Chop everything into similar sizes (so it cooks at the same rate)
Combine everything in a pot and boil softly until everything is tender. Put everything into a food processer and blend it until it's a rough puree. You can also refrigerate this for as long as you need to.

3rd: Assemble.

Take the round circle, scoop a small spoonful of filling into the center, fold over until the edges match. With a fork, mash the dough closed so you have a pretty half-moon with ripples on the edges.
You can also refrigerate and save these.

4th: Fry it up!

Heat about a quart of oil until it jumps when you toss a drop of water into it.
With a wire-netted spoon, lower the dumplings down and fry through. When they're light-brown, put them onto a paper towel to cool. When the rounds are done and your dumplings are cooked, they can be kept warm in an oven for quite a while.


Asian Style Stuffing

Buy a package of regular stuffing (the kind where you just add water and boom, you're set)
1 can of beets
1 frozen package of broccoli, thawed
1/2 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 T of maple syrup
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. clove
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1st step: prepare the stuffing normally. Steam the beets, roughly chopped, and broccoli in 1 cup of water with the brown sugar and seasonings. After the veggis are cooked through, blend them up in a food processer.

2nd: in a glass casserole dish, empty a first layer of stuffing with a spatula. Then, spread the pureed veggies on top. Finish with the coconut milk and syrup and put it into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.
This stuffing becomes a beautiful purple color and is super flavorful.

Last but not least: have dinner!

To plate: put 4 dumplings on a plate and spoon a T of Thai chili sauce on top; spoon the stuffing on the side.

I served this with a bowl of easy soup: chicken broth, green onions (the whole thing), garlic, salt and pepper.

Recipes.2

Shepherd's Pie and Soup for Dinner

We had this the other night and it is one of the cheapest meals! It's pretty easy to make and I add a good twist to it (ricotta cheese). The soup is NOT labor intensive so don't be scared about the blending portion - it literally only takes a second.
Also, I make these kinds of meals (the pie) in glass casserole dishes and save them for the week to heat up as leftovers. It's cheaper per portion to make more at one go.

Enjoy!

(For dinner at 7)

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef (don't sub. turkey - it changes the whole flavor)
6 brown potatoes
1 clove of garlic
8 oz. ricotta cheese
2 egg whites
3 T butter or margarine
1 t each of oregano, basil, and thyme (or an Italian Mix)
1 t each of salt and white pepper (you don't want the black flecks)

5:00pm - fill a pot with water, roughly chop your potatoes, leaving the skins on, and drop them in. Keep at a low boil until they're soft.
5:30 - drain the potatoes and immediately mash in a bowl, with butter, salt, pepper, minced garlic, egg whites, and ricotta cheese. Set aside (the more they cool the firmer they'll be when you assemble the dish for baking)
5:45 - brown the ground beef in a frying pan (with a little oil) and season halfway through with the oregano, basil, and thyme (don't add this too early or it will burn).
6:00 - assemble the pie: spread an even layer of beef and top it with an even layer of the potatoes. Put it in the oven at 425 for about 45 min.


Onion and Leek Soup

4 cloves of garlic
6 stalks of leek
1 big yellow onion (the white ones are too spicy)
16 oz. chicken stock
1 t. each of salt and white pepper

This is the most flavorful soup ever! And there aren't a ton of ingredients. In case you don't know, leeks are in the onion family... they look like celery with white stalks and dark green leaves up top.

6:00 - after you put the pie in, start the soup. Put the chicken stock on medium heat. Chop the stalks of the leek, putting the tops aside (you can use them for another dish - but be careful because they're bitter). Chop the onion. Chop the garlic. Dump it all in the pot and let it boil until everything is soft.
6:30 - All of the ingredients should have cooked through. Next, dump the whole mixture into a blender and blend it through until it's a puree. Put it back into the pot and let it simmer until it's time to serve.

(If you want to, you can ladle a spoonful of the soup onto the top of the pie in the oven - it will crust nicely)

7:00 - Eat! When we had this meal, I served it with broccoli and bread for the soup.

Recipes.1

I've wanted to post recipes for a while. I don't follow recipes but I do make them up and it may be my husband's graciousness, but I think that they are at least edible. Cooking is something very personable and every woman - however feminist - should at least have a few dishes under her belt... so...

If you want to eat dinner by 7pm, follow these simple instructions:

Salmon for Dinner

1 lb. of fresh salmon
4 T of olive oil
1 & 1/2 T minced fresh garlic
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 t sot sauce
2 t salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
2 baked potatos
1 package french cut frozen green beans

1st step:
5:30pm: put potatoes, wrapped in foil and perforated by forks, in 350 degree oven.

2nd step:
6:15pm: heat frying pan searing hot (high) with olive oil
-Add minced T of garlic and ginger for approx. 2 min.'s
6:17pm: Add salmon for 5 min.; flip halfway through and re-season other side
6:22pm: Put salmon in pan with oil and dash with soy sauce - put in oven at 350 degrees

3rd step:
6:30pm: heat 1/2 T of garlic in 1 cup of water - once warm add small package of french-cut green beans; heat till warm through

4th step:
7:00pm: remove baked potatoes and season with pat of butter and salt; plate green beans with dash of salt; add 1/d lb. salmon, baked through, to plate with skin (instruct your husband to not eat the skin part).

;)

Halloween

(Chris and I were tweedledee and tweedledum)

We had our first party in our new home! :) Happy Halloween!

Fall!

A nice fall day at the park with my honey. :) Fall is here!