Heart thread - 01/18/2013

Our beloved brother, David@Montreal, asks for our prayers:

beloved Giants:
next Monday will be President Obama's public inauguration.second term of office.
i'm asking  a ongoing special intention of prayer and practice for the safety of the President and his family, as he has assumed such a prophetic role in a long-overdue discussion of the role of guns in American life and culture.
another special intention of prayer and practice for the transformative opportunities America is being offered with President Obama's initiatives.

in the wider world i'm asking prayers
for the people of Syria & South Sudan, for the people of Mali, and for the leaders of African and middle Eastern nations to assume their responsibilities for fraternal care  instead of continually relying on American, Canadian and European intervention.
prayers for  6 y.o. Austin who is incapacitated by blinding migraine headaches which confound his doctors
for Doreen living the last days and weeks of her life
prayers for all those undergoing discernment
all of those without proper housing
all those in search of a way forward
and prayers for a certain 'new retiree' and his husband

love always-always Love

 I also ask your prayers for my nephew Jay who has surgery on February 5, for his mother Ivajeane, and for the surgeons, nurses, techs, etc.  Jay's health is fragile.

And for the repose of the soul of Doris Hagen, a pillar of St Cuthbert's Church, Oakland.  She was there from the beginning of the church and headed the altar guild for many years.  A hard worker, she volunteered in the office, was a major organizer of fund raisers, and served on vestry and other committees.  She also looked after and supported me in good times and bad.  She died yesterday after a long and productive life.  Please remember also her husband, Paul, and their daughter Carol and grandchildren.

Doris Hagen

--the BB

Uncle Bori's Brussels Sprouts

I was discharged from the hospital after my recent bout of cellulitis (again) with the admonition to follow a "heart healthy" diet.  Please.  The reality is that most of my eating is reasonable.  I have oatmeal every morning (so good for fiber and cholesterol).  I drink nonfat milk.  I eat lots of raw nuts (not roasted or salted) and dried fruits (all that fiber, natural sugars, and antioxidants).  I use far less salt than I did when young, though I should never come near French fries where I am quite naughty.  I do not eat much red meat, tending toward lean pork and chicken without the skin.  I cook with olive oil.  I rarely use prepared foods as I like to know every item that goes into my cooking.

But I do cook with real butter and lots of it and I make sauces with heavy cream.  The cream is not something I use that often but the butter, well, I am half Swedish and the motto of Swedish cooking is "Smör och kärlek."  It translates as "butter and love" (in that order).

Winter is upon us and what could be more warming than Brussels sprouts in a cream sauce.  So here it is, something I have improvised and made several times.  It tastes really good and the hospital dieticians would freak.  I use some technical cooking terms here but you will easily figure them out.

I start with a package of Brussels sprouts.  It is best to cook them right away as they can spoil quickly.  I trim them ruthlessly, trimming stems and outer leaves and anything that looks yucky or proto-yucky.  See, technical terms.  The photo above is the trimmings which can equal the savings in volume.

 These are the trimmed sprouts.  I also halve them.  I don't think it makes any difference to cooking, though there are elaborate theories about this.  It does make it easier to absorb sauce, which is the whole point of this dish.

I rinse the sprouts, put them in a dish, cover with plastic film, and microwave for three minutes.  This is so much easier than parboiling.

 Meanwhile I need some chicken broth.  Not a lot, so the easy way is to use some Better Than Bouillon and about half a cup of water.  When the sprouts are microwaved I put the base and water mixture in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds, then stir.

 Now for a quick roux: equal amounts of butter and flour stirred until it starts to brown.

 Add the chicken broth mix and some heavy cream and a buttload of dill.  That's another technical term.  You may use any herb you prefer.  As you can see, I use lots.

Stir constantly as this thickens.  I add some sea salt and white pepper.

 Add the Brussels sprouts and keep stirring on high heat as the sauce continues to thicken and coat the sprouts.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

The end result is rich and yummy.  Those who don't care for Brussels sprouts might convert over this.

I did not make this for tonight but put it in plastic containers that will go in the freezer when they cool down a bit.  I promised some to a coworker who really liked this when I made it last winter.  My lunches will be iniquitous but oh so good.

Enjoy!

--the BB

Sharing a fresh prayer list from David@Montreal, prayer warrior extraordinaire:

remembering the joys and the challenges of living as the living Body of Christ i'm ask your prayers for:

young Nyland whose doctor and family are serious concerned about lymphatic swelling in the groin, this very young lad was born with immune defense issues which have kept his Mum and Dad hopping.

for E. a deeply cherished sister who is dealing with 'something not right in my body' and awaits an appointment with her doctor.

prayers for Thora C., a year shy of 90, who is having serious difficulty spiritually and medically, dealing with the increaed pain brought on by her deteriorating back.

for her grand-daughter Thea, less than a year old, with compromised kidneys, and Thea's young mum, Jennifer.
for Mark, recovering  from shoulder surgery.

for Doreen in her last months
for Jacques in his last months

for Prior Aldred, who last night received news of his mother's unexpected death.
for Beatrice, Aldred's Mum, that she may rest in peace and rise in glory.

for Rosemary:who recently celebrated her birthday, and who, tomorrow will be moving into a small, quite special longterm care facility.
for Jay, Rosemary's remarkable, generous  son

for Jon and Mary: with thanks for the news of his first day back on the job, after extensive an cancer hospitalization
for Marc

for all those living with loss: especially Susan
for those undergoing discernment: for a way forward and the means

for the people of St. Columba parish, Montreal. there church was closed last Sunday (Mam and i were present for the last service). their future is not yet discerned, and there is a lot of pain and confusion amoung the congregants.

for the people of Syria as they continue to pay such a horrendous cost for their liberation.
for the people of South Sudan

for young Montel and Aleisha, who continue to live in the toxic, chaotic environment of their father's addictions. for all those living with addiction, and those who love them.

thank-you my beloved Giants

love always-always Love

David@Montreal

I would like to add my coworker Shawn recovering from arthroscopic surgery yesterday on his knee and my niece Jannita who has completed her radiation and chemo treatments.  May she now stay healthy for a long time!

--the BB

Volume Two of the Chronicles is published

The Light Bearers, the second half of Darkslayer, was released for publication this evening.

Paperback (ISBN 1477640487) is available immediately at CreateSpace eStore. If you wish to order it through Amazon, wait a few days and use the widgets in the right sidebar at OCICBW.

I expect the Kindle version will be available at Amazon by tomorrow morning. Again, OCICBW is a great place to shop.

--the BB

Self-editing

It is a risky thing to be one's own editor. On the simplest level there is the danger of missing typos because one's brain sees what one meant to write even when the eyes record what one's fingers actually typed. On many other levels one reads what one intended, regardless of what one has written. Nonetheless, I take the risk and am grateful for one reader commenting on the high quality of editing and grammar in the first book. Bless you, Marguerite.

At this point I am reading The Light Bearers for what must be the fifth time, at least. Both segments of Darkslayer were completed back in 2007, at least in the first draft. I am indebted to those who pointed out typos in the early reading. It is interesting to read it almost five years after the first draft. I have a bit of distance now, though the tale is very much in my blood. Every now and again I tweak a sentence that seems unclear in either concept or grammar or attempt to straighten what is a bit too convoluted.

There is pleasure in a fresh encounter with phrases one has forgotten ever writing. One such is highlighted in the graphic above. Ian Darkslayer may have destroyed a demon of darkness but he did not banish darkness from the world or from his own soul. In a stark moment he recognizes how much he is part of the world's ills. For me it is the climactic moment of the second book, a true loss of innocence at the ripe age of seventeen. Along with his mystical experience of Uncreated Light and his encounter with utter darkness, this moment shapes forever the man Ian will become.

Since I am just beginning to write the fourth book, the one recounting the rest of Ian's life, it is good to revisit how he grew into manhood.

--the BB

The false bodice ripper

I am proofing The Light Bearers, as y'all know. I am struck (you must remember this was first written in 2007 and I am now reading at a bit of a distance) by how it is laden with romantic play. So much so that I should probably blush. Oh well.

Confession: I am also enjoying it all.

Desh, the Raven, is the goddess of love. As our band of heroes sail toward the Holy Isle of Vios it is said of two besotted star singers that "Desh flew between their eyes." It is fun to coin phrases based on another culture's mythology, maybe especially a mythology of my own creation. We all know the look when the Raven flies between the eyes of people in love.

It has been a long time since I posted a writing/proofing update of this sort here.

--the BB

Food

This evening I had dinner with a friend then came home and watered the garden. I checked in online then returned to proofing The Light Bearers, the second half of Darkslayer and Volume Two in The Chronicles of Mídhris. I am about one third of the way through, which is encouraging.

Then I loaded the slow cooker with small potatoes, onion, yellow and orange peppers, a ton of stewing beef, mushrooms, red pepper flakes, lemon pepper, sea salt, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and red wine. All stowed in the fridge. Now, if I can remember to take it out tomorrow morning and turn it on, I shall come home to stew for dinner (and many meals thereafter).

Not that exciting a day but a good one.

Sweet dreams, poppets.

--the BB