Pumpkin Soup...

I love the holiday season and for me it really does start with Halloween. I'm not fond of the overdone and expensive decorations--a pumpkin or two is sufficient--and I'm not much for the store-bought or rented costume. I like the old-fashioned Halloween of my childhood--a carnival at the country school we attended with simple games, a not-so-scary spook house, good food, and more candy than was good for us.

Our costumes were often made almost spur of the moment with whatever we had on hand. A farm family never has much money to waste on trifles. My mother always dressed as a gypsy and was a wonderful fortune teller. A burlap sack, braids made from laddered stockings, a headband with a feather, a corn cob doll for a prop--an Indian princess. Daddy's oversized padded cover-alls pulled up over the head with the neck stuffed with something, a pair of gloves and boots--a headless monster who needs a companion guide because the only view is through the button or zipper placket. A witch was usually easy. So was a pirate. A classic ghost was hard because even our old sheets were useful and we couldn't cut holes for eyes. But an old shower curtain or piece of fabric with a shower cap and a rubber mask... Grandma had found the mask in her yard the day after Halloween one year  and gave it to us... it appeared year after year. As far as I can remember that was the only "store bought" mask we had. We made masks out of cardboard and fabric scraps and bric-a-brac. We were limited only by our imaginations and what our crafty mother could help us make out of what we had. A big box could turn into almost anything--a TV set, a robot, a lamp table. A bunch of purple balloons to make a bunch of grapes. Raiding Mother's closet and dressing up in big hats and platform heels. Cross dressing was popular. The best Halloween trick was just the simple joke of a costume good enough to fool everyone into thinking that my brother was my sister.

One of the things I love about my church is that it offers one of those old-fashioned experiences to the children of our neighborhood. We started this year's festivities with a Pumpkin Festival last week. The kids got to decorate the pumpkins that will grace our fellowship hall and courtyard for the big party on Wednesday.
I made pumpkin soup and by popular demand the recipe follows:

K's Pumpkin Soup

In a large pot, whisk together and heat:

• 1 quart of homemade chicken stock (recipe below)
• 1 can Libby's pumpkin
• Add 1 teaspoon each garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, black pepper, sweet paprika.
• 1/2 teaspoon each chili powder and black pepper.

Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low, simmer for 15 minutes.
Add

• 1 can (12 oz.) Carnation evaporated milk, simmer for a couple more minutes, stirring.

{At this point I ate a cup of soup for lunch--it was wonderful!--and put the rest in the fridge.}

A couple of hours before serving time, I put the soup in my slow cooker and added

• 2 quarts Imagine organic butternut soup  

Heat on high until hot, then turn down to warm and serve.

Served in cups with a bowl of roasted  and salted Austinut's pumpkin kernels to add if the diner desires.

 

Note: I often use the butternut squash soup as a base or an extender for my autumn soups. When I was making this soup for Southwest Central Church's Pumpkin Festival, I intended to serve it in cups as a warm beverage. Had I been serving it at home in bowls to be eaten with spoons. I would have started by sauteing a medium onion, finely chopped,  and a couple of cloves of garlic, minced,  in canola oil rather than using the dried spices. I might have prepared some spaghetti squash to mix with it.  I would have diced some wonderful apples (golden ginger or honey crisp) to put a little crunch in the bowls and garnished with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt with a bit of parsley and maybe some bacon bits. 

This pumpkin soup gathered compliments because of the homemade stock which I had in my freezer. It was the liquid left after I had poached chicken for chicken salad. Here is how I did it:

  

Poached Chicken for chicken salad and chicken stock 

• 10 sprigs parsley
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 small onion, halved
• 1 small carrot, halved
• 1 stalk celery, halved
• 3 pounds chicken breasts halves, on the bone and fat trimmed
• 2 cans reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups (half a bottle) of white wine

Put the parsley, thyme, onion, carrot, celery, and chicken breasts in a pot. Cover with the broth, and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat to very low and cover. Poach the chicken for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, cool the chicken in the liquid for 30 minutes.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Bone and skin the chicken and cut the meat into 1 inch cubes. Discard the bones and skin.  Yield: cubed chicken or 4 to 6 servings
Use the chicken to make chicken salad.

Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using or freezing. 

And, just because it's in the same file, here is my chicken salad recipe:

Chicken Salad

• 4 cups diced poached chicken, recipe follows
• 1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced or 1/4 cup sweet onion cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or fresh dill
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

In a mixing bowl, toss together the chicken, celery, scallions and herbs. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Add to the chicken and mix gently until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cook's Note: Serve on a bed of lettuce with sliced tomatoes, in half an avocado or in a chicken club sandwich made with artisan's bread, crispy smoked bacon, vine-ripened tomatoes and lettuce.

For me, chicken salad with vine-ripened tomatoes is summer. I made many batches this year. Now I've got that wonderful frozen stock to use in my autumn soups. Happy holidays!

Maybe... Soon

I confess that not only have I been too busy, too depressed, too disinterested to attend to my blog but I have been too busy, too depressed, too disinterested to read anyone else's except for those who have shared a link to facebook. Ah, facebook. I think all the incessant political rants from both sides are not helping that depression thing at all.

This weekend I began to miss you. I decided perhaps I really don't want to be a hermit and live in isolation.
In the last day or two I've decided that facebook is nice but I miss the longer posts and meanderings of friends. I miss you.


I've been gone from blogger so long that I forgot my password and had to recover my account. I have been reading but perhaps not thinking too deeply or interacting with the text enough to have anything worthwhile to say.
And I can tell that it is going to take some time to catch up. Today I'll start reading and some day... maybe... soon... I'll find the energy to comment on your posts and write one of my own.

Distinguished Hope



Last Friday night DMP and I attended the Celebration of Champions, part of the Earth's Angels Conference 2012 celebrating 10 years of Encouragement, Mentoring, Leadership for Today's Teen Girl and Young Adult Women.   Link to the sponsoring church:  Internal Hope Fellowship. An important part of the program are college scholarships awarded to conference attendees and one of my favorite parts of the evening was the young women who came back to report their successes and express their gratitude.  In recent years the conference has become increasingly reflective of Houston's racial and ethnic diversity.  Five years ago the conference leadership recognized that many of the young women attending the conference "didn't know what a mature Christian woman looked like."  Every year since they have honored 2-4 women; this year I was one of the honorees.



It's been a challenging couple of months for me. To quote Dorothy Day: "Too much praise makes you feel you must be doing something terribly wrong."  It's always easy for me to see how far short I fall and Lent--well timed to come just when I realize the complete failure of my New Years' resolutions--always brings "missing the mark" even more clearly to mind.  I've been sick off and on since Christmas and have endured some pretty big disappointments and had begun to dread the evening.  The big night arrived with a huge blinding rain storm and this little West Texas girl is still a bit afraid of such blinding rain that goes on and on.

David and I had invited a table of ten friends and young women to attend but fates conspired and we were a small group. Despite my concerns the evening turned out to be very happy and fulfilling.  And the food was hot and delish for which the Hilton NASA Clear Lake deserves props since the rain delayed the start by well over half an hour.

Jo, Taylor, Ashley, Elana, me, and David looking great in a suit.
Jo and I both changed our wardrobe plans because it turned cold.
Our lovely young guests were probably chilly in their pretty Spring dresses.
Steve Sandifer took the pic and also drove the church van through that scary storm.
Hilton NASA Clear Lake would has beautiful views when it's clear.

David and I were moved to a special table as the festivities got underway.  The greatest honor of the evening was getting to share a table and a stage with Mrs. Mayme Canada Brown, born in 1920, graduated from Prairie View A&M in 1946, and began teaching school the year I was born--a truly remarkable woman.  There was a "seven degrees of separation" moment--except that it was more like five degrees.  Mrs. Canada-Brown's daughter Meredith had just spoken to her college roommate whose mother had died.  Willie Mae "Bill" Cummings Hale is another remarkable woman whom I just barely remember.  She would have celebrated her 100th birthday on July 1 and is my grandfather's cousin.  So, through Meredith, we are back in touch with the children of Grandaddy's Uncle Sid and Aunt Susie.  I'm looking forward to reading Bill's Biography being written by her daughter Janna.

Receiving the lovely statue from Earth's Angels' founder Kathy Burrell
with Pastor George E. Burrell, Sr.

Finally the big moment and because some of you asked the rest of this post is my short "teaching" as written, not as delivered with a few notes:
{I believe I began with a word of thanks and a comment that I had never thought my life was particularly remarkable.}

 It is wonderful encouragement to be here with you tonight.  I love seeing all the faces of you glorious, young women who have come this weekend for a noble purpose: to discover who “we are and what God calls us to do with our lives.” It may not have been easy for you to make time for this conference but it will be worth it.

“In a culture where the media shapes our values, goals, and dreams, it is important to escape the constant bombardment of ads and images” and to remember that all of us, that each of us, “is made for more.” We are “made in the image of God.”  {At this point I inserted some praise for the lovely dance presentations by V-star's ensemble and by Camisha Dixon.  I always enjoy dance when it is well done and these young women danced well without one hint of lewdness.  Delightful!}

I’m 63 years old. I’ve been a follower of Jesus for over half a century. {At this point I inserted a few sentences about fellow honoree Mayme Canada Brown.  One of my passions is racial healing and I wanted to offer the words of my heart in deep esteem and respect for the life and pioneering work of this woman who is 30 years my elder.}  I’ve learned one thing: From beginning to end, life is a journey. Each of us lives one day at a time, one step at a time. Each step along the way can move us closer to God and to the abundant, joyful life Christ wants for all of us.” It’s not easy but it is worth it.



{I think I omitted the following sentence.}  This journey “inward, upward, and outward... involves serious soul-searching and risk-taking, honest reflection and courageous action.”



It’s easy to say “just follow Jesus” but it’s not so easy to do when the road is long and hard. Some of you already know that. Doubt, fear, disappointment, pain, despair have more than once caused me to get lost. It’s hard to follow Jesus when I can’t see him.

{There was a lot of energy in the audience.  I've never spoken with a chorus of "Come on now" before.  I love the rhythmic cadence and audience involvement that one often finds in the black church.} 

The good news is: I didn’t have to make my life’s journey alone. I’ve walked the way with the people of God. When I couldn't see Jesus, I followed my grandparents and my aunts and my Sunday School teachers. When I didnn’t know which way to go, I walked beside the older, wiser women at my church. When I stumble my Christian friends help me get back on my feet and take the next step in the right direction. And somehow, even though it is hard, like every thing else it gets easier with practice.



Perhaps most important: Because I wanted to be a godly woman, I waited for and I married a godly man and we make each other stronger and better.  {And much to my surprise I got just a bit gushy about my husband.  I am proud of him.}

No one makes life’s journey alone. The first Psalm tells us that God “watches over the way of the righteous..."  God watches over the lives of His people.  Holy God, watch over us as we seek to walk the way of the righteous, to “live like Christ and... to find God’s image restored in our lives.” Amen. 

Thank you, Kathy Burrell and Earth’s Angels for this night of celebration, for these beautiful keepsakes, and most of all for the opportunity to have taken a step on life’s journey with each of you.



Most of the phrases in quotation marks are from my Lenten reading:

The Song Forever New:  Lent and Easter with Charles Wesley

by Paul Wesley Chilcote 

which I'm reading in the Kindle edition.

Lifetime Acheivement Award

Who hasn't had the dream?  A walk down the red carpet... an expectant crowd...  the presentation of the award... the acceptance speech.  "The Academy Award for Best..."  "and the Emmy goes to..."  "Here she is:  Miss America..."  "The Pulitzer Prize..."  "The Nobel Prize for Literature..."

"I learned the truth a seventeen..." and, while I do not feel that my life has been without accomplishment, I never thought of it as award-winning.  I was overwhelmed to the point of stammering when just before Christmas I was asked if I would permit Earth's Angels to honor me as one of four  "Distinguished Hope Honorees--Titus Women.  These are women whose lives have touched women by teaching and modeling the Word of God, and they are God's precious gems.  The community in which we live is a better place because of their tireless efforts to build up, beautify, support, and encourage others.  Their work is unto the Lord, but it has not gone unrecognized on earth." 

So there will be a "Dinner of Champions" in March to open "Earth Angel's Conference 2012 Celebrating 10 years of Encouragement, Mentoring, and Leadership for Today's Teen Girl and Young Adult Women."  And I will be given a lifetime achievement award of sorts.  It's humbling and more than a bit awkward.  There is an official bio:

K Cummings Pipes was born in Floyd County Texas in January 1949. She, her brother, and her sister grew up working on the family farm. The large extended family attended South Plains Baptist Church where K came to faith in Jesus and was baptized in 1958 shortly after her ninth birthday. The after school meetings of the Girls Auxiliary of the Women’s Missionary Union were one of many places where the church’s older women taught the young women, setting a wonderful example of Christian service. Following a series of community tragedies, K, at the age of 14 years, had sole responsibility for a Vacation Bible School class. Her service as a Bible teacher continued, almost without interruption, for more than forty years.  K moved to Houston in 1967 to attend Rice University, majoring in English Literature. As a country girl in the big city, she enjoyed the opportunity and diversity of Houston and attended many churches of different denominations, seeking to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of all the people of God. Sunday evenings usually found her at Central Church of Christ sitting beside David Pipes. They taught and worked side-by-side in Central’s mission to the underprivileged children of Houston’s Third Ward for four years and came to know each other well. After their graduations in 1971, David and K married. Their marriage was not blessed with children but all children became theirs as they taught and ministered to a generation, following them from kindergarten through college. David was ordained an elder of the congregation in 2000 and shepherds the flock with K at his side.  K enjoyed a professional career as a medical reference librarian, retiring in 1985. Until health concerns and the demands of caring for her aged parents limited her availability, she spent 20-30 hours a week using her gifts of Bible teaching, tutoring, librarianship, writing and editing at Southwest Central Church of Christ. She continues to pursue her interests in the wisdom literature of Hebrew scripture and the Psalms as a tool to constant prayer. She also collects and studies the work and life of a late Victorian Christian writer at www.evelynwhitakerlibrary.org.

While every word is true, that bio seems almost too shiny and slick.  It leaves out so much.  Most of it not at all the sort of thing one expects of a "Titus woman."  Doubt... Depression... Cynicism...  Fears...  Selfishness... Temper...  Stubborness... an all-too-often out-of-control tongue  ad.inf.  {Sigh!}

And my 5 minute acceptance speech is supposed to be a "teaching" for the attendees.  It's really all about them.  It has made me aware of the debt I owe to all the women who taught and mentored me.  It would take more than 5 minutes or the words that may be put into a blog post to name them and thank them.

One of the duties of an honoree is to help spread the good news about the conference so that young women (aged 11 to to 30 years) can be taught and mentored.  My dearly beloved is sponsoring those women of our church who wish to attend and our minister Steve Sargent is recruiting.  Earth Angel's Conference 2012 information and registration.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear.  The Lord is the strength of my life, of what shall I be afraid...  I hope to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord.  Be of good courage and God will strengthen your soul.  Wait, I say, on the Lord."

"The significance of little things..." Dorothy Day

SEASONS met this morning to finish our discussion of Dorothy Day: Selected Writings. By Little and By Little.  Edited and with an introduction by Robert Ellsberg.  Maryknoll, NY:  Orbis Books, 1992.

My copy of this book is heavily highlighted and I've read it multiple times.  When we selected this book for SEASONS we were looking for a lodestone to help us endure this election year. I skimmed my highlights this week  and found 18 sections that I tabbed for discussion.  It is a book that has been important to my spiritual formation. Among many other things Dorothy Day taught me to care deeply for the poor.

Dorothy Day “wrote to give reason for a marriage of convictions that was a scandal and a stumbling block to many: radical politics and traditional, conservative theology. Yet it was not what Dorothy Day wrote that was extraordinary, nor even what she believed, but the fact that there was absolutely no distinction between what she believed, what she wrote, and the manner in which she lived.” p. xv Ellsberg’s introduction.

We drew our discussion from "Small Things" (p. 74) from Day after Day, excerpts from her personal reflections and her editorials for The Catholic Worker. 
"Today we are not content with little achievements, with small beginnings.... 

Do what comes to hand.  Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might.  After all, God is with us.  It shows too much conceit to trust to ourselves, to be discouraged at what we ourselves can accomplish.  It is lacking in faith in God to be discouraged.  After all, we are going to proceed with His help.  We offer Him what we are going to do.  If He wishes it to prosper, it will.  We must depend solely on Him.  Work as though everything depended on ourselves, and pray as though everything depended on God, as St. Ignatius says...

I suppose it is a grace not to be able to have time to take or derive satisfaction in the work we are doing.  In what time I have my impulse is to self-criticism and examination of conscience, and I am constantly humbled at my own imperfections and my halting progress.... I do know how small and I am and how little I can do and I beg You, Lord, to help me, for I cannot help myself."
(p. 274)  "The significance of our smallest acts!  The significance of the little things we leave undone! The protests we do not make, the stands we do not take, we who are living in the world!"
(p. 96-97) "In Christ's human life, there were always a few who made up for the neglect of the crowd.... We can do it too, exactly as they did.  We are not born too late.  We do it by seeing Christ and serving Christ in friends and strangers, in every one we come in contact with....  For a total Christian, the goad of duty is not needed--always prodding one to perform this or that good deed.  It is not a duty to help Christ, it is a privilege."

The Duty of Delight: the Diaries of Dorothy Day, edited by Robert Ellsberg is available in a Kindle edition.
I also recommend a movie Entertaining Angels (1996) which I recently watched on Netflix.
There are several wonderful interviews posted on YouTube:
Christopher Closeup part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNMHud0fFUg

Hubert Jessup part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRSjY_4fFfc&feature=related

Her 1964 lecture "Witness" at UCSB

SEASONS [Sisters Enjoying A Season Of Nurturing Sisters] is  a group of women who meet monthly to read and discuss theology and to support one another.  We usually meet at Southwest Central Church of Christ. 

Our next book is An Altar in the World.  A Geography of the Faith. by Barbara Brown Taylor.

Like the best chocolate... bitterseet

Like the best chocolate, Christmas, well-kept, is bittersweet.
Each year we anticipate the sweetness of Christmas. We prepare for it; we celebrate it. The sweetness of Christmas comes easily: the fragrance of evergreens, the ringing of bells, the glow of candles, the singing of carols, the joy of giving, the surprised delight of children, the gatherings of family and dear friends, and all the precious memories, bittersweet, of Christmas Past. Oh, the sweetness of Christmas: a baby asleep in a manger, and all heaven and earth proclaiming, "Hope! Peace! Joy! Love!"

And yet, there are those who will meet this Christmas with loss and pain and despair. There are, as always, the poor and those in desperate need. There are, as always, nations at war. There are, as always, those who mourn. For such as these the darkness of winter is dark indeed and Christmas, more bitter than sweet. Jesus walked among sheep without a shepherd and, one by one, he touched and healed and comforted. In his presence they found, as we still hope to find, peace and joy and love.

So, we will keep Christmas and try to keep it well. We will celebrate the birth in Bethlehem by making room in our hearts that Christ may be born in us. We will look upon the babe in the manger and see the man on the cross. Bittersweet! Like the angels we sing praises and speak peace. Like the Magi we offer gifts of adoration. Like the shepherds we "spread the word concerning... this child."

Hope! Peace! Joy! Love! Christmas... bittersweet.

Listen to Mark Lowry's "Mary, Did You know?"