Freeing My Mind

The best part about Thanksgiving, at least for me, is family. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy turkey as much as the next guy. (In fact, I adore a nice turducken.) But, my best memories concerning Thanksgiving involve my extended family. For some, being around extended family is best summed up by the saying my friend’s family has about get-togethers, “If you haven’t left mad, you haven’t left yet.” For the most part any feuding is put on hold for holidays. The change that occurs in all of us as the years go by seems unable to detract us from picking up right where the previous year left off. There isn’t  much change year to year. The food is amazing, as most southern cooking is. You simply follow Paula Deen‘s advice and double the amount of butter that any particular recipe calls for. Football intermingled with napping takes up the majority of the day, along with watching Bart Simpson float above the Macy’s parade. Someone will bring up an old story that could contain such tales as my grandfather single handedly saving the television airing of the Miss Mississippi pageant sometime in the 60′s.  From the ages of about 6 to 10, my siblings, cousins and I would create elaborate skits that included my portrayal of an underwear salesman who entered the scene by throwing pairs of underoos at the entire dinner party. Everyone has their favorite dish. My brother’s being white sweet potato casserole. If you haven’t heard of them, white sweet potatoes are even sweeter than orange sweet potatoes. They are baked with another helping of sugar and candied walnuts I believe. (Chris, if the recipe is wrong, forgive me.) I actually just got word that a Thanksgiving catastrophe was averted. Up until yesterday, white sweet potatoes were assumed extinct. The word at the barber shop is that they have been discovered. Thanksgiving saved. My favorite dish is simple. Pecan Pie. A simple pie that involves pecans, butter, crust and about a gallon of karo syrup. Add to that a cup of coffee and you’ve got yourself a holiday. My cousin Josh swoons over chocolate meringue, Kim’s is a casserole that involves cheese and carrots. I’m sure if biscuits were allowed at Thanksgiving then they would take 1st place. Everyone looks forward to my grandmother’s famous holiday dressing. No, not stuffing, dressing. I believe the difference is that it is not stuffed in the Turkey and that it is made with corn bread. All of that reminiscing and alas, I cannot attend family Thanksgiving for the second year in a row.

Due to my travel schedule, Lori and I will be spending Thanksgiving here in Moravian Falls. Last year we did the same. I had some friends and interns that spent Thanksgiving with us. I, other than the ham, cooked the Thanksgiving meal all by myself. I’m not complaining, I loved it. It took me a straight 14 hours to do so (I’m not the most efficient cook), but I did it. I think I did a pretty good job too. I had no clue that the insides of the turkey, including the neck bone, are used to cook the gravy. Anyway, this year we’re just hopping around to about three different houses. The way I’ve scheduled it, it looks like I am going to be able to eat three different times. Around Lunch, we’ll be spending some time with our friends Carol and Doug Bergeron and their family. At 3:00, we’ll move to Gary & Kathy Oates’ to hang with Bob and Bonnie Jones and some more of the Moravian Falls crew. 5:00 brings in the finale, where we trek to the other side of the mountain to eat some Charleston, SC food with Rich and Hollie Giersch. My thinking is that with three different gatherings, odds are good that I will find a pecan pie in one of the locations.

Why bring up all of these people, most of which you do not know? Because, while I adore my blood family, one of the greatest blessings in my life is the extension of family that Lori and I have surrounding us. I don’t feel like preaching much today, but I really believe the idea of family is vital to the reforming of the Church. Take this passage from the book of Acts for example:

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

The Church is more often than not seen today as more of an organization, governed by what looks like a fortune 500 company, rather than a family. I believe the early Church was onto something in their mindset. You might have a weird uncle or a black-sheep cousin, but at the end of the day they are still your family. There is no disassociating or shunning, at least there shouldn’t be. They’re your family and for some reason, you love them. The Moravian church, of whom our small town is named after, instituted a gathering which they called a “Love Feast”. They did this often and it consisted of the entire Moravian town coming together for the simple purpose of eating and loving. I like that. Seems kind of like Thanksgiving to me. I’m really grateful for my family, blood or not, I am incredibly blessed.

I will end today’s post with the two recipes that I will be preparing this Thanksgiving.

Bourbon Pecan Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

• 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, a couple of handfuls
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 ounces bourbon
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook 12 to 15 minutes until very tender. Drain sweet potatoes in a colander. Return pan to medium heat. Add butter to the pan. When butter melts, add nuts and toast for 2 minutes. Add sugar and let it bubble. Add bourbon and cook out alcohol, 1 minute. Add orange juice and the cooked sweet potatoes. Smash with a masher and season the sweet potatoes with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 extra-large egg yolks
• 1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 1 ripe banana, finely mashed
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sugar

For the decoration:

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Orange zest, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.

For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin, banana, and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.

Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.

My iPhone broke. Well, not in a way that keeps it from functioning, but my headphone mic input broke. How? I think my nephew might have rammed a small object into the headphone jack. To me that makes it broken. My beautiful 1987 Chrysler Fifth Avenue, Eloise, although with CD functionality, has no tape-deck or auxiliary input. Therefore I actually drive around with my headphones in. For all of my mother figures who read this blog, I know. It’s dangerous to drive around with headphones in your ear. Maybe it will make you feel better to know that I’m not listening to thrash metal. I listen to podcasts exclusively while I drive. (If your interested in entering the world of podcasts, considering that I do not know your niche interest, I will suggest two to begin with. 1. Stuff You Should Know 2. The AwakeCast Oh, and make sure you have iTunes installed.)  Prior to the destruction caused by my nephew, whenever a call came through in the midst of my podcast listening all I had to do was click a small white button on my headphones: Podcast pauses, call received, call ends, podcast resumes. All of this with the click of a single button. Now the process is much more complicated: Phone rings, headphones are unplugged and set to the side becoming entangled a midst my various wires and do-dads sitting on my passenger seat, iPhone is unlocked and brought my ear, only one hand free now, call received, call is inevitably stress inducing due to steps 1 -4, call ends, iPhone is unlocked once again, headphones untangled and inserted back into the iPhone, tap icon to bring up iPod functionality, re-choose desired podcast, press play, lock iPhone. All that to say, I broke down and paired a blue-tooth earpiece with my iPhone. I wouldn’t have bought one out-right, but I found one that came with my PS3.  Not the best option, I refuse to actually keep the thing in my ear, but it’s close by now.

I’m convinced that the greatest concern facing America isn’t swine flu, cancer, or even the health-care bill. It’s fake food. Now, before I rant a little, I’ll admit that I don’t eat 100% organic and although accused of being a hippie at times, this isn’t about becoming “one with nature”. Think about it: Most nations of the world, even 1st world countries, have a food staple high in carbohydrates. The average Frenchman drinks 100 liters of wine a year along with cheese by the truck load. Yet, they have a much longer lifespan than Americans and 40% less heart conditions. If you think that our diet related health issues and weight have only to do with the abundance of food we have, consider that the second fattest nation in the world is Mexico. Mexico, a country riddled with poverty, yet in close proximity to the American food industry. Hmmm?

If one were to look on the back of most of the packaged foods that we find in the grocery store, we won’t even begin to discuss restaurant food, you will noticea small list at the bottom of the label. These are called the ingredients. Ingredients are listed in descending order according to the amount of that incredient contained within the food. Everything from cheeses, to cereal, to bread and even to meat contain a list of ingredients that would have to be read aloud by a panel of molecular biologists in order to comprehend their pronunciation. Usually within the first one or three ingredients you’ll find one of the greatest culprites… high-fructose corn syrup.

America both grows and consumes DOUBLE the amount of corn as the country holding down the #2 position in corn consumption… China. Why? Well, how often do you see corn on your plate? Not that often? The answer is simple: a devilish ingredient known as high-fructose corn syrup. In 1970 over 80% of all sweetener consumed by Americans was sucrose. During this time an artificial sweetener was being developed at the hands of the soft-drink industry and the corn farmers of America. By 1997, the amount of sugar sweetener consumed by American had dropped to 47% and HFCS had taken over with about 57% of the marketplace. Right under the noses of it’s consumers, the American food industry had pulled a switcheroo.

The problem with this, apart from other various health issues, is that sweetener of any form has been shown to increase the desire to eat. You see, it wasn’t just that sugar was replaced with HFCS, it was that HFCS was added to food that had not previously contained sweetener in any form. Their plan was simple: Add the low-cost sweetener to the foods we eat, we become addicted to those foods and no longer desire any food doesn’t contain the addictive property. Other food companies had to follow suit in order to keep up with America’s unknowing demand for HFCS. The number one target for these sorts of food? Our children’s school cafeteria. If children were to develop a dependency on these highly processed foods at an early age, they would continue to depend on them as adults. Mwuahhhaha!

High-fructose corn syrup is just one example of the additives contained within our food. I’m holding a package of bread that I picked up from our office’s food area. It contains 25 ingredients. A bread that’s touted for it’s “18 grams of whole gains” and “49% of daily fiber”. I’m no dietition and I’m definately not a scientist, but it all adds up. America is the fattest nation on the planet and our obesity has lead us to be a leader in unwanted health statistics as well. Maybe along with the healthcare-reform bill we should earmark a food-industry reform clause. And, maybe we as Christians while proclaiming the dangers of various addictions we should also take note of the most dangerous addiction: food.

While I was contemplating all of this, I found that it was a good way to express some much needed concern for my spiritual movement’s current state. It seems that we crave more of what makes us simply feel good, rather than what is actually good for us. We have become addicted to the sweetness of the flash of ministry, without much concern for the actual beneficial content. We take a food that is good in and of itself, but dilute it with artificial sweetness. Paul talked about this: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers (2 Timothy 4:3) Those itching ears are the addictive properties of that which we hear. I don’t want to give you specific examples, just something to think about. Maybe an industry of ministry has conditioned us to want certain things, rather that what God has actually created for us to consume. I’m not talking about what we traditionally think of as “watering down the gospel”, but rather when we become too used to one form of food because it makes us feel so good. You gotta ask yourself: Is what I’m eating actually contributing to my spiritual health? Am I growing? Calm down, Craig, it’s Wednesday. Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I’m just sayin’.

much love!

and now, inspiration served up warm

Let me begin by recognizing the, at times down right poor, writing contained within my first blog. Get used to commas. They’re like a comfort food to me. Too much of a good thing I guess. Let me also say that while I hope to do a better job on the fly, I’m not going to pursue perfect writing etiquette in this blog. Sure, I hope I can use it as a tool to help me become a better writer, but it just takes too much effort to comb through every memory I have of 8th grade creative writing.

As much I was would like to go ahead and begin bloviating about the pursuit of life, liberty and freedom from religion… I’m going to restrain myself. My biggest fear in doing this blog is that it would simply become a daily soapbox for me to expound upon my view of the world, as well as the Church’s, spiritual state. Not to say I won’t do that. I will. But, if I begin to process those issues too early in the day too often, it has the ability to somewhat taint the rest of my day. Not that I get depressed or anything, it just opens up what I call righteous frustration. A feeling that seems to, at times, hinder some of my creative thought process. All that to say, I’m not going to do that, at least today.

So, there’s a building across the street from our office. A small building, but large enough to hold a small retail shop. (You know you’ve spent too much time in other cultures when you almost spell ”shop”, “shoppe”.) Nothing wrong with the place on the outside, but something’s wrong with it. I’m sure you’ve encountered these places before. No matter what type of business settles into this building, which by way is on Main Street of our small town, it can’t seem to make it. Just last year friends of mine opened a coffee and “light fare” shop. Great coffee, good food. Incredible decor. Perfect for the area. Busy street, even a lot of foot traffic. (Which is rare anywhere in the South) The place closed down just a few months after it opened. I haven’t lived in the area for too long, but I have yet to see a business keep it’s doors open in this building for more than a few months.

About three weeks ago I noticed that, once again, the building had been purchased. After seeing the less-than-stellar performance of the past entrepreneurs, I figured that someone had finally decided to just open a real estate office or something. A week later my hopes were crushed. A sign was placed on the door. “Coming Soon: Havana Dreams” “Oh no. A cigar shop in Wilkesboro! I think they need to do a little more market research.” You see while there are some interesting cultures and “trendy” places in North Carolina, I wouldn’t describe Wilkesboro as such a place. Small town. Small town vibe. Small town mindset. It’s amazing our new Super Walmart was even built. I think there was actually a petition against it.  Anyway, imagine my suprise when the shop actually opened its doors last week. It’s not a cigar shop at all. It’s a cuban restaurant.

As I stared out the window of my office, watching the middle-aged Cuban man place his sandwich board onto the sidewalk with every bit of pride he could muster, I couldn’t help but feel inspired. (Along, with a sense of looming dread.) In Wilkesboro, an ethnic restaurant is more of a death wish than a cigar shop. The establishment directly across the street from Havana Dreams, the 50′s Snack Bar, serves hundreds of people for breakfast and lunch. But, the 50′s snack bar serves burgers. Fries. Onion rings. Hot dogs. BLT’s. Cottage cheese. Wilkesonians understand this food. Jamon Pierna and Carne Empanadas, not so much.

Back to my inspiration. Here is this man and his wife. Right in the middle of virtually zero ethnic diversity and they open a restaurant spouting a menu which, even in the midst of my traveling lifestyle, even I have not come across. In the midst of a recession at that. That takes… guts. So, I’ve decided to champion their cause. I had my first Cuban sandwich about an hour ago. It was amazing. Pretty much a pennini. Ham, swiss cheese, pork, pickles and mustard on “Cuban” bread, then grilled. Seriously, it was good. I think I’ll go there everyday for a while. I really hope and pray that they make it. Maybe little Havana could break the curse.