BASIL

This year I am growing a pot of basil outside the kitchen. Not really a kitchen garden because it's off the the piano room, but close enough. I step outside to snip the fresh bloom to add to the evening's meal. So here are some favorites:

BASIL LEMONADE

1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh basil leaves

8 cups lemonade

(use the amount for the proportionate balance)

In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the sugar and 1 1/2 cups cold water to a simmer. Cook, without stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens slightly, bout 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the basil, and let cool to room temperature. Strain the syrup into a resealable container and discard the solids. Pour 2 to 3 teaspoons of the basil syrup into each of 8 ice-filled glassed, then fill with lemonade. Garnish with an additional spring of basil. RATING: 10+ This is a really yummy way to enjoy simple syrup kicked up a couple of notches. It tastes good with iced tea, too. Although I did not like it flavored tea.

SAUTEED SPINACH WITH BASIL

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/3 cup pine nuts

10 ounces fresh spinach leaves

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups fresh basil leaves

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the pine nuts and cook until lightly golden, about 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium and add the spinach, salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons of water (I used apple cider vinegar for a bit of a punch). Cover and cook, tossing occasionally with tongs, until the spinach wilts, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the basil and toss until it wilts, about 1 minute. Serve immediately. RATING: 7 but only if you use fresh spinach. Frozen (okay I didn't check to see if the fresh was any good and thought I could substitute) was too dry and too chopped. Flavors were GREAT, though. Garlic and pine nuts added the soft crunch, basil the aromatic fragrance.

And for the entree:

PARMESAN PORK CUTLETS

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 large eggs

1 cup dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used sea)

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan

4 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oven to 400F (we used the grill so the house would not be so hot). Thinly slice the tenderloin on a diagonal into 8 pieces. Pound the slices to a 1/4-inch thickness. Place the flour on a plate. Place the eggs in a shallow bowl and beat lightly. In a separate bowl, combine the bread crumbs, salt and Parmesan. Working in patches, lightly coat the cutlets first in the flour, then in the egg mixture (allowing any excess to drip off), and finally in the bread crumb mixture. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 of the cutlets. Cook until golden, 1-2 minutes per side. Place the cutlets on a baking sheet. Wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining olive oil and cutlets. Transfer to oven and heat until the pork is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. RATING: 7-8. Andrew thought an 8; I only gave it a 7.The crust is crispy, the meat tender. You will think it is going to be dry and over cooked but it's lightly parm and yummy.

That's the ingredient of the week. All three were quick, easy, 4 on the skill level and left overs will make a delicious pork cutlet sandwich for tomorrow's lunch.

Well, Andrew is home.

You may have noticed he helped me update my blog. Stay tuned for the next update (probably tomorrow--although he said I had to leave it for 6 days for all the poll numbers to come in).

FLOWERS

I love flowers. My grandmother taught me about flowers. She grew roses back in the day. Blowing off the aphids on the individual plants.

The flower I remember though, is the moon flower vine.

The large white blossom unfolds in the evening. The dark green heart shaped leaves surround the fragrant flowers. When evening would come, Mamaw (a good Southern name for Grandma) would quietly bring me around the side of the garage to witness this evening ritual of the new life of the intoxicating, luminous flowers. It always seemed she whispered as we gently walked up on the flowers so as not to disturb the tranquility. The next morning when we were hanging the laundry on the line (google it--not everyone, always had dryers) the mass of vining would remain leaving the promise of tonight's fragrance of memories.

Did I say I love flowers? I do. Pincushion,

gladiolus, daisies, lily of the valley,

you name it. I don't' grow my own too much any more so I really appreciate a good bouquet. Some people say it's a frivolous expense, but cut flowers in any room make for a brighter, sweeter environment. Beauty is truth.

(Money is available to anyone who knows the source--without Google).

This last week a good, dear, sweet friend gave me some flowers as a thank you for some help I gave her.

Initially I said something like, "Would you do this for a sister?" Hmmm. Like a thank you needs an explanation. Or somehow close, loving relationships preclude the kindness of "thank you" expressed.

Anyway, the flowers adorned my desk and now my beside table. Because, just because.

Promise

I’m in the retelling mode. Now when I talk about Addis I tell the “best” story. This is not good. It means I’m not so connected—it’s more of a memory. I’ll work it. I promise to remember.

The next day of our trip was confusing to me. We travelled to Peter’s drop in center.

http://cyministry.org/

The puppet theatre did not set up correctly so that was left for another day. Noah was connecting with the crush of children and his 20 matchbox cars or so were “distributed.” It too was not optimum.

Then we sang with the children and then did a craft. Singing is always fun with children, especially in ET.

Then we proceeded into the classrooms to help with a craft. There were enough supplies. We made bookmarks. This was a little puzzling since I’m pretty sure none of the children own a book. They really enjoyed making the craft though. Kind of reminded me of some of the MOPS crafts I did—fun in the process but no earthly use for the item.

Over and over again I kept pondering why are the people so hopeful? Joyful? The conditions in Addis are not bleak.

The landscape is BEAUTIFUL. But to an American there are not a lot of “things.” The houses are not large. The gardens are utilitarian not English gardens full of blooms. Clothing is simple and there certainly is not the volume of garments that crowd our closets.

Buildings are run down. Nobody is fat. All the “stuff” that glitters to the American eye is missing.

BUT and it’s a big but, the people are full of promise, hope and contentment. They LOVE God and each other. Problems exist but God is bigger than the problems. The men who lead the ministries, Peter, Nega, Ephraim, Yohannes, are trusting God for big things—

things like food for hungry children, soccer jerseys for street boys that need something to do and someone to do it with, books to read to learn of God and all He has created, and the generous giving from people with things, some many unnecessary things.

These men and others like them are gracious, kind, hard-working men of prayer that believe God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do, men of faith. Superheros.

Freedom

At the end of Wednesday it seemed like a good idea to pick a word to describe the day—a way for me to remember the significant impression of the day.

I shared this with one couple I met, Michelle and Chad from Indiana. She picked the word Freedom for Thursday’s adventures.

We saw children loved, cared for and children making a future. We stopped at a drop in center where the children swarmed us!!!

Not being one who enjoys an abundance of physical touch it was overwhelming.

I fell in love with a little girl with large brown eyes. (Half of Ethiopia, by the way).

She didn’t join in the play with the parachute, preferring a spot on the concrete step. So I joined her. She did not reach for my hand so I took hers and held it for a long time. When they were called to the meal time (lunch, I think). I reluctantly let go of her hand, touched her cheek and kissed her good-bye.

As a group we hung around for awhile longer so I wandered over to the lunch room for a peek inside since the children were singing and tapping as they waited for their food. She was sitting at the end of the table and when she looked at me a moment of recognition flickered across her face. Then when it really was time to say good-bye, I waived and she waived back with a big smile.

Then we headed over to the vocational training site of Win Souls for God http://www.wsg-street.org/wsg/

Gizachew Ayka is one of the founding members with an inspiring story of youthful passion to serve God and help the poor and needy of his community, making a profound different in the lives of hundreds just by obeying God.

The final stop of the day was a residential facility for former commercial sex workers.

These beautiful women are living in a large, clean building where they work together with each other raising their children. Yohannes spends his “free” time here providing prayer and counsel to these ladies – he’s a godly man who shares an example of a protecting, kind, honest, non-abusive man.

Hope abounds for these ladies as they re-construct their lives. They prepared coffee for us and showed us their babies.

Like all mamas so proud of their babies. We prayed with them and now continue to pray for them.

Freedom isn’t just another word for nothing else to lose. When you know you are safe, you will have at least one meal a day, you have an opportunity for learning and you can be secure in the love of God for you and yours that’s free.

Addis at night.

Aimlessness

The first full day in Addis was interesting. Noah was eager to begin the day—I think that was 1 a.m. When you’re three years old jet lag functions the same way as for other age groups, it’s just cuter. Who doesn’t want something to eat, chocolate milk to drink and fun pirate video to watch first thing even if it is the middle of the night?

Our accommodations were provided by the Ethiopian Guest House http://www.ethiopiaguesthome.com/. It is a lovely place located somewhere in Addis. The only way I would be able to find it would be to walk up and down the streets (more like alleys) and look for the tribute picture of Mother Teresa painted on the wall. I’m sure that could take days (maybe weeks). Coffee (the best) and breakfast were served starting at 7 am and since I decided to sleep when I got home that worked out great for me.

I took our trip leaders request to de-bling seriously but I think I was the only one. I was clean, but dressed for a camping trip, minimal make-up, t-shirt and jeans, only one ring, sans gem stones and a modest pair of earrings. Not my best look but then I didn’t feel so good either – jet lag.

After pulling the group together—no easy task—we departed for Win Souls for God http://www.hfc-ethiopia.org/ office compound. We were escorted into a meeting room on the compound where our interpreter Yohannes introduced Tariku Wondimu who gave us a general over-view of the work of Win Souls for God.

One of their areas of concentration is a home for former commercial sex workers and since some members in our group had met some prostitutes the night before they were committed to finding a safe place for them. Well, we were invited to return the next day and no answer was given that day for the needy women.

So all 24 of us piled in the two vans and we were on the road again. My observation from the back window of the van was the aimlessness that was pervasive in the city and on out to the outskirts of town. People were walking all the time, shops were open with product and produce to sell, but no was selling, no one was buying. No one seemed to get anywhere.

We were headed to some meeting arranged by Amanda and her group, Better Care Network's Faith to Action Initiative.

Well, we had 2 flat tires along the way and were unable to make the meeting. Lots of drama over this, but the part of the event that sticks in my mind is our attempt to be generous. We had lots of p and j sandwiches left over from our “picnic” lunch and one in the group took the stack of containers over to a group of men on the side of the road and handed the entire stack to one man. When another man attempted to grab a container a fight ensued. It was not a pretty sight. I guess when you are hungry, really hungry, sharing is not an option.

We turned around on this road to nowhere and returned to the guest house. Day One memories are filled with a strong sense of the beginning of the paradigm shifting of my world view.

Humbled

Just back from a trip to Addis Ababa, ET. I joined my daughter and her family for the purpose of meeting their daughter. The Young’s are adopting the most beautiful girl, Myra. She is small, 6 lbs. 8oz. (at 2 ¾ months). Also, she’s soft, delicate, content, and totally my granddaughter!!! There are no words for me to express the joy of seeing her. She is receiving GREAT care. The facility is big, bright, and clean. The staff ratio for care-giving is good. The staff is committed to the care and love of these little ones – not just a job but a service of mission.

The rest of the time spent in ET was for the purpose of learning about children’s services. Adoption is only a very small part of the solution to the extreme poverty experienced by the millions of needy children in Addis and ET. We visited drop in centers (no real comparable service here in the US, but similar to Head Start), a home for unwed mothers who were formerly making their living in prostitution, a training center for young men; teaching them to learn a trade while providing additional services including a meal, and pick-up soccer games with street children who joined us for a meal that evening to name a few of the highlights.

I will be posting over the next few days about the experience in a more detailed way, but to begin, Ethiopia humbled me. Here is a beautiful city, Addis Ababa, an ancient resort city for royalty, banded by mountains, canopied by blue, blue sky with the most gracious, humble, service-minded believers that I stand in awe of their commitment to our God. Young men who work all day and then serve the most needy, HIV+ children and women, abandoned and scorned children with little resource other than the Word of God and His sustaining strength.
Women who have endured the greatest humiliation and suffering at the hands of harsh men, open their home to guests and serve me. They receive our gift of donated formula, knowing that the nutrition for their babies is life giving. They will not let us leave their home without serving us coffee. Everywhere I turned the Ethiopians gave; they gave when by American standards they have nothing.

A land where there is no reason for hope or joy is embedded with profuse hope and abundant joy. God is in Addis Ababa.

All they asked is that we remember. We remember what we saw, what they need, and what we can give. I will remember.

Finally ...

Well, some things are just too much fun. Wack a Mole is a questionable toy in my mind -- seems like a training tool for serial killers, but it does require hand to eye coordination.

Then there's Pirate smack down ...

Personally I prefer the traditional ...

A long but lovely "weekend." Some say the youth is wasted on the young. I say the youth deserve the young. And I don't mean Noah Young.