Recipe of a Pickle

I was privileged to have lunch with Q on Friday at his workplace.  [Insert non-related thought:  if you are a Trekkie, you will undoubtedly think of the being who could appear at any time and any place during a Star Trek show, especially on the Star Trek Voyager series.  I know this because, well, I am a Trekkie...but my "Q" is my wonderful hubby, who, like the other "Q,"  will on occasion pop into a blog entry here and there...resume story.]  We sat with his co-workers and just enjoyed some witty banter.  One of the newest on board was at our table, and she reminded me that her interview was on the day I'd been making pickles.  I looked at her blankly for a moment, but then the realization of what she was referring to dawned on me.  Before I get headlong into that story, let me post the recipe for said pickles:

Red Hots Watermelon Rind Pickles
Note:  I used an 8 quart pot to make these in so water amounts are approximate.

• 8-10 cups of watermelon rinds (white part - no pink).  These have been cut into pieces about 2" x 1/2" x 1/4."  You may also use cucumbers, about 8-9, peeled and cut into the same size.
• 8 quarts of water
• 2 cups pickling lime

Combine these ingredients into the large pot and soak for 24 hours.
Drain and rinse the lime off, then soak rinds in clear water for three hours.
Add:

• 1 cup of apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. of Alum
• 1 bottle of red food coloring (optional - I did not do this - they will turn out a bright red anyway.)
• Add enough water to cover the rinds.   

Boil for one hour then drain the rinds.
In another pot, heat the following ingredients until all are melted to make the syrup:

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 10 cups sugar (I know, I know, but you don't eat a lot of these at a time.)
• 2 cups water 
• 14 oz. bag of red hots
• 8 cinnamon sticks 
• 2 tsp. salt

When the Red Hots are melted, pour the syrup over the rinds in the large pot, cover and let stand overnight (about 24 hours.)  The next day, drain the syrup into another pot, reheat and pour back over the rinds.  Repeat this process for three days.  Reheat the final time, and put rinds into hot jars then fill remaining space to 1/2" from the top with syrup.  Cover with hot clean lids and boil jars for five minutes before removing to cool on racks.  Jar lids should pop when sealed.  These turn out to be bright red and spicy tart sweet.

Okay, here's where the story picks back up.  Q and I were up early, as usual, getting ready for work (this happened in the fall before I was let go from my job).  In the hustle and bustle of getting ready, I realized that it was the final day to reheat the syrup and pour it over the rinds.  Because I was in a rush, I decided to just heat them all up at the same time.  Well, I turned the heat on high under the pot of pickles and finished getting ready.  Since we were late getting up, we were pleased to be out the door and both of us on time for work.

As Q was interviewing the prospective employee later that morning, his phone kept going off.  He'd turned it to silent but it was obvious by the continued buzzing that someone was trying to get hold of him.  Meanwhile, I get a call at work informing me that the fire department is on their way to our house.  They had been unsuccessful reaching my husband, so they called me as our smoke alarm was going off.  

My heart dropped to my feet and I realized what had happened.  I forgot to turn off the burner under the watermelon rinds. I was out the door and on the way home very quickly.  I made all the lights between work and my home, so I'd made it in record time.  But alas, the fire department had had to break into the front door, so the burglar alarm was going off even as the fire alarm continued to blare.  Welcome to the circus on the corner.  I must say that the fireman were all very encouraging and helpful.  I was told that our fire alarm did exactly what it should have and they got there in time to stop a full blown house fire. 
 
We were pleased not to have any smoke or fire damage (Praise God!) thanks in part, to the new kitchen we were blessed to have just finished.  The backing behind the stove top, while very hot, was insulated enough with backer board and tile that it did not spread through the wall.  The fireman stayed extra time to make sure that the wall (behind the burner where the pot was) cooled to a safe temperature.  Everyone got there quick enough to get windows and exhaust fans open and running to draw out the smoke...

Moral of this story, if you're not very good at multitasking (that's me for sure) then don't heat something up on the stove (especially on high) while you're in a hurry to get ready and off to work.  You just might end up in a pickle (and give someone a very memorable job interview!)

Talk about some red hot watermelon rind pickles.  These were supposed to end up a nice festive bright red and not coal black, although I'm sure at some point they were very red hot!

 
 

Pinterest Project #1

Good morning!  I'm back again in the same year!  I'm up a little earlier than usual this morning...had breakfast with my hubby (he's a morning person, I'm definitely not).  I now have coffee in hand, intermittently between typing, +K-Love music blaring, and I thought, "Hey, I should go ahead and blog again this morning!"  So, here I am.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd put up the processes I used for the +Pinterest projects I've completed.  If I can figure out how to upload pictures on this thing, we'll be in business.

The picture to the right is the inspiration idea for my project.  Thing is, I wanted a bookshelf and not just a table, so I had to figure out how to adapt the idea to fit my need.  I began looking at old secretaries (furniture not office workers) and found one that I liked. 

I borrowed my daughters overhead projector (she sometimes does murals) so that I could trace the pattern onto the wall in pencil.  Then I painted the base coat of semi-gloss white (I used blue tape to help me stay in the lines.) 

This was my inspiration piece.

What I printed onto the overhead projector sheet.

After adding a second coat and letting it dry, I used a tole painting technique to add the designs.  

Not sure why this is sideways, but here's where I painted in the lines.

I used a 1/2" angled flat brush, dipped 1/2 into the shadow color and 1/2 into the white, then painted the rope design below.

Pattern followed for design down each side.

My daughter, who is a graphic artist- well just artist period, but who also works at a local hardware store, came over late one evening after work to put up the shelving for me.  Originally, these were wide shelves that were on another wall.  We cut them in half to fit into new the shelf space, rounded the newly cut edge, and repainted the shelving in the same semi-gloss white. 

Used same tole painting technique for other shadow patterns. My DD, (darling daughter, got to use her new drill set that she'd gotten for Christmas when she put up the shelves for me!)

I used some old floral drawer pulls from some drawers formerly in my daughters room (they broke, so we got rid of the drawers.)  DD drilled holes where the screws formerly went, and I glued them into place.

Still sideways - hmmph!

Add books and nick-knacks and voila!  My first Pinterest project is complete.

My Way is not the High Way

Okay, for someone who thinks she likes to write and wants to blog, I haven't done a very good job of it.  An average of one blog per year is pretty pathetic!  Well...it's a new year, so I'm going to try this again.

Quite a few things have changed in my life since the last time I blogged.  One main thing is that I am currently unemployed.  After serving just shy of nine years on a church staff as an administrative assistant, I was let go in October for financial reasons.  The state of the economy has now affronted me personally.  I have to admit that it came as a shock - a direct blow to my comfort and pride.  I know this for sure because my eating habits had slipped into stress/emotional eating and the scale tipped to a blaring warning that I was heading for disaster! (Another time, another blog.)  It's February now, and I'm finally starting to come to grips with (and enjoy) the new situation I find myself in.

Fairly recently, God reminded me of something I'd prayed for a few years ago...and that is that He'd help me be hospitable.  Even though I have that desire, I was often too tired to make my home presentable so that I'd feel free to be hospitable.  Not only that, but since moving into this house in 1996, it has pretty much been a construction zone in one area or another.  We've been doing one small project at a time as we could afford it (tiled entryway, hardwood floors, small library, built-in entertainment center.)  We'd definitely purchased a fixer-upper whether we realized it or not.

Late summer of last year, my husband and I felt financially secure enough to take on the big project of remodeling the kitchen.  Before that, during the summer, we'd actually finished putting the hardwood floors in the front rooms of the house.  My wonderfully talented husband did all the work (though I like to think that I helped here and there.)  I must say it turned out beautifully.  So much so, that we'd were very excited to get started on the kitchen.  I won't go into detail, but as you can imagine, the project grew.  The kitchen (& ceiling & lighting...) is now complete, and the front rooms just need a final coat of paint on the walls and the trim painted.

Most recently, I've redecorated in my daughter's old bedroom (she's 24 now and out on her own.)  It's not fancy, after all, our budgetary belts are quite tight once again.  There are at least three Pinterest projects in that room to accompany my 60's furniture from my own growing up years.  Hmm...I think I may post pictures and details of said projects soon.  This room redo cost us under $80 bucks as there were only a few items I had to purchase (curtain rod, quilt-hanging rod, rug, pillows.)  Everything else, we already had "stored" in the house or it was given to us (box springs & mattress - thanks Sis!)

Anyway, all this to show how my prayer was answered.  I would not have chosen to lose my job, but I now have time to make my house feel like a home so that we can practice hospitality.  The "new" bedroom (as well as my son's empty room) was "consecrated" in January when we hosted 13 middle school girls and two college girls for an event with our church.  It was such fun and very rewarding to have them all here for the weekend.  

[Insert non-related thought:  I've also been given the opportunity to finish a correspondence course that I began, Lord have mercy, 11 years ago!  I received a letter saying that I could pick up where I'd left off; I just had to pay the balance due.  I'd put the letter on the dining table to remind me to talk to my husband, "Q," about it.  Well, of course, I forgot to mention it, but when I saw it on the table the next morning, it had "Paid in full - I love you" written across it. I love you too, honey!]

Isaiah 55:8,9 says, 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'  

Yes they are Lord!  I am thankful that God is so patient with me.  He is always willing to lead me, one baby step at a time, the way I should go.

Romans 12:12,13 - Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Now, where did I put that list of folks who are long overdue for an invite to dinner...?

Slip into something more comfortable...

This Memorial Day has been spent having coffee and a "danish" with my man at our favorite coffee shop, going for a ride with the top down enjoying the gorgeous blue sky with puffy white clouds and warm sunshine, relaxing at home, working in the garden...  After our outing this morning, though, I settled down to what is supposed to be my daily devotional.  I missed yesterday, so I did two today, but I must say yesterday's devo still has me thinking late into the afternoon. 

I'm going through Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest.  The May 27 scripture reading is from Luke 24:49 which says, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."  Mr. Chambers always quotes from KJV, so I always have other translations on hand to compare with.  Both the NIV and the NASB use "until you have been clothed with power."  Since I really didn't know what "endued" meant, I looked it up. 

en-due:  verb

1. to invest or endow with some gift, quality or faculty.

2. to put on; assume.

3. to clothe.

In the verses preceding verse 49, Jesus is telling the disciples about what is to come (death on the cross and His resurrection), and that they will preach repentance and forgiveness in His name to all nations because of it.  Then He tells them to wait in Jerusalem until He sends what the Father promised...the Holy Spirit.  Hence, how we can be "endued" or "clothed with power."  Mr. Chambers says that "the reception of the Holy Spirit is the maintained attitude of a believer.  When we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive quickening life from the ascended Lord."

The idea of being "clothed" with power reminded me of other scripture talking about how we are to "clothe" ourselves, so I did some digging.  After searching for the word "clothe" in the New Testament (mainly because I knew the scriptures I was remembering were in the New Testament), five verses/passages stood out to me, each one containing the word "clothe."  I looked in the Online Greek Interlinear Bible to see if they truly all come from the same word. Here's what I found:

Matthew 6:25-30 - "Therefore...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear...See the lilies of the field...they do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon...was dressed like one of these...If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today ad tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"

Greek words (transliteration)[GWT]:  endusEsthe and endumatos.

Romans 13:14 - "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." GWT: endusasthe.

1 Corinthians 15:54 - "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.'"  GWT: endusEtai.

Galatians 3:26,27 - "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized in Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."  GWT: enedusasthe.

Colossians 3:12 - "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."  GWT: endusasthe.

Do you notice a form of the root word "endu" in every one of those?  I guess that's where we get the word endue and why King James used it.  The Greek Interlinear Bible defined the italicized words above (in one form or another) as "to put on or slip into."  No wonder we are not to worry about what we wear, for if we are in Christ, then we have put on the all-powerful, imperishable Lord Jesus Christ who is the epitome of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

Being clothed in Christ...now that sounds comfortable!

Beginning

Welcome to the first post of my first blog.  I've been contemplating doing one for quite a while, but it wasn't until I thought I'd lost all my "notes" on facebook that I decided to "go for it."

First things first.  What kind of name is Momentum: Living...Moving...Being?  It was inspired by a devotional a friend of mine gave at a meeting I attended (how's that for vague?)  She was attempting to inspire us to keep moving in a positive direction in the work we were doing.  Her words must have struck a chord because, well, here I am naming my blog after her devotional.  

The word momentum is a noun meaning - 1) force or speed of movement; impetus, as of a physical object or course of events.  2) Also called linear momentum. Mechanics - a quantity expressing the motion of a body or system, equal to the product of the mass of a body and its velocity, and for a system equal to the vector sum of the products of mass and velocity of each particle in the system (definition from dictionary.com).  In other words, I am the body in motion in this system of life, and Jesus is the impetus (the moving force, stimulus...cause of motion.)

The first part of Acts 17:28 says "In Him [Jesus], we live and move and have our being."  Some translations use "exist" instead of "have our being."  The literal translation of the last word in that list is "are."  In Him , we are.  So, when trying to think of a title for this blog that would reflect me, how I want to be, how I try to be...I am living, moving, and being in Him.  That includes everything in my life: goals, disappointments, joys, sorrows, successes, failures, accomplishments, mistakes, trials, triumphs, and the list goes on.

I hope to share, through this blog, life - things I learn, where I go, what I do, how I am...  Hopefully, it will be an encouragement to someone who is living life as I am.