A Fall Apple Recipe

I just had to type up a recipe to send to my parents, and thought, why not share? Everyone needs a good apple recipe this time of year! Well, here is one we enjoy, and so do my parents!

Apple Bread

2 C peeled, cubed apples
1 egg
1 C sugar
1/4 C oil
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda (adjust to 3/4 for altitude)
1/2 t salt
1 C flour
nuts (optional- I never use them, though they would be good)

Put cubed apples into large bowl; stir in egg. Add sugar and oil and mix by hand. Add dry ingredients; stir. Add nuts if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes in a lightly sprayed loaf pan, or 9" pie or cake rounds.

The Deathly Hallows

I have just completed Harry's final adventure. Without giving any spoilers for those still wishing to be surprised, I will just say that it *did* hold some fun twists and turns, and I enjoyed the book thoroughly. Rowlings continues to write something short of great literature, but to excel as a compelling story-teller. I could hardly put it down during the last 100 pages, and I am a slow reader, so it meant a LOT of time this week devoted to Harry and his band of warriors. It is, in the end, a redemptive tale, and well worth the time invested over the years!

What kind of accent do you have?

We are beginning a new year of study in the Women's Fellowship at BAPCA (www.bapca.org) in the book of Phillipians, using a commentary by Sinclair Ferguson entitled Let's Study Philippians. I may try to post thoughts here from that study, from time to time, as an aid to formulating my ideas somehow.

As Dr. Ferguson discusses the first two verses of Philippians, he says...
"...They are at Philippi...But notice what is implied: the Christian lives in two different orders of reality at the same time. We belong to Christ. As Paul will later say, 'our citizenship is in heaven', not here on the earth. Yet for the moment we live in a sinful environment, 'at Philippi", or London or Atlanta. Here we are called to live as alien residents. Our emphases, accents, and lifestyle make others ask, 'Now, where do you belong?' That is effective Christian witness." {Ferguson, Let's Study Philippians, p.3}

So, I wonder what others can tell by my accent? Can they tell I am from somewhere else? That I belong elsewhere, to a distant kingdom, whose King is the Lord? That is something worth pondering as I do my laundry today...

Harry Potter

OK- so I have been re-reading the Potter books prior reading the final one. I was a Potter dismisser for many years: it wasn't good literature, the "hero" was childish, the author was simplistic, and had ripped-off several good books. Well, at the urging of eldest ds, I finally did begin reading the books. They are still not great literature, but I have grown to appreciate Rowlings as an excellent story-teller. I have enjoyed watching the writing style mature with the protagonist, and seeing the depth of writing and plot growing as Harry does. As the books get darker and more complex, I am hoping Rowlings stays true to the redemptive quest she seems to have started. I really enjoyed re-reading these, and have already jumped in to the Deathly Hallows, which means I will be wandering around, tired and bleary-eyed, until that adventure is complete!

October Give-away

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Books

I don't think anyone ever reads this part of my blog-- not that many read the other one-- but it's a nice way of recording things! So, I think I will try to post about the books I've read here, even if it is not "classical" in nature. So the first one is a distinctly non-classical: this last weekend I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It was a creative and compelling story, complete with lots of fodder for future books... Card has managed to create a futuristic world that has many twists on our expectations, many reflections of harsh reality, and many lovely ideas.

I honestly can't remember the last time I read science fiction, perhaps many years ago when rereading Lewis' Space trilogy, but this was well worth the dip into the genre again. We listened to this on a trip, in the audio version, and in an interview at the end of the book, Card made the interesting distinction that the difference between science fiction and fantasy (a genre I feel much more at home in somehow) is that on the cover of fantasy novels there will be trees and woodsy-elvish things. On a science-fiction cover, however, there will be rivets of some kind. LOL!

Well, if you want a little dip into an interesting, "riveting" world, I recommend Ender's Game, and I intend to do some more reading by Card.