Success revisited. What is it, Really? and taco/chili seasoning mix

I've been reading a book lately, by the late Peter J. Gomes. I really like what he has to say about success, and being successful. Also about being happy.

• He has shown you, oh Man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

That is from the book of Micah, old testament. It is something I am trying to teach my children.

First, to do justly. To me, that means to do what is right. So then, I have to figure out what that is. Because it isn't a case of a list of stuff to do and there you are, it changes based on what is needed. I mean, there are some things that seem obvious, like no murdering your neighbors, not taking other peoples stuff, but also things like finding out what people need and getting it to them in a way that does not make them feel small. Here Mr. Gomes had some interesting things to say, about obligations and how we as human beings hate being obligated to other people. He mentioned a common habit humans have of deflecting compliments. I have encountered this in churches with the "wow, you did a good job singing" and the usual response is that "not me, but God did it". I think there is a good possibility that I put people off when I acknowledge that I am a good embroiderer. I have worked hard at getting better at something I had talent in doing. For that reason, when I am complimented on a piece I have done, I thank them for their kind words. We'll get back to this when we discuss humility/humbleness.

Love mercy. We all love mercy... when it is directed at us particularly. Not so much when it is someone else, especially someone to whom we deem no mercy is due. Nevertheless, we are to love mercy. I am raising my children to believe in a God of infinite mercy, one who can forgive even those who display the worst behaviour. People like Osama bin Laden, or the hijackers who flew planes into buildings and killed many people in the name of their God, and going further back, Adolf Hitler and Stalin and Mussolini, whose actions are demonstrably evil. So many people fall short of what I consider to be just actions. And, if I am honest, so do I. And if I feel that I deserve mercy, how can I deny it to anyone?

Walking humbly. To not think of yourself as better than you are. But I also think it means to not think of yourself as worse than you are. Compare yourself only to what you have done in the past. No one else matters in this instance. What other people do is up to them. There is only one person whose behavior you can control. This is something I point out often to my children, especially the oldest, who tries to rule how the others behave. It is a hard thing to do, not to compare yourself with others, and not to try to force them to do what you think they ought.

So, I can't force you to mix this seasoning mix the way I do, but I really like it, and so do my kids and husband.

Taco/Chili seasoning mix

1/2 cup chili powder (this is a mix available in the US, mostly paprika with some other stuff in it. If you don't have it, use 3 tbl of paprika as a substitute)
3 tbl cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1 tsp cayenne powder (depending on how hot you want the stuff to be)
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp fenugreek (this is a spice used in Indian food a lot. It is also used as flavoring, imitation maple, and indeed smells a lot like it. I find that it has a slight oniony aftertaste, so prefer the real thing, but that may be just me)

Mix. I use the entire amount with a lb of ground beef sauteed with one chopped onion for both taco meat and chili. For chili I then add


1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans of beans (kidney is traditional, but I have used black beans and garbanzos as well, still good)
1 can corn
1/2 to 3/4 cups water

Bring to a boil and simmer until sauce is thickened. I serve it over rice, but it is also good with cornbread, and one of my children likes to roll it in a flour tortilla and eat it as a sandwich.

THE Magpie

Success, Failure, and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Interim reports came out on Monday, and my daughter is in danger of failing one of her courses. My husband yelled at her, and in the course of his lecture stated that getting bad grades could negatively impact her ability to get into college, which could negatively impact her desire to be a veterinarian, which could lead to her being a failure and having to work as a clerk in Safeway.

This all led me to thinking about success and failure, because I am pretty sure that the people who work at Safeway do not think of themselves as failures.

So, what is success? We will be able to pay for our kids to get their college degrees, albeit not at an Ivy League college. We own a house, two cars, and have a bit in the bank, and we can afford to help people out when they need it. Now, we aren't in the Warren Buffett/Bill Gates leagues but we are okay. Is that financial success?

I did a piece of stitchery. It is a technique called goldwork, and I wanted to try it, so got a kit that was fairly simple, for beginners. I did it, and am in the process of turning it into a jewelry box. I belong to a group called Embroiderer's Guild of America, EGA for short, and I brought the box to a meeting to show it off. Most of the group were complimentary. One person decided to explain where she thought I had done something wrong. I may have, but the end result was very pretty, so I was not terribly worried about whether I had done it properly, because it looked right to me. Now, I am not against analyzing something to decide whether it is done correctly, but there is a time and a place for it. This was not the place or the time. (No prize, no judging, that's my motto, along with, I do this for fun, not for profit. If it isn't perfect, it is okay.) In any case, I was pleased with the result, so was the project successful?

Anyway, these cookies are a success. Several of my kid's teachers raved about them, and yes, I did give them copies of the recipe.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 oz. butter
4 oz oleo/margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbl vanilla (yes. that much. Trust me, you will thank me later)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups flour
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2 1/2 cups chocolate chips (this is a compromise, because I like cookies that are basically chocolate chips pasted together with a little dough, and the husband likes cookies that are accented with a few chocolate chips. I don't get as many as I want, he gets more than he wants.)

Warm the butter and margarine to room temperature. Mix in the sugar, and beat well. Add eggs and beat again. Add the vanilla, salt, and baking soda, stir well. Add flour and oats, mix just until you don't see any loose flour. Add chips, and stir until they are all stuck to globs of dough.

Um. You know, I have heard the thing about not eating raw eggs. So far, so good, and I haven't gotten sick from eating this dough raw, and it is really yummy. Probably I shouldn't, just to be on the safe side, but hey, I don't use drugs, I don't speed (much) and I don't drink and drive. So yeah, I do have a spoonful of the dough here.

Oh, and FYI, these are really good if you want to get some fiber into your diet. Remember the oats?

Scuse me, but the tub of dough is calling me... can you hear it?


'Kay, I'm back. Bake at 350 F. for 20 minutes, or until the cookie dough is solid, if you want them to be fairly gooey, or an additional 5 to 10 minutes and until the cookie is darkish brown if you want them to be crispy. Oh, that is the other compromise--husband likes gooey, I like crispy. Exactly the opposite of our toasted bread preferences, actually. If you do cook them until they are crispy, they almost caramelize on the outside, and they are to die for (My opinion). We both agree that fresh baked is the best, so I keep a tub of dough in the fridge so we can bake as wanted.

THE Magpie

Life, and Death, and Heaven and Hell and Shrimp Salad sandwiches

I have been hearing about a new book by a pastor named Rob Bell. Titled "Love Wins" it is garnering a lot of attention. His premise is apparently that Christians have gotten a major theological point wrong, and that there is no hell in which people will suffer for eternity. I have not yet read this book, although it is on my to read list.

Honestly, I had come to this conclusion a while ago. I am not a Catholic, nevertheless I do believe in a purgatory of sorts. But I do not believe there is a hell/lake of fire/pick your favorite Medieval/Renaissance painting of souls being tormented here.

The 139th Psalm says it best for me. I have been told that hell is a place where God is not present. Yet the Psalmist wrote,

•        ⁷ Where can I go from Your Spirit?
           Or where can I flee from Your presence?
        ⁸ If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
           If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
        ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning,
           And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
       ¹⁰ Even there Your hand shall lead me,
           And Your right hand shall hold me.

God is, according to the psalmist, in hell as in heaven. Now, I realize this can be taken as artistic license. And yet...

In Jesus words, or at least, words attributed to Jesus,  he says,

•       ⁴"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the   ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵"When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶"And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' ⁷"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. 

Even more proactive on the part of God, and requiring even less action on our part, he added:

•  ⁸"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹"When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' ¹⁰"In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 

Whether I am right or wrong in my belief regarding the nonexistence of hell, this belief helps me to be more patient with the people around me. I mean, I believe I'll be seeing them all again someday. So I should be tolerant of them, and patient, and slow to anger. I am really bad at all of those things, anyone who has ever ridden in a car with me knows that. No matter, because, as Paul says in Philippians, chapter 3,

• ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead,  ¹⁴ I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. ¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Hey, we already attained it. Now it is just a matter of being who we are already. I can do that--most of the time.

So how about that recipe for Shrimp Salad Sandwiches? These have been proclaimed Absolutely Fabulous by everyone who has tried them. I got the recipe out of the Washington Post, who keep all their recipes on their website, isn't that nice of them? with a few changes made by yours truly, cause if I didn't tweak it, I wouldn't be me.

For plenty of leftover filling, so you can have these more than once, I start with 2 lbs of shrimp

Shrimp Salad for sandwiches

2 lb raw shrimp, defrosted and peeled--this is easy, as the shells slip right off
2 stalks of celery, diced
6 to 12 green onions, washed, and sliced, I use about six inches of the green stems and discard the rest
Mayonnaise to taste. I think for the amount of shrimp I use about 3/4 cup, maybe a cup. I just scoop it out until it looks right
salt and pepper
ground fennel seed, or chopped fresh tarragon (both taste of licorice, and can be subbed for each other in some things, like this. Fennel seed is easier to keep in the house though, just saying.
grated lemon peel
olive oil

Put 1 to 3 tsp olive oil in large frying pan and heat til it is very hot, dump in the lemon peel and the shrimp. Stir it around  until all the shrimp are pink (Probably take five minutes or so). Drain the shrimp and put into a good size bowl with everything not mentioned heretofore. Stir well, and serve on a nice crusty french type baguette or roll. Save any that is left (about half of it with a family of four, assuming no teenage males going through a growth spurt) for lunches later.

THE Magpie

Recipes and more. Like Philosophy. And possibly politics. Who knows?

I was talking to one of my sisters, and she suggested I start blogging about cookery. A friend of mine suggested I should blog about my philosophy. So I decided to combine the two. I mean, philosophers can get a bit heated, and cooking requires heat, so the two seemed a good pairing, like white wine & fish or toast & jelly. I do a lot of meditating while cooking, as there are times when you have to stir for what seems like hours and it is a bit boring. I also still knead my bread by hand, as it is very good for when you have a lot of aggravation and irritation to get rid of, and somehow pounding out your frustration on dough does a lot to get rid of them while activating the gluten in the flour very nicely.

As to philosophy, I spend a lot of time in my head. I have ADHD, and so sometimes my thoughts get a bit crazy, zinging round my brain like bullet trains in Japan. I think one of my favorite quotes from a movie is from the original "Born Yesterday" with Judy Holliday, when she announces that "last night I got to thinking and I couldn't get to sleep for ten minutes." If only it was only ten minutes.

I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. I eat meat, but I do, on occasion (once or twice a week) cook a vegetarian meal, as it is good for both the body and the planet. I also cook fish at least once a week, and I have some awesome recipes for them as well. I grow a lot of my herbs, and keep trying to grow veggies, but so far with limited success. My husband complained about the time and money that the herb garden tends to suck up, until he came home and I was making chicken soup with fresh herbs--it was really good, actually.

So, recipes. I like to cook, and I like to eat. I make a lot of different things, although I generally leave the baking to my son, who is going to be a better cook than I am (no surprise there, since one of his grandfathers was a chef) but when it comes to main dishes and sides, I rock. Here are a couple of my favorite things to eat, Potato Salad and what I call Lebanese Burritos.

Potato Salad

Eight or ten potatoes
Three or four eggs
Two stalks of celery, sliced
One or two carrots, grated
Two or three slices of onion, diced
Five or six radishes, halved and sliced (optional)
Mayonnaise
Mustard (made up, not powder)
Celery seed
Savory
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Black Pepper
Paprika
Chervil

Directions
Cut potatoes into what seem like ridiculously tiny pieces--If you get a table fork out and cut them a bit narrower than the tines that is perfect. You want to end up with bite size pieces, as they take a lot less time to cook. Put them in a pan with about a tsp. of salt and water to just cover the pieces. Put the eggs into another pan and add water so it is just above the shells--if the air pocket is on one end, and it usually is, they will float up but if the water is above them when you push them down, that is good.
Put both pots on the stove top, and turn on the burners. I have a gas stove, and I really like it because I set the timer to twenty minutes at this point and when it rings the eggs are done, so I drain them and put them into cold water. Then I check the potatoes to see if they are done and if they are, I drain them with a colander. While the eggs and potatoes are cooking, I chop up the rest of the veggies and put them in a bowl with the mayo, mustard and herbs. Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, I chop them up and add them to the veggies. If I am using dried herbs, I will generally crush the rosemary and thyme as those two are definitely better in small doses. Fresh I just chop them very fine. You probably noticed that I didn't give amounts for the seasonings. Um. I don't usually measure them. Probably around 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of any given one--and the mayo is even trickier, as different kinds of potatoes take different amounts to make them the right texture. Add enough to mix the veggies and eggs, then add more if necessary. I have a squirt type container of mustard, and use two squirts. Stir the herbs, veggies and eggs together and then add the potatoes and stir. This is really good with chicken with barbecue sauce.

Lebanese Burritos

Pita bread
One or two lbs Lamb (or beef, if you don't like lamb) cut into small bite size chunks
Fresh parsley, chopped fine
Tahini sauce (this is sesame seeds that have been ground up and it tastes a little like peanut butter--and in fact you can sub peanut butter--but only the stuff that is just peanuts and salt)
Fresh tomatoes, diced
Fat free Italian Salad Dressing, or a tbl of Italian seasoning and some vinegar, one or two tbl? Maybe three

Take the cut up lamb and put it and the dressing (or seasoning and vinegar) in a zip lock bag and squish it around a bit to mix. Let it marinate for an hour or so. Cook in a frying pan with about a tbl of olive oil until it is dry--I generally will drain the liquid off at least once--and browned.

To eat, take a piece of pita, and you can either open it out or use it like a tortilla (which is my recommendation). Smear some tahini sauce on, add some diced tomato, parsley and lamb, and fold it over the filling. Eat carefully, these tend to drip like tacos.

My daughter loves these. When she was about six, she asked what kind of meat was in them. I did not want to get into it, so tried to put her off. She persisted, so I told her it was lamb. "Cute, little, white fluffy lamb?" she asked, and I told her yes, figuring that I was about to have a vegan on my hands. On the contrary, she announced that it was very yummy and could she have some more. I started to call her my little pragmatist at that point.

So I heard on the radio this morning that Bin Laden, Osama, has been killed. I sincerely hope that this doesn't turn into a hydra type situation, where the head is removed, only to grow into two more heads. Bit worrying, that.

THE Magpie