NWA10: Highlights, bits and bobs

Well, after what felt like an epic journey back to The Big Smoke from Pwllheli (admiring the countryside in Wales along the way, spotting lambs, more lambs, pheasants and even buffalo!), The Husband and I are now home.

Memories of the chalet are still fresh enough to contrast with a flat currently over-full with boxes brought down from the loft (for decluttering before moving in a few months, d.v.) and hopefully that will help me to be ruthless in terms of Ebay, Freecycling, recycling and binning what we have around us.

My procrastination for the next couple of days (before I go back to work) will be blogging through some of my notes from NWA10, and posting useful links.

To be posted:
List of book recommendations made at NWA10
Notes from Jerry Bridges (Gospel-Based Holiness), Emotive Issues, and some of the celebrations.
The Husband also went to the morning Bible Readings on 1 Thessalonians and the DNA of Christian Leadership, so I may get a few thoughts on paper from him as well.

Back to the decluttering for now though...

Beef Casserole with Herb Dumplings

This was very very nice..... no leftovers...

About 500g diced beef
Olive oil
3 carrots
Celery (3 sticks)
Garlic (2 cloves)
2 onions
c. 1.5 pints of beef stock (2 cubes)

1. Garlic. Chop.
2. Onions. Chop.
3. Into the pan with garlic and onions. 2 mins. High heat (5-6 on the hob)
4. Add the beef. Stir until browned.
5. Add chopped celery and chopped carrots.
6. Add half the stock (you can probably add all in one go, but I did half, and then added the rest once it had disappeared) and turn down to 3-4. Cover.
7. Cook for 1-2 hours (I didn't keep track - just pop in and check occasionally).

Make the dumplings:
100g SR flour
1/2 tsp of baking powder (I was a little too generous with this - closer to 1tsp = v.big dumplings!)
50g Atora Light Shredded Vegetable Suet
Herbs - Flat-leaf parsley was suggested in the recipe I started from, but didn't have any and so used dried rosemary. This was OK, but probably will experiment with something else next time (thyme, perhaps?).

1 Mix ingredients together with c. 5-6 tbsp of cold water (enough to make a sticky dough).
2. Put spoonfuls into the casserole - stir slightly (so some of the juice covers the dumplings). Cook for a further half an hour, then serve.

Butternut Squash, Bacon and Sage Risotto with Pine Nuts

This is very nice, perhaps a little rich (next time I'll actually measure the sage....). However, very good for taking lunch to work.

1 large butternut squash (or as much as you've got left)
3 rashers of unsmoked back bacon
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp olive oil
15 sage leaves (says the original recipe from the BBC website, but I used dried sage, which I got from Spice Master)
Sea salt and ground pepper
400g of risotto rice
Vegetable stock (2-3 cubes, about 1.5 pints)
Parmesan cheese
Pine nuts

Step 1: Roast the squash with the chopped garlic, glug of olive oil, half the sage leaves, sea salt and pepper. (Will take around 40-50mins @ 200C)
Step 2: Mash the squash (lightly).
Step 3: Heat some oil in the saucepan, cook off the chopped bacon.
Step 4: Add the squash and sticky juices from the roasting pan.
Step 5: Stir, add in the risotto rice and stir until grains are covered by the oil.
Step 6: Add some of the stock, stir, wait until absorbed, add stock, stir, wait until absorbed, etc.
Step 7: Add in some dried parmesan (c. 1-2 tbsp).
Step 8: Toast the pinenuts in a hot frying pan, and scatter over the risotto once served.

Deep People in a Shallow World

Notes from talks at a recent weekend away with our mid-week Bible study group:

Deep People in a Shallow World

(1) 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18
1. Introduction
We live by faith, not by sight - the world, however, is looking for the visible.

2. God's sovereign processions 2:12-17
Is not without its problems.
2v14 - put your Bible glasses on! - see things rightly.
I believe, therefore I have spoken.
Letters written on human hearts - are the letters the Corinthian converts? Probably not - on our hearts - real ministry not authenticated outside a person (they came, because of their love for the Corinthians).
3. God's spiritual transformation 3:1-6
It is easy for humans to fall into law-keeping - remember that God gave the law to His saved people.
4. God's superior ministry 3:7-18
How can the new New Covenant be more glorious than the Old Covenant?
The OC surely more spectacular? Paul traditionally thought to be weedy, bow legs.. just walked into a town and started speaking.
"You are all going to meet the Lord. Don't walk backwards towards Him"

(2) 2 Corinthians 4:1-18
1. Introduction
Ouk eg kakoumen (sp??) - we do not lose heart - 4v1, 4v16
We cannot change blind people ourselves.
God is a god who enlightens - light out of darkness.

2. Confident ministry despite trouble in our listeners vv1-6
v5 we make sure people know they must go to Jesus.

3. Confident ministry despite trouble in ourselves vv7-18
We are jars of clay.
Biographies can be encouraging - how great Jesus is to use them.
Resurrection confidence v13
Renewal confidence v16
Walking out of a church and putting a green sticker on everything that will remain, and a red sticker on everything which will pass away...

(3) 2 Corinthians 5:1-21
1. Introduction

2. Perspective vv1-10
The world is obsessed with food and clothes and homes.
v7 - we walk by faith, not by sight.

3. Incentive vv11-15
Fear (godly fear) v11
Love v14
v14 - is Christ teaching universalism? His death is sufficient (for the world) and efficient (for those who respond. BUT - the gospel does not sit on a table waiting for someone to respond.


4. Directive vv16-21
v18 - autobiographical?
v17 - new creation ready for the new creation
v21 - several PhDs could be written on this verse!
v20 - God's ambassadors - no 'you' added (Ambassadors must convey the message they are given - not their own response).


(4) 2 Corinthians 6:1 - 7:4
1. Introduction
The grace of God is (also) for the believer - not a case that (to the unbeliever ) "The Grace of God is for you" but (to the believer) "Get yourself together!!"

2. A decision about the gospel vv1-2

3. A decision about Paul vv3-15
vv3+4 - we aim to help people believe
vv6+7 practise godliness
v8 - we put up with assessment.
Widen your heart before opening your mouth.

4. A decision about lifestyle 6v14 - 7v4
What partnership can there be? Difficulty (e.g. righteous/unbelievers), and impossibility! (light/darkness).
In the same way - what harmony between Christ and Belial - spiritual battle.
Pray that God would help you not grow cold.
How often do we say (these days) that someone is "on fire" for Jesus - clear-headed, warm-hearted, Kingdom-focussed, love of the Lord Jesus.
Work on what cools and kills. Feed fellowship in the Father.

Film Review: Moon

Having exhausted the entire West Wing, CSI: Vegas and CSI: New York series over the past eighteen months or so (we have not watched CSI: Miami - Horatio is too annoying and outweighs the joy that is Calleigh Duquesne and her sheer geekiness about all things ballistic), The Husband and I have taken out a subscription with Lovefilm for DVD rental - and so, to 'Moon'.

Moon is the story of a man who is coming to the end of a three-year contract mining for energy on the Moon (see what they did there? ;-) ). Sam Rockwell is amazing as the lead ('Sam Bell') and virtually the only character (if we ignore the brilliance of Kevin Spacey as Gerty the computer). Moon quietly takes you into the base where Sam lives and explores his loneliness, and (as events develop) apparent paranoia.

This is a beautifully shot film, thoughtfully put together which was quite gripping. The Husband concurs with a rating of 9/10. See it!

Film Review: Watchmen

The Husband and I had been wanting to see this for a while, but decided against seeing it in the cinema (there are a couple of decidedly graphic and/or violent scenes that we thought we would prefer to fast forward through on DVD).

So - having received it as a birthday present for The Husband we decided to sit down to watch it on Friday evening. He got on with it a bit better than I did - I found the plot a little impenetrable (until Wikipedia enlightened me after my patience wore out). One for the devotees, I think.

5/10

Sherlock Holmes - review (spoiler alert)

London looked great.

The cast were great (Robert Downey Jnr is eminently watchable as is Mark Strong and Jude Law was v.good also). There was a comedy huge foreign henchman (a la Jaws of the Bond films) and I discovered that Downey Jnr speaks half-decent French (at least to my ear).

The costumes were great.

The action sequences were great.

V.much looking forward to seing the sequel (which I am expecting - seems to be heavily trailed at the end) but wasn't entirely happy with the film (the villains are masons/black magic practitioners which I thought was a bit unnecessary and not massively original).

So..... 7.5/10 I think (which would be a 9/10 had the villains just been a bit more sensible).

Dithering.... so the internet decides for me

Having given myself two options this year for Bible reading, I neither find my lectionary nor want to use my back-up approach this morning.

Fickle, moi?

So instead, opening BibleGateway in preparation, I decide to read the Psalm from which the verse of the day (90:12) ("So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.") is taken. This could be a new approach, but is a little unstructured for long-term usage (I would prefer to work through a book at a time, so I know what it is about).

Psalm 90
Thoughts:
This is a really good reality check.

I love verses like vv1-2 - they cut through all the hustle and bustle of life and remind me that my true home is with God.

vv3-6 help cut through the self-importance of any age. I'm currently researching family history and also enjoying a book which gives an overview of great moments in British history. It's difficult to imagine a thousand years seeming as a day, but does force me to think 'big picture' (it's a bit easier if e.g. I try to think of the first thousand years of AD British History - hmm - Romans, Alfred, burnt cakes, William the Conq, Harold and the arrow).

vv7-8 a reminder that I cannot hide from God, (and thus all the rationalisation and justification of things I ought not to be doing really doesn't wash with Him).

vv9-12 - time is not as long as we think that it is (or, as The Wurzels put it "you're a short time living and a long time dead" - can't remember the song just yet, but it will bug me until I find it out, so will post the link...)

v12-17 - so, I should remember to number my days (and thank God for Jesus, or I would be in a very sorry mess indeed).

Hurrah!. I like the Psalms.

Films of 2010

A list to be updated through the year...

Cinema
1. Sherlock Holmes - 7/10
2. Avatar - 7/10

DVD
1. Watchmen - 5/10
2. Moon - 9/10
3. 21 - 7/10
4. House of Cards (TV series - 1) - 9.5/10
5. To Play the King (TV series of HoC - 2) - 8/10

Books of 2010

1. 50 things you need to know about British History - not yet finished
2. The Eye of the Storm - Jack Higgins.
3. Cover Up - John Francome.
4. Heretic - Bernard Cornwell.
5. Rough Justice - Jack Higgins.
6. Cross Country - James Patterson.
7. Run For Your Life - James Patterson.

Jack Higgins' novels tend to be trashy action/thrillers, but they can be read quickly (i.e. within one day of commuting and a lunch hour) which is helpful.
Heretic was quite good, lots of attention to detail, which I liked. Even though it was *yet another* Grail-related story, it was enjoyable.
I'm getting a bit tired of James Patterson's Alex Cross novels. They tend to be a bit formulaic once you've read a few. I do like his new series though, the Detective Michael Bennett series, of which 'Run For Your Life' is the second. Still relatively fresh and new.

New Year, New Decade?**

We have just returned home from the annual "Trip around the UK" which is Christmas/New Year. Much to blog, much to do - glad to have the weekend back at home before back to work on Monday.

A few loose resolutions have been made - one of which is to blog more, and to Facebook less. Another is to watch less TV - I've developed interests in a couple of new hobbies for the next year which will hopefully enable me to be more creative in 2010 than in recent years past, which the Husband finds quite amusing/endearing. All good.

Let's see how much I get blogged up over the next couple of days. I've also half a mind to use the 2010 Lectionary as a basis for Bible reading this year, but this may be a little overambitious given my usual patchy discipline. This may prove to be a better option.

** The Husband insists that 2010 is the last year of the 'Noughties' (not that he uses that term) and 2011 signals the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century. Radio 4 disagrees...

Christmas Dinner #1

This weekend saw the first of our three Christmas dinners of 2009 (one at home, one with my family, one with the Husband's). Very nice food, but so rich that neither the Husband nor I were able to eat much today. Ho hum.

Starter:
Potato cakes with creme fraiche and smoked salmon (from Nigella)

Main courses:
Roast poussin
Honey-coated, slow-cooked ham
Pigs in blankets
Sausagemeat stuffing
Roast potatoes
Pan-roasted parsnips with honey
Brussel sprouts with lardons and chestnuts
Leeks and white sauce
Carrots

Dessert:
Lemon-curd icecream and summer fruits
Winter Eton Mess
Mincemeat trees with brandy butter

Cheese course:
Cheeseboard (incl. fiery Mexicana) with chutneys.

Frost/Nixon

The Husband and I have now finished our grand tour of CSI Vegas and New York (we're not too keen on Miami) and so have taken up a DVD rental subscription once more. The first to arrive was Frost/Nixon.
I had wanted to go and see this when it was playing in theatre in town, but didn't get round to it. So - great joy when I heard that a film version was being made.
The Husband and I gave this a 5/5 rating. Michael Sheen is an uncanny mimic, (but you can't quite dismiss Tony Blair/Kenneth Williams from mind when looking at him) and has certainly changed my view of David Frost from the man who does the Sunday chat show.
"Intelligent and gripping. It were good", quoth he. I concur.

Lamb kofte and herby couscous with citrus and pomegranate dressing

I made this a few weeks ago, after we'd been sent pomegranates in the fortnightly fruit and veg box (which I would generally recommend - it does expose us to a wider range of fruit and veg than I would eat otherwise).
I'd also picked up some reduced lamb mince from Associated Dairies which was just sitting in our (small) freezer waiting for some inspiration to hit. It was the large stockpile of couscous which eventually triggered a Middle Eastern train of thought and so after a little Googling, I came to this. The kofte recipe is an adaption of a Jamie Oliver one (but I don't like pistachios, so left them out) and the couscous recipe comes from BBC Good Food.

Lamb kofte
500g lamb
2 heaped tablespoons of fresh thyme leaves (I think that I used the remnants of a 'Herbes de Provence' packet
1 tablespoon ground chilli
1 tablespoon ground cumin
4 tablespoons sumac if available, or finely grated zest of 1 lemon (yep, I went with the lemon)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
A good handful of pistachio nuts (yuk, no!)

1. Blitz lamb in food processor with thyme, chilli, cumin and sumac, a little salt and pepper. Repeat until it looks like mince.
2. Shape into balls/four pieces (as you will).
3. Griddle.

Herby couscouse with citrus and pomegranate dressing

200g couscous
150g pack of pomegranate seeds (I used 2 pomegranates, which are a bit of a pain to deseed, but there is a knack to it*)
Handful of chopped herbs e.g. coriander
Juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp each white wine vinegar and olive oil

1. Add 200ml boiling water to the couscous (in a shallow bowl), cover (e.g. clingfilm) and leave for 5 mins.
2. Ruffle with a fork to separate the grains, then stir through the pomegranate seeds and herbs.
3. Make the dressing by mixing together the orange juice, white wine vinegar and olive oil and then stirring into the couscous. Season well with salt (it says, but I don't remember adding salt!) and serve.

Delicious and lovely and spicy and warm.

* Deseeding a pomegranate is quite fiddly and can be quite messy apparently. The trick is to deseed while holding the pomegranate in a bowl of water. The seeds will sink, the pith will rise (and can then be removed e.g. with a tea strainer). Much easier.

Advent Party

A lovely gathering of friends old and new on Saturday to start celebrating the Advent season. SILTY had travelled down from The North to spend the weekend with us and was a great help. We had about 20-25 people over between 5pm and 11pm (somehow spacing themselves appropriately so that there was always enough room on the sofas!).
For the record (my memory, if nothing else), nibbles were as follows:
Crisps
Crudites (peppers, cucumber, carrot) and dips (moutable and houmus made by The Husband)
Sausage rolls (thank you Mr. Sainsburys)
Sticky sausages (honey, sesame and soy sauce)
Potato cakes with creme fraiche, smoked salmon and dill
Cheeseboard with home-made chutneys (south seas chutney, mango chutney, fruity chutney, onion marmalade, chilli pepper jam)
Cinnamon grape pickle
Mince pies
Marshmallows covered in chocolate
Wedding cake (albeit with no marzipan or icing)
Mulled wine pootling away on the hob.

I did try twice to make popcorn (Nigella, as are the sausages and fantastic potato cakes) but only succeeded in burning it, so 'twas not to be this time.

Hurrah! Christmas is a-coming. Next week - carols at church - double hurrah!

Urgh - lurgy

I hate the lurgy. The kind which sneaks up on you and just leaves you very tired even though you have had lots of sleep. Pah! Hopefully the weekend will prove restorative.

New Forest - October 2009

The Husband and I had a lovely weekend (this weekend just gone) near Sway in the New Forest.
Peace, quiet, 12 hours sleep a night, learning new card games, sitting in the pub quietly. Bliss.
Here's a photo.

It took just over two hours to get there from London on Friday evening, which was pretty good, I thought. A lovely night's sleep (we stayed at Tower Hall) refreshed us, and so we set off to explore the New Forest. Up to Lyndhurst (slightly baffled by a convoy of yellow cars which had gathered for an unknown purpose...) to visit the New Forest Information Centre. A brief visit to the Book Fair taking place in the Community Hall saw us walking away with an original souvenir guide from the Coronation and a couple of books on military history for under £10. Then a drive down to the coastal towns and around (Christchurch looked lovely, but we eventually settled on Barton-on-Sea for lunch at The Cliff House overlooking the sea). Lunch was good (nice fresh fish) with good opportunity for a little people-watching / eavesdropping. Then a stroll along the clifftop meant we got to see a border collie taking its elderly lady owner for a walk (she had a nifty contraption which helped her to pick up the tennis ball and throw it without having to bend over). In true collie style, the dog picked up the ball, ran further away, dropped it, ran further away still and then crouched to the ground, watching and waiting. It did make me smile.
Finally, back to the Hare and Hounds near Sway, where we learned to play California Jack (not a bad two-person card game), and had yet more food. Yum.
Another good night's sleep, church @ St. Lukes, Sway, another pub lunch near Lyndhurst, and then we were home by 4pm. You can't say fairer than that...!

Shepherd's Pie

An unexpectedly good shepherd's pie was produced this evening, the method hereby recorded for future reference and to assist in repetition.

It all started when I picked up a reduced pack of lamb mince when scouring the shelves in Associated Dairies. For a while, I was thinking along the lines of lamb kofta, but went along the pie route after realising that it had been a little while.

1. Glug of oil and dried rosemary into a stockpot/deep saucepan (I used my IKEA 'fake Le Creuset' stockpot) on a medium heat (3-4/6 on the hob dial)
2. Add two onions, roughly sliced
3. Add lamb
4. Add two tins of tomatoes (one chopped, one plum)
5. 3 leeks, roughly chopped
6. Stir and cover.
7. Pop back in a while, and check how it is getting on - add a lamb stock cube (just crumble it over the contents, don't add water)
8. Stir and cover.
9. Pop back in a while, add a lamb stock cube and some frozen veg (e.g. sweetcorn) and some more rosemary.

At this point, my lovely husband took over, made mash with more rosemary, and made the pie up. Topped off with left over mozzarella and a little parmesan.

Nice.

Carrot Cake (Light Fruit Cake?)

It has been rather a while since I blogged, I see...., well... I'll blame 'busy season' for that one.

So - the carrot cake. As I am currently being willingly coerced out of my long-standing objections to a number of different vegetables (Reader, I willingly ate cabbage and chard last week), I thought that it was time to revisit my objection to vegetables being mixed with cake.

This recipe (from the BBC Good Food site originally) tastes quite like a light fruitcake. It was better the day after making (although not objectionable then, certainly).

Ingredients
175g light muscovado sugar (I used up some demerera and a little light golden sugar)
175ml sunflower oil (I used extra virgin olive oil, as that's all I had)
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
140g grated carrots (I chopped them in the food processor)
100g raisins (again, I didn't have these in, so had half and half sultanas and currants)
grated zest of 1 large orange
175g self-raising flour
1tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated nuetmeg

Icing:
175g icing sugar
1.5-2 tbsp orange juice

Instructions:
1. Oven on to 180c (160c if fan). Prepare the cake tin (I used a loaf tin).
2. Mix sugar, oil and eggs with a wooden spoon.
3. Stir in carrots, raisins and orange rind
4. Mix the flour, bicarb and spices and then sift into the bowl (I didn't do this - just popped it into the mixing bowl and let the Magimix do its work)
5. Pour into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes.
6. When firm and springy, remove from oven, cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.
7. Beat the icing sugar and OJ together until smooth. The consistency should be approximately as runny as single cream.

Acts 13:13-52

Acts 13:13-52
Sunday Morning
4 October 2009 (posted 6 October 2009)

Introduction: Certainty

1. God's message of salvation in Jesus is for all people.
a) God has sent his saviour to Israel, vv16-25

Paul's summary of early OT history
v17 - Genesis 12 - Exodus 15
v18 - Exodus 16 - Deuteronomy
v19 - Joshua
v20 - Judges and 1 Samuel 1-7
v21-22 1 Samuel 8 - 2 Samuel

b) God has sent his message of salvation to us, vv26-37
c) God offers complete forgiveness to all people, vv38-41

2. God's bearer of salvation to all people is the Apostle Paul
- his conversion: Acts 9:15-16
- his commission: Acts 13:2
- his conquest over magic: Acts 13:9-11
- his command: Acts 13:47

Conclusion: Unashamed