Friday, March 12, 2010

Dehydrating vegetables

I'm growing broccoli this spring. Hopefully I'll get a bunch of it. I love broccoli. Well let me clarify. I detest vegetables, all vegetables. However of all the vegetables that I detest I can stomach broccoli. I'll seek it out. I like broccoli soup with chicken stock and lots of fresh pepper and onion and a little bit of cream.

But I'm growing a lot of broccoli. I've got twenty plants right now. All going to arrive at the same time. And limited freezer space. So I was trying to think of some alternative ways to store said broccoli. I could make big batches of the soup and can it, and I'll probably do some of that. But I'll still have more broccoli.

So I've decided to dehydrate my broccoli. I'll steam it for a few minutes, and then pack it into vacuum sealed jars. I'll reconstitute it for soups in the winter months. I'm really excited to see how this works!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Art

This was inspired by two wise women, Crystal and Rachel. Wisdom is awesome.

claude monet Pictures, Images and Photos

Three years ago I saw this amazing collection of Monet paintings. I remember weeping at seeing the beauty of those paintings up close and personal. I could see his brush strokes. The actual strokes where he his brush dipped in the paint and each individual bristle drew a small line in the paint. It was breathtaking. Absolutely amazing. I was so close to this genius that I could see the individual bristle marks. Incredible doesn't begin to describe it.


The bee has this amazing curly hair, and is so smart I can't stand it. Huck has this giant blue eyes and is the sweetest kindest little soul I've ever known. Those things about their person, about their personality are beautiful. The result of a God who created with love these little people and entrusted them to me. He has asked me and the sailor to help to mold and shape them into the people he wants them to become.

Imagine again seeing a Monet painting in person. The beauty and delight of that simple painting.

Now imagine hitting it. Imagine hitting it so you left a mark and marred the paint, or worse put a small hole in the canvas.

Why would you mar a child like that? How on earth does hitting a beautiful child, something precious and beautiful and created, benefit anybody, most especially the child? They are lovingly created, by a God who adores us. And some choose to believe that the same God also calls us to hurt them.