Too Close to Home

Joplin, Missouri may be 350 miles from our parsonage in Central Iowa but the devastation brought by that tornado last night has hit too close to home.  In my email in-box this morning was a message from a colleague in Wichita, KS that the Slumberland store in Joplin was destroyed.  Fortunately all of our staff and their families are safe.

So then I get home and I find a report from the UM Reporter that one of our UMC churches was destroyed and another badly damaged.  Fortunately, they are also reporting that all of the UMC pastors and their families are safe.  As of this writing on Monday night, the death count is reported as “116 and rising”.  I am thankful that all of my “associates” are safe but I can’t help but feel that dull pain in my heart for what has happened in Joplin.

At least for now, all we can do is pray for those fine people.  Individuals and volunteer teams are urged not to self deploy at this time. Only professional emergency responders are being allowed to enter the damaged zone. There will be a large number of volunteer opportunities available after the area is secured.  I’m can’t speak for the Rev but I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a special offering next Sunday.  Nor would I be shocked to hear that the mission trip this summer has been rerouted to Missouri.

Our prayers are with the people of Joplin, MO tonight.  May God look over them and bring them . . .
peace.

Wednesday Night on the Hill

It was a meat and potatoes night at Walnut Hills Wednesday night.  I love cooking for the church family and last night I went with comfort food.  Meatloaf and Tater Tots.  It was a hit.

Here is the recipe that I used - "Meatloaf for 50".  It was very easy and tasted great.  Then I threw in 2 packages (5 lbs. each) of tater tots as my side dish.  The oven did most of the work and I got the credit.  I love those deals.  I'm getting this reputation as this great cook.  If they only knew.

But really, this is what fellowship is all about as far as I am concerned.  Sitting down and sharing a meal - there is little better.

As it seems the world gets crazier and crazier, it is good to share a good meal with friends.

Peace.

The Children's Christmas Pageant at Walnut Hills

Yesterday was the big day.  The day of the Christmas pageant at Walnut Hills.  Erin Crawford from the Des Moines Register did a wonderful job of bringing you the story.  I will let her tell the tale.

The snow has finally found Des Moines.  Now it really feels like winter.  The Rev and I hope this Advent season you be able to some  .   .   .

PEACE

We had a great Christmas Staff Party

Okay, I have to admit it.  I love to entertain.  I love to have people over and cook dinner for them.  We had the Rev's staff over tonight and I served dinner for 15 people.  It was great.

I must admit the dinner wasn't too extravagant but I would like to think it was substantial.  I did a roasted pork loin that I had cured over night with a Chinese 5 Spice rub.  I also did a beef rib roast.  This was a good cut of Amana boneless prime rib roast so I didn't do anything more than brown it and roast it correctly.  It is amazing how good, good beef can taste if you don't over due the preparation.

Then I did roasted sweet potatoes with a pecan and whiskey sauce compliments of the Foodnetwork.  This was a total success.  We did this for Thanksgiving and it was such a success I had to do it again.  I even did a double batch so I could take it into the store tomorrow for the potluck.  I will say one thing about the recipe.  It says to lightly roast the pecans at one point and both times I have prepared it I have totally destroyed the pecans.  Just skip the toasting and go right into making the sauce and it turns out great.

I love putting out appetizers before a meal.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  This time I had an olive selection that included pickled mushrooms.  This is the third time I have done that and the third time that I was the only one eating it.  I think I need to learn to leave that out of my offering.  I also put in the humus with flat bread and again that was a hit.  I have this reputation with the Rev's staff for making this great humus.  It is very simple.  I buy the classic Mediterranean style humus.  Then I drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle it with some paprika.  This is how I had it when we were in Jerusalem and I really like it that way.  Several people tonight complimented me on the humus.  I served three kinds of cheese with crackers.  The Widmer cheddar was the real hit.  I had a good Gorgonzola which was okay and a Crescenza-Stracchino that wasn't as popular.  I thought it was amazing but the guests didn't choose it as much.  I guess that shows that this group prefers the cheeses they are familiar with.

The wine that was a real hit with me was the Vouvray 2008 from Monmousseau.  This was a blanc de blanc that the guy at the wine shop was very excited about and I would agree with him.  It was a very affordable wine (about $10 per bottle) and very pleasing.  My guests enjoyed it. I also had Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir and a Cabernet Savignon.  All pleasing wines but he Vouvray was the hit.

I must say it was a great night.  All of the guests had a great meal and a great time.  The Rev and I agree that we needed to bring them all over some night for games and do it again.  Maybe not the whole meal but another night together.  We had a great time.

The Rev and I had a great night with friends.  I hope this holiday season you are able to say the same.

Peace.

Wednesday On The Hill

“My name is Hanna”.  The bespectacled little lady with the huge smile had just returned from shuttling in a pan of freshly barbecued hamburgers and was bringing back the pan for me to fill again.  “Thank you Hanna, I really appreciate your help.” - “No problem”, she said over her shoulder as she ran back into the church to rejoin her friends.


It was the first night of Wednesday On The Hill.  This is the Rev’s plan to reclaim Wednesday night as church night in our congregation.  She asked me to fix dinner for everyone for the kick-off.  Last Sunday she invited everyone to join together for dinner before they ran off to choir practice, youth group, committee meetings or just on to live their lives.  She told them all that I would be fixing the meal - “and he’s a good cook” she proclaimed.  Thanks my love - no pressure there now is there?


“So how many am I cooking for?” I asked the Rev.  “I don’t know, it’s the first time”, was the honest estimate.  So we decided that we would prepare for 100 and hope for the best.  Burgers and Brats on the grill was to headline the menu.  I found a recipe for a pasta salad on the web that looked good so that became our side dish.  The Rev added fresh veggies and rice crispy bars to the presentation. A quick run to the store for Kettle Baked chips (3 flavors, of course) and assorted cookies and we had a menu.


I started early Wednesday morning and decided that this was a pretty pedestrian menu so I toasted all of the hamburger and brat buns.  I had to have something that was “special”.  Then it was off to the church about 2:30pm to get ready to go by 5:15 - the scheduled start time.
I was told the church had a grill that I could use to prepare the burgers and brats. Hmmm, a gas grill - I’m a Weber kettle/charcoal guy myself.  Oh well, let’s give it a go.  I lifted the lid and discovered, of course, that it had not been cleaned since it was used last June.  I had suspected that might be the case so I had brought my grill brush.  No problem - I had that grill ready to go before too long.  I opened the valve on the gas tank and hit the ignition button.  Thank you Lord, it fired the first time.  Okay let’s throw on some burgers and see what this thing will do.  Five minutes a side is the usual time on my grill so I checked them in five and found that the left side of the grill was hot and working just fine (though a little slow) but the right side had barely cooked the surface.  I eventually developed a system of starting on the right and working the burgers to the left - then I used the very right side as a “warmer” to hold the finished burgers as I progressed.  I cooked all afternoon.
  
By 4:30 people started to arrive. They would stick their heads out and say “It smells great - I could smell it all the way out in the parking lot”.  It was about this time that I met Hanna.  I finished up about 5:10 - 80 burgers and 36 brats.  I hoped it would be enough.  The Rev was going to have her meal after-all.


We figure we served about 75 people, young and old, last night.  All of the brats disappeared but we did have some burgers left-over.  The pasta salad was a hit although we had made about twice as much as needed.  Six bags of chips was the right amount and two trays of rice crispy bars were gone.  Several of the ladies commented on the toasted buns - they liked the touch.


By 6:00 everyone was off to their meetings, practices and groups.  One young man offered to help with the clean up so he and I packed up the left overs, cleaned the dishes and wiped down the tables.  By 8:00 I was home in my recliner and totally exhausted.


Yes, I was wiped out but it felt great.  I had never cooked for that many before and we had pulled it off.  This is something that I can do.  And I enjoyed it.  The sound of people talking and eating together was great.  This was community - this was fellowship.  It may be just a few hours on a Wednesday night, a brief break in the routine of life, but this is church.  This is good.

May you also find a break in your routine this week - and as always I pray that you find . . . Peace.