Identity

I am currently reading a very good book called Dangerously Alive, which is by Simon Guillebaud and recounts his time as a missionary in Burundi. In the book (on page 108 for those who have it and are interested), Simon Guillebaud gives a quote from the UK newspaper, the Independent, which relates the story of a Burundian woman who, when commanded by the soldier who had just murdered her daughter to show him her ID card, handed the soldier a Bible and said that it was her identity.

What an amazing challenge I find that story. So often, I read Jesus’ words, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23, NIV) and don’t really pause to consider the implications of them. That following Jesus is a whole-heart commitment in which we let our story become His story, His way become our way, and His will the guide for our lives. It is scary and often hard to give up ‘me’ and submit to God – to find my identity in Him - but it is also exhilarating and liberating. I am many identities, but it is good to stop and take time to reflect that foremost should be the fact that I am a sinner saved by God’s grace. Jesus didn’t just say the words that I quote above – He lived them as He quite literally denied Himself, took up His cross, submitted to God the Father, and died for the sins of the world. And because of that, I am not just a saved sinner but am also a child adopted into God’s family and an heir of grace.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:14-17, NIV).

Chicken ‘Parmo’

I am very excited about today’s post – my first guest post, from my lovely friend Lucy (one of the friends with whom I made these decorated sugar cookies). As this is Lucy’s first blog post, please do share some comment love, even if it is just to say hi. Before handing over, I must add that I got to taste this the evening the pictures used in the recipe below were taken, and it is very good (but then again Lucy’s food is always good!). Now…take it away Lucy…

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Hello!

It is wonderful to be able to be a guest blogger on some some and some! I will attempt to post to the same high standard one normally expects from this page.

This recipe is for a ‘parmo’. If this term means nothing to you then you clearly are not from the North East of England and have yet to experience this delicacy! The ‘parmo’ is a chicken parmesan to give it it’s full title, and consists of breaded chicken covered in a béchamel sauce with cheese on top. Traditionally the chicken would be deep fried and then covered in so much cheese that one quite expects to have a heart attack after consuming it; my version is (slightly) healthier and a lot tastier due to the fact that I oven bake the chicken mainly and use skimmed milk and low fat cheese in the process.

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 chicken breasts
Breadcrumbs (two slices of stale white bread, crusts removed and whizzed in a blender)
Flour to coat the chicken
One egg white
Half a pint of milk (whatever version you prefer, but works perfectly well with skimmed)
One big knob of butter
2 tablespoons (heaped) plain flour
1 bay leaf
Some cloves and peppercorns if you have any lying around
A small block of cheese – mature cheddar works best

Method:

1. Put the milk in a pan with the bay leaf, whole peppercorns and cloves and warm until simmering, then turn off and allow to cool in the pan while the herbs infuse. Grate the cheese.

2. Butterfly the chicken breasts with a sharp knife (this means to cut them down the middle, without actually cutting them in half, then opening them up to make the breast half the thickness). Once butterflied give the chicken a bash with a rolling pin to make it evenish in thickness all over.

3. Coat the chicken in the flour, then egg white then breadcrumbs. Shallow fry for approx. 2 minutes on either side until the crumbs are golden brown, then transfer to the oven on a baking tray. The oven should be set to about 180 degrees centigrade (gas mark 4 or 350º F).

4. While the chicken is in the oven, make the béchamel sauce by first melting the butter in a pan. Add the flour and stir quickly over a low heat until it looks like a paste. Add the infused milk (having strained out the peppercorns and bay leaf) little by little, stirring vigorously all the time. If you are having trouble getting rid of the lumps then give it a quick whisk!

5. Once all the milk has been added continue to stir the sauce until it has thickened.

6. Pour the béchamel sauce over the chicken breasts, add the grated cheese on top (as much as you would like, depending on taste) and return to the oven for 20 minutes.

7. Serve with chips, potato wedges or a baked potato and a summer salad.

Simple Soda Bread

This recipe is not an authentic Irish recipe. It is the result of much trial on my part – lots of loaves of failed soda bread because I used too much bicarbonate of soda in my quest for an easy and quick bread recipe. But at last I think I’ve cracked it – something that tastes good and is simple and quick to make. And having cracked it, my next task is to experiment with different flavours, but for now I think I’ll just sit with a nice, warm slice of this bread thickly spread with butter and revel in, at last, having made a loaf of soda bread that didn’t taste so soda-y that I immediately wanted to throw it away. This makes a medium-sized loaf and all the cup measurements below are, as usual, based on a 250 ml mug as equal to one cup. I used 1 cup of water – the amount you need may vary depending on how absorbent the flour you are using is, but bear in mind that it may seem, until the last minute, that there is not enough water and so, if you do add more, add it sparingly.

What you’ll need:

2 1/2 cups plain flour

Few grains salt

1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 cup boiling water

What to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 (180º C or 350º F).

2. Sift together into a bowl the flour, salt and bicarb.

3. Add the water to the bowl and mix/knead it thoroughly into the flour, salt and bicarb. It may take a little while to bring in all the flour and create a firm dough (you’ll probably need to use your hands towards the end…).

4. Shape the dough into a ball and then flatten it into a round/wheel shape about half an inch high and put it onto a greased baking tray. Cut a cross shape into the top of the loaf.

5. Bake the bread in the middle of the pre-heated oven for about half an hour or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. When done, remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack, or (if you’re me), immediately split open the loaf and spread a hunk of the bread thickly with real butter and a spread of your choice before devouring. If you want to leave the loaf to cool before eating, spear (for example with a cake tester) a couple of places to help the steam escape.

One Lovely Blog Award

Wow! Last week I received my first blog-related award, which makes me very excited but also makes me feel really privileged! The One Lovely Blog Award, which came to me from the Tisa, who blogs at Blessings From My Kitchen (for her post about receiving the award herself, a delicious looking doughnut recipe and details of the other people to whom she gave this award, pop over here). Tisa’s blog is beautiful, with great recipe ideas, wonderful photos, and an encouraging thought and Bible verse at the end of every post. Please do go over to Tisa’s blog and have a look – although I love all her posts, I am particularly inspired by her native South Indian recipes. She definitely has one lovely blog!Now, on to the business associated with this award…

Rules of the Award:

1. Display the blog award (check!).

2. Create a link to the site that nominated you (see above…check!).

3. Write 7 random facts about yourself (that is going to be hard, but read on…).

4. Display the links of the blogs you love and pass on the award (I’ve gone for seven, which are below).

7 Random Facts About Me:

1. I would like to feel sophisticated and to pretend I have a great palate that appreicates dark chocolate...but no matter how much I try convince myself, I really do prefer milk chocolate.

2. I’d choose a gammon steak over a real steak most days (unless it comes from an awesome steak place that I went to in New Zealand last year, in which case it would have to be steak…).

3. Forget cocoa (but not always) – I really enjoy hot milk and honey for a relaxing pre-bed drink.

4. My favourite colour is blue.

5. My favourite author is Jane Austen, and my favourite book of hers is Northanger Abbey.

6. I use cup measurements because I am an extremely lazy person, and getting out the scales and doing precise measurements is just too much hard work.

7.  Like Tisa, I’m not fully comfortable with social networking, though in my case I’m talking specifically Twitter. I can see the appeal but unfortunately I just can’t think of anything interesting that I think others might like to hear to tweet…so if you ever stumble upon my Twitter account (here), I apologise now that it has nothing but tweets with urls to blog posts. You might as well come straight to this blog!

7 Blogs I Love Reading:

1. For honesty and inspiration to be a God-honouring woman – 4littlefergusons

2. For reflections on being a Proverbs 31 woman today – Above Diamonds

3. For baking ideas – The Better Baker

4. For a Mummy Blog that appeals even to people who are not mummies – dorkymum

5. For an interesting blog with beautiful photography and writing – Lily & Amie

6. For delicious Greek and other food – Seemingly Greek

7. For crowd-pleasing recipes – The Church Cook

Thank you again Tisa, and I hope you all enjoy exploring Tisa’s blog and the seven blogs that I’ve nominated!

I Want to Hear What You Think!

Now that my corrections are nearly over, I have been praying and thinking a lot about where this blog should go, and now I want to hear what you think! I’d love to hear in the comments below or by emailing me (my contact details are here - http://somesomeandsome.blogspot.co.uk/p/about-and-contact.html) what you think about each of the things below…

URL and Appearance

Do you like the blog exactly as it is or would you prefer a less busy background – maybe a white background with images just near the blog title? Should I get my own URL, and if you have gone through this process, what advice would you give?

Reviews and Giveaways

I have been approached a couple of times recently about reviewing products and/or services. So far I am undecided but, if I got my own URL I am thinking about including a section on the website devoted to reviews and giveaways. But first, I want to know what you think – bad idea or good idea? Should I start doing product reviews? What about giveaways?

Blog Themes

At the moment, I’d say my blog focuses on the three themes of faith, food and photos. What do you enjoy reading about most when you land here? Should I focus more on any of these? Would you like to read about anything else? Would you like a bit less of me and some guest posts instead? Would you prefer for me to keep it as a personal blog, not change anything and just keep posting as I do now?

Let me know what you think – I would love to hear your feedback!

Bluebells in the Wood

Date and Walnut Loaf

There is something very comforting about old family recipes – the kind that you ate as a child, learnt to make as you got older, and then take into your own home to continue the tradition. This recipe is an old recipe from my family, and possibly one of my Dad’s favourite baked things. The walnuts are optional, but I much prefer to add them. All the cup measurements below are based on a 250 ml mug as equal to one cup (yes, that is an old family tradition too…!). Unfortunately, I don’t know the dimensions of the loaf tin that should be used, but a normalish-sized one should do (mine is too small and so I end up making a handful of muffins with the leftover mixture each time I make this).

What you need:

250 gram pack dates, roughly chopped

1 cup walnuts (whole or roughly chopped)

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 cup boiling water

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon dried ginger

1 egg, beaten

What to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5 (190º C or 375º F).

2. Put the chopped dates, walnuts, butter or margarine and bicarb into a large bowl. Add the boiling water to the bowl, mix everything together and let it stand for a few minutes, stirring a couple of times to ensure that everything is well mixed and the butter/margarine fully melted.

3. When the butter/margarine has melted and the mixture has stood for a few minutes, add the sugar to the bowl and then sift in the flour and ginger before adding the beaten egg and mixing everything together thoroughly with a whisk.

4. Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake in the middle of the pre-heated oven for about 40-60 minutes (depending on the size of the tin) until done.

5. Tip the loaf out of the tin and try to resist immediately cutting off a slice and spreading it thickly with butter before eating it leave to cool on a cooling rack.