Mary Bernard

I’m not sure how to begin this post.

All I can think of tonight is that an old college friend, David Hames, is about to begin his eighth day buried—trapped—caged in mountains of concrete, dirt, and dust. Can he see light? Is he hurt? Does he, in fact, have food and water with him?

David is awaiting rescue from the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Haiti.

Since late last week, when I first heard of David’s situation, I’ve been preoccupied with his situation. I’ve been maniacally checking my friends’ Facebook pages for updates. I’ve been praying and asking for prayer and posting requests for prayer.

I can’t get his wife and two preschool aged kids (whom I’ve never met) out of my mind.

I met David Hames probably in the fall of 1990. I don’t remember exactly, but he posted something on Facebook that helps me point to that time period. We worked together at the college television station.

He was a broadcast production major, and I was a broadcast journalism major. I don’t have specific memories of him. Instead, he’s a constant fixture when I think back on those days. I remember he was funny, talented, and cute. I’m sure I had a slight crush on him, attracted no doubt by the mullet (that all the cute boys had, I might add).

My senior year I was news director and he worked as production manager (I think). At any rate, we were on the “leadership team” at the campus TV station together.

After graduation, we lost touch. We reconnected last year on Facebook. I was so impressed with David when I saw his accomplishments. He had stayed in video production and thrived. Last year he produced a Christian preschool children’s video.

And after exchanging the “congratulations” and “how are yous?” that are typical on Facebook, I honestly didn’t think much more about David Hames.

Until last week.

While reading my news feed, I noticed a mutual friend’s post mentioned that David had been in Haiti on a video shoot when the earthquake hit. He was missing.

It’s been a monitored vigil ever since.

I ask my readers for prayers. I am confident God hears our prayers. We do not know how or when he will answer but we do know that God is good. 

Lord God, 
Rescue our friend. Protect his health until help comes. Comfort his wife and children. 
In Christ’s name, 
Amen.

She writes, “Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.” I’ve already learned so much from Katie, although I’ve only been subscribed for a few weeks.

Make sure you check out her Real Food Face-Off series, where she invites guest bloggers to share their stories of whole food eating. Lots and lots of great information here.

Feeling a little down in the dreariness of winter? I actually am starting to come out of my seasonal funk with the newness of the year and the ever-so-slight lengthening of days. But we still have a long way to go until the warmth of late April.

I heard an interview last week with the author of this article from New York magazine. It’s 50 Simple Steps to Happiness. Many of them are New York-centric, but some of the broadly appealing ones include making your bed everyday (FlyLady has known this for years!) and painting your walls yellow. I love the practicality of these and surrounding yourself with the scent of cucumber!

I’ll be attending my first-ever blogging conference in a few short weeks. Blissdom will be held at Opryland here in Nashville.

The speakers and workshops are to be amazing PLUS Harry Connick, Jr. (Harry! Connick! Jr.!, people) is slated to be a special guest. I think until my husband heard of the special guest, he thought I was going to something like a glorified moms’ night out. But with Harry on the agenda? “Oh! That’s a big deal! Like A-level big time!” Uh-huh, baby.

I expect to learn a lot, meet some fabulous women bloggers/writers/communicators, and be inspired beyond belief. I’m especially excited about two small group opportunities: a dinner/discussion with the Savvy Blogging gals and a dinner with the Faithful Blogger gals.

And the best part? In an unexpected last-minute decision, Rebecca @ Toothwhale and I got a room at the Opryland Hotel for one night. Yay! A night in a hotel. I barely remember what that is like.

If you are going to Blissdom and you and I don’t know each other in real life, please leave me a note in the comments. I’m trying to create a master list of all the people I want to meet there.

I’ll tell you what kind of week I’ve had.

• The kind of week where I play musical beds with sick children. 
• The kind of week where I take one boy to the doctor’s office to get a diagnosis of strep throat and ear infection and then…
• The kind of week where I’m back at the doctor’s office 24 hours later with boy #2 to get another strep diagnosis. 
• The kind of week where I’m suffering from whiplash due to the number of times I’ve gone back and forth to the grocery and pharmacy. 
• The kind of week when one toilet is not working.
• The kind of week where my daughter falls face down at school, warranting an unexpected trip to the dentist (she’s fine, by the way). 
• The kind of week where I run out of groceries and must send my boys to school without lunches on Friday. 
• The kind of week where I do another grocery run (after taking them to school) to get lunch items, hurriedly pack two lunches, and deliver said lunches to the preschool with moments to spare before lunchtime.
• The kind of week where one of my boys had to pee in a plastic Pump It Up emblazoned cup in the van while we waited in the car-rider pickup line at school.  (Oh yes, he did.)

And that was the kind of week I had.

When I was a girl, I walked up hill in the snow both ways to school—

Oh, wait, no. That’s the wrong cliched illustration.

What I meant to say was this:

When I was a girl, I watched for the Snowbird report on the local news to see our county on the state map with little snowflakes falling. I also listened to our local AM radio station.

TV. Radio. Maps. The icons of my childhood snow days.

Last week, we had two snow days off from school. Not much snow but enough to make the roads slippery.

My kids don’t know who Snowbird is. We get our school closing information on demand from the website, text messaging, Facebook and Twitter chatter, or the automated phone call from the school system.

I feel a little caught between the worlds of progress and nostalgia.

I love, love, love the information age in which we live. I’m an information-gathering girl. God smiled on me when he ordained my living in the 21st century.

But don’t we tend to romanticize the past and rewrite our histories? Maybe I’m just nostalgic for the excitement surrounding the snow day.

No doubt I’d rather be a six-year-old with few cares except performing the right “ritual” of ice in the toilet, spoon under the pillow, and wearing pajamas inside out in order to coax snowfall.

I think I just feel old.

Sometimes I’d like to go back to rotary phones, record players, and a cell-phone free life.

Sometimes I miss simplicity. Not always, but sometimes.

So, it seems lately I’m posting recipes in response to tweets. My friend and fellow blogger, Brigid,  twittered that she was stunned she had just now discovered Havarti cheese.

That tweet reminded me of this awesome recipe passed to me by my friend, Pam Ferriss. I told Brigid that I’d post a Havarti recipe that would make her cry it was so good.

Get out your tissues and let out your belt a notch. This is gooooood!

(Please note that I’m writing out the original recipe in its entirety as it was given to me. I usually, however, make the easier, quicker version* as noted below.)

Herbed Havarti en Croute
(Heart & Soul)
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1 t. Dijon-style mustard
12 ounces Havarti cheese
2 t. finely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans, optional)
1 t. snipped parsley or 1/4 t. dried parsley flakes
1 t. grated orange peel
1 t. snipped fresh dille or 1/4 t. dried dillweed
1 t. snipped fresh basil or 1/4 t. dried basil, crushed
1/2 t. snipped fresh chives
1/4 t. fennel seed
Several dashes ground red pepper
1 beaten egg
Fruit

Let folded pastry stand at room temperature for 20 minutes to thaw. Spread mustard over top of cheese. Sprinkle with nuts, parsley, orange peel, dill, basil, chives, fennel seed, and red pepper. Unfold pastry and center over cheese. Invert cheese and fold two sides over cheese, overlapping edges. Seal seam with water. Trim any excess pastry from ends and fold up. Seal seams with water.

Place seam-side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. (Optional: Use trimmed pastry to cut out shapes of leaves or fruit.  Brush bottom of cutouts with water and place on top of pastry-wrapped cheese.) Brush entire pastry with egg. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake about 20 minutes or until pastry is nicely browned. Cover with foil if it browns too quickly. Serve warm with the fruit. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*Quicker variation
1 can Pillsbury crescent rolls
8 oz. Havarti cheese
1 beaten egg

Unroll 8 crescent rolls and form 2 (using 4 rolls each) squares, mashing the perforations together.  Place cheese on 1 square of pastry and place other pastry square over top of cheese. Seal edges of pastry (use a little water if necessary). Brush egg wash over pastry. Place pastry on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until browned. Cover with foil if browning too quickly. Serves 6 to 8.

Photo credit: dreamstime.com
Disclosure: I am an Amazon affiliate and receive a small commission based on sales from products I recommend. 

A few days ago, I responded to a friend’s tweet for an easy recipe for chicken in the Crock-pot.

Another follower and fellow blogger made it last night and sent me this rousing affirmation:

Seriously, the chicken was delicious. DELICIOUS! Have you posted the recipe on your blog? You should. Super-easy, super-cheap, and so tasty — the meat was tender and flavorful.

So, I offer it here for you now:

Easy Crock-pot Chicken
Place one whole chicken in the Crock-pot. Drizzle with olive oil. Liberally (be as heavy-handed as possible) sprinkle with seasoned salt, garlic powder, pepper, and dried rosemary. Pour about one cup of dry white wine* in the bottom of the Crock-pot (you may use water if you don’t have any wine on hand). Cook on low for eight hours.

*I buy the small four-pack of wine bottles to keep in the pantry. They each hold about 1 cup. Those little bottles are perfect for recipes. There’s no waste.

More about cooking with alcohol:

I buy chardonnay (dry white wine) to use in my chicken recipes. I buy merlot or cabernet sauvignon (dry red wine) to use in beef recipes.

Cognac is also delicious in chicken recipes. I have a chicken pot pie recipe where about 1/4 cup of cognac is added to the base sauteed veggie mixture and the alcohol cooks off before the chicken is added.

I add beer to chili and red wine to beef stew. In these recipes, I usually begin with a saute mixture of onion/garlic/pepper/celery, etc. I add the alcohol once those veggies are tender and cook for about 10-15 minutes. I then add liquid to the recipe (broth, tomato sauce, etc.).

Alcohol gives a great complex base flavor to my recipes.

From Grace Gems: 

The Deceitfulness of Sin!
by Jeremy Taylor

“Lest any of you be hardened through the
 deceitfulness of sin!” Hebrews 3:13 (read ESV here)

First sin startles him,
then it becomes pleasing,
then easy,
then delightful,
then frequent,
then habitual,
then confirmed!

I think this progression is particularly helpful in dissecting how sin takes root in our lives. I immediately turn to food.

As you know, I’ve been blogging about my New Year’s resolutions and my plan to eat intentionally. I confess that I have sinful issues surrounding food (overeating, emotional eating, idolizing food, and so on).

Sin is especially effective when it deals with our senses (first sin, anyone?). I’m startled all the time by the enticement of food. Oh! That looks good. Oh! That smells good. Oh! I have a craving for …

That “startling” often triggers a sense of urgency upon which I must act. I’m immediately rewarded because it tastes so good. Science has pointed out that eating releases endorphins (I think; it releases some chemical in the brain, anyway, that registers “pleasure”), so I’m pretty much hooked at this point. The “pleasing,” “easy,” and “delightful” aspects just affirm my engaging in this behavior. The “frequent” and “habitual” just serve to establish the habit and “confirm” it in the fabric of my character.

Think of Eve. Talk about being startled! A talking serpent with a “pleasing” proposition? It must have been quite startling to hear the challenge to God’s authority, character, and trustworthiness come from that snake’s mouth. The Scripture makes a point of saying that Eve found the fruit pleasing to her eye.

When were you last startled? Did that lead to a pleasing experience? Could it be the planting of sin? Guard yourself so that you see the deceptive progression of sin, which can prey on your sensibilities.

I continue with my theme of “Living Intentionally,” as I turn my attention to my diet.

Ugh. The diet. The eating plan. The “lifestyle program.”

I think there’s just something to the saying that “life catches up” to you. I’ll be 40 this year, and I know I’m much less healthy than I was a decade ago. Fast food, processed food, sugar—it just makes me fat. It DOES.

A few months ago, I started the Transitions program. Transitions is a low-glycemic eating plan. It begins with a one-week fruit and veggie detox followed by twelve weeks of making new habits of healthier eating.

I did OK at first, then the stress of the holidays arrived and my motivation, focus, and resolve to stick to any eating plan that didn’t involve butter on top of butter and chocolate dipped in chocolate vanished.

Today I begin Day 3 of my fruit and veggie detox week. I am doing well so far.

Here’s where the “intentional” part came in: I know part of my failure in the fall was due to inconvenience. When do I eat breakfast? Often running out the door. What is breakfast? Something I can grab.

So, I decided to set myself up for success.

That’s intention, people.

Preparation is key:
I mapped out my menus for the week. It took a long time, but I persevered and tried to be as realistic as possible. From the menus, I made a grocery list and went shopping.

Sunday afternoon, I spent about one hour cleaning and bagging fresh veggies. I washed the apples and grapes. I sliced cucumber. I washed lettuce and chopped it. I washed grape tomatoes and blueberries. All of the salad ingredients are ready to go. A healthy snack just needs to be pulled from the fridge.

I also boiled several eggs. A hard-boiled egg is a great breakfast food or snack. Totally portable!

It’s been so easy and convenient to eat right out of the fridge. Love it!

Sub the ordinary starches with steamed veggies:
I made spaghetti sauce and pasta for my family. I can have the sauce but not the pasta. Instead, I sliced some zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, and carrot and lightly steamed them. I poured the sauce over the veggies. Surprisingly, it was quite good.

I use these Glad Steaming Bags, which are excellent. You just throw in cut veggies and microwave for about 3 minutes. There’s a handy tear edge. The veggies are perfect. No mess. No clean-up.

Seasoning Is Vital! 
Garlic, onion, salt, pepper, cumin, vinegars. Liberally season the veggies and salads to enhance the flavors. Bolder flavors are more satiating. I pour balsamic vinegar on everything, and I love it!

A Neat Water Alternative
I’ve just discovered flavored sparkling water. Canada Dry makes one, which I like. But this week, I discovered La Croix sparkling water in berry flavor. It has a hint of cherry Icee flavor to me. No calories, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners. Very good. Quite refreshing. And a little more exciting than plain water. I got this idea from a water-hating friend.

I feel good about this second try. I feel intentional. Intentionality for good health involves a CONSTANT reminder and affirmation that every decision is important. Nothing is slight. Every GOOD decision is an affirmation that I’m heading in the right direction. Every NOT-SO-GOOD decision is an opportunity to be more intentional.

This is hard. Oh, so hard. But by God’s grace, I will persevere.

A few days ago, I posted my personal New Year’s Resolutions for 2010. I wrote that I had a lot of “little” goals but that my overarching goal was to create an “umbrella” of living with INTENTION this year.

The Savvy Blogging gals have issued a challenge for bloggers to create our blogging goals for 2010. So, I’m taking their challenge and posting my goals at Savvy Blogging.

I believe the act of giving my blogging a list of goals is INTENTIONAL, which is exactly where I want to be in this area of my life.

I am a writer and I have dreamed of being a paid writer for as long as I can remember. I see my blog as a natural extension of my profession. I would love for my blog to become a “syndicated column” of sorts: a place where a dedicated “several” check in. I want my blog to be a place of inspiration, encouragement, and thought-provoking entertainment.

My Blogging Goals for 2010

Audience: I want to increase and broaden my readership. It’s not just getting MORE readers, but it’s also finding those readers who need what I have.

Posting: I want to increase my posting frequency to at least 5 days/week.

Content focus: This is still a work in progress. I’m trying to become more focused with my content. My posts vary among funny mom stories, theological and political observations, recipes and homemaking tips. Sharpening my focus is terribly difficult for me because I have so many interests.

Design: I’m in the process of getting a customized blog design. I’m hoping the aesthetic will help crystallize some of these other ideas for me.

Income: I would like to continue to grow the income from my blog. I am paid to write, and I don’t see why my blog would be any different. But increasing the income means that I will need to more deliberately treat my blog as a business. I have decided I will do one “business building” activity each day, whether it’s finding new PR relationships or learning more about SEO. I will press myself to leave my comfort zone so that I can grow.

(In February, I’m attending my first blogging conference, Blissdom. I am so excited I can’t stand it! I anticipate having a revised list of goals after this conference.)

I like the tradition and practice of making New Year’s Resolutions. I know a lot of people don’t bother, saying they never keep them anyway.

And OK, I know I’ve started the “read through the Bible in a year” routine more times than I can count only to abandon it around mid-February.

But this year, I’m going to approach this whole resolution thing in a different way. I have one resolution, which I hope will serve as an umbrella to everything else in my life. That one resolution can be summed up in one word:

I resolve to live with intention.

This week, I managed to finally—FINALLY!—get my “office” set up. This involved moving and rearranging furniture and cleaning out old papers. It was way overdue. But in the process of thumbing through old receipts and grocery lists and recipes and wrapping paper scraps (really??? I kept all of that stuff???), I realized something important.

I had failed to live with intention.

The pile of paper was a tangible result of living in reaction and in the tyranny of the urgent.

So, maybe some of it was inevitable. I am, after all, in a season of life that sucks every drip of energy out of me.

But getting rid of all of that paper was so liberating. It geared me up to live with intention.

My goals for this year involve pursuing a closer walk with God, improving my health/losing weight, and growing my blogging and writing endeavors.

But those things must be attacked from a posture of intention.

Intentionality also assumes a sense of priority. I say that my faith, my health, and my writing are important to me. But I have not always prioritized them and made an intentional effort to work at them.

Above all, the older I get, the more I realize how big God is and how small I am. I am confronted by his strength made perfect in my weakness. I am more convinced that my primary purpose—whether I’m on an elliptical machine, posting to my blog, or cleaning out my desk—is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

I want to be INTENTIONAL about living out God’s purpose for me in 2010 and beyond.

I added this post at The Happy Housewife and at Steph in the City. Visit and read some more 2010 resolutions.