The Definitive Mac and Cheese

What does it say about me that one of my life goals has been to find the perfect macaroni and cheese recipe? I have already accomplished another – the perfect chili recipe. I was half-way to a successful life. And now, fait accompli – macaroni perfection. (these last four words must be said with a heavy French accent).

I discovered an excellent cooking magazine in the library the other day. It was supposed to be for my “loves to cook and bake” daughter, but she wasn’t interested. So I took a look through. You know how “Julie and Julia” made you want to go out, get Julie Child’s books, start at the beginning and recreate the movie? This magazine did that for me. (actually I did take 3 of Child’s books out – I’m not loving French cooking, but the thought was nice).

“Cook’s Country” magazine is taken from a Public Television show called “Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen”. Each recipe comes with a short essay on the technique used or the history of the recipe development. It’s a mini cooking course with sidebar tidbits of food lore and diagrams. The food is more down-to-earth and eatable for my family.

I love this magazine so much I’m having to hold myself back from ordering the DVD’s of season one and two of the show.

Back to the mac’n cheese.

The recipe is actually meant as a make-ahead. Imagine that! Making ahead a pasta dish. I’ll have to try it. For this time we snarfed it up for supper and left-overs went with my son to work. The secret ingredient was the chicken broth and cayenne pepper that made it sooo flavourful. And if I had had the heavy cream that it called for instead of milk, the flavour would have been over the moon, I’m sure. I don’t have a problem with butter and cream. God made ‘em; they’re good.

Another goal accomplished yesterday – slipper socks for a former homeless man our church has befriended. He is going through cancer treatments and the weather is getting colder. His feet will appreciate some cozy socks. Cascade 220 superwash (in the best colour yet! – 863, a dark, rich burgundy)

Odds and sods

My day of rest didn't include much resting today, but lots of family and friend time so that made it OK. The day started with the challenge of teaching the older children in the kid's class at church, lunch with family, awesome music recital of my two nephews and ended with an movie with friends.

I did get a little reading time in over breakfast this morning. I'm reading through the July/August 1998 issue of Piecework magazine. The only issues of this magazine that I bother to get have an article on knitting in them. This one features the history of cowichan sweaters. Since I've actually made several of these and they are quite common to where we live the article was of special interest.

The name cowichan comes from the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island, where the Cowichan band of the native Coast Salish people lived. The sweaters are a story in themselves as they include many of the animals important to these people, such as whales, horses, eagles etc. The Cowichan had always spun goat and dog hair, but when the settlers and missionaries came in the 1840's they brought sheep and these began to be used for spinning as well. The articles goes into some depth and there is also a pattern for a sweater included.

My new technique for January was the linen stitch heel flap. This picture doesn't do it justice, but what you don't see is the typical ribbed ridges of the traditional heel flap. It makes a nice flat surface that is much thinner than the traditional. My version is a four row repeat - google to find instructions. Mine came from a pattern that has gone missing.

In January I also made two charity hats and a pig puppet from the Creative Knitting website. This is the pig partially

made. I made some mods to the pattern to make it more "pig-like". I couldn't find the other hat, but it was called Thorpe.

Oh, I also made a pair of striped socks.

Reader's Digest has been a big part of my reading material for as long as I can remember. My family always subscribed to it and when I finally settled down myself, I began the tradition. It's filled with inspiring stories about real people who are doing things in the world and making a difference. I laugh and I cry through each issue.


One article in the latest issue left me feeling rather sick to my stomach. It was an interview between the recently elected President of the United States, Obama, and Pastor Rick Warren, one of the most popular speaker/authors in Christendom.



Obama certainly talked the talk of a fervent born-again Christian. But his first pro-choice actions upon taking office certainly don't seem to be walking the walk. The contradiction between his words "I think that the country's greatest moral failure in my life-time has been that we still don't abide by that basic precept in Matthew that whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you do for me" and "I am pro-choice" is chilling.



I think that we had better watch this man very closely.

Nutrition Nugget

I just realized that I have been a follower of Centre for Science in the Public Interest for over 25 years. They have changed a lot in that time. While I do detect some bias these days in their editorials (toward vegetarianism), they continue to be set apart from big business and therefore can "tell it like it really is".

The magazine that they put out, Nutrition Action, has a theme for each issue. January/February 2009 is on inflammation in the heart. Very interesting. There is also an article on kidney stones (my husband had these once and thought he would surely die). A regular feature is recipes and this time they all look yummy. Vegetable were rated from best to not-best-but-still-good. In other words, with vegetables it's hard to go wrong. Me and vegetables aren't best friends I have to admit. I spent so many years not being able to eat them because of gall bladder problems that I have a slight aversion to them. But eat them I must and I will develop a taste for them.

One of my favorite parts of the magazine is on the last page. Here they have the "right stuff" (recommended food item) and "food porn" (bad, bad, bad). This time round Eden Organic No Salt Added Beans won the right stuff award. Hey! I had black beans in our bean salad on Wednesday! I love them. But boohoo, Pillsbury Grands!Flaky Supreme Cinnamon Rolls with Icing got the porn award. I've only had these once - yummy. But you don't want to know what's in them. Let's just say - eat them very infrequently.

What was my number one take-away from the magazine this time? Kale! I must start serving kale 'cause it's a superstar vegetable.

Have you written your eulogy yet?

I have to confess that I am a magazine junkie. It's hard for me to resist an interesting magazine and they read so much quicker than a book, so it's a quick "fix" when the reading bug hits.

One of my favorite ministry mags is K! Cutting edge children's ministry info, resources, conferences (can't attend them, though, but they're there none the less) and challenging articles. I never fail to learn something new, something practical that can be used immediately.

The November/December 08 issue included an article titled "Keeping the End in Mind" by Tina Houser. She encouraged readers to spend a few moments writing their own eulogy. Her premise was that seeing how you want the end to come out will determine the direction you should take every day and affect the decisions you make every day. Are you taking steps each day to achieve the end that you hope for - in your personal life, your family, your ministry? What do you have to get rid of or add on? What do you want your legacy to be?

Just when I thought I had the nutrition thing figured out...

...along comes Dr. Weston Price.

On my last trip into the public library, I picked up an intriguing magazine entitled "Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts". There were subtitles all around the edge of the cover such as "a campaign for real milk", "pasture-fed livestock", "life-giving water", nutrient-dense food" and on and on. Right up my alley. I actually had to go onto the website to find out that Dr. Price was a dentist, who, in the early 1930's, traveled to isolated parts of the world to study their dental health practices. He came up with the characteristics of a traditional diet which he maintains is the best way for us to eat. From that list he developed dietary guidelines for modern people to use. The most striking place his list differs from "common knowledge" of our day is in his recommendation to eat high saturated fat food. He maintains that traditional high-fat diets have sustained people for thousands of years, and it's only in the more modernized society that health problems have arisen and that this is caused not by the fats, but by refining of sugars and fats.

This is not a light-reading magazine. In fact, it's almost like a scientific journal. But along with the numerous articles it also contains practical, start-right-now recipes, menu plans and time-saving meal prep ideas (in this issue at least - Spring 07). This fits in nicely with one of my New Year's resolutions, so that article will be one I spend some time on.

I hope I don't find out that he belongs to some weird religious cult.

Outreach Magazine

I picked up my first copy of Outreach Magazine a few weeks ago. This issue focuses on innovative churches in America - I wrote down lots of websites to check out and put many books on my "wishlist" (as if I need any more books to read!). I think that after perusing these sites for awhile my understanding of the postmodern church/emerging church will be a little clearer. Layer by layer my understanding grows.



The bonus to this issue was an educational DVD on the
new movie coming out "Amazing Grace", the story of William Wilberforce. It includes a trailer, movie clips, music and more. Hopefully the movie won't be long in coming to Canada - it looks very good. Wilberforce was a strong abolitionist who fought for many years and finally was instrumental in ending the slave trade in England. He was good friends with John Newton, who wrote the hymn Amazing Grace - hence the title of the movie. For up-to-date info on the modern slave trade visit Stop the Traffik When we wonder how it could have happened in history - ask yourself "What am I doing about the problem right now?"