SouleMama‘s {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see

I was thrilled to see so many of you getting excited about my t-shirt refashion. I will definitely try to put together a tutorial… maybe next week when we get back from a weekend of camping at the beach.

It’s amazing how much prep even the shortest camping trip takes! I’d be lost without my trusty camping list, I tell ya.

In other random news, I organized all of Gigi’s baby clothes today and she proceeded to try on many too-small items and thoroughly enjoy it.

I got a super cute little desk and am currently typing in my closet-turned-office. I love it! Just needs a little TLC and I’ll be ready to show it to you.

We got an amazing cornucopia of goodness in our CSA box today!!

Anyone know what to do with fennel?

I better get to bed now. On Friday mornings I have coffee with my Women’s Summer Discipleship Group at 6am at the best coffee shop around and it is such a sweet time of refreshment for me as a mama to get out with the girls and talk about the Lord and who is {we’re reading Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy}.

See you next week!

It started out as a boring t-shirt (cute print, boring shape, bought second-hand).

I wanted to make it into a halter, based on a cute hand-me-down from my sister-in-law…

voilá!

Sorry about the poor, late-night lighting… I really love how it turned out. Can’t wait to make another!

Our little family has had quite a few homes over the years…

we’ve lived in San Luis Obispo, CA,

Orange, CA,

Huntington Beach, CA {pictured with our roommate, my brother},

Highlands Ranch, CO,

San Marcos, CA {my parents’ house},

and finally we are at home in Encinitas, CA {more on my town coming soon}.

All that in only seven years.

We’ve always rented, and have gone through periods of contentment with that, along with those of discontent and envy of others.  I’ve always aimed to make our home as much of a haven as possible, making do with the space we have, but I’ll be honest, I’ve yet to be completely satisfied with our abode.

As someone who often dreams of being a homeowner, but who very well may never be one, I love to be reminded of where my true home is.

When I named my blog, I was going for a play on the old Gidget movies (Gidget Goes Hawaiian, Gidget Goes to Rome), based on my role as a homemaker… but this year in my CBS class (Community Bible Study) I learned an acronym that gives even more meaning to my blog’s name.

His

Open

Merciful

Embrace

It may be a little cheesy, but I just love it.

The acronym came in a lesson on Genesis 34-36, when Jacob headed back to Bethel, to seek God in the place where God had previously revealed Himself to him (35:7). Jacob found comfort in his trouble, and had His covenant reestablished, by going “home” to God’s open, merciful embrace.

When I think of going home to the Lord, to places where He has previously revealed Himself to me, it’s never really associated with one of my particular homes. I think of the morning {as that’s usually my time to meet with Him}, of being in Creation {preferably the beach or somewhere woodsy} or somewhere quiet with just me, my Bible, my guitar and a journal.

Life can easily get chaotic and too fast-paced for us to really enjoy his open, merciful embrace.

I pray that we can each “get away” to H.O.M.E. this week, to wherever God tends to reveal Himself to us.

Where is that place for you?

This recipe is by no means an exact science, but I love how these two dishes cook up together nicely. The soup is based on one we had at our CSA’s farm visit day, and the salad is a variation of one I saw in Everyday Food magazine.

What I love best is how you can stretch one chicken breast to feed probably 4-5 adults. Talk about a gourmet budget meal!

For the Pineapple-Basil Chicken Salad

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 plain yogurt
a few drizzles of Champagne vinegar
about a half of a cucumber, peeled, sliced and diced
2 green onions, diced
1/4 dried pineapples, chopped pretty fine
1 hard boiled egg, sliced & diced
about 1/4 tsp or so of paprika

~~~~~~
1 boneless/skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup torn fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper

Mix together the first set of ingredients and let chill while you place one chicken breast in about 3 quarts of water. Season with salt, garlic, and onion powder (or some chopped onion). Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a rapid simmer until chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes.

Remove chicken to let cool. Strain broth and return it to pan for soup (see below).

Chop/shred chicken finely and mix with dressing. Season with salt and pepper, add basil leaves. Serve on a piece of toast (we like TJ’s sourdough wheat) and a piece of lettuce.

For the Roasted Squash and Gouda Soup

about 3 quarts of chicken broth (from above)
about 1/2 pound smoked Gouda cheese, cut in small cubes
2 Patty-Pat yellow squashes (or other summer squash)- about 3 cups or so
1-2 cloves garlic
olive oil
cumin
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400* and chop squash. Toss with minced garlic and olive oil and roast for about 2o minutes or so (while chicken is cooking in water in above recipe).

After returning strained broth to pot (see above), add squash and cheese cubes. sprinkle with cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

Bon apetit!

SouleMama‘s {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

I’m really excited and thankful for the opportunity to be celebrating National Ice Cream Month (!!!) here on Gidget Goes Home. The California Milk Advisory Board chose me to blog about the fun family ritual of making homemade ice cream. My loyal readers all know how much I love homemade ice cream!

I’ve been searching for a while and I finally came across a good, simple chocolate ice cream recipe!! It came out delicious and I was able to get the whole fam in on the process.

Have you seen those cute commercials over the years about California cows being the happy cows? I believe it! Let me start by telling you a few things I like about Real California Milk…

• 99% of California Dairies are family owned
• the California dairy industry is providing much-needed jobs for the state and leads the nation in milk productions!
• I especially love the push for sustainability among California dairy farmers (one farmer in video on the sustainability page mentions that by converting extra manure into methane, they soon will be able to make enough energy to meet 60-70% of their own electricity needs!)
• I love seeing the “Real California Milk” stamp, and knowing that I’m supporting my local economy!

So let’s get to the tasty stuff. I can’t wait to have a bowl of this ice cream tonight with my hubby, but first I’ll show you how we made it.

I recommend you find someone cute to help you with this recipe.

And let’s get the whole family involved, why don’t we?

Chocolate Ice Cream

View the printable recipe.

Well, that was fun. And now I’m off to eat some of my creation. I hope you and your family will go make a batch of this goodness and celebrate what in my opinion is a great month! You can bet there’s more ice cream to come in July in my neck o’ the woods.

If you’re a Californian, make sure you visit this page which shows you where you can by Real California Milk products in California. There are also a few different coupons available on the page (and at the bottom of the website) as well!!

Disclosure: I wrote this article while participating in a blog campaign by the California Milk Advisory Board, who paid me a fee to participate. All opinions expressed are my own.

SouleMama‘s {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you’re inspired to do the same, leave a link to your ‘moment’ in the comments for all to find and see.

Photo by newbeatphoto

Can you believe it’s been six months since the big earthquake in Haiti? I can remember praying fervently as a fellow blogger attempted to get out of the country, forced to leave behind the son she was trying to adopt (he eventually came home to the US thanks to Humanitarian Parole).

The images after the quake were disturbing to say the least. But amidst all the wreckage and devastation we started seeing little stories of hope. One place that I read about hopeful things going on was on the blog of the organization Plant with Purpose.

Plant with Purpose is an amazing organization focused on fighting poverty, primarily through reforestation. We sponsor a village with them in Oaxaca, Mexico, and so while I knew PWP also worked in Haiti, I hadn’t read much about their work there.

I soon learned that Plant With Purpose has been at work in Haiti for 13 years and continues to work in the earthquake aftermath by employing farmers through their “Cash for Work” program to plant trees and construct soil conservation barriers, which will provide a vital barricade against impending hurricane storms.

A few months ago, I received a galley copy of PWP president Scott Sabin’s new book, Tending to Eden, which was named a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. In the book Scott reflects on his time in Haiti and the connection he witnessed between environmental degradation and the rural poor.

It not only gives a lot of information on how PWP got started and currently works, but it also serves as a guide to “environmental stewardship for God’s people” as the book cover reads. Tending to Eden is an awesome resource to anyone interested in Creation Care.

Here are just a few of the gems that I noted as I was reading…

Sabin focuses a lot on the importance of getting to know the culture and local economics in developing countries, as a way to avoid reinforcing the “lie that the local people are incapable of succeeding.” (p. 28), so as to empower the people instead of creating dependency on the aid agency.

Tending to Eden also points out the benefits of organic farming, recognizing that

“farming is complex, and that local farmers, with their intimate knowledge of their own land, know best how to solve their particular problems. Thus, the methods evolve to match the local environment. Building on local knowledge, organic agriculture can revitalize traditional customs and encourage local self-reliance (and self-confidence), contributing to the ongoing process of empowerment.” (p. 43)

Something that was relatively new to me is the idea of how economics affect the environment. Often times, short-term survival needs leads to mass clearing of the land, which in turns negatively impacts the environment and the productivity of the land. It’s a vicious downward spiral. “People will stay on their farms and reforest the land only if it makes sense economically,” says Sabin, “For lasting change, environmental and economic incentives must line up.” (p. 48)

“People and creation are part of the same system and are intimately connected. If you hurt one, you hurt the other.” (p. 88)

One of the most important aspects of PWP’s work is their commitment to sharing the gospel as well. Just like they want to empower farmers, they also want to empower local churches, and therefore partner with them for discipleship and for engaging the community completely.

Sabin reminds us that we need to practice “upstream thinking– looking at root causes rather than merely symptoms” (p 96) and it really is amazing to see how connected the problems of the world are to the land, and specifically to deforestation.

“Justice for the poor and oppressed should be a seamless part of creation care, just as creation care is fundamental to proclaiming and demonstrating God’s kingdom to all of creation.” (p. 96)

Tending to Eden goes beyond philosophy and PWP’s efforts abroad though, too. The best way we can each be a part of the solution on a daily basis is to simply be a good steward. There are many ways to live out a life of stewardship and I love the ideas that the book points out such as growing a garden, putting up a bird feeder, and more. There are some awesome ideas for how the church can act this out as well.

The idea is to live in such a way as to model: “enjoying creation, becoming more aware of our local environment, and learning to love our corner of it.” (p. 123)

Tending to Eden is a really great read and resource. And be sure to check out Plant with Purpose for more ways that you can get involved in their efforts such as sponsoring a village and planting trees.

My first batch didn’t come out so good. It was flaky and didn’t have a very creamy texture, even though it tasted creamy, which was weird.

But this version shouldn’t disappoint. I went for the classic custard-style ice cream, because I’ve had better results with it in the past and it paid off. Since then, I recently found another method that I might like even better, so maybe I’ll eventually have a second version of this recipe.

But for now, consider this a winner. I started with one from The Kitchn and modified it to come up with this recipe. I love that it has no white sugar in it, and the honey gives it a real richness, too.

We enjoyed this on Father’s Day and my dad, aka Papa, who himself claims to not normally love fruity ice creams, couldn’t stop raving about how it was really good.

So, without further adieu, here it is…

Blueberry Honey Ice Cream

makes about 1 1/2 quarts

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup honey
2 Tb. water
1 cup, minus 1 Tb. half and half
5 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk, chilled in the freezer for at least 20 minutes
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer berries, half the honey, and water, breaking up berries as they cook down, about 5 minutes. Puree in a blender, then strain through a sieve into a small bowl. Set aside. In a medium sausepan over medium-low heat, simmer the half and half until very hot but not boiling.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with remaining honey until pale yellow. Slowly pour in half and half, whisking as you go, so as not to cook the eggs.

Return mixture to saucepan and heat over low heat, stirring constantly across the bottom of hte pan, until thick and custardy, coating the back of a spoon (170* on a candy thermometer). Do not allow it to curdle.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Stir in chilled buttermilk, vanilla and berry mixture. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Ice cream will need to be frozen for at least 2 hours to achieve hard ice cream.

I hope you enjoy the rich taste of honey, buttermilk and berries and the beautiful lavender color!