Jessica Juliennes

Hooray for the holidays, so many great reasons to try new recipes!  Or, break out some tried and true favorites and traditional treats.  I love to cook and bake, and I have an obsession with food blogs…OBSESSED!  Thank goodness for Google Reader, which helps me keep up with all the latest and greatest posts…Gingerbread Bagels, What’s Megan Making, Kayln’s Kitchen, Becky Bakes, Smitten Kitchen, the list goes on and on.  I don’t think I could have a cooking blog though, as the only thing that rhymes with my name is julienne, and “Jessica Juliennes” has far too many syllables and is quite possibly not even grammatically correct, eek!  Anyway, Thanksgiving is my favorite, and it’s practically the gateway drug to all things holiday.  Here are few things that kept me busy this weekend, kicking off the holiday season:

Pumpkin Dip – Delish and super easy, great for kiddos!  The recipe calls for 6 oz. of cream cheese, which seems silly since cream cheese comes in blocks that are 8 oz. in size.  So, I just opted to increase the ingredients slightly to use the whole block.  This meant that I had to increase the rest of the ingredients by a third, and increasing ½ cup by 1/3 is like 0.16 which is muy complicato to measure, so I just eyeballed it, did some taste testing, and it turned out great. 

Bacon-Wrapped Blue Cheese Dates – Aside from the fact that dates look like gigantic, disgusting bugs, these are amazing.  Thankfully, blue cheese and bacon transform this treat into something sweet, salty, and altogether delicious.  The date has been redeemed and is GOOD.  Notes on this recipe – I used my kitchen shears to cut these lil' suckers open rather than trying to cut them with a knife, a much faster method and overall brilliant time saver.  The recipe instructs you to cut all the bacon slices into half, which is not a good idea.  Instead just wrap until the date is covered and then use your kitchen shears to cut.  I also ran out of bacon before I ran out of dates, I probably had 14 or so leftover.

White Bean Turkey Chili – This soup was introduced to me by one of my very best friends, who is an amazing cook and fellow foodie.  It is so easy, and full of flavor.  I love cumin so I increased that slightly.  Also, you might be inclined to skip the cinnamon, don’t!  It makes the dish.  I also reduced the amount of chicken broth to just 3 cups to keep it thick, and then added more stock the next day to the leftovers to thin it out a bit.  Super easy and smells amazing!  One of my new faves.


 



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Okay, well it was *supposed* to be made with chocolate chips but I had already committed to the idea of making these cookies…committed as in had the sugar and eggs already blended, whoops!  Turns out that the chips in the freezer were cinnamon, so this recipe turned into pumpkin cinnamon chip cookies.  YUM!  Cinnamon chips aren’t easily sourced, so don’t delay, run to your local grocer to find them and toss them into the freezer so you can summon their cinnamon-y goodness at any time.  They would be a great addition to a coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, oatmeal cookies…ooh, that is a really good idea, must go buy oatmeal, ASAP.  

My home is full of all sorts of delicious smells and leftovers and I am excited for all the wonderful moments of celebration that December brings with it. What’s on deck next?  Decorating the house for Christmas, planning the menu for December's book club taking place at my little chateau, and of course my sweet and beautiful grandma’s pumpkin bread.  It wouldn’t be the holidays without it.

Yes, I was a brunette...briefly.  Gram, in her wisdom, was not a fan.

Blustery Inspiration

I LOVE FALL. Even on days like today where my pants get soaked from my knees down thanks to the river of rain that has been dumping since yesterday AM, and I get to rock the disheveled, wet hair look while grocery shopping at Freddies and Costco (I just kept putting on gloss…for whatever reason I am convinced that lip gloss makes up for less than fabulous hair days).  Anyway, I love hot cider (heating some up right now), boots, snuggly sweaters and crisp leaves.  I love college football season and game days, (even though I got rid of cable and have only watched 1 1/2 games this season...minor side note).  I love beautiful fall days when the sun is beaming so brightly, you gotta wear shades, even though you are bundled up from head to toe.  I love blustery fall days like today when the wind never stops and the rain drums a steady beat from dawn till dusk and again the next day.  And I really love scarves.  I have blue, black, purple, gray, orange and also few silk scarves that I aspire to wear, but never do because it just looks so "grown up" and I am not yet actually a grown up, FYI.  My current favorite is soft and beautiful oatmeal colored scarf that kind of looks like this, that I'm dying to wear but sadly, cannot seem to figure out the right outfit.  But I MUST figure something out, because with inspiration like this video and the wind and cold, my oatmeal scarf is begging to weather this stormy week in November.

Video credit – www.wendyslookbook.com, she is darling, brilliant & talented!

Propaganda

I have been home for two weeks and it has felt a bit like madness.  Time is a finite resource that I treasure and try to manage so carefully, and yet it often slips through my fingers before I can catch it.  One of my big “takeaways” from Thailand has been an overwhelming desire to be intentional with how I use my time.  Yesterday was the first full evening to myself in…9 days?  I’m an extrovert, but that is crazy.  This battle for my time, enough for the Lord, myself, others, how do I conquer this thing?  I kept trying to figure out, is this a lesson that the Lord is trying to teach me? Or is the enemy trying to harass and deceive me?  Of course brilliance eventually set in (let’s be honest, it wasn’t my own) and I realized that the answer is YES.  Yes, the Lord wants to teach me something.  And YES, the enemy is attempting to be all up in my business and steal the awesome things that God is doing in my life. 

And then of course more brilliance arrived from God, delivered by an amazing woman that pours wisdom and truth into my life on a regular basis.  When the enemy is digging away at us, we are actually being tempted!  Tempted to believe the lies that the enemy constantly throws at us…they don’t like you, you’ll never accomplish that, change will never come, you’re not growing, you’re too old/too young, too short/tall, whatever…insert negative lie here: ________________.  However, when you realize what you are struggling with is actually the enemy tempting you to buy into his propaganda, clarity sets in!  I don’t have to give into the temptation.  I can say…NO.

There is this amazing song on the radio right now that shares, “In the war of my mind I will make my stand, in the battle of the heart and the battle of the hand.”  I love this because it reminds me of where the battle really is, it’s in my mind.  The enemy wants me to believe lies…I can’t do it, things will never change, you’ll never accomplish that…the list of things we struggle with goes on and on.  But what’s amazing is that God gives us a way out from temptation.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 

I Corinthians 10:13

We always seem to think that we are alone in our trials and struggles…we’re a bit internally focused sometimes most of/all the time (that’s politically correct for self-absorbed, the world is all about me…ugh).  Reality check – this is yet another lie from the enemy because he wants to isolate us and shut us up.  One of the best ways to battle against our struggles is to start talking about it!  I love playing this trick on the enemy, even though sometimes it’s TERRIFYING to be transparent, because it’s always the beginning of the end of my battle against him.  Share your heart with your confidants, those who love you and pray for you and encourage you.  Live in community.  Let them hold you accountable.  Check in with you.  Be available to you.  Did I mention, live in community.

“He will not let us be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  If you think that you truly cannot bear what is happening to you and that you cannot do it (a lie), think again.  We can do all things through Christ…if it feels impossible, it very well might be without Jesus at your side.  If you are at the end of yourself, God has not forgotten you (another lie); He is waiting for you to ask for His help.  Because “He will also provide a way out” - I cannot tell you the number of times I have prayed for a way out.  Of a frat party.  A bar.  An uncomfortable conversation…situation...temptation.  A relationship.  He is shows up every time, with His mercy and grace to protect and rescue us.

Since my conversation with previously mentioned wise woman just two days ago, I have encountered three people who were desperate to hear this same word of encouragement…note that I was sharing my struggle and being transparent, aka drinking my own Kool-Aid.  And that is what this word is to me, encouragement and a reminder that the battle is already won!  I just have to take authority.  Partner with the God of the universe who WARS over us and battles for our hearts because He loves us.  Yep, I think I can get on board with that…oh, and He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us?  BAM. I am all over this one, party people.  My God is righteous, merciful and all things justice.  No propaganda, just truth.

I'm Back, Jack

“How was your trip? I can’t wait hear all about it!”

I cannot count how many times I have been asked this since I landed back in the US a week ago.  My response?  “It was amazing.  Life changing.  It sounds cliché, but I feel like a different person.”

How do you sum up life’s experiences into words?  I always say that I wish I could give out a USB or DVD with my experience on it that you could download into your head…then you would not just hear about my experience, you would KNOW it…you would FEEL it. 

The trip to Asia was long.  Four flights and one night in a random hotel that reminded me of The Shining along the way before we finally arrived.  We left PDX on Saturday morning and it was Monday late morning by the time we reached our destination.  And then we dove right in.  We met the most beautiful, welcoming, smiley children I’ve ever seen, so eager to love on you and be loved.  We toured temples, visited night markets for shopping, worked on the new property where the girls will be moving eventually.  We mowed a field, weed wacked, did cement work, moved heavy cement bricks around, helped build a hydroponic garden and pond for growing fish, raked a dirt field for rocks, and planted a garden.  We sweated.  A lot.  It was at least 90 degrees every day and probably just as humid.  Thank you Jesus, for the invention of dry fit clothing, oscillating fans, AC and baby wipes.  We at so much rice that we thought we would burst.  No traveler’s diarrhea for our team!  Now if only we had been prepared for the opposite problem…bloating now has new meaning.  Learn from - I will now be traveling with Starbucks VIA on all international trips in the future. 

People say that travel changes you.  Opens your eyes to how big the world is, and how small our day-to-day life is by comparison.  I was expecting that.  I didn’t have many expectations for this trip really, but I did know it would stretch me and I would be in an environment where I had no control and little influence.  A good exercise in personal growth for someone like myself who plans experiences for other people every day!  Talk about giving up the reigns.  And it was absolutely liberating.  To be a part of something that I was supposed to EXPERIENCE, rather orchestrate for others.  And so that is what I did. 

Two weeks is a long time.  Two weeks from today, Thanksgiving will be over and many of us will be shopping till we drop on Black Friday.  Doesn’t that feel like ages from now?  But two weeks was just enough time for this trip.  Just enough to marinate in the experience…to live and breathe the country’s culture, our team dynamic.  This experience and desire to go on this specific trip was put in my heart by the Lord over a year ago…before the trip was even scheduled.   My heart leading up to the trip was, “okay Lord, I know that this opportunity and experience is from you.  What do you want me to learn?  What do you want me to take away?  How do you want to change me?”  And I’m so grateful, because I did learn, He gave me so many “take aways” and He did change me. 

“Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed. 

For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe,

even if you were told.”

Habakkuk 1:5

I underlined and dated this verse in my beloved Bible on May 25, 2003.  It’s one of my “life verses.”  It’s not just about the nations; it’s about me, about us.  It’s about God’s heart for His people.  You and me.  And He is right.  I am amazed. If someone would have told me eight years ago what God would do in my life and that He would bless me with this experience to go to Asia, and that I would want to go, I would not have believed them.

Reason #5,278 why my God is AWESOME…He knows me better than I know myself.

This sweet girl has my heart.  She is 11, has been at the home for 5 months and wants to be a doctor.  On this night we gave all the kids brand new Dakine backpacks (some kids carried their books in a grocery sack), and all the girls got hair clips from Forever 21.