Soul Food

The Search for Soul Food

We can travel the planet and eat the best and the worst that it has to offer.

There is a hunger in us that goes beyond the physical.

It is a hunger for soul food that reaches down and touches us to the core.

This cannot be found in the cafes of Paris, nor can it be found on the shores of Hawaii.  This soul food comes from our blessed curiosity, a curiosity that causes us to stoop and search for truth.

I hope that as we have traveled this planet and enjoyed the beauty of the culture, the food, and the joy of relationships, we will also recognize that there is something more that our hearts hunger for.

Love that comes from beyond ourselves will nurture that place of deep need and bring satisfaction, peace, and joy.  Aloha and Amen!

Friends, Family, and Love

Bless these friends with whom I have enjoyed life's greatest moments and most painful sorrows.  We have dined together in remote Romania, in a mission house in Mexico, in the mountains of Colorado, and in the comfort of each other's homes.

Bless my children and my husband.  We are all recipients of great grace.  And I hope that we can pass that grace to others through our love and passion for life, through our hospitality as we have others in our homes, and by the lives we live everyday.

Food, Folks, and Fun-Brasilia!

BRASILIA!

This could very easily be the Mantra for every Brazilian! 

Brazil culture is food, music, parties, and fun!

When I was skyping home and my soon-to-be-husband would hear a group of 3 or 4 Brazilians in the background, he thought it was a large group!  They have so much fun!

Brazilian Barbecue was wonderful!  And my German friend, Monja, and I, had way too much!

Once again, it was the people of Brazil and their love of life, that meant so much!  Food, folks, and fun, could easily have been the motto that was plagiarized from Brazil!

Aloha!

Affection, Peace, Compassion, and Mercy--Aloha!

I had the privilege of spending almost a year in Hawaii working on a mission base.  (It's a tough job, but you know...).

I enjoyed working on campus with people from Germany, Korea, Japan, Canada, China, Brazil, Norway, many places in Africa, Paraguay, Ecuador, South Africa, New Zealand, and many other places. 

I was invited to a luau, had cookouts on beaches, had spam at a drive-in, fruits and vegetables many times from a local farmer's market, and foods from all over the planet.

This plate seems to be a collage of many of the different cultures.   I think this could be called a melting pot!

Hiking, snorkeling, beaching, and great food are part of the Hawaiian experience.  But it was the people and their love and passion for life and God that brought healing to my soul. Aloha! 

South Africa's Ubuntu

"Ubuntu--togetherness/I am because you are" .... This is a Xhosa (pronounced kosa) term that is the goal of many South Africans. Xhosa is one of the main indigenous tribes who live in the region we visited. 

Ubuntu is a rallying cry for this beautiful nation that has been so riddled for the past 400 years with enslavement, prejudice, genocide, corruption, rampant crime and separateness (what we call apartheid). Yes, Nelson Mandela led the way after 37 years in prison for being black. He led the way for apartheid (separateness) to be outlawed. And many hearts have changed, but the heart of South Africa is still  searching for that togetherness, that sense of unity and filial love.

In 2009, one of my closest friends, Jeanne Zehr, and I went to South Africa.  Jeanne has her Ph.D. in Education and travels all over the world teaching a curriculum to teachers called "Instrumental Enrichment."

She asked me to go with her to South Africa to assist while she spent a week training a group of teachers in the province of Knysna (travel expenses paid).  

One of the wonderful meals we enjoyed was this combination of dips, chicken, a steakhouse marinade, and wonderful fresh vegetables.

South Africa touches one's heart and soul.  Ubuntu, that togetherness and unity, hopefully, is not too far away.

S'mores, Pudgie Pies, and 50 Years of History

Ever had a s'more or a pudgie pie cooked over a campfire on a remote beach in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan?  

50 Years of History preceded this picture, which included family cabin times, cookouts, campfires, swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, blueberry picking, little boys and little girls growing way too fast....

The last year we went to Lake Superior as a family, I canned sausage patties, bacon, hamburger for tacos, and homemade spaghetti sauce.  We ate so well and I spent less time cooking than ever.  All I had to do was heat up the canned goods I brought!

Pancakes with sausage or eggs and bacon for breakfast, summer sausage and cheese for lunch, and pudgie pies, and card games until 1 a.m....all are memory makers....

Hunters and Gatherers

Canned Venison, Canned Fish, Squirrel Pot Pie, Fish Fry, Rabbit Stew, Grilled Elk Steak, Venison Tacos....There's No Place Like Home!

 My late husband, Chris, was a hunter and a gatherer.  He loved to hunt and fish and spent as much time outdoors as possible.  He could identify the songs of the birds, the trees in the woods, and loved to spend evenings on the deck just stargazing.  Over the years we did eat all of the above, but it was not our main fare at home.  It did expand our love for food as we learned to be willing to try just about anything!

So, before you crinkle your nose and say that you would never try Squirrel Pot Pie, keep an open mind.  Who knows?