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?

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

"Almost Heaven, West Virginia"

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...” 
― John Muir

Fourteen of us ladies went backpacking in West Virginia in 2010.  We took water filters, packaged foods to cook over jet boils, tents, and a love for adventure.

Now, you might be wondering what we were doing here....Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, oh, my!!!

We had to protect our food from the local bears' appetites, so we bagged all of our food, toothpaste, and anything that might be deemed edible, and then put ropes on it and hung it in a tree!

What is a typical backpacker's meal?  

 

So, who wants to be the first to explain how a jet boil is used?

You know, I've traveled a lot of places.  My favorite place to be is in the mountains, backpacking, and hiking trails.  I will definitely take Mountain House chicken a'la king cooked by a jet boil over the best French restaurant in the world.  It is definitely almost heaven....

The Brogue of the Scots

All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast. ~John Gunther

Though this doesn't look like much, we thoroughly enjoyed our leisurely breakfast in Glasgow, Scotland.    Corn flakes and bananas somehow taste better when in Scotland!

Understanding the brogue of the Scots was quite a challenge, but we were told to try the Scotch pie, which has lamb in it--phenomenal!!!

The Emerald Isle

"For the good are always the merry
Save for an evil chance,

And the merry love the fiddle,

And the merry love to dance."

-W.B. Yeats, "The Fiddler of Dooney"

The Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast was built in 1825 and refurbished in 1885.  It is almost across the street from the Europa Hotel, which at one time, was the most bombed-hotel on the planet.  And I was there!

My niece had Guinness, of course, and the rest of us had wine at the Saloon, enjoying the beautiful, deep, and rich tones of the woodwork, the metalwork, and architecture.

The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at had shepherd's pie, Irish soda bread, and great stories told by the lovely innkeepers!  

Someday, hopefully, Ireland again....

Ooo-Lah-Lah!

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." -Virginia Woolf

Paris, the City of Lights, known for great food and romantic interludes, was our next stop.

This fruit stand is but a sampling of the quality of food we experienced in Paris.

I don't have a picture of my favorite meal of all time, but I will never forget sitting in the Parisian restaurant at about 9 p.m. and savoring every bite.  And I know we had creme brûlée!  We each ordered differently so we could share with each other.  

The next morning I ran three miles through the streets of Paris before  our crepe breakfast.  

We then embarked on the great adventure of finding the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame, without knowing a bit of French!

The adventures continue!

Weird Tourist Nutters

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." -J.R.R. Tolkien

I decided to use Tolkien's quote because he is from Great Britain, and that is the location of our next Planet Food visit.

In 2005, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, niece, and I traveled to Europe to visit a friend in England.  We decided to visit a few places for this once-in-a-lifetime trip.  While in London, we ran across the bookshop from "Notting Hill," a great chick-flick starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.

So, the "weird tourist nutters" (read the writing in the above window) that we were, we decided to have a "Notting Hill" night at our bed and breakfast.  We rented the movie, got some food, and had a great chick-night-in at the real Notting Hill in London!

Kimchi, Korea, and Cabbage Cuisine

"People Who Love to Eat Are Always the Best People"

-Julia Childs

Korea and Kimchi!  What is Kimchi?  I'm glad you asked!  It is fermented cabbage that is cooked with multiple  kinds of vegetables and has been a staple and loved food in Korea for hundreds of years!  Finally, it is becoming a global phenomenon.  The antioxidants from the fermentation, the B vitamins and minerals are just a few of the benefits received from eating this delicious, low-calorie food.  Kimchi: it's what's for dinner!

Ice Cream, Rickshaws, and Happy American Women

Eat Ice Cream.  Ride a Rickshaw.  Be Happy.

Though ice cream may not be considered a Chinese fare, like hotpots, Peking Duck, Shark Fin Soup, Eel, and Wontons, one evening in Tianjin, while walking through their multi-street market, the ice cream at a food stand just beckoned!
Meet my adventure buddy, sister-friend, Charlotte.  She was one of the 11 people I was with in China in 2002.  Ice cream and a ride in the rickshaw seemed like a great way to end an eventful day.  

As these two ice-cream-toting, middle-aged, American women climbed into the rickshaw that was powered by this sweet, older, Chinese man who weighed maybe 110 pounds soaking wet, the irony of it all hit us both at the same time.  We laughed until we cried all the way to the hotel.  That poor man was pedaling for all he was worth while these two American women porked the very American ice cream.  We gave him a wonderful tip, thanking him profusely, and inwardly praying that he would not have any muscle spasms on the way home!  Yes, ice cream, rickshaws, and lifelong friends...it doesn't get any better than that!  (Ask me sometime about the hotel room, twin beds, and late-night laughter!)

Eat Well, Travel Often

"Eat Well, Travel Often"

Food and culture are interdependent.  One cannot exist without the other.  To experience food is to be graced with an extension of the culture.  

 This is a traditional Chinese restaurant in Beijing that has hotpots. We Americans have fondue.

The Chinese have hotpots.

Hotpots sit in the middle of the table, with the fire underneath, and the food is cooked right there.

The hotpot includes every part of the animal (fish heads and company) and vegetables.

My friends did not seem to feel very graced, but I LOVED it!