Putting On My Apron

Recently Chris and I determined that despite the hassle, cooking was way better than Subway for the third time in a week, or spending money on an over-priced restaurant. Our town has some tasty restaurants for a community so small, but only a handful. So if you’re eating out several times in a week, the same fare gets pretty old.

So I have re-opened the kitchen, officially. Chris is a happy man again.

Here is a tasty recipe I adapted from Terry Stirling’s pasta dish, found on www.allreceipes.com. If you haven’t discovered this website, I definitely recommend it.

Death By Garlic

½ cup olive oil
10 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (I used dried parsley, and it turned out just fine)
1 pound dry bowtie pasta
1/3 cup grated Romano or parmesan cheese
2-3 large chicken breasts
Cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Cook pasta and set aside
2. Cut chicken into small pieces and cook in a pan in oil. When the chicken is almost cooked, add garlic and brown, then add parsley and spices and remove from heat.
3. Toss pasta with chicken and add cheese and tomatoes.

Besides cooking, we’ve been trying to organize our house now that Chris has brought all our furniture for our house in Birmingham. So far I’ve got one room full of boxes full of stuff I don’t know what to do with. I don’t understand how we ended up with SO MUCH STUFF. Obviously we don’t need it all, since we’ve lived without it for 6 months. Our good friends Ryan and Tyler braved the long trip via U-Haul with Chris. It was so awesome to have them visiting in Bishop for several days; they were our first guests since we moved out here. We went for a strenuous hike at Yosemite on Mist Trail up to Vernal and Nevada falls, along with my friend Crystal and her family on vacation from Houston. I wish our camera wasn’t broken; it was so beautiful.

I am going to get my driver’s license renewed tomorrow, and be issued a California license. I guess it’s official; I’m no longer an Alabamian. But considering every time I open my mouth I get “Where are you from?” I don’t think I’ll shed my Southern roots too soon.

-Katy

How Great Thou Art

The church we’ve been attending has a wonderful worship program, with a complete band and mostly contemporary music. However, this morning we sang this familiar hymn and it was so beautiful and touching to me. For the first time I really listened to the words and they were very powerful to me today; perhaps because I’ve been spending so much time in nature lately. When I went home and looked up the lyrics to post here, I found out that it is based on a poem written by a Swedish man name Carl Gustav Boberg in 1885, and the melody is a Swedish folk song. I guess it was my Swedish roots coming to surface.
At any rate, I’m so, so blessed. We all are.

O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds
Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars,
I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout
The universe displayed.

Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!

When through the woods,
And forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds
Sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down,
From lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook,
And feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God,
His Son not sparing;
Sent him to die,
I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross,
My burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died
To take away my sin.

Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul,
My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art,
How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come,
With shout of acclamation,
And take me home,
What joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow,
In humble adoration,
And then proclaim:
"My God, how great Thou art!"

-Katy