When we got back to the States and I saw the cost of a nice loaf of bread, I was more than a little bummed. My awesome health insurance plan in South Africa gave us discounts on healthy food purchases {brilliant idea, American insurers, take this one up!} so we got really nice, healthy bread at a very fair price.

The Hubs bought some cheap bread at the Piggly Wiggly not long after we settled in, not knowing what he was signing up for. When he tried to spread some peanut butter over a slice and the bread tore, we knew we had a problem.

Cheap bread is full of yucky stuff, and cheap in the bad sense. Healthy bread is pricey. Where’s the third option, pray tell?

Shortly after this perpuzzlement, I heard a rave review (by the Nester) about a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and I asked my Mom for the book for Christmas. I also got a pizza stone from my Dad for Christmas, and a wood cutting board that has been helpful in the process. But neither of those are an absolutely necessity starting out.

I was hesitant to think it could possibly work out well, and pleasantly surprised when it did.

And when my awesome piano playing, great-cooking, tidy housing, homeschooling awesome awesome photo-taking (yes, I needed to say it twice) friend Hope asked about it, I suddenly realized I needed to share.

And then I got really excited and created a picture with text and if you pin it on pinterest I might wet my pants.

Twice.

Anywho, about the book.

The premise is that you can mix together a nice heap of dough (the kind made from flour, not the cash) with the book’s very good instructions, and that probably takes ten or fifteen minutes, tops. And you can keep said dough in your refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to bake a loaf, you grab a chunk of the dough, shape it based on what you’re making, let it rest according to the recipe’s instructions (usually about 20-40 minutes while the oven and your pizza stone are preheating) and then you bake 30ish minutes, depending on the recipe. {That whole process probably takes five minutes of active effort. For me, maybe seven.}

And boo-yow. Yum.

So far I’ve just tried a few variations of the most basic recipe (I wanted to use white wheat flour once and I accidentally bought the wrong type of flour the first time because there was this gentleman at Walmart who used to be a chef and loves to bake and we had a really long conversation about the book, different types of flour, and the fact that I couldn’t find an oven thermometer. He came and found me again later and had an oven thermometer to drop in my cart.

{Thank you, dear Sir.}

I have really, really enjoyed this learning experience, and the fruit of it, so far.

My honest review?

THE PROS:

• The bread is really good. As in, it tastes really good. And I’m still just rocking the basic basic recipe. Pass the oil and balsamic, please.
• It has just four basic ingredients: flour, yeast, kosher salt (usually) and warm water. (Which seems healthier, methinks, than all those funky ones I can’t pronounce.)
• It is really an un-time-consuming process that could work for a Mom who gets home at 5 or a Mom who’s home all day. Or a Dad. Or grandma.
• My Dad and I worked out some rough figures on the math and using a nice unbleached white flour I was probably averaging 40 cents per loaf. Mixing in some unbleached white wheat, I probably knock another 15 cents off. And up the health factor. Ka-chow!
• One single batch of dough will make four loaves, which will stick around for about a week around here because I don’t make it every day. (You can easily double the recipe if you want more, and I think that’ll maybe add a minute or two to your mixing time.)
• The book has a ton of recipes in it and I’ve just scratched the surface, trying to get the hang of things before I start getting fancy. {Watch out instagram!}
• It works as bread for sandwiches — the bâtard {appreciate that I looked up that special character just for you} is nice, though a bit holey sometimes. I haven’t tried doing it in a loaf pan yet, but apparently you can do that to. I’m just scared because I’m not sure if the loaf pan I inherited is a proper nonstick.
• All the boys love this bread. The Hubs, the Bear, Tiger Tank…six thumbs up.

THE CONS:

• The loaves are smaller than I expected. They are, however, a good-sized accompaniment to a meal. A loaf will probably get finished if four adults are at the table. {You might want to just make two loaves and throw them in the oven together if you have a big family.}
• Because the loaves are small, they go quickly. Baking a loaf of bread has become a part of my morning routine so that we have it for lunch. That may or may not work for you. {It doesn’t last for lunch the next day because we almost ALWAYS eat the rest of the loaf with dinner.} I’m still planning to get a bread maker to do sandwich loaves, but I will also keep doing this type of bread — sometimes for lunches, often as the perfect accompaniment to spaghetti and salad or curry and rice or … I haven’t found a meal it doesn’t play nicely with yet. Pass the oil and balsamic please.
• It’s a learning process. Your first few loaves might be wonky. One of mine had a booty like J Lo.
• It’s an investment, though not a ginormous one. The book, $13 used, a pizza stone if you really want to give it a proper go, though you can try it with a baking sheet for the first wee while if you want. They recommend a food grade storage container for keeping the dough in the fridge, but I’ve been using a really big pot with a lid, since it’s not supposed to be airtight anyway. I hope that’s allowed.
• I feel like I should have more cons but I’m struggling to think of anything else.

MY RESULTS:

So far, really good.

Here’s an early loaf awaiting its destiny:

This may have been the one that had a booty. It tasted good anyway.

My prettiest loaf so far accidentally flipped over when I was sliding it onto the pizza stone. I tried to flip it back, but it was stuck, so I just wet and slashed the other side. I prayed a little. It came out gorgeous.

Here’s a more recent one:

Do you sense the improvement? Are you impressed?

And here’s today’s loaf, a bâtard, which started all these shenanigans. {I posted it on instagram, which Facebooked it.}

It would feel cheeky and morally wrong {not to mention probably disrespect the laws of copyright} to give you the recipe that these writers/bakers worked countless hours perfecting — and I also think you need all of the surrounding instructions from the book to give it a proper go. And they are thorough, though not too lengthy. I hope that doesn’t bum you out.

The Good News? You can get the book used on Amazon for like $12.58. And for that price, even if you only bake a dozen loaves, you’ll have paid for the book. I love you and I like sharing recipes here, but I don’t want to go to jail.

Think you might give it a whirl? Got any questions? Please fire away in the comments!

xCC

The folks who wrote this book don’t know me. But I am an Amazon affiliate. {In case you don’t know, that means that if you click that link up there and then decide to buy the book, I get a tiny percentage of the sale. I might also wet my pants.} But I’m telling the truth and not aiming for the cut. Scout’s honour.

One of my wee personal goals for 2011 was to spend more time reading books {which for me meant spending less time faffing about on Facebook, and also meant I sometimes got into bed earlier to read a real book. Bonus.} I love books. I think they love me, too, but they’ve never said so.

I didn’t exactly make this a “SMART” goal {ya know, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timebound} since I wasn’t too Specific and didn’t really make it Measurable — but I’m pretty sure I exceeded the reading tally for 2010, so I think it’s fair to say I succeeded. Go me. I was doing quite well (by my personal standards) until we started packing up our home and our lives for The Move.

Then things kind of slowed down for a wee while.

Shame.

Anywho, I thought it mayhaps be of interest to you that I share a few favourites, in case you might like to make reading more a personal goal for your New Year. I recommend doing a better job of making it a SMART goal than I did. That way you’ll really feel like you’ve achieved something next December.

But do what you want.

Here are my Five Favourite Reads of 2011 {complete with affiliate links to Amazon}

1. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis. How I came across this wonderful book, I’m not exactly sure. But I wrote a bit about how it rocked my socks off right here so I won’t attempt to rehash it here. Simply put, Lewis’ words, though partially a dialogue about grief, have infinitely greater wisdom to offer.

This is a 76 page gem.

2. The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith. This book is dang funny. Sadly, I have to make an important disclaimer about it. A tad bit, nay, quite possibly 30 percent of its delightful humour could be lost on a reader who has not experienced much of Edinburgh, and Scottish culture. However, I’m sure that the overwhelming majority of its humour cannot be lost in translation, at least for native speakers of English and folks who have a good grasp of it.

Like us Americans, ya know.

Seriously, Smith’s writing is a treat — I read this from cover to cover very quickly, and just did not want it to end.

You’ll laugh, you’ll laugh, you’ll laugh and laugh.

3. Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. Funny enough, though I’m a few years late on arriving at the Blue Like Jazz party, this book came across my path in perfect timing. It confirmed some of the sentiments I gained during my expatriate experience and challenged some of my notions of what Church means. Miller’s genuineness, his humble honesty and his fantastic stories inspired my faith.

Worth it. Very worth it.

4. Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson. Though Dobson might be at a different end of the spectrum from Miller, his insight in Bringing Up Boys brought some practical and very valuable parenting advice to the table for the Hubs and me. As a woman, it gave me some quality insight into “boydom” and manhood that I am sure I’ll find useful in the days ahead. (And already have, a bit with the Bear!)

Impressively well researched, Dobson painted a concerning picture of the challenges that face boys growing up right now, along with the significant challenges that face men and especially fathers in our time. A consistent reminder of the legacy we’re writing that will go beyond our days was woven thoughout. Teach us to number our days…

Even if you’re a mentor or a teacher or a pastor of boys, and not a parent of ‘em, this will still prove an insightful read.

5. Lioness Arising by Lisa Bevere. I needed to read so much of what this book had to say — partially because I needed to be reminded that women can and do have a place in the Church that is not just in the kitchen or with the kids. Bevere’s writing style was very personal and generally enjoyable, and this book is a call to action for women who might feel they can’t because they aren’t someone else. It’s a challenge to wake up an make a difference for the Kingdom.

{I must add that Bevere occasionally lost me on the lioness illustrations because her interpretations of lion behaviour were different from what I learned in the South African bush. So to my friends in SA, I apologize if you read this and that aspect of it annoys you. There is still SO much valuable wisdom here.}

My favourite line from Lioness Arising: God did not save you to tame you.

A Few Honourable Mentions on the 2011 Book List:

Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. This would be way up the list, but I’m reading it slowly with a book club, so I haven’t finished it yet. But the subtitle — Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life – says it all. I am learning to let go of some things I’ve held onto and understood as a part of Christianity, which were actually standards I created and tried to put Jesus’ Name onto. This. Book. Is. Good. Please read it. {Girls, especially, guys, I think it could help you understand us even better.} Mentioned here.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Yes, this is a children’s book. And yes I do love it. And the Bear does too. And the sequel, The Gruffalo’s Child, is equally delightful. {I was even more delighted to learn the author is British, but sad she wasn’t Scottish.}

The Cool Nguni by Maryanne Bester, Illustrated by Shayle Bester. Also a delightful book, of which the Bear has an autographed copy. {Thank you, Auntie Lyn.} If you’d like to introduce your kids to some delightful children’s books from another country, the Bester sisters (from South Africa!) can kick off a lekker collection. Their Three Friends and a Taxi is also a very cute little treat, and The Long Trousers might actually be my favourite. Gaps the Nguni calf (Nguni is a type of cattle, very hearty and suited for the hot and dry conditions of southern Africa, by the by) will win your heart. {There’s one more called Mealies and Beans which I’m especially fond of, but I couldn’t find it on Amazon. Sowwy.}

And finally,

On Writing by Stephen King. If you are interested in delving deeper into the craft of writing, and you can handle an occasional potty-mouth, this might be right up your alley. As I spoke about it here, King took the time to articulate his gift, his methods and process, and the insight was very valuable. Two Thumbs Up.

How about you? Have a few favourites from 2011 you’d like to tell us about? Mayhaps I can put them on my 2012 list!

xCC

Last night I finished the brief writings C.S. Lewis penned after the loss of his wife, Joy. How I ended up checking this particular book out at the local library is a story for another day. Packed inside the brief 76 pages there is more wisdom than I have probably successfully communicated in the 633 posts that make up this little website to date.

If I this had been my own copy of the book, I might’ve underlined the entire manuscript from start to finish. And there would’ve been no less than thirty-seven stars in the margins.

Originally published under the pseudonym of N.W. Klerk, within the four brief chapters Lewis very honestly writes his heart onto the pages as he works through the grief of the loss of his wife, and considers how the new life he must live on the other side of hers affects his understanding of God.

Although I expect many of the profound lessons in these brief pages will come up in conversations here at a later date, I wanted to share one specific thought that meant a great deal to me.

Lewis discusses how he initially was very angry that he couldn’t find any photographs of his wife that properly captured her likeness. It was a great trouble to his mind that he might remember her the way his mind wanted to remember her, rather than the way she really was.

Later he says, “It doesn’t matter that all the photographs of H. are bad. It doesn’t matter–not much–if my memory of her is imperfect. Images, whether on paper or in the mind, are not important for themselves. Merely links. Take a parallel from an infinitely higher sphere. Tomorrow morning a priest will give me a little round, thin, cold, tasteless wafer. Is it a disadvantage–is it not in some ways an advantage–that it can’t pretend the least resemblance to that with which it unites me?

I need Christ, not something that resembles Him. I want H., not something that is like her. A really good photograph might become in the end a snare, a horror, and an obstacle.” (p. 65)

He draws from this new understanding a lesson that I had to read and re-read:

“My idea of God is not a divine idea. It has to be shattered time after time. He shatters it Himself. He is the great iconoclast.”

{Note to reader, just in case: Iconoclasm is the deliberate rejection or destruction of religious symbols as heretical. An iconoclast is a person who destroys those symbols (often statues or images).}

The text continues:

“Could we not almost say that this shattering is one of the marks of His presence? The Incarnation is the supreme example; it leaves all previous ideas of the Messiah in ruins.” (p. 66)

Isn’t it such an impressive and confuzzling paradox that the very God that we worship is the one who shatters our previous images of Him? Our finite minds simply cannot contain the significant other-ness of God. Whenever we think we’ve got Him pinned, there He goes, telling the one who is without sin to cast the first stone, asking Zacchaeus to come down from the tree, telling me to go drink a beer with an old friend.

Has God shattered an image you had of Him lately? If He wanted to would you let Him?

Thank you, C.S. Lewis, for choosing to write your way through grief. What a gift to me, and to many.

xCC

Afterthoughts:

• I’m planning to share an example of a shattering tomorrow, if you’d like a little practical evidence of what I’m talking about.
• You can probably pick up a copy of A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis at your local library. It is also available at Amazon: A Grief Observed. {So ya know: Clicking that link should take you to the book at Amazon. Buying the Book should send me a tiny kickback.}

I was asked a few days ago (or maybe a few weeks ago…life seems ablur at the moment) what my favourite posts from 2010, or this space in general were. When I first think about it, the ones that stand out are stories like Mr. Potato Head’s Roaming or Being Fed-Exed a Brick.

Taking a good moment to think a little harder, ones like Where You Live Should Not Decide and Staying the Course or Fweaking Out stand out as moments where I think some of you were encouraged and inspired, and I was blessed to be a part of that process.

After a little more thought, I decided instead of posting what I liked best from this year, it would be nice to hear from you. What were some of your favourite posts from 2010? If you are a blogger and want to share a post from your site, please link it up in the Linky below. If you want to take a moment to think of a post from my site that meant a lot to you, I’d love for you to link that up, too. I’m not expecting a server crash, so link up all you want! The category dropdown and the search engine to the right might help you find what you’re looking for (if it’s a post you read around here) or if you want to just leave a comment and I’ll try to find the link for you, I’ll be glad to.

It has been a blessing to write from the heart here, and to sense that I occasionally have the privilege of hitting the nail on the head and sharing something on God’s heart, that has been meant for some of you at specific moments and for specific reasons that I knew nothing about. What a joy and a privilege, I just have to use that word twice!

Thank you for joining me here. Thank you for encouraging me by dropping in, even if you don’t say a word.

I am confident that 2011 is going to be a year full of change, full of growth, and full of life. And my hope is that for me, and for you, for this space and many others, the best is yet to come. Happy New Year!

xCC

P.S. Please do take a moment to share a link below. I love hearing from you and knowing what content keeps you coming back!

I’ve been asked by a few folks about starting a blog and making it more like a website. I don’t think the majority of you my dear readers are interested in this type of post, so I promise it won’t become a regular occurence! I just thought I’d share a sort of Top Ten for folks interested in turning their blog into something a little more like a website, a little less like every other blog on the block.  I’ll start by saying I have a longgg… way to go before I’m there, so I’m planning to point you to other websites for examples!

For those of you readers who aren’t into blogging yourselves but would like to comment on what you’re looking for in a site, I’d love some feedback! And I think the other readers would too…so speak up!

My Top Ten Tips for Making Your Blog More Like a Site

(Note: I always count down the top ten, so if you want to read the most important tips, scroll down!)

10. Skip the tag cloud. Unless you’ve got a customized, pretty tag cloud like say, the nester for example, it’s probably a good idea to skip the tag cloud. It isn’t the most attractive or functional use of space, and I don’t know that a lot of readers will peruse your posts in that format.

9. Keep your sidebar consistent. See how my sidebar over there is a big old mess? That’s a no-no. I’m working on it. If you can keep your sidebar attractive and simple, your blog feels less like a mess and more like a nice, clean, inviting space. (Homework: Check out grit and glory’s sidebar. Clean and simple. The Nester has a nice, clean sidebar, too. She’s in design, she knows what she’s doing!)

8. Customize your nav bar. See my boring old navigation bar that’s been that way ever since I started this site? If I didn’t have meals to cook, laundry and a toddler, I would’ve improved it for you a long time ago. Taking the time to customize that little bit of your site will help you stand out from the crowd. (Homework: Check out MckMama’s nav bar – the picture one. I mean she’s MckMama and she can do whatever she wants, but it’s good.)

7. Learn how to google. And google often. A lot of the things you need to know to improve your site can be found on the internet, if you spend a few minutes googling. (That’s probably how you ended up here. Well done!)

6. Consider making your home page slightly different from the page a person will view if they go directly to a particular post or any of your other site pages. Depending on the purpose of your site, this could mean your readers can enjoy a uniquely inviting home page (perhaps with teasers of full posts, for example) and choose where they want to go once they arrive. (Homework: See how Mashable’s home page invites you in with multiple posts to choose from? Teasers might be just the thing for you!)

5. This is big. That’s why it’s long. Customize your look. If your blog has the same layered, paisley, flowery background as every other Mom-blog in the blogosphere, it’s a good idea to work on customizing your site to help it stand out. Otherwise folks passing through will think it is just like every other layered, paisley Mommy blog, (Which it’s not! It’s yours!) and they won’t remember your URL and won’t come back.

If you want to get serious about your customization. You are pretty limited with what you can do to make your site unique if you are working with previously designed templates for wordpress or blogger, or if you’re not a web designer yourself. (I’m not an expert on this, but this is what I have gathered so far.)

I decided to use the Thesis Theme for wordpress, and so far I’m very glad I did. There is A LOT you can do if you upgrade to this theme to instantly customize your site. I started out with NO knowledge of website building, and have made the series of changes you’ve seen around this place to get it this far. The appearance of my site may not convince you that Thesis is worth it, but really, I’ve enjoyed figuring out how to customize using Thesis, and so far for me Thesis + knowing how to Google = serious website upgrades. They regularly upgrade and increase functionality, and the Thesis help community is also pretty outstanding.  If you’re thinking about purchasing Thesis and have questions, leave a comment and I’ll try to help!

And if you do decide to purchase Thesis, please come back and click here to do so — the kickback will help support our ministry here in South Africa!

4. Come up with a good theme and URL to match. I just went with my name because I think it has a nice ring to it, and it felt right at the time. Right or wrong? I dunno. But it’s good to give your blog a name that’s easy to remember (and easy to google) to keep your fans coming back. Along these lines, you might want to consider self-hosting your blog (I use Dreamhost, for example) so that you can be www.soandso.com instead of www.soandso.wordpress.com. Because the latter feels bloggy, the former feels serious. Don’t ya think?

3. Clean up!!! A good sign of a good site is having a clean, inviting space to welcome people into. It’s kind of like going into someone’s home. If it’s too busy or too messy, you don’t really feel like staying very long. Considering my busy, messy sidebar, I’m impressed you made it to #3!! (Homework: Check out my friend Adam’s blog. He has a really clean, well-organized site that just matches and agrees with itself nicely. See? You want to come in and stick around for a while.)

2. Use GOOD pictures and graphics. This really enhances the look and feel of your site. I would strongly encourage you to obey copyright laws — don’t steal images. There are a number of good, free websites where you can find decent stock photos to go along with your posts. Honestly, if I come to a blog with a series of posts and it’s all words and no images, I feel daunted and want to move on. Images invite readers into the space and quickly grab attention.

1. Customize your header. This has to be number one! It is the first thing people are going to see when they arrive at your site. If it is boring, doesn’t have any interest, or looks like everybody else’s … well, that’s okay, but it makes it a blog and not a site. I have to mention again that thesis made it really easy for me to customize my header. I designed it myself (what do you think?) and with one upload and a bit of copying and pasting it was on board.

So, those are some basics for making your blog more like a site. Question away, feel free to disagree, and be sure to check out some of the other sites I mentioned that are WAY further along in the game than I am.

And a little more homework if you’re interested: Check out some of these awesome sites, by folks who customized using Thesis!

Can you really argue with Krispy Kreme?
Copyblogger’s site is a great example of the significant amount of customization possible with Thesis.
Serradinho’s site is also seriously customized. (And can give you lots of help if you decide to buy.)

Have I ever told you that I have a really great husband? My Hero Hubby is an all-around goodfella. Without the swearing. Among the many things that make him delightful is the fact that every morning, and I do mean every morning, he makes lattes. Proper lattes. Sit still for a few minutes to sip and enjoy lattes. In these days of tight finances, this is a simple pleasure we enjoy every morning. And it occurred to me that you might be blessed by me sharing this information, because you could do the same thing, and save a whole load of cash if you happen to be a Fourbucks coffee addict.

The first thing you need to know is that it is biblically very important that, if you have one, your husband should make the coffee. If you open your Bible, you’ll see that the book immediately following Philemon, just preceding James, says He brews. And that’s proof enough for me.

The second thing you need to know (and now I’m being serious) is that there are a couple of tools that will make your coffee moment an absolute pleasure. And good news, neither of them is a $500 espresso maker! The first is a stove top cafetiere. Like him:

I got him for Mark for his birthday. He is made by Bialetti. They are not paying me to write this post. If they were, it would be much, much better. (Dear Bialetti, if you want to sponsor this post, holla at your girl.) Other people make these cafetieres too. I just read lots of reviews and heard good things about this one. And I trust the Italians about a lot of things, including ice cream and coffee. They aren’t very expensive. We’ll discuss how they work in a moment.

The second tool that you might like to strap to your belt is a frother. This is not a necessity but it sure does make a difference. For Christmas I bought Mark a frother. It arrived after we had already left for South Africa. (Christmas 2008) It went back to wherever it was shipped from. I was very sad. Eventually in February 2009 it re-arrived and the frothing began.  Since the Bialetti Cafetiere had worked nicely, I went with Bialetti again. I think the character on the front is funny. So this is her, the frother:

Sorry I forgot to take a picture without Hero Hubby’s hands in it. But you’ll see more of Frother later.

From here, you have a few basic steps to follow. HH did a bit of barista work as a jack of many trades opening Adventure Centres in the UK. So consider these instructions very professional. (giggle)

You’ll start off putting water into the bottom section of the cafetiere , not above the little steam hole you see on the side there. Next you’ll put coffee into the espresso holder in the middle of the cafetiere. How much you put depends on the strength you like it and the size cafetiere you choose. (HH puts about two heaped tablespoons.) Ours was supposed to be a six-cup model, but it seems tiny — perhaps it makes six wee espressos. Anyway, coffee and water, step one. Exhibit A:

Next you’ll screw the top on the cafetiere and sit him on a reasonably hot stove. Gas really makes this process a little smoother and faster (we discovered in Edinburgh) but our normal old stovetop plates are getting it done just fine these days.

He should percolate until you peek and see a nice dark pot of coffee happily steaming away on top. (About five minutes total.)

While you’re waiting for the percolation to take place, you can work on generating some nice milk. We have found that Long Life Fresh Milk, like the stuff that comes from Spar, is really thick and good for frothing, even when you’re not getting the full-fat stuff. I don’t actually know if they make something like that in the States. The consistency is more like soy milk I suppose. It froths better than other milk we’ve tried, but really I think you can work with whatever you’ve got.

We started out warming the milk up in the frother on the stove, which is what is supposed to happen. It worked nicely when we had a gas stove. However, now that we are working with electricity again, HH has decided his preference is to warm the milk in a pyrex measuring jug in the microwave (full power, 3 1/2 min per 500ml), and then pour it into the frother and work the magic. I suppose you can decide for yourself which method you prefer. (Note:  HH says the frothing mechanism looked like it was going to warp when the frothing jug got so hot using an electric stove…so perhaps microwaving is the way to go unless you’re cooking with gas. )

Once your milk has safely found its way to your frother and has arrived at a hot temperature, the little plunger that looks like the centre of a French Press Cafetiere will froth your milk to a delightful consistency, if you only commit yourself to pumping it up and down for 30 seconds or so. It’s obviously worth the work since HH is willing to do it every day.

And finally, with frothy milk and steamy espresso, you have found the moment you’ve been waiting for. Getcha a big mug so you can enjoy the magic. But first, if you are a sweet tooth like me, add your required dose of the good stuff (2 tsp of golden brown is how I roll). Then pour about a half a cup of frothy milk into each coffee mug. Next, using your best judgement, split the espresso blend between the two cups. Stir. Then add the rest of the frothy milk to the top, and spoon out some fluff so that your cup almost overfloweth. A dash of cinnamon is not a necessity at this point, but in my opinion it sure doesn’t hurt.

Here are the illustrated steps of assembly: Sugar, milk, coffee, stir, top off, and enjoy!

In case you’re wondering, HH’s mug is the “C” mug (it’s bigger) and mine is the Blackbeard’s. It’s a restaurant in my hometown and it feels a little bit like home to enjoy it every day. If you decide to try out this delightful coffee making method and save yourself fourbucks or so, let me know!

Here are the product details in case you’re interested in trying this at home!

I don’t think Bialetti is making our particular frother anymore (at least not on Amazon.com — I bought ours in the UK at amazon.co.uk), but here are some similar ones:

Maybe you’ve already read this one. In case you haven’t, I have to share some praise with you for an awesome book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, which has, honestly, changed my life. I was challenged to the core to think about my walk with Christ and my submission and obedience to Him as my Lord. I was blessed with the reminder of how amazing, incredible, and incredibly powerful and just plain …huge… God is — and yet how beautiful it is that He wants each of us to be in an intimate relationship with Him. He wants each of us to be a part of His story.

I’ve mentioned to you before that Hero Hubby and I listen to Cornerstone Simi’s podcast regularly, and we are challenged and encouraged to live a life of faith by Francis (and other speakers) who are willing to get real, and get really challenging about living a life of faith.

In Crazy Love, Chan’s writing style — very witty, and very “real” — will draw you in to engage with his message quickly. You probably won’t want to put the book down. He begins with an awesome, fresh perspective on the greatness and majesty of our God. He then challenges us to think about our response, in light of the greatness of God. Are you assuming you’re the good soil, when perhaps you’re not? Do you fall into the ‘lukewarm’ category without realising it? Are you serving leftovers to a Holy God? Are you obssessed… Should you be? Could you be a part of the sleeping church that needs to wake up?

A few challenges that spoke to me at the core:

Most of us use “I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life” as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God. (p. 169)

My caution to you is this: Do not assume you are good soil.

Are you satisfied with being “godly enough” to get yourself to heaven, or to look good in comparison with others? Or can you say with Paul that you “want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10)? (p. 67)

The overall theme was one that I think we as believers need to hear more and more and more often. I think we are constantly looking for milk — looking for someone to tell us what to do, to suggest some tidbit of an idea of another way to conveniently add Christ into life as we already live it. How can my life be better? What can the Lord do for me?

He has already done it all, given it all for us, and the right question is what can I do for God? This is very clearly a moment to revamp Kennedy’s famous “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country…” speech. Seriously, we need to ask not what God can do for us, but what we can do for God the God who gave His only Son for us, forgave us, and wants to give us everlasting life in Him.

Instead of the milk of “do this and do that and be more like Jesus,” the overall theme that is eternally relevant and incredibly refreshing to hear is this:

What I can say is that you must learn to listen to and obey God, especially in a society where it’s easy and expected to do what is most comfortable.

Truly, day after day, as I see how other people live in this part of the world, and remember that there is similar distress and poverty, everywhere, I realise what fullness and abundance I have in Christ — what cause I have to be content, and more than that, to be exceedingly joyful and eager to do the will of God. I highly recommend getting encouraged and challenged by the Crazy Love of God, and then living it out day after day.

xCC

Crazy Love is available on Amazon. And it is really, really worth the price and then some. Really. {That’s an affiliate link, just so’s ya knows.}