Give your homemade pizza that “special something”

One of my favorite dinners as of late has been homemade pizza. I use my trusty Better Homes & Gardens cookbook for the crust recipe. It’s a basic recipe, but Joe and I like to “dress up” our pizza.

First, we both love garlic. When we were in Joe’s hometown one time, we ate some amazing pizza (Steubenville has the best pizza, according to my husband) that had garlic salt pressed into the bottom of the crust. Yum! Now we do that, too.

This next tip may be a no-brainer for you, but this is not how my family did it growing up, so I never knew. When you bake your pizza, put a little bit of sauce on the crust and put it in the oven. With ten minutes left, remove it, add more sauce and all of your toppings. (This keeps your cheese from getting burnt or chewy!) I like to add a little garlic salt at this point as well.

After you bake your pizza for the remaining ten minutes, it’s ready to go. I like to add a little parmesan cheese on top right after it comes out of the oven. Joe likes crushed red pepper.

You could also try making a white pizza – instead of pizza sauce, brush some olive oil on the crust. Put fresh tomatoes on top of your mozzarella cheese. (And, speaking of mozzarella, here’s a great tip: If you buy blocks of mozz, stick it in the freezer for 20 minutes before you grate it to keep it from falling apart. Works perfectly!)

I also used a food processor for the first time this week. It makes making the dough so much easier! I’ll never knead by hand again!

Enjoy!

“Avatar” is a cultural commentary

I’ve read a negative review by a popular Christian movie review website. I’ve heard it’s a political commentary on Iraq/Afghanistan. I didn’t really want to see it because I was not interested in seeing weird blue aliens on the big screen. But, thinking I was being a generous wife, I agree to see “Avatar” when Joe and I went to the movies a while back. And I liked it.

I don’t care if it’s a political commentary. I don’t care that I don’t really like aliens. This movie struck me as a cultural commentary that students of missions should watch and analyze. Seriously, if I were teaching a missions course or coordinating a Perspectives class right now, I’d be showing clips of this movie for my students to analyze. As I watched it, I thought of all kinds of essay questions I could write.

Granted, the movie is not about missionaries approaching a culture, but rather government intervention takeover of a people. But there are some great parallels that made me a little antsy to dip my toes in the missions thinking-dreaming-envisioning pool again.

Why you should never pay for a haircut again

Me: Joe, on a scale of one to ten – and decimals are permissible – how confident are you that you could give me a haircut without making me angry?

Joe: Oh, nine-point-seven, easily.

Thus began our husband-wife haircutting team. We may be opening for business in a neighborhood near you very soon.

What you need

1. Scissors. Desk scissors are not okay (learn from my experience, folks). But you can find a pair of hair-cutting scissors for about $10. Steer clear of those ultra-expensive scissors in Sally Beauty. A hairdresser told me that whether her scissors cost $10 or $170, they all cut the same. Trust me, you need a pair of $170 scissors like you need a pink bolt of lightning tattooed on your forehead.
2. A men’s hair trimmer set. This will most likely come with a comb (or several), the battery-operated razor and several guards of varying lengths. Joe’s $13 set actually came with a pair of scissors as well!
3. A towel. This is optional, but wrapping it around your shoulders like they do in the salon will keep you from looking like a woolly mammoth when you’re finished.
4. An old sheet. Also, optional, but you can spread it out under your chair to catch the hair that falls.
5. Trust. This is definitely the biggest ingredient (well, besides the scissors and trimmer).

What you don’t need

1. A cosmetology degree! Who needs a degree when you can do it for free?

What you’ll gain

1. Trust. Although this is also a necessary ingredient, trust will naturally grow as you place a pair of scissors or a trimmer in your partner or friend’s hand. With this one simple act you’re saying, “I believe in you enough to entrust my physical appearance – the first thing anyone will notice about me – to you. Have at it.”
2. Time. If you’re tired of reading outdated celebrity gossip magazines while waiting for your turn in the chair, wait no more! You’re about to take back hours of your life by letting your spouse or friend cut your hair.
3. Money. After one or two at-home haircuts, you’ve already saved the money you would’ve spent in the salon or barbershop.

What you should never say

1. “Oops.” This does not inspire the kind of confidence and trust that you desire.
2. “Is this too much?” If you have to ask, it may already be too late.

So, who out there is willing to give it a shot? Let me know if you try!

I’ve been waiting for this e-mail.

The Reminder

Last year I encouraged everyone to write an e-mail to their future self. I wrote myself an e-mail, anticipating what 2009 held in store. I couldn’t remember if I had scheduled it to send on December 31 or January 1, so I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up in my Inbox today.

As a testimony to all that God has done in my heart and life in 2009, I’m going to share with you what a very different Katie wrote one year ago.

The E-mail

Dear Katie of the future,

I write this on December 31, 2008. It has been quite a year. I have graduated college; moved home; found my first “adult” job; applied for long-term service in the M***** world; and, most recently, started dating a man after God’s own heart, Joe.

It’s a little scary to even write about those last two things – the two great “pillars” in my heart, as [... one friend] put it. I have NO CLUE where I will be in relation to either of these things one year from now. If the past year has been one of transition, I believe the coming year will be one of great discernment.

My prayer for myself for the coming year is that I would grow more and more Christlike and become more and more dependent upon God, my Father and the Creator of all. In a year, I would like to be a holier, more prayerful, more grace-filled, discerning woman – one who loves deeply, obeys radically and walks more freely. I would like God to continue to soften my heart and make me less fiercely independent.

May this year of my life be characterized by a FREEDOM: to worship, to love, to laugh loudly, to live abundantly, to pray boldly, to sing, to dance and to speak the truth.

Not knowing what is in store in the year to come, I place myself in God’s hands and throw myself upon his mercies. Lord, come what may – whether it be the most joyous year of my life or the most painful, trying season I’ve ever walked through (or anything in between) – I am yours, now and forever. I love you.

Katie

P.S. – Let this stand as a witness to Katie of the future: Come what may in 2009, I trust completely that God has ordained everything that has happened to me this past year. He has orchestrated a beautiful relationship with Joe, and I pray I will not forget that, even in the midst of the pain that I may eventually experience.

Additionally, God has given me a heart for the unreached of the world, particularly M*****s. May he grow that heart and direct it according to his purposes.

Reflecting Back

So, how about that? To be perfectly honest, a year ago today Joe and I had been an “official couple” for all of two days, and I was terrified that we would break up and both our hearts would be broken. (I really liked this guy.)

I’m amazed to read my prayers for myself: to become more dependent on God, to be more grace-filled and discerning and to be more free. I’m amazed because that’s what God has been doing. Awesome.

The Challenge

Now, what about you? Will you write an honest e-mail to yourself to be received on December 31, 2010? I’m going to do it again.

Cross-cultural Christmas celebrations…welcome to China, folks

My dear friend Caitlin is studying abroad in China right now – for the second time! She is one of my favorite bloggers ever. She is a talented writer and is able to capture daily life in China in hilarious anecdotes. Her post about celebrating Christmas in China is no different.

Take a few minutes to read Caitlin’s blog and I guarantee you’ll be laughing about experiences that are commonplace in her daily life!

Two fun Christmas cookie ideas

Cooking-baking extravaganza

1. Get together with a few friends.
2. Everyone bring their favorite cookie recipe, lots of ingredients and plenty of hardware (baking sheets, mixer, cookie cutters, etc.).
3. Get busy baking, then split up the goodies!

Take note: A rockin' apron & bright green cookie dough!

Cookie abundance

The bakers

Cookie exchange

1. Get together with a few friends. (Hot drinks are highly recommended!)
2. Everyone bring 4 dozen cookies and an empty container.
3. Split up the cookies. Everyone leaves with 4 dozen different cookies!

Both the cookie-baking extravaganza and the cookie exchange allow for a) great time with friends and lots of conversation and catching up; and b) a minimal amount of work (bake only 4 dozen cookies from one recipe) for an abundant variety of cookies. Extras can always be frozen and saved for later in the season. Or, if you do your extravaganze early, you can freeze cookies to save for your exchange.

Fail Us Not

We sang this song in church a few weeks ago. It’s good enough that I think the video is worth passing along to you. Check it out!

If you like Sudoku, you might want to try…

KENKEN!

This new Japanese numbers puzzle is similar to Sudoku, but involves basic math. Joe and I completed two KENKEN puzzles yesterday. It was fun! Maybe Joe and I are puzzle people and someday when we are very old, we will sit together and solve Sudokus and crossword puzzles. Eh, maybe not….

Cravings underlie conflicts

Take a few minutes to listen to this seven-minute audio clip about how our conflicts are caused by ungodly desires. Then tell me what you think.

Shout outs

Last week at work I spent the bulk of one day researching ways to get a free website and, even trickier, how to create an online form. I want to give a big thank-you to the two websites that helped me to accomplish this. Both offer free services that are remarkably easy to use – and fun!

Check them out: