Author: Lena VanAusdle

Alaska 2022: Bird’s-Eye View

Alaska 2022: Bird’s-Eye View

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The first real day of our trip started on Monday. Unfortunately, even though we were on vacation, I still had a days worth of work to accomplish before we were able to go see the sights. This included a 5 a.m. meeting, followed by a 6 a.m. meeting, followed by a 7 a.m. meeting. But I was glad to get my work over with early. We spent the rest of the morning meeting our hosts’ daughter and grandchildren. They were delightful and I’m so glad we got to meet people so important to those that are important to us.

In the afternoon we took off for Chugach State Park. Lewis conducts a live YouTube Bible study every Monday evening (7:30 p.m. Eastern). He loves to head outside to conduct these Bible studies. He’s done them from all over New York City, and when he travels he likes to continue the tradition. So we drove up to Chugach State Park and checked out a few spots before settling on the Upper Huffman Trailhead.

We had a great Bible study with phenomenal views of Anchorage and the surrounding mountains. Then our hosts drove us around to various historic sites around Anchorage before calling it a night a little early in anticipation of an early start the next day.

Upper Huffman Trailhead
Anchorage from Earthquake Park
Alaska 2022: Adventure On!

Alaska 2022: Adventure On!

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Lewis and I got to take a dream trip recently! So, let’s back up and explain how this trip was even possible. In January we flew to Seattle for Lew’s dad’s memorial (that’s a longer story and not really mine to tell), and on our way home American Airlines was offering 60,000 miles if you got their credit card, and there was no minimum purchase!

So, we got a new credit card, and bought something I already needed and got 60,000 miles. Which was enough to buy two round-trip tickets to Anchorage. And we just happen to have two dear friends that live in Alaska and they were willing to put up with us for four days.

We were excited to get on a flight that didn’t require us to get to the airport at 4 a.m. for the first time in awhile. So, 1 a.m. the night before our flight we got notification that our flight would be delayed, unfortunately this delay meant we would miss our connecting flight in Seattle. We tried to get put on an earlier flight, to no avail. So we had a six hour layover in Seattle.

Which was probably a good thing. I got terribly air sick and I needed the time to recover. Getting air sick is a new development for me. It has only happened one other time. I’m hoping it doesn’t happen again. I love flying and would hate to have to take Dramamine every time I fly.

We arrived in Alaska around 10:30pm, only 19 hours after we left home.

More about our visit tomorrow!

Mint Chocolate Swirl Meringue Cookies

Mint Chocolate Swirl Meringue Cookies

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I’ve been experimenting with meringue cookies lately. I made a batch on a whim, and they were pretty good, but I wasn’t obsessed with them until a month or so ago.

Lewis and I decided to have lunch after our dentist appointment at a little cafe in Bay Ridge (a neighborhood in Brooklyn), and I noticed some ugly looking cookies that *might* have been meringue. So I asked our server, sure enough, it was different flavored meringue cookies. So I got one of each to try (I’d only made vanilla and chocolate swirl to that point), and I was so disappointed. The texture was terrible and the flavor was so subtle. So I decided to start experimenting, because clearly these could be done better (not that I plan on telling them that their cookies are terrible, but still… why have bad cookies when you can have great cookies?). And these are great cookies! They’re sweet with a crispy outside and a bit of a chewy center.

This is one flavor version, the base cookie recipe can be adapted pretty easily. I’ve made green tea, pistachio (still perfecting that one), and cherry almond so far.

I’m trying not to be the annoying blogger that forces you to read ten years of background on a dumb recipe. So here it is:

Ingredients:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup of cane sugar (I use Domino brand because it’s a more fine grain)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract (this will produce a very mild mint flavor, add more if you want a stronger mint flavor)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 teaspoon of cornstarch
  • 2-4 ounces of dark chocolate chips

Instructions:

  • Melt chocolate chips and set aside to cool
  • Heat oven to 350°
  • Line a large baking tray with silicone baking mats or with parchment paper
  • In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, whip egg whites for a couple of minutes until frothy
  • Slowly add sugar and whip until glossy and stiff (you should be able hold the whisk and the egg mixture won’t move)
  • Add vanilla and mint extract and whip until stiff again.
  • Sift the cornstarch and cream of tartar onto the egg mixture. And fold over with a rubber scraper until combined.
  • Drizzle the chocolate around the edges of the pastry bag with a star tip.
  • Fill with the pastry bag with the egg mixture
  • pipe cookies into a swirl pattern onto prepared baking tray
  • Place pan in the oven
  • Turn oven down to 200°
  • Bake for 90 minutes
  • Turn off the oven and allow the cookies to cool in the oven until completely cooled (oftentimes I’ll make the cookies in the evening and leave them in the oven overnight to cool)
Southbound

Southbound

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 1 Comment

I’m going on a trip! A work trip. I’ll be leaving the country for the first time in almost two years. I have been hugely privileged/blessed in my adult life to be able to travel. This is the longest I’ve gone without leaving the country since Lewis and I got married.

I’m excited, but I’m also extremely nervous. I’m not particularly worried about getting sick (maybe I should be, but I’m relatively healthy, I’ve been working to build my immune system over the last two years, and I’m vaccinated), but I am worried about possibly being asymptomatic and getting stuck out of the country for quarantine.

But I’m going. Our flight on Friday is at 7:30am out of JFK into Miami for the weekend. We’re staying with Chuck and Mary Smith. Chuck is the Senior Pastor of the Caribbean. He frequently travels to Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, and the Bahamas; he also pastor’s the Ft. Lauderdale congregation. He’s a busy guy. I’m not quite sure how he does it all… but I do know that Mary does a lot to keep him going. We’ll spend the Sabbath in Ft. Lauderdale.

We fly out of Miami on Sunday morning for Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

Whenever I mention to people that I’m going to the Bahamas I get a wink-wink, nudge-nudge, and a “work” in air quotes. But I am legitimately going for work.

In 2019 Hurricane Dorian plowed into the Bahamas and made herself at home for at least 24 hours. It was intense, brutal, and devastating.

I coordinate for the Good Works program. Good Works is a program that United Church of God created to address emergency or unusual circumstances for church members. What it has turned into is the outreach program of United Church of God. We provide emergency relief after natural disasters, help orphanages, international camps, international church buildings, vehicles for pastors in international areas, and education and vocational opportunities for disadvantaged communities.

In 2019, when the hurricane hit, Good Works raised nearly $100,000 for relief. We were able to get emergency supplies (water, generators, tarps, bleach, flashlights, solar radios, water pumps, plugs and wires, and canned and dried foods) within two weeks of the hurricane (it wasn’t really possible to get there sooner since the ports were closed due to damage).

We sent a second shipment about two weeks later with supplies to help people begin to rebuild.

We were able to help all of our members (some in big ways, others in small) and with the remaining funds the members of our Freeport congregation set out to find people to help.

This was three years ago now, so we thought we’d head over to check on the status of recovery. This is the first time we’ve done a check like this. We typically rely on the local leadership to provide updates, but we wanted to create a video to share with all the people that helped make the recovery possible.

So, tomorrow, we head to Florida.

There’s a First Time for Everything

There’s a First Time for Everything

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I flew to Texas this week. Well, I flew to Minneapolis and then flew to Texas, because clearly that’s the most direct route. I checked my bag, I got through security in record time (Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check is 100% worth it ya’ll) and made it to my gate. Since I had some time before the first leg of my flight I figured I’d get some dinner before taking off. And greasy NY pizza is always a great choice… right? I ate about a 1/3 of the slice before I couldn’t handle anymore, it was so greasy. So I was already feeling a little blech when I finally boarded the plane. I got settled into my middle seat (between a mother and her teen/young adult son) and closed my eyes for take off. It was a rough take-off and for some reason I had been feeling nervous all day, so I took this blech feeling in my gut at take-off to the nerves and the gross pizza.

I’ve never in my life been airsick, so it didn’t even occur to me that it could happen. That feeling kept growing as we climbed higher and higher, each tremble in the plane made my stomach lurch. As soon as the seat belt light went off I went to the bathroom and tried to keep from tossing my cookies… erm… pizza. It took every ounce of will-power I had that first trip to the bathroom. I thought I’d gotten myself together and made my way back to my seat. It lasted about five minutes before I was back up and in the bathroom. I’ve never spent so much time in an airplane bathroom, but there you have it, my first bout of airsickness. I also used one of those little airsickness bags for the first time in my life.

It was terrible and felt unending. I went back to my seat for the second time, and the sweet guy offered me his aisle seat so I could easily run to the bathroom. Which I did, several times. I was miserable, until my wonderful, God-sent seatmate offered me an anti-nausea pill. It took 30 minutes to kick in, so I had about 30 minutes of not trying to keep my guts in check before we landed in Minneapolis. She gave me a second one to take just in case I needed it for the next flight. Looks like I might need to start carrying some Dramamine, or maybe not eat greasy pizza right before take-off?

Any of you ever deal with airsickness? How did/do you deal?

I’ve Got a Real Problem …

I’ve Got a Real Problem …

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I’ve got a real problem guys. So I was driving through Bay Ridge (a neighborhood in Brooklyn) when I small sign caught my eye… Handwritten in chalk I see, “best cupcakes in the USA.”

I couldn’t make out the source of said claim, but that’s a pretty bold statement. And obviously, I couldn’t let it stand untested, nay, unchallenged. I made my husband circle the block and double park so I could run in. Before I get to my critique of said cupcake shop, some backstory.

I enjoy a good cupcake, but that’s the rub, there are so many bad cupcakes that finding a good cupcake is a veritable treasure hunt… no even less fruitful than that… a Sasquatch hunt. They probably exist, but they’re the stuff of legends, whispered about by the lucky few who have found them.

I say now, with the utmost humility, that I make a mean cupcake. The cake is light, fluffy, and moist. Its bitter chocolatey goodness is tempered by a sweet and ever-so-slightly salty buttercream. If I’m feeling whimsical I’ll top them with festive sprinkles, but honestly, they don’t need them.

Back to my review. Best cupcakes in the USA? Maybe, if you like a dense flavorless cake with marshmallow frosting. But if you like things like flavor and texture, then no, they are most decidedly not the best cupcakes in the USA. The shop is, however, a socially conscious bakery and they donate money to feed needy folks, and I fully support their efforts.

So what is this problem I have? The main problem is I can’t pass up a bakery and I’m more than a little judgey when it comes to cupcakes.

Lentil Salad

Lentil Salad

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I made up a recipe tonight. I’ve been craving lentils, but didn’t feel like making soup again. So I decided to throw something together. It was so good! I tried it warm (great) and chilled (still great).

Ingredients:
* 2 cups green lentils
* 2 boneless chicken thighs
* 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
* 1 medium onion
* 1 orange bell pepper
* 2 baby cucumbers
* 1 avocado
* 1 lemon
* olive oil
* salt
* pepper
* pressed garlic (or garlic powder if you prefer)
* cayenne (optional, but I think cayenne goes in just about everything)

Directions:
Cook lentils in a pot per instructions (I did five cups of water to two cups of lentils on high until the water came to a boil, and then reduced to low to simmer). You want to cook the lentils until they are tender, but not mushy. Mix juice from one lemon into lentils and chill. While the lentils are cooking dice chicken into bite-sized pieces and cut onion into strips (I like my onions super caramelized, so I sauteed them in olive oil by themselves in my cast iron skillet). Once tender and charred on the edges remove from the pan and set aside. Then add a bit of olive oil and the chicken to the skillet, add salt, pepper, and cayenne. Slice mushrooms and add to the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and the mushrooms are tender add the crushed garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the chicken/mushroom mixture to the onions you had set aside and chill.
When you’re almost ready to serve the meal dice up bell pepper, cucumbers, and avocado into bite sized pieces.
Stir the vegetables, and the chicken/mushroom/onion mix into the lentils. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne to taste.

This recipe makes 6-8 servings.

Like I said, this was good served warm or served cold, although cucumbers warm is not my favorite thing in the world. I would probably add another bell pepper in a different color, just to give it more of a pop and pump of the veggies a little bit. I’m sure cherry tomatoes would be a good addition if you are going to be serving it cold.

Sourdough Apple Fritters

Sourdough Apple Fritters

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Okay guys. So, my husband loves apple fritters… personally, I’m indifferent to them, but I wanted to make them for him. So I started searching for recipes online. I found several, but they were all so wildly different I couldn’t decide which one to use… so I just decided to make up my own recipe. I’ll get right into the recipe, and I’ll give my critiques at the end on how I would tweak it.

Ingredients:
Batter:
1/3 cup of melted butter (cooled to room temperature)
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sourdough starter
2 teaspoons of yeast
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
2 eggs (room temperature)
3 tablespoons of apple sauce (room temperature)
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups of apples (diced)

Glaze:
3 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of hot water
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
pinch of salt

oil for frying

Instructions:
Combine butter, milk, sourdough starter, yeast and sugar in stand mixer with dough hook. After combining let sit for five minutes. Add eggs and apple sauce, mix until smooth. Add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, mix until smooth. Add flour. Once combined and smooth add apples. Let dough sit covered for 30 minutes. The dough is VERY sticky!

While dough is resting mix glaze ingredients in a bowl until smooth.

Heat oil (I don’t have a candy thermometer — a fact I regret every time I have to fry something or make caramel — so I can’t tell you what temperature to fry the dough at, but I’ve seen 375F on other recipes). You want to make sure the oil is hot enough, if it’s too cool the dough will soak up too much oil. I used a cast iron skillet, but you could probably use something else.

I used a 1/3 cup to scoop the dough into the oil. For the temperature I got my oil to, I cooked the fritters for 2.5 minutes per side. After frying, place fritters on a paper towel-lined cooling rack. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes. I was able to cook two fritters at a time without cooling the oil too much. After cooling about 10 minutes dip the fritters in the glaze and place on a cool rack to set. This recipe made about a dozen fritters.

Things I would tweak:
2 teaspoons of salt instead of 1
2 teaspoons of cinnamon instead of 1
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg instead of 1/4
3 tablespoons of maple syrup instead of 2

Despite needing these tweaks, they came out pretty good. My husband loved them at least. Let me know if you try them out and how you like them if you do!

“Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be” by Rachel Hollis (audiobook)

“Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be” by Rachel Hollis (audiobook)

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Wow. That is such a long title.

Anyway, I have had this one on my TBR pile for two years. I think someone recommended it to me, since (as my previous blog posts have stated so very clearly) this is not my favorite genre of book, it’s not one I would necessarily choose on my own. I can’t remember who recommended it, but I’m glad that they did.

I think the author writes how she speaks (which I totally get, I write how I speak… I don’t know how to do otherwise), but it seemed a little disingenuous, a little contrived… like she was trying to be something she isn’t. But, she is engaging. She’s vulnerable. She’s relatable. She’s funny.

The author lays out 20 “Lies” that we tell ourselves; and they are lies that keep us from living up to our full potential. The 20 lies are as follows:

1. Something Else Will Make Me Happy
2. I’ll Start Tomorrow [we’ve all been here, right?]
3. I’m Not Good Enough
4. I’m Better Than You
5. Loving Him is Enough for Me
6. No is the Final Answer
7. I’m Bad at Sex
8. I Don’t Know How to be a Good Mom
9. I’m Not a Good Mom
10. I Should be Further Along by Now
11. Other People’s Kids are so Much Cleaner/Better Organized/More Polite
12. I Need to Make Myself Smaller
13. I’m Going to Marry Matt Damon
14. I’m a Terrible Writer
15. I Will Never Get Past This
16. I Can’t Tell the Truth
17. I Am Defined by My Weight
18. I Need a Drink
19. There’s Only One Right Way to Be
20. I Need a Hero

Usually I’m bored by self-help type books, they’re just warmed-over cliches. And yes, you will find some cliches in this book, but they’re told in such a relatable way that they’re less grating. And she has some unexpected lessons. Things that make sense, things that hit close to home. I definitely recommend this book. I’m not a mom, so there are many chapters that aren’t geared directly toward those that are childless, but there are still lessons to be gleaned from them.

4.5/5 stars

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B072TMB75T&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_7JX9BX2V3MK5TA6CZDRG

“10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn’t Help” by Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D. (Audiobook)

“10 Books That Screwed Up the World: And 5 Others That Didn’t Help” by Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D. (Audiobook)

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Full disclosure, I have very little experience/knowledge of philosophy. I mean, I took a class in college, but I hated it, and was quite happy to never take another philosophy class.

I chose to listen to this book simply because the title was intriguing to me… I had no idea it was a philosophy book, but really, I don’t think that’s an accurate description. This is really just an anthology of book reports. Which was kind of great. I haven’t actually read many of the books on the list (I think two of them, and even those not since college or high school).

It seems silly to write a summary of a summary, so I won’t. So I’ll just list the books that he reviewed and discuss his ultimate conclusions.

Dr. Wiker discusses the following books: “The Prince,” “Discourse on Method,” “Leviathan (The Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil),” “Discourse on the Origin and Foundation of Inequality Among Men,” “Manifesto of the Communist Party,” “Utilitarianism,” “The Descent of Man,” “Beyond Good and Evil,” “The State and Revolution,” “The Pivot of Civilization,” “Mein Kampf,” “The Futur of an Illusion,” “Coming of Age in Somoa,” “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male,” and “The Feminine Mystique.”

Before delving into these books Dr. Wiker makes the case that ideas have consequences and that many of the ideas presented in these books influenced later ideas and books. And too often the result of the ideas presented in these books was violence and suffering; even if the books themselves don’t advocate for violence.

And he makes a solid case against each of the books; and in the body of the text he does so from the perspective of a humanistic moral position. It isn’t until the end of the book that he makes an overtly Christian claim against these books. I’m a Christian, so I’m fine with comparing these books against the morality of the Bible.

I think Dr. Wiker is a good writer; he’s eloquent and obviously well-read. And he makes a solid case against the books listed.

3.5/5 stars

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0019IB0EW&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_KHPAC61PHY35NFY61WHM

“Ask Again, Yes” by Mary Beth Keane (audiobook)

“Ask Again, Yes” by Mary Beth Keane (audiobook)

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 2 Comments

This book is a sweeping tale of two generations of two families deeply intertwined. Kind and steady Francis Gleeson (an Irish immigrant) joins the NYPD and marries Lena (a New Yorker born and bred) and moves to the suburbs. Brian Stanhope, another NYPD cop moves in next door with his beautiful and troubled wife, Anne (also an Irish immigrant). These two couples start their families side by side, but their lives become inextricably combined, while simultaneously blowing apart.

Okay, when I say sweeping, I mean sweeping; and not just because it takes place over a 30-year span, this novel explores so many themes I’m still processing what I heard several days later. It tackles themes of family, abuse, mental illness, addiction, resilience, home, forgiveness, love, and redemption.

And even though the themes are heavy, it was written with such deftness that you don’t feel weighed down by the weight. Because, at the heart of it all, there is hope.

The characters are complicated, and flawed, and even in their brokenness, you love them. I grieved with them, I rejoiced with them, and I hoped with them.

Clearly I loved this book… I was late for work twice last week (Okay, I make my own schedule, but I was late for when I wanted to start work) because I got lost in the narration of this book, I didn’t want to stop listening.

5/5 stars

https://smile.amazon.com/Ask-Again-Yes-Mary-Beth-Keane-audiobook/dp/B07M7L7XTB/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1611710741&sr=8-1

“The House on Fripp Island” by Rebecca Kauffman

“The House on Fripp Island” by Rebecca Kauffman

by Lena VanAusdle ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

*I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway

I liked this story. I liked the characters. The story follows two families: the mothers grew up together, but ended up leading drastically different lives. One of unhappy wealth and privilege, the other stressful, but overall happy in the grips of poverty… not living on the streets poverty, but working hard but still being on the brink poverty.

These two drastically different families come together to share a vacation for one week, when tragedy strikes, and someone dies. The description of the book would have you believe that the novel is about the aftermath of this tragedy and how each member copes, but that’s not really true. 85% of the book is spent on the vacation; the remaining 15% deals with the aftermath. And it doesn’t do it justice.

This novel had such promise. I wanted to know more about the killer. I wanted more on how the families coped after the murder. I wanted to hear their inner dialogue. I wanted to know how they processed through everything, but the author just glides through it so quickly.

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07T4KS1D7&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_cBlbGbBYATTMY