Baba Ghanoujh

What a fun word to say, Baba Ghanoujh (pronounced "ga-nooosch). I've never made it before, and I didn't know much about it, other than it's on all the Lebanese restaurants' menus around town. It's a Middle Eastern dish that is now glorified in the South (the deep South of the United States of America, that is).

I saw a recipe for "Quick Baba Ghanoujh" in the Southern Living "Homestyle Cooking" cookbook. I dashed to the store, purchased a beautiful eggplant, and whipped up this beauty in no time (with my extra tahini from my Black-Eyed Pea Hummus).


Picture courtesy of good-ole Google

Quick Baba Ghanouhj
1 large eggplant (about 1 to 1 1/2 lb)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp tahini
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp olive oil
Garnishes: kalamata olives, fresh parsley sprigs

Remove and discard end of eggplant (do not peel). Prick eggplant with a fork. Microwave on HIGH 7-10 minutes or until eggplant is tender; cool completely.

Cut eggplant in half lengthwise, and scrape out soft pulp; discard shell. Process pulp, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cumin in a food processor until smooth. Add water to reach desired consistency, if necessary (this was not necessary for me). Place mixture in a shallow serving dish; drizzle with olive oil. Garnish, if desired. Serve with pita bread (or carrots and other veggies).

So good and easy and a great and healthy alternative to another "chip dip." Jackson loved this dip when I served it to him last night :)


And one more recipe for kicks. I've been reading The Pioneer Woman's cute book, "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" about her love story and her life on the ranch. I was perusing her blog and found this amazing recipe: Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini, and I just HAD to make it. My mother-in-law gave me an amazing panini maker for Christmas, and I'm always looking for an excuse to use it. So, while I intend to make this for dinner tonight, I just thought this recipe needed a little taste test for lunch too (I couldn't help it; the bacon was calling my name from the fridge).


Picture from The Pioneer Woman's blog


Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini
Ingredients

8 slices Crusty French Bread
4 Tablespoons Softened Butter
2 whole Chicken Breasts, Cut In Half From Top To Bottom
Spicy Mustard
Ranch Dressing (homemade Or Bottled)
4 slices (thick) Sharp Cheddar Cheese
8 slices Bacon, Cooked Until Chewy And Cut In Half

Preparation Instructions

Fry the four pieces of chicken breast in oil and butter until done in the middle, about 10-12 minutes. Slice into strips and set aside.

To assemble the sandwiches, spread a generous amount of mustard on one half of the bread. Spread a generous amount of ranch dressing on the other half. (Definitely be generous; when the sandwich cooks, these will turn into more of a "sauce.")

Arrange chicken, bacon slices, and cheese slices on the bottom half. Top with the top slice. Butter both sides of the bread generously, then grill in the panini maker. (If you do not have a panini maker, you can grill the sandwiches in a skillet, laying a heavy skillet on top of the sandwich to press it together. Turn to grill the other side in the same way.)

**I didn't have any bottled Ranch dressing, so I made my own here.

Countdown

(yep, he still fits in his doorway jumper, and thankfully, he still loves it)



The countdown is on until my sweet "baby" turns one! I can't believe it. Since I'll be busy at work next week and have a conference for work, I know I need to get ahead on the celebration preparations.

So, with some of this:


And some fun paper purchases at Michael's, I've been making this:




This was really easy and fun to do, and I got the idea from Pinterest and Etsy (although my version is much more affordable than the ones they sell on Etsy). You can find the tutorial here.

Thank you, Pinterest, for the ideas on Jackson's puppy dog birthday invitation. We're looking forward to our family who will be in town to celebrate his big day!


Andy surprised me with an iPhone for Christmas (score! best surprise ever!), and so, sadly, I haven't been taking as many pictures of Jackson with my "real" camera (and I've yet to take the time to learn to do an iPhone "dump," but it'll come soon). The past few days I've tried to be intentional about taking pictures with my Nikon. Here are some pictures I took today of Jackson playing with his sweet friend Julia. They were just too cute together!


And, they're off!


They both loved looking at Tucker outside





In these funny pictures below, Jackson is making the funniest faces because of the camera flash. I know I should have stopped taking pictures at that point, but his faces were totally cracking me up.






Must.

Get.

The.Puzzle.


(doesn't it sort of look like he's sucking in his stomach for this picture? ha!)


Typical Jackson stance...getting into something! Sheer determination.




Showing off his bottle to Tucker, as well as throwing his arms up in the air whenever we say, "Touchdown, Auburn (or Touchdown, Jackson)!"


"



I've been surprised at the sheer number of people/strangers who stop me everywhere we go and tell me how "fast they'll (babies/kids) grow up." While it's almost annoying how I hear it every.single.moment when we're running errands, I guess I do appreciate their concept of the brevity of life, and it's a good reminder to soak up each moment with Jackson.

How do I feel about having a one-year-old? I guess I've always thought moms sounded silly when saying they couldn't believe their baby was one (or they couldn't believe they're sending their baby to kindergarten, or to college). But I get it now. It's like a blur, and I feel like I'm just going through the motions of throwing a party but not really grasping how short, and at times how long, this year has been.

I'm beyond grateful that God has blessed our family with a healthy, happy, joyful, funny child. Working in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, I see hardships, hurting parents, grieving families, sick sick babies. Because of this, I'm even more appreciative to have a healthy child. Jackson is such a ham, and he's going to be funny and witty like his daddy (I hope). He's always smiling, always giggling, always wanting to play with our dog Tucker and show off his toys. But I am "sad," in the sense that Jackson is growing up, that I'm weaning (talk about crazy hormones and some tears on my part; and tears about RANDOM things); that he's eating grown up food (cut up grilled chicken, mango, black beans, cantaloupe). All you moms out there (if anyone is even reading my blog?!?), am I alone in these feelings?

But Jackson is not mine; he's a gift from God. A sweet gift that the Lord has chosen for me and for Andy. A gift of parenthood that can be sleep-depriving, tiring, just-plain-hard-at-times. A gift I wouldn't trade for the whole world. A gift of a son that I didn't realize I could love this much, this deeply, this unconditionally, this all-encompassing-crazy-in-love. This, to me, is one of the sweetest pictures of Christ's wonderfully, amazingly, unconditional love for us, for the whole world, for all of His creation. Our pastor, Tim Kallam, was discussing this last week in church (Psalm 127:3 "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.) Jackson is going to turn ONE; it's inevitable, and it's a great part of life. Each day brings us that much closer to our sweet Savior returning to this earth to take us home to Heaven. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

A New Thanksgiving

I know I'm repeatedly posting excerpts or whole chapters from Elisabeth Elliot's amazing book, "Keep A Quiet Heart." I read this chapter today, and I felt compelled to share it with you. It's long but worth the read!

A New Thanksgiving

Those who call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day," I suppose, take some such view as this: Unless we have Someone to thank and something to thank Him for, what's the point of using a name that calls up pictures of religious people in funny hats and Indians bringing corn and squash? Christians, I hope, focus on something other than a roasted bird. We do have Someone to thank and a long list of things to thank Him for, but sometimes we limit our thanksgiving merely to things that look good to us. As our faith in the character of God grows deeper we see that heavenly light is shed on everything--even our suffering--so that we are enabled to thank Him for things we would never have thought of before. The apostle Paul, for example, saw even suffering itself as happiness (Colossians 1:24).

I have been thinking of something that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of greed--the greed of doing, being, and having.

When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, his bait was intended to inspire the lust to do more than the Father meant for Him to do--to go farther, demonstrate more power, act more dramatically. So the enemy comes to us in these days of frantic doing. We are ceaselessly summoned to activities: social, political, educational, athletic, and--yes--spiritual. Our "self-image" (deplorable word!) is dependent not on the quiet and hidden "Do this for my sake," but on the list the world hands us of what is "important." It is a long list, and it is both foolish and impossible. If we fall for it, we neglect the short list.

Only a few things are really important, and for those we have the promise of divine help: sitting in silence with the Master in order to hear His word and obey it in the ordinary line of duty--for example, in being a good husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, or spiritual father or mother to those nearby who need protection and care--humble work which is never on the world's list because it leads to nothing impressive on one's resume. As Washington Gladden wrote in 1879, "O Master, let me walk with Thee/In lowly paths of service free..."

Temptation comes also in the form of being. The snake in the garden struck at Eve with the promise of being something which had not been given. If she would eat the fruit forbidden to her, she could "upgrade her lifestyle" and become more like God. She inferred that this was her right, and that God meant to cheat her of this. The way to get her rights was to disobey Him.

No new temptation ever comes to any of us. Satan needs no new tricks. The old ones have worked well ever since the Garden of Eden, although sometimes under different guises. When there is a deep restlessness for which we find no explanation, it may be due to the greed of being--what our loving Father never meant us to be. Peace lies in the trusting acceptance of His design, His gifts, His appointment of place, position, capacity. It was thus that the Son of Man came to earth--embracing all that the Father willed Him to be, usurping nothing--no work, not even a word--that the Father had not given Him.

Then there is the greed of having. When "a mixed company of strangers" joined the Israelites, the people began to be greedy for better things (Numbers 11:4). God had given them exactly what they needed in the wilderness: manna. It was always enough, always fresh, always good (sounds good to me, anyway, "like butter-cakes"). But the people lusted for variety. These strangers put ideas into their heads. "There's more to life than this stuff. Is this all you've got? You can have more. You gotta live a little!"

So the insistence to have it all took hold on God's people and they began to wail, "all of them in their families at the opening of their tents." There is no end to the spending, getting, having. We are insatiable customers, dead set on competing, upgrading, showing off ("If you've got it, flaunt it"). We simply cannot bear to miss something others deem necessary. So the world ruins the peace and simplicity God would give us. Contentment with what He has chosen for us dissolves, along with godliness, while, instead of giving thanks, we lust and wail, teaching our children to lust and wail too. (Children of the jungle tribe I knew years ago did not complain because they had not been taught to.)

Lord, we give you thanks for all that You in Your mercy have given us to be and to do and to have. Deliver us, Lord, from all greed to be and to do and to have anything not in accord with Your holy purposes. Teach us to rest quietly in Your promise to supply, recognizing that if we don't have it we don't need it. Teach us to desire Your will--nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. For Jesus' sake, Amen.

Happy New Year

Andy, Jackson, and I drove to Orlando, Florida, for a fun New Year's Celebration, and to celebrate my cousin Laura marrying Clint. Below is a picture of them at my sister's Phantom Host Ball a few years ago in Mongtomery:



Now here they are all dressed up again, but this time for such a sweet wedding.



We all had fun dancing, and Jackson even stayed up until 10 pm, a good 3 hours past his bedtime. He's quite the trooper. (And did I mention that he did amazing in the car, all 9 1/2 hours there and back?!)




My mom, me & Jackson, and my grandmother (doesn't she look so elegant!?!)

The next night was New Year's Eve, and we cooked dinner at our family friend's home (The Bryan's, the best family ever) with some of our dear friends, Rachael and Clay Cowherd, and Shelby Spears and her new-fiance Chris (and my sister and Lee Bryan were there...a fun family gathering!). In the midst of cooking, Shelby walks in the door and holds out her hand, and I saw a great big diamond ring just sitting on her left ring finger. So fun! I definitely sorority-rushed-jumped when I found out she was engaged, and I think I practically tackled her fiance Chris (whom I had just met a few hours prior!). We are so excited for Shelby, and I'm especially delighted that I was the first to hug her, as she was the first friend I saw when I got engaged in college.



Chris, Clay, and Andy



Rachael, Shelby, Chris, and me

After a fun New Year's Eve of cooking and celebrating with dear friends, we drove over to Tampa the next morning to stay with one of my best friends Rosemary and Tim. She is 34 weeks pregnant, and she was the most gracious host to the three of us! We enjoyed lunch out in the 80 degree weather, talking and catching up, and a traditional collard greens and black-eyed peas meal cooked by Tim. Delicious!



Happy New Year everyone!

11 Months Old

Trying out a pineapple core for the first time (and he loved it!)

What a fun 11 months we've had with this sweet boy! I can't believe I'm having to plan Jackson's one-year-old birthday for this next month.

(for my baby keeping record) He has his two bottom teeth, with one more coming in on the bottom right side. His two front teeth are still coming in, and now the teeth on either side of his two front teeth are coming in as well. He'll eat most baby food, although the Earth's Best pureed chicken he's not a huge fan of. I did give him my mother-in-law's spinach (kale) mashed potatoes after Christmas, and he gobbled them up (probably because of the yummy spices, sour cream, and butter that is in them). When I tried to give him a plain baked potato, he refused.

He is quite the flirt, grabbing anyone's attention that he can. Jackson is still in the normal baby clingy phase, and when he's tired, he doesn't like to be taken away from Mommy or Daddy. He does great in the car (as in, he did awesome going to and from Orlando on our LOOONG car ride...more details to come in a future post), as long as he has his Wubbanub pacifier and some toys or books to play with.

Jackson is always saying "ma ma," "da da," and he's still imitating words, sounds, and noises that we make. He's a great sleeper, and still takes 2 to 3 naps a day. He also does these elongated blinks whenever he's "responding" to someone talking to him...hysterical! I have no idea why he does it, but it cracks us up every time he does it. We truly are blessed with a sweet and happy baby, and I'm very grateful for this blessing God has given us!

That pretty much wraps up our sweet little 11 month old. More to come on our fabulous trip to Florida!

Christmas Festivities

This was such a fun and blessed Christmas with our firstborn, celebrating the birth of Christ! Here are some pics of our fun and busy family festivities:


All the cousins


They switched babies!


Jackson, hanging out in his stocking at Ya Ya's house




In front of Ya Ya's tree, patiently waiting to open gifts

Then back home to Birmingham:


Trying to eat his new barking dog from GiGi and Pops


Checking out the barking dog from GiGi


One of my favorite pics of all times (getting close to nap time, but Jackson just decided to be silly for the camera)


Watching the choo-choo train with Pops, or rather, eating one of Pop's stocking gifts


Look who found Tucker sitting on the front porch!

I hope you all had a blessed and Merry Christmas!