1. All of our ZOOM conversations in the Westminster Basement are stimulating and most enjoyable. I especially enjoy when our discussions turn to our reflections upon the Divine, upon transcendence, upon our similar and different views and experiences with holiness. This morning, we had a superb and ever broadening discussion of prayer, spiritual reality, the world of nature, connections between humans, between humans and the natural world, and between members of the natural world. I cherish these discussions because we entertain all kinds of possibilities, discuss the Divine in relation to mythologies and spiritual practices from around the world (including at Whitworth and Pacific Lutheran), and, best of all, we don't even try to arrive at anything definitive.
Diane, Bill, Bridgit, and I all have in common the fact that we have experiences that transcend the material world, experiences that we agree are best communicated through metaphor and symbols. Our experiences are different from one another, adding even more vitality to these discussions.
2. Debbie and I hosted family dinner tonight. Debbie assembled a most delicious chicken enchilada casserole and made shredded iceberg lettuce salad with a cilantro lime dressing. Debbie asked me to cook a batch of risotto. I had only made risotto once before, a couple of weeks ago, as part of a HelloFresh meal.
I had a box of arborio rice on hand as well as a stockpile of boxes of chicken stock.
I put two quart boxes of stock in a pot and warmed it up until it steamed.
I also melted a slab of butter, which I salted and peppered, in our largest Dutch oven and then added two cups of arborio rice. I cooked and stirred the rice in the melted butter for a couple of minutes and then I began the slow process of making the risotto.
Risotto requires ladling the steaming broth over the rice about a quarter of a cup at a time. With each addition of the broth, I stirred the rice and broth with a wooden spoon until the rice absorbed the liquid and then added another quarter of a cup. I had eight cups of broth -- I used most, but not all of it -- so I added a quarter cup of stock to this rice and stirred it about, oh, twenty-eight times!
Gradually, the rice absorbs the stock. Gradually the rice becomes creamy. I cooked ours, on purpose, a little beyond a dente so that our risotto was very soft and deliciously savory.
Mentally (and spiritually, maybe) I got absorbed in this process and lost track of time. Was I ladling and stirring for half an hour? A little more? Not quite that long?
I'm not sure.
All I know is that I finished making the risotto before Christy and Paul arrived for dinner.
3. Just before Christy and Paul arrived I followed a recipe that came with our Ninja blender and made blended margaritas. I was about 75% pleased with the recipe and the drink. If I do it again, I'll work to do a better job of peeling the lemons and limes before putting them in the blender.
We had chips and salsa with our margaritas and then thoroughly enjoyed the casserole, salad, and risotto. We capped off dinner with a delicious tapioca pudding out of a container that Debbie enjoys -- and so did we.
We had a lot to talk about -- Paul has worked as a sub for Debbie and we discussed her current class of students. Debbie and I reported back to Paul and Christy what we learned at Sacred Heart on Thursday about kidney transplant surgery. We ended the night talking about history, about Heather Cox Richardson's broad and deep understanding of U. S. History and the number of things she sees that are baked into American politics and how much, if not all, of what we see happen in the present echoes similar things that happened in the past.
One crucial difference exists, though: the influence and impact of social media and the World Wide Web.
P.S. I exercised today for at least 90 minutes. The discomfort I had been feeling in my left hip is gone today. Very encouraging.
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