life

How to enjoy cooking

September 26, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Everybody’s got to eat, right? I used to think of cooking as a means to an end, but now I enjoy it more. Last week we unexpectedly had two evenings at home in a row. That’s unheard of during soccer season with three kids playing and practicing. I told my oldest one of the reasons I was excited to be home was to cook an actual meal.

Our family prioritizes dinner together, even if that means eating Zaxby’s after soccer practice. But it’s even better when we gather around our own table with a homecooked meal. The truth is, I run out of inspiration, though.

So let’s talk about where to go when we need more ideas for cooking.

Screens

I know, I know. Screens get a bad wrap, but let’s be honest, sometimes when we aren’t even trying we might be inspired. TV shows sometimes prompt ideas and scrolling on Facebook sometimes leads to an irresistible recipe. I’ve been known to email myself some links! Plus there are plenty of food documentaries out there available on TV channels and online.

After a documentary episode or an Instagram story, you may be ready to try cooking a new and exciting dish. Perhaps a creamy and delicious chicken florentine?

You can find a lot of food ideas on the Internet. This is how I learned to cook salmon, steak in the oven, and French Toast Bake. There are so many recipes online! I save them on my phone in a bookmark folder so I can find them again.

Vacations

We love traveling to South Carolina so we can eat low-country seafood. And yes, we’re attempted to replicate that at home. My husband and son like to go trout fishing, and I sure do love it when they bring fish home. Lots of locations offer food different from what’s right here in our hometown Kentucky, so leaving home helps me bring new recipe ideas home.

Restaurants

When we were social distancing in 2020 and cooking multiple meals a day at home, I would think about restaurants we loved and what food they served. In some instances, I improved upon the food we love. Cooking was so fun then, when we had a ton of time to experiment in the kitchen and put more time into each meal.

It’s hard to recreate restaurant dishes, but it’s definitely a great source of inspiration. You probably won’t be able to make the dish exactly the same at home, but even if it helps you improve your cooking by 30%, you’ll notice the difference.

Do you love to cook? What are your favorite dishes to make? I’m always accepting new recipes, so send me your favorites and share any good stories that led to good recipes. Speaking of which, I’m going to stir the taco soup I have simmering.

*****

Most of y’all know my love for gathering together & nourishing souls, like I talk about in my book, “Bringing Home More than Groceries.” Food often is a way to invite others in and build community. If that’s your perspective, that definitely gives cooking a broader purpose. You can download a free printable with ideas on how to be hospitable in every season.

Seven!

September 21, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Earlier this year, Rachel described numbers as even and awkward. My mom and I laughed and laughed about this — and were impressed with her vocabulary as a kindergartner to know “awkward” and “odd” are synonyms.

Well, now, here we are at 7 years old! I’d say it’s awkward, but it’s not really. Yes, 7 sounds older because, well, I suppose it is. But I love where my girl is. She is doing well in first grade, enjoys playing soccer, plays with Gabby’s Dollhouse toys and her cousin’s hand-me-town Barbie dollhouse, swims, swings, and makes everyone around her smile. She loves big and loud.

We – especially Cate and I – get frustrated with how long it takes Rachel to finish a chore, eat breakfast, or brush her hair. But this girl loves every moment of life. When she doesn’t get sad, it’s short-lived. I’ve said this her whole life, but it remains true:

Rachel radiates joy.

As a mom, she’s taught me to appreciate all the little moments and slow down with my responsibilities so I can snuggle her or listen to her long, detailed stories. Greg and I waited and doubted and waited some more that God would grow our family with a third child, but when the time came to adopt Rachel Elizabeth, I was changed in all the best ways. My older kids probably think I’m easier on her, but the truth is I’m a better version of myself now.

We thought we wanted a third child sooner, but the age gap ended up being perfect. Cate is eight years older and Ben is almost six years older. Their relationships with Rachel have changed throughout the years, depending on how much she’s into their stuff and space, but I love seeing them all shift with each season.

(I tell lots more of this story of God growing our family through adoption in my book, “Peace in the Process: How Adoption Built My Faith & My Family.” Shameless plug, I know. But when I reflect on what God has done, his faithfulness continues to amaze me.)

We celebrated this birthday girl with a surprise family party earlier this month. Schedules prompted it, but it ended up being just right for her. Then we had her first-grade girl classmates over for what turned into a swim party. We had a string of cool nights just as we replaced our pool liner and refilled the water, so it was quite cold the night of her party. Some girls brought swimsuits and others borrowed from Rachel’s collection. They had a great time swimming, playing, eating burgers and hot dogs and cake. Her actual birthday was two days later and I took cookies and Capri Suns to her class at school and then we made pancake art for dinner.

I love the way birthdays give me a chance to reflect on life and celebrate those I love most. Rachel’s life is well documented, but here I am with a late birthday post. I’ve been writing this post in my head for days, but I finally got a chance this morning to sit down and type it out.

Nonetheless, happy birthday, Rachel girl! You bring so much joy to so many people! I’m excited to see your story continue to unfold.

*****

Look back on Rachel’s past birthdays: One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

Blue Ridge & real life

September 8, 2022 by Kristin Leave a Comment

Greg and I celebrated 20 years and one month of marriage with a trip to Blue Ridge, GA. We like the mountains in north Georgia because it’s an easy drive, scenery is pretty, and there’s plenty to do. It’s a good weekend getaway. We went to Helen, GA, last year at the same time and wanted a different variation of a similar trip this year.

Preparations & mom guilt

I left the house Friday morning, a couple of hours after we had planned, with loads of mom guilt. Our plan was originally to drop off all three kids at school on Friday morning and hit the road. My mom planned to pick up the kids Friday afternoon.

Well, on Thursday, Rachel was diagnosed with strep throat and missed that day and Friday of school. She felt fine on Friday but hadn’t been fever-free for 24 hours yet, so on Thursday I made arrangements for my mother-in-law came to stay with her during the school day until my mom arrived. Meanwhile, Cate strained her knee at her first soccer practice earlier last week. She’s been resting, icing, and wearing a compression brace.

Then early Friday morning that was really still middle of the night, Cate came to our bedroom to tell us her throat felt swollen. I knew she’d need to go to the doctor when it opened Friday morning to get tested for strep. So I took Ben to school and then Cate to urgent care, where we were not surprised to learn she also had strep throat.

I literally had to leave a list of medications — regular and newly temporary — for all three kids to take while we were gone. I texted Cate one morning: How’s your throat, ear, and knee? Honestly, being able to text with her quieted some of my mom guilt for going on vacation and leaving our mothers with sickly kids.

Everyone perked up, the kids visited my sister and her family in Indiana, Greg and I had a great getaway, and we all came home ready for a new (short) week together.

Getaway details

On the way down Friday, we stopped in Murfreesboro, TN, for lunch at Puckett’s Grocery. I had the Piggy Mac and it was delicious. We arrived at our mountaintop cabin on Friday evening and went out for pizza at Mystic Mountain Pizza, which was a weird combination of hippy-inspired decor, pizza-inspired decor, and country music playing over the speakers. The pizza was good and we were happy to be able to sit and talk about whatever came to mind.

Our cabin was up a winding mountain road but not far from town. It was clean and comfortable and had a magnificent porch. It ended up being a sweet spot as we spent more time there than we were originally planning.

Much rain was forecasted for Saturday, but thankfully there were only morning showers. We rode the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway to McCaysville, GA / Copperhill, TN. Yep, we stood in two states at once and had lunch near a very large U.S. flag displayed on a bridge over the river that changes names depending on which state your feet stand. Specifically, we are at Burra Burra on the River, where I had possibly the thickest burger I’d ever had. It was yummy and eating by the water always feels right to me. We shopped a little before we boarded the train back for Blue Ridge. The whole adventure was really fun and exactly enough time in McCaysville.

We went on a short but slightly slippery hike to the Falls Branch Falls, which, honestly were smaller and less impressive than I was expecting. We still had fun and got in lots of steps. With tired legs, we drove around and ended up at Lake Blue Ridge — which was beautiful, especially on a sunshiny afternoon that offered pretty clouds. Something about mountains, clouds, and water all together makes me want to take all the photos.

My cousin friend Mary lives near-ish Blue Ridge, so we met for dinner and dessert. Restaurants were crowded and we didn’t have a good cell signal, so we ended up at another pizza place — Cucinella’s. We found a table for us outside. I ended up getting pecan chicken salad on top of a Caesar salad and shared garlic knots with Greg. It was a very good choice and dinner was surprisingly much better than I expected when I thought I was going to have to settle for pizza again. (Greg said the pizza was good. And I noticed there were some slightly more unique topping choices such as meatballs, colored sweet peppers, and broccoli.)

On Sunday morning, Greg went trout fishing. While I’m always up for creek scenery and time to read a book, I opted to stay at the cabin with a lovely porch. I didn’t sleep in as I had hoped, but I did listen to the rain, enjoy the view, work on my Precept Bible study, and take some time to process and write some things. I also thought about someone could probably build me a swing like that.

The rest of Sunday was rainy. We did a little shopping at Mercier Orchard and ended up at a steakhouse that reminded us of a 1980s Ponderosa. It was mediocre, but we had apple doughnuts for dessert at our cabin, thanks to our earlier shopping trip.

I’m thankful for the escape from our normal lives filled with responsibilities and commitments. I’m also thankful for 20 years (and a month) of marriage and the friendship we still have together.

*****

I posted many other pictures on Facebook, so come on over there to see more snapshots.