Joy of Cooking

Ever since I could hold a whisk, I have been cooking and baking with my father in the kitchen. Under his tutelage, I learned the basics of cooking and the joy in sharing delicious food with family and friends. Being the science nerds that we were, we also discussed the chemistry involved with cooking. Have you every wondered what exactly baking powder does? http://www.joyofbaking.com/bakingsoda.html. Pretty cool, huh?

For the past 2 weeks, I have been cooking and baking like I have a family of 7 to feed (or a small scale B&B). I don't know whether I have been cooking out of sheer boredom or win over my roommates and coworkers, but after mushroom and pea risotto, breaded eggplant, 3 pies, 2 quiches, one crisp, one loaf of bread, and several apple pancakes later, I still want to cook more! Cooking is such a fulfilling hobby!
After reading a little bit of Julie & Julia and hearing about the story from others, I am considering a culinary adventure of my own. For those who have not heard of this recent novel-turned-movie, a young woman decides to cook everything in a Julia Child cookbook....everything. The cookbook I choose will most likely have "Budget" in the title though! I am living on a volunteer stipend after all. Although, I would rather cook based on references from family and friends instead. I've always preferred personal experience to cookbooks anyhow!

So to all you cooks out there, if you have any dishes/recipes of which you are especially proud, I would love to share in your joy of cooking!

Refugee Apostolate

This week, I volunteered with a hole-in-wall discount clothing/furniture/kitchen accessories store run by a non-profit organization known as Refugee Apostolate. The couple running this chaotic but functioning store has been helping (and often housing) international refugees since 1979. From the early 1980s to 1999, they worked with Catholic Charities and the International Rescue Committee to host several families, one by one, in their house and helped the refugees find a new home in America. During one of my lunch breaks, I had the opportunity to talk with Cathy, one of the store owners. "At one point," she explained, "we hosted a Vietnamese family of 14 in our house. It was crowded, but fun." Cathy and her husband, Walter, had a 6 bedroom house at the time, but she said that bath time was often challenging with only one shower! And I feel rushed with one shower between 3 people!

Not only did Cathy and Walter host refugee families during these years, but they also raised 5 children simultaneously! Could you imagine growing up with constant exposures to international cultures? How awesome... I imagine we would all be more understanding of other cultures if we were raised around people with different values and beliefs from the very beginning of our lives.

Lord, thank you for the gift of diverse cultures. Help me to always respect and appreciate diversity and hunger to learn more about the people of the world. After all, in learning more about each other, we begin to understand more about ourselves. Amen.

http://www.theirc.org/