Hospitality for the Coming Age

“There is no waste, only creative challenges to find meaning and new opportunity,” I wrote last fall, as I developed my “metaphor for ministry.”
Throughout this year I have continually been drawn to the art of avoiding waste. I have planned many, many meals around food left to rot in seminary fridges (and therefore eaten much [...]

I made this soup for company a couple months ago, hoping that the lack of discernable vegetables and sweet flavor would appeal to the kids there.
It didn’t really work, since I told everyone what was in it:-)
But I liked it, and recommend it as a light, healthfully creamy soup.
I used peanuts instead of pumpkin seeds [...]

I made these brownies for the Bethany Board of Trustees about a week ago. I’m ashamed to admit, I usually make brownies from a box because I like the texture so much better than brownies from scratch. But these brownies are a winner – chewy and fudgy, and delicious.
The recipe is very easy to make [...]

I made this for book club a couple weeks ago, with frozen rhubarb from last spring. I used honey from Centerville and molasses, rather than sugar, and extra rhubarb in place of sorrel.
This recipe comes from Simply in Season, an excellent cookbook that is a wonderful first step to eating and cooking more locally!

This is a great time of year to eat eggs – the chickens start laying abundantly well before veggies and fruit are ready for harvest, and pantries and freezers may be getting bare.
So here’s a recipe that Chris and I enjoyed recently. It doesn’t require any fresh produce – I used frozen chilis and dry [...]

I made a double batch of this soup for the Bethany Board of Trustees a week ago.
I had tried it in advance, so I made some adjustments to suit my taste.
I had found it too sweet, with all the orange juice, so I eased back a bit and added salt and chili powder.
I used 1/2 [...]

Last week at Bethany we had a conversation about community in this time of economic scarcity. We gathered over rice and beans, free chives, and shared salsa. Here are my notes:

what skills do we have?

Growing food, preparing, preserving

bring our own food to meals instead of paying caterers

eat together more often

what can we share?

rides

books

phone lines, internet

tv, [...]