30 Second Reflection - Something Wonderful

'I want to do something splendid...something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after I am dead. I don't know what, but I'm on the watch for it and mean to astonish you all someday.'

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

 

From postertext.com



Vicar's Kitchen - The Best Meatballs in the Entire World

In my life there is one area of humongous, dramatic pride in which I cannot help but shamelessly boast whenever I get even half a chance. My Meatballs. I have travelled all over and eaten meatballs in a scandalous number of places and yet I always end up waving my fork with skewered meatball aloft and proclaiming 'Not as good as mine!'

All this pride is slightly misplaced though given that I have Jo Pratt to thank for my superior meatballs. Have you seen any of her cookbooks? They aren't massively well known as far as I am aware but she is one of my favourite food writers and I wax lyrical about her recipes when I get half a chance.
 

Her recipes are often designed for two, which I love. It is less family food more, 'Ooof go on, you have no kids, eat a massive Brie risotto for dinner!'. She separates her first cookbook In the Mood for Food into sections based on how you are feeling that day like feeling healthy, needing comfort food or feeding your bestest gal (or guy!) pals.

 

As well as her meatballs I love her Cauliflower Cheese soup which, I agree with Jo, is one of the best things going when you have a cold as it is packed with nutrients and feels like a great big warm hug for your insides. I also love her Saucy Banana pudding which has a gooey caramel layer and is divine with cream.

But anyway, back to the meatballs...I now adapt her recipe for what I believe is the optimal meatball but the credit really has to be hers for giving me the beginning of my greatest ever recipe and allowing me to unashamedly proclaim myself 'Meatball Queen'.

The genius of the recipe also comes from the fact that they go straight in the oven and so require minimal fuss. Do blitz the onions in a food processor if you can because it makes all the difference to the finished meatballs. No giant chunks of onion in sight!

So here it is, the recipe of all recipes. Use it wisely.

 

The Best Meatballs in the Entire World

 

For the Meatballs:

500g pack of lean mince beef

One slice of white bread whizzed into breadcrumbs in the food processor

One small onion whizzed up in the food processor
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tsp of sweet paprika
2 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan
½ tsp of Very Lazy Red Chilli (or half a fresh red chilli)
1 egg, whisked
A little salt and pepper as you like

For the Sauce:

 

2 tins of chopped tomatoes

Dried Basil

1 tsp of caster sugar

A good splash of red wine

• First make the meatballs by mixing all the ingredients together. Just stick your hands in there and go nuts. Don't over squish or work the mixture longer than it takes to combine the ingredients. Over squishing makes for tough meatballs.
• Roll up the mixture into little balls and place into an oven proof dish. This should make about 20.
• Pour over a little olive oil and put the dish of meatballs in the oven preheated to 200 C or Gas Mark 6 for 10 minutes.
• Remove the meatballs, they should be started to brown nicely on top, and turn them over gently using two forks. Pour a splash of wine over the meatballs, just enough to pour a little over each one, about 150 mls in all. Return to the oven for another ten minutes.
• Pour over the tomatoes, sprinkle on the sugar and basil and return to the oven for 20-25 mins. By now the sauce should be bubbling nicely and the meatballs will be soft and lovely.
• Serve with couscous or pasta. And GO NUTS!

30 Second Reflection: Tea and Wisdom with Mma Ramotswe

'In the old days Botswana people were rarely in a rush to get somewhere - why should they be? Nowadays people were always thinking about getting somewhere - they travelled around far more, rushing from here to there and back again. She would never let her life go that way; she would always take time to drink tea, to look at the sky and to talk. What else was there to do? Make money? Why? Did money bring any greater happiness than that furnished by a well made cup of redbush tea and a moment or two with a food friend? She thought not.'

- Mma Ramotswe in The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

 

Zambian Lake at Sunset



30 Second Reflection - Fear

'Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood'

 

- Marie Curie (1867-1934)

 

 



Vicar's Study - Landmarks by Margaret Silf

Have you ever wished that in life you had been given a manual? Or perhaps, to keep up with the times, an internal Sat Nav! Someone or something to tell you 'Go this way' or 'Stop here'. Someone to tell you when you need to make a shift or when you need to just stay in lane. Wouldn't life be so much easier if we made our arrival into the world with a set of instructions for getting the best out of things!

One of my favourite books, that I always find myself going back to, explores just this idea. Landmarks by Margaret Silf  is like a guide to making your own guide for life, it is a way of digging down into your own personal route map. A way of looking back at where you have been, looking honestly at where you are now and setting a course for the future.
 

 

I started reading the book when I will thinking about a gigantic change in my life and hesitating over whether to put myself forward for ordained ministry. More than anything at that time I really need to dig down in to what I was really about as a person, what made me tick, where on earth I was going.

It opens with a depiction of what it means to be a person which made so much sense to me that I find it often pops up again when I am thinking about my life. Here is a little diagram from the book:

 

 

What really struck me about this was that we spend so much time trying to change our life by changing the outer 'where' circle. You know the way - 'If only I had this new job then I would be different, feel different' or 'If only I had this new relationship, or got out of this old one, then I would be happy'. So often though, when you move, you find that unfortunately you have followed yourself to this new location and set of circumstances and it feels quickly just the same as the old ones.

That is of course not to say that changing things in life is always meaningless or pointless, I am currently reaping the benefits of a massive lifestyle change that reading Landmarks spurred me on to, but rather that we need to understand that real change occurs at the 'Who' level at the base of who we really are. Only attending to our real selves will make the difference that we crave. Only knowing our deepest desires, and understanding them, will we be able to make the good choices for our lives that really move us on towards having the things in life we crave.

Landmarks is eminently practical. Each chapter ends with ideas for reflection and it is very much take it or leave it as it appeals to you. It is based on a Christian meditative practice, the Ignatian method, but is broad and generous in its approach. It definitely takes as a given that there is a God factor in this whole thing but makes little presumption about how you might understand God so there is plenty of room to explore whether you consider yourself religious or really just not very sure!
 

Now I am in a new season I find myself going back to Landmarks again. Wondering, exploring and having another look at my own deep desires and internal route map. Even for an activist like me time spent reflecting in this way pays of in spades. If you pick up Landmarks do let me know what you think, and I hope it helps you a little on your way too.

30 Second Reflection - Music

'Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us'

 

- Martin Luther

 

 



30 Second Reflection - Courage

'Courage is when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what'

- Harper Lee