Some random photos!

I thought it'd be fun to take a post to show some pictures from the past two-ish months. They're a bit out of order, but I hope not too confusing. It's fun to read about someone's life, but it's sometimes more fun to see pictures. Hope these give you a taste of Spokane life!

The picture above is of our second Partners Bike ride on October 15 on the Fish Lake Trail in Spokane. We had a great time and enjoyed a delicious soup and bread lunch together afterwards. I have been so blessed to take part in times of fellowship with Partners staff. I hope we keep it up in the winter. Maybe a night of swing dancing instead! :o)

This is a picture of our first Partners' biking trip when we biked the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes in Harrison, Idaho. I'm in the lower right corner. Next to me is Bob Savage, the other coordinator of the trip. We had a great time!

I teach 5th and 6th grade Sunday School at Colbert Presbyterian Church. The 5/6th graders are teaching lessons to the younger kids at Sunday School this fall. Our first unit was Creation, so our activity had the kids decorating graham crackers with white frosting and a number of ingredients that represented different parts of creation. For instance, chocolate chips were "dark," blue frosting was "sky" and "water," banana circles were "sun," and Teddy Grahams were "animals." This is a picture of the different ingredients arranged on the table in our Sunday School classroom. It came off pretty well besides the hyper-activity from the sugar. haha.

My family went to the beach in early September and tried to take several pictures on the beach with me taking the picture with my left arm. As you can see, I could use more practice. Julie is smiling, I promise. :o)

Here are my housemates enjoying pieces of apple pie after a house dinner in September. I am so thankful for my housemates. They're great!

Back in September, Kari and I made this awesome cake from a recipe sent to me by Lorry Jackson. The cake had several layers and lots of frosting and pieces of strawberry cheesecake on top. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe tip, Lorry!

Okay, I'll have another written update coming soon. Like probably tonight. It's been a little while since I last posted. Life rolls steadily along, doesn't it. :o)

A Cooking Debacle and Grocery Update

Here's an update on my Grocery Challenge:

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On Thursday, Oct. 5, I spent $12.04 at Eleven Acres Farm. I bought tomatillos, anaheim peppers, and green bell peppers to make my own enchilada sauce (thanks to my friend Megan for this idea). I bought onions, two pie pumpkins (to make pumpkin butter), a buttercup squash, and an acorn squash. You know it's fall when winter squash becomes a consistent menu item. :o) Finally, I bought a box of Asian pears, which I haven't had since my junior year. When I was a junior, my roommate's family had orchards of apples, Asian pears, and more, so we were the recipients of boxes of fruit whenever her family visited.

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I realized after leaving Eleven Acres that I had just spent 1/5 of my budget. Yipes! Well, now I know how easy it is to spend money, even on healthy fruits and veggies. Fortunately, I should be set for a while now. I did buy $4.73 worth of raspberries, too, but I am putting those in a separate category, per the suggestion of my friend Lorry. Some of those jars will be reserved for Christmas gifts anyway. So, now you know the bald truth. I have $37.96 left to spend. Can it be done? Stay tuned.

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Now I'll turn to the story behind the title of this post. My mentor, Dottie Mohrlang, had come up with a great idea. For Whitworth's Homecoming this weekend, Dottie is hosting an alum who is getting an award, and Dottie wanted several female students to have dinner together and talk with this woman. Dottie offered to buy ingredients if I would make the main course, White Chili. I happily agreed. It seemed perfect. I would get to cook, but not have to pay for the ingredients.

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After a delightful Bible study this morning, which I'm doing with Janie Edwards and six other 2011 Whitworth grads, I set out to make the soup. I have so much experience with cooking that I wasn't worried about the soup at all. I just knew it would be good. When I got home, my housemate Katie was already making a big pot of Taco Soup, so the kitchen was crowded. I started my soup and after an hour had the whole thing simmering on the stove. I turned the temperature all the way up to heat the soup thoroughly and ran downstairs to make a few calls.

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When I came back up, the soup was bubbling furiously and the kitchen was filled with the acrid smell of smoke. No! I grabbed another pot and dumped the soup into it, thinking this would solve the problem. I immediately plunged the other pot into scalding water. Maybe I've saved it, I thought.

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But then Katie tasted the salvaged soup and yelped, "Oh! That's awful! You can't serve that, Elizabeth!"

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"What can I possibly do then? I'm supposed to meet a friend in half an hour, and I don't have ingredients to make another pot of soup. And these weren't even my ingredients! They're Dottie's!" I shot back, distressed.

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I went out to the porch, sat down hard in a lawn chair, and brooded. And reluctantly thought back to Bible Study this morning where we had talked about giving praise to God in the hard times. I tried to do it, but I was dismayed with myself for one primary reason: Dottie had given me these ingredients to steward, and I had failed.

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I called my mom and asked for sage words of advice. This too shall pass, she said. For goodness sake. Of course she's right (as usual). But I could smell the burnt soup from my room. I called Dottie immediately and confessed. Of course, Dottie took it in stride, especially when I told her of the happy and altogether gracious end to the story: Katie gave me her pot of taco soup. Later I got this text from Katie: "Elizabeth, we all burn stuff! Please take the taco soup. :)" I did.

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The evening turned out well. We had a delicious dinner and a delightful conversation. But the burnt soup did cause me to put my theological training into action. I was a poor steward of something that was entrusted to me. And rather than receive punishment from those who were wronged, I received grace. The only punishment came from my distressed and guilty state of mind. But accepting the gift of grace from Dottie and Katie gave me freedom, freedom to be forgiven and enjoy the God-orchestrated fact that Katie was making a soup that fit equally well with our side dishes of salad and cornbread. This experience can easily be translated to that of humanity and it's with this that I leave you. Praise God for his grace to humanity! Even when we fail to be good stewards, God's grace abounds.

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Nevertheless, a word to the wise. Don't leave your soup unattended on a hot burner. :o)

The $50 Grocery Challenge

This is just a quick post to announce a new challenge that I'm taking up for the month of October. Given my restricted budget, I have decided to limit my grocery purchases to $50 for the whole month of October.

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You see, I have a problem. My hobbies are cooking, baking, and grocery shopping. This fact combined with a tight budget means trouble. We've got trouble, my friends, right here in Spokane, WA, I say trouble right here in Spokane. (Anyone like The Music Man?) However, the funny thing is that people keep giving me leftovers and extra produce. This is great, except that I can only eat so much in one day. And with the current amount of food in my refrigerator, I really shouldn't have to shop at all for the next several months. And my chest freezer is almost full. Yep, already, and I just got the darn thing in July.

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SO, I am starting the month off on an admittedly good foot. At this rate, I might spend only $10 total for the month anyway (for milk once a week)! But it is my intention to record the groceries I buy and the cost on this blog for the next month. I'm thinking of it as a way to be accountable to you and to myself. Will you help me? Maybe just check in with me, ask if I've resisted the temptation to stop by Fred Meyer on the way home from my childcare job every morning. :o)

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I am having trouble deciding if this sum includes fruit purchases from Green Bluff for things like jam. Any thoughts?

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In all seriousness, I do need to be frugal. I will be limiting other purchases, as well, although I don't spend that much money already. It's a good exercise to be frugal, especially when we know that our treasure is stored in heaven. I'm praying that with this challenge in frugality, I can still practice hospitality and generosity. Join me on this month-long journey. I'd love to hear your thoughts.