🍽️📚📻 What we've been Eating, Reading, and Listening to
a young baker, a love of history, and a playlist we can't turn off
Music, the spoken and written word, and prepared meals are all uniquely human. These are gifts to be enjoyed and relished. Savored. Pondered. And shared.
Speaking of sharing, who doesn't like to share that new recipe, new podcast, new artist, or favorite book? Forgive our self-indulgence!
With that said, we would be delighted if you indulged a little and shared with us what you are eating, reading, and listening to this month. Share it in the comments!
🍽️ Eating
Taylor
Our oldest child, Virginia, has taken to baking. It fits her well. Baking necessitates a degree of exactness. It works best when the rules are followed. Virginia is a first-born, type-A, rule follower. All she needs is a recipe and the ingredients and she is happy. She has made multiple batches of brownies, a blueberry crisp, and a peach cobbler that was delectable!
There is a joy that comes with seeing your kids grow up. There is also sadness. It is a blurry mash-up of warm feelings. Our kids are capable of more than we give them credit for. Morgan and I haven’t done the best job of giving our kids responsibilities and teaching them how to work. We also haven’t done the worst. It is nice seeing Virginia show some independence in the kitchen. It’s also nice dreaming about peach cobblers for dessert during peach season.
Morgan
This is the time of year where it is just so much fun to eat ! With most ingredients being fresh prepping, cooking and eating is an all around more enjoyable experience.
A favorite side or snack for me right now is baby tomatoes cut in half with balsamic olive oil salt and basil. Throw in some mozzarella or burrata if you have it…summer on a plate!
Watermelon. Lots of it. How to tell if a watermelon is ready? Underbelly looks faded and sounds hollow when you thump it.
📚 Reading
Taylor
The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History by David Hackett Fischer
I found this book in an empty, abandoned school. I have a growing fascination with history. This fascination was stirred while reading The History of Knowledge, a book given to me by my wife’s late grandfather. In The History of Knowledge, the author takes the reader on a journey through the ages and highlights the patterns and cycles of how knowledge came to be in the western hemisphere. Another book that stirred my interest in history was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It was one of those books that I knew I had to read. I just knew there was some knowledge within it that would unlock some of the world’s mysteries to me. It didn’t do that, but it did make an impression on me. So much so, that when I saw a bookshelf full of Ayn Rand books in a classroom that also had books on the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and a Cashflow for Kids game, I began to pay closer attention to other books I didn’t recognize. The Great Wave was one of those books. With the publishing date of 1999, I knew immediately I was going to read it. It hasn’t disappointed.
I believe we are currently in a global price revolution due to multiple factors including but not limited to: War in Eastern Europe, a recent global pandemic that disrupted global supply chains, rising market demand in developing countries across the southern hemisphere, and a global increase in the supply of money. With this in mind, I think growing some of your own food is important for families. As is building relationships with local farmers and producers. It isn’t the end-all, be-all but it is certainly a step in the right direction if more global disruptions happen.
Morgan
I read George Macdonald (Phantastes) for the first time this summer and loved it. It's so easy for me to focus on reading for information, for improving life or to dive deep into a specific topic. But a fairytale does something different on the inside. Its almost as if you are gaining knowledge, seeing beauty, learning the deeper truths of life and having fun all at the same time. Especially with George Macdonald. I am really glad I had the annotated version because I did not know the depth of many of his references.
The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund
Some of the information is dated but the heart of the book is really beautiful in a practical way. She helps you with ideas of getting your practical life in order so that you can focus on what is truly important. This is three of her books (Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, Disciplines of the Heart, Disciplines of the Home) in one volume.
“ The point is to get done as efficiently as possible the necessary mechanics of life, so that you can give yourself to what you really want to do — like getting to know God better, and fulfilling your gifts, and bringing others to know him.”
“Whatever is yours, let it reflect the beauty of a woman whose heart is with God.”
📻 Listening
Taylor
I still can’t get enough of my Garden Jams playlist. Jordy Searcy, Jervis Campbell, Ben Rector, Drew Holcomb, Wilder Woods… Just a bunch of middle-aged dudes that can write and sing!
Here is a song I have on repeat right now: Praise Him Forever
Morgan
The bickering of brothers.
Clanging around in the kitchen… but it's not me . It is Virginia, our oldest, cooking.
Little feet on hardwood floors - Wilder is walking everywhere!