AfricanKelli

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Appetizer: Roasted garlic hummus, crudites

Main course: roasted lemon chicken

Broccoflower

and saffron rice

Dessert: Man catcher brownies

Although they are currently being eaten as an appetizer. And I just had to describe why I was taking photos of the food. Yep, I’m a freak. I love cooking and taking photos of the food (food porn) almost as much as I enjoy eating. Speaking of…

~K

So, you are going celebrating a three-day fabulous summer weekend with a BBQ. May I make a suggestion? Take an hour while the meat is marinating, the beer is cooling and the cake is in the oven to make homemade BBQ sauce. This is a family recipe that I can promise BBQ lovers will not soon forget.

My grandfather Trevor has been perfecting his BBQ sauce recipe for years, including many spent in Louisiana where he learned to master gumbo, crepes and a variety of other delicious plates we’ve come to expect at our truly eclectic family table. Plus, it freezes well and is another great way to use up some of those jars you’ve got hanging around — you know, the dusty ones in the back of the pantry.
Double the recipe and you’ll have two great Fall gifts ready to go. Just be sure to leave yourself a couple inches at the top of the jar before you stick it in the freezer. If you decide not to freeze your batch, the sauce will keep in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
Enjoy!

Pap’s BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 green bell pepper
1 large celery stalk
1/4 white onion
3/4 to 1 cup light brown sugar
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
1/2 can of tomato juice
Cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:
Using a three-sided grater, or your food processor, finely grate the bell pepper, celery and onion. Put the oil in heavy pot on medium-high heat. Add the grated vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add sugar, vinegar, sauce and juice. Let simmer for 15 minutes and add cayenne and garlic powder. Taste and see if you want to kick it up with a bit more of each spice.
Let simmer for 40 minutes. If the sauce isn’t the thickness you desire, add 1/4 cup of corn starch to a cup of cold water and mix thoroughly before adding to sauce pot. Bring to a boil, stirring carefully. Take off heat.

Adding a dash of liquid smoke is great too!

~K

P.S. Big thanks to Miss Colleen for yet another kind, thoughtful and creative logo! Please feel free to download it here and use it for your own Jar of Renewal projects.

What inspires you? Is it a color? A scent? Scene, food, person, artist, material? Depending on my mood, I am often inspired, or in spirit, thanks to a combination of these.
This week, it’s been the weather, for one. Evening storms have been bombing the Valley floor, snapping tree branches, blowing over power lines, lighting the night sky with an electric show Pink Floyd would stop to admire. Olive and I have spent a fair amount of time cruising around Tempe during the heat of the day this week too. Leaving the iPod behind, I’ve enjoyed listening to the birds, feeling the wind on my face and this morning, watching a young school boy vivaciously play his oboe down the sidewalk on his way to school. Once he noticed my admiration, he stepped it up and it took everything I had not to laugh and cheer him along. By the way he cradled his baby, I could tell that instrument meant the world to him. I won’t soon forget this morning’s show.

Ms. Frida is another inspiration. It isn’t her beauty or art but her story that really grabs me. I can’t adequately explain the connection; Dale Chihuly’s glass exhibits give me the same overjoyed feeling. I am jolted when in the presence of their work, pushed to be creative, to find my voice, color and medium.

This long weekend, I’m reconnecting with spirit. A few years ago I created a vision board with images of my future. It was on the back of my bedroom door until the edges started to wear. I took a look at it this week and was pleasantly startled by how many of the visions have come to pass. Instead of creating another board, I’m going to transform a notebook into vision journal and spend some time thinking of new dreams, nakazora, sisu.
Have you heard of this Buddhist term nakazora? “The space between sky and earth, the place where birds, etc. fly. Empty air. Mid-air. An internal hollow. Vague. Hollow. Around the center of the sky. Or, emptiness. A state when the feet do not touch the ground. Inattentiveness. The inability to decide between two things. Midway. The center of the sky (the zenith).”

I’ve got 223 pages of Novel #1 to read and spell check, house guests to feed and entertain, a desert to hike and photograph, and two books of the Bible to brush up on before church Sunday. Spending some time between sky and earth. Yes, that sounds lovely too.

~K

I’ve got two house guests arriving tomorrow who will be staying with me for a bit. The father & son pair arrive from central Africa and Australia (respectively) within a few hours of each other. I don’t know them well, but I do know they are guys and they’ll be fresh off several long flights, arriving in Phoenix when she isn’t at her prettiest. Let’s be honest, we’re one step from hell at this point in the summer. The saguaro have their arms out in surrender as if begging the sky for a break all ready.

In preparation for the visit, I put together a simple meal that I hope they’ll love. In a completely stereotypical move, I went with foods I think men universally must love:

Crockpot pulled beef, which we’ll throw on buns with either salsa or a bit of BBQ sauce.

Stacked potatoes, with sour cream, butter, salt and pepper.

Beer

And oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

In the meantime, I’ll be feasting on girl food:

And hoping the cookies distract the guests from noticing my lack of beds for everyone. If nothing else, at least the couch-bound guest will go to bed with a happy belly. (Note to self: time to buy a house.)

~K

I’ve got about a dozen posts running around upstairs. To wrap up a few loose ends from the last couple of weeks:

Timely and fantastic health care-package from Ms. Colleen.

~My meeting with the nutritionist was fantastic. She is accepting new clients and if you want her contact info, shoot me an email. Basically we just spent an hour talking about food and my eating habits. She recommended a series of books, including: Intuitive Eating, Appetites, Mindless Eating, Moving Away from Diets and What is Normal Eating. Again, I did not meet with her because I think I need to lose dramatic amounts of weight or have an eating disorder. I have a few silly habits I’m trying to change. I plan on reading a couple of these, meeting with her again, and going forward a healthier woman.

Shwag bag of Vancouver Olympic goodies from Rachael. LOVE these. I am such an Olympaholic. I miss the summer games already.

~ TDH is NOT the African house guest I am expecting this weekend. Holy moly, no. He is actually starting Stanford medical school this week and while I think he does look a bit like a bald Michael Phelps, he is not on the romance radar. I am rooting for him in this latest amazing academic adventure. The guests are coming from Malawi. I stayed with them on the tea estate; they have some business in Phoenix. I hope to return the hospitality favor, although I’m certain it can’t compare.

Wine cork trivet from Diane — love the reduce, reuse, repour factor.

~ I finished editing my novel this week, again. I’m sending it off after one final read to the man I hope will be my literary agent. If he doesn’t want to represent me, it is back to the drawing board. I am very excited to move on to a new cast of characters for novel dos. If you have any contacts in publishing, or know of an author who has successfully navigated these waters, I’d love the help. A mentor in publishing would be a wish come true. In the meantime, I think I am going to celebrate with a great bottle of Malbec this weekend.

~ My new job involves refugees. I am planning a series of posts discussing refugees in America. What is a refugee? What is an evacuee? Immigrant? Illegal immigrant? Where do refugees come from? Many public health + refugee living posts to come.

~ Podcasts I am currently loving:
The Splendid Table, This American Life, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Joel Osteen, Speaking of Faith

~ Do you have your jars for the next Jars for Renewal project yet? I’m telling you — this one is finger licking good. Another cherished family recipe I can’t wait to share.

~Did you know Finny is having a big, milestone birthday this week? Go send her some love.

~Kelli