Music Monday III

I dig this song. It is so foundational in its message, but it is essentially a modern version of the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer. To which I say "AAAAAMMEEEN!"

Music Monday - Optimistic

This song is from one of my very favorite secular bands, Jimmy Eat World. Today I am feeling very optimistic about starting drama practice, my ministry, and life in general. The video was taken from youtube, I like the feel of the unknown in it. I posted the lyrics for the song too!

I, I always believed in futures
I hope for better in November
I try the same losing lucky numbers
It could be a cold night for a lifetime
Hey now, you can't keeping saying endlessly
My darling, how long until this affects me?

Say hello to good times
Trade up for the fast ride
We close our eyes while the nickel and dime
Take the streets completely.

I, I always could count on futures
That things would look up, and they look up
Why is it so hard to find balance
Between living decent and the cold and real
Hey now, what is it you think you see?
My darling, now's the time to disgaree.

Say hello to good times
Trade up for the fast ride
We close our eyes while the nickel and dime
Take the streets completely.

Hey now, the past is told by those who win
My darling, what matters is what hasn't been
Hey now, we're wide awake and we're thinking
My darling, believe your voice can mean something.

Say hello to good times
Trade up for the fast ride
We close our eyes while the nickel and dime
Take the streets completely.

We close our eyes while the nickel and dime
Take the streets completely.

How to do a spaghetti feed

Today, I helped Crete Berean and the Crete Ministerial Association with a spaghetti feed. The goal was a fundraiser for Crete Cares where a number of churches in Crete pool resources to help take care of some of their citizens in need. We fed about 150 people over the course of an hour and a half.

Shopping list:

18 - 32oz cans of crushed tomato or tomato puree ( I used about half of each)
18 - 12oz cans of tomato paste
15 - medium white onions
500 ml of extra virgin olive oil
3 - large bulbs of garlic
3 lbs. of Italian sausage ( just enough to add some flavor)
1/4 cup of red balsamic vinegar

Spices - basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and sugar

25 lbs. of pasta (I use Barilla - thick spaghetti)

(Salt for water, extra 750 mL of e.v.o.o. to keep pasta from sticking)

You will need a kitchen big enough to do some serious cooking, two large roasting pans and several 10 gallon stock pots. You will also need about 3-6 helpers.

I made the sauce yesterday. Chop half of the onions. Saute (low and slow)  in olive oil with a little salt and 1/4 cup of sugar. Let get carmel color and soft. Add half of the balsamic vinegar and half of the garlic peeled and chopped. Saute for another two minutes.

Open half of the cans of tomatoes and put into roaster (start with paste so it splatters less) add half a can of water for each can of puree or crushed tomatoes. Add in sugar, salt, basil, oregano, red pepper, and bay leaves to taste. Stir with wooden spoon until well blended and consistent in thickness.  Add in cooked onions with out draining. Stir more.

Cook half of sausage in saute pan and pour into sauce without draining. stir, stir stir! Repeat for second batch. Simmer on 200 degrees for at least 8 hours stirring every so often.

Follow directions for pasta as on box - 5 lbs pasta per stock pot (it will take a long time to get that amount of water up to boil; also it will take longer to cook, so begin to check at prescribed time). Drain and pour a little Olive oil on pasta after putting into a large bowl to serve. Assembly line serving - two people on pasta and plate, one on sauce! Enjoy!

Music Monday

I am starting a new feature; I love music and I want to share with all of you what I have been listening to or a song that sums up the past week or expectations for next week.  I will post a new Music Monday song every week ( or a least try too), it will not always be sacred nor will it always be secular but I hope it will always be tasteful and honest to how I have been feeling or what I am looking forward to. 

The past few weeks I have just been in love with this song. I had heard it before but when it was played at the Leadership summit I attended a few weeks back it has been stuck in my head and heart. I hope you enjoy it too! 

Processing

I feel like a hard drive that is bogged down in the process of defragmenting. This week at the SYIS conference was great, Renee and I learned a lot of valuable skills and had some time to reflect on a variety of topics in dealing with others. That being said; I am overfull, like a sponge that is supersaturated. I need some time to process everything that I have heard, thought, and learned. But before I do I wanted to let you know that I am still here. I haven't posted for a week and felt like I should let my readers know that I realize  I haven't posted for a while.

I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who prayed for us while we were in KC. For the first time we did not have a huge concern looming overhead back home while we away. I would also like to thank our friends and family that helped take care of the kids so we didn't have to pull them out of school. Love you guys and you know who you are, we could not do this without you.

I am going to start a continuing theme thread of posts starting on Monday next week as well as get you all more info on the past week. Stay tuned.