The Kingdom

Pritzker Pavillion, Millenium Park
Photography by A. Monaco

It has been a trying few months battling health issues and a very ugly United Healthcare.

But there was blissful respite this evening as I sat on the lawn of Chicago's Millenium Park, enjoying the last concert of the summer, Elgar's epic oratorio, The Kingdom.  The weather was perfect with a  soft cool breeze drifting through the park as people set down their picnic blankets, chairs, and folding tables under the cloudless blue sky, pulling from their baskets and bags varied foods and drinks, from the sophisticated to the mundane. We had our usual faire of Chicago deep dish pizza, packed with calories and memories of previous happy jaunts to the park during other concert seasons.

The concert soon began - the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus steering me away from the thick rich pizza with its sublime performance of the prelude.  Dusk stealthily claimed the skyline - the fading light bringing with it a happy calm and contentment, ironic for a city setting packed with hundreds of people.  And as night set in and lights lit up the iconic buildings, accompanied by Elgar's masterful choral composition, I leaned my head on my daughter's shoulder and treasured that moment as I did numerous others when I gathered with family and friends during these charmed summer evening concerts at Millennium Park.

Here is a performance of The Kingdom with Sir Andrew Davis conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (‭Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭1-11‬)

Fish Ball Noodles

My aunt and I have been keeping up through WhatsApp.  She was out having lunch with some friends yesterday, probably at some food court in Singapore.  She sent me a picture of fish ball noodles and asked if I missed it.  Yes, I whatsApped her back, I miss having those flavorful noodles with those delectable fish balls!  I also asked if she remembers how my mom used to give me most of her fish balls whenever she ordered that noodle dish.  I can still see it in my mind's eye, my mother  picking up the fish balls one by one with  her chopsticks and putting them on my plate.  She would invariably say that fish balls were not her favorite or that she could have fish balls any day, and that I should enjoy them when I can.  But I knew it's because she knew how much I love fish balls.  I didn't resist her gesture of giving up her fish balls, but accepted each fish ball as coming to me shaped and packed densely with her love.

More than fish balls, I miss the fish balls that came to me from my mother's bowl.

Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
    and forsake not your mother's teaching,

for they are a graceful garland for your head
    and pendants for your neck.  

Proverbs 6:8-9

A Saturday in Fall

Painting by Fairfield Porter

Fall is in the air!  The morning was crisp and overcast when we walked to the farmers' market in Lincoln Park.  Pumpkins, squash, gourds, sweet potatoes, pomegranates, apples of various varieties filled the baskets, with jugs of apple cider calling from several stands. 

The heat in the apartment kicked on in the afternoon.  The radiators banged and hissed, emanating warmth and coziness within these paneled walls.  My daughter Lauren is making dinner - the smell of chicken and potatoes roasting in the oven blended well with the inviting scent of heat, making the alcove where I am writing quite idyllic.

Here is Itzhak Pearlman playing Schubert's Serenade for this restful Saturday afternoon.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? 

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

Fall is in the Air!

Church of Old Lyme by Childe Hassam

Fall has finally descended on Dallas!  It is time to pull out the sweaters.  How delightful to wake up to crisp fall air and warm fall memories this morning.  My favorite memories are mostly centered around our time in Fairfield County, Connecticut, where the air surrounding our Wilton home was fresh, crisp and musty all at the same time with striking fall leaves covering our two-acre land.  In mid-afternoon, with our youngest who was then a toddler bundled up in layers of sweaters, topped with a knitted cap (a cute round ball as her father affectionately called her), we would head out to our massive front yard to rake leaves and wait for the school bus to bring home our kindergartener.  How we looked forward to the yellow automotive pulling up to our driveway and our pint-sized child with her lollipop-colored glasses and her too-big backpack alighting the bus, her little legs carrying her swiftly down the long driveway into my arms for a big snuggly hug.  Hot chocolate, warm cookies and apples soon followed in our dated flower-wallpapered kitchen with earnest chatter of our day.

I was a much more enthusiastic cook then and our kitchen in the fall was often suffused with the smells of pumpkin bread or apple pie or pot roast in the oven, or a hearty stew or soup on the stove, not to mention the scent of cinnamon on just about everything!

Thanksgiving was a big affair at our home in Connecticut as my parents (who often stayed long enough for the holiday and before the first snowfall) and my husband's family (who lived across  the border in Westchester, New York) and international friends gathered around the table for a stupendous meal.  Everyone contributed to the meal with my mother helping with the turkey, my mother-in-law with the side dishes, and Aunt Diane with cheesecake and Italian cookies.  I would serve an Italian appetizer before the turkey meal, one year making calzone, another seafood lasagne.  I did usually go crazy with the dessert, one year we had as many as six different kinds of dessert on the table, including a hummingbird cake!  This adopted holiday is by far my favorite holiday and I would reckon my parents' as well.

Psalm 37:3-4

Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Creme Brulee French Toast

My dear friend Carol shared this delightful recipe with me.  My husband loves french toast and this is a big hit with him.  What's also wonderful about this recipe is that I can prepare the dish the night before and put it in the oven the morning of.  It is definitely thumbs up!  What can go wrong with a recipe that calls for challah bread and Grand Marnier?!  Give it a try. 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups firmly backed brown sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1 loaf challah bread, sliced 1-inch thick with each piece sliced in half diagonally
6 eggs
2 cups (1 pint) half-and-half
2 cups (1 pint) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions:
This recipe requires advance prepartion.
1.  Lightly butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2.  Melt butter and brown sugar with the corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat;
     stir until smooth and bubbly.
3.  Pour mixture over the prepared dish.
4.  Arrange the bread slices on top in two overlapping rows, slightly stacking the bread.
5.  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, milk, vanilla, sugar and liqueur until
     combined; pour evenly over bread.
6.  Cover with foil and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.
7.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8.  Bake until set in the center, approximately 45 minutes, then uncover and bake another additional
     15 minutes or until golden brown.
9.  Dust with powdered sugar  (optional)

Favorite Food

My favorite Singaporean dish is Seafood Hor Fun.  It's one of my mom's favorites too.  It is readily available in many of the food courts in Singapore.  But my mom and I liked our seafood hor fun best from the Tanglin Club.  The Tanglin Club started off an a private club for British expats during the colonial era but has since evolved to include locals (with many of its starchy rules remaining in effect).  My parents were members for as long as I can remember.  When my father passed away, Mom moved to a smaller space, a condo only a stone's throw from the Tanglin Club.  Whenever my daughters and I visited Singapore, we would  frequent the Club, first with my parents, then with just my mom.  It was like a second home.  The girls spent hours in the pool (they had their first swimming lessons with Mr. Jimmy, a most miserable experience), frequented the library, took Chinese brush paining classes; I worked out at the gym (occasionally); and Mom and I enjoyed afternoon tea on the mezzanine level.  But our favorite spot was the poolside restaurant, partly because it was the most egalitarian--young and old were welcomed--there was no dress code, and the menu offered an international cuisine.  The girls would order their sandwiches, pasta or salads, with a definite side order of fries (one of the best I've had) and Mom and I would delight ourselves with the local dishes like seafood hor fun, Hainanese chicken rice, rojak, or char kway teow.  Mom and the girls would end the meal  with a good selection of desserts from ice-kachang to tiramisu.  With the sun setting and the evening breeze kicking up, we would walk back to the condo, happy as larks to have spent yet another carefree day together at the Tanglin Club.

Those carefree days at the Tanglin Club are behind us now.  But the happy memories are forever etched into our collective memory.  I've never made seafood hor fun; I think it's time to give it a try.  It won't be like Tanglin Club's, and there is no Mom to enjoy it with.   But hopefully it'll taste just as good and every bite evoke sweet moments with Mom.


Recipe for Seafood Hor Fun
Ingredients:
8 oz of broad kway teow (translucent flat rice noodles)
4 slices of fish (seasoned with salt, rinse and rub with a bit of cornflour)
4 medium size shrimp
2 brunches of chye sim (cut into 2 inches long)
6 slices of fish cakes
4 slices of pork (marinate with mixture of half teaspoon of cornflour, 1/4 teaspoon light soya sauce and dash of pepper)
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1/2 beaten egg
Preserved green chillies (optional)
Mixture A:-
1/2 cup water
3 rounded teaspoons of cornflour
Mixture B:-
1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
3/4 tablespoon of light soya sauce
Mixture C:-
1/2 tablespoon of light soya sauce
1 tablespoon of dark soya sauce

Preparation for Kway Teow:-
1) Heat up the wok with 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil.
2) Add 1 teaspoons of minced garlic, stir fry till fragrant.
3) Add kway teow and stir fry in medium heat.
4) Add in ‘Mixture C’ and continue to stir fry.
5) Set aside on plate.
Preparation for Gravy:-
1) Heat up wok with 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil.
2) Add in 1 teaspoons minced garlic, stir fry till fragrant.
3) Add in sliced fish and fish cake and stir fry for a few seconds.
4) Add in chye sim and 1/2 cup of water and leave it to boil.
5) Add in shrimps and stir till 1/2 cooked.
6) Add in ‘Mixture B’ and add pepper.
7) Slowly pour in ‘Mixture A’ until the required thickness.
8) Move all ingredients to side of the wok, and slowly add in 1/2 beaten egg to the gravy.
9) Turn off flame immediately after about 10 seconds, and move all ingredients to the gravy.
10) Pour the gravy over the broad kway teow and serve with preserved green cut chillies.
** Above recipe is for 1 serving.

Flowers and Meals

One can get pretty spoiled when one is under the weather.  Look at some of the beautiful flowers I received the past few months!  Aren't the arrangements simply gorgeous and glorious?

We were also spoiled with lovingly prepared meals.  If you could only taste the pot roast, fajitas, Spanish baked chicken and rice, chicken stir-fried with peppers and pecans, roast beef, tomato soup, chicken soup, quinoa, Greek salad, chicken and egg salad sandwiches, turkey chilli, lemon meringue pie, apple pie, cookies, pound cake, and even protein shakes!  I didn't think to photograph the food before they were devoured.  That being said, meals don't photograph as well (some would differ, I imagine) for meals are a feast to the tummy and flowers  a feast to the eyes, but both fill the heart and warm the soul for they were given with utmost love by incredible friends and family!

Thank you!  And thank you for all the loving cards, phone calls, emails, text messages, and for driving Miss Daisy around town.  Did I say I got pretty spoiled?

Philippians 3:3, 4, 6, 7a, 8-11
³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy... ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace...⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Afternoon Tea

"Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
-- Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady

I can't agree more fully with Henry James! Our family has spent many an afternoon delighting over tea -- from intimate teas at home to elegant affairs at the Waldorf. We unwind as well as celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, recitals with tea, sandwiches, cakes, and scones with Devonshire cream! Afternoon tea necessitates the slowing of time. It evokes the joys of companionship, of unhurried conversation, of beauty and elegance, and of much-needed relaxation. Oh, the joy and necessity of Afternoon Tea!

Chicken Cacciatore

My daughter asked for my tried and true chicken cacciatore recipe. The sauce is rather flavorful with a touch of capers, lemon zest, white wine and vinegar. Here below is the recipe.

CHICKEN CACCIATORE
Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ teasp salt
¼ teasp ground pepper
3 lbs chicken parts, rinsed and dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 medium shallots, finely chopped
2 medium green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into ½ inch dice
1 14 ½ ounce can whole peeled Italian plum tomatoes, crushed, with juice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
8 ounces mushrooms, preferably short-stem, wiped clean with a damp paper towel, trimmed, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
½ cup pitted oil-cured black olives
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken pieces in the mixture, shaking off excess flour.
3. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil. Cook chicken in batches, about 5 minutes per batch, turning until pieces are browned evenly. Transfer the browned chicken to a medium bowl and reserve until ready to use.
4. Reduce heat to low and add the garlic, shallots, bell peppers, tomatoes, tomato paste, and mushrooms. Then add the wine, vinegar, and basil, and cover. Stirring occasionally, cook vegetables for about 15 minutes or until just tender. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the olives, capers, lemon zest, and reserved chicken.
5. Transfer the mixture to a 3 to 4-quart baking dish and bake, covered, for 1 hour or until chicken juices run clear when chicken is pierced in thickest part.

Steamboat

Picture from bestmalaysianfood.com

I am now in Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with my mom. After a busy season of getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas and NewYear, I’m just not fired up for yet another celebration. Besides, it's been over thirty years since I’ve been back in Singapore for the Lunar New Year. Maybe if I focus on one aspect of the celebration at a time, I may be well prepared when the New Year rolls around on Feb. 3, and may even come to enjoy the process.

I thought I would start planning the reunion dinner which is celebrated on the eve. My mother traditionally serves “steamboat” which consists of a large pot of stock, into which everyone at the table adds in the various meats and vegetables. I looked at several recipes and came up with a version of my own that is not too elaborate and over the top.

RECIPE

Broth (store-bought such as Swanson’s Chicken is fine)

Meat
chicken, de-boned, sliced thinly, marinated with soy sauce and corn flour
fish fillet, sliced thinly
shrimps, shelled, marinated with salt n pepper
squid, scored in sliced, marinated with salt and pepper
scallops
fishballs
stuffed tofuballs
wontons (parboiled)

Vegetables
Chinese cabbage
lettuce
spinach
choysum (mustard greens)
tofu, in cubes
fresh shiitake i mushrooms

Noodles
mifun, ho fun etc, soaked and blanched

Dips
Chilli sauce
Oyster sauce
Soy sauce

Direction
1. Cook each item separately, starting with the meats.
2. Add the noodles towards the end.
3. Scoop into individual bowls. Enjoy

Thanksgiving 2010

There is much for me to be thankful for this year. The turkey meal for one turned out quite well, in spite of the fact that our girls were not home early enough to help with much of the baking and cooking! (They both flew home late Wednesday, Lauren from St. Louis and Kathryn from Chicago.) Turkey was moist--tried a smoked turkey this time--and the side dishes were a hit. We had dessert galore with an ameretto ricotta cheesecake from Lauren, tipsy angel food cake from Pauline (our young seminary friend), and the must-haves of apple and pumpkin pies!

I am thankful most of all for my God, who has kept and loved me and my family all through the year and the years before, and will continue to do so in the years to come. It is comforting to wake up each morning, assured that I am in the palm of a loving and powerful God, knowing that no matter what unfolds during the day, He is with me to sustain and to guide.

I am thankful for my husband who drives me batty in many ways but whose love and faithfulness I have been able to count on through the years. We embarked on our empty-nesting journey this September and are enjoying our time sans les filles.

I am thankful for our daughters: our college graduate whose love for the children she mentors inspires me, and our college freshman who has dived into collegiate life with her usual oomph and enthusiasm.

I am thankful for my mother whose love still warms me from across the miles. I am grateful that she is in relatively good health, having given us quite a scare late this summer.

I am thankful for my friends, young and old, near and far. This summer I was able to connect with college friends whom I've not seen in many years. And this weekend, a high school friend popped in for a visit! I look forward each week to the time of bible study, prayer and laughter with my Dallas friends. My seminary friends keep me young and connected.

I am thankful for my professors at the seminary, for their inspiring and dedicated teaching. What a privilege it is to be able to study Systematic Theology with Sinclair Ferguson or the Pentateuch with Douglas Gropp. I don't have to worry too much about getting Alzheimer's as they challenge my grey cells with the rigor and profundity of their courses!

I am thankful that from the pulpit this Thanksgiving Sunday, I heard the reading and preaching of one of my favorite passages in Scripture. I leave you now with Luke 2:21-35,

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”