Every time I pause to write a report of the year, it is an opportunity to pause and give thanks to God for all that He has done for us and accomplished through us. On any given day, it does not seem like much has happened, for I am constantly going from one to another and trying to be faithful in the task that the Lord has given me, but when I look back, I see how the Lord has used those little moments to shape our life and make us into the people we are today.
“Life is made up of little moments that don’t seem that important at the time, but in retrospect they’re what get you to where you are.” ― Penelope Ward
Flavors, Friendships n Fun
Indian kababs
Like always, we cooked and shared our meals with family and friends. This year I learnt to make meat on skewers. We tried various flavours ranging from malai chicken kabab, tandoori chicken kabab, green chicken kabab, and tandoori shrimp. Delicious I must say! Pair the kababs with the green mint chutney and that takes it to another level altogether. The green chutney has a freshness to it which elevates the kabab experience. Mia has been my little helper in the kitchen helping me with the kababs and the green chutney.
Scotch eggs
Eddie tried scotch eggs. Although a lot of work, the result was pleasing.
Lachha Paratha
We have a saying in our house – “Eddie introduces new dishes in our house and Lauren elevates it!” Eddie introduced lachha paratha in Dec of last year, I don’t know if I elevated this one, but I sure did try lachha paratha from scratch this year and it turned out just great. The fact that we use whole wheat as opposed to All Purpose Flour (APF) made me enjoy this paratha even more. Whole wheat is healthier than APF isn’t it?
Allie- the chef in the making
This year Allie has been learning to cook simple meals. Phulkas, ghee triangle paratha with aaloo, Maharashtrian poha, breakfast smoothies are on top of the list. She is a chef in the making. Her love for food, extensive and sensitive palate, and knowledge of both complex and simple flavors makes her a natural in the kitchen.
Mia’s party
Mia turned 8 this year and she wanted to celebrate it with her friends. One of her friends is gluten free and so Mia decided to bake gluten free cupcakes for the party. Both my girls have been in the kitchen with me from when they were little. And so, for little Mia to put on her chef hat and bake was not a big deal. She went at it like a pro – from measuring the ingredients to mixing them to baking them – all by herself. It was a treat to watch this little one become independent.
Idli
March 30th is celebrated as ‘World Idli Day’. From the time we became aware of this (which has been a few years now), I have not been able to make idli on this day because I am so busy with all the things that are happening around that time that I forget to make the idli batter. For those of you who are not acquainted with the idli process, the idli batter takes about 2/3 days to be fermented and ready to use depending on the climate. Knowing this difficulty and understanding my love and craving for idli, Eddie bought me the idli batter so that we could make idli this year on March 30th. It was indeed a treat to have idli with various chutneys (dips).
And all the other stuff
Kathy’s Strawberry Vinaigrette, the Easter Challah, Kesar-Badam Kulfi and Kalakand are also among the many dishes we tried this year.
If our table could talk, it would tell you of all the wonderful people we shared many of these meals with and the faith-filled, fun-loving, God-honoring conversations we have had over the first half of this year.
So, you do get the point – the DSouzas love to cook, experiment with new flavors, enjoy good food especially with family and friends!
Magical Moments
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away- Maya Angelou
Creation is breathtaking. All we need to do is to stop, pause and take the time to see the handiworks of God. Every morning the sunrises and every evening it sets. The birds of the air chirp and fly about, the brook laughs as it rushes by the rocks. Creation does its God-given job – proclaim God’s handiwork and give glory to God.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above[a] proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
– Psalm 19: 19-20
This year we took some time out to enjoy God’s handiwork in the sunrises and sunsets, the springtime flowers, the dolphins at the MN Zoo, the flowers at the Arboretum, and in the rearing of a monarch butterfly.
Frisky Firsts
One of our friends from small group took our girls sledding. Oh, what fun they had!
Mia learnt to bike without training wheels and moved up a bike size. The’ little one of the house’ is not so little anymore. Biking has become a new passion.
Watching Kathy make her strawberry Vinaigrettes has been super fun. The flavors are outstanding, and the color is a pretty pink. A good student always comes back and puts to practice what he/she has learned. Following Kathy’s process, I made myself a batch of ‘Kathy’s Strawberry Vinaigrette.’ YumYum!
Reviving old passions
With the increase in the responsibilities and life becoming busy, some things fall through the cracks. So, every year, I need to pause and re-evaluate to see if the things that have fallen through the cracks need to be revived or let go. Doing this exercise helped me realize that I did not make time to watercolor paint in the last academic year. As a result, I re-stated watercolor painting and the result has been satisfying to both the mind and the eye.
Early this summer, I stitched wrap around skirts for the girls. It has been 8 years or more since I have sewed clothes. It gave me joy to make something that the girls enjoy wearing.
Making Memories
Plum creek
We visited the ‘Laura Ingalls Museum’ at Plum creek. The drive was about 2.5 hours long. Both on our onwards and homeward journey, we listened to audiobook On the Banks of Plum Creek. This indeed maximized our Laura Ingalls experience at Plum Creek. Because our memories were refreshed from the audiobook, we could almost see Laura sitting in her seat in the schoolroom, Ma cooking the meals on the new stove, Laura and Mary helping Ma set up the dugout, naughty Laura running her hands through the rushing creek, Pa eagerly waiting for the crop, the Locust eating up all the crop, Ma and Pa accepting the situation and finding ways to live on. Oh! What an experience that was. You can read Allie’s write up on Plum Creek here.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” -Søren Kierkegaard
Walk by the lake and quaint towns
To be in the land of 10,000 lakes and not walk the lakes would be a shame, wouldn’t it? We walked around Lake Harriet, White bear Lake, Stillwater, and Gull Lake.
Travel
Eddie traveled to Ethiopia as a part of his mission work. You can read his report here.
Reflections
The first half of the year has whizzed by us. God has been good to us as is His character. We have seen and tasted the goodness of God in our lives. If we look at creation and we stop at that we have fallen short. If we look at the lovely food and experience the complex flavors and if we stop that, we have fallen short. Our hearts need to ‘follow the sunbeam to the sun’ as Lewis says; we need to be look at this breathtaking creation, the beautiful food, the complex flavors, the people that God put in our path and thank God for it is He who made all things and all these things should point to Him and His creation.
And just like that we have entered the second half of 2024. There are many more experiences to come and memories to be made. But we hope that in that this, we will ‘follow the sunbeam to the sun’ – give God the Glory, for from him, through him and to Him all things exist!
