Ilex Vomitoria

Is anyone out there current in your Latin studies? I know those Burgess kids are! Ready to tell me what this is?

Ilex Vomitoria.

I know it as the tree-shrub outside my front door. And also as Yaupon Holly.

Isn’t it pretty? Don’t those berries look good for eating? Well, Samuel sure thinks so… the kid still puts everything into his mouth that will possibly fit in there!!!

If only he knew the Latin name for this shrub. I think the Vomitoria part of it would keep him away! Thankfully, he did not vomitoria after snacking on these this morning. But I was certainly watching him closely the rest of the day, looking for weird side-effects.

We found out some pretty interesting history on this shrub today, as we were checking out how poisonous it is. The Native American Indians roasted the leaves and bark, which contain caffeine, and made a black drink out of them. (Now that I know this, I won’t have to spend so much money on coffee  at the store! We’ve got our own caffeine source right outside the front door!)

Not only did the Indians use Ilex Vomitoria to get their morning off to the right start, but also to induce vomiting, calm nerves, cause hallucinogenic effects, and treat nightmares and sore eyes.

Good news to you Texans: You, too, can have a plant with such amazing medicinal purposes growing in your very own yard! Yaupon Holly is native to our area. So you can go to your local nursery and pick one up today!

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

This is the story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den, as told by John Bradley Smucker (age 4):

“Daniel loved God and he prayed to God every morning and every day. And some mean men came and they told him ‘Don’t pray to God! Only pray to the king!’ But Daniel did not pray to the king; he only prayed to God. And that made the mean men mad. And so they went and they captured him and they threw him into the dandelions! But an angel came there, too, and the angel closed the lions’ mouths, and they didn’t even get to eat one single bite of Daniel. And then Daniel got out of there.”

10 Valentines

Yesterday, on Valentine’s Day of 2011, Brad and I celebrated 10 years of knowing each other.

We can both remember that day quite well. Some parts are vivid in my memory. Some things seem hazy and disconnected, like they must be someone else’s memories.

Before I met Brad, my whole family had already met him. Two of his roommates, Jeff and George, were friends of my family. These guys all lived in an enormous, disgusting, oddly shaped house that seemed to go on and on. I don’t even know how many guys lived there. The rent was cheap, and the rats didn’t mind sharing space with them!

Like I said, Brad had met my entire family before I ever even heard of him. One day, sometime in November or December of 2000, Brad and his roommates and some other friends went to my parents’ house to go coyote hunting. The next day, I got a call from my Mom: “Jenny, I’ve met the perfect guy for you!”

Me: “I’m not interested. If he’s a roommate of Jeff’s, I don’t want to meet him. There’s no way I would be interested in him!” End of discussion, I thought.

So a few months passed by, and I still heard his name mentioned from time to time. And I secretly enjoyed hearing things about him! He was a chemist, which is, of course, mysterious. So I knew he was super smart. And apparently, he also had some common sense. He helped my Dad hook up lights on a boat trailer that night they came over to hunt coyotes. And then there’s the 2-string guitar. He made music on that old, dilapidated thing!

Fast forward a few months. It’s Valentine’s Day, 2001. Jeff called me, lamenting the sad fact that he had no girlfriend to make him cookies or treats on Valentine’s. I had no patience for such whining, and told Jeff to quit his complaining… I’d make some cookies for him! So I whipped up some chocolate chip cookies, and took them over to Jeff in a gallon-size ziploc bag.

There was a part of me that kind of hoped Brad would be there, so I could finally meet the guy that was supposedly “perfect” for me! But every other time I had gone to their house, he was wasn’t there… always working at the lab.

Well, this night was different. He was there. My heart pounded, and I tried to remain calm. We engaged in some small talk, along with the others in the room. But all I remember is him.

Him and his persistent, annoying questions about my graduate studies. I was getting my Master’s Degree in Public Health at the time, and I had no idea what I would do with that degree once I graduated. I was frustrated about the unknowns in my life, and I had no desire to talk about them! But Mr. Inquisitive tried multiple different angles, and every time it aggravated me more. I kept telling him I didn’t want to talk about it, but he would try again. By the time I left that night, I was beyond-a-doubt POSITIVE that Brad was NOT the man for me!! I was NOT impressed!

Note: Brad was not impressed with me, either! He didn’t like the way I refused to answer his questions about grad school and job options! If you know Brad, you know that he’s interested in people, and interested in learning. I was refusing him both of those things that night!

Obviously, God had some work to do in both of us before we would be ready for each other. Over the next ten months, we would see each other occasionally, and we started to form a very slight acquaintance-ship (yeah, I don’t even think it was a friendship!). Faith and Jeff did some scheming, dropping subtle suggestions and hints and thoughts into our minds.

Then, ten months after first meeting on Valentine’s Day, we had our first date. And by the time I left that wonderful, long, marathon date, I was pretty much beyond-a-doubt POSITIVE that Brad WAS the man for me! Less than 9 months later, we were married.

I love being married to Brad! We have fun looking back and laughing about our first impressions of each other on Valentine’s Day!

My Soup Kitchen

We’ve had such cold weather here the past few weeks! Last week, 4 days of school were cancelled because of the icy roads. And this week, 2 days were cancelled. So the kids and I have spent lots of time indoors, with short bursts of time out in the cold.

This cold weather makes me want to eat soup. All day! So I’ve made soup fairly frequently, I suppose. (Though not as often as I’d like!) What could be better than soup? It really is a perfect meal! Delicious. Cost-effective. Warm. Who wouldn’t like all of that?

Maybe Truman. Yesterday, as I was preparing dinner, he came in the kitchen and asked, “Mommy, what is this food called?”

“Chicken enchiladas.”

“Oh. Does it have soup in it?”

“No, no soup is in chicken enchiladas.”

“Oh! Yipppeeee! Yaaayy! I don’t yike that soup!!”

Well, for those of you who agree with me, and not with Truman, I want to share a couple of my favorite soup recipes with you…

Tuscan Soup (this recipe is like Olive Garden’s “Zuppa Toscana”, but much better in my opinion!)

• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 5 links spicy Italian sausage
• 4-5 large potatoes, cubed
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• 1 can evaporated milk
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove skin from sausage and crumble into large pot or Dutch oven. Add chopped onion and minced garlic, and cook over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.
2. Add stock and potatoes. Boil until potatoes are cooked.
3. Add spinach. Continue boiling until spinach is lightly cooked.
4. Remove soup from heat, stir in evaporated milk, and season to taste.

Winter Lentil Soup (From Real Simple— this is my favorite healthy soup! It’s so colorful and delicious!)

Hands-on time: 20-30 minutes/ Total time: ~1 hour/ Makes 6 servings

• 4 leeks, white and green parts only (or use onions)
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes
• 6 cups water
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice
• ½ cup brown lentils
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 12 fresh basil leaves (optional)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice each leek in half lengthwise, then slice each half into ¼-inch-thick half-moons (about 2 cups). Place in a large bowl of cold water and swish to remove any grit. Drain and pat dry.
2. Remove the stems and wash kale. Stack the leaves on top of one another and slice them crosswise into ½-inch-wide strips; you’ll need 3 cups.
3. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook, breaking them up with a spoon, for 5 minutes.
5. Add the water and vinegar; bring to a boil. Stir in the kale, sweet potatoes, lentils, thyme, salt, pepper and basil (if using). Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 30-45 minutes.
6. Spoon into individual bowls. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.