Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084425 times)

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16280 on:** December 02, 2015, 12:12:21 PM »

The Library

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Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

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BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16281 on:** December 02, 2015, 12:13:15 PM »

The writing of some of the mystical saints takes my breath away - I have an Advent book that each day includes a lesson I guess is how best to describe it and each lesson/chapter is written by a different religious, not necessarily Catholic.

There are many like, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Johann Christoph Arnold. On Sunday (the book is repeatable year after year with no Days but Dates) November 29, which this year is the first day of Advent, the lesson was an excerpt of Bernard of Clairvaux's In Defense of Humility that could have been written today for today - lets us know that the same issues of the mis-use of power by many in the church were as rampant in 1100, when this was written, as today.

However, the end is what has me over and over re-reading the last page - just these two sentences alone - the thought is so awesome and humbling - Let the Word be to me, not as a word written and silent, but incarnate and living... I desire that he may be formed, not as the word in preaching, nor as a sign in figures, or as a vision in dreams, but silently inspired, personally incarnated, found in the body, in my body.

Furthering the Bible, John I: "In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God." The Bible verse is so often repeated that it becomes almost trite where as reading Bernard's thoughts really hit me.

I find this interesting - "Son of God" means "Servant of God" in Hebrew. In the Hebrew Bible there are four words translated "God": El, Elah, Elo'ah, Elohim.

Genesis 1:1 Hebrew — "In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1:1 Greek — "In the beginning, Theos made the heavens and the earth."

Looks like this year Chanukah ends on the Christian night before Christmas.

ginny · « **Reply #16282 on:** December 02, 2015, 07:53:11 PM »

Well I know I answered Rosemary's post, but it's gone totally. But yes, Dulwich, which I know nothing about, and the museum, are now on my list.

Thank you Rosemary for the Merchant's ducle de leche! I will certainly buy a jar of it the next time I come to the UK and probably eat the whole thing right out of the jar. I am not finding a good price on importing it to the US so far but I have seen it on many sites, the postage is really prohibitive. BUT if it has THAT taste I remember it might be worth it.

The difference in what we think personally is caramel and what taste somebody expects from the word "caramel," is amazing, it really is. I had no idea there were so MANY "caramels." I well remember the taste of those Millionaire "things," and it was out of this world, I know that. And I would like to taste it again.

I remember as a child coming South to visit our relatives in SC and NC and having the wondrous taste of "caramel cake." It became my favorite cake of all time. The icing! But then again it's a specialized taste which I have not tasted again in years. It had to be made in an iron pot, and it has a consistency and a taste you can't get from most anything else, and it's very difficult to make. (Mary Berry take note and have IT on your program!)

No boiling of condensed milk applies. There's a company called Caroline's Cakes in MD somewhere (and here in SC a branch of it which I found out when I ordered their 7 layer caramel cake and I was raving over it to my husband when it came and he remarked, "yes, all the way from Beaumont," which is a area near here in SC).....hahaha., But the owner of this enterprise remembered, like I did, the caramel cakes of her childhood, and started the company. Hers DOES have that taste but it's not the depth of icing I recall. I need a LOT of caramel icing. And it's HARD to make.

I have had many "caramel" cakes which weren't right. So I understand the special taste of the dulce de leche.

I can see I was unclear about the Eagle Brand dulce de leche. I was trying to say it actually exists!

WITH a version on the label of the famous "Millionaire's bar or shortbread." But it's not quite as I remember it. I can't wait to try it.

In other news, Mary Berry's new Holiday cookie ABC US program in 4 parts, the first on the 30th, is apparently a hit so far! Lots of good reviews. The people putting it on are the same ones with the British hit, and are filming it in the same tent they used for the Great British Bake Off. I taped it and look forward to watching it this weekend. I hope that it will be a hit.

Our poll is concluded and we need a new one! Here is the result:

Do you ever watch the Thanksgiving Parades on TV?

Yes, wouldn't miss it
2 (11.8%)
I usually intend to, but get so busy I forget it.
1 (5.9%)
Sometimes
6 (35.3%)
No, we watch sports or other TV instead
1 (5.9%)
No, I don't.
7 (41.2%

That's a close one. Anybody have any suggestions for a new one?

ginny · « **Reply #16283 on:** December 02, 2015, 09:19:16 PM »

Oh I just watched the new Holiday Bake Off Show and it's precious. It's just like the British one, albeit with people from all over the US competing, and it's such a happy thing, a joy. They've got it, this time. I hope people watch.

Jonathan · « **Reply #16284 on:** December 02, 2015, 11:30:26 PM »

Never have I seen such sweet temptations. I'm overwhelmed by all the inviting choices in the latest posts. I would love a piece of the Millionaire's Shortbread. After that I'm faced by harsher moral dilemmas than poor Pinocchio ever knew. Should I do a retreat with the Franciscans in Northumberland, or should I read a Debbie Macomber? Should I read a page of the Advent book, or should I dip a spoon into a jar of Merchant's Dulce de Leche Caramel Sauce?

It's tough to be a saint. Perhaps it's time to do a forty day stint in the desert. Well, perhaps after Christmas. I'm posting from Lourdes, France, where there's magic and more in the air. Blessings on all of you.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16285 on:** December 03, 2015, 02:28:42 AM »

Well Jonathan, you could do a retreat with the Franciscans, taking with you some Millionaire's Shortbread as a gift for the appreciative brothers, and a pot of dulche de luche to eat in your bedroom after Compline while reading the Advent Book (or even the latest Debbie Macomber). In fact the combinations are endless..

How wonderful to be in Lourdes. Will you remain there over Christmas?

Rosemary

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16286 on:** December 03, 2015, 02:34:13 AM »

Ginny - glad you enjoyed the tastes of your childhood. When I was at school we had the most disgusting pudding called Gypsy Tart, which was a pastry shell filled with a sort of condensed milk mix. My mother recalled having the same thing at some point in her childhood, and kept telling me I was wrong and that it was totally delicious. Eventually she found a recipe somewhere and recreated it. Even she thought it was horrible. Maybe as a child she had enjoyed much sweeter things, or maybe the fact that they rarely had enough to eat meant that they were just grateful for sugar? After all, another of her memories was eating shredded wheat with hot water and margarine on top of it. This was also faithfully recreated in our house once - and only once, as mother realised that Le Temps Perdu is sometimes best left just that

Rosemary

Steph · « **Reply #16287 on:** December 03, 2015, 08:29:15 AM »

Ah the joys of killing an imaginary animal and becoming a saint.. Sigh.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16288 on:** December 03, 2015, 01:29:50 PM »

Interesting just read an article by Kathleen Norris (http://barclayagency.com/site/speaker/kathleen-norris ) who goes on how modern life wants everything to make sense - that we trust Therapy more than Mystery and with profound skepticism we mistrust everything from the past so that there is a loss of imagination. We want a God that not only makes sense to us but that will satisfy our idea of the world and our situation within the world so that even women, pregnant for the first time, upon birth do not see themselves caught up in a larger mystery and therefore, do not experience the deep impact of their own life.

She goes on to say, without embracing mystery and our imagination the concept of hope in the unknown is lost and replaced with our sorting out what is good to experience and what must be either shunned or extrapolated from our lives using modern education, medicine or therapy -

I'm thinking back how we were encouraged as kids to shun the old thoughts and folklore, being probably only a generation removed from believing everything was either per-ordained or a mystery with no answer - I wonder if medicine was the door that changed it all - because I remember the fear that you could taste from your parents they tried to hide when you were ill - with no anti-biotics there were a lot of child deaths or life long affects from various illnesses. I do remember when we were encouraged to stop believing in old wives tales and what was called witchcraft - I wonder now if we have gone so far the other way that a child stops believing in fairytales, that are dependent on imagination, at a very young age.

Certainly, the sign of maturity for a teen is that they no longer believe - oh it is fine to enjoy the magic as long as it is not believed. I remember making sure my children understood the difference between reality and make-believe.

I am thinking most religion is steeped in mystery and today what we consider unbelievable tales - we have many a scientist probing the outer reaches of the universe to find the kernel that will explain it all and in the meantime we are busy sorting fact from fiction - will we ever get back to the simplicity of life when what scared us to numb fear was an animal that who knows, could have been left over from the Jurassic era or simply a large animal never seen in that part of the world but whatever, folks believed it was a fearful dragon -

I am thinking as much as I too like things to make sense - the news here of late makes no sense so maybe there are dragons let loose and we need a Saint to wield a mighty sward because all our tanks, unmanned planes and bombs, slaughter and embargoes or even anger management tools are not cutting it. The best we consider today for sainthood is a Mother Teresa - compassion and health giving to the poorest of poor but not wrestling with the current demons let loose among us. Oh for a Saint Rita.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16289 on:** December 03, 2015, 04:03:37 PM »

Barb, for me part of the attraction of High Anglo-Catholicism is just that - the mystery. I don't want everything explained.

I think that is why I also enjoy writers who don't explain everything. I am thinking particularly of Rose Macaulay's wonderful Towers of Trebizond, one of my all-time favourite books, and of Dorothy Baker's Cassandra at the Wedding, and Muriel Spark's Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and A Far Cry from Kensington.

Rosemary

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16290 on:** December 03, 2015, 04:12:52 PM »

Did you know that you can boil a can of Eagle Brand milk for a couple of hours and you come up with the best tasting carmel pudding ever.

PatH · « **Reply #16291 on:** December 03, 2015, 05:23:19 PM »

Opened or unopened? If it's unopened, does it ever explode?

Frybabe · « **Reply #16292 on:** December 03, 2015, 06:02:11 PM »

Is it just me or do things go haywire in bunches for the rest of you too?

Tuesday morning in the rain, my windshield wiper started to disintegrate. The driver's side, naturally.
Tuesday evening the microwave died. I do almost all my cooking in the microwave.

This morning my cable box gave up the ghost. Cable guy can't get out until Saturday afternoon.

Wonder what is next.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16293 on:** December 03, 2015, 07:06:10 PM »

Well as long as its "things" they can be fixed - when it gets to be human that is when concern is appropriate

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16294 on:** December 03, 2015, 07:46:41 PM »

Pat the can can't be open never had one explode.

ginny · « **Reply #16295 on:** December 04, 2015, 09:18:21 AM »

I wonder if microwaving would produce the same effect more quickly with less danger. I know it works for fudge.

Jonathan at Lourdes! What a wonderful thing. Tell us more about it when you get home?

Dragons, zombies, the werewolf, vampires, the villains of Star Wars, Star Trek, Godzilla, Voldemort, every age and generation has needed a symbol of evil which can be overcome. They only change depending on what the threat is. Children in 2015 can fight zombies with video games and feel better about their ability to cope against the true menace of evil in the world. It's a way of coping. It's symbolic. So if you slay the dragon you've slain evil. And the poor martyrs truly suffered in real life. Read if you can bear it the Lives of the Saints sometime.

The real shame is in our history on earth we've needed to produce zombies and dragons at all.

Rosemary: Gypsy Tart. Tell your mom she was right.

If you take a graham cracker crust and a can of Eagle Brand condensed milk, and mix it with the juice of two lemons or limes or combinations of same to taste, and one carton of Cool Whip (or whipped cream 8 oz) it makes a lovely pie, quick, easy, and tasting remarkably like Key Lime Pie without the eggs and the cooking. Light and refreshing. You can make it with no fat ingredients too. Keep refrigerated.

When my children were growing up we didn't do desserts. That pie is delicious, pretty , easy, quick, you can make it with Key Lime Juice, and everybody loves it, perfect to take to a funeral luncheon, etc., which is what I'd do with it. So any time it appeared the children would ask who had died because they never saw a dessert otherwise. So it became Who Died Pie?

And that's what they call it today. Your mother was right.

PatH · « **Reply #16296 on:** December 04, 2015, 11:31:00 AM »

Ginny, if you try to microwave a metal can, you'll get a spectacular result, but it won't be edible. Have a fire extinguisher handy.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16297 on:** December 04, 2015, 01:13:12 PM »

Ginny I can't even imagine what would happen if you put a can in the microwave. Tell me you haven't done that

marjifay · « **Reply #16298 on:** December 04, 2015, 01:22:35 PM »

Looks as if young women will now be subject to register for the draft into the armed forces, the same as young men, when they reach age 18 since the Pentagon has ruled that all jobs in the Armed Forces are now open to women.

I guess that's only fair.

Marj

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16299 on:** December 04, 2015, 02:07:14 PM »

I didn't know that young men still register for the Draft - hmm - did the change for women also include a mandate to register for the draft?

maryz · « **Reply #16300 on:** December 04, 2015, 03:14:20 PM »

I don't think there is a "draft" per se, but I do think men have to register.

I've always been in favor of some sort of universal (male AND female) time of service to country, not necessarily military - even when I had four daughters of that age in the 1970s - to be done after high school (or about age 18)l.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16301 on:** December 04, 2015, 03:40:06 PM »

I guess as a young woman it is within today's views on the abilities of women - I am still caught in 1940s thinking where women are the torch bearers for home and family which is really so not today - they are but for many it is later rather than early - when I see the many women soldiers coming home to their young children I get very confused. I guess it is only tradition that I never feel this confusion when I see young Dad's meeting their children when they come home.

ginny · « **Reply #16302 on:** December 04, 2015, 05:32:42 PM »

Nononononono, I'm not talking about microwaving a can, I'm talking about taking the contents out of the can putting it in a glass dish putting a paper plate over it to cover it and then boiling the condensed milk. I think it would be faster, and I think it would be less dangerous than boiling a can on the stove. I'm not talking about using a can at all. I'm not talking about putting a can in the microwave.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16303 on:** December 04, 2015, 05:58:54 PM »

hahaha can't stop laughing - hahaha talk about using only words - the ones chosen and those left to air in the wind make such a difference hahaha....

ginny · « **Reply #16304 on:** December 04, 2015, 06:10:01 PM »

Everybody complains that I write too much so I was trying to be succinct and every time I try to be succinct this happens. I guess people will just have to sigh and see lots of green ink.

PatH · « **Reply #16305 on:** December 04, 2015, 06:45:09 PM »

Hey, we love your green ink.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16306 on:** December 04, 2015, 06:53:59 PM »

Green ink is wonderful - full of good things to read - keep the green ink flowing.

Judy Laird · « **Reply #16307 on:** December 04, 2015, 07:34:05 PM »

Nice ginny that won't work

ginny · « **Reply #16308 on:** December 04, 2015, 07:47:38 PM »

Well thank you very much, on the ink, I appreciate that.

Won't work? Well then I'll use the can of Eagle Brand dulce de leche I paid for.

ho ho ho

Steph · « **Reply #16309 on:** December 05, 2015, 08:36:14 AM »

The thing is that the Sweetened Condensed is super sweet. Sets me teeth on edge.. Ugh..
I think that mysteries are ok, but dont quite sure I want them in religion.. Society of Friends has some laid back ideas on that one.

PatH · « **Reply #16310 on:** December 05, 2015, 11:55:18 AM »

Ginny, if you put something metal like a can in the microwave, you get a short circuit, with sparks, and maybe it catches fire. And the recipe calls for heating the unopened can.

ginny · « **Reply #16311 on:** December 05, 2015, 03:55:55 PM »

Pat, you may not have seen my post.

Quote

Nononononono, I'm not talking about microwaving a can, I'm talking about taking the contents out of the can putting it in a glass dish putting a paper plate over it to cover it and then boiling the condensed milk. I think it would be faster, and I think it would be less dangerous than boiling a can on the stove. I'm not talking about using a can at all. I'm not talking about putting a can in the microwave.

Don't you feel sorry for the Latin students?

What I meant when Judy said you can't boil it in a glass container in the microwave, it's not the same. is I will then open the can of Eagle Brand dulce de leche (photo above) and use it right out of the can in the Millionaire Bar recipe. It's already "dulce de leche," I don't have to boil it to make it so.

It comes that way,. In the can. Somebody else has done all the boiling to turn it into dulce de leche (caramel like stuff) so it's ready to go.

I appreciate everybody's concern but Eagle Brand condensed milk and Eagle brand dulce de leche are two different products. So I'll take the can and go with what's inside, already boiled.

Where else in the world can you read the Adventures of the Never Boiled Can? hahahaa

mabel1015j · « **Reply #16312 on:** December 05, 2015, 04:13:48 PM »

A decision from an appeals court is to come on Tues re: women registering for a draft. It preceeds the announcement that all positions will be open to women in the military as if April 2016. We have not had a draft for forty years, just the law that men must registered for "selective service" from age 18-25.

I completely understand the men who brought the suit. If we want equality of the sexes, then if our country is in a huge defensive war, everyone should be available for service. There will not be a resumption of the draft unless we are in a WWIII, or some similar defensive war - even if uber hawk Donald Trump is elected. The people stood down the draft during the Viet Nam war and will do so again, if the topic comes up.

It's going to be a very interesting discussion if this case gets to the Supreme Court and one we should have.

Jean

Jonathan · « **Reply #16313 on:** December 05, 2015, 05:54:21 PM »

"...I am thinking particularly of Rose Macaulay's wonderful Towers of Trebizond, one of my all-time favourite books,"

Congratulations, Rosemary. It only takes a glance to see that The Towers of Trebizond is an extraordinary book. I can't believe I've never read this book. And you're right. It's the mystery that makes it great. Isn't it amazing the way Rose Macauly ends her story with the greatest mystery of all.

I'll leave Lourdes with its miracles and saintliness and travel off to read about the magic and wizardy to be found in Trebizond on the Black Sea. I feel indebted to you for the fun of it. Playing chess, snakes and ladders, croquet, with her Stamboul ape...teaching it to drive...hilarious. Getting the Church of England established in Turkey...wow!

Steph · « **Reply #16314 on:** December 06, 2015, 09:01:23 AM »

hmm.now that is another one to look up and see..

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16315 on:** December 06, 2015, 09:24:24 AM »

Glad you like it Jonathan.

The first line was enough to win me over, and the rest did not disappoint;

"'Take my camel dear', said my Aunt Dot, as she descended from that animal on her return from High Mass."

Perfect.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #16316 on:** December 06, 2015, 01:22:31 PM »

after looking up and seeing it is not available in our library system I just went ahead and ordered a used copy from Amazon.

Jonathan · « **Reply #16317 on:** December 06, 2015, 10:47:32 PM »

The Towers of Trebizond

And is it the camel that takes her home? What a camel. "Looking distant' or 'sneering at the gargoyles' or 'looking tall and white and distinguished, showing race, for it was of the tribe of Ruola'.

This is a marvellous tale. And yet it seems to be the adventure of a lost sheep finding its way back to the fold. The ultimate quest. The prodigal daughter. But I've only just begun.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #16318 on:** December 07, 2015, 07:06:49 AM »

Well I'm definitely not going to reveal the ending Jonathan!

Enjoy.

Rosemary

Steph · « **Reply #16319 on:** December 07, 2015, 08:41:33 AM »

OK,, but darn it all, this is Christmas and I am soooooo busy, but today I will go on the hunt for the book. I love fantasy and it sounds like it might be..

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Author Topic: The Library (Read 2084425 times)