Goodness for the Growing...

This is my last post on the weekend. But it’s chocked full of thinking/cooking goodness.

Are your friends like mine? Do you enjoy eating/talking/being with them. Is it soul-filling for you? I have a few groups of soul nourishing friends, and this group knew me from the infancy of my soul. The stretching and growing from a college freshman into an artist, friend, wife, mother and beyond. We are all in a stretching and growing season again, but now with more grace, it seems. This is one time in our life where we feel centered in our personhood as we make changes and choices about the world around us. But we feel very centered, knowing ourselves and being know by others.

A few things we’ve been throwing around at each other. Goodness for the growing--if you will. I’ll make a short list for you here. These books and music were thrown around quite heavily this weekend.

Books:
Wisdom Distilled From The Daily
Let You Life Speak
The Quotidian Mysteries
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
The Will of God as a Way of Life
Music:
Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album

It was really good to have time to spend in our friendships, enjoying and celebrating the years we’ve been together and the years we’ve been apart.

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I promised my beautiful Kim that I’d post the potatoes recipe so here goes.

On Saturday night we had our annual ornament exchange and holiday party. We made a big meal together roast chicken, holiday potatoes, Kim’s sweet corn frozen at it’s peak in the summertime, and fresh bread. Eric made one of his delicious cheesecakes too. There was of course coffee.  

Holiday Potatoes
5 lb bag of red russet potatoes
1 pint of heavy cream (divided in half)
4 tablespoons of butter cubed
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
8oz sharp cheddar cheese grated (divided in half)

Wash, peel and cut potatoes just into large chunks, half moons. Place in a 13 x 9 baking dish. Season generously with salt, pepper and paprika. Mix. Add half pint of heavy cream, portion cubed butter evenly over potatoes, drizzle olive oil over pan. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for one hour.

Add the 2nd half of the heavy cream, half the cheese. Stir well to incorporate. Top with the rest of the cheese. Bake for 45 minutes more covered in foil.

Remove foil and bake for remaining 15 minutes. This recipe reheats very well.