2011 Joys: Good Food

This year both of us grew to be masters of the culinary arts.  Matt did more of the cooking once the girls came, and we began to plan our meals a few weeks at a time to foster buying all our vegetables at market at once.  Some of the favorite dishes we had this year were:
1. Barbeque Chicken wraps with mesquite flavored lentils and peppers. 
2. "Crusty Mexicans"-a casserole with a doughy bottom layered covered in a spicy kidney bean and beef glop.  This is especially good with chips and lettuce.
3.  Pakistani Kima: A potato/tomato based curry with tumeric, and curry powder over rice.
4. Lasagna: Matt loves making lasagna from scratch (except the noodles) and has a record of making the entire thing in 45 minutes by himself.
5. Alvera Stern's frozen chocolate cake: Best served with a chocolate icing chilled in the freezer (and it keeps forever)

All of these meals have been special for us, making the aftermath of a difficult meeting less stressful or topping off a great day's work.  While there is so much we can't control here, making a good meal often feels like some normalcy to our abnormal lives.  We praise God for good food and new food: it brings us joy every day.

Merry Christmas and enjoy your Christmas foods!

Eating mini-pizzas on Valentine's Day