Another friend recently pointed me to Lightforce Games. I have not played any of these, since I currently have a nice computer game to enjoy.
Those who have children might enjoy Orisinal more because they are so pretty, even if some are a bit simplistic.
Those looking for a specific little internet game will probably find it at Addicting Games.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Blitnz Wrappers
Well, my wife and I are still working on a gluten-free bread for small loaf pans. But we have made other progress! Now, besides the easy scones, pizza crusts, and apple/zucchini loaf breads, we have...
Gluten Free Blintz Wrappers
In a blender mix 4 eggs. Then add:
Blend for about 30 seconds, then let the batter sit for a few minutes to thicken.
(This is a good time to put together your filling. A no-prep sweet filling is cranberry sauce and cottage cheese. For a quick and easy savory filling we currently use a little cream cheese with sauteed garlic, mushrooms, and spinach.)
Heat a small frying pan (six to eight inches diameter) on mediun heat. Use either butter or oil to coat the bottom of the pan -- half a tablespoon is usually plenty.
With a spatula, stir the batter and then pour some into the pan. For our eight-inch pan we use two tablespoons (measured as 2/3 of a quarter cup measure) but we're not experts and thinner blintz wrappers are quite possible.
Shake and swirl the batter in an attempt to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Then return the pan to the stove.
When the edges of the blintz wrapper start separating from the pan the bottom will be browned -- flip it, and fry the other side for a few seconds before adding it to the pile of cooked blintz wrappers. Each cooked blintz wrapper will need a paper towel atop it to separate it from the next one.
If you cook more blintzes than you eat, the pile of cooked blintz wrappers, paper towels and all, can be put in a gallon size bag for refridgeration.
(For those who are curious, it seems that a Swedish Pancake is not cooked after the filling is added, a blintz is fried afterward, and a crepe is baked.)
Gluten Free Blintz Wrappers
In a blender mix 4 eggs. Then add:
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour
- 1 cup nonfat milk
Blend for about 30 seconds, then let the batter sit for a few minutes to thicken.
(This is a good time to put together your filling. A no-prep sweet filling is cranberry sauce and cottage cheese. For a quick and easy savory filling we currently use a little cream cheese with sauteed garlic, mushrooms, and spinach.)
Heat a small frying pan (six to eight inches diameter) on mediun heat. Use either butter or oil to coat the bottom of the pan -- half a tablespoon is usually plenty.
With a spatula, stir the batter and then pour some into the pan. For our eight-inch pan we use two tablespoons (measured as 2/3 of a quarter cup measure) but we're not experts and thinner blintz wrappers are quite possible.
Shake and swirl the batter in an attempt to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Then return the pan to the stove.
When the edges of the blintz wrapper start separating from the pan the bottom will be browned -- flip it, and fry the other side for a few seconds before adding it to the pile of cooked blintz wrappers. Each cooked blintz wrapper will need a paper towel atop it to separate it from the next one.
If you cook more blintzes than you eat, the pile of cooked blintz wrappers, paper towels and all, can be put in a gallon size bag for refridgeration.
(For those who are curious, it seems that a Swedish Pancake is not cooked after the filling is added, a blintz is fried afterward, and a crepe is baked.)
How we are like Nazareth
Today I read a nice though from one of Jonathan Cahn's sermons. I'll paraphrase:
In John 1:46, Nathanael asks Phillip, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"What is from heaven comes through us.But Yeshua came from heaven -- he only came through Nazareth. Nathanael asks the wrong question.
And each of us is similarly like Nazareth. It does not matter how small or unimportant we are, or what we are capable of by our own strengths and history. Yeshua acts through us. The Spirit of God acts through us.
The December/Kislev issue of Moment magazine has an opinion piece by Dennis Prager in which he explains his answers to the question of why so many American Jews are irreligious and/or anti-religious.
After describing two historical factors (incompatability with Orthodoxy's goal of separation from society, and a distrust of organized religion stemming from historical, organized, religious anti-Semitism) and one cultural factor (high attendance rates at anti-religious universities) he says:
His fourth point seems significant for Messianic Judaism. Its values are more conservative than Reform or Reconstructionist Judaism. This can make it simulatenously strange and helpful to American Jews who are searching for truth.
As an example, later in the magazine is an Ask The Rabbis piece with responses from different branches of Judaism to the question "Should Jewish children sing Christmas Carols?" The common Messianic Jewish response would match those of the Orthodox, Conservative, and Lubavitch answers: it wrongs Christianity to treat the clearly religious carols as if they are not religious, it wrongs America's pluralism to participate in a commercial effort to remove religion from Christmas, and it wrongs Judaism to claim that participating in an activity that is at its root Christian evangelism is an appropriate interfaith activity. Thus in any individual case it may be okay (because people and friendships matter, and caroling is not innately dangerous to an individual person) but in general it should not be encouraged.
Messianic Judaism would add that scripture already explains how Sukkot is the approrpiate time to celebrate Yeshua's birth. Doing so on December 25th is therefore not only a religious activity (it doesn't hurt to celebrate that someone, no matter what day is chosen) but an activity innately specific to Christian culture (the historical and cultural reasons for the choice of which day). Since Messianic Judaism hesitates to adopt Christian culture that is not scripturally based, it normally avoids Christmas.
As those values that Prager calls "secular/Left" are becoming more visibly unworkable (for example, just because an individual can participate in the activities of other faiths without harm to his or her religious identity does not mean entire religious cultures can cooperate in this way) perhaps Messianic Judaism will become both more "oddball" and more attractive for maintaining a distinctively Jewish yet non-Orthodox set of alternate values.
After describing two historical factors (incompatability with Orthodoxy's goal of separation from society, and a distrust of organized religion stemming from historical, organized, religious anti-Semitism) and one cultural factor (high attendance rates at anti-religious universities) he says:
Fourth, the only Jewish denomination consistently offering a real values alternative to the secular/Left vision is Orthodoxy...Most Jews therefore have few religious models with which to challenge secular/Left values.Then his article continues...
His fourth point seems significant for Messianic Judaism. Its values are more conservative than Reform or Reconstructionist Judaism. This can make it simulatenously strange and helpful to American Jews who are searching for truth.
As an example, later in the magazine is an Ask The Rabbis piece with responses from different branches of Judaism to the question "Should Jewish children sing Christmas Carols?" The common Messianic Jewish response would match those of the Orthodox, Conservative, and Lubavitch answers: it wrongs Christianity to treat the clearly religious carols as if they are not religious, it wrongs America's pluralism to participate in a commercial effort to remove religion from Christmas, and it wrongs Judaism to claim that participating in an activity that is at its root Christian evangelism is an appropriate interfaith activity. Thus in any individual case it may be okay (because people and friendships matter, and caroling is not innately dangerous to an individual person) but in general it should not be encouraged.
Messianic Judaism would add that scripture already explains how Sukkot is the approrpiate time to celebrate Yeshua's birth. Doing so on December 25th is therefore not only a religious activity (it doesn't hurt to celebrate that someone, no matter what day is chosen) but an activity innately specific to Christian culture (the historical and cultural reasons for the choice of which day). Since Messianic Judaism hesitates to adopt Christian culture that is not scripturally based, it normally avoids Christmas.
As those values that Prager calls "secular/Left" are becoming more visibly unworkable (for example, just because an individual can participate in the activities of other faiths without harm to his or her religious identity does not mean entire religious cultures can cooperate in this way) perhaps Messianic Judaism will become both more "oddball" and more attractive for maintaining a distinctively Jewish yet non-Orthodox set of alternate values.
Friday, November 18, 2005
A Petition of Goodness or Spam?
Does anyone know if this petition (urgning the U.S. to take a strong stand against Iran's nuclear ambitions) is worthwhile or simply an invitation to e-mail spam?
I doubt the petition itself will actually do much. Petitions seldom do, and at this level of diplomacy too little is actually about what normal people know. But the number of people willing to sign petitions probably has domestic political consequences, so I am happy to take a moment to sign a worthy one.
I doubt the petition itself will actually do much. Petitions seldom do, and at this level of diplomacy too little is actually about what normal people know. But the number of people willing to sign petitions probably has domestic political consequences, so I am happy to take a moment to sign a worthy one.
Back to Blogging
Greetings again after a while! For a couple weeks I was in a not-blogging mood, and then my computer broke.
And I think I'll start this new round of blogging with a gripe, a disappointment: Eugene "lost" the Civil War Blood Drive.
Each year, during the week when the football teams from the University of Oregon and Oregon State University play (the "Civil War game"), the entire city is a bit fanatic. The county blood bank joins into the spirit of the occasion with their amusingly named Civil War Blood Drive. For those of us do not become emotionally consumed by the football event and its frenzy, the blood drive seems more significant.
The University of Oregon always "loses" the contest: 2152 to 2720 (in 2002), 2835 to 3705 (in 2003), 3095 to 4059 (in 2004), and this year 2220 to 2673. This could have been our year!
I called the county blood bank and confirmed that their number of regular donors is increasing each year. From this I'll conjecture that the overall drop in Civil War Blood Drive participants is not meaningful. Given that an individual cannot donate at whim but must wait 56 days between donations, if this annual event is actually successful in inspiring people to become regular donors then an increasing subset of the potentially donating population will be unavailable during the event itself!
And I think I'll start this new round of blogging with a gripe, a disappointment: Eugene "lost" the Civil War Blood Drive.
Each year, during the week when the football teams from the University of Oregon and Oregon State University play (the "Civil War game"), the entire city is a bit fanatic. The county blood bank joins into the spirit of the occasion with their amusingly named Civil War Blood Drive. For those of us do not become emotionally consumed by the football event and its frenzy, the blood drive seems more significant.
The University of Oregon always "loses" the contest: 2152 to 2720 (in 2002), 2835 to 3705 (in 2003), 3095 to 4059 (in 2004), and this year 2220 to 2673. This could have been our year!
I called the county blood bank and confirmed that their number of regular donors is increasing each year. From this I'll conjecture that the overall drop in Civil War Blood Drive participants is not meaningful. Given that an individual cannot donate at whim but must wait 56 days between donations, if this annual event is actually successful in inspiring people to become regular donors then an increasing subset of the potentially donating population will be unavailable during the event itself!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
A break from recipes
Those of you not so interested in the gluten-free recipes might enjoy sites I stumbled across: a review of ramen, and tips for fluffly waffles.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
An Apology
Blogging has been non-existent for a while. Sorry!
My wife and I went on a vacation for the week of September 18th. Vacationing for a week with someone who is gluten intolerant requires a bit of preparation, so time was limited before we left, too.
The week of September 25th classes started at LCC, where I teach math.
And this week starts the High Holy Days, so my ministry work is extra busy.
Enjoy the links I've collected in the past three weeks (below). Sorry I don't have time for more blog content than that.
My wife and I went on a vacation for the week of September 18th. Vacationing for a week with someone who is gluten intolerant requires a bit of preparation, so time was limited before we left, too.
The week of September 25th classes started at LCC, where I teach math.
And this week starts the High Holy Days, so my ministry work is extra busy.
Enjoy the links I've collected in the past three weeks (below). Sorry I don't have time for more blog content than that.
Various Links
I have no yearning to own most gadgets that are sold these days. But this would be quite cool to have, in a way I don't think I can explain.
A good joke is hard to find, even in a page supposedly having ten of them.
Remember that old "Powers of Ten" video? Now it is a website animation.
My wife and I have been working on more gluten-free recipes. We have macaroni and cheese almost ready, and are experimenting with power bars. But we don't play with our food nearly as much as some people.
Has anyone heard of HeyMath!?
If you want to print your own graph paper, this site has many varieties.
How many famous people you already know of were Jewish and believed in Yeshua?
And visit New York City with someone's Kermit the Frog doll.
A good joke is hard to find, even in a page supposedly having ten of them.
Remember that old "Powers of Ten" video? Now it is a website animation.
My wife and I have been working on more gluten-free recipes. We have macaroni and cheese almost ready, and are experimenting with power bars. But we don't play with our food nearly as much as some people.
Has anyone heard of HeyMath!?
If you want to print your own graph paper, this site has many varieties.
How many famous people you already know of were Jewish and believed in Yeshua?
And visit New York City with someone's Kermit the Frog doll.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Google Maps and Katrina
Google Maps now offers a comparison of New Orleans before and after Katrina's damage. Zoom in a little, and then you can scroll around and use the buttons labeled "Satellite" and "Katrina" to see the flooding in detail.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Pizza Dough
Gluten-free pizza? No big deal.
This recipe makes one batch of dough for a typically-sized large home pizza pan, or two batches of a very thin crust for those with the patience to pat it out very flat. (Or sometimes we split a double batch into three parts, for an intermediate thickness.)
It refrigerates well for a few days, so you can prepare the dough before you want to actually make a pizza.
In a large mixing bowl combine:
This dough tastes better the more it rises. Let it rise for at least 4 hours. You can let some of the rising happen after you pat the dough flat onto the pizza pan (and you'll have to pat it, it can't be rolled).
This recipe makes one batch of dough for a typically-sized large home pizza pan, or two batches of a very thin crust for those with the patience to pat it out very flat. (Or sometimes we split a double batch into three parts, for an intermediate thickness.)
It refrigerates well for a few days, so you can prepare the dough before you want to actually make a pizza.
In a large mixing bowl combine:
- 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- 1 Tbsp yeast
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups gluten-free four mix
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp vinegar
This dough tastes better the more it rises. Let it rise for at least 4 hours. You can let some of the rising happen after you pat the dough flat onto the pizza pan (and you'll have to pat it, it can't be rolled).
Worshipping Grief
Last week's sermon was about the difference between forgiveness and pardon. It discussed why Yeshua had to suffer so much.
This discussion going around the blogosphere puts similar issues in a very different context. Do people who have suffered have higher moral authority? That sounds quite un-American and un-democratic. Rephrased: does suffering produce moral wisdom?
Sadly, it doesn't. Occasionally suffering prompts people to stop and think more. But just as often it prompts people to mindless vengeance.
God's plan is not that we need to suffer to grow wise, but that we can identify with him and his suffering, to avoid the need for our own suffering.
The novel The Bridge to Terabithia ends with a character inspired to live in the way a virtuous friend would have lived. He will put into the world what the friend would have, because the world needs it. The same plot is how we are supposed to think of suffering and Yeshua.
This discussion going around the blogosphere puts similar issues in a very different context. Do people who have suffered have higher moral authority? That sounds quite un-American and un-democratic. Rephrased: does suffering produce moral wisdom?
Sadly, it doesn't. Occasionally suffering prompts people to stop and think more. But just as often it prompts people to mindless vengeance.
God's plan is not that we need to suffer to grow wise, but that we can identify with him and his suffering, to avoid the need for our own suffering.
The novel The Bridge to Terabithia ends with a character inspired to live in the way a virtuous friend would have lived. He will put into the world what the friend would have, because the world needs it. The same plot is how we are supposed to think of suffering and Yeshua.
Disaster
I have been a part of a few conversations in which someone Jewish wondered if the damage done by Hurricane Katrina was related to the U.S. supporting expelling Israelis from their coastal homes.
The best answer I have relates to a bumper sticker I saw last November: "If God wanted us to vote he would have given us candidates". (The saying has been attributed elsewhere to Jay Leno.)
Exactly how were those who lost there homes supposed to have done anything different politically? Most of the damaged counties voted for the more pro-Israel candidate. It wasn't the high-population counties that did otherwise that bore the brunt of a natural disaster.
For news about Katrina you might other miss, check Terry Teachout's page.
The best answer I have relates to a bumper sticker I saw last November: "If God wanted us to vote he would have given us candidates". (The saying has been attributed elsewhere to Jay Leno.)
Exactly how were those who lost there homes supposed to have done anything different politically? Most of the damaged counties voted for the more pro-Israel candidate. It wasn't the high-population counties that did otherwise that bore the brunt of a natural disaster.
For news about Katrina you might other miss, check Terry Teachout's page.
Truth in Advertising
Those of us not super refined might find this bit of truth in advertising amusing. But truth still does not mean "meaningful information".
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