Summer Siesta

Hi friends,

Summer is fully here, and I have a feeling it's only going to get hotter soon!  That means we can cook our brains, or delight in baking.  I choose the latter.  Inspired by Gunilla Norris' poem Summer I baked up this honey rich, multi-grain bread.  I doubled the recipe, so while Norris' poem calls for 3 hearty spoonfuls of honey, these summer kissed loaves have 4.

In the thick heat of summer I say kick back, enjoy a slice of deliciousness and savor the lazy days.  Here are some beautiful words to enjoy over your tasty treat.

Summer
Gunilla Norris


Let the golden honey run
out oft he jar.  Let the water
be sweetened in our mixing bowl.


Three giant spoonfuls
of Summer - nectar, sunshine,
the hum of bees, warm nights,


and ourselves in the grass.
Three giant spoonfuls of Summer
sweetening the water in the mixing bowl.


We need this liquid gold
to remember the goodness
of life ... the taste of honey.


The memory of Summer ...
that it returns, that at the center
the open flower is sweet.


That at the center
when it opens, we too are sweet,
and love, like a swarm of bees,


can fly into us ... ecstatic,
nectar-drunk and
powdered with pollen.


Our bread will have this
poured-from-the-center
rich gold ... three giant spoonfuls.


I hope you have a sweet summer day

Cookie Communion

Hi folks, I've been at church camp the last week so the blog has been neglected, but plenty of fun happened.  Camp is always a great time filled with singing, quirky games, campers who take 30 minutes to find their shoes, and plenty of new ways to worship.  In good Disciples fashion we had communion EVERY night, and since this blog is dedicated to the many ways we commune with God, today's post is Chi Rho Camp Cookie Communion-tastic!

Check these babies out!

These Chocolate, Banana, Peanut Butter M&M cookies are inspired by the Capital Area Chi Rho 1 communion experience.  Thanks campers for showing me the sweetness of God's table.

It was decided early on that camp cannot be done without Peanut Butter M&Ms.  This was such a resounding decision that we concluded these are Jesus's favorite candies.  They were the topic of discussions as we had nightly teethbrushing dance parties in the bathhouse, and therefore I had to add them to the recipe attached.

The next ingredient, chocolate and banana's, were inspired by the greatest campfire snack ever created - BANANA BOATS!

These tasty treats take a banana, stuffed with chocolate chips and marshmallows, rolled up in tin foil and tossed into the fire. You need a spoon, but licking fingers is still necessary.  Check out the beauty of banana's & cocoa!

You swirl all this together for a sight I've never seen before:

a Chocolate Rainbow

These campers know how to live in the Spirit with Wild abandon.  They throw in all their worries, insecurities, silliness, and laughter.  They can't help but collide into one another every now and then, but their ability to dwell in God's grace, see communion through carrot sticks and ranch, cookies and milk, chips and salsa, and every other activity at camp teaches how to bring my faith to life.  I pray everyone has a morsel of the sweetness these campers share with one another.

Dig into the rainbow of God's sweet abundance!