Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Freedom of religion is under attack

Can you tell me another country in the world that has the tradition of freedom of religion (not worship, that's different) written into its constitution by Christians who offered this to all, even those they didn't like? Christians who didn't want to be ruled by the crown or the church wrote a Bill of Rights to protect themselves from both.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

I know many Protestants who do not agree with Catholic teaching, but they need to be reminded that Roman Catholics, the largest Christian group in the world, are the ones being targeted by the Obama Administration. Recognizing the divisions among Christians (the infighting is recorded in the book of Acts, so it's nothing new), they are hoping we'll all stand by in silence while the largest and most powerful among us, the mother church of all Christians, is brought to her knees and assaulted through laws, regulations, in house squabbles, and gossip. If you say nothing, or do nothing, your denomination, house group, temple, or humanist non-profit for good works will be next. All religions are a threat to the crown, and our founders knew that.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) was gullible and they were lied to.  Because the Roman Catholic church is the largest non-government social agency in the country, they were scammed and snookered by people much more clever. But fortunately, they have come out of their long liberal sleep.

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This is not about birth control or health insurance for employees.  This is about the power of the federal government to determine how Christians practice their religion.

http://www.catholicleague.org/hhs-mandate-targets-catholics/

Monday, February 03, 2014

Church of the Brethren Inglenook Cookbook

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I received  "The New Inglenook Cookbook" (Brethren Press, 2013) for my birthday (arrived Friday for my September birthday). I have my mother's "Granddaughter's Inglenook cookbook" (Brethren Publishing House, 1942), and someone in the family may have the first one that was my grandmother's (1901). I don't do a lot of cooking that needs recipes anymore, but I love to read them. Also, I love looking at the names of the women who contributed the recipes. Still so many old Brethren names. I see "Sweet sour meatloaf" very similar to mine, which I hand out to new brides. Things have changed: Gluten free scones contributed by Elsie Holderread of McPherson, KS (2013) compared to Wieners in Creole Sauce by Mrs. Irva Kendrick Haney, Muscatine, IA (1942).

Also listed for a 1942 school lunch was cottage cheese and chopped pepper sandwiches with raw turnip strips. I don't know about other people my age, but cottage cheese was in everything at our house.

I think the reason women my mother's age (b. 1912) used so much cottage cheese is that their mothers made it from the skim milk left after separating the cream. My grandmother (b. 1876) used several pounds of real butter a week--I have her butter churn--and that's a lot of skim milk left over which needed to be made into something. I watched her working with (I thought it was a smelly mess) it, but by then she must have used purchased milk since they no longer had a cow. If all the liquid is pressed out (whey, which is then fed to the pigs), it is called farmer's cheese. This is from someone who knows nothing about it, so corrections are welcome.

The 2013 edition has a symbol for gluten-free.  This one looks impossibly easy.

“The best peanut butter cookie” contributed by Sharon A. Walker (Brumbaugh) Clayton, Ohio, p. 290

  • 1 c. creamy peanut butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 t. baking soda
  • Preheat oven to 350 and grease 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
  • Beat together the peanut butter and sugar until combine.  Beat in the egg. Sprinkle baking soda over the mixture and beat until combined.
  • Roll heaping teaspoon-size pieces of dough into small balls. Arrange on the prepared baking sheets and with the tines of a fork, flatten the balls.
  • Bake the cookies in batches in the middle of the oven until puffed and pale golden, about 10 minutes
  • Cook the cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks.  This is important because they are very fragile when hot from the oven.

After checking the internet, I see Ms. Brumbaugh Walker also contributed to a genealogy book (found it on WorldCat) and I'm sure if I dug a little deeper, we'd find some Brethren relatives in common from Montgomery County who came there from Pennsylvania.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/CottageCheese.html