Word of the Week – Mortgage

Word of the Week – Mortgage

We all know what a mortgage is. Or at least, the general idea. I admit that I tend to think of it as the loan on my house…but in actual fact, I have that a little off. The mortgage is actually the agreement that says my house is collateral for the loan.

But what I had never stopped to think about is the root of the word. As soon as someone points out that it’s from the French, I can see that root though…and at first glance, it’s startling. Because mort means…DEATH.

Um…this is beginning to sound a little frightening, right? What kind of collateral agreement did I get into??? 😉

No need to fear though. Mort does indeed mean “death,” but that gage part is from the French gaige, which means “pledge” or “deal.” Which DOESN’T mean “a deal of death,” but rather, “the death of the deal.” Which is to say, this agreement would be in effect until it was “dead” from being paid off or when payment failed. (Miss a payment, loan rescinded, all is due at that time.)

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty glad no mafiosi are involved. 😉

Word Nerds Unite!

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Slow-Cooker Chicken Ziti

Slow-Cooker Chicken Ziti

Slow-Cooker Chicken Ziti

Is there anything better than noodles in a hearty red sauce with ooey-gooey cheese? How about making it in a slow-cooker with chicken?

Makes

8 servings

Prep time:

5 minutes

Total Time:

4 hours

Good For:

Dinner

Inroduction

About this Recipe

This recipe comes to us courtesy of Danielle Grandinetti, who is not only a membef of my Patrons & Peers group, but also a fabulous novelist! When I asked my ladies for recipes she promised me some Italian goodness from her family’s wealth of recipes to tie in with Shadowed Loyalty. Because, hello! The Grandinettis are not only Italian, they’re even from Chicago! They totally would have been near-neighbors to the Mancaris. 😉

 

Of course, like all good Italian cooks, Danielle soon realized the problem: she doesn’t have written recipes for this stuff, she just makes it. 😉 So our lovely friend made it again for us so that she could actually measure out the ingredients she uses for this delicious Crock-Pot dish and write it down.

I, of course, love a great slow-cooker meal…but if by chance you didn’t plan so far ahead (which I also sometimes do), you could absolutely make this with shredded chicken from a leftover whole chicken, or just brown your chicken breasts in a pan first and then combine and pop into a 350-degree oven until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Whichever way you cook it, this will be a crowd-pleasing family favorite!

Ingredients

Instructions

  • 1 28oz can of crushed tomato
  • 1 15oz can of diced tomato
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tablespoons basil
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 15oz can chicken broth
  • 1 lb chicken breast (or chicken breast tenders), thawed
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 lb ziti pasta
  • 1 ¾ cup shredded mozzerella
  • 1 ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
    1. Combine tomato and seasonings in crock pot, stir.
      .
    2. Add chicken and broth. Cook on high for 3 hours (or longer to sure chicken is cooked).
      .
    3. Stir in pasta and water, cook on high for 15 minutes, stir. Cook an additional 5-10 minutes, until pasta al dente.
      .
    4. Turn off heat. Stir in cheeses. Serve.

    Notes:

    Cooking time may change for gluten free pasta, or other types of pasta.
    If using dairy-free cheese, make sure it is a kind that melts well.

     

    Optional Toppings:

    Grated parmesan cheese
    Fresh basil
    Cayenne pepper flakes

    From the Books

    This classic chicken and pasta dish could have graced the table of any of the families in Shadowed Loyalty. They would have had to make it via stovetop and oven rather than in a slow-cooker or Crock-pot, but the results would have been the same…and would have brought those Capecce boys home for dinner, for sure!

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    Converting to True Conversation

    Converting to True Conversation

    In recent weeks, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about conversation. And the more I think about that, the more aware I am of a word that sounds very similar: conversion.

    We today may not realize it, but those two words are from the exact same root. Both combine the Latin con (with, together) and versere (turn). Put those together, and both words mean a turning toward something, living, dwelling, a way of life.

    That doesn’t sound much like conversations we have today, does it? When we talk with each other, more often than not we seem to be talking at each other; talking over each other. We’re trying to prove we’re right.

    That has nothing to do with dwelling. Nothing to do with turning toward each other or a new life focused on God, which was the primary meaning of conversion in English for its entire history.

    Conversation, though, shouldn’t be about right and wrong–it should be about learning from each other.

    The first weekend in April, we took our daughter to Accepted Students day at our alma mater, St. John’s College in Annapolis. St. John’s is known as “The Great Books School,” where for four years students read the foundational texts of western civilization and then…talk about them. That’s where the magic happens–in the conversation. Each class is just twelve to eighteen students gathered around a table with a tutor (professor), talking about what they just read. All conversation starts from the common text–outside material isn’t allowed, to guarantee equality.

    That day spent at my old college struck me in my core. It reminded me not only of why I loved this place where I spent four years, this place that shaped me into who I am, but it also made me keenly aware of something our culture today has rather deliberately turned its back on: the importance of true conversation.

    At SJC, they call it “the dialectic.” That’s just a Greek version of the same word, “conversation.” It means “relating to the art of reasoning about probabilities.” I emphasis the word art there, because that’s rather crucial. Science, my friend, has right and wrong answers. But art doesn’t. Art isn’t about the solution or the answer or the final product. Art is about the discovery, the emotions stirred, and the enlightenment reached.

    In a visit just before we went back to St. John’s, someone said, “We can talk about anything. We might not agree, but we can talk about it.” I of course assured them that agreement isn’t necessary. But as that sentence echoed in my heart for the next several weeks, it made me realize anew that agreement is another way of saying “right and wrong.” If we agree, that means you think I’m right and I think you’re right. We take the same stance, the same position.

    And that’s all that matters in society today, isn’t it? Where you stand. What side of the issue you’re on. And if you’re not on my side…well then, I can’t even talk to you.

    Oh, my friends. Does this hurt your heart like it hurts mine? Because if we can’t talk to, can’t converse with, people regardless of our stance, then we cannot possibly ever learn. And if we stop learning, we stop growing. And if we stop growing, we stagnate. And if we stagnate, we waste away to nothing.

    Part of the “magic” of my college experience was that those eighteen people around the table came from every possible background, religion, and perspective. We had atheists sitting next to Muslims sitting next to Hindus sitting next to Orthodox Jews sitting next to Christians, all discussing the Bible…or Kant…or Thomas Jefferson. And it wasn’t about who was right. It wasn’t about who agreed. Never once do I remember deciding I didn’t like someone because of a position they took in class. Why? Because we all took whatever positions the conversation demanded, and then we adjusted those positions throughout–BECAUSE OF–the conversation.

    The only thing that mattered was that we were all willing to engage. We were all willing to be part of the conversation, part of the dialectic. We were all willing to LEARN from each other and the text.

    Then I look at the world around me, and I see people unwilling to read a book or article because the author is from the opposite political party, therefore they must be disagreed with on EVERYTHING. I see people demonized because of one opinion they hold. I see conversation shut down in favor of shouting matches or (even worse in my opinion) idle chit-chat that never even tries to touch on things beyond people and events.

    My husband and I have been talking a lot about how to restart conversation in our world. We exist in a perpetual state of it in our own home. It’s kinda funny. We start out talking about practical things like who’s going to drive Xoe to ballet, and yet within a few minutes we’re somehow on the philosophy of learning or spiritual awakening or some other abstract idea. Through those conversations, we reach new understandings, ask new questions that send us on new searches, explore our own hearts and souls, and grow ever close to each other.

    How do we bring that outside our home though? How do we engage people who don’t seem interested in it? How do you stir a heart that likes to be set in its ways?

    I know that the answer is through conversation–through conversion. We all have to be willing to dwell with each other in our words. We have to be willing to turn toward each other and truly engage, truly explore. We have to be willing to learn, not just to prove something.

    I want to have real conversations again. Do you? If so, then maybe we can do it together. And then with others, and then with others. We don’t have to be “like minded.” We just have to be willing to engage. And if we do that, we’ll all end up growing. Learning. Discovering. And oh, the “magic” that will happen.

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    Word of the Week – Dashboard

    Word of the Week – Dashboard

    It should come as no surprise that many of our automotive vocabulary words actually have their origins in the days of wagons and carriages…and one such word is dashboard.

    What was a dashboard originally? Well, dating from 1846 (and originally hyphenated dash-board), this word was used to describe the literal board or leather apron at the front of a vehicle that was meant to prevent mud from “dashing” up over the wheels and onto the driver/occupants. Yep…a mudflap of sorts!

    So how did it come to be “a panel at the front of a vehicle on which guages are mounted”? Mere proximity to the front seat, it seems. Our dashboards certainly have nothing to do with restraining mud, but the word was borrowed by the automotive industry as early as 1904!

    Word Nerds Unite!

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    Chewy Easter M&M Cookies

    Chewy Easter M&M Cookies

    Chewy Easter M&M Cookies

    Spring colored candies make these ooey-gooey chewy cookies the perfect edition to your Easter table…or any table! Change out the colors to match the season!

    Makes

    24 cookies

    Prep time:

    15 minutes

    Total Time:

    40 minutes

    Good For:

    Dessert

    Inroduction

    About this Recipe

    I am a cookie lover…and also a cookie SNOB. I admit it. By my definition, cookies had better be soft and chewy, and while chocolate isn’t a must, it’s definitely worthy of some bonus points.

    I’ve spent much of my adult life in pursuit of the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie, and I’ve tried some very time-intensive recipes that claim they’ve found it.

    Nope.

    THIS is it. Oh sure, it claims it’s an M&M cookie…and it can be…but you can absolutely sub out the M&Ms for more chocolate chips. At Christmas I made this recipe with a mixture of milk and semi-sweet chips and chunks…then with white and milk chocolate chips…and at Easter, I used the M&Ms that were pretty pastels. You can absolutely use Christmas M&Ms for these in December, or any other color for any other season. Whatever your choice, these cookies are AWESOME.

    Why? Because they’re melt-in-your-mouth soft and have a fantastic chewiness. This recipe calls for big, generous scoops of dough that make a big, satisfying cookie.

    Looking to go sugar-free? I’ve made these with sugar-free chips from ChocZero and subbed the sugars in the recipe for Swerve Bown and All Purpose in the Raw, and they turned out great! The texture was slightly different, but if you weren’t doing a side-by-side comparison, you’d never know.

    Ingredients

    Instructions

    • 1 cup salted butter, softened
    • 1 cup light brown sugar or Swerve Brown
    • ¾ cup granulated sugar or All Purpose in the Raw
    • 2 large eggs at room temperature
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
    • ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
    • 1 cup M&Ms in your choice of color, or milk-chocolate chips
      1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Line two baking sheets with either parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
        .
      2. Cream together the softened butter and the sugars or sugar alternatives with an electric mixer until they’re fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until they’re just combines.
        .
      3. In a separate bowl or 4-cup measuring cup, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly mix into the butter mixture.
        .
      4. Fold in the candy and chocolate chips.
        .
      5. Using a medium cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoons), drop the dough onto your prepared baking sheets. Don’t crowd them! These are big cookies, so depending on the size of your sheets, you may have to do them in two rounds.
        .
      6. To get that perfect presentation, press a few extra M&Ms or chocolate chips into the top of the cookies.
        .
      7. Bake for 7-10 minutes, rotating the pans (switching racks and front to back) halfway through to ensure even baking. When the edges are just beginning to brown, the cookies are ready to come out of the oven. The middles will still be soft.
        .
      8. Allow the cookies to cool for 3 minutes on their pans (this will help set those middles) and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

      From the Books

      Okay, okay…so I know chocolate chip cookies, and definitely M&M cookies, were not a thing in Biblical days. BUT…these two books both center around Easter. So why not include a modern Easter recipe in this collection, right? 😉 If Abigail and Magdalene were around today, they would absolutely be celebrating our Savior’s resurrection with celebratory foods. So curl up with one of these novels…and have a cookie or two too!

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