Water. Wonderful Water.

This morning I, along with the rest of the saints at Trinity Church, had the unspeakably joyous privilege of witnessing the baptism of little Xander Charles. Later in the afternoon we attended the celebratory party at his home. About midway through all of the ladies more or less secluded themselves for a bit to have a shower of blessing for the little man and his mother. I just want to mention a couple things I/we found interesting.

Mrs. Welch (Xander's mother) recounted her train of thought upon seeing him jump when Pastor Helsel put the water on his head. She was reminded of Yahweh's immense kindness to us sinners whom he has elected for salvation in His Son. It comes as a great surprise, perhaps even a shock, but to realize that He has cleansed with the very blood of His Son is inexpressibly amazing. Though Xander does not yet realize what a phenomenal blessing he received today, God was yet kind in giving it to Him anyway.

When Mrs. Welch shared this I immediately thought of John the Baptist leaping for joy in the womb when the pregnant Mary came to visit her cousin Elizabeth. It may be true that Xander does not actually understand or comprehend all that took place today, but the Holy Spirit is definitely at work and has been for some time in this little guy's life. John, though not yet even born, was moved by the Holy Ghost to leap for joy at the arrival of his Saviour, who also was not yet born. Xander leapt for joy as he was brought into the fold by the application of baptismal water. Just as John greeted Christ, so likewise did Xander. May we all be so eager and joyful to meet our Saviour at all times.

Thanks for the reminder Xan.

An Experiment

About three weeks ago I purchased a gallon of raw milk with the intent of making yogurt. I (yes, I alone) drank about half of that gallon over a couple weeks and never quite remembered to get some yogurt to start making yogurt with. Yes, I am a lazy bum.

We had several over ripe bananas. My raw milk had turned sour. I've been reading Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. I decided to experiment.

Following Miss Fallon's recipe for banana bread, I left my sour milk and (non-freshly ground) whole wheat flour to soak for 24 hours.

This morning... it smelled horrid. But I continued with my experiment anyway.

Banana Bread
Makes 1 9-inch by 4-inch loaf

3 cups freshly ground spelt, kamut or whole wheat flour
2 cups buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspooon sea salt
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup melted butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped crispy pecans


The recipe is easy. Soak your flour in whichever fermented milk product you chose to use for 12-24 hours. Your bread will rise better if you soak it for 24 hours. Blend in remaining ingredients. Pour into a well-buttered and floured loaf pan (or heavily sprayed with Pam if you're a lazy bum like me). Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours, or (say it with me) until a toothpick comes out clean. That's what every recipe says, isn't it?

Outside of using old milk instead of purposely fermented milk and omitting the pecans, I followed the recipe to a tee. I was slightly disturbed when a mucous-y slime came out with the maple syrup.

Upon examining the container I found that it was apparently best if used by 3/1/11. Oops. I carried on.

Also, I don't recall this ever happening to me before, but there is something terribly disappointing about going to crack an egg into a bowl only to find that someone has hard boiled it. I hastened to find an uncooked egg before I melted into a puddle of sadness.

Before going into the oven my batter looked lovely and still smelled pretty awful. But it baked beautifully, see?

Then I took a bite...

...and determined it really needed at least two more bananas. I hope I don't die from eating sour milk bread.