We Celebrate with Food

Jordan and I were talking about love languages yesterday, and I laughed at myself, because I think mine is food. My favorite memories with Jordan usually include either eating at great restaurants or cooking together in our own kitchen. Most anniversaries and birthdays are always centered around deciding which way to celebrate... Well turning 29 was no exception, and the food did not disappoint.

After Jordan fed me French Toast in bed (which we recently learned the key to French Toast is soaking the bread in the egg mixture overnight - genius!), we went to explore the farmers market that comes once a month to St Andrews. Here we grabbed local smoked trout and a bottle of local Elderflower wine (from Cairn O' Mohr winery). Add some cheese and bread and you have yourself a delicious lunch. The smoked trout was surprisingly good. The fish absorbed that smoky flavor completely. And with no fancy equipment, the fish was smoked in barrels and served hot to our hands.

After lunch, we walked along the sea in hopes of capturing our beautiful scenery while we still have daylight and warmth (winter is fast approaching). You can't deny that St Andrews is beautiful!

And then the grand finale of the day - Rocca Grill. When I left my job in Aberdeen, my co-workers gave me a gift card to this highly acclaimed restaurant which we've been anticipating for weeks. So we got all dressed up for what will most likely be our best meal while living in St Andrews (since as poor postgrad students, we can't ever go to a restaurant this nice without a gift card). THANK YOU to DFS!

Jordan's gonna kill me for this picture!

Now, as much as I wish that I had pictures of the gorgeous food we ate, we were too embarrassed to whip out our camera at dinner. The food was absolutely amazing and stunning (and every positive word that I could think to say about it), and as we made our way through the risottos and braised meats and lobster and salmon ravioli, we decided that Jordan's Goosnargh Farm Duck with Foi Gras, Peach, and Mead was the best plate of food we have ever eaten anywhere.  It's ruined all other duck forever I'm sure. 

Fat and happy, we went back home and watched several episodes of The Big Bang Theory. The perfect ending to a Krisi day. 

Life in St Andrews (And Leek and Potato Soup)

Three weeks ago we packed our few belongings and moved an hour and a half south to St Andrews.  

Above is Jordan's office.

Soon after arriving we were able to watch the local air show.

We feel at home in our little flat which is situated right in the heart of town.

There were fireworks on the beach to celebrate St Andrews 600th anniversary!

I found a local organic farm that delivers my produce for free. That made me so happy! I like to get food from a local farm, not only because it is better for the local economy and healthier (all organic), but  also because it helps me cook in stride with the season. 

Recipe for Alton Brown's Leek and Potato Soup

I would not have normally picked up potatoes and leeks from the grocery store. But they came in my produce bag, so I made a leek and potato soup using Alton Brown's recipe.  I chose this particular recipe, because I was curious that he added buttermilk in addition to cream (something a lot of other recipes did not add). The buttermilk gave it a little tanginess that I thought made the soup much more interesting than a typical cream based soup. I highly recommend it. 

A Conviction to Love - Augustine and Mother Teresa

Words preached by Augustine 1600 years ago have recently become a rich source of conviction and challenge to me. In this collection of homilies on 1 John, Augustine simplifies the believers' task to one aim - the call to love your brother. It sounds simple, but it carries much weight. This IS the fruit of knowing God. If we do not love our brother, we are no different from the demons who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. Faith without love is dead, and love without action is mere words.

Simultaneously, and quite randomly,  I have been reading a biography on Mother Teresa - a little Catholic nun who made it her mission to love "the poorest of the poor" in the world. She held the conviction that "if there were poor in the world it was not because God had made them poor but because you and I do not share enough."The depth of her self-denial and sacrifice unsettled me. But she understood the fruit of her sacrifice, "God has shown His greatness by using nothingness- so let us always remain in our nothingness- so as to give God free hand to use us without consulting us." Her life reads as a beautiful example of Augustine's call to love.

But how can I possibly live out the type of love that 1 John demands?  How does God grow this fruit in my life? Both Mother Teresa and Augustine offer a suggestion:

"If you want to write letters," said Mother Teresa, "you have to practice on a typewriter first; same thing - you want to give love to others, first, give love to your own children, your husband, your wife."

And from Augustine, "How does charity begin, brother? You have heard how charity is perfected, 'Greater charity no one has than to lay down his life for his friends' (John 15:13). When can we have this charity? Don't be quick to lose hope for yourself... nurse it so that it won't be smothered. 'But he who had the goods of the world and saw his brother hungry and closed his heart to him - how will God's love be able to abide in him? (1 John 3:17)' This is where charity begins. If you aren't yet ready to die for your brother, be ready to give of your goods to your brother... For, if you can't give what is superfluous to your brother, how can you lay down your life for your brother?"

Both offer a simple place to start. Sadly, even these acts of love are so often neglected by us believers. We all (from the weakest to the Saints) must pray for God's help. We must pray that His love will find a pathway through our lives to touch the world.

What's Better than Bacon? Duck Fat.

Our tiny gallery kitchen may be impressively small, but recently it punched out huge flavor with Jamie Oliver's Warm Crispy Duck Salad. Cooking duck is a double bonus. In the first meal, you enjoy a tender juicy meat that has roasted in its own luscious fat for hours. But a second meal will undoubtably benefit from the extra drippings you must save as if they were liquid gold (in this case I used the left-over duck fat to roast sweet potatoes another day - that is a winner!)

This particular recipe I am adding to the must repeat pile, and here is why...

It's a salad, so it is crisp and light. But the warm duck on top brings it to another level, satisfying you as a hearty meal. The asian five-spice on the duck pairs wonderfully with the orange dressing and dried cherries. And to top it all off, sourdough bread is soaked in the duck's fat before toasting in the oven. The rich crispy bread served alongside a pile of tender meat drizzled with a light citrus dressing is just a perfect combination.

Recipe from "Jamie's Great Britain" cookbook.

We're Moving to St. Andrew's

Big changes ahead for the Hilleberts!

Jordan's supervisor at the University of Aberdeen, John Webster, has just accepted a chair at the University of St. Andrew's. We were shocked by the news as we had always imagined finishing out Jordan's PhD here in Aberdeen. After much consideration, Jordan has decided to transfer to St. Andrew's in order to continue studying under John Webster. So we will be leaving Aberdeen in September to move to the birth place of golf (and the University where Prince William met Kate).

It's a bittersweet move as it means leaving behind dear friends, but we are excited about living in such a gorgeous Scottish town.

Please pray that I find a new job that I can enjoy as my job in Aberdeen has been less than delightful. And also pray that we find an affordable flat close to the campus as we want to continue to live without the expense of a car.

God has been teaching us much about His sovereignty and our lack of control in our lives over the past few years, and this unexpected move as been another example of Proverbs 16:9 - "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

Here are few pictures of where our new home will soon be...

St. Andrew's is about an hour and half south of Aberdeen.

The University

Oldest golf course in the world!

Favorite Things

What could possibly bring dry shampoo, local honey, bubble bath, tea, macaroons, tart pans, and special seasoning all to the table at once? A Favorite Things party! Last week I hosted a girl's-night-in, and each friend brought an item (under £6) that represented one of their favorite things. We played White Elephant with our loot, and each took home someone else's favorite thing. This is an incredibly fun and unique way to get to know something new about your friends and try their special secrets for yourself.

My contribution to the festivities revealed my secret love of miniature kitchenware. I don't have many mini kitchen items, but I always want to buy them when I see them. When we first moved to Scotland, I had my eye on mini tart pans for the entire first year, but as a poor phD student's wife, I never felt justified in buying them. But one day they were on clearance, so I could no longer resist, and now I adore them! So in getting ready for my girl's-night-in, I decided to buy a set of adorable heart-shaped mini tart pans as my gift offering.


















I really enjoy making tarts - both sweet and savory. Jordan bought me my first tart pan for my birthday one year, and I've been hooked on it ever since. I love how the edges come out perfectly crinkled without any artistic input. I am not one who produces beautiful bake-goods, so I like the fail proof result of the removable bottom.

Sunday afternoon before my party, I turned on some music and started playing with lemons... I made a lemon tart with coconut crust and a few mini Earl Grey infused chocolate tarts.

Lemon Tart with Coconut Crust

Earl Gray Infused Mini Chocolate Tarts

The lemon tart was remarkable. I love this recipe. The fresh citrus flavor hits the spot for me. The Earl Grey tarts did not have as much of an Earl Grey undertone as I was hoping/expecting. If I was to try them again, I would steep more tea bags in the cream to try to draw out that flavor. Even still... if you're looking for a chocolaty punch, try these. The mini versions are great, because they are very rich. 

This game idea would also function well as an ice-breaker for a new group of women just getting to know each other (bible study, mom's group, book club etc.)

In keeping with the theme of this blog (books and food), I've just thought... what if I had a Favorite Things party just for books? Each person brings a copy of their favorite book to share, and everyone walks away with a highly recommended new book to read. I think I love it...




In case anyone is interested, here are the recipes I used for the party plus a few other favorites.

Meyer Lemon Tart with Coconut Crust

Earl Grey Infused Chocolate Tart (note: This crust sounds amazing, but I did not make it this time, as I used the same crust I had already made for the lemon tart.)

Alsace Onion Tart (this is a staple dinner in our house)

Balsamic Onion Tart with Goat Cheese and Thyme

The Pain and the Pleasure of Henry James

Henry James is proof that literary style changes with the generations just like everything else. Most people today would put his book back on the shelf before giving the second paragraph a chance, myself included, until I read The Ambassadors.

As an English Lit. major, I was assigned some Henry James to read, but with long lists of books on the syllabi, he got pushed to the side and skimmed just enough to make it through class.

But this past year I thought I should give him a real chance, so I picked up this dark comedy, James's most acclaimed work, and his personal favorite. It's the story of a middle aged man from Massachusetts who is sent to Paris by his wealthy and controlling fiance to rescue her son from the wild European lifestyle. He was rumored to have taken up with an indecent woman, and his mother wanted him brought back to America to fulfill his duties in the family business. A tale of American vs. European lifestyle, of duty vs. pleasure, of presumptions and assumptions, and the lived vs. un-lived life. James's inspiration for the story came from hearing one of his friends exclaim that, after having visited his son in Paris, he wondered if his life had "passed him by."It's a fascinating study of the American abroad in the early 1900s.

If you jump into this world, you will find yourself immersed in a glamorous story with beautiful and complex characters and unpredictable endings that left his contemporary critics swirling with praise or disdain. But you will also find yourself tripping over abstract nouns, too many strings of "thats," and verbs as states of being instead of action... a grammatical traffic jam. Sometimes you can't decide if it's genius or ludicrous! (I must admit there were a few times I referenced Spark Notes to make sure I had correctly ascertained the action of the chapter I had just read. No shame!) After publishing the work, Henry James recommended reading only 5 pages a day "to let its effects properly set in." Although I find that quite priggish of him, perhaps I should try it on my second reading.

Henry James is hard to read. Some consider him a "futsy literary dictator," but this story is worth the effort. Take it on a beach vacation when you can slow down your attention span and let it absorb and move you. Although according to James's expectations, your vacation would have to be 85 days long.