Jamaica & Home-Made Insect Repellent

We have been given a trip to Jamaica for our 15th year as pastors at our church and our 25th wedding anniversary, which is coming up. People from our church, our community leaders and the local clergy fellowship went together to do this for us. We feel so blessed, not only to be going but to have such wonderful friends and community.

We've heard insect repellent is a must. Today it's hard for me to imagine needing bug spray. It's raining and 34 degrees right now. They're predicting snow. But by tomorrow night in Jamaica, I might be glad I have some.

I Googled natural repellents and came up with some very effective essential oils. Lavender came up again and again. So did Citronella and Catnip. So here's a recipe I pulled together from several I found.

Insect Repellent:

Witch Hazel (or other carrier oil)
Eucalyptus Oil
Citronella Oil
Lavender Oil
Choose from Cinnamon, Patchouli or Tea Tree Oils

(other good ones include Catnip, Thyme, Rosemary, Cedar, Mint)

Use 8-10 ounces of witch hazel in a new spray bottle. Use 25-50 drops of essential oils combined. The more you use, the stronger it will be. You can play with the combinations to get the scent and effectiveness that you want.

I also read that you can add a teaspoon of vegetable glycerin (available in natural food stores). I think this would help it to mix a little better and possibly go on better.

Now we can be prepared for Summer, rest assured, it WILL come.

Spinach Pie - A Hit Easter Recipe

On Easter, we usually invite people over for the meal after our church service. Considering all that Christ accomplished for us, it's a good day to be with the body of Christ. I didn't count, but I'm sure we had at least 20. It was busy and fun.

Outside of dessert, I think the favored dish was Spinach Pie, or Spanakopita. Even people who don't like to eat their veggies might like this dish! It's a classic Greek food and not hard to make. I was able to make it the day before and then reheat it just before we ate. I hope you enjoy it too.



Spinach and Feta Pie
(Lund's and Byerly's Real Food, Winter 2009)

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 C chopped onion (2 med-size onions)
3 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach thawed and well drained
4 large eggs
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 C (2 ounces) shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 C toasted pine nuts (*see note) [or walnuts]
1 1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter, melted
8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

Place a rack in center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, 3-4 minutes. Spoon cooked onion into a large mixing bowl. Add spinach, eggs, feta and Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, and salt. Season with pepper to taste.

Brush a 9-inch glass pie plate with some of the melted butter. Place a sheet of phyllo dough in a pie plate, letting ends overlap side. Brush phyllo with some of the butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets of phyllo, then spoon spinach filling in center of pie plate. Pull edges of phyllo up over filling to almost cover it. Place 1 of the remaining 2 sheets of phyllo on top and brush it with some of the butter. Cover with remaining sheet of phyllo, tucking ends under to form a round. Brush phyllo with remaining butter.

Bake pie until browned all over, 50-55 minutes. Let pie cool for about 20 minutes before slicing.

*Note: To toast pine nuts scatter in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown, 5-7 minutes. Shake baking sheet once or twice as pine nuts toast to prevent them from burning.

Note: If you make the pie ahead of time, simply reheat in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes to crisp the top.

May God bless you with the blessings of the Resurrection. The Lord is risen indeed!!

The Medicine Wheel and the Cross

 I'm editing my novel, working title: Tall Prairie Vision. It's about a daughter of a Native American Chief and an Irish man who comes to the fictional reservation to teach in the school in the hopes of evangelizing them. He learns a lot along the way. Following is an excerpt from the book where the heroine, Little Feather, teaches a group of students the Native meaning of the medicine wheel.

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  “Ancient tribal people built these symbols all over the Americas.” She placed the rocks in a large circle in the middle of the circle of students. “Each medicine wheel has a cross intersecting in the middle and reaching to the edges of the circle.” She spoke slowly as she placed more rocks inside the circle in intersecting lines. Her words sounded like a whisper and nearly entranced Alex as if her voice carried some kind of magic. When she completed the lines in the circle she sat down in the larger circle with the students. Alex faced her on the other side of the circle.    “We’re sitting here all together in a circle, Right?” A number of students nodded their heads. “No one is above or below the other while we’re in this circle.” Alex looked around, confirming her words in his mind. They all sat on the same level. She continued, “In the circle we are equal.”   “The Medicine Wheel represents this equality. All people are represented within the points of the wheel. We each have a place on the wheel and when we work together as a whole we have health and happiness.”   Alex grew nervous with this line of reasoning. He couldn’t argue her logic, but it missed some important aspects of truth. He wanted to hear more. He wanted to understand Little Feather and her tribe and their way of thinking.    “There are many teachings about this wheel, some differences and some similarities among those teachings, but most believe that the points on the wheel represent all the nations of the world. . .

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The medicine wheel has cross beams inside it to support the outer circle. The outer circle represents all people of the world. In my book Little Feather has a vision of Jesus hanging on the crossbeam bleeding. She doesn't know it's Jesus and doesn't understand yet that he died to take away the sins of the world so we can have fellowship together and be equally accepted into God's presence. 

This Holy Week may we remember the One who bore our sins and sorrows. The one who redeemed us and united us in Christ with people from every tongue, tribe and nation.