Archives for July 2016

Chocolate Olive Oil Gelato

07.14.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

This is a super-chocolaty, super-smooth gelato for lovers of dark chocolate. The olive oil flavor is pretty subtle, so you can use a stronger flavored oil or add more if you want to really taste it. The chocolate flavor is quite prominent, so choose high-quality ingredients. I used Droste cocoa powder and Madecasse Chocolate Discs.

Ingredients

2½ cups whole milk
1½ cups heavy cream
5 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
½ cup double-dutch dark cocoa powder
4 ounces 72% chocolate bits or broken bars
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coffee liqueur
Pinch kosher salt
3 ounces mild-flavored extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Heat the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the milk starts to simmer. Add the cocoa powder and chocolate and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat.

While milk mixture comes to a simmer, whisk 1/4 cup sugar with egg yolks until light and fluffy. Stir chocolate mixture into egg yolks one spoonful at a time until the egg mixture is very warm. Stir the egg/chocolate mixture back into the pan with the rest of the chocolate mixture. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened. Do not allow the mixture to boil. As mixture becomes thick, add vanilla, liqueur, salt, and olive oil, mixing well.

Transfer the custard to a bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard, and chill completely.

Pour the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s directions.

Lift Every Voice and Sing

07.07.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

Last Sunday, I preached three short meditations on patriotic hymns. I am usually not a fan of patriotism in worship because it runs awfully close to idolatry: exalting our nation above God. I also feel like many nationalist hymns gloss over the sins of our collective past and present. I chose “Lift Every Voice and Sing” because it does neither of these things. After the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police this week, James Weldon Johnson’s song and my reflections seem all the more timely.

Hebrews 11:8-16

These verses from Hebrews spoke to me in a new way when I read them this week from my office here at Eliot Presbyterian Church. I have often thought that Christians should regard ourselves as Abraham and Sarah did: as people passing through this land that God has given us, always keeping our sights set on that heavenly kingdom which is our true homeland. Other great Christian thinkers of our time have reflected that Christians are “resident aliens” in an American culture that claims some Christian identity but has drifted a long way from the path of Jesus. This year, though, I read this text with you in my heart and mind, mindful of just how many of you are or have been resident aliens. That status is not a spiritual experience but an everyday reality that often comes with great hardship and discrimination. What does it mean to say that all Christians – even those of us who enjoy a great amount of privilege in this country – should live like “strangers and foreigners” on earth? What especially does it mean to say that in a multi-cultural congregation as our nation celebrates the 240th anniversary of our independence?

Perhaps the best way is to ask you. For those who have come as immigrants to the United States, what does it mean to be a “resident alien”? Would you be willing to share a story, right now, of a time when you have felt very much like an outsider here? Or, for those of you who have been in the United States for many generations, if you have ever lived in another country, would you be willing to share a story of a time when you felt very much like an outsider there? (Members of the congregation shared stories about: not feeling at home either in the USA or his native country; being harassed by the police in his own driveway; having difficulty connecting with other students in school because of her thick accent; being rejected as a child welfare worker either because of his skin color or accent.)

For people like me who enjoy a great deal of privilege in this country, relating to Abraham and Sarah and the author of Hebrews is to hear these stories of foreignness. For those who know all too well what it is like to be a stranger, we need to hear your stories, and I thank you for the courage to tell them. The more the church grows in our solidarity with the “strangers and foreigners” in our midst, the more we are able to live out the call to remember that this land – as wonderful as it is – is not our true home. We are citizens of another kingdom for which we must continually long for and work toward: the kingdom of heaven.

That is also the reason we sing hymns like Lift Every Voice and Sing. This is a hymn whose lyrics and tune were written in 1899 by African American brothers – James and Rosamond Johnson – to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. In 1919, it was adopted by the NAACP as the “Negro National Anthem.” It became a freedom song of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s (1). Race is never mentioned explicitly, but you can hear the cries of the enslaved under the bitter chastening rod. The blood of slaughtered African American youth like Emmett Till and Michael Brown still cries out from the second verse. If Christians are going to embrace the call to travel through this land as strangers and foreigners, we have to say that this song is our song and the stories of the marginalized are our stories. This is not the cultural appropriation of imperialism but the enactment of the claim that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We live in the spirit of Hebrews when we listen to the voices on the margins or when we speak out from the margins. We do it when we share our bread with the last and the least. We do it when we rally for the rights of immigrants. We do it when, with James Weldon Johnson we lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring with the harmonies of liberty.

May it be so.

Bless Your Hearth

07.01.2016 by Heather Prince Doss //

Long ago, when Israel was exiled to Babylon, the Lord saw the distress of his people and promised: “My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isaiah 32:18). A home is an important place. It ought to be a place where you feel safe, where you are embraced by loving family, where you show hospitality to friends and strangers, where you rest and are rejuvenated to face the gifts and challenges of the coming day.

In the tradition of King David (2 Samuel 7:29) and Saint Brigid of Kildare, we might seek God’s blessing upon our homes that they will indeed be places of peace, security, rest, and hospitality. In my ministry, I have offered house blessings for families who are moving into new homes and hoping that their homes will be just that kind of place. We walk together through each room of the house, read a verse or two from the Scriptures, and offer a prayer. The children participate by repeating each prayer, line by line. I share these verses and prayers with you now so that you, too, might seek God’s blessing upon your home and family.

For the entryway, foyer, or front porch

Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. -Deuteronomy 28:6

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. May this be a place of rest and of play, of love and of peace. Bless all who pass through this doorway when they come in and when they go out. Amen.

For the living room and/or dining room

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:1-2

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Grant them generous and hospitable hearts that they may share your love with friends, strangers, and even angels. Amen.

For the kitchen

Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need. -Proverbs 30:8

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Grant that they might have enough bread for each day, and enough faith to trust you for tomorrow. Feed them with food for their bodies and food for their spirits. Amen.

For the master bedroom of a couple

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. . . .If one offered for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly scorned. -Song of Songs 8:6-7

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Seal the love between this couple and ignite their passion so that nothing may destroy their bond. Grant them a love for one another that exceeds every other love except love for you. Amen.

For a bedroom

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. -Psalm 4:8

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Help them to trust you amid all the worries of the day so that at night they may sleep in peace. Grant them protection from every outside danger that they lie down in safety. Amen.

For a child’s bedroom or playroom

Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. -1 Timothy 4:12

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Bless the children who sleep and play in this room. Give them confidence that you have given them special gifts and talents, and help them to be an example of love and faithfulness among their friends. Amen.

For a bedroom or closet

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. . . .Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love. -Colossians 3:12-14

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. When they rise each morning help them to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, grace, and love and so reflect Christ to their neighbors. Amen.

For a bathroom

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; . . . Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. -Psalm 51:1-2, 10

Lord, bless this house and the family who lives here. Remind them each day as they wash their faces that through Jesus Christ you have forgiven their sins and renewed their spirits by your Holy Spirit. Help them to live joyfully as your redeemed and beloved children. Amen.

In closing, I share with you the prayer of Saint Brigid of Kildare, a woman remembered for her work alongside Saint Patrick for bringing the faith of Jesus Christ to Ireland. She is honored for her work among the poor and for her healing miracles. This prayer is offered in her name:

May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell;
Bless every fireside every wall and door;
Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof;
Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy;
Bless every foot that walks its portals through.
May Brigid bless the house that shelters you. Amen.