Month: May 2019

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The Chance, by Karen Kingsbury, 2013, Howard Books (Simon & Schuster)

Have you read any of Karen Kingsbury’s books? They are published under the category of FICTION/Christian Romance. I ran into a list of her novels while researching publishers for the novel I have been working on. Then I found several of her books in our church library. I took out this one because it seemed to be the most similar to my own book.

The Chance refers to a chance that two childhood friends create for themselves to meet together on a certain date later in life. Their young friendship is suddenly ripped apart by the protagonist’s father moving her far away from her hometown. She loses touch with her best friend and also her mother, and ultimately with God. Her father’s military outlook on life and faith and obedience, while seemingly serving him well in his career, are counterproductive when it comes to his own family. The young girl, longing for some love in her life, falls for the wrong person and finds herself a single mom at the age of 19. While she succeeds in her own strength to make a way for herself and her daughter, deep in her heart she longs for her old friend and her mother. Her daughter comes into a childhood faith and begins to pray for her mother. One thing leads to another, and eventually relationships are restored and forgiveness takes place.

Similar themes in my own novel are around family issues and teenage pregnancy, as well as the power of prayer, plus the happiness and joy that can be found in spite of mistakes and failures, in fact even as a direct result of those mistakes and failures! All is not lost after all, despite how one may feel for a period of time.

A novel of hope, faith, forgiveness and love, dealing with out-of-wedlock pregnancy, anger, lost relationships and restoration.
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The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, 2003, Anchor Canada (Random House Canada)

A gripping historical fiction novel, revealing the history of Afghanistan from 1975, before the Shah was overthrown until 2002. The protagonist starts out as a young boy in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1975. His father, a wealthy and generous entrepreneur, is able to bless many others. They live in a lovely home with a garden large enough to also contain a small shack which houses their servant and his son, who are Pashtuns and Sunni Muslims. The Pashtun people are typically servants to the Hazara, Shi’a Muslims, considered a lower class, and openly discriminated against. In this case, however, there is a close personal tie between these two fathers and sons. It is not until near the end of the almost 400 page novel that the true nature of their relationship is revealed.

Kite running was an annual competition in Kabul in which young boys made and flew kites held by glazed strings. Competitors would cut down others’ kites with these glazed strings over the course of several hours until finally only one was left flying. Kite runners would run after that kite and whoever retrieved it where it came down would take it home and mount it on their wall. Sounds like an innocent game but it reveals the evil natures of some and the extreme faithfulness of the servant/friend of the protagonist.

Through this competition and other, increasingly more adult and horrific events over the years, the author skillfully brings out themes of human relationships and connections and human nature, including jealousy, power struggles, kindness, deep regret, redemption, and relationships with God. The changing political powers in Afghanistan cause living conditions for all to progressively worsen as evil and fear grips the country.

Ending up in America, the protagonist and his father are reduced to poverty, but by persistent hard work together they make their way. Life is not easy and America is not heaven. There is poverty of spirit until truth, regret, and life-threatening cleansing redemption occur.

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The Girl They Left Behind, by Roxanne Veletzos, 2018, Atria (Simon & Schuster)

So many striking personal histories have come out of World War II! This one, though fictional, is based on the young life of the author’s mother, and includes a few photos and a short account of her real story at the end of the novel.

The author grew up in Bucharest, Romania, where most of the story is based. The story begins in 1941 when the protagonist is not quite 4 years old. Jews are being rounded up and sent to death camps. Her parents make a run for it, but decide that in order for all three of them not to be caught and killed they will have to leave her somewhere with the hopes that kind people will take her in.

This does happen, and the author takes us through the ensuing growing-up years of the child’s life, happy and sad and scary, and the changing times Bucharest goes through politically and culturally.

The reader gains insight into the realities of things that went on and ways that the war affected individuals. Throughout the story hope is prevalent and the author spares us from the most horrific depths of what humanity sank to in this war, yet alluding to some of the possible outcomes had her characters not been spared the fate of many.

Prayer, faith, and acts of compassion and bravery by individuals from several factions are what worked together to save this young girl time and again.

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Aged Nut-based Cheese, recipe and photos contributed by Monica Sturgess

Supplies:
  • high-speed blender
  • measuring cups and spoons
  • small glass bowl
  • cuisine mold rings: 4″ for camembert or brie, 3″ for bleu
  • plastic container with lid to hold the cheese
  • oven paper
  • bamboo or plastic mat with holes cut to fit plastic container (to aerate the cheese)
  • fridge
  • paper towels
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
  • 1 inch square of rind from cheese (brie or camembert etc.) or some mold from bleu
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt (to add 3 days later)
Starting the Cheese:
  1. First soak the cashews overnight or for at least 5 hours.
  2. Then drain and cover with boiling water for a minute or two to kill bacteria and drain again.
  3. Blend cashews with water, coconut oil and cheese rind or mold on high speed, scraping down the sides until mixture is smooth and thick. You may need to add a bit more water, watch not too much. This could take up to 10 minutes to get the right consistency.
  4. Transfer mix to glass bowl. Cover with cling film. Let sit at room temperature for one day to start fermentation.
  5. Refrigerate for about 4 hours to chill.
  6. Wrap mold ring with cling film so that the cheese mixture will not touch the ring itself. Place ring on top of bamboo or plastic mat, covered in oven paper. Press cashew mix into the mold using a spoon or piece of cling film. Cashew cheese mixture should be touched as little as possible.
  7. Place the mold holding the cheese on the mat and oven paper into the plastic container with lid and refrigerate at 52-56 degrees F or 11-13 degrees C. A wine fridge is ideal. A regular fridge is cooler, so takes longer to age.
Aging the Cheese:
  1. For the first few days wipe off any condensation from the inside of the box. On day 3 carefully remove the mold and sprinkle the salt on top, bottom and sides of cheese and change the oven paper.
  2. After that continue to wipe off condensation from box and flip the cheese every day to allow for maximum aeration. Mold should begin to form after 5-7 days. Try not to touch the cheese with your hands.
  3. Camembert and Brie type cheeses should be ready after about 3 weeks and will keep for a month in the fridge.
  4. For Bleu cheese, follow steps 1 & 2 above to start. After 2 weeks scramble the cheese and reform it in the mold. Then remove the mold and continue as in step 2 for 3 more weeks. Bleu cheese keeps for 2 months in the fridge.
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Beacon Drive-in

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Beacon Drive-in

An old-fashioned take-out restaurant situated across the road from Beacon Hill Park, we must go here for a milkshake whenever we visit Victoria!  The food and shakes are home-made style, with the tastiest of flavours!

Order your food at one window and pick it up at the other window and take it to a table on the patio.  Enjoy the sun, sheltered from cool breezes by a plexiglass wall.  If your dog is with you just sit at one of the tables on the other side of the plexiglass.  For drizzly days there is an awning that comes out over a heater above.

The menu includes such traditional Canadian staples as fish and chips, hot dogs, corn dogs, and all varieties of burgers.  I am told they have the best hamburgers in town!