Even though this isn't a cooking blog (part two).

I expected adventures when I moved to Atlanta. I just didn't know they would look like this. I didn't anticipate wrestling spinach to shreds, wielding my wooden spoon in an onslaught of popping oil, beating down billowing clouds of flour. But here I am, breathing in the garlicky breadcrumbs and the roasting chickpeas, saying "grace, this is grace, all is grace." And then we're sitting around a table together and we're laughing and the tears come too and we're saying "grace," all together now. We're believing that this love we're experiencing, leaning into, working our tails off for, is grace.

"The grace of God means something like: 'Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.'" -Frederick Buechner

This was dinner Tuesday night. Further proof that eating on $2.41 a day can be healthy(ish) and taste so. dang. good! Thank you Pinterest for the beautiful photography (and recipes, of course).

Spinach Burgers
1 1/2 c. cooked spinach (fresh* or thawed+drained)
2 eggs
1/4 c. diced onion
1/2 c. shredded cheddar
1/2 c. breadcrumbs
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder
oil (for frying)

Mix all ingredients but oil. Heat oil in skillet over medium. Using 1/4 c. measuring cup, scoop mixture into skillet and cook burgers 4-6 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. Serve on quartered pita bread. Sweet chili sauce was a popular topping. Makes 4-6 burgers.
*If spinach is fresh, saute it (cooking spray works well for this) in batches until you have 1 1/2 cups cooked. It usually ends up taking about 2/3 lb. uncooked.

Cucumber Salad
1 1/4 c. water
1 tsp salt
1 c. bulgar
1/4 plain yogurt
3 Tbs olive oil
3 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp pepper
4 c. halved+sliced cucumber (approximately 2 cucumbers)
1 15.5 oz. can chickpeas rinsed+drained (optional: roast them in olive oil and oregano for 20ish minutes at 425 degrees)
1 Tbs dried oregano

Boil water and salt. Turn off heat. Stir in bulgur. Let stand, covered, 20-30 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Uncover and let cool. (Hint: spreading it out on a cookie sheet makes it cool much faster.) Whisk yogurt, oil, lemon juice, and pepper. Toss everything and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Makes 8 side servings.

Applesauce Oatmeal Cake
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
2/3 c. butter, melted+cooled
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c. honey
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp apple pie spice (or pumpkin pie spice, or cinnamon)
1 c. applesauce
2 c. oatmeal (I like 1-minute oats)

Preheat oven to 350. Whisk sugar and eggs. Whisk in butter and vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and spice. Alternate mixing in flour mixture and applesauce, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in oatmeal. Bake in greased bundt pan for 55-60 minutes. (I used two loaf pans and reduced the cooking time.) Serve with whipped cream, powdered sugar, or applesauce (applesauce tasted perfect... yet another great excuse to eat cake for breakfast!).

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The cake recipe happens to be perfect for when those itty-bitty black ants invade your white sugar. For some reason they don't touch brown sugar or powdered sugar. Anyone else had an issue with those recently? Are they just part of Georgia's summers?

On my bookshelf

"Rhythms": MissionYear buzzword number three.

It comes right behind intentionality (which is either the guiding principle of my life OR the word most likely to make me vomit) and community (we build it, pursue it, create it, promote it, define it, and struggle to separate it from pasta dishes). Of course, you get bonus points for using "intentional community." Or you get eye rolls. One or the other.

But, rhythms. I think we use that word because it sounds gentler and freer and stronger than "schedule." It brings images of hearts pumping, chests swelling, tides ebbing. And "respect the rhythms of the house" has a nicer ring to it than "show up for devos at 6:30 SHARP, PEOPLE." But euphemistic as it may be, the idea of rhythms has been pretty central to our exploration of life in Atlanta.

The first "beats" of our days ARE those 6:30 devos, times set aside to reflect on scripture, poetry, songs, art as a little community. (Ha, "community"... two extra points for me.) Then we settle into our quiet hour. There have been days enough where I've opened my Bible at random. Put my iPod on shuffle. Grabbed a new and unfamiliar book from the shelf. I'm grateful for those mornings, the ones where Onesimus and Simba and Janie Crawford awaken me to the Holy One in our midst. 

But if I'm honest, as days here sashay and strut or sometimes wriggle and squirm by, I need to read and pray words that keep me grounded. I need to sit with the thick books that make me focus my attention long enough to be transformed.  I need to pray the prayers of that great cloud of witnesses, the prayers that have been swirling around in the mists of our planet through many loops around the sun. I need to hear the language and stories of my childhood, the ones reminding me that "grace hath brought me safe thus far," the ones making me trust that "grace will lead me home." So I open my Bible, and I open these books. They stay on the makeshift bookshelf between my shoes and recipes, between my head and heart.

Gates of Prayer: the New Union Prayerbook. I found this Jewish prayerbook in a little bookstore in San Marco. I love that the prayers in here point to God's presence in nature, in doubt, and in community.

The Jesus Storybook Bible. This is a story about a God who transforms a world with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love. And on the days I lose sight of the fact that this too is the narrative of the Bible, my whimsical storybook reminds me to take few steps back and look again.

Total Yoga. So I don't fall back asleep. And because it's hard to read or pray at all if I'm forgetting to breathe! Yoga reminds me of what a powerful and beautiful thing my body is, and gently prods me to treat it kindly.

Overweights of Joy. Amy Carmichael's experience adjusting to life in India helps me process my life here in Atlanta. She uses lots of plant imagery and draws from a deeply intimate experience with the Divine. These words floor me, inspire me, center me: "Guard against depression. Bear evenly with all that is uneven. Never be shocked out of loving."

Baptist Hymnal. It's the second and third verses that get me every time. Current favorite is Be Thou My Vision.  (Related: Red Mountain Music.)

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What's been on your bookshelf recently?