Devshirme

Last week in New York City there was a meeting of all the Orthodox bishops of America, from all the canonical jurisdictions.  The idea was to get the ball rolling on creating a framework for an eventual American Orthodox church.  You can read the statement of what was done at the assembly here.

This is a picture of Raphaela kicking it in an Adirondack chair in her godparents’ yard.  Note the Jedi top-knot.

1 can (14oz or so) Alaskan wild sockeye salmon, w/ bones

1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, ground pepper

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 c water

1 cup quinoa

1 tsp veg. bouillon

1/3 bunch parsley, finely chopped

1/2 lemon, juiced

Bring water to boil with bouillon.  Add quinoa.  Reduce heat, simmer for 12 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Drain salmon, remove larger bones leaving smaller ones (high in calcium).  Place in large bowl.  Add quinoa and remaining ingredients.  Mix well, form patties, and refrigerate at least 10 minutes.  Bake, broil or pan fry until medium brown, regardless of cooking method.

Yesterday we filmed a segment for Coffee With Konnie at the Cathedral – specifically,  right outside the front doors of the church.  Nick. B, Nick M. and I sat and chatted with Konnie Lukes and had a grand old time.  The subject was the festival and all that goes into it.  It was cool filming outside on what really was a perfect day.  The show will air next week at its usual times – check out the website.  It is hard to believe we are less than two weeks away from the Grecian Festival!  The Office Angels were doing a mailing at the same time as our interview, and the camera man thought it would be nice to get a shot of them showing off some of the products of their baking.  The ladies were reluctant to go on camera at first, out of modesty, but after much hemming and hawing, and nagging from me, they were filmed and all had a splendid time.  Here is a picture that I snapped:

Fr. Peter (who was recently elevated to the status of hieromonk by Archbishop Nicolae – Axios!) has a post on so-called Ephraimite monasteries and a website out of Chicago set up to warn of the dangers associated with them.  The comments section of the blog is especially lively.  I fairly recently visited one of these monasteries.  All there were very hospitable, but I did notice that everywhere I went and everyone I met mentioned how our Metropolis as yet does not have a monastery.  I did not appreciate this line of suggestion, but I noted that we indeed have monks and sisters who are active in our Metropolis but  no monastery, and, well, things are just fine.

The program book is up on Sarah’s blog – check it out.  All involved did a great job – Sarah spearheaded the effort with four young children, including a newborn, at home – unbelievable!  The original content is fun and the ads are beautifully set out – advertisers definitely got their money’s worth and more.  Printed versions will be out soon as well.  Hard to believe the Grecian Festival will be upon us in just a few weeks.

Today was spanakopita and tiropita making day at the Cathedral in preparation for the festival.  A number of Philoptochos ladies, ably helped by some of the men, convened at 9am to begin the process.  I remember in the seminary a priest came to speak to us and he started out by saying something like “we (our archdiocese) are great at making baklava but not at spreading the word of God”.  I was so mad when I heard him say this; I know what he meant, and I get it, but he didn’t understand that we do these things because we love the church.  In any case, feeding the people is surely acting in the image of Christ!  Our volunteers will do anything for the church and are tireless.  And our Grecian Festival is a wonderful outreach to the greater Worcester community.  Back to pita…The group made around 120 pans of spanakopita and 60 of tiropita.  Here are some highlights:

Mrs. Singas works on the feta

Mrs. Stefanakos and Rubina’s mom brush the phylo

Hard at work in the kitchen

The final product

After all of the hard work, the ladies and some of the men came back this evening to pack up the sheets, after they had cooled off, and put them into the walk-in freezer.

Saturday I went over to Mike Barris’s house for a blues jam and some BBQ.  For you northerners, BBQ is not throwing burgers and hot dogs on the grill but rather the fine art of cooking and smoking meat and then serving it with slaw and the chef’s signature sauce.  It is really a southern art, with many regional variations, but Mike is a master, despite his northern habitat .  Mike is also part of the world of competitive BBQ, which is a very, very serious thing.  He is a master at this but he does have a secret weapon: the Cretan culinary gene.  I am convinced Mike’s Cretan roots are what put him over the top as a BBQ master.  Here is a recipe, in his words,  for the sauce he served with his delicious BBQ the other night:

Krazy Kretan’s Basic BBQ Sauce for Barbecue Pulled Pork

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 small can of concentrated tomato puree

1 to 1 ½ cups of brown sugar (depending on taste)

2 tablespoons of barbecue rub (can be your favorite – it usually includes some combination proportions of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cayenne, and/or chipotle pepper)

One of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft stories, The Whisperer In Darkness, is soon to be out as a movie.   I have been trying like crazy to figure out how to actually post the trailer here but I am still not familiar enough with this new software, so you will have to check it out here.  The first guy speaking (playing Charles Fort) sounds exactly like one of the voices on South Park but I couldn’t make the connection based on the IMDB entries.    I am a huge HPL fan; I have read all of his fiction, some of his poetry (much of it is rather dreary and some is incredibly racist), and not enough of his letters.  I am not a fan of his dream fiction but his “weird fiction” or horror stuff is tremendous and not your typical fare.  Movies made from his stories have generally been awful, though, mainly due to too much change or trying to make the stories humorous.  The Cthulhu Lives gang has begun making films true to the original stories, and I have great hopes that these movies will be good.  The trailer is definitely promising.