Photo of the Day

 

I took this shot of one of the many minarets here in Jerusalem from the back courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is actually on top of part of the church. They build in layers here in the Holy Land. 

The Augusta Victoria

One of my favorite Sara Bareilles songs has a lyric about "see[ing] the doorways of a thousand churches." I'm beginning to think that by the end of these four months in the Holy Land, I'll break 1,000. No sweat.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from one fot the first churches we visited. This is the Agusta Victoria, a beautiful Lutheran edifice built on top of the Mount of Olives to commemorate Jesus' ascension into heaven. It was built by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II & completed in 1910. It is truly a beautiful building and the acoustics in the chapel are truly awe-inspiring.

 

Random fact: the flights of stairs to the top of the bell tower are comprised of 222 steps. I counted. 

 

The view from the top.

 

View of the top. The ceiling was a combination of mosaic & painting.

You can read more about the beautiful Augusta Victoria here, via Wiki.

I Found You

Some of you may know that my most beloved Carrie VDAkinakanakanakankaannananana came here to the Jerusalem Center just one year ago. Since then, much has changed in her life--her name, her hair color, and, perhaps most significantly, her roommate situation. Last year, I was the one left in the US, pining for my partner in grammatical crime. But this year, I decided to make the trek to the other side of the world, helped greatly by her advice, wisdom, and well-loved guidebook. And despite being surrounded by incredible people & absolutely stunning scenery, I'm definitely missing my Curr'face.

 

We think we're really fun. & we like mustaches. But not on guys. 

But today, something happened that brought my Carrie a bit closer to me. As we went for a tour underneath the Jerusalem Center, we came to a place where students from past semester had written their names on the walls. Hundreds upon hundreds of names were scrawled in chalk & sharpie, but I was still hoping my some miracle that I could find Carrie's name. 

This is a place of miracles. I found her! The inscription now reads, "Kels Holloway <3s Carrie V." 

Luff ju all the way around the world.

I also got to wear a green hardhat. It was pretty exciting.

Old City Tour

 

Here in Jerusalem (I still really like saying that), we celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. So this past Sunday, I went out to explore the Old City. We decided to go on the Ramparts Walk, which takes you along the tops of the walls of Jerusalem. Come along with me on this latest Journey, via photos. 

 

These are my stalwart comrades, Cory & Spencer, posing dramatically on the top of the ancient wall.

 

For those of you who aren't fluent in Latin, translation: Holy Land.

  

Churches and Barbed Rather: Both rather common sights here. 

 

Spencer's Ascension. They'll build a church here, too, in about 200 years.

 

First FALAFEL! I don't know how to say "delicious" in Hebrew yet, but when I do...

 

Toward the end of our day, we made it to the Davidson Archeological Park, which includes part of the Western Wall of Herod's Temple. Here you can see pieces of paper that people have written prayers on  tucked into the cracks in the walls. 

 

Carrying on my tradition of supporting the ancient ruins. This pose is now 17 years strong.  

 

Shot of the Day:

 

White dove flying from the ancient southern arch of the temple. 

Sweet New Digs

uI now live here:

This, my friends, is what you call an upgrade. (I did not take this picture.)


This is the view from my balcony:

This is what you call incredible.

This is another shot of the Jerusalem Center from the road to the Old City:

This is what I now call home.

Dawn from 40,000 Feet

There are few sights in this world that fill me with more joy than watching the sun rise while I'm on an airplane. Although I've seen the sunrise quite often, there's something different, ethereal, and entirely mesmerizing about watching from above the clouds. It truly is awe inspiring. And my now-traditional soundtrack only heightens that sense of awe at the splendor of creation. Someday, when you're on a red-eye flight, forfeit the sleep and wake up to watch the dawning of a new day. It's far more energizing than a few minutes of uncomfortable sleep. And when you do witness this dawn, you must listen to the 5th and then the final movements of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite for the full effect. The combination invigorates the soul.

 

About to touchdown at JFK.

 

I can't begin to describe the pure joy I felt when I had the chance to see a new day dawning from over 40,000 feet a few days ago while on a 10.5 hour flight from JFK in New York to Tel Aviv, Israel. And here I am! In the Holy Land!

Mm mmm, Good!

This soup doesn't really have a story. It's just really, REALLY yummy--exactly what The Gooj and I were craving on a cold winter's night. Roasting the tomatoes before adding them to the soup brings out their rich tomatoey goodness in all its glory, and pureeing the soup in a blender (once you get it going, you'll really want to whip it up) gives it a lush, creamy texture that needs only 1/3 a cup of cream to take it to a celestial soup consistency. You can even make it without the fresh tomatoes--just use three cans of tomatoes instead of two.

There is a lovely picture to go with this, but with a dial-up internet connection... that's not happening. Someday, you shall see. Or make it yourself! It's pretty! And festive! Red soup with green basil just yells, "Merry Christmas!" or perhaps... "Eat me right now!" Both are happy holiday sentiments, don't you think?

Cream of Tomato Soup
Adapted from The New Best Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

4-6 small garden or roma tomatoes, sliced thick or halved

2 (14.5-ounce) cans whole stewed tomatoes, drained, 2 cups juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 green onion, diced

2 small cloves garlic, diced

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
Pinch ground allspice (about 1/4 tsp)

1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can chicken broth or stock

1/3 cup whipping cream

small pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

For Serving

Fresh basil, chiffonaded

Grated cheese

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450°F. Lined rimmed baking sheet with foil. With a strainer set in bowl, strain canned tomatoes, allowing juices to fall through strainer into bowl. Spread tomatoes in single layer on foil. Cut fresh tomatoes to be about an inch thick. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to color, about 30 minutes. Let tomatoes cool slightly; careful peel the skins off of fresh tomatoes (they should come off easily after roasting). Discard skins and transfer tomatoes to a small bowl and set aside. 

2. Heat butter over medium heat in large saucepan until foamy. Add onions, garlic, tomato paste and allspice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Gradually add chicken broth, whisking constantly to combine; stir in reserved tomato juice and roasted tomatoes. Cover with a lid, increase heat to medium, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, to blend flavors, about 10 minutes.

3. Transfer half of the soup to blender and VERY CAREFULLY (it's rather hot soup. Hot soup + skin = ouchie burning.). Start blender very low slowly raise speed; puree until smooth. Place pureed mixture in a bowl and add the remaining soup to the blender. Again, carefully puree until smooth. Rinse saucepan and put both batches of puree back in pan.  Whisk in cream and warm over low heat until hot, about 3 minutes. Do NOT boil. Off heat, season with salt and cayenne. Serve immediately with fresh basil and a little sprinkling of cheese, if you so desire.

Fat Jeremies

I have this friend. His name is Jeremy. The list of adjectives one might use to describe him would likely NOT include "fat." In fact, Jeremy wagered that not even I, with my propensity for butter-saturated cooking, could fatten him up.

Wagers like this cannot be left unanswered. Recipes began bouncing around my mind, each more deliciously fattening than the last. After a few days of bouncing, three recipes had collided into an idea for a cookie with incredible powers of fattening and deliciousness, a sort unhealthy hybrid of homemade oreos, s'mores, and Reese's peanut butter cups.

And so, Fat Jeremies were born.

I double-dog dare you to ditch your diet and try one...or a half dozen.

For the cookie dough
(as adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder(plus 1 tablespoon if you want a bit more chocolate kick)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks)softened unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon water
1 large egg

For cookie filling 

1 1/4 cups chunky peanut butter

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Reese's peanut butter baking chips

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons brown sugar

mini marshmallows, frozen

For caramel topping (optional)

1 can sweetened condensed milk
See this recipe for The Creamiest Caramel--In a Can

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients & mix thoroughly with a spatula. Add butter, eggs, vanilla, and water. With a hand (or stand, if you're fancy) mixer, beat in wet ingredients until dough forms. (You could mix the dough by hand, but you'll probably need a mixer for the filling.) Refrigerate dough for at least 1/2 hour.

In a separate medium bowl, mix peanut butter, butter, vanilla, brown sugar, & peanut butter chips until well blended. Slowly stir in powdered sugar. With a hand mixer, blend until the consistency is even. The filling will still be chunky, since you've used chunky peanut butter & the peanut butter chips. Preheat oven to 350º F.



To build your Fat Jeremies, scoop out about pingpong-ball-sized ball of dough. Flatten the dough between the palms of your hands until the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Place a scoop of peanut butter filling (about the size of a quarter & 1/4 inch thick) in the center of your round of dough. Add three or four mini marshmallows (we used a whole marshmallow, cut in half) on top of the pb filling. Fold up the edges of the dough so that all the filling is covered. (Freezing the marshmallows prevents them from melting entirely & disappearing during baking, so keep those 'mallows cold. When you've built one batch of Fat Jeremies, be sure to put your marshmallows back in the freezer.)



Bake marshmallow side up on a well-greased baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes.



If you're going all out & adding the caramel, drizzle it on top of the cookies while they are still warm. These are fairly tender cookies, so let them cool for at least 8 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.

Fat Jeremies require a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Photo credit to Mr. Jeremy Penrod himself, for whom these cookies are named. 

A Dose of Hope

(with a short preface of grumbling)

This week has been at least 5 months long. And it's only Thursday. So much has been going on that I swear I must be nearing my 22nd birthday. I can feel the wrinkles coming. The fact that I have been eating at Taco Bell may not be helping this premature aging. But those dang crunchwraps are just so disgustingly delicious.

With multiple tests and assignments and design layouts to slog through, I was needing a bit of a boost.  I found this inspirational gem from Dieter F. Uchtdorf on lds.org.

Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time. . ..

Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness. Its absence—when this desire of our heart is delayed—can make 'the heart sick' (Proverbs 13:12).

Hope is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father's merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls.

You can read his entire address HERE – airplanes included.

Each of us go through stormy times in our life. And they say "It never rains but it pours."  They may be right. But what that knowledgeable conglomerate of "them" sometimes forgets to mention is this:

The clouds after the storm are lovely.

gameplan

1 semester in Jerusalem- 15 credits
1 Humanities core class- 3 credits
3 Advanced English lit courses- 9 credits
2 GE courses (Bio 100 & some social science)- 6 credits
1 Humanities capstone class- 3 credits
1 Honors Thesis- up to 6 credits & a lot of blood, sweat, & tears

Jerusalem + 21 credits of class + thesis = honors graduation, April 2012

That's simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying.