Tower Bridge and Italian Toast

I once walked across Tower Bridge in London and because I am afraid of heights, halfway across I wanted to turn around and go back. Or better yet, walk down the middle of the bridge, which supports car traffic in both directions, and take my chances with the metal monsters zooming by. I did not, of course. I trudged on and even managed to look over the side of the rail without taking a detour to Davy Jones’ locker.

I consider my walk across Tower Bridge one of the best things I have ever done because besides confronting this fear, I saw up close the remarkable and inspiring beauty of the structure and construction of that bridge.

It’s just all that air that swirls around in between the bridge and the Thames below that gets me.

Today I am facing another bridge, only this one looks quite a bit less secure than Tower Bridge, and a lot higher up, too. It looks more like this:

 It must be crossed.

This is the last day of work for my husband at his job. He is joining the ranks of the unemployed, the first time in 31 years, which is our entire life together. As with most people in this situation, I do not know what will happen.

I always knew our lives here in Southern California were temporary, so we never bought a house, just rented. Although we still own a house in Tucson, we also have good tenants with a lease so we cannot return there. I cannot say where we will live. This is the first time I do not belong anywhere.

It would almost be too easy to become paralyzed with fear over this when I am able to see the rushing water far below. Those planks do not look very secure, either, especially for a big girl like me.

Still, I have under my right hand a secure rope railing, something the Holy Spirit told me just yesterday. “The tomb is empty,” He said.

Yes, the tomb is empty and the work is done. Now I, like the Apostles, have to do my part. They went back to their occupation of fishing before they began the job of evangelizing the world. I have to do what I know to do:  clean the house, pack boxes, think, pray, write.

Under my left hand is another secure rope railing, a scripture my friend Linda Kay was inspired to give me. It is 2^nd Timothy 1:7:  God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Yes, this is scary; but as I grasp my secure rope railings, I take a deep breath, and step out. I have not yet found my footing, but I am not paralyzed by fear, either. Actually, I believe this is what freedom feels like. Scary, yes, but exhilarating, too.

Bruschetta

My friend Alice gave me this recipe and it so reflects who she is:  neat, tidy, spare. As with most people, however, Alice has another side, a huge spirit. She is loyal, steadfast, strong. Alice loves Harry Potter and came across the country to watch the last installment of The Deathly Hallows with me at my local IMAX. It was wonderful because watching it with her was like turning the last page of a beloved book together. We had enjoyed the series from the beginning together and now we could say goodbye to Harry together at the end. That was a gift.

Hey, Alice, let’s hit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the one in Diagon Alley, before we go to the movie, ok? I have a coupon for U-NO-POO.

Here's the recipe card:

 Card Ingredients:

1 sheet olive green cardstock cut into these sizes:  (1) 6-inch square, (2) 5- by 6-inches, and (1) 4½- by 1-inch

1 sheet shiny gold cardstock

1 sheet matte gold cardstock cut to a 6-inch square

1 sheet matte light gold cardstock 

1 sheet good quality white paper

1 sheet shiny gold paper (lighter weight than cardstock) for cutting out letters

1 sheet tomato red cardstock

1 sheet matching decorative paper cut to 4½- by 5½-inches

1 scrap of leaf green (for the tomato stem)

1 sheet plain transparent overlay (nothing printed on it)

Lettering, about ½ -inch high for lowercase letters

8 small eyelets

1 stamp of olives and leaves

Black embossing powder

1 small leaf punch

Twine

Single-sided strong tape to be used as hinges, about ½-inch wide

Although this card seems complex, it is simple, so do not get discouraged. There are just a lot of steps. Here we go:

In the first steps you will construct the recipe card “book” and pages.

1. Out of the middle of the 6-inch matte gold and olive green squares cut a square approximately 4¼-inches by 4¾-inches. Set them aside.
2. Print the recipe on the matte light gold paper. I used Lucida Calligraphy font size 12 for the recipe and font size 14 for the title. Now cut the recipe down to about 4½-inches by 5¼-inches. It does not have to be exact.
3. Lay one of the smaller pieces of olive green cardstock down on your work surface right side up. Butt the piece of shiny gold cardstock right side down against the olive green cardstock so the top edges are touching and the sides are lined up. Tape the pieces together so they are like pages and can open and close.
4. With the “pages” open, lay the 6-inch square piece of olive green cardstock right side down on top of the shiny gold piece so its top edge is butt up to the top edge of the smaller olive green cardstock. Be sure it is centered. Tape the pieces together so that once again they are like pages that can be opened and closed. You should have three pages.

Now it is time to put together the inside pages. The point of doing it in this order is to hide as much of the tape as possible, so the hinge is on the inside, sandwiched between the papers.

5. Secure the recipe printed on gold to the back green page.
6. With the green cardstock square placed (or turned) so it is face down, secure the matte gold cardstock with the center cut out to it, lining up the edges.
7. Cut a squashed circle out of the red scrap of cardstock so it mimics the shape of a tomato. Use a green scrap to make a stem. If you look at the picture you will be able to see what it looks like.
8. Punch four holes for eyelets into the square cardstock and into the tomato, just as it shows in the photo.
9. This part is only a bit tricky. Hang the tomato into the cut-out with string. Be careful you do not hang it too tightly as it will distort the paper.
10. Secure the decorative paper to the second piece of smaller green cardstock, then secure both of those to the back of the shiny gold piece of cardstock. I found a stamp of olives and leaves and embossed that onto the decorative paper. You do not have to. I just thought my paper was a bit plain.

Ready for the front page? We are nearly done.

The front is meant to look like an olive oil tin from the company, Antica Italia, as you can see from the picture. On the front of its tin the company uses this image, which I downloaded  from the Internet. It is easy enough to find since it is from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, called, The Creation of Man.

11. Print the image, The Creation of Man, onto the good quality white paper and crop to about 3⅞- by 5½-inches.
12. Secure the Bruschetta lettering to the bottom of the image. I cut the letters out of lightweight gold paper with a Quickutz and they are about ½ -inch lower case.
13. On the transparent overlay, print in olive color font size 14 Arial:  Extra Virgin Olive Oil, centered ½-inch from the top, and Net Contents 1-inch from the bottom, justified right. It will help if you set your margins for 3⅞- by 5½-inches, the same as the downloaded image and the finished size. You should experiment first with a sheet of typing paper to make sure you get the correct placement for your text.
14. Secure the image to the shiny gold piece, centering it. Be sure you line the image up at the bottom. The top will fall a bit short.
15. Secure at the top only the transparent overlay. Again, line it up at the bottom and the top will fall a bit short.
16. Add the leaf.
17. Line the small piece of green cardstock up with the top of the card and secure it.
18. Add the Antica Italia lettering.
19. Take a deep breath and admire your work.
20. Send your email address if you have questions.

Here’s the recipe:

Bruschetta

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¼ cup olive oil

8 ounces cherry tomatoes

1 loaf artisan bread such as Italian bread or ciabatta, thickly sliced and toasted

3 ounces feta cheese, sliced or crumbled into little chunks

Fresh basil leaves, chopped

Steep garlic in olive oil at least one half hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash and stem tomatoes and cut them in half. Put tomatoes in a shallow dish, pour olive oil and garlic over and toss lightly. Bake ten minutes; sprinkle with chunks of cheese and chopped basil. Stir gently. Drain liquid.

Serve on toast.

Alice’s note: This recipe yields lots of servings.