The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 2013 Page: 4 of 10
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4 The Baytown Sun
Viewpoints
Friday
February 15, 2013
Super slow
cooker Sunday
This Sunday is the
five-year anniversary of
Canvas Church Houston
in Mon-
grega-
_ tion has
EMILY be,e!J
macbanpeb
p 0 t -
luck dishes to share
with everyone during a
post-worship feast on
Sunday.
Now, my pastor, Chris,
is a very kind-hearted
individual. He seems to
have trouble asking peo-
ple to do things for him,
but in this case it was
very necessary.
After service this past
weekend, we all began to
file out. Chris ran to the
door and stood in front of
it. “No one leaves before
we talk about the pot-
luck,” he said.
“How many of you, by
a show of hands, have a
Crock-Pot?”
Many hands shot up,
mostly female. A few,
lesser-domesticized pa-
rishioners, grumbled to
their neighbors - I guess
they’ve yet to see the
miracle of the slow cook-
er.
He explained that our
makeshift church in In-
terfaith Ministries does
not have a kitchen that
will be available to us to
use for heating up cas-
seroles and other warm
potluck fare.
And no one wants to
eat tepid hashbrown cas-
serole.
“Those of you with a
Crock-Pot, cook some-
thing in it and bring it.”
One practical church
member said, “I’ll bring
surge protectors!”
Praise the Lord.
I’m picturing slow
cooker city. And I think
cookbooks from the 80s
couldn’t be happier.
But herein lies the
problem. As any proper
young nester does, l own
a Crock-Pot. And, as
any proper young nester
does, I never use it.
Take all day to cook?
That takes a lot of plan-
ning. And CP recipes al-
ways make a ton of food.
But Pastor Chris said
it, so l will Crock-Pot
cook.
I know church is sup-
posed to be about fel-
lowship, but I know that
the. purpose of a potluck
food function is to figure
out who is the best chef
of them all.
It’s a chance to be in
a community, but more-
over it’s a chance to es-
tablish the hierarchy of
cooks for special events.
I want to win.
Anyone who has at-
tended these such events
- and it doesn’t have to
be church, it can be work
events, baby showers,
funerals, quinceanaras -
knows that these events
are the food Olympics,
with the gold medal be*
ing a guest of the event
asking for your recipe.
Game on.
I met with a chief head
council of entertainment
cooking at the home of
the most gracious Mrs.
Rose Marie Thomson in
preparation for this Sun-
day. Now, she and other
lunching mates' thought
we were meeting to dis-
cuss my speaking en-
gagement with Thursday
Forum next week, but in
reality I was mining for
Crock-Pot recipes.
Our lunch was an in-
dulgent spread of chick-
en salad, baked cheese
grits, homemade pickles
and deviled eggs and tea
that never stopped flow-
ing.
I knew I’d come to the
right place.
When the conversation
arrived at the Crock-
Pot topic, the waters got
choppy. There was no
immediate consensus.
A taco soup? A meat-
ball? A dip?
The council conferred
that a taco soup would be
the way to go.
Then, I threw them
a curve ball. I wanted
something heartier that
could be eaten on a plate,
not in a bowl.
What about a pork loin
roast? That could serve
the masses, was fairly
easy to prepare and could
be cut into easy to serve
portion sizes.
The pork did not seem
right.
Then, I had a moment
of potluck clarity.
I would serve spaghet-
ti.
But not just any spa-
ghetti. Dad’s spaghetti.
Oh yes, this was the
answer! He’d sent me
the recipe earlier this
week and I could prepare
it Saturday and bring it
to be kept warm in the
Crock-Pot for Sunday.
1 brought the idea be-
fore the women.
“Yes,” they agreed,
“that will be fine.”
I’m happy with my
choice and as I’ve con-
sidered it throughout the
week I’ve come to the
conclusion that I should
also bring garlic bread.
We’ll see how it goes
over at the fifth anniver-
sary on Friday.
But in the meantime,
here’s Dad’s spaghet-
ti recipe. Let me know
what you think:
Macrander Spaghetti
'A lb. ground beef
'A lb. Italian sausage
A cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms
sliced
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
10-12 oz water
1 tsp sugar
1 tbs oregano
ltsp basil (if you have
fresh basil, use a table-
spoon)
Salt 'A tsp
Pepper 'A tsp
Brown meat in a skil-
let. When pink is gone,
add onions and garlic.
Cook until opaque. Add
mushrooms. Cook un-
til moisture is mostly
gone. Add remaining in-
gredients. Reduce heat to
simmer. Cover partially
so that steam can escape
but you reduce splat-
ters. Cook until a rich
thick sauce (about 30-40
minutes)
Congratulations to
Chris and the rest of the
Parrott fanyly for starting
a little scrappy church in j
Montrose five years ago
and putting the faith in
God to keep it going.
And to Mrs. Thomson,
that was lovely chicken
salad. Would you mind
sharing the recipe?
Emily Macrander is :
the desk editor at The
Sun. She can be reached j
at viewpoints@bay- \
townsun.com, Atten- j
tion:Emily Macrander.
OTM1CS.C0B1 w
No Stairway to Heaven
One of the joys I have in life is
playing at open mics around Houston.
I’ve gotten to meet some incredible
musicians and made some new good
friends.
There is a certain ritual to an open
mic. The crowd has to wait for the
host to arrive. Then those who wish
to play have to sign the signup sheet
which doesn’t go out until the host ar-
rives. (In the church we call it the “rit-
ual of friendship”- or the “attendance
register”)
There usually is a Tip Jar. (In the
church we call it the Offering).
There are the ground rules:
1) You have to be there to sign up.
You can’t call in your name or have
someone sign up for you.
2) The host of the open mic does the
first set.
3) Sets are limited to 3 songs or 15
minutes, whichever comes first, (you
don’t have to do three but you have to
do at least one song or poem etc.)
4) “No Stairway to Heaven.” Yes, 1
know that Led Zeppelin recently were
recipients of Kennedy Center Honors
and that song was one of the main rea-
sons, but ever since the movie Wayne’s
World that had a sign that said “No
Stairway to Heav-
en” in a music store
that has become a
rule at most of the
open mics I have
played. (I do like to
mess with the host
from time to time
and play Amazing
Grace to the tune of
Stairway to Heav-
en. I’ve found that
Amazing Grace can
be played to just about any tune.)
One of the things I like most about
open mics is that they are open.
Whether you are just starting out or
you’ve been around the musical block
you all are welcome to join in the joy.
(In the church we call it “making a joy-
ful noise.”)
I’ve been talking to the folks at Faith
and we’ve decided to try hosting an
open mic in Baytown. I’d like to get to
meet some of the musicians that live in
this part of the world. We have asked
Handsome Bob Bridges, who plays all
around Houston but lives a few bicycle
blocks from our church, to be our host.
I’ve also asked a friend of mine, John
Jackshaw, who is a standup comic.
to come and treat us to his humorous
views on life. Chip Oliphant is also
going to be playing for us. Deanne
Cummings is going to read some po-
ems in observance of Black History
month. With this column, I’m invit-
ing YOU to come and share some of
your music or poetry or art or comedy
with us on Sunday night, February 17
from 7-9 p.m. for our first ever “Holy
Grounds Coffee Cafe" at 3900 North
Main in Baytown.
We’ll provide coffee and cokes
and goodies. Handsome Bob will be
coming from performing at the Yepez
Vineyard that afternoon so, like other
open mics come a little early and get in
line sayou can sign up when he arrives
with the signup sheet. 1 look forward
to hearing anything but “Stairway to
Heaven."
Rev. Dr. Jim Gill is the Interim
Pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church
at 3900 N. Main in Baytown. Tex-
as 77521. See www.baytownfaith.
com for more information. See www.
handsomebob.com for more informa-
tion about Bob. For more information
about John Jackshaw see www.john-
jackshaw.com see www.jimyill.org for
more about Jim Gill.
It’s time for community to rebuild
It takes more than one person to
build a house. It requires the partici-
pation of others with the same goal in
mind. They work toward that goal as
a unit, even if their skills vary. They
work until the job is complete. But a
builder must complete the foundation
before moving on the construction
of the rest of the building. We each
are gifted with our own skill. Just as
a carpenter likely could not route the
plumbing of a house, we must work
with in our own skill sets.
Our communities work in the same
way. Within a community we are each
specially gifted and need to use those
skills together to make change within
the community. We talk about building
strong communities. For that to hap-
pen, a person with a vision who can act_
as the architect to lay out the blueprint
must step forward. Following that
leader, a team is formed that consists
of the community members willing to
work in their field of expertise.
But an epidemic has broken out in
o(ir community called .‘division.’ A
community will never reach a com-
mon goal if it is divided.
This takes place in every area of
lives. Division can creep up in our
schools, the workplace and even
churches. It’s impossible to work to-
gether if we’re working against each
other. Division doesn’t happen be-
cause we’ve run out of options. It hap-
pens because we just haven’t chosen
the right ones.
I know very little about sports. 1 do
know that you wouldn’t tackle your
own team member if he’s trying to
make a touchdown. If your teammate
scores, it is the team that earns the
point, not the individual.
Here’s another one. The Price is
Right is one of my favorite game
shows. It’s not the host that makes the
game fun to watch. It’s not even the
contestants. The audience makes the
game because, if you notice, even if
their name isn’t called to be the on the
show, they continue cheering and cel-
ebrating for the ones who are chosen.
I pray I don’t offend anyone, but in
some cases, we’re not the one cho-
sen to be on the show. Instead, we are
called to be the audience.
We live within several communi-
S0NIA
BARRETT
ties - work, family,
church and more.
Some communities
are closer than oth-
er. Some even share
your DNA. share
the same blood run-
ning through your
veins. Some are
family and share
the same parents.
Some are more dis-
tant, like coworkers. Sometimes you
see your coworkers more than your
own children, but would rather see
them fall, than to see them get ahead.
The sad part is that in each of these
communities you’re supposed to be on
the same team.
You will never be a success by your-
self. It takes the participat ion of others
and teamwork.
The Bible declares that we are to re-
joice with them that rejoice. Jealousy
and competition can lead to division.
If you hang around people who are
sick, you are apt to catch their illness;
it is because of the environment you're
in. So, the sickness then becomes con-
tagious and can begin to spread. Be-
fore long, it has become an epidemic.
If you are sick, you should seek
treatment. If you are jealous and com-
petitive, the antidote is called change.
It breaks my heart to see so much ha-
tred, strife and violence in our commu-
nities.
Our children, who are our future, are
being attacked, molested and snatched
away from us at .the hands of lunatics
and people that are suppose to protect
them. We’ve all heard the saying; it
takes the village to raise our children,
but how can that happen when the
whole village is screwed up?
Sometimes I notice as I pass by pub-
lic schools that there more police cars
than cars that are reserved for faculty.
That is depressing. There was a time
that school and church were the safest
places to go. But now our concern is
that has changed. Trust has been over-
taken by tragedy and faith has been
overtaken by fear.
Why?'
It seems we can’t trust people in
authority and we are afraid to send
our children to the same places that
are supposed to provide spiritual
guidance, wisdom, knowledge and
protection. Fear steps in because we
don’t know if people in authority are
teaching our children appropriately, or
touching them inappropriately.
In our churches, we hear sermons
about the needs of others.
Then, after worship, we see people
on the street comers are pacing back
and forth wanting change. Where can
they go where we won't turn them
away?
Sometimes these people just want to
hear, “God loves you.”
I believe in the church community.
I believe in tithes and offering and
sowing seeds. The act of obedience is
biblical and it takes finances to oper-
ate and run a church facility. But don’t
confuse tithing with paying off God.
God doesn’t need our money because
he’s already rich. But giving money
and being committed to the things that
are right has more value than money. I
truly believe that is what puts a smile
on God’s face.
Some people treat church like Las
Vegas and declare if they give a $100
God will make them a millionaire by
next Sunday. But on Monday when
their lights are cut off, they are sur-
prised that church they gave money to
isn’t there to bail them out.
There was a time when the only
weapon we took to church was the
Holy Bible, but now, because of fear,
the Bible has been replaced with a gun.
Change; change can bring about
unity and unity can bring forth love
and love can bring forth prosperity.
My prayer is that we can come togeth-
er to rebuild and change our commu-
nity, instead of letting our community
change-usr“"
From the author: This is an original
document. Plagiarism is against law. If
phrases or quotes are used or given in
a speech, contact the columnist.
Sonia Barrett lives in Baytown. She
is a community activist, mom, hairstyl-
ist and church organist. Barrett start-
ed the Christian-based Priceless Prin-
cess and Prince program that helps
adolescents navigate pressures and
temptations of the teen years. She can
Be reached at sunnews@bctytownsun.
com, attention: Sonia Barrett.
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Yanelli, Adam. The Baytown Sun (Baytown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 34, Ed. 1 Friday, February 15, 2013, newspaper, February 15, 2013; Baytown, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1065752/m1/4/: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Sterling Municipal Library.