Shauna Niequist’s Chocolate Mousse

October 18, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. If you click through to Amazon, any purchase you make supports Primitive Roads (with no extra cost to you!)

Sometimes good food photos just don’t happen. Despite the fact that I didn’t have time (or the lighting) to take pretty photos of this delicious dark chocolate mousse, the recipe needed to be shared.

Our Bread and Wine group/book club/study (not sure what to call it) met on Wednesday for another wonderful evening of fellowship around the table. I was in charge of the sweet ending to our Italian meal. My default desserts are generally heavy on the gluten, which doesn’t work for a couple of wheat intolerant gals, so I was going to go with sorbet to finish off the evening until I perused the recipe index of Shauna’s book.

I love meeting and eating around the (mismatched) table with these women!

Just the name, Simplest Dark Chocolate Mousse, had me convinced, then I looked up the recipe and was further convinced by the short ingredient list: dark chocolate, honey, and heavy whipping cream. Not only was this absolutely gluten-free, but it was easy too!

The honey offered a pleasant sweetness to the mousse but didn’t compete with the intense chocolate flavor. If you weren’t a huge dark chocolate fan, milk chocolate would certainly work.

A dollop of freshly whipped cream is the perfect foil for such a rich dessert. I waited until just before serving to add big clouds of lightly sweetened whipped cream to the tops of the mousse. The chilled mousse has a fudge-like consistency. If you wanted a lighter texture, take the mousse out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

I doubled the recipe to feed our 10 person group and had one serving left over to feed my hubby after youth group. Shauna suggests putting the mousse in juice glasses, but I don’t have 10 of any type of glass except for mugs and tea cups. So, I opted to serve the mousse in my pretty tea cups.

My baking sheet isn’t the prettiest background but worked well to corral all of these tea cups in the fridge.

Simplest Dark Chocolate Mousse

adapted from Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist

1 quart chilled heavy cream, divided
2 (12 oz) bags dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup honey

In a saucepan over low heat, stir together 1 1/2 cups cream, chocolate chips, and honey until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.

While the chocolate mixture is cooling, beat 1 1/2 cups cream to soft peaks in the bowl of an electric mixer. Fold cream into chocolate mixture in two additions.

Divide mousse among 12 glasses or ramekins (or teacups!). Refrigerate until set, about two hours.

Before serving, beat the remaining cream to firm peaks. (I always add some vanilla and powdered sugar to the cream intended for whipped cream). Spoon whipped cream on top of each mousse.

Serve plain or with berries.

Yield: 12 servings

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My People plus Bread and Wine Discussion Guide for Part One

October 16, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 2 Comments

My trip to New York last week was more than just a week with family (which was wonderful). It was a time to be with my people, as Shauna Niequist would call them. The Ideals, my Bible study group from when I lived in California, decided to have a Fall retreat at my parent’s place and there was no way I was going to pass up the chance to a. go to New York again and b. spend time with some of my favorite women! It was refreshing to laugh, study Psalm 31, and do autumnal things together, even if it was just for a few days.

I’ve never been one to have a large group of friends, just a few really tight ones. Maybe that’s why I really resonate with Shauna when she talks about “her people” in Bread and Wine. They are the close ones. They are in the muck and mire of your messy life – cheering, crying, correcting.

Since I like consistency, I struggle with the fact that some friendships are seasonal. Not seasonal in a flaky way, but seasonal because life circumstances change. Aside from my one life-long friend, I met my first people in college. Kayla, K, Nat, Brit – these women did life with me in a very formational time. One of the worst parts of graduating and moving back to California (I attended William Jewell College) was knowing they wouldn’t be daily part of my life. Even though I keep in sporadic contact with them, I know God gifted them to me for a specific season.

Getting older doesn’t make the seasons in friendship easier. I’m thankful that despite another geographic gap, my California people are still my people from afar. I could call (most likely text since I hate talking on the phone), or email them for any reason and I know they’d be there with prayers, ears, and a virtual hug. However, it’s important to be known where you are, too. Finding your people isn’t easy. And it takes time. I fee like I’m in the in between, loving and missing my people (who will always be my people) and in praying for people in the present.

Here’s an expanded discussion guide for Part One of Bread and Wine. (Read the original post if you were wondering why the heck I’m writing a discussion guide for this book).

PS: Shauna talks a ton about her people, especially in What The Table is For.

Digging Deeper into Bread & Wine – Part 1

And, in case you missed it: Digging Deeper into Bread and Wine- Introduction

Happy chatting!

Who are your people? Have the seasons of your life influenced who your people are?

Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. If you click through to Amazon, any purchase you make supports Primitive Roads (with no extra cost to you!)

October Twitterature

October 15, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 15 Comments

It’s been awhile since I linked up with Anne for Twitterature. Much of my reading the past few months has been rereading… I read the Harry Potter series again and Tim and I just started reading The Chronicles of Narnia aloud before bed. I’ve only read two new books in the meantime.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I can’t stop talking/thinking about this book! Examines all angles of an introvert’s inner workings and how they function in an extroverted world. A must read for introverts; worth the read for extroverts. #INFJ

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Writer and star of The Office riffs on her childhood, love life, and time in NY. A couple chuckles. No gaffaws. A decent read for my 12 hour day of airplane travel, but not as funny as I was hoping (and certainly not worth buying). #funnierontv

Currently Reading

A Beautiful Mess: A Perfectionist’s Journey Through Self-Care, which I only got half-way through earlier this summer.

Bread and Wine a second time for a book club.

Emily Freeman’s A Million Little Ways will be in my mailbox this Wednesday!

Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. If you click through to Amazon, any purchase you make supports Primitive Roads (without any extra cost to you!).

Dig Deeper Into Bread and Wine

October 2, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 10 Comments

My cousin introduced me to Shauna Niequist when we were in college. I devoured Cold Tangerines and then eagerly awaited Bittersweet. It’s difficult not to be enveloped by her voice; it’s like having coffee with a long lost pal. Conversation runs deep, touching at the most vulnerable parts of your soul without feeling invasive. Reading Shauna’s books is both inspiring and convicting, sacred and authentic. All of them are a pleasure to digest.

For the next eight weeks, a friend and I are hosting a small group to digest Shauna’s latest book, Bread and Wine. The book is truly meant to be devoured – physically (the recipes are wonderful) and emotionally/spiritually. There’s a great little discussion guide included in the back, but Bread and Wine is much meatier than space allowed for that guide. As I began to read Bread and Wine for the second time, I couldn’t stop the “ooo, I’d like to discuss this and ask someone that” type thoughts running through my head. I realize not everyone loves to dissect their reading material, trolling for discussion topics. However, I DO!

Since Bread and Wine is such a fantastic book to chat about with a group or reflect on by yourself, I wanted to share my expanded discussion guide thoughts with you all. I hope they inspire you to dig deeper into the themes and topics found in Bread and Wine and that maybe they give you the confidence to grab a group of gals to dig deeper with you! I’ll be posting these (as PDFs) once a week (ish) along with some other resources to complement that particular portion of the book.

Today, we’re starting with the introduction.

Here are the PDF’s to all the discussion guides:

Digging Deeper into Bread and Wine- Introduction

Digging Deeper into Bread & Wine – Part 1 discussion guide

Bread and Wine discussion guide, part 2

Bread and Wine Discussion Guide- Part Three

Bread and Wine discussion guide – part 4

Have you read Bread and Wine? What helped you to dig deeper?

And here’s some fun extras…

The Power of The Living Room – a sermon Shauna gave at Willow Creek Community Church about many of the same themes found in Bread and Wine.

Disclosure : Amazon Affiliate links included in this post. If you click through to Amazon, any purchase you make supports Primitive Roads.

A Few Good Things

September 4, 2013 ~ Emily ~ 3 Comments

Because of our vacation and getting back into the swing of things when Tim and I returned, I didn’t get to do a “What I’m Into” post (what I call Primitive Pleasures on the blog) this month. I did want to pass on a few good things from August, though. So, here they are!

{Tim and I – BG under sweatshirt – in New York)

App

Tim started using Pocket, an application (phone, tablet, and computer) that I would characterize as Pinterest for the written word. I often find things via Twitter and the like that I want to read but don’t have time to at that exact moment. Generally, I favorite, bookmark, or email the link to peruse later. I either forget about it or clog my inbox with emails to myself. With Pocket, you can save virtually anything (not just blog posts) your run across on the internet for later. You don’t even need internet to look them over. Even better – you can collate them into categories with customizable tabs.

Books

Friends from church gave us Waiting In Wonder by Catherine Claire Larson and it is just wonderful. It’s now on my mental list of things to give to all expectant mothers. Every week of your pregnancy, Catherine shares what’s going on biologically as well as emotionally and spiritually. There’s a memory verse each week and four more devotions for that corresponding week. The questions that go along with each devotional are fun and thought provoking – a great way to document your thoughts and feelings throughout a pregnancy.
I’m reviewing Quiet by Susan Cain for Kindred Grace’s A Peek Into Your Personality next month and am totally hooked. I won’t go into detail since I’ll be writing a whole post on the book, but whether your an introvert or extrovert, this one is worth reading.

Recipe

Around where my parent’s live in New York, most people have their own version of Chicken Riggies and Utica Greens – or at least a favorite place to get them. A friend of ours found a delicious recipe for Chicken Riggies via Taste of Home which we ate while in NY and made again last night for dinner. Imagine chicken, peppers, onions, and pasta in a tomato-cream-sherry sauce that’s a bit spicy and a whole lot of good… Fair warning: this recipe makes a TON!

For Fun

Tim and I met Jon Acuff!!! (author of Stuff Christians Like, Quitter, Start etc.)

I thought I saw his doppleganger get on our flight our of Spokane ahead of us and it turned out to be him. Tim did some quick sleuth work to confirm our suspicions and since I was already locked into my seat, I tweeted at him. Here’s what ensued…

Don’t worry, all of this tweeting was done BEFORE the flight took off. I was too embarrassed to get up during the flight to introduce myself so I thought I would just have this conversation to share with others. We wondered if he was heading home or on to another speaking engagement. My husband is an excellent internet detective and after the plane landed, he discovered Jon’s from Nashville area and there was a flight from Vegas (our layover) to Nashville departing 30 minutes after our arrival.

Long story short – we saw that his gate was on the way to ours, tracked him down (in a, non-stalker way), and introduced ourselves. We stood there debating whether to interrupt him since he had just put headphone in, but I’m glad we did! Jon is a SUPER nice guy and chatted with us until he had to board his flight.

Moral of the story: Tim and I really aren’t creepers, I promise.