what I’m into [april 2018]

aaaand here’s the April round of goodies 🙂

Articles:

• If you wanted to stay updated with what’s going on at my art cooperative, I periodically write (and invite guest writers to join me) on our website’s blog about the workshops that go on in our space, or simply tell stories of the people that have become a part of our community. Here’s one post I wrote about a vocal improvisation workshop that happened 2 Sundays ago (French version also available!).

• Why high school valedictorians don’t really become successful: interesting article my sister shared with me that got me thinking about risk and safety

• I discovered Sarah Quezada, a blogger who writes 31 days of Immigration Stories (she’s a law grad who writes on the intersection of faith, culture and justice). Here’s a piece from here about showing hospitality to different cultures.

• And on the lighter side: here’s Meghan Markle’s list of favorite spots in Toronto and Montreal (yet another reason why you should come visit :D)

Videos:

• TED talk: How the arts help homeless youth heal and buld

• Just started watching this PBS documentary on the history of cancer, based off of Siddharta’s Mukahrjee’s bestseller “Emperor of all Maladies”

• A short little video on missional community

• TED talk: why 30 is not the new 20. Why and how we should seize hold of the precious 20 something years.

Recipes:

• Vegan Cinnamon Rolls – yet another treasure from Minimalist Baker. I was waiting for them to turn brown (not realizing that coconut oil doesn’t turn brown) and so they got overcooked, but still look pretty 🙂

• Blueberry Sage Kombucha

Been experimenting with different flavors in my kombucha, including ginger-lemon and ginger-cardamom, but really like the sage in this one, plus the blueberry adds sweetness 🙂

• Teff Sourdough Loaf

It’s like I’m developing a relationship with this sourdough starter…beginning to understand why some people are simply sourdough fanatics. I made a trip to Bulk Barn this week and picked up some teff flour (literally, Bulk barn has every type of flour…so had trouble deciding, but ended up going with the flour that I least knew because that’s the only way life is interesting right). The result was interesting – teff made the loaf more sour, and gave it a nutty taste!

If you would like to start your own sourdough culture,  here’s a great place to start learning about it. You can make your own starter or find someone near you who is already making one!

• Red Bean Bao

Finally got round to making this baby. Realized I had to tweak a couple of things, like cover the pot lid with a kitchen towel so that the steam doesn’t condense back onto my bao zi, and also that the second proofing is actually important for fluffy buns.

I added some ground black sesame to the dough to make black sesame mantou filled with red bean paste – yum!

Books:

• Grand Central Question by Abdu Murray

Abdu Murray has quickly become one of my favorite apologetic authors – I’m used to apologetics just speaking to my mind, but he has a way of phrasing questions and relating it back to the gospel in a moving and compassionate way that I teared up while reading his book, so moved again by his description of the gospel.

In this book, he goes through the three main worldviews: secular naturalism, pantheism, and theism – and talks about the central question to each of them. I think he did a really thorough job of exploring the issues of each worldview – a thought-provoking read for anyone who wants to have their worldview challenged!

• Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Found this gem in the bookshelves of the Montreal Neurological Hospital Patient Resource Centre and currently working through it. A neurosurgeon, Gawande takes a critical look at the limits of medicine and why we shy away from what is the natural process of dying, aging and being mortal.

• Culture Making by Andy Crouch

This is not a light read. But it’s one that you have to work through a chapter at a time and really digest.

Crouch is a former campus minister at Harvard and writes about how Christians are to interact and intersect with culture (perhaps a pertinent read especially concerning the recent events with HCFA).

I won’t spoil it for you – but what stood out to me was Crouch’s portrayal of Jesus as creator and cultivator, artist and farmer, because being an artist-farmer has been my secret ultimate goal all this while…

Honorable Mentions:

• A new kind of apologist by Sean McDowell – a collection of essays from leading apologetics on how the field is shifting, and touches on various topics from dialogue with Muslims to the transgender

• Union with Christ by Rankin Wilbourne – actually a really good one to go through slowly with a partner, did this one in my change group

• The art of non-conformity by Chris Guillebeau – went through a Chris Guillebeau stage where I read a couple of his books (Pursuit of Happiness is another, plus $100 Startup) but after a while, his message gets pretty repetitive (basically stop sitting around and waiting for something to happen, just go do it). But still, it was good to be reminded of.

Meanwhile, it is warming up over here in Montreal. The ground is unfreezing and the gardens are starting to grow again. The long-awaited spring is finally here. And I am grateful.