Listening Hearts: Day 121

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

What is a goal you are currently working on?

Pantry Staples: Oven-baked Rice

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Apparently, I have never fully embraced the possibilities of my InstantPot. Which is mostly okay with me because it makes two things I love so well that it was worth the cost and cabinet space: hard boiled eggs and rice.

But now the seal is busted and because I take essential to truly mean food, medicine, and emergency services, I’m not going to the hardware store to buy a new one. So I had to figure out how to make rice a different way. Stovetop has always produced uneven results for me, plus if I’m making rice, I am usually making other dishes that require me lots of stove space.

But I’ve been making rice in the oven for a few weeks now, at least 3 times per week, and it’s better than I’ve ever made before. Rice requires both accurate measuring and decent technique; thankfully, in this recipe, both are easy.

It also makes a bunch, which I need, because we eat a lot of it. This is enough for 4 people to eat a meal and plenty of leftovers. (For what? Egg-and-kimchi fried rice for breakfast.)

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups rice, soaked and drained or rinsed until water runs clear
  • 2-3 Tbs butter, sliced into pats
  • dash of salt
  • 5 c. boiling liquid: water, almond milk, coconut milk, chicken, mushroom, or vegetable broth OR some combination of thereof (I typically use some kind of milk + chicken broth)
  • Add ins: cashews, rehydrated golden raisins, pistachios, diced carrots, diced onions, diced celery, peas

Directions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Bring salted liquid to a boil.
  • Place rice in a baking dish or Dutch oven. The more surface area, the better.
  • Place pats of butter on top of rice.
  • Place baking dish on oven rack. Pour boiling water into dish.
  • Seal tightly with foil.
  • Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on surface area of the dish and kind of rice. Basmati rice (the most common we prepare) takes the least amount of time, whereas brown rice takes much more.
  • Remove from oven; remove foil, and serve.

Listening Hearts: Day 120

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

What is one happy memory you made this month?

Prayers during a Pandemic: Victims of Anti-Asian Hate

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family is taking time daily to pray about the current global health crisis. Our prayers will likely reference the Christian tradition, but we’ve written with an ecumenical and agnostic audience in mind.

If you’d like us to pray for you, let us know. If you’d like us to write a prayer for you or for a concern you have and share it here, just ask. You don’t have to share your name if you don’t want to, and we won’t share it or any other identifying details about you here or elsewhere.

Today we pray for people who are targets of anti-Asian hate in the US and elsewhere.

Today we pray for all people who have been victimized by anti-Asian hate, especially ethnocentric attacks related to the spread of COVID-19. We pray especially for Chinese Americans, Chinese immigrants, and Chinese international students in the US.

We pray for those we don’t know and for those we do, including [names of people we know who have been victimized or who fear being victimized.]

We pray for people who have been traumatized by hate, harassment, discrimination, and abuse. We pray for them security, safety, peace of heart, the ability to forgive if they seek it, justice, and fairness.

We pray for those who live with the consequences of generations of oppression, those whose lives and whose family trees have been shaped by oppression. We pray for memories of connection and comfort.

We pray for those who live in fear of abuse because of their ethnicity or appearance. We pray for them bravery, protection, and friendship.

For those of us who live without such fear, we pray solidarity with those who suffer, the courage to intervene, and life-long commitments to justice.

We pray for perpetrators of hate, that they would be released from their fears and anger. We hope for them accountability, hearts ready for reconciliation, and opportunities for restitution.

We remember the cruel history of anti-Asian sentiment and policy in American history and recognize the ways that our nation has failed to provide safe haven for those in need or to live up to its promises to Asians and Asian Americans, including the internment of Japanese Americans and others during World War II. We seek correction of our collective past and present failures.

We are thankful for all people of Asian descent, strangers and friends, and hope for them safety and peace wherever they are.

Hung Liu’s Chinese Profile II (1998) shows the profile of a Chinese woman. She large earrings and her long hair is drawn up and held by an elaborate comb.

 

Listening Hearts: Day 119

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

What is your favorite TV show that is no longer being produced?

Listening Hearts: Day 118

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

What is a decision that you made in the past that you regretted?

Listening Hearts: Day 117

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s questions:

What is your favorite springtime activity?

Listening Hearts: Day 116

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

What time is the best time to go to sleep?

Listening Hearts: Day 115

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

Many towns have festivals to celebrate things people love–like hot air balloons or strawberries or broomcorn. What kind of festival would you most like to attend?

Listening Hearts: Day 114

Posted on by Rebecca Barrettfox

Our family has been working on a new daily practice: listening. Active, reflective, engaged listening that says to the other person. My desire is to understand you as you are, not to correct you or improve you or educate you.

To that end, we’ve been writing questions to help us get to know each other better. Some of these questions are serious; many are silly. Sometimes we laugh at things that are meant to be serious, and sometimes our silliness leads us into serious places. Our goal is to publish one each day on our blog. We hope you find them useful, either as prompts to think about yourself or as questions you bring to the car ride or the dinner table. They’re written by all of us, and you’ll see the diversity of our thoughts and interest in them, so in the questions themselves, you’ll get to know us a little better too.

Subscribe to our blog (or follow our Twitter account @familyfoxhole) to have them appear in your inbox or Twitter feed daily.

Today’s question:

Share a memory you have about a tree, trees, or being in the woods.

Image result for trees"