About that strange card game last night.
One of you readers wrote:
They are playing a game called The Grizzled, which is a tricky cooperative game about soldiers in World War I. You may be interested to know that the designers used the art of a French artist and cartoonist who was murdered in the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015.
Okay. Now I know a little more about it… except what the heck they were doing. They seemed to know, however.
Continuation of Adventures With Grits .
No, I don’t get it.
The food has been really good.
Dr. Bergsma on Jeremiah this morning. He is, in this moment, probably making a point about grits…. or perhaps modernists.
Meanwhile, I was sent this by text message.
Most of the conference room where we hear the talks. I have met some GREAT priests here. Quite a few have sought me out to say hello. More than one of the younger guys has mentioned that the blog helped them a lot during seminary. It’s been of help to men preparing sermons, and just sorting stuff out. That’s really gratifying.
What our schedule looks like.
I’ll be back. Pastoral nap calls.
UPDATE
In a courtyard they have an apiary! Kudos.
A couple view of the bookstore.
I have one more chance in the morning to identify the African priest who wanted the Summa. Meanwhile, I’m impressed that some of you want to help. You are good people.
Tonight, after the talk by Scott Hahn… among other things he spoke about his experience of the Traditional Latin Mass… Some of the guys were playing yet another board game.
At first I thought it was like Monopoly (the greatest modern game?… trick question… yes) or Risk. No, this is something else.
This ought to spur some conversation.
More later.
BTW.. the talks were really good. It’s just that I’m really tired.
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I really enjoy reading those humorous church signs.
I think I would have posted, “Too Hot to Keep Changing Sign but Remember, Hell is Hotter!”
Dr. Bergsma is very knowledgeable on the Dead Sea Scrolls, too.
Grits and fried chicken livers. Now, that’s breakfast.
Thanks for these posts from the Conference Fr. Z.
acardnal: Good point about Dr. Bergsma, which reminds me he has a book out in September on Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Here is a ten minute video in which a lively Dr. Bergsma looks at Paul, the “Works of the Law,” and how 4QMMT (an important scroll from the 4th cave at Qumran) supports the Catholic faith and not Luther.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=r66eijf_3-M
Just for fun, maybe Dr. Bergsma can have a go at the Copper Scroll 3Q15.
The story behind the discovery and acquisition of the Scrolls, from Bedouin in 1946 to antiquities dealers and others, is interesting. Here’s a link to the 1954 Wall Street Journal ad for several scrolls:
http://cojs.org/classified_ad-_the_wall_street_journal-_june_1-_1954/
“In 1954, the Syrian Metropolitan was still in possession of four large manuscripts. He was unwilling to sell to Israel for political reasons, but had been unable to attract a high enough price elsewhere. In desperation, he placed an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal on June 1, in which he suggested that the scrolls “would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution.””
For us northerners eating grits = being dished up humility.
Grits – mix the butter in there, make sure that there is enough salt to make it yummy, and for the love of all that is holy, do NOT put sugar on grits. ;)
Fr Z says,
Frankly, the complete Summa is only $320 . . .
Do you mean Opera Omnia?
Checking where grits are available in London (UK), I stumble across the comment that grits and polenta are very similar. Same material – cornmeal – but polenta is coaser ground and grittier.
Dee-ah Fotha,
May ah suh-jest y’all do way with the buttah on you-ar grits? Fah too common. Ah am person-uh-lee partial to a teaspoon of pu-uh cane sugah on mah grits. And pu-haps two teaspoons if y’all pre-fuh.
Also, those grits pictured even LOOK bad. They’re too sticky, and the butter (oh the humanity!) has not melted well (is that margarine?) and they also appear clumpy. They’re probably “ instant grits” which is something akin to a “Catholic Jesuit”.
Hilltop is correct. I married a Southerner, so this did not come naturally, Fr Z. I suggest when the opportunity presents, Shrimp and Grits.
The morning hour isn’t made for such fare, in my view!
Well done hilltop.
Biblical Archaeology Review has a Test Kitchen (no, really), its motto: “Eat Like The Ancients.”
The closest thing to grits on the BAR website seems to be something called mersu. Each mersu looks sort of like a big grit. According to the Test Kitchen:
“An exact recipe for mersu doesn’t exist, but archaeologists have been able to reconstruct it indirectly from administrative sources, such as the delivery notice from the Royal City of Mari during the reign of King Zimri-Lim:
(Received) 120 liters of dates
And 10 liters of pistachios,
for making mersu.
Meal of the king,
The 14th of the month of Kiskissu,
of the year that followed
the seizing of Ašlakkâ by King
Zimri-Lim.”
That’s the kind of cookbook I’d pay good money for.
Here’s something our genial host might use for a future episode of Fr. Z’s Kitchen. Tah’u stew is from ancient Babylon, the recipe has several unidentified ingredients.
“This recipe is sparse and does not list exact measurements. It was discovered on Yale Babylonian Collection Tablet number 4644, which includes 24 other recipes. Written in Akkadian, the tablet dates to c. 1750 B.C.
“There must (also) be the flesh from a leg of lamb. Prepare the water. Add fat, [ … ], salt, beer, onions, (an herb called) spiney, coriander, sam?du, cumin, and beetroot to throw into the pot. Then, crush garlic and leeks, and add them. Let the whole cook into a stew, onto which you sprinkle coriander and šuhtinn?.”
One more, Roman Custard. The recipe is in Latin with English translation.
“The only Roman cookbook that has survived from antiquity is De Re Coquinaria (On the Subject of Cooking)…”
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/bar-test-kitchen-roman-custard/
[Kudos]
I’m a Northerner, but I was exposed to grits in Army chow halls when I served. They were never a big deal to learn to appreciate. They do have to not clump up. I have then at home once in a while, served with butter. Never tried scrambled eggs, but that should work as well.
Fr. Z,
Around here (decidedly not the South) we have something called grits that are completely different. Down in Cincinnati it is still called by its German name of Goetta. These far exceed the “southern grits”, which always disappoint in comparison. Certainly worth a try if you can get ahold of some. Best with mustard and a side of molasses bread, or failing that, rye toast.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta
I would be interested to know what Scott Hahn had to say about the TLM.
And, since the main point of interest here seems to be about grits, I have to say, as a Northerner, I ate them when I lived in MS for a year and kind of liked them. Kinda like Cream of Wheat. Butter and salt for sure.
Anyone have a review or recommendation on the book, “The Eucharist” by Lawrence Feingold that is shown on the last photo of the book table?
Grits……num num! As a child I was fed calves brains, scrambled eggs and grits with biscuits. Best.Breakfast.Ever! Sweet home Alabama!
Hilltop:
I’m reminded of My Cousin Vinny–no respecting Southerner would eat instant grits!
The way to do grits is cheese grits. The grits provide texture, the cheese flavor.
If you didn’t know: The von Thurn und Taxis family used to be the post masters in the Holy Roman Empire, having a monopoly on delivering post. They made a fortune with that. Lady Gloria von Thurn und Taxis is still a very wealthy woman today, although her earlier life was quite scandalous.
Speaking of southern breakfast cooking (grits are a staple at Waffle House), it wasn’t until about 2004 I noticed on an east coast trip that Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast for breakfast (common in Washington DC, Pennsylvania, and New York ) is the northern equivalent of Biscuits and Sausage Gravy.
Here in the South, Biscuits with Sausage Gravy sell out fast at home cooking places for breakfast (and is a top seller at Whataburger during breakfast hours). I attended college in Texas, and the dining hall would usually run out of gravy for the biscuits during the week. It’s also a filling breakfast.
The board game is clearly something to do with the Imperial postal system which was operated by the Thurn und Taxis family. We have yellow postboxes thanks to them, and the flag of the German Federal Republic uses their family colours.
This is interesting, it’s Day 3 of the Great Grit Debate and two hardy readers have pitched their Grit Tent in the Sick-Call Sets post. I gotta admit, ArthurH’s first sentence over there reminds me of Gollum. Excellent.
HvonBlumenthal: Thanks for the explanation about the Thune and Taxis game. If there are Mail Knights, Postal Wenches, a jolly friar, and a dragon count me in.
I never liked grits until I discovered that I had only had BAD grits.
Never eat them cold or not freshly made.
Grits made correctly are very very close to polenta. Gritty, not watery or too finely ground, nor clumpy either. Good butter and plenty of salt. And blacken it with plain table pepper.
When you can find the stone-ground grits at oddball stores, or old mills open as tourist attractions, that makes a difference too to start with a good product. Simply boil in water for a very short time and make sure the grits are thick.
Delish. Adding stuff to grits like eggs or shrimp can take away from the intensity of a good bowl of hot grits.
Father Z — scary story out of Japan, as a crazy arsonist attempted to murder everyone in one of the Kyoto Animation offices, splashed gas on some and set them on fire, and then did the same thing to himself. Many animators and directors are missing or dead, or injured with burns and smoke.
Martyrs of Kyoto, pray for us!
Bl. Fra Angelico, pray for us!