Ep. 119: Human vs. Animal & The Desecration of The Imago Dei

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Episode Summary

JR starts talking about their rabbit trying to hump the cats which leads us into a deep dive on the uniqueness of humanity over animals, the desecration of the image of God and some delicious marshmallows and savory popcorn because, well, we roll heavy and light just like that.

Episode Notes

2:06: Homemade marshmallows. Molly talks about current life madness, marshmallow making (blog link) 7:54: Cats wants to eat the rabbit, rabbit wants to hump the cats 12:17: The lion shall lie down with the lamb. The cat shall lie down with the bunny. What did cats before the fall? 15:50: Dogs don’t have a soul, humans are special and conveying that to kids 18:56: Extreme life-saving measures with pets and Our friend’s convo with kids about the violent death of an animal 22:54: Our cultural value on animals vs. humans 25:29: The abolition of man, winsomeness, Carl Trueman and David French, respect for marriage act 31:46: Living in a culture that values animals more than man and fundamentally devaluing of the image of God 32:47: Brian Godawa and the desecration of the image of God 35:19: Cats, wolves, delighting in destruction and Jesus warns about wolves infiltrating hthe flock- their only purpose is to destroy 38:27: Balenciaga ad campaign (theamericanconservative.com), delight in ruining the image of God 46:32: Encouragement in the difficult hardness- you don’t need to do it all in order to see God’s goodness 52:27: Savory popcorn for Christmas parties

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Homemade Marshmallows!

If you have never had a homemade marshmallow, roll up your sleeves and give it a try! They are a delightful treat that should be in a totally different food category than the "marshmallows" you buy in a store. As long as you can tolerate a bit of sticky mess and you have a stand mixer, you can probably make marshmallows at home.

Here's what I do, based on the famous chef Thomas Keller's "French Laundry" recipe:

- put 2.5T gelatin in the bottom of your stand mixer and pour 1/2 c water over the top of it. Let the gelatin "bloom" for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine in a medium saucepan, combine 2c sugar, 2/3 c light corn syrup, and 1/4c water. Bring this to a boil, and then boil it hard for one minute.

Now, slowly pour the sugar mixture into your stand mixer fitted with then paddle attachment (you can use the whisk attachment, too, but I don't think it's necessary, and it's harder to get all of the marshmallow scraped into your pan), with the mixer running on low. Boiling sugar hurts when it hits your skin, so do this very carefully. Once it's all poured in, turn the mixer off and scrape the bottom to make sure you get all of the gelatin mixed in, and then turn the mixer to med-high speed and just let 'er rip for 7-10 minutes. At some point, sprinkle in 1/4 salt.

You'll watch it gradually turn from a clear, gelatin-smelling sugar syrup to a light and fluffy thing that resembles marshmallow fluff. While this is happening, generously smear a 9x13 baking pan with coconut oil (you can use other oils, but I prefer coconut oil).

When your marshmallow fluff looks white and fluffy, pour in 1T vanilla extract and let it mix for another minute. Then, working quickly, pour the mixture into your greased pan. It is extremely sticky, and as it cools, it will become harder to pour and spread. You need to just resolve yourself that you won't get it all off of the beater and out of the mixer into the pan. This is more futile than trying to do it with Rice Krispie treats. I also mix my marshmallows for less time than the official recipe, because the cooler it gets, the harder it is to pour it into the pan to cool.

Let your marshmallows cool uncovered in the pan for 4+ or overnight.

When they are cool, dust a large cutting board with powdered sugar and also sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of your marshmallow block. Invert the block onto the cutting board and prepare to cut your marshmallows into desired sizes. There are a ton of ways you can do this, but here's what I do: I smear coconut oil on both sides of a big knife and cut through as much as I can, cutting into long strips and reapplying the coconut oil as frequently as necessary. At some point, you will probably need to completely wash your knife and start over. Once you have the strips cut, sprinkle powdered sugar over the "raw" edges on both sides - I do this using a powdered sugar sifter, kind of smearing it around with my fingers, and then I use the excess from the cutting board for more dredging, if necessary. Then I cut the long strips into cubes and dredge the raw edges again. I like to leave them sitting, spread apart, on the cutting board to set up for a few hours before sealing them in a tub or plastic bag. Store at room temperature.

You can also get fancy and drizzle them with chocolate or white chocolate and add sprinkles or crushed candy canes on top. I don't recommend coating entirely with chocolate because they will "weep" (kind of like a chocolate-covered strawberry) and get gooey.

Here's an official recipe.

And here's a delightful savory treat to balance out the sweet: Parmesan + Herb popcorn! (but do this recipe with real parmesan and real butter, obvs)

A New Option in the Smart Devices for Kids World

Molly and I are constantly wrestling with how much technology and when to introduce to our kids. Our lifestyle isn't one where the kids are often out and about without us. When they are though, it's so nice to be able to get a hold of them.

For a while we were using Verizon's Gizmo watch but that carried a few annoying limitations- namely the kids couldn't text freely. They could only send preset text messages. Molly and I are big texters and enjoy messaging with the kids when we're away from home or they're on various devices at home. Another complaint I have about the Gizmo watches are their quality. They're cheaply built and plastic and well, kids. One of ours broke and we've gone through several charging cables.

So while right now, we're not really using anything, I was really stoked to hear Garmin released a device for kids that, like the Gizmo, you can get with a texting plan. I've been a fan of Garmin for a while having used lots of their poducts over the years including the Fenix 2, 5s and nav devices. It's called the Garmin Bounce.

I haven't seen one in person, so while I'm sure build quality won't be Fenix levels, I would expect it to perform better than the Gizmo and it's quite a bit cheaper. It has *almost* all the same features as the Gizmo but for less money. One feature it is lacking is voice calling. So if that's important to you, then the Gizmo is probably your jam.

Now, what really intrigues me as the kids get older is Apple's Family Setup they released this year.

What this means, is that you can purchase a Series 4 or higher Apple Watch and add it via Family Setup as a separate device with all the Apple Watch features: voice calling, full text messaging, apps, everything. Naturally, you can drill down and control as much access as you want via Parental Controls. (I recommend checking out Swappa for something used and more affordable.)

I've had a couple Apple watches over the years (the most recent Series 7 is now lying somewhere at the bottom of the middle fork of the Flathead River near Whitefish). They do feel a bit fragile to me but as the kids get older, this option is far more appealing than a full on phone.

One caveat is you generally can't use services like Mint Mobile or Visible Wireless (like we are) with Family Setup services.

Over the coming weeks, we plan to publish more information and resources about consensus moving towards keeping kids out of smartphones until they get quite a bit older as well as an updated parental control resource guide for online activity.