Book Review: Nuts & Bolts, A Practical, How-to Guide for Explaining and Defending the Catholic Faith

Wow, that's a long title for a book. For the rest of this review, I'm just going to call it "Nuts & Bolts". Some friends of ours lent us "Nuts & Bolts" by Tim Staples about a year ago. I let Nuke borrow it, and only recently did I decide I would read it myself.

Why did I decide to read it? Well, I went to a session on prayer with one of the Priests at my church. We got on the topic of continual conversion, and he emphasized that we have to work on changing our habits in our lives if we are ever going to become the type of people God wants us to be. So, right after that, I started reading from the Bible and praying every morning...so far I've done fairly well with that, though I've missed a few days. But, my evening routine was still the same...get my work done, relax in front of the TV, watch TV in bed, maybe remember to say my prayers, toss and turn for 30 minutes, then fall asleep.

About 2 weeks ago, I was in the middle of some serious insomnia, so I decided to try reading, but I didn't want to read a "fun" book, because that would just get me wired up. I had "Nuts & Bolts" on my bedside table, so I started reading it. I read about 1 to 2 chapters a night, and I found that it put me in a calmer mood, helped me to be more prayerful before bed, and I was falling asleep faster. Now, I'm trying to make reading an educational book a constant part of my nighttime routine.

Now, on to the book review. "Nuts & Bolts" is a good, beginner, Catholic apologetics book. I think if you are predisposed to be Catholic, you will agree with most everything in this book, and be excited that there is Scripture to back up the things that Catholics do (Reconciliation, Prayer to Saints, etc.). However, I can also see why Nuke wasn't convinced. Tim Staples sets up really good straw man scenarios throughout the book, but frankly, those in the "arguments" with his characters don't put up much of a fight.

If you are a Catholic who doesn't know the Scriptural basis for the things you believe, read this book. If you have an inkling that you might be predisposed to being a Catholic, read "Nut & Bolts" by Tim Staples. If, after reading it, you think, there might be something to this Catholic thing, talk to your local Parish RCIA coordinator.

Movie Review: Robin Hood

Wow, did this movie stink! I couldn't believe how bad it was. "Robin Hood" only rates 1.5 stars out of 5, and only gets 1.5 because I didn't shut it off halfway through. I can't believe accomplished actors like Russel Crowe and Cate Blanchett are capable of making a movie that is this bad. There is no flow to the plot, and the characters are very wooden.

Here's how the movie went (semi-spoiler alert):

-I'm Robin and I'm an archer for King Richard on the crusades.

-Oh, King Richard, your crusade is a bad idea.

-Dang, now I'm in the stockades, but I'm going to escape and run off to my own selfish devices.

-Oh, hey dying guy on the road side. What's that? You want me to take your sword to your father? Ok, I'll do a complete 180 on my plan and do that.

-Here I am in Nottingham. Hey dead guy's father, here's your sword. What's that? You want me to pretend to be your son so that when you die Marion gets to keep your land? Ok.

-Marion, we should hang out.

-Now I'm acting like a noble and doing noble things. Guess I better go tell King John why he's screwing up.

-Oh, now I'm back in Nottingham and I saved it from the bad guys. I better tell Marion I love her.

-Off to fight another battle.

-Woohoo, we won the battle and I'm the hero. King John loves me.

-King John declared me an outlaw? Ok, well, I guess we'll go live in the woods with some random kids that showed up 3 times in the movie.

It was like this needed to be a 4 hour movie, but they cut it to 2 hours. This has to be the worst editing job I've ever seen. Skip this movie!

Cheese Soup

I don't remember when I first had cheese soup, but for some reason, I think it was in Victor, SD at a restaurant my grandparents used to take us to when we'd visit. Though I don't remember the time, I do recall that it was a life changing experience. Ever since that day, I've had cheese soup whenever I've had the opportunity.

One thing I had never done was attempt to make cheese soup because I didn't cook. Well, now I'm cooking, so I decided to make a cheese soup. I found a recipe at allrecipes.com and went with it. I did modify slightly (who doesn't) but only very slightly.

Creamy Cheddar Cheese Soup (serves 6):

6 strips bacon
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups milk
1 pound shredded Cheddar cheese (recommend 1/2 lb. mild and 1/2 lb. sharp)

Directions
1. Cook the bacon, chop and set aside.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook until flour has blended with onion mixture.
3. Add chicken broth and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is slightly thickened. Add milk and heat just to boiling, stirring constantly.
4. In covered blender at medium speed, blend about 1/4 of soup mixture at a time until smooth. Return to saucepan and, over medium heat, heat just to boiling. Remove from heat.
5. With wire whisk or slotted spoon, stir in cheese until melted. If cheese does not melt completely, cook over very low heat about 1 minute, stirring constantly.
6. Add bacon and keep over low heat for 1 minute.

Add pepper to taste at the table.

This soup was outstanding. Very creamy, very rich and the bacon just adds a little something extra. It was even better the 2nd day. I ate mine with oyster crackers. We had some mixed veggies with it, and my wife dumper her veggies into her soup and she said that was really good. Veggies in cheese soup just seems wrong to me, but I guess, to each his/her own.

The best thing was, this wasn't a hard soup to make. I was really concerned that the cheese would get clumpy, but it didn't. What I'm finding is that cooking, in most cases, isn't nearly as hard as I used to think it was. Knock on wood that this will continue. We will make this one again.