Each week (give or take one or two here and there) I share three things I like – It could be a book, a movie, a podcast, an album, a photo, an article, a restaurant, a food item, a beverage, or anything else I simply enjoy and think you might too. You can find a whole pile of things, especially books, I like and recommend HERE.
1. Irish Setter Boots
I live in the squishy middle between outdoorsy guy and plain old suburban dad. I have documented my love for flannel shirts and pocket knives and various camping/outdoor equipment, but I live on a cul de sac and commute to a city for work. I wear jeans but not jorts. I hate polo shirts and crew neck sweaters. I own no cammo and no firearms. And I keep my phone in my pocket, not in a belt holster. All this to say, the place of work boots in my life threads a narrow needle. I don’t need them for real, actual work but I do enjoy looking like I am ready to build something or tear something down. My feet prefer comfort to protection. And I generally need to looks slightly more white collar than blue. Irish Setter boots thread the needle perfectly. They are comfortable, rugged, and sharp looking. They last a long time (especially if you don’t wear them on actual job sites) and are worth the money. I wear mine to preach, to hike, to conference rooms, to split wood, and to the grocery store. They are the ideal boot for the ruggedly suburban man.
2. Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Let me begin by saying that if the first thing you think of when you see this is that swill Panera Bread makes, I pity you and am here to enhance your life a bit. Growing up in Minnesota, I became accustomed to this as a staple food during the colder months (which is to say, often). In general I am skeptical of soup as a meal because it simply isn’t very filling; it’s like deciding to be on a liquid diet for a meal. But chicken and wild rice soup is not a delicate soup to be treated as an appetizer. It is hearty and rich and filling. You can keep it really simple or pack it full of vegetable and spices. It is the kind of soup that sticks to your ribs and breeds nostalgia and cravings (a thing no one has ever said about lobster bisque or gazpacho). It pairs especially well with some good fresh bread of almost any kind. As we settle in for the doldrums of winter, here is a proper comfort food for body and soul.
3. Churchill by Paul Johnson
Almost nobody in history is interesting enough to read 600+ pages about and even those who do make the cut are rarely written about with much verve or style. Frankly, long biographies are almost always painfully dull. Winston Churchill was interesting enough to deserve a lengthy biography (though maybe not so many volumes as William Manchester has produced), yet brilliant historian and writer, Paul Johnson, has done readers the delightful service of writing a short and gripping biography. In under 200 pages he manages to communicate the essence of the man, the low points, the high points, the accomplishments, and the failures. He leaves the reader satisfied, but not over stuffed, and in a position to dig deeper if one really wants to. This is the most enjoyable biography I have ever read.
