Friday after Thanksgiving; how to use those leftovers in Friday food

This blog post is really for the Friday food topic, but I'm posting it the day before Thanksgiving so that my readers can plan ahead if they want to with some of these ideas.

With a Friday right after Thanksgiving, it's kind of hard seeing all those leftovers in the fridge! But here are some tasty ways to use up some of them, and still have a meatless Friday.

potato Pancakes with leftover mashed potatoes:
For every 2 cups of mashed potatoes, add 1 egg and three tablespoons of flour in a mixing bowl, and mix until all ingredients are just incorporated. In a skillet on medium heat, melt some butter or drizzle some cooking oil. Plop the potato batter into the skillet by the ladleful, press down to flatten a bit, and after about 3-5 minutes, lift up an edge to see if the underside is golden brown. When golden brown, flip gently, then cook until that side is also golden brown. Don't make the pancakes too thick, or the insides will not cook thoroughly. Pile onto a plate, kept warm in the oven or microwave, and serve just as you would traditional pancakes.

Green bean casserole omelet:
Beat three eggs together with a teaspoon of milk, until you start to see a little bit of frothiness (beat briskly for about 2 minutes). Have melted in a pan on medium heat, 1 tablespoon butter (or some olive oil). Pour the egg mixture into the pan and let it cook until you can easily begin to lip up the underside of the omelet (about 4-5 minutes). The top will also have started to cook. When eggs are ready, spread about 4-5 tablespoons of leftover green bean/cream of mushroom soup casserole onto half of the omelet. If you have some of those crispy fried onions, they are a very nice addition as well. Fold the empty half of the eggs over the green beans, and press gently down. Turn heat to low, and keep cooking until the green mixture has heated through. Gently lift out and serve, or split between two people.

If you are trying to cut back on the meat products at Thanksgiving, try making a vegetarian gravy, which you can then use on Friday to spread, hot, on warmed slices of bread for a satisfying lunch.

Vegetarian Gravy:
In a stainless steel pan (non-stick pan will not work), heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil. Chop one medium onion, four cloves of garlic, 2 shallots, and 5 or so white or crimini mushrooms, chopped into very small pieces. Saute everything but the mushrooms in the oil, until carmelized (i.e. you have nice brown flavorful stuff sticking to the bottom of the pan), then add the mushrooms and cook until tender. Lower pan to low heat, remove half of the onions/garlic/shallots with a slotted spoon (or all, if you don't want them in the finished product) and discard, remove the mushrooms and set aside, then add enough oil or butter to the pan to make the amount of fat in the pan equal about 1/4 cup. Have ready two cups of vegetable broth, hot (you can either use commercial vegetable broth, or bouillon cubes), or a mixture of half vegetable broth, half beer, or dry red wine, your preference. When all the fat in the pan is hot, stir in with a whisk, 2-4 tablespoons of flour, stirring constantly and scraping up the brown, carmelized bits from the bottom and sides of the pan, and keep stirring for several minutes afterward so as to remove the raw taste of the flour. Add the hot broth slowly, whisking constantly, and cook until the gravy is thickened to the desired consistency. Stir in the mushrooms, and serve.

Okey doke everybody! Have a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow :-D

How to make a spritual communion and why it's important

Even though we would LOVE to be able to go to daily mass and receive Jesus' Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity as often as we can, for Trads these days, it is almost impossible. Many of us do not live near enough to our Traditional Churches and priests, and an hour long drive, one way, just isn't feasible for most of our budgets.

We know how much we need those graces that pour into our hearts during mass. Our daily lives are such a struggle. Just walking out the door and down the street could offer us many near occasions of sin and temptations, and the amount of blatant evil has steadily increased, while the ready access to strength and grace from the sacraments has steadily decreased.

This is where the spiritual communion comes galloping to the rescue, like much needed reinforcements on the battlefield. Knowledge of the spiritual communion used to be so commonplace, it was just as well known to Catholics as the Hail Mary. People used to make many spiritual communions throughout the day, but this devotion has sadly become forgotten.

So here it is. Let us make use of it many times during the day. For those of us who are just barely surviving on the one and only mass we can get to on Sundays, let's REALLY make use of this grace-filled act.

By a rescript of November 24, 1922, The Sacred Congregation of Indulgences approved the following formula for a spiritual communion:

"O Jesus, I turn toward the holy tabernacle where You live hidden for love of me. I love you, O my God. I cannot receive you in Holy Communion. Come nevertheless and visit me with Your grace. Come spiritually into my heart. Purify it. Sacntify it. Render it like unto your own. Amen."

The indulgence granted to this devotion is 500 days, if thrice repeated.

St. Jean Vianney, Cure d' Ars, said, "A spiritual communion acts on the soul as blowing does on a cinder covered fire which was about to go out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual communion."

Our Body Armor

I have come across so many good and otherwise faithful Catholics, who deliberately spurn the scapular and the devotions accompanying it, because they think that it is somehow superstitious. This is very sad, especially when you consider something very interesting which was revealed to Francis of Yepes (who was the brother of St. John of the Cross). The demons told Francis, "Three things especially torment us; the first is the Name of Jesus; the second, the Name of Mary, and the third, the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel." "Take off that habit, which snatches so many souls from us. All those clothed in it die piously and escape us".

There is nothing superstitious about deliberately clothing yourself in a garment that reminds us of Our Lady, and yes, protects us from the devil. We know it protects us from the devil, because of what Our Lady told St. Simon Stock: "Whosoever dies clothed in this [scapular], shall not suffer eternal fire." (Promise given to St. Simon Stock on July 16th, 1251)

It is not the piece of brown wool that keeps us from hell. It is the disposition that precludes the wearing of such a symbol, that saves us from eternal damnation. To take up the scapular and wear it, means that you acknowledge it to be Mary's special garment, and that you love her, you are loyal to her. . . you are her special knight, and will fight for her honor, for her glory, and spread love for her wherever you go, whenever you can. In return, you expect her maternal protection, her constant intercession (as the lady of a medieval knight would do as well in the olden days; she would constantly pray for the knight who had been given a piece of her livery to wear), and special graces from her Son, who refuses His Mother nothing!

"Wear it devoutly and perseveringly. It is my garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life."~Mary to St. Simon Stock.

So what happens if we know this already, we would really like to be devoted to Mary and all this stuff, but we just aren't? We can't conjure up even an inkling of love in our hearts for her. Well, for one thing, how can you love someone that you do not know? That is the first step. Get to know Our Lady. The best way to get to know someone is to spend time with that person, and talk to that person. Ask Our Lady for help. Tell her your problems, because she is your most excellent Mother. Confide in her, just as you would a friend sitting right beside you. And most especially, be silent and let her answer you. She will speak to you through spiritual reading, and signs that you will recognize. That is why it is so important to always be reading something holy. The Imitation of Mary, or The World's First Love are great books. You will then get to know the Supreme and Most Holy Mother of God, and you will love her. How could you not come to love the Darling of Heaven? You won't, if you will not do what it takes.

The other thing you must realize is that, since we are human, we have these fickle things called emotions. Emotions, if left unguarded, can actually rule over us, guiding every decision we make, every thought that we have. This is silly, and not how a Child of God must live. We were made to rule over our emotions, to discipline them into obedience to our wills; not to be ruled by them, and kowtow to them. But most of us think that if we do not feel something, then we are actually not doing this thing. As in, if we don't feel a warm and sappy love for Our Lady, then we actually don't love her. This is not true, however.

Love is not a feeling. It is an act of will. There are plenty of times when you don't feel like loving someone, but you know that you do. You will to. If you do not feel any love for Our Lady, or even feel that she really is your mother, that is okay. Your emotions are not there right now. No problem. You know, however, by the teachings of the Church, and the Saints, that Mary IS indeed your mother, and that you ought to love her. Make a conscious act of the will to love her. Tell her that you want to love her, and that you want to be her daughter or son. Ask her for the grace to be able to love her and know her.

Jesus said "ask and you shall receive". Love for Jesus, and love for Mary are exactly such things as you should ask for. These things will not be refused to you. But you must ask, and you must distrust the emotions, because they are liars and easily manipulated by the things around you.

Pray without ceasing

Mother Theresa of Calcutta said "Prayer is to the soul, what breath is to the body". It is so true. When a fire is deprived of oxygen, it smolders, and goes out. When the soul is deprived of the fruits of prayer, its upward flight to God is interrupted, and the soul falls back to earth.

Our Blessed Mother told St. Dominic that, "One Day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, I will save the World". She wasn't kidding around. So many saints have foretold a time to come when Mary's Immaculate Heart will triumph, and that there will be a time of peace, obtained for us by Our Sweet and most Immaculate Mother! How is this to be accomplished? Merely mumbling some prayers over and over do nothing. But Mary asked for, and obtained, from her Son special gifts for those who would obey her Motherly request, that we pray the rosary, and do our best to pray it well, and those gifts are what will bring about this wonderful happening!

I would like to share with you 15 promises that Our Lady personally gave to St. Dominic and to Blessed Alan. These are PROMISES to those who will loyally pray her rosary, if not for their own benefit, then for the benefit of others. Promises to those who will refuse to lay down their arms for the enemy, promises to those who make it an act of their will to please Our Lady by praying this prayer, even if it rubs against the grain of their own desires.

1. Whoever shall faithfully pray the rosary, shall receive special graces.
2. I promise my speical protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abunndant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will life them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that wouls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itslef to me by the recitation of the rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary devoutly, while meditating as best he can on its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shal merit a hight degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Are these promises to be earned like money, then paid back to God in order to buy our way into heaven? Absolutely not. If one makes himself say the rosary every day, then goes out and knowingly commits all kinds of sins, with the thought that saying that one rosary a day will buy him out of hell, he is not only stupid, but he is misusing the gift given to him, and he will surely not benefit from it.

However, these promises merely highlight the fact that the rosary, by its mere simplicity and the act of self-discipline required in order to pray it frequently, all the acts of conquering the will by quieting the restless mind while praying it, and the obedience given to Our Blessed Mother by listening to her requests and praying it. . .these things mean that we are striving to become holy, striving against Satan, and God blesses us because of this, our freely choosing to rise up out of the grime and muck and respond to His calls. He wants every soul to go to heaven. Mary wants every soul to go to heaven. Satan wants every soul to go to hell, and we humans have been given the freedom to choose where we want to go, either directly or indirectly.

With such a clear instruction as to how we are to obtain holiness, why do we hesitate?

A few of my favorite quotes from Saints on the Rosary:

"The rosary is the scourge of the devil"~Pope Adrian VI

"The rosary is THE weapon"~St. Padre Pio

"The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother"~St. Louis de Montfort

Keep fighting

I cannot help but become livid at the fact that we have all but been abandoned by the priests of the Catholic Church nowadays. Our local Novus Ordo parish has confession times for every day, which is great, but no parish in this whole diocese offers a priest for spiritual direction! In fact, I was shocked to find out that the "spiritual director" listed in the bulletin here is none other than a deacon's wife!!!

Our shepherds have ceased to shepherd. A soul needs direction, it needs a father to give a good example, a wise priest who has focused his life on loving God, and can give advice born out of experience to those wishing to grow in holiness.

So many souls are suffering right now because of a lack of direction, someone to guide them, help them with their scruples, help them understand the Church and learn how to love God; someone to explain the mysteries and unveil the beauties that we believe. Our Blessed Mother has warned us and warned us and warned us, but still no one listens to her. She has already told us what we must do in order to fix this problem, but no one wants to do what she has said. Pray the rosary; even if you can't feel or see the good effects, Mary has obtained so many things from her Son for those who will obey her motherly command to pray this prayer. It isn't for her that we pray it. . .it is for ourselves, but that is why she wants us to pray it; by doing what she says, because she asked us to, we will be helping ourselves along the road to heaven. Receive the sacraments as often as you can. Try to keep the clutter out of your life, which crowds love of God and fellow man out of your heart.

It's a battle out there. There is a humongous battle being waged for souls right now, and there are casualties all over the place, but people are so interested in themselves and their petty problems that they can't even hear the whistle of the bombs falling in the background of their thoughts! It is crucial for us soldiers to hold onto our weapons now, or we will be creamed! The rosary is our battle rifle, and our other private devotions are the ammunition rounds. The brown scapular and accompanying devotions is our body armour. Confession is the bandages and wound dressings. The sacramentals are our grenades. The mass is our compass. The Eucharist is our food and water, without which, we wouldn't get very far at all.

God has given us all the things we need, right here. We have to make sure we use them and never lay them aside, even if they get too heavy for us to carry.

Well Hi All Y'all!

Been busy peoples.

A very weird thing happened to me a little while ago. . . I have very long hair, and when I sleep, I braid it so that it doesn't strangle me when I'm tossing and turning. Soo, one night a couple night's ago, I took pity on my cat, who wanted to sleep in the nice warm bed, and let him come up. He took his usual position (I've taken pity on him many times before), curled up in the small of my back, and as I drifted back to sleep I was slightly aware of a distinct "snip. . .snip. . snip" sound. When I woke up the next morning, my orange fluff of a cat was snuggled up around. . .MY BRAID!!! And it wasn't attached to my head!!! The little brat likes chewing on my elastic hair bands, but this time he went too far. He snipped off about 8 inches of my hair, and I had to trim it a bit with the scissors to get it even. I can't believe his teeth are that sharp, but. . .the evidence is right in front of me. Oh well. Probably needed a trim anyway.

The other weird experience I've had since I last posted here (well, not THE other, but one of the more notable ones) was pretty interesting. My brother decided to move back up north because of the job situation, so I tagged along with him. My parents told us to drive up a certain way, but after he and I sat down to look at some maps, we decided to make "our own" decision and go up another way that, yes, cut about 300-400 miles off the trip, but. . . probably wasn't the best way to go. Up north this time of year, it gets really cold. Sleeping in the truck was not a nice experience, especially when my brother's toes actually turned blue. And going to a Novus Ordo mass out of desperation one Sunday was too horrible to even relate. But the weirdest thing was on our last leg of the trip, driving through Hell's Canyon. . .at night. In the rain. And slush. In an old truck.

If ye've never been to Hell's Canyon, you must go, it must be gorgeous in the daylight. At night, however, it is very aptly named. Almost every 400-500 feet of road, there is a hairpin turn, with old wooden guard rails and drop offs four feet away from your outside tire. There is also an enormously high expansion/trestle bridge that actually spans over the top of a little town. . .very interesting looking down while driving over it, to see the lights blinking wayyyyy down there. There are bluffs, and cliffs, and lakes, and a river, and rocks in the road, and deer dashing out at stupid times, and big riggers passing you at 80 mph when the sign clearly says 30, and a brother who really is a good driver, but who is still your younger brother whom you used to help change diapers for, so you really don't feel too keen on trusting him with your life right at that moment. . .especially when he's got Johnny Cash (or Joaquin Phoenix pretending to be Johnny Cash) blasting out of the speakers while his 3 year old windshield wipers are working fine on the passenger side and not working at all on the driver side. Yeah. In the rain. . .and slush. . .and in an old truck. . .did I mention no brake lights?I'm sure I've got a couple white hairs that I will definitely be able to blame on Hell's Canyon.

Sooo, I think we finally got out of that place at about midnight, and as soon as we saw a motel, we decided sleeping in the truck was not going to happen again. We woke up to about four inches of snow and icey roads, which thawed pretty nicely by the time we had taken nice hot showers and eaten a good, motel breakfast (hey, it was free, so it was good), and we made it to my parent's house by 1pm. All in all, it was great spending some quality time with one of my favorite brothers;)


If you haven't read "The Spiritual Combat" by Dom Lorenzo Scupoli, you have got to go to TAN books and get it. If you are the fight or die kind of person, the kind that doesn't lay down his arms for anything, then you will love this book. To put it very well (copying from the back of the book), "It shows the Christian how to combat his passions and vices with an intelligent method, in order to arrive at victory, rather than running around blindly beating the air". It has been instructing Rad Trads for over 400 years.

Okey doke, that's it. I'm outta here.