Therese's Rose Garden

The real site: Brownback for President

2007-01-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

DustIam pointed out on her blog that www.brownbackforpresident.org is actually a site for Sen. John Edwards! Typical underhanded ways, just advancing one more step into the cyber-world.

If anyone would like to visit his real site, here all y'all go!

Senator Brownback for President!

Merry Christmas to One and All!

2006-12-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Say, ye holy shepherds, say
What your joyful news today?
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
Hail thou ever blessed morn,
Hail redemption's happy dawn,
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem!

And Joy Shall Be Yours in the Morning!

Humorous

2006-12-23T18:43:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,
I thought this was hilarious. Enjoy!

This is the time of year when we think back to the very
first Christmas, when the Three Wise Men -- Kaspar,
Balthazar, and Melchoir -- went to see the baby Jesus and,
according to the Book of Matthew, "presented unto Him gifts;
gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we
discover an important, yet often overlooked, theological
fact:
If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said
so: "And lo, the gifts were inside 600 square cubits of
paper. And the paper was festooned with pictures of Jolly Old
St. Nick. And Joseph was going to throweth it away, but
Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, 'Holdeth it! That is
nice paper! Saveth it for next year!' And Joseph did rolleth
his eyeballs. And the baby Jesus was more interested in the
paper than the frankincense."

But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that
the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is
because the people giving those gifts had two important
characteristics:

1. They were wise.
2. They were men.

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the
point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can
tear it off. This is not just my opinion, this is a
scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I
know. One is Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a
gift is "if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be
there when the person opens it." The other is Gene, who told
me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never
takes more than 15 seconds per gift. "No one ever had to
wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas," Gene
said. "They were the ones that looked like enormous
spitballs."

I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor
skills, I can never completely wrap them. I can take a gift
the size of a deck of cards and put it the exact center of a
piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball
court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can still
see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I
camouflage this sector with a marking pen.) If I had been an
ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of
the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.

On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of
wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife,
like many women, actually likes wrapping things. If she
gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the
batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a
symptom of mental illness. If it were possible, my wife
would wrap each individual volt.

My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills like
having babies that come more naturally to women than to men.
That is why today I am presenting:

Gift Wrapping Tips for Men:

*Buy an already wrapped gift: when the recipient opens the gift,if neither one of you
recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.

* The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item
on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design
on it with an apple sliced in half horizontally and dipped
in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They must be smoking crack. If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip
the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one
of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive
visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on
Christmas morning:

YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?
YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!
YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.
YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!
YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.
YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what
you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during
this very special time of year, is that you save the
receipt.

Author Unknown (but definitely male)

LOL. I must be something of an anomaly; I love to wrap presents, and if there are multiple pieces to one gift, I like to wrap those pieces separately, because it makes the surprise so much more exciting (it looks like you have more than just one present). However, my presents belong to that spitball looking category. I guess I'm just not artistic, or I haven't figured out the science behind folding paper neatly, holding the paper whilst getting a piece of tape, then sticking the tape onto the paper with only one free hand. My Mom, who wraps gifts like Martha Stewart (and so, I'm told, did the grand lady who taught her), tried and tried to teach me how to wrap nicely. But alas, my loved ones still receive interesting, spitballish packages. At least no one can guess what's inside the wrapping!

What the frick?

2006-12-22T18:54:00.000-08:00

I don't want to switch my blog over to beta, or whatever they want me to switch mine blog to! I donwanna, I donwanna, I donwanna!!!!

Every time I try to sign into my blog, this page comes up like a big security guard, bashing his billy club into the palm of his hand, telling me to switch over. Supposedly, not only do I HAVE to switch over, but I have to get a google account in order to sign into it! Well, I like my blog as it is, goldernit! And I don't want a flippin' google account! Hasn't anyone noticed? Google is taking over the world! This is a catastrophe that must be stopped!

I have found a way of getting past this nonsense, and into my old blog, but I don't think it'll work forever. This is just not fair.

Sooo, in the next couple of days, I will probably have succumbed to the capitalistic Google global domination takeover, and you will see some changes (rrr) to the blog. Not that any of you really come here that often, but for my few loyal companions, you know who you are, sorry . . . I tried to stand up to the big kid on the block, but I loosded.

Talk to y'all latta,

Therese

Batch o' the best!

2006-12-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, the hubby and I have been sampling a batch o' the best, and here are some of my favorites. By the way, if you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, I feel sorrryy for you!

-Trader Joe's Organic Oatmeal Stout
Sounds rather snobbish, but it's a real treat. They only have them in pint bottles, none of those smaller 12 oz six pack types. Perfect chilled, and in a (big) mug straight out of the freezer (then again, are there any beers that aren't perfect this way?)

-Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ale
Again, only in single Pint bottles, Imported from England. Well, just looked at the bottle, and it says 1 pint, 2.7 fl. oz, soooo, there's a slight correction. More than a pint! Mmmmm. A lighter ale with a bit of a bite.

I'd put pictures in here if I could get the dang things to load! :-P

- (somebody's) Chocolate Stout.
This is a tragedy, I threw away the empties before I could remind myself whose beer this was, but when I find out, I'll tell you. I would have thought a "chocolate" beer would be . . . um, weird to say the least, but naw! It didn't have a chocolatey taste to it, but there was a hint of an almost earthy wholesomeness there, that just had to be the chocolate. Anyway, again, they only have these in the big pint bottles.

-San Miguel Light
A friend of mine that was with us picking out our beers doesn't know much about beer, so sh . . . this person, just grabbed the nearest looking thing to Bud Light that was there. To our surprise, it was actually very good! My husband and I are more into darker brews, but after sticking a slice of lemon into the bottle (along with a thumb so that it didn't blow up everywhere!), it was rather refreshing. I'll have to remember this beer come summer time. They do have these in 6 packs, and they are smaller bottles, I think about 10 oz.

Enjoy!

2006-12-21T14:04:00.001-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 1, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 2, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:03:00.002-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 3, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:03:00.001-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 4, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 5, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:02:00.001-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 5, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

2006-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

Great Compline of Nativity Pt 6, St. Elias, Brampton 2006

And finally, part 6

2006-12-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

Akathis Hymn-In Spanish!

I was trying to find a sound blurb to go with an earlier post of mine on the Akathist Hymn to Our Lady, and I haven't been able to come up with one . . . until I found this one today! It is in Spanish, but you can hear how it is sung.

Interesting, eh?

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

2006-11-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-19T12:17:00.000-08:00

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!

2006-11-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

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.

Not everyone has time to cook. . .

2006-10-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Not everyone has the time to prepare, cook and serve an entire dinner every single evening. We are in such a hurry these days; it’s so tempting to throw together some nasty, icky Mac’n cheese (with the yellow dyed non-cheese powder, preservatives and ton of sodium) and just call it dinner. Resist those temptations though! Here are some alternatives that are just as quick, just as easy (maybe even easier!) and much, much more healthy for you and your family. The recipes basically serve four people, so if you are single or you are just cooking for two, the math is pretty easy to figure out. :-D

Cheese Tortellini-At Trader Joes we have this fabulous dried cheese filled tortellini pasta! It comes in a 12 oz bag which is perfect for four adults, and all you do is boil 5 quarts of water, dump the pasta in, boil it (stirring occasionally) for 15-17 minutes, turn off the heat, add a glass of cold water (I don’t know exactly why, but it firms the pasta up so that it’s not falling off the cheese when you finally get it on your plate. . don’t rinse this in cold water though) and drain. You can then either eat it just plain, which I do, or drizzle some olive oil over it with salt and pepper, which do too, or even plop some pasta sauce onto it (their suggestion, not mine). A 12 oz. bag at my Trader Joe’s goes for 1.60. a better value and much better for you than fako mac’n cheese. No preservatives, artificial colors or flavors, and imported from Italy.

Tomato Soup with Cheese Sandwiches-I still use Campbell’s every once in a while, but it’s so bad for you. Trader Joe’s (again) has some great low sodium, organic tomato soup, 16 oz for 1.45. Can’t beat that! Anyway, for fast tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches: Turn on your broiler and put the highest rack up near to the flame. Put the tomato soup in a saucepan and warm over the stove stirring occasionally. While it’s warming, spread a thin layer of butter on both sides of pieces of bread, lay them on a cookie sheet, and broil until brown on top side. Take them out, turn them over, and lay thin slices of cheddar cheese on half of them, put back under the broiler until cheese is well melted and the other slices of bread are browned. Put the sandwiches together, pour the soup into bowls, and serve. You can throw some leftover croutons, shredded cheese, chopped celery, cooked fish, other things like that onto the tomato soup too!

Salmon sandwiches-Salmon is much better for you than tuna fish, and you might be interested to know that salmon also has been shown to have much lower trace amounts of mercury in it, if any at all, than tuna fish does. This mercury in the fish business is very serious; so serious, in fact, that Doctors are now recommending that pregnant women eat canned tuna NO MORE than once a week, if not avoided entirely. Anyway, canned salmon is right by the canned tuna, and if you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, you can get wild, unfarmed canned salmon for a little over a dollar per can. No, this is not a big Trader Joe’s commercial; I just happen to shop there;). Drain one can of salmon per two sandwiches, mix in either a tablespoon of mayonnaise (try Hollywood brand Safflower mayonnaise; good for your heart, less calories, and very tasty!) or one tablespoon cream cheese, and spread over whole wheat toasted bread. It’s amazing how a little thing like toasting bread can really dress up a sandwich, and it doesn’t take long. You can toast it while you’re mixing the other stuff. Now, if you have some on hand, a little bit of chopped onions really goes great with this sandwich too. And, another variation, you can add some chopped egg and horseradish spread to the mix as well. Yum yum!
Refried Bean Burritos-This was a staple in my house when I was growing up! There was always a container of refried beans in the fridge (they keep very nicely) and tortillas, etc. Whole wheat tortillas are nasty, sorry. This is one of the only things I insist upon being made of white flour. Corn tortillas are for tacos, enchiladas and chips, okay? Not for burritos. There are so many different brands of refried beans out there, that I’m going to just give a couple of tips, no brand name recommendations. You want vegetarian refried beans (not beans fried in bacon grease or lard), and you want to make sure that the ingredients are no more than cooked beans, water, canola oil (or other vegetable oil), salt, distilled vinegar, chili pepper, onion, garlic, spices, natural flavor, etc. This is actually a good source of fiber and protein. Now, there are also a million different brands of tortillas around. I use Mission tortillas, with the “no trans fatty acids” guarantee on the wrapper. Make sure there is no lard or anything really nasty on the ingredients list. To make: Heat the amount of refried beans you are going to use in a pan on the stove, stirring occasionally (or microwave, but be careful, these things blow up!) until heated through. Turn one stove burner onto medium heat, and throw a tortilla onto the burner (this works the best with a gas burner; if you have a solid cook-top, cook the tortilla in a pan). When it begins to look glossy, about 5-6 seconds, flip it over. When this side begins to bubble, flip it again. When this side begins to bubble, take it off, spread some beans in it, wrap it up, and serve. The varieties are as endless as sandwich recipes. You can add olives, cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce, diced radishes, cilantro, rice, salsa, avocado, etc.

Someday, for a blog post, I will go over the ingredients of some of the nasty things most Americans call food, such as American cheese (also, the powdered cheese you find in the mac’n cheese, and velveeta. . .shudder), margarine, decaffeinated and/or flavored coffee, white sugar, white flour, and things like that. Definitely not for the squeamish.

Enjoy!

Fast for the Invisible Children of Uganda

2006-10-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

While visiting a fellow blogger's site, I came upon his post on the invisible children of Uganda. Take a couple minutes and read it, the plight is truly awful. There are so many bad things happening in this world! Every time I get on the internet, the news headlines are so depressing. Shootings at schools, fathers murdering their wives and children, people committing horrible crimes, every day. And they are only a small portion of the injustices and crimes that cry out to God for vengeance happening daily, that we don't hear about; like these children in Uganda.

I would like to join in on the fast Hey Irishman is proposing, how about my readers?. We're a couple days late, but small matter. We could each pick a specific day to fast, or a couple days. Let me know if you would like to do this, and I'll let Hey Irishman know (it's kind of fun keeping count;) ).

If you are pregnant, elderly, hypo-glycemic, hyper-glycemic, diabetic, the list goes on and on, perhaps instead of fasting, you could pick something to abstain from, for the special intention of these children. Can't live a day without Starbucks? Perhaps you could choose a day or two to give up all starbucks/coffee. Meat and potatoes person? Maybe you could pick a day in addition to Friday this coming week for a meatless meal day (I've got plenty of nice recipes for that;) ).

It's very tempting to just give up, because there is so much bad going on; how can the little good we do accomplish anything? It does accomplish something; every little sacrifice we make accomplishes something, even if we don't see it. Our Blessed Mother has repeatedly asked us for prayer, fasting, penance and frequent reception of the sacraments. Let's take her seriously and do something!

I guess it's called shrimp scampi. . .

2006-10-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

It is definitely fall today! The last couple of days have gotten into the warm side, but today I woke up to dark clouds and rain (what d'ya know, the weatherman was right on for once!), and it is 52 degrees in the house. . . Definitely time to start thinking about digging the space heaters out of the shed.

About once a month, I like to make something with shrimp. Our local grocery store usually has fresh, wild caught shrimp (I don't even want to start in on how bad farmed shrimp are for you), which can be pretty cheap at the beginning of the month. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby (my all time favorite store!), you can get high quality shrimp for a decent price, but whatever shrimp you wind up getting, they'll still taste good.

I thought I had made this recipe up one day, but apparently people have been eating my version of shrimp, garlic and pasta for a lot longer than I've been alive, and they called it shrimp scampi, sooo. . . fine. I guess it's shrimp scampi. Sounds a lot better than what I was calling it: Garlic, olive oil, pasta and shrimp :-P He he he . Just goes to show that good ideas are good ideas, regardless of who comes up with them.

Ingredients: This will make four servings with app. 10 shrimp per person
1 pound white shrimp, uncooked, tail on (41-50 p. lb)
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper
Dash of marjoram/parsley (dried)
Cooked Angel Hair Pasta or Spaghetti (We're big pasta eaters here, so I usually use a whole 16 oz. for four people and save whatever's left)

Put your water on to boil for the pasta, crack a little salt and drip a little oil into the water. In a large pan, combine the oil, butter and garlic. Let this sit cold while you do the next tasks. Now rinse your shrimp very, very well. If your shrimp is slightly slimy, rinse it in a colander under cold water until it is no longer slimy (don't use hot water). The seafood counter guy should have already slit the back of the shells for you; you can then very easily slip the shell off, ending with the tail which you can give a little pinch then pull (put the shells directly into a trash bag to be taken outside asap, they will make the house smell). If the shells have not been slit for you, then you'll have to either decide to use a knife and do it yourself, which isn't too time consuming, or plan ahead and buy a different kind of shrimp. **Note: if you are buying already cooked shrimp, then you will add the shrimp to the cooking sauce last, cook it just long enough to warm all the way through, then serve it immediately. Shrimp will overcook very fast, and be tough and chewy.

When the shrimp are all peeled, give them a final rinse in the colander, then give them a general patting down with a paper towel. Don't start cooking the shrimp until the water for the pasta is at a rolling boil. When the water is boiling, turn the pan for the shrimp on medium heat. When the butter has melted, stir the garlic around a bit, dash the marjoram and/or parsley in, add the shrimp and coat with the oil and butter mixture. Add the pasta to the boiling water and stir. Add the sherry or wine to the shrimp, and bring to a simmer. The shrimp will turn pink, don't ask me why, it's some reaction the zinc in the shrimp has to the heat, and you will want to stop cooking them when the last one has turned completely pink. Don't overcook your shrimp, or you will miss the buttery tenderness of the fresh shrimp you bought. Remove the shrimp from the sauce with a slotted spoon, and reserve in a bowl on the side.

When the pasta is done, drain it very well, and plop it into the sauce mixture. You can crack some salt and pepper over this if you want. Medium heat, stir the pasta until it is coated with the sauce, and let it sit for a miute or two. With a pasta fork, serve pasta on plates, then top with shrimp.

Serve with garlic bread and a side salad.

***By the way, for those of you who gasp at all of the olive oil and butter and salt used in these recipes, relax. Olive oil is high in calories, yes, but it is the perfect fat for your body. If you will take the steps to eliminate processed foods from your diet, anything with trans fats, lard, high fructose corn syrup, refined white flour, and 80% of your sources of animal fat, then you can afford to step up on the food scale with moderate amounts of butter, olive oil, and salt.

Now, there is a difference between the salt I use and the salt you're thinking of, I'm sure. Regular, iodized table salt is not pure salt. In fact, it is mineral salt, mixed with aluminum silicate or another non-caking agent (which happens to be bitter), and a sweetner, to make up for the bitterness of the non-caking agent. These additives make your salt less salty, which makes you use a lot more of it, raising the sodium levels in your food almost to the same height as some processed meats! All natural, kosher sea salt, however, is pure salt, and only a crack or two of the salt grinder provides you with as much saltiness as you could possibly want, and you are using much, much less of it. All of the natural minerals are still included in this salt as well, so you get some extra healthiness added in.

If you are taking a good multi-vitamin/mineral supplement, which the American Medical Association is now highly recommending all Americans do (due to the vitamin deficiencies in the over used soil, mass produced crops, and recycled water used by most commercial farmers nowadays) you don't need to worry about iodine deficiency, so that is another reason out the window for using ordinary table salt.

Enjoy your Friday food!

Three to Get Married

2006-10-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

I found this book among my grandma's collection when I was about 12 years old, and since then I have read and re-read it probably 40 times. Having The Most Reverend Fulton J. Sheen as a spiritual advisor during the years that I was developing my ideas on what my life was going to be like, was priceless. I had access to all of his other books as well, but this one has remained my favorite, though the cover is held on with masking tape and the pages are brown and crumbling from many, many uses, and I intend to keep reading it again and again throughout the rest of my married life.

A post I just read on a friend's blog reminded me of how grateful I am for my Mother's teaching that, as soon as we arrived at the age of reason, we had to begin discerning our vocation in life. I wavered dramatically in the years between my first communion and my 18th birthday, but because my Mother taught us the importance of our vocation, the fulfillment of God's purpose for us here on earth, and path to our heavenly goal, by the time I was of the age to put it to use, I had already been through all of the refining fire, the agony, and the ecstasy of discernment and was able to follow God's call right away. It is so important to make the discerning of your vocation your young life's greatest goal, I cannot stress that enough! It is the very blueprint, the map, the design, the GPS unit of your path to heaven. Jobs will come and go, careers will be made and lost, you will move many times, etc. etc., but none of these things is as important as your vocation, because nothing is as important as knowing God, loving God, and serving God, which is what your vocation consists of.

Many, many young people are unprepared for this, because their lives are so wrapped up in finishing high-school, finishing college, beginning a career, and then, finally, figuring out whether or not they should get married and have kids or stay single or might be called to the religious state. This is awful! This vocation, this, your life's undertaking should not be shoved to the back burner!

Another reason I am seeing in many of my friends for putting their vocation on the back burner still (and this is because of an actual choice, not because of extenuating circumstances), even now that they have done all of that "required" stuff (graduating from college, beginning a career, etc.) is because they are hoping to have some years for themselves now, to enjoy their youth, to do the things they want to do that they won't be able to do once they are married. This is a mistake as well, because it sets you up to live a life of pleasure seeking. By the time you have had your fun, and sown your "wild oats" you will have either gotten into trouble because you were out doing your own thing and had no responsibilities, or you will have developed within yourself a trait of pleasure seeking. You were not seeking your life, your vocation; you were seeking to enjoy yourself BEFORE your vocation. Heaven is to be sought at all times, and your vocation should not be made to wait.

I would like to share with you, part of a chapter from "Three to Get Married". It is an awesome book, and I recommend this to each and everyone, no matter what you think your vocation might be. Bishop Sheen leaves no stone unturned, and quite frequently I am astonished at how well he addresses a subject, then progresses to addressing something that the original subject made your mind think of, and so on and on until he leaves you completely satisfied. It is almost as good as having a personal, in depth counseling session with the good Bishop.

Beginning of Chapter 18 from "Three to Get Married, by His Most Reverend Fulton J. Sheen

One of the greatest mistakes the human heart can make is to seek pleasure as a goal of life. Pleasure is a by-product of the fulfillment of duty; it is a bridesmaid, not a bride; it is something which attends and waits on man when he does that which he ought. To go through life with the idea of always having a good time is not to have a good time. A boy does not eat ice cream to have pleasure; he has a pleasure because he eats ice cream. The satisfaction of the appetite of hunger gives pleasure, but one does not eat just to have pleasure. One does not marry to enjoy pleasures of the flesh; one enjoys the pleasures of marriage because one fulfills to the utmost the functions and obligations of the married state. A good husband wants to love and to have a happy life; a wicked husband wants to be loved and to enjoy himself. The good man seeks a woman to complement his imperfection and to work toward mutual enrichment. The evil man wants to immolate a woman in order to enjoy himself. The happiness of marriage is in a certain sense a prepayment of God for its trials. Because its burdens are many, its pleasures are meant to be many. The honeymoon precedes the labors of birth, and is a credit God extends in advance because of the responsibilities involved.

The greatest joys in life are purchased at the cost of some sacrifice. No one ever enjoys good reading, good music, or good art without a certain amount of study and effort. Neither can one enjoy love without a certain amount of self-denial. It is not that love by its nature demands suffering, for there is no suffering in Divine Love. But whenever love is imperfect, or whenever a body is associated with a soul, there must be suffering, for such is the cost of love's purification. One cannot grow from ignorance to love of poetry without discipline. Neither can one mount from one level of love to another without a certain amount of purification. The Blessed Virgin passed from one level of love, which was for her Divine Son, to the higher level of a love for all whom He would redeem, by willing His Passion and Death at the Marriage Feast of Cana.

All love craves a cross by the very fact that love is forgetful of self for others. But even in the midst of sacrifice, it can say: "Suffering is in me, but I am not in it." The joy which is seen forthcoming as the result of the trial makes one in some way independent of it.

What marriage is really about. . . .

2006-10-09T18:14:00.000-07:00

After an increasingly frustrating conversation I just had with a friend of mine who is probably going to be engaged soon, I had to come on here and say what's on my mind, because I know she'll read it if it's here. We got into such a hissy fit over the phone that I really didn't get to answer her questions properly, so this blabbing here is an attempt to make up for the conversation we just had or didn't have; it wasn't much of a conversation. And naturally hon, I won't share your name, but you know who you are.

Marriage is not all about what you are going to get. You are Catholic, and you have been raised very well, but if all you are thinking about when you meet a nice young Catholic man is "oh boy, now I get to stay home and sit on my butt while he works so that I can stay home and have babies, and he'll treat me like a lady and he'll be a gentleman, and he'll buy me nice clothes and presents, and he'll never make me do anything I don't want to do" yada yada, prattle prattle. . . I don't think you are in the proper frame of mind to get married, and I will elaborate.

Marriage is about giving. That sounds pretty gay, but I'm serious. The love that holds a marriage together should NOT make you think of yourself and what you're going to get, but when you love someone in the proper way for marriage, you will find yourself thinking, "he'll never be alone or unsupported again, because I will always be by his side; he'll never eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day for two weeks ever again because I'm going to cook for him; he'll never walk out of the house for work in pants that haven't been washed for three weeks, because I am going to take pride in his appearance and wash his laundry for him; he'll never be lonely again, because I LOVE HIM!". In other words, when you love someone, truly love someone, the main thought and the main current flowing through your heart is about sacrifice, about what YOU are going to do for HIM. It is your vocation, not your vacation.

Hon, are you willing to give up sleeping in until 10 o' clock every morning, so that you can get out of bed with your husband when he gets up to go to work, and make him a piece of toast or bagel and cup of coffee while he's in the shower? Are you willing to keep quiet when he disregards your advice and makes a mistake, instead of feeding your own self love by crowing "I told you so?" Is your main objective to make his life the happiest life on earth? Or is it all about you?

The reason I'm writing this kiddo is because our conversation alarmed me. Everything you told me was about how YOU feel, what YOU are going to get out of this, how happy YOU'LL be. You came to me for advice because I am your age and have been married for almost two years, but you really didn't want my advice or you would have talked to me instead of putting up the defense shields.

You should really read "Three to Get Married" by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. It is a great starting point to finding out what marriage is really all about. Like I said, it is a vocation, and it is undertaken with all of the seriousness that a religious takes up her vocation with. This is a life of sacrifice, self-denial and discipline. It is not a perpetual day-dream. But just as Jesus rewards His religious spouses with His love and consolation, heavenly delights awaiting them, so will your husband reward you ten-fold for the things you give to him. The more you sacrifice for him, the more you cheerfully and totally willingly give up for him and to him, the more he will be encouraged to do the same for you, and he will do it, because he will delight in making you happy. But what if he doesn't respond to your efforts? What if the man we were talking about today gets so wrapped up in work 10 years from now that he forgets to say I love you in the morning, or is away for long periods of time and can't show his affection? Will you wither and dry up because you are not receiving attention? It is tempting, yes, I won't deny it. We ladies want to be cherished and loved, every second. But that is our temptation, our cross, to get so wrapped up in our self-love, our longing for approval and appreciation. . .we can miss the bigger picture, that being our marriage is the plan worked out for our salvation. The times we are misunderstood by our spouses, we offer that up as sacrifice! The times we don't get the I love you's we want, or whatever we want, these are gifts from God to us, to offer these things up for our own penance and for the salvation of souls.

If you're not willing to undertake a life of sacrifice, which is the reason you gave me for not feeling called to the religious life, then you are most definitely un-aware of what marriage really is. As a Catholic, you are going to need to "put your big girl panties on and deal with it" and accept the fact that life is full of sacrifice. If you want to get to heaven, you are going to have to embrace your cross. But this cross does not bring you sorrow. . .it brings you eternal joy, eternal life. Don't let the rough exterior fool you! It may look heavy and hard and full of splinters, but see beyond the outer appearance, the illusion, and you will find roses! Roses to offer to Our Lady, for the conversion of our loved one's, for the coming of the Kingdom of God; not heavy, not burdensome, but light and full of sweet perfume. There is no reason to hesitate in embracing your cross.

Annnnyway, I just can't say enough that you need some good spritual advise. I really know how hard it is to find a good priest in your area, but I will send you an e-mail later, if you promise not to delete it, with some recommendations. I'm sorry if I made you mad earlier, but you know that I am your friend and I don't want to see you make a big mistake. You need to learn to give, and to love. Not just receive.

Vegetarian Stew, it is yummy!

2006-10-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, sooo, I had some nice, yummy organic stewin' beef settin' on the counter, fresh from his mama's farm, when. . . *scary music*. . . da da da . . . I realized it was Friday. Doh! My husband's workdays and odd hours make it very hard for me to figure out what day it is. Yes, I'm that. . . special. Anyhoo, I had planned to make a nice, thick stew for dinner since the weather had taken a turn for the cooler, and with this revelation my dinner plans were rooned! So, I decided to make it anyway, without meat. It turned out really good! For you hard core stew people, I know it's like sacrilege to take the beef out of the stew, but hey, you should try it. Even my husband liked it, and went back for seconds, and to tell you truth, I liked it much better. So here goes the recipe:

Stewin' Ingredients:
4-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-4 tablespoons organic, unbleached, preferably whole wheat (now I'm just joshin' ya') flour
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped pretty good
3 carrots, chopped
3-4 large stalks of celery, chopped
2 large bay leaves
1 cup of vegetable stock/broth per person you are serving PLUS
1 cup of beer (your choice) per person you're serving (you can substitute more stock for the beer, but you're a wimp if ye' do)
Salt and Pepper

Dumplin' Ingredients (4-6 servings; double if you really like dumplings):
3/4 cup flour (whole wheat will make this really heavy; you should have some un-bleached white flour in the house too)
1/2 cup cornmeal, any grade will do
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cold butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk

Okey doke. Set the heat under the pot on medium to high, and when the oil is hot toss in the onions and garlic. Stir that around a bit, then toss in the other vegetables. Cook them until you get some brown showing and the onions are clear and tender, about 10 minutes, stiring occasionally. I also crack some sea salt and pepper over them while they're in there. Myth buster: the salt does not cook out of your food. When the vegetables are nice and browned, sprinkle the flour on top and stir everything well. This will soak up all the oil. Cook for about 3 more minutes, lettng the flour brown slightly. Toss the bay leaves in and stir. Add whatever other spices you're going to use, I'll leave that up to you. I think I just sprinkled in some marjoram, but I really wouldn't do too much more. Okay, now pour the vegetable stock in (you can either have the canned variety or get a really good organic powdered stock that you can add to water, making sure there is no msg in it) and when it starts boiling, reduce the heat so that it BARELY bubbles. You are going to braise your veggies, which will imbue them with all kinds of nice flavors here. Take this opportunity to grab a metal spoon and scrape the bottom of the pot, stir up all that good stuff into the mix and then let it sit. When it is simmering, slowly pour in the beer. You want the beer to meet with as little motion as possible. Make sure the pot stays at a bare simmer, don't boil the beer. Don't stir the stew either after this.

Simmer this for about one hour or more, until the vegetables are the tenderness you desire. Now comes the nice part :-D I hope your pot has a tight fitting lid, because I forgot to mention that earlier. He he he. You're supposed to read the recipe all the way through before you begin to cook, anyways.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir together the flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt. With a fork, cut the butter into this dry mix, until the butter is incorporated and it's crumbly, just like you're making a crumb crust for cobbler or pie. In a separate glass or bowl, whisk the egg and milk together until they are well mixed and a little fluffy. Fold this carefully into the butter mixture, DO NOT BEAT. Keep folding it gently (folding: take your spoon or spatula and slice it down the middle of the bowl, scoop the spoon up to your left and turn it and its contents over. Turn the bowl and repeat these motions; this is done gently) until it is a dough. Scoop up tablespoon fulls of the dough and drop it right on top of the stew, do not dunk the dumplings. These are going to steam right on top of the stew. When dough is all used up, put the lid on the pot (I have to put something heavy on mine) to keep the steam in, and simmer the stew for another 20 minutes or so, until the dumplings have risen and are fluffy. It really does take about 20 minutes for them to cook all the way.

To serve, take a big metal spoon and scoop under a dumpling, getting some stew and leaving the dumpling settin' on top. Transfer to bowls. I don't serve anything with this, as it is a meal all itself.

It sounds like it takes a long time, but it really doesn't. If you have kids helping you cut stuff up it takes no time at all. Read or play a board game with the family while it's cooking:-D

Enjoy!

A very, very interesting subject. . .

2006-10-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

There is a man named Don Justo Gallego Martinez, in Madrid, Spain, who is building a cathedral all by himself. The structure is not finished, nor is it made of marble, ivory, or Gold. It is made of whatever materials he can salvage from other construction sites, and re-use. His 6 nephews helped him haul the steel girders up BY HAND with a pulley system. Don Justo never formally studied architecture, he never laid bricks. In fact, he is, by trade, a farmer. The way he is building it is almost medieval. In fact, the outside of the building looks like it has been there for hundreds of years (looking at the brick and stonework, disregarding the girders).

If you want to see more pictures, go here

I don't really know what to think of it. The man wants to build something beautiful for God. That is his motivation. He isn't imbedded in church politics, wearing his fingers to the bone in order to protest modern "church" architecture, no; his simplicity, however, his meekness, his perseverence, all his actions speak so much louder than any words. Why is it that the government, and yes, even church officials are trying to keep his whole project under wraps? Read some of the comments people left on this blog I found the article in; some of them live right by it, and have still never heard of it. They saw pictures on the blog, drove 20 miles or so, and bingo, what d'ya know, there it is. It is under wraps because it is an embarressment to modern man; they want to sever any remembrance of the past. They want to bury the glory, wipe it out of their minds, forget about it in toto. It is to painful to remember the aspirations of saints, the rich history of the sovereign, Catholic Church.

I think we have gotten to a point where the sweet memory of Tradition pains away in the hearts of all good and faithful Catholics like a memory of a long dead but much beloved relative. How much we want to see that person alive again! But it isn't just a person we see with our spiritual eyes, it is The Bride of Christ; her wedding dress has been torn to tatters and splattered with filth and refuse. Her veil, a symbol of her innocence, has been torn away from her head and stomped down into a muddy, scummy puddle. Those of us that love her are doing whatever we can, in our own little ways, to dress her back up in her glory and splendor, so that when Christ comes again, He will find a radiantly gorgeous Bride, waiting in readiness for Him, not caught unaware and beaten down by a mob who does not want the wedding feast to take place. Perseverance, He will come, we must prepare. We do not want to be found like the 7 virgins without oil in their lamps, because there will come a crucial moment when we will not be given a second chance to run and get some more. Be prepared. Fight against sin so as to remain in the state of grace. This is so much bigger than the petty problems we are so caught up in on a day to day basis. Even nuclear war is not as big as this one great fact . . . we are here to know God, to love God, and to serve God, and we must do this until He takes us to our true home. Until then, we are exhiles on this planet, aliens in a foreign land.

Why do weird things always happen to me?

2006-10-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Has anybody ever microwaved a cup of coffee just a little, taken it out, observed it was totally placid, not boiling, nuthin', then gently added a spoonful of sugar and HAD IT BLOW UP ON YOU?!?!?!?

Or, has anyone ever boiled cheese filled tortellini, dumped it into a colander, let it sit for five minutes, then come back at the precise moment that one of the tortellini pops and boiling, melted cheese flies right into your eye???

Then, with cheese in your eye, has anyone ever stretched out on the couch to relax, had your cat jump up onto your chest, settle down to stare you in the eye and nonchalantly BURP IN YOUR FACE!

And after getting up to get away from burpy cat, heard a thumping sound near the floor. . . And after bending down to take a closer look, observed a mouse jumping up and down, arms swingly wildly, trying to jump up to the vent cover and pull himself out into your house?

Better yet, has it ever happened to you all in one day?

Life at home is. . . Weird.

St. Therese's Feast Day!

2006-10-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Feast Day! Athanasius has written a very nice little piece on this day, which I will link to here . God bless!

Friday Food: Eggplant Lasagna!

2006-09-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Feast of St. Michael the Archangel

This is sooooo good, it kind of makes me wonder if it should be a Friday food, since the whole thing is about sacrifice, right? Anyway, here we go.

Ingredients:

2 medium sized eggplants (see the article on the sidebar about preparing eggplant properly)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 oz mozzarella cheese
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 26 ox Jar of your favorite pasta sauce (we're going to dress it up)
1 16 oz box lasagna noodles
3-5 cloves garlic
1/2 medium yellow or red onion
2-3 large handfuls of fresh, clean, whole spinach
7-8 large, fresh, sliced basil leaves (if using dried, 1 tablespoon) **optional
Salt, pepper
2 tablespoons Chianti (or any other dry red wine)
One 8x8 baking pan

Prepare the eggplant (i.e. peel it and rub it with salt), and while it is sitting in the colander, fill a large pot with water for the pasta, drizzle a little oil into the water, sprinkle a bit of salt, and turn the heat on high. Pre-heat your over to 350 degrees.

In another pot (one large enough to hold that jar of sauce), drizzle about one teaspoon of olive oil, mince the garlic and onion, and saute them in the olive oil until the onion is tender. At this point, if using dried basil, toss that in. If using fresh, wait. Add the jar of sauce, stir well and bring the sauce to a simmer. Meanwhile. . .

Slice the eggplant into "coins" about 1/2 inch thick. Now this is where calories come in, but hey, you pretty much fasted today, right? Anyway, arrange the eggplant coins in one layer at the bottom of a large saucepan, and LIBERALLY drizzle with olive oil. The eggplant will soak a lot of it up, but as the eggplant cooks, it will release some of it again. You want the eggplant totally coated and glossy with olive oil, on all sides, move it around in the pan until it is all coated. Crack some salt and pepper over this layer, and put on medium heat. Turn the pieces over with a pair of tongs and cook every piece until they are dark in color and tender, but still firm. You don't want to cook these until they are mush. Set them on a plate, DON'T drain the oil from them.

By this time you will have added the lasagna noodles to the water, stirred them to coat them with oil so they won't stick together, and they are now happily boiling away. These should boil about 8 minutes, or until they are al dente (slightly chewy but cooked all the way through). Drain them when they are done in the same colander and make sure they are dry.

Now that the sauce is simmering, add the chianti, the spinach, and the basil, stir, turn off the heat and cover to wilt the leafy ingredients.

Drizzle a small bit of olive oil into the bottom of the baking pan, and lay the first layer of pasta. I do a double layer for the bottom, laying a couple strips one way, then another layer of strips going the opposite way. Pour some sauce over the noodles, then add a layer of eggplant coins, then a layer of slices of mozzarella, a couple of spoonfuls of ricotta, and mush the ricotta around so that every bite you take will have some. Now you can either pour in some more sauce, or add another layer of pasta. Alternate layers like this until you get to the top of the pan. The last layer that you lay should go pasta, sauce, eggplant, cheese and more sauce. Cheese and sauce should be all you can see on the top.

Now slide this onto the middle rack of your oven, and bake until the cheese is golden brown on top, which will be about 30 minutes or so.

Slice and serve with Fresh Spinach, Wheat Toast Slices with Garlic Butter, and some Chianti in glasses.

**One variation I like to do to this is saute some big, fat mushroom slices with the garlic and onion, then take them out and layer these slices with the eggplant slices. Mmmmmmmmm.

Most Holy Theotokos, Save Us

2006-09-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

In anticipation of the month of The Holy Rosary, and also the anniversary of the Fatima miracle, I have been reading a book called "Jacinta, The Flower of Fatima" by The Very Reverand Galamba de Oliveira, who was the official "go between" for the first Bishop of Fatima and Lucia (the eldest of the three visionaries). It's simply written, designed to share the sweet simplicity and extreme love for Our Lady that Jacinta developed as a result of the graces poured out on her. The little biography shows how this ordinary and not overly pious young child changed because, like a flower (like the Heliotropium) she followed the light and responded to God's calling her to holiness.

It also brings many sobering thoughts, since we have the advantage of seeing everything after the fact; how Mary's requests went unheeded, how the second war came, how the Church is suffering today. I firmly believe that the miracle of the sun was a forewarning of the way the earth will be punished, perhaps will end. Many prophecies speak of great globes of fire (some think them to be comets or asteroids) that will fall to the earth and destroy vast numbers of mankind, and that the ones who are left will wish that they had perished. Jesus spoke of "stars falling from the sky".

And the one person who has been holding back the just wrath of the Father, is Our Lady, the Theotokos. With the "new" Catholic church and protestantization of many of Her teachings, has come a very disturbing lack of love for Our Lady as our Mother, something that Satan has greatly worked for since he knows that The Woman keeps so many souls from him. I personally know many Catholics who do not venerate Our Lady simply because they want to appeal to protestants; they are uncomfortable with speaking of our devotion to her, sharing and saying the rosary with people, displaying pictures or statues of her. This is extremely dangerous. The devotion to the scapular has waned much as well. In fact, a family I know that calls themselves Traditional Catholics (in actuality, they merely make it to mass every single Sunday, go to confession once a month, and say prayers before they eat. . .that makes them "tradtional" catholics) didn't even know what a scapular was when they saw me wearing mine. "What a funny necklace" the younger daughter told me, before I corrected her. Sigh.

As a labor of love for Our Lady, I would like to share with all of my readers one of my personally favorite Marian devotions, which has been given to us from the Eastern Church. The Akathist Hymn to Our Lady has been considered by many to be a rosary-like prayer (it definitely takes about as long as 5 decades do to pray!), and since many of my blogger friends will be elaborating on the rosary itself, I thought I would present this to you. Written in 532 A.D., this prayer has always been prayed standing, and is chanted. If I can figure out how to do it, I will try to put a clip of the music in here. It is one of the most beautiful hymns to Our Lady I have ever heard. Here are the words, in English :-D

Pre-amble: As soon as the Angel had received his command, he hastened to Joseph’s house and said to the ever-Virgin: "Behold, heaven was brought down to earth when the Word Himself was fully contained in you! Now that I see Him in your womb, taking a servant’s form, I cry out to you in wonder: Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!"

First Chant

An Archangel was sent from heaven to greet the Mother of God, and as he saw You assuming a body at the sound of his bodiless voice, 0 Lord, he stood rapt in amazement and cned to her in these words: Hail, 0 you through whom joy will shine forth; hail, 0 you through whom the curse will disappear! Hail, 0 Restoration of the Fallen Adam; hail, 0 Redemption of the Tears of Eve! Hail, 0 Peak above the reach of human thought; hail, 0 Depth even beyond the sight of angels! Hail, 0 you who have become a kingly Throne; hail, 0 you who carries Him Who carries all! Hail, 0 Star who manifests the Sun; hail, 0 Womb of the Divine Incarnation! Hail, 0 you through whom creation is renewed; hail, 0 you through whom the Creator becomes a Babe! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Knowing that she was a virgin, the Blessed One courageously answered the Angel: "Your surprising words seem hard for my mind to accept; how can you speak of a birth that is to come from a conception without seed? And why do you cry: Alleluia!"

Second Chant

Trying to grasp the meaning of this mystery, the Virgin asked the holy messenger: "How is it possible that a Son be born from a virginal womb? Tell me." And he answered her with awe, crying out in these words: Hail, 0 Hidden Sense of the Ineffable Plan; hail, 0 Belief in Silence That Must Be! Hail, 0 Forecast of the Marvels of Christ; hail, 0 Fountainhead of Truths Concerning Him! Hail, Celestial Ladder by whom God came down; hail, 0 Bridge leading earthly ones to heaven! Hail, 0 Wonder, everthrilling to the angels; hail, 0 Wound, ever-hurting to the demons! Hail, 0 you who gave birth to Light ineffably; hail, 0 you who told no one how it was done! Hail, 0 you who surpasses the wisdom of the wise; hail, 0 you who enlightens faithful minds! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

When the power of the Most High overshadowed the one who had never known the nuptial bed, her fruitful womb conceived, and she became for all a delicious field for those who wished to reap salvation by singing: Alleluia!

Third Chant

Pregnant with God, the Virgin hastened to Elizabeth, and her unborn child rejoiced, immediately knowing her embrace. Bouncing and singing, he cried out to the Mother of God: Hail, 0 Tendril whose Bud shall not wilt; hail, 0 Soil whose Fruit shall not perish! Hail, 0 Tender of mankind’s loving Tender; hail, 0 Gardener of the Gardener of Life! Hail, 0 Earth who yielded abundant mercies; hail, 0 Table Full-Laden With Appeasement! Hail, for you have greened anew the pastures of delight; hail, for you have prepared a haven for the souls! Hail, Acceptable Incense of prayer; Hail, Expiation of the Whole Universe! Hail, 0 Favor of God to Mortal Men; hail, 0 Trust of Mortals Before God! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Filled with a storm of contradictory thoughts, the wise Joseph was greatly disturbed; until then, he had seen you, a virgin, and now he suspected you of secret guilt, All-Blameless One! Learning that your conception was of the Holy Spirit, he cried out: Alleluia!

Fourth Chant

The shepherds heard the angels singing hymns of praise to the coming of Christ in the flesh. And running to Him as to a shepherd, they saw Him as a spotless Lamb grazing at Mary’s breasts. They sang a hymn to her and said: Hail, 0 Mother of lamb and Shepherd; hail, 0 Fold of Rational Sheep! Hail, 0 Protection Against Unseen Foes; hail, 0 Key to the Doors of paradise! Hail, for the heavenly rejoice with the earthly; hail, for the earthly meet the heavenly in song! Hail, the Unsilenced Voice of Apostles; hail, the Undaunted Might of Martys! Hail, 0 Steadfast Foundation of Faith; hail, 0 Shining Emblem of Grace! Hail, 0 you through whom death was despoiled; hail, 0 you through whom we were clothed with glory! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

When they saw the star moved by God, the Magi followed its glittering light. Using it as a beacon, they found through it the Mighty King, and reaching the One Beyond All Reach, they rejoiced and cried out to Him: Alleluia!

Fifth Chant

The sons of Chaldea saw in the Virgin’s hands the One Whose hands had fashioned men, and acknowledging Him as the Master, although he had taken the form of a servant, they hastened to honor Him with their gifts, and cried out the Blessed One: Hail, 0 Mother of the Star Without Setting; hail, 0 Radiance of the Mystical Day! Hail, 0 you who quenched the flame of error; hail, 0 Light of those who search the + Trinity! Hail, 0 you who unthroned the enemy of men; hail, 0 you who showed forth Christ the Lord, the Lover of Mankind! Hail, 0 you who cleansed us from the stain of pagan worship; hail, 0 you who saved us from the mire of evil deeds! Hail, 0 you who made cease the cult of fire; hail, 0 you who dispelled the flames of passion! Hail, 0 you who guides the faithful toward wisdom; hail, 0 Delight of All the Nations! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

The Magi, having become God-bearing heralds, returned to Babylon, conforming to Your command, announcing You, the Christ, to all, and leaving Herod as a fool who did not know how to sing: Alleluia!

Sixth Chant

Illuminating Egypt with the light of truth, You cast away the darkness of error. For the idols, unable to stand Your might, fell down, and those who had been delivered from them cried out to the Mother of God: Hail, 0 Resurrection of Mankind; hail, 0 Downfall of the Demons! Hail, 0 you who crushed the error of deceit; hail, 0 you who exposed the fraud of idols! Hail, 0 Sea who drowned the symbolic Pharaoh; hail, 0 Rock who quenched those who thirst for life! Hail, 0 Pillar of Fire who guided those in darkness; hail, 0 Shelter of the World, wider than the clouds! Hail, 0 Food who took the place of Manna; hail, 0 Servant of Holy Delight! Hail, 0 Land of the Promised Good; hail, 0 you who flow with milk and honey! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

As Simeon was about to leave the present deceitful world, You were entrusted to him as an Infant, but You made Yourself known to him as the Perfect God. Wherefore, he marveled at Your wisdom beyond words, and cried out: Alleluia!

Seventh Chant

The Creator displayed a new creation to us who had come from Him: He came forth from a womb that had received no seed, and He left it intact as it had been, so that at the sight of this marvel, we would sing to her and cry out: Hail, 0 Blossom of Incorruption; hail, 0 Crown of Self-Mastery! Hail, 0 you who shone forth as a Sign of Resurrection; hail, 0 you who displayed the life of angels! Hail, Fruitful Tree from whom believers feed; hail, Shady Glen where many are sheltered! Hail, 0 you who have borne the Guide of the Lost; hail, 0 Source of Life to the Captives’ Release! Hail, 0 you who unsettled even the just judge; hail, Indulgence of many who have fallen! Hail, 0 Stole for those who lack freedom to speak; hail, 0 Tenderness who exceeds all desire! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Now that we have seen this strange birth, let us estrange ourselves from the world and turn our minds to heaven; indeed, it is for this that the God Most High appeared on earth as a lowly man, desiring to draw up to heaven those who cry out to Him: Alleiuia!

Eighth Chant

While fully present amid those below, the Uncircumscribed Word was in no way absent from those above; for what happened was a divine condescension, and not a moving from one place to another; and it was a birth from a Virgin inspired by God, who heard these words: Hail, 0 Space of the spaceless God; hail, 0 Gate of the Sublime Mystery! Hail, 0 Message unsure to men without faith; hail, 0 Glory most certain to those who believe! Hail, 0 Sacred Chariot of the One Above the Cherubim; hail, Perfect Dwelling of the One Above the Seraphim! Hail, 0 you who reconciled opposites; hail, 0 you who combined maidenhood and motherhood! Hail, 0 you through whom transgression was erased; hail, 0 you through whom paradise was opened! Hail, 0 Key to the Kingdom of Christ; hail; 0 Hope for the Ages of Bliss! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

The whole order of Angels marveled at the great work of Your becoming a man. For they saw the One Inaccessible as God become a Man Accessible to All, living with us and hearing all cry out: Alleluia!

Ninth Chant

0 Mother of God, we see the best of speakers become as mute as fish in your regard, for they could not explain how you could give birth while remaining a virgin. As for us, while marveling at the mystery, we cry out to you with faith: Hail, 0 Container of God’s Wisdom; hail, 0 Treasury of His Providence! Hail, 0 Reproof of Foolish Philosophers; hail, 0 Confusion of Speechless Wise Men! Hail, for you perplexed the inquisitive minds; hail, for you dried up the inventors of myths! Hail, for you ripped the Athenians’ meshes; hail, for you filled the Fishermen’s nets! Hail, 0 Retriever From the Abyss of Ignorance, hail, 0 Lamplight of Knowledge to Many! Hail, 0 Ship for Those Who Seek Salvation; hail, 0 Harbor for the Sailors of Life! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Desiring to save the world, the Creator of All came down to it of His own will. Being at the same time our Shepherd and our God, He appeared among us, a man like us. And so the like called upon the Like, and as God He heard: Alleluia!

Tenth Chant

0 Virgin God-Bearer, you are the Strength of Virgins and of all those who have recourse to you. For the Maker of Heaven and Earth covered you with His shadow, 0 Pure One, and came to dwell in your womb, and taught us all to cry out to you: Hail, 0 Pillar of Virginity; hail, 0 Gateway of Salvation! Hail, 0 Principle of the New Creation; hail, 0 Dispenser of God’s Bounties! Hail, for you restored those born in shame; hail, for you gave sense to those who had lost it! Hail, 0 you who stopped the corruptor of minds; hail, 0 you who bore the Sower of Chastity! Hail, Holy Chamber of Virginal Wedlock; hail, 0 you who joins the faithful with God! Hail, 0 gracious Foster-Mother of Virgins; hail, 0 Bridesmaid of Holy Souls! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Every hymn falls short when it attempts to sing the multitude of Your mercies. We could sing to You as many songs as there are grains of sand, 0 Holy King, without ever doing anything worthy of what You have given to those who cry out to You: Alleluia!

Eleventh Chant

We see the holy Virgin as a brilliant luminary enlightening those who live in darkness; for having kindled the Immaterial Light, she leads men to the knowledge of God and fills their minds with radiance, so that she is worthily praised in these words: Hail, 0 Beam of the Mystical Sun; hail, 0 Radiance of the Light Without Setting! Hail, Lightning-Flash that brightens the souls; hail, Thunder-Clap that strikes down the foes! Hail, for you have raised the many-lighted Star; hail, for you have opened the many-coursed Stream! Hail, 0 you who traced the Living Model of the Pool; hail, 0 you who erased the stain of sin! Hail, Flowing Water that cleanses the conscience; hail, Holy Vessel overflowing with joy! Hail, 0 Fragrance of the Sweetness of Christ; hail, 0 Life of the Mystical Banquet! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

Because He wished to grant release from all the ancient debts, the One Who pays men’s dues came down Himself to those who had spumed His grace. He tore up their obligations, and heard from all of them this cry: Alleluia!

Twelfth Chant

By singing praise to your maternity, we all exalt you as a Spiritual Temple, 0 Theotokos! For the One Who dwelt within your womb, the Lord Who holds all things in His hands, sanctified you, glorified you and taught all men to sing to You: Hail, 0 Tabernacle of God the Word; hail, Holy One, more holy that the Saints! Hail, 0 Ark that the Spirit has gilded; hail, Inexhaustible Treasure of Life! Hail, Precious Crown of Rightful Authorities; hail, Sacred Glory of Reverent Priests! Hail, Unshakable Tower of the Church; hail, Unbreachable Wall of the Kingdom! Hail, 0 you through whom the trophies are raised; hail, 0 you through whom the enemies are routed! Hail, 0 Healing of My Body; hail, 0 Salvation of My Soul! Hail, 0 Bride and Maiden ever-pure!

Kontakion

0 Mother Worthy of All Praise, you who have given birth to the Word, the Holiest of the Holy, accept this present offering, deliver all men from every affliction, and save from the future punishment those who cry out to you: Alleluia!

Hirmos

Gabriel was rapt in amazement as he beheld your virginity and the splendor of your purity, 0 Mother of God, and he cried out to you: "By what name shall I call you? I am bewildered; I am lost! I shall greet you as I was commanded to do: ‘Hail, 0 Woman Full of Grace!"’

Recite the Concluding Prayers.

A book every housewife should own. . . .

2006-09-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

The Joy of Cooking

This cookbook has everything you could possibly ever want to know about cooking in it. Detailed information about how to do certain techniques correctly, what this pan is for and that funny looking gadget does, things like that. If you've ever had a cooking dilema or questions, this book is like the encyclopedia of cooking, with almost all the answers! I grew up with the older version, and had recipes in it for things like muskrat, raccoon, wild rabbit, you name it! The new version, which I was given for a wedding present, is a bit more updated and has a bit of the fat trimmed out of its recipes, but it is still chock full of great information for the budding cook.

It's also the perfect cooking book for classes, if you are teaching a teen to cook (hi homeschoolers!). There is information about liquid and solid measurements, how ingredients react with each other, how proteins respond to heat, what makes eggs fluffy when they are beaten, basic nutritional information, and things like that. When I have teenagers, we are going to go through this whole entire book from cover to cover, and not just with the girls. Every young man should know how to cook, and some of them really take a liking to it!

My favorite cookbook, the Joy of Cooking.

German Sauerbraten Part I

2006-09-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

I love to try different foods all the time. Japanese, Chinese (real Chinese, not your average every day orange chicken and pepper beef ;) ), German, English, French, Indian, Filipino. . . list goes on and on and on.

Perhaps it's just a theory I have, but I believe that the proper enjoyment of food is part of good Catholic home life. Enjoying food properly means exercising restraint, avoiding gluttony, thanking God for such nice food and the company of those you eat it with. Invite your priest over for a good meal that was meant to be savored, and you create memories that will last throughout your life. There are so many different cultural traditions involving food and how to eat it, it is fascinating to try some of them every once in a while.

Though coming from Austrian heritage, I don't think I ever had sauerbraten while growing up, so I always wanted to try it. German food has such satisfying sounding names that I am usually disappointed when finding out that most of them are really quite ordinary dishes, but they are still good. Sauerbraten is actually just a pot roast, but it is very good and the leftover gravy is wonderful the next day, served hot over slices of bread.

I also like this recipe because I had been trying to find creative things to do with all of the cheapo London Broil they sell at my grocery store in large quantities, which I freeze. This stuff is really hard to cook in a way that won't come out either raw or like leather, but a big chunk of it is the perfect size for a smaller pot roast.

Ingredients:

1 boneless beef pot roast, 4-5 pounds, rolled and tied (if you are using only 1-2 pounds of meat, half the amounts shown here for the marinade, etc. Experiment)

1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup dry red wine (I am using Chianti)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon black pepper corns, whole
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 Juniper Berries OR 1 oz gin

And if you have some leftover coffee, you can add up to 1/2 cup of coffee. The Austrians can find a way to put coffee into just about anything.

Put everything except the roast into a non-reactive (that means either non-metal, like a crock pot, or stainless steel, don't use aluminum) pot. The pot should be big enough to allow the roast to sit in the middle of the pot and not be touching any of the pans sides or the pot's cover.

Bring this marinade just to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit until it's cool. Add the roast, turn it to coat with the marinade, and cover it so it's air-tight. It will now sit in the fridge for up to four days. The longer you marinade it, the better it will taste. I like to kind of aim for Sundays, so I'm putting my sauerbraten in the fridge today.

The rest of the recipe will be posted on Saturday evening. In the meantime, the ingredients needed for the rest of the cooking will be vegetable oil (I'm using extra virgin olive oil), chopped onions, chopped carrots, chopped celery, ground ginger, beef broth, and some flour.

I will also post two recipes for side-dishes I am going to serve with the sauerbraten; Spatzle, which are German egg dumplings that are served on the side and covered with the gravy, and Braised red cabbage with apples, which is basically red sauerkraut. Yum yummy!

**Interesting tid-bit: sauerbraten is mostly served in the fall/winter months, and if any of the family members had colds or the sniffles, the mammas would make them sit in the kitchen while the vinegar/onion mixture came to a boil, and then have them breathe the very pungent steam. It really clears the sinuses and makes your head feel much better when you have a stuffy cold.

Time. . . what time?

2006-09-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

Nowadays, every second counts. Every person I know tries to cram as much as they can into each and every minute of the day, because we seem to just plain be running out of time. Even I, a young wife with no kids yet, seem to not have enough time, ever. My day is full to the brim and usually runs out before I'm done.

What are we all doing? For most of the day, the majority of us work. I don't work outside the home, but I work very small amounts of the week for two small companies as a virtual assistant. I also have a small home business that will eventually become our sole means of financial support. Living in a dirty part of the world, my house needs dusting all the time, the white (argh) carpets need shampooing once a week (my hubby got me a steam cleaner!), there are mountains of dishes from my cooking fiascos, cars to clean, weeds to pick, trees and rose bushes to prune, the list goes on and on.

It's nice, every once in while, to physically grab (or spear, bonk on the head, trap) some time out of the day, to just do something that actually doesn't have anything to do with anything, gets anything on your schedule accomplished, or serves two purposes at once.

One thing my husband and I like to do is have a tea party. LOL, yes, you heard me. No, we don't dress up our dollies and bring them along. For Christmas a couple years back, my husband gave me a gorgeous tea set: a porcelain tray, tea-pot, sugar bowl, cream pitcher, two tea cups and saucers, little cookie plates and two matching candlesticks. I also inherited a very old maple tea wagon, that used to belong in a very fancy house and would roll out every morning at 10 with my ancient relatives' tea and cakes. This tea wagon had displayed my tea set in the living room, basically just collecting dust, for about a year when I finally took a good look at life and said to myself, "Why the heck is that beautiful tea set just sitting there, never used, never loved, just looking pretty in the corner?" The answer basically was, who the heck has time for tea? Umm. . not me.

But the tea set stuck in my head, until my husband's next day off. He was sitting at his computer (ahem, like 97.9 percent of the time) and I wasn't doing much, so I put a pot of water on the stove, some tea bags in the pot, poured the hot water. . yeah, you get the idea. I actually put cream in the creamer too. And sugar in the sugar bowl. That began our little weekly ritual of tea time :-D

People back in the good old days used to just be able to take time to do silly little things like that, not for silly's sake, but to enjoy time. Sitting back with a small sandwich and a cup of hot tea in the middle of the morning, not hurrying for anything, taking your time to eat and enjoy each other's company is so enjoyable. But you have to steal time for it.

Loose leaf tea is the best by the way, and I ain't talkin' 'bout lipton's raspberry fako tea either. Fresh, loose leaf black tea is my favorite. You measure it out into something called a tea ball (really, just a metal tea bag that you can use over and over), steep it in hot water, and add it to the dainty cups that have a bit of sugar and cream in them. I've since added triangle shaped turkey sandwiches to the menu of cookies or brownies or whatever I've got. My brother, who lives with us, has even enjoyed the little parties we have, even though he doesn't really look like the tea party type;). . .it's just a nice way to spend some time together and enjoy some things that God has blessed us with.

What little time stealing rituals do my readers enjoy? C'mon peoples, speak up. There are quite a lot of you and only two or three ever comment;) So let's share :-D

Been busy. . .

2006-09-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

Sorry folks, busy busy busy. But this article on toxins in our food is very interesting.

Broiled Wild Salmon

2006-09-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, this week's Friday dinner is broiled wild salmon :-D Yum Yum!

Two things first: salmon is extremely healthy for you because of the omega three fatty acids, but you must not overcook the salmon. The other thing, is that you should only buy wild caught salmon, and it must be advertised as "wild caught". Such things as "atlantic salmon" "color added" "farmed salmon" DO NOT EAT! For one thing, the omega three fatty acids will barely be there, all of the above titles in parentheses are salmon raised on farms, in tight quarters, fed exactly the minimum nutrients to make them grow to harvest size. Those fish ARE what they eat, and then you are what they eat ultimately. I will post another post soon on why farm raised fish must be avoided at all costs.

Fish is expensive, especially if you don't live by the coast. You have to catch it by the sales, and every grocery store in the United States is going to have wild caught fish flown in at some point because of the demand it is creating as consumers become more educated about their food. Fall is the time they are catching these salmon, so they are in season and should be on sale to boot. When this happens, STOCK UP! I really saved some money for this, and bought about 12 fillets. Figure out how much your family is going to eat at one meal, and have the guy at the meat counter wrap this amount up separately in as many packages as you can afford. When you get home, wrap each package again with brown paper bag (I cut strips from the brown grocery bags I save) and stick them in the freezer. They'll keep for a good long time.

Broiled Wild Salmon

Ingredients:
One large salmon fillet, about 1 1/2 pounds (this will make four generous portions)
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive oil OR one Tablespoon Butter cut into four pieces
Salt and Pepper
1/2 tsp marjoram

Rinse the fillet in cool water, LEAVE THE SKIN ON. Pat dry and place the fillet, skin side down, on a flat baking pan with sides, on parchment paper. The paper is important; if you don't use it then use some aluminum foil, but I don't recommend doing this often (there is evidence that cooking with aluminum foil might help aluminum leach into your food, which you ingest, which can complicate things such as alzheimer's etc., more on that in another post).

Turn your broiler on and put the highest rack as close to the broiler flame as possible.

The thickness of your fillet will determine how long you need to broil, but they are generally about an inch thick. Drizzle the fillet with oil, or place the butter pieces at intervals along the fillet. Crack some salt and pepper over it, then sprinkle the marjoram.

Place under the broiler flame and broil for about 10-15 minutes, watching closely. The top of the fish should get crispy (this enhances the flavor of the fish) and if some of it carmelizes, all the better for the flavor. If this happens within the first 4-5 minutes, however, move the fish a bit farther away from flame, as you don't want it to burn.

Continue to broil until the flesh flakes easily with a fork, and when you peek down to the fish next to the skin below, it's firm and light pink.

Take the fish out now and let it sit in the pan while you get the plates and everything. The fish will leach nutrients out of the skin below at this time, so you want to let it sit about 3-5 minutes.

Serve with salad and rice, or bread. Watch out for a line of bones, and DO NOT eat the skin or the scales, ever.

There is a proper way to each fish: place the fish skin side down on a plate. Using a small fork (this is what seafood forks are for. . .), lightly pull flakes of the fish apart, eating each flake. It was meant to be savored, so small bites are good. Bones will be between flakes, so eating in this way will easily uncover bones that you may pull out and place on a napkin, instead of crunching them unpleasantly in your teeth and having to "fish" around in your mouth for it;) Properly cooked fish will lift easily away from the skin, and the dark flesh right next to the skin has the highest amount of omega threes. This fish does not have a lot of bones in it at all, which makes it my favorite, but beware all the same.

***Other yummy thing to do with salmon: spread some all natural cream cheese on a whole wheat bagel that has been toasted brown, then top it with a generous amount of naturally smoked wild salmon with a sprinkling of chives. Mmmmmmmm

Women and Veils: This says it all

2006-09-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

veils

There is a link on my links-roll to the right, to a lady who makes gorgeous veils and mantillas by hand out of very high quality lace. She needs some support :-D

Mulled Cider and Other Fall Drinks

2006-09-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, here is a really good Fall Drink. Good for what ails ya'.

You have to make this drink in a crock pot or ceramic dish, or a non-reactive metal sauce-pan (this means only use stainless steel, don't use aluminum). Makes enough for three servings.

Ingredients:
1 quart plain apple cider or apple juice (there doesn't seem to much difference in the commercial brands)
1/2 cup brandy (experiment with what flavor, if any) *optional ingredient
1 cinnamon stick
6-8 whole cloves
1/2 cup craisins or dried cranberries
2/3 cup honey or 3/4 cup brown sugar (I personally prefer brown sugar in this version)
1 orange
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract or one whole vanilla bean
Cheesecloth

Heat the cider or juice on low in the pot with the brandy, and while it's warming up cut the zest from the orange with a veggie peeler, or if you have a zester, us that. This just means cutting the orange from the orange peel. If you wind up getting the white stuff, you'll have to pick it out, because even a tiny bit of it will make this drink bitter. Put the zest into the cheesecloth (you'll be making a bag out of it soon) and pound it lightly so that the orange oil is released. Now form a bag from the cheesecloth, and put all of the other dry ingredients in (the cinn. stick, cloves, craisins, and vanilla bean if you're using one). Tie the bag tightly and drop into the cider. Let this steep on low heat until it starts to steam. At that point, add the sugar or honey and the vanilla extract. Taste and see. . .if you need to add more spices or sweetner;) If the brandy is too alcoholic for your taste buds, let the cider simmer a little bit, and the taste will diminish the longer you simmer. Ladle into mugs and stick a cinnamon stick into it, if you want.

For a really nice drink when you have a cold, try Mulled Wine:

Ingredients:

1 750ml Bottle of either red or white Zinfindel, Merlot, Reisling, or Viognier wine (remember, a bad wine tastes REALLY bad when heated, so don't get just anything, BUT, a cheaper wine is just as good as a better one in this case). This makes enough for however many people you usually split a whole bottle of wine with.
1/2 cup Brandy
2/3 cup sugar (I use raw sugar)
6-8 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
zest from 1/2 an orange

Just like for the mulled cider, pour the wine and brandy into a non-reactive pan (crock pot is the best I'm tellin' ya') and put it on low heat. This is very important: don't let the wine come to a boil. Put it on very, very low heat. Remove the zest from half an orange, put it in some cheesecloth, pound it a bit, make a bag out of the cheesecloth with the pounded zest inside and put the spices into it, tie it, and toss it into the pot. Let this steep for as long as it takes for the wine to start steaming. When this happens, gently stir in the sugar and taste to see if it needs more. Ladle into mugs. Yum yum!

Okay, you are going to LOVE this one. It is a bit of work, but the end product is very, very good. This is REAL egg nog with a bit of a twist. And the eggs get cooked, so you don't have to worry about salmonella.

Chocolate Egg Nog
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup bourbon or rum
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream or whipping cream
1 cup grated bittersweet chocolate (this is chocolatey, you might want to experiment)
1/4 cup creme de cacao or other chocolate liqueur
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg (plus more for a garnish if you can wait long enough to put a garnish on)
1/4 tsp. allspice
A big punchbowl or mixing bowl for the finished product.

In a non-reactive saucepan, heat the cream over low heat until it just starts to boil. Place the bittersweet chocolate into the punchbowl or large bowl and pour the hot cream over it. Reserve this mixture. Pour the milk into the saucepan and heat over low, stirring occasionally to make sure the milk doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. While this is heating up, beat the egg yolks in a bowl with the vanilla, allspice, nutmeg and sugar until they are totally incorporated. When the milk starts to steam, it is at the scalding stage, turn off the heat. With one hand, or a friend, whisking the egg mixture in the bowl, carefully pour on ladle of hot milk into the eggs and whisk. Now, start whisking the milk left in the pan, and pour in the new egg mixture. Keep gently whisking until you have turned the pan back to low heat. Get a wooden spoon now and stir constantly, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan the entire time so that the mixture doesn't burn. This mixture is going to thicken as it cooks, and it might take as long as 20 minutes, but you want the drink to the consistency where it coats the back of your wooden spoon. Run a clean finger through the coat on the spoon, and if the mark stays clear, it's done. Pour this hot mixture over the chocolate mixture from earlier, then pour in the alcohols, stir gently, and either serve warm or cool in the fridge, keeping this drink covered.

Enjoy!

Autumn comes, time to pull out the decorations

2006-09-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Autumn is my favorite season of the year! Probably because it symbolizes warm pumpkin pies, steaming curried lamb soup, hot chocolate and tea, snuggling under the covers with a good book, cold air blowing on your face while the rest of you is toasty inside a snug jacket. . . I love cool weather, because then the other people out there decide to wear some real clothes too.

There is just a feeling that comes with the fall weather that reminds me of something I can't quite put my finger on. The sun seems to be at a funny place in the sky, all of the orange and yellow makes me relax and think of hibernating. When I was a kid, my brothers and sister and I would be outside raking leaves into piles and running through them. I always tried to jump in them like the kids in books did, but I never really saw the point. They weren't really a soft landing. Running through them, however, was great fun. Crackling them up into tiny bits in my hand was even better.

I like to decorate my home with the change of seasons in order to savour the atmosphere more. Bright flowers and vines (fake of course) get strung up around the windows and at the tops of my drapes during spring-time, garlands of golden leaves take their places in the fall, while shiny pumpkins, dried corn, and plastic squash decorate other parts of my home. In the winter, evergreen boughs and cinnamon scented pine cones appear, along with red and golden plaid fabric. The summer is a bit tricky, but then, it's so hot that no one really cares around here;)

Simple little things like that can really enrich a home and a life. All of the changes the earth is going through really come alive when we utilize changes in what we see, taste, smell and feel. This is something that Holy Mother Church recognizes as well. When people make fun of us traddies for "lingering after the smells and bells" of the Tridentine mass, I don't get mad at them, I feel sorry for them. What an empty, joyless and sparse existence they must put up with day after day. We humans were given five senses for a reason. Each sense enriches our atmosphere, it helps our brains actually realize what is happening. There is a limit to what fact can enable us to understand, and the senses take up where fact leaves off.

To be good wives and mothers, we need to take the time to enrich our homes with these kinds of symbols and things pleasing to the senses. Our homes should be a wonderful place for our husbands to return to after work, a place they'll look forward to retire in each evening. It should be a pleasant wonderland for our children. A lot of women, myself included, get so wrapped up in what's going on during the day that we feel we must prioritize, only doing what's important to keeping the family running. Some of us even feel guilty if we take the time to do something that doesn't seem to have value to it, so we just keep our houses clean and that's that. No silly primping and setting things up that will just catch dust. I tend to think though, that even if your knick-knacks will catch dust, it's not too hard to clean them up later, especially if you get a child to help you. The joy a pretty home can bring you and your family is well worth the extra work, methinks.

And while I'm in a sentimental mood. . .

2006-09-09T17:26:00.000-07:00

This is my sister. . .

Hey. . .isn't that my favorite shirt you're wearing???

That was one of the last pictures I took of her before she entered a cloister; here she is as she looks now, in the front row, first Sister on the left.

My other brother. . . .

2006-09-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

I had to put up a picture of my other cool brother because. . . He's just so cool! And, I miss him :-( So, here he is. . .

Hey, don't stick your tongue out at me kid!

Nah, just kidding. Here he really is. . .

How to Prepare Eggplants

2006-09-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

A lot of people find that they cannot eat eggplant. It's either too bitter, or gives them heartburn, or, if you're like me, your throat starts to itch and you start coughing. This could be because some people are ultra-sensitive to something called solanine, which is present in eggplant in higher quantities than other nightshade plants (doctors recommend that people with joint problems or arthritis stay away from the nightshade family of plants because solanine can make matters worse; Dr. Peter D'Adamo has an interesting theory on why, based on blood type, but I won't go into that here). I'm planning to delve a little more deeply into the facts pretty soon, but in the meantime, here are some tips for preparing eggplant, which have thus far eliminated all of my problems with eating this versatile veggie.

First of all, organic is the only way to go. Eggplant absorbs a lot of water while it's growing, and whatever is in the water does make its way into your eggplant. The stuff they're spraying on the eggplants out here is not good, it's ruining our ground water, killing birds and the blow off has been causing lung problems out here. So, support your organic growers because they take care of the earth God gave us. Also, there are many studies popping up over how much more nutritious organic vegetables are for youcheck this out. Even if they were the same in nutritional content, however, organic growers are growing their vegetables the way God meant them to be grown, and it IS less expensive to farm organically, there is a much higher quality of nutrients left in organically farmed soils. . I could go on and on. Eat organic.

Second, you have to eat your eggplant ripe. Under-ripe eggplant is under-developed and contains more solanine than a ripe one. So if you can't tolerate eggplant very well, then you really can't tolerate an un-ripe one. Ripe eggplant are a bit soft to the touch, deep dark purple, and shiny. If your eggplant is dull, it's most likely over-ripe, which is okay, but not as good.

Third, always peel the eggplant unless the recipe you are using says not to (it should also give you explicit directions on how to prepare it. . .otherwise, peel it anyway).

Fourth, cut the eggplant in half and give the entire pieces a very liberal rubbing with salt. I and my eggplant eating friends don't use regular tablesalt, we've always used sea salt, but I think regular salt will work just as well. Let the salted pieces sit in a colander or somewhere that air can circulate around them for about 5 minutes or so, while you go about the rest of your meal preparation. Then, just before you need the eggplant, rinse off the salt, pat it dry, and use.

Fifth and final tip, make sure your eggplant is well done. Eggplant is not a veggie you want to eat on the raw side, you want it to be mush.

With all this hassle, why eat eggplant? Well, I eat eggplant because it's cheap, for one thing, (he he he) and it can be a good replacement for meat in dishes because of its rather neutral flavor, and ability to soak up the flavors of other food it's cooked with. Rather filling, it goes with many, many dishes, yet does not have many calories. For the nutritional content of eggplants lookee here.

I'll be posting more recipes containing eggplant later. There are some really good ones. :-D

Friday Food: Eggplant and Crimini Mushroom Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic Sauce

2006-09-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

My Friday food recipe for this week is Crimini Mushroom Pasta with Olive Oil and Garlic Sauce.

Ingredients (makes enough for two adults)
6-8 Small Crimini Mushrooms, whole, rinsed
1 cup chopped eggplant, chopped into very small pieces (see separate post on How To Prepare Eggplant)

3 Minced Garlic Cloves
1/2 Tsp Marjoram
4 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp water
Fully Cooked and Drained Spaghetti Noodles or other pasta

Mince the garlic and let it sit in the cold olive oil and butter in a medium sized frying pan, which you prepare the other things. Turn heat to medium, and saute the garlic a bit. Add marjoram, then the eggplant and mushrooms. Stir the eggplant in the oil and butter until the eggplant is thoroughly coated and/or all of the oil has been soaked up by the eggplant. Add the water and cover, turn heat to low. Stir every minute or so, then re-cover until the mushrooms are tender all the way through, and the eggplant is slightly brown and totally tender. If the oil and butter have not been re-leased back into the pan, add a little more oil so that your pasta will be coated. Don't worry, extra virgin olive oil is very good for you, and speeds up your metabolism. At this point, turn your heat back up to medium and add the amount of pasta you want. Stir the pasta to coat with the oil and mix the vegetables in with it; add salt and pepper now (or at the table). Let cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring to coat constantly, don't let the pasta stick onto the bottom of the pan.

Serve with salad and bread.

Happy Birthdays are in order. . . . .:-D

2006-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our Blessed Mother! Today we celebrate her birthday. There is a very interesting little information piece about this feast day, which you can read by clicking Here

But there is another person whose birthday is
today. . .my brother, Spanky (no not his real name, he has a good strong Catholic name)!!!

One year ago to the day. . .
And this is what he looks like now. They sure grow quickly.

Happy Birthday Buddy Boy! This is the first Spanky birthday I wasn't with you guys for (sniff sniff :-( ), but I love you just the same and hope you have a great day! I would have put a baby picture on here, but unfortunately I don't seem to have any pictures of the kid when he was a baby :-(

God bless you today, God bless you today, God bless you dear Spanky, God bless you always;)

Picasa is so cool!

2006-09-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

Another with the tortoise

From left to right, Dave the Snake guy, Dad the Fire Fighter, and me the bonnet wearer. ;)

When I was a little kid. . . .

2006-09-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Uh oh, my feet don't reach the pedals! Me "driving" my Dad's fire engine. LOL, now that I think about it, this is one of the first pictures I sent my husband when we were first getting to know each other. :-P

Desert tortoise. Babies have this "one finger touch" thing. . .

Um, gee, that snake really IS big! That's Dave, the Number Two cool guy on my list.

What a nice little birdy.

Tragic Deaths Always Make me So Sad

2006-09-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

I was raised in a tv-less household, so I was spared much of the crap my friends were put through while growing up, but my Dad had a tv at his place of work. Since he worked odd hours, he was alone much of the time there, and some of my fondest memories are of Mom, me and the kids piling into the car after dark to take him dinner and watch a show or two. It was such a treat! And gosh, it really wasn't that long ago, either.

Our favorites were old things like Laurel and Hardy or the Three Stooges, but if the Crocodile Hunter was on, it was unanimous. We loved that guy! The next day, our yard would witness four young teenage kids tramping out on a trek to find "dangerous" scorpions, snakes, lizards, and other desert wildlife. All of the rabbits and coyotes had run away by the time our shouts of "Crikey!" and other very badly done Australian tinted jabber had hit them, but we didn't care because they were the fuzzy wuzzy cutsey animals, and we were after "adventure".

I think we liked him so much because he reminded us of our Dad, sans the crikey bit. He was a Forest Fire Fighter guy, who tramped up and down mountains for a living, rescuing people, putting out fires, etc. Even when we were teeny, tiny he would take us out on hikes in the mountains, show us desert tortoises, birds, snakes, skinks, scorpions, frogs. He taught us to replace whatever we removed so as not to disturb the animal's natural habitat, and when the Crocodile Hunter echoed these words, we were like "Wow, Dad really is smart!". He made sure we could tell poisonous snakes from harmless ones, and he had a friend who was a park ranger that had a nature museum full of real snakes, tarantulas, toads and things. This guy wasn't as cool as my Dad, since he wasn't a fire fighter, but he was number two on the cool list. He hiked hundreds of miles in rough terrain, caught and relocated rattle-snakes and other wild life that city hikers couldn't deal with, etc. So we kids were very comfortable with the Crocodile Hunter and kind of treated him like an uncle we'd never met.

A couple years later, married and far away from my family, I think I totally forgot about all of this stuff until my husband told me that Steve Irwin had died. I was like. . .Steve Irwin? Who the heck. . .ohhhhh, the Crocodile Hunter!!! Memories just came flooding back. I've been thinking about him for the past couple days now, trying not to read all of the stupid news stuff about him and all, but this morning I sat down and just thought. . .why am I thinking about this guy so much? I didn't know him, never met him, don't know what kind of man he was in real life. But tragic deaths always make me sad, especially when I kind of DO know the person who died. When you spend time with someone on tv, it's like you get to know them somewhat (or the character that they are acting). That's why it is so dangerous to watch movies with characters you wouldn't want to be like, because their actions and thought and vileness will kind of have an effect on you, just as hanging around friends like that in real life would. But Steve Irwin was so real. You could tell he was just as funny, just as rip-roaring and adventurous in real life, and we kids really respected that. So many tv personalities are sooo fake. Anyway. . .

Tragic deaths make me sad, because I have always seen death as the last chance to change. For someone who was busy with life and stuff, not really paying attention to God (I have no idea if Irwin was religious or not, but I highly doubt it) and soul, the dying process is a sharp reminder of the last things. All of the sudden that person has to think about "what's going to happen to my soul, do I really have one, is hell a real place and am I going there? What can I do. . .God forgive me. . .death. At least that's what you hope is going through their minds.

However, having lived a life of risk and running the chance of death very often, I wonder if Mr. Irwin remembered this every day. . .or not at all. If not at all, his sudden death saddens me very much, because he very likely had no time to think from between "oh, nice sting-ray" and "-----------". It's nice and tempting to think that because he was "such a nice man" or "did so much for children" that he went straight to heaven, but as a Catholic I am sober faced. The vale of tears was hidden from this man, as he went about his captivating life, as so many people out there are doing, not aware of the great battle for souls that is raging right in the midst of all we are doing. A life. . .wasted? This, the world does not want to hear! They want to make the Crocodile Hunter a hero, he died filming a film for his daughter's show, isn't that wonderful? I'm thinking of his two little kids that loved him very much, who now have no Daddy, and his wife who is now facing raising them alone. And I'm wondering if it was all just a waste.

I really hope not. But this should be an eye opener for all of us. Every death should be an eye opener for all of us. We all drive on the freeways, we are all absorbed in the task of providing for our families, taking care of loved ones, making sure the bills get paid, the car has gas, the fridge has food in it, the house is clean, Aunt Sally is still talking to us even though we never write her, etc. Life is being made more and more complicated every day, and people are running out of time to do things like think about a holy death. You could die any minute, unexpectedly. How will your soul fare? Staying as best we can in the state of grace is so important, frequent comfession, a must. Death is the most wonderful last minute opportunity to get things in order, that is why we Catholics pray for a happy death. The best death anyone could have is the one St. Joseph experienced, surrounded by angels, cradled in Mary and Jesus's arms. Let's not let death take us unprepared.

St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death, ora pro nobis.

And let us keep the Irwin family in our prayers as well as Steve Irwin's soul.

Too tired

2006-09-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

To all of my readers (yes I have more than one. . .:-P),

Sorry. . .I've just been too tired to write anything. Every once in a while my brain gets overloaded (well, more than every once in a while, but anyway) and I just have to stop all of the extra things and pull back into my shell to recuperate. The circuits up there were shorting out last week and half, so no more bloggy for a while.

Today is better though. Relatives and friends are gone from my little house, my husband is commuting to a job that requires him to be gone for just about all of the next three days, my house is clean and the yard is lookin' good, so I'm going to take it easy again and think about something other than surviving;)

Hmm, wonder if I paid the water bill.

Click click. . .nope, I didn't

Talk to you later.

Not a cooking blog, but. . . .

2006-08-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

I had some things getting old in the fridge, and it was lunchtime, so I threw together a surprisingly yummy lunch, which I thought I'd share. It is meatless as well as the other things I've posted, so it would make a perfect Friday breakfast or Lunch!

Just a little note: I always used Free Range eggs, organic if I can get them, as they are not only the products of healthier chickens, but they are much superior in nutritional value to regular commercial brand eggs. For one, regular eggs are from chickens that are so nutrient deficient, that they have to be fed food with yellow dye in it to make the yolks yellow-I am not kidding! They have also been traveling and sitting on grocery store shelves for 3 weeks or more (eggs DO last long, so they are still safe to eat, but the nutritional value might go down the longer they sit, so you are getting more nutrition still from free range eggs, even if they have sat!), and they may have some amount of antibiotics and/or hormones in them from the adult chicken passing it on to the egg. I'll add a link at the bottom of this page if you want to read more about eggs and their nutritional values.

Anyway. . .
Ingredients:
1 half inch wide slice off of a large eggplant, peeled and cut into very small cubes
3-4 Crimini (or regular domestic) Mushrooms, washed, sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Large Handful fresh spinach
2 eggs + 1 tspn milk
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small pat of butter

In a medium sized saucepan, combine the garlic, butter and olive oil: let these things sit while you chop the mushrooms and eggplant. Add the mushrooms and eggplant to the pan and stir well, coating the eggplant with the olive oil. Salt this very liberally (I use organic sea salt*). Turn pan to medium heat and saute vegetables until the eggplant is dark and thoroughly done, about 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly. When the mushrooms are droopy and the eggplant is totally tender, throw the spinach in whole, and stir until completely wilted. Beat the eggs and milk together until it starts to foam slightly, then pour over the contents of the pan. Let sit until lightly browned on the bottom, then with a good thin spatula, scoop up as much as you can and turn (mine went into three pieces). Or you could just be lazy and stir it; you'll get smaller bits of egg that way, but it will taste the same. Cook the egg thoroughly, then mound on a plate. Salt and pepper to taste, serve with a couple of green olives and a bit of salsa. A cooked tortilla on the side goes very well too.

*Organic sea salt is better than table salt because table salt has magnesium and other additives mixed in to keep the salt from caking together and flowing freely; these additives make the salt taste bitter, so they then add a sweetner to table salt to make it taste better. If you don't switch to either Kosher or organic sea salt for the health aspect, perhaps you will be interested in the fact that people tend to use much less salt on their foods when they use sea salt, since it is much saltier tasting than table salt, being a purer salt. So, gourmet cooks and relishers of find food, sea salt is the way to go.

Mother's Egg Page

Greenwood Farms-Scroll Down Page

I like to support local farmers, but sometimes I really can't afford it. If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, they have the least expensive free range eggs (Armstrong brand) in my town: 99cents per dozen!

Eat well!

A Wife's Charm Delights her Husband. . .

2006-08-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

"A wife's charm delights her husband, and her skill puts fat on his bones" Sirach 26:13

Sirach seems to repeat himself a lot, but perhaps he repeats the things that are the most worth remembering.

Charm is one of the most mis-understood attributes a woman can have, and I mostly blame Hollywood for this. A lot of people think that charm equals sex appeal, or, "the barer you are, the charminger you are" (forget which movie that one came from :-P). Yes, that was bad English. However, in real life, charm is something very different from looks alone. It's personality! Most men look for a wife who won't hurt them, not a wife who will run around the house in a lime colored string bikini all the time. A charming person "charms", that is, places the other person at ease, at rest, at peace, evokes trust, kindles love and admiration. That is what charm is. A charming person is also non-threatening. This is not to say that charming women are weak and simpering, no, that is NOT charming at all. Inner strength and vitality, stability and courage, when not paraded about for admiration's sake, are extremely charming virtues that do show through your actions and words. Non-threatening means that you are not trying to compete with the man you love, beat him at everything so he'll recognize you are superior, think more clearly than he allll the time, drive better than he, etc. Even if you DO, by not competing in these lines, not threatening your husband, he will praise your virtues himself, without your nudging, because he will be left to recognize them on his own, not pushed by you to do so.

A woman can hurt a man in many more ways than just physically and emotionally. There is the ego. A man needs to be humble, obviously, but this is a virtue that he must cultivate himself. A wife should not undertake to humiliate her husband, in order to "teach him a lesson", not only because we ourselves would reject such an endeavor from him to us, but also because this is God's work, not ours. We are not their mothers, we are their wives, their partners, their companions. A blow to your husband's ego should come as a blow to yourself as well, because you are one. Even if your husband is wrong, if you defend him and his motives (not his wrong idea), instead of having to defend himself, he will more easily be able to admit that he was wrong, since you didn't attack him when his shield was down. This is common, human respect that we as Christian wives should have for all people. Too often though, we give this respect to everyone BUT our husbands. It's got to change though. By giving this respect to your husbands, they will in turn give this respect right back to you.

The part about fat on his bones is kind of cute, actually. Fat back then was a sign of affluence, a sign that you were doing well. A skinny person was obviously starving, crazy, lazy, or just having a long string of hard luck; you didn't want to be that! The wife's skill Sirach is referring to is most probably her cooking, but I also think other skill is required to "put fat on his bones". If you are not making your husband happy, he won't want to come home and eat of your skill, he'll want to stay out at the bar with his buddies and have a good old time. If you are not charming and constantly attracting your husband with your skills at being sweet and lovable, then he will have no appetite, for there will be nothing to tempt him. How would you like to eat plain oatmeal and a glass of milk every day for the rest of your life? Nourishing, sure, but. . .not very tasty. We as wives must be MORE than just adequate for our husbands, we must be a feast! "Drink from your own well" it says in the Wisdom of Solomon; he was telling his son to be faithful to his wife. If the water is sweet, then we can be assured that our husbands will want to drink from their own wells, and if our aim is to please God in all things, then we will be making our husbands happy men too.

How interesting. . . .

2006-08-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful

You've got a ton of brain power, and you leverage it into brilliant blog.
Both creative and logical, you come up with amazing ideas and insights.
A total perfectionist, you find yourself revising and rewriting posts a lot of the time.
You blog for yourself - and you don't care how popular (or unpopular) your blog is!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Well, well, well. . . .

Nah.

Really Good Meatless Spaghetti

2006-08-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is what we had for dinner last Friday (by the way, I keep a couple different kinds of cooking alcohol on hand at all times, because they are a very easy way to make a simple dish more savory).

Ingredients:
1 Jar Garlic and Herb Tomatoe Sauce, 26oz
1 small can stewed tomatoes, drained
1 small eggplant peeled and cut into very small chunks
6-7 med/lrg. button mushrooms, sliced
3-4 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
1 tbspn butter
3-5 fresh garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 very small onion, minced very fine
2 tbspns chianti (or Sicilian) wine
1/8 (or so) of milk

In a big pot, put enough water/oil on to boil for the amount of pasta you are making. The sauce recipe should serve 4-6.

In a large frying pan, combine the oil, butter, and minced garlic and onion, let sit for a little bit (the action of cold olive oil heating up draws the garlic oil out of the cloves and makes the sauce more flavorful) while you cut up other ingredients. Add the mushrooms and eggplant, turn on medium heat and saute the ingredients until the eggplant is thoroughly softened (about 8-10 minutes). The eggplant will lose any bitterness it has by being cooked well. At this time I usually grind a bit of sea salt over the ingredients in the pan.

When the eggplant is well done, if the onions are not yet tender, then keep sauteing until they are. If the onions are fine, then add the wine (some more to taste?) and stir a little bit. Let this mixture simmer for just a minute or two, then add the drained can of stewed tomatoes and the jar of tomatoe sauce. Quickly pour about 1/8 cup of milk into the jar, swirl it around, pour into pan, then put a little water in the jar too, swirl, then pour into pan. Stir this very, very well, bring to a slight boil, then reduce heat to low and let simmer for a while.

Meanwhile, the water for the pasta should be at a rolling boil: add your pasta, turn the heat down just a tad, but don't let the water stop actively boiling. Stir to coat pasta with the oil, and let cook, testing a noodle every once in a while until they are al dente. Drain well, serve in bowls with the sauce ladeled on top. Serve with chianti wine, or a good dry red wine, and some garlic bread with salad.

Saints and Blesseds who were Wives: St. Jane Frances de Chantal

2006-08-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

St. Jane Frances de Chantal is known primarily for her holy friendship with St. Francis de Sales. She founded the order of the Visitation. However, before she was a religious, St. Jane Frances was married for 9 years, in a very holy, happy, and exemplary marriage.

I just want to reflect on a couple of her outstanding characteristics that have helped me in my marriage, but her biography is very worth reading. You can read a
brief biography and some of her writings there, or a more detailed one.

Her entire life was marked with extreme sadness. She very may well have been called a woman of sorrows, just as her mystical Spouse was the Man of Sorrows. The first few months of her young life witnessed the St. Bartholomew's Day massacres and the Hugenot wars were a part of her every day life while growing up. Her father, her husband, and her brother were in constant fear of their lives due to the religious and political conflicts of the time. Her mother died when she was only 2 years old, and the governess her father got for her treated her horribly. She was in constant spiritual anguish at the sight of so many souls leaving the true faith. She lost her beloved husband in a tragic accident, and only 4 of her 6 children survived infancy; the youngest of the four survivors died when she was only 10 years old. When her husband died, she was forced by her father-in-law to leave relatives that she loved, to live with relatives that hated her, and she was treated very badly at their hands.

The rest of her biography, as she eventually sought religious life (after having her remaining family well cared for) and met St. Francis de Sales, founding the order of the Visitation, is gone into more thoroughly in the links above.

St. Jane was extremely sensitive, very shy, had her feelings hurt easily, etc., but these weaknesses became her ticket to heaven. Instead of letting them build up to the point of dragging her down, she offered these extreme sadnesses (especially having her beloved husband die in her arms) to Jesus. She realized the true meaning of life, and was able to step out of what we see as reality, and go beyond it to the true reality. She loved her husband, her heart broke at him being taken away from her, but she loved Jesus and knew that His plan was perfect. Her heart was willingly broken many times, so that it would become a bigger dwelling for Himself. Giving her entire life up to Jesus, her children, her love, her happiness on earth, she became all the more happy because she was secure in Jesus.

The fact that in the midst of all this sorrow she was still able to discern a call to the religious life, shows how closely united her heart was to Jesus. Having finished one work on earth, that of being a good and consoling wife for her husband, and probably obtaining helping him obtain heaven upon his death, her children were now old enough to not need her, and she placed them all in the care of good and kind relatives. Jesus now wanted her all for herself. There is one story recounted of how her son, who was 15 at the time and basically at the age where he would have been considered a man, laid bodily down across the doorstep to keep his mother from leaving them all. Tears streaming down her face and her heart acquiring a new thorn into it, she courageously stepped over him, not looking back. It sounds so heartless, but Jesus was calling her. He doesn't call all mothers to do this, but St. Jane had another job to do on earth, and her son needed to learn now how to embrace Jesus, and adopt Mary as his mother. Ultimately, this would be their way to heaven as well as hers.

Her life shows how important it is for the wife of the home to maintain a loving and close relationship with Jesus Christ, for He is ultimately her true spouse. He is our true source of strength, enabling us to be good wives for our husbands. The love we give to our husbands, ultimately goes to Jesus, and the love we receive from our husbands, comes from Jesus. This relationship with the King of our Hearts will lead us on to hear His calls, to follow His will, no matter how much the world disagrees with what might be His will for us.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal, ora pro nobis.

A Good Wife is a Great Blessing

2006-08-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

"A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord."

"Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad, and at all times his face is cheerful." Sirach 26:3-4

What a privilege we wives have! We have the opportunity of changing one man's life forever, for the better, giving him blessing upon blessing in our desire to serve the Lord.

So many women I know want very badly to help someone, anyone. . .my friends tell me things like, "If I could make a difference in one life, then I will not have lived in vain", or some such heroic notion. Yet they neglect their husbands and/or children in the pursuit of finding that "one life" to make a difference in, quite forgetting that there is a life right inside their own houses that needs a difference!

One distinguishing characteristic of all the sainted wives I've read about, is that no matter what kind of prayers, penances, sacrifices and charitable works they did, their husbands and families were always put first. A wife's main job is to be her husband's help-meet, his mate, the other half of his heart. A woman who will be all this for her husband is so valuable that Sirach adds her among the high blessings awarded by God to a man who fears the Lord.

We've got to be so careful of our actions, our words, our attitude, to make sure that we are every day building our husbands up, instead of tearing him down. Yes, you must be yourself around your husband, obviously, but instead of accepting the depressing, micro-managing, emotional woman that you are, you must make "yourself" into a better person, day by day. It takes so much work, but that is what we are on earth for.

I love the part about whether rich or poor. . .my husband and I can very well be considered poor by the world's standards, but even though we have gone through so many trials and tribulations together, we have each learned so much about being good spouses. More than money, more than food, more than even common necessities, we love and need each other, to help each other get to heaven. . .and that really is the whole point of life here on earth. He is the person God ordained for me from the very beginning, who would help direct my feet in the right paths, and I am the person God ordained for him from the very beginning, who would love and support all of his efforts, obey his directions, and be the heart of his home. I wouldn't trade my life with him for any amount of financial security, beautiful homes, rest or luxury in the entire world, because I know he is my good work for heaven.

Today is St. Jane Frances de Chantel's Feast Day (as well as Our Lady of Knock), and here is a little tid-bit about this sainted wife, given by a witness for her canonization:

"Together, these two spouses [St. Jane Frances de Chantel, and her husband Christopher de Rabutin] provided a model of a genuinely holy marriage. They had between them one heart and one soul. Jane Frances surrounded her young husband with honor and obedience and loved him with a touching tenderness, with ardor and reverence. At the same time she in turn was loved and respected just as much and surrounded by the most tender confidence of her husband. All of this was quite evident."

St. Jane Frances de Chantel, ora pro nobis. Our Lady of Knock, ora pro nobis.

Don't ever buy white carpet. . .

2006-08-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Temper, temper. . .counting to ten. . .take it from me, DON'T EVER BUY WHITE CARPET!

Ever Run out of Meatless Meal Ideas?

2006-08-18T18:46:00.000-07:00

*Chuckles* I love Blogger! It's Saturday as I'm writing this, but I can post it so's it looks like I posted it on Friday! He he he!

Anyway, am I the only person who can't keep coming up with wholesome meatless meals for Fridays? I mean, after 4 consecutive Fridays of macaroni and cheese for lunch. . .and then leftover macaroni and cheese for dinner (might be slightly exaggerating), I kind of feel like I should try to broaden my horizons a bit. . .beyond just plain bread and water. :)

So, I would like to share some of my meatless meal recipes, and perhaps any readers out there could share some of theirs. Maybe we could do a recipe swap for Fridays. . .like one of those, "This is what my Family is having Today" type recipe club thingys.

This Friday we had (are having?) 12 minute Fako Minestrone Soup, a soup of my own creation (I know someone thought of it before, but as I threw things into the pot and thought up the name, it did seem like I was the first brilliant cook to ever come up with such an idea;) ). Don't worry, it came out really good, unlike some other experiments. Recipe follows:

12 Minute Fako Minestrone Soup-Should serve 4 Big Bowl-fulls
Ingredients:
4-6 Herb-ox vegetable bouillon cubes
8-10 cups water
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (Hunt's and Del-Monte carry organic canned tomatoes btw)
2 15 oz cans mixed vegetables (includes celery,corn,green-beans,peas,limas,carrots,potatoes)
3 Big Cloves of Garlic
4 Tbspns. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 6 oz or half a 12 oz bag or box of any kind of small, soup kind of pasta (Barilla really is the best)
4-5 generous handfuls of clean, picked over spinach
12 Large, fresh Basil Leaves
Parmesean cheese, grated

Okay, so, first you crumble the bouillon cubes into the pot of water; put that over high heat so that it boils asap. Put the whole can of diced tomatoes in the pot and cover. Drain the cans of mixed veggies into a colander, let sit in sink while going to the next step. Dice the garlic into tiny pieces, put into med. frying pan with olive oil, some salt (I use sea salt in a salt grinder, so I just give the grinder a couple of cranks) and some pepper. Heat this over med. heat; when hot, add the mixed veggies and stir them in the hot oil for a couple minutes. Toss it all in the pot, scrape out every last drop of precious olive oil. Dump the pasta into the pot and watch the pot, because when it starts boiling, and the pasta is al dente, then the soup is done. This should take about 8 minutes from when the pot starts actually boiling. When the pasta is done, coarsely chop the spinach, throw that into the pot, cover and turn off the heat. While the spinach is wilting, take 4-5 Basil leaves at a time, roll them up into a "cigar" and slice them crosswise, then toss them into the pot too. Ladel soup into bowls, and shred parmesean cheese over them to whatever amount you like (or use that pre-shredded stuff. . .ew). Serve soup with some toasted bread and butter. And it really does take only 12 minutes or so.

Okay, now what have you ladies got up your sleeves?

Saints and Blesseds who were Wives: St. Margaret of Scotland

2006-08-18T14:48:00.000-07:00

I hear quite often from ignorant Catholics that the Church seems to favor the religious (monks, priests, nuns, etc.) as saintable, while putting "holy people" who were married on the back burner, simply because they were married. This is silly, not only because a couple looks at the liturgical feast days would not only show a person plenty of saints who were married, but also because there are a lot more people who have acquired that high degree of holiness through the virginal life, than those who remained in the world and married. Let's be honest, the married state (and consequently the raising of children, shopping for groceries, paying the bills, keeping the household running, etc.) is not as conducive to holiness as is the religious state. However, that being said, those in the married state who DO reach sanctity, have waded through a bit more muck and mire of the world, so they might truly be considered "super saints".

Having a good example to follow and imitate makes things a bit easier, so I would like to have a little weekly series on my blog, in no particular order or preference by the way, with small biographies of saintly wives. They all encountered problems that we can relate to, no matter what time periods they were in; we can use their examples to change the way we deal with things in our day to day lives.

Though it's very hard, a married person, in today's society, can achieve sanctity. Nothing is impossible with God, and if you strive to conform your entire will, every day, to God's, then you will be a saint. A lot easier said than done, but it can be done. The question is, will you?

Saint Margaret of Scotland 1046-1093
There are many great stories attached to this saint. For more details not given in my very brief synopsis, visit these great links: here , here, andhere . I don't want to write another biographical sketch of her life, but I would like to refer to some key points that she dealt with, that could help us in our quests to be better wives.

St. Margaret was the great grand-niece of St. Edward the Confessor, and during her 11th-20th years she lived in his court as an exile (her father was the successor to the English throne, exiled to Hungary; her mother was a Hungarian Princess). In 1066, St. Margaret had to flee to Scotland were King Malcolm III Canmore took her and her brother in as refugees.

King Malcolm III was apparently a wild and spirited man, not bad, but unruly; however, after his marriage to Margaret, a significant change took place in his character, which everyone attributed to Margaret's good influence. This point here, by which Margaret's piety, love, and good example helped her husband, is one that stands out to me. Instead of nagging, pointing out faults, beating King Malcolm over the head with a frying pan. . .St. Margaret instead just simply kept up a constant good example, keeping close to Jesus, her first love, and showing intelligence and virtue. By acknowledging that his wife was onto something there, the King soon wanted it for himself, and so changed his own character, by his own decision. The husband is the head of the home, the wife. . .the heart.

The King could neither read nor write, nor could most of the entire Kingdom, so St. Margaret, who had benefited from a classical Benedictine education, arranged for the first Benedictines to enter Scotland, to come from England and instruct her people, and also her children. Her children also had the benefit of numerous tutors, which gave St. Margaret much more time for prayer and penances, and also gave a good example to the people under their rule. She was very involved in her children's religious upbringing, and told them that "If you love Christ, He will give you prosperity in this life and everlasting happiness with all the saints."

One more highly notable tid-bit; St. Margaret began some very rigorous reforms of the Church in Scotland. We wives can take part in this as well, if not in a higher level, at least beginning with our children, teaching them the Traditions of our Church, exposing the lies that are being taught day in and day out, and keeping abreast of what is really going on in the Church and in our world.

Queen Margaret, along with King Malcolm, visited the sick and imprisoned together, usually carrying food and drink with them to dole out to the poor they came across. St. Margaret practiced many forms of penance, prayed a great deal, and practiced many works of mercy, BUT, she never let any of these wonderful and saintly practices get in the way of her number 1 duty, that of being a good wife and mother. This holy couple had 8 children throughout their 23 year marriage.

Although Queen Margaret wasn't occupied with such things as taking kids to soccer games, cooking, cleaning, etc., she was still very busy with things that don't bother us now. As Queen she had to look over the affairs of the kingdom, along with her husband, and one particular part that she paid close attention to was the education and well-being of her subjects. She went throughout the kingdom settling quarrels and disputes, teaching good manners and temperance, cultivating Christian virtues, love of neighbor. . .and she would dismiss courtiers who failed to display irreproachable conduct at all times. Her main goal was very easy to see; that of reaching heaven. She knew that the only reason she was on earth was to know God, love God and serve God, and she took this very seriously. Her last words on earth were, "Lord Jesus, who through thy death hast given life to the world, deliver me from all evil." She was canonized by Pope Innocent IV as an exemplary wife and mother in 1251.

Everything that we do during the day and night should be aimed at this goal as well; to reach heaven. Looking beyond the hustle and bustle of daily life, we have to learn to steady our hearts and minds, and concentrate on this, the most important and only real reason for living-loving God, knowing God and serving God.

St. Margaret of Scotland, ora pro nobis.

He Will Complete His Years in Peace

2006-08-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

"A loyal wife rejoices her husband, and he will complete his years in peace" Sirach 26:2

I remember back when I first met my husband. We had a very unusual courtship, as we lived at opposite ends of the USA. When we would get together in the evenings for an Instant Messenger fest, he couldn't help relating the harshness of his day at work. He was a teacher back then, a strong Traditionalist, teaching in a very secularized "catholic" high-school, and the flak he would get from "nice, sweet, catholics" was so full of injustice. He was eventually "let go", in favor of someone who would teach a much more tolerant religion. The days are much more bearable for him now that we are married and together, but this verse from Sirach makes me remember those early days. I had the opportunity to learn what was needed from a wife early on, in so far as loyalty and support goes.

When you are first in love, it is so easy to side with your sweetheart, even against your own family; you'll "go down with the ship" if you have to, backing him up whenever something or someone tries to unsettle him, encouraging him to follow his dreams and attain his goals. It does get a bit harder later on down the road, when life becomes normal and you are tempted to think about yourself all the time. But still, this support must be given. . .and out of love. Wives need to love their husbands in this way, because men doubt themselves all the time, and they need the assurance of this love and loyalty, or else they feel like half a man. You, his wife, are the only one he can show that self-doubt to, and unless you are available to listen to him and his trials, and offer consolation and support, then he will not share these problems with you, and will close himself off from you and your "nagging". This is a very precarious situation, because if you say something out of the teeniest bit of vengeance, anything to be-little him, get back at him, poke fun at him, etc., when he is at his most vulnerable (voluntarily humbling his ego to you), then you can destroy the very man you have been given by God to build up, and force him away from the safety of your heart, to the advice of others who don't love him as you do.

We must swallow our pride, and forget all of the little nuisances that crop up during married life, real or imagined. "Stand by your man, and show the world you love him" so an older (yeah, I know, dumb, secular music) song goes. Loyalty doesn't just mean marital fidelity, it is a whole host of things. Your husband needs your rock solid support, your devotion, your friendship. When he disciplines your children, back him up 100%, and if he is wrong, talk to him about it later, away from the divining eyes and ears of the little anarchists. If he sets a rule in the house, obey it as willingly and strictly as if you were obeying an order from God (unless, of course, his rule is one that goes against conscience), setting a good example for your children to obey you. If he has a problem with work or financial worries, listen to what he has to say, and only offer solutions if he asks for them. Most of the time, men just need to someone to listen to them or sympathize, which helps them immensely, while a woman's idea of being helpful, is offering all kinds of advice and solutions to problems. Keep in mind that this is not always welcome! Be careful when you ask your husband to accomplish something in or around the house, because women quickly turn to nagging when their husbands just want to relax after work. The Bible has a couple thing to say about nagging women! Instead, do your best to do your own jobs around the house, which will inspire your husband to also do his best. Believe me, that's the only way I can get my hubby to take out the trash and wash the dishes!

When you let your husband know that you are willing to work alongside him if the need arises, bear willingly all of the hardships he bears, sacrifice things you like in order for him to be happy, etc. he will know that the wall behind him is solid, and will be able to courageously stand up against the world and its evils, concentrating on the things that really need his attention, instead of splitting his thoughts between a crumbling support and the things that attack him head on. He will also be encouraged to do these same things for you!

If you are not this kind of wife already, it is never too late to begin cultivating these virtues, and if you think you ARE this kind of wife already, then don't stop working at it, because every day presents new challenges. You have to keep climbing the mountain, step after step. You won't reach the top until your life is at an end, but you have to keep climbing to get there. Let us help our husbands complete their years in peace.

How to Make Hubbies Happy Part II

2006-08-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

They always say that "the surest way to a man's heart is through his stomach", and we all know that that is pretty much correct. However, it is so hard nowadays to figure out what to make, eat, and stay away from, because we all just gain weight, diet, and then just not eat.

I just finished a really good book called "Eat Right 4 Your Type", which is basically a theory put forth by a Natural Doctor, Peter D'Adamo, about how people with different blood types react to certain types of food (there is a process called "aglutination" which plays a key roll in the way everyone reacts). It's very well researched, and having studied nutrition for ions, it makes a lot of sense to me. The proof is in the pudding, however, and when I found that implementing Dr. D'Adamo's suggestions in my husband's diet (he's the guinea pig), he really has thrived on it! Being a type "O", he requires more animal derived protein than the other types, and in larger quantities, etc. (it's much more complicated than that, so that was just an example). My blood type is on the rather pansy-ish, vegetarian side, but I won't go there.

Previously, my DH had lost a lot of weight doing the "Atkin's Diet", which I was very, very at odds with (the Atkin's diet doesn't make much sense healthwise), but after putting Dr. D'Adamo's theories into practice, I DO see how my husband did well with Atkins, while I would never do well with it at all. It does seem to explain how some people do well with one diet, while others don't see any results at all, yet change the diet, and they do wonders.

Anyway. My point is, that one of the ways the Good Wife can make her hubby happy, is by paying attention to his nutrition. Don't just feed him anything to get him full, or send him with a bunch of processed snackies to work (to keep him happy). Ultimately, when your hubby isn't healthy, he won't be happy. Maybe he will wrinkle his nose to the substitution of cottage cheese for pringles in his lunch box, but after you implement changes in the diet, and explain that if he loves you, he will follow them, he will ultimately realize how much better he feels, and won't want to eat anything that will then make him feel bad.

My husband was raised eating meat and potatoes every night, a canned veggie once in a while, "healthy" frosted flakes for breakfasts, and school lunches (which in his time, were anything BUT healthy). He subsequently hated anything that wasn't loaded with salt and preservatives, wasn't sugary or caffeinated, or so greasy that he could oil the locks with the empty bag, but he was fortunate enough to go on a nice trip to Europe for a couple of semesters during his college years, and found out what food is really like! When he came back, he wanted to marry a woman who knew real food, and bumped into little old farm girl me. Although it's tough to break old habits, he put his wifey in charge of the kitchen, and lets me direct his eating. Wives should take this responsibility very seriously. Even if we're in a hurry all the time, we need to resist the temptation to buy all of those "convenient" and brightly packaged, and wow, "on sale too", foods at the grocery stores. Not only is it cheaper to make our own meals, but you get more satisfaction out of making your family's food, and your whole family is healthier because of it.

Here are some interesting links:

Organic Valley

Dr. D'Adamo's Site

The Benefits of Cooking at Home

Tridentine Mass

2006-08-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

The closest you can get to heaven while still stuck here on earth.

How to Make Hubbies Happy Part I

2006-08-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

One thing I think nice, young Catholic girls do wrong, is ban all forms of alcohol from their homes, or make their husbands feel bad if they drink a beer, etc. I can't talk for some of my wifey friends, but I was raised with a cluster of girls that thought alcohol was just plain evil, not to be associated with, all of whom have carried this through into their marriages. That is just wrong, unless, of course, your husband is a recovering alcoholic or sensitive in any way to alcohol. In that case, yeah, duh.

I experience a very fine comraderie with my husband in this sphere. He is a beer buff, and since we spend a lot of our time together, it would be very sad if he wasn't able to share this part of his life with me, so, in order to make him happy, I learned how to like beer, and now, yeah, I'm a beer buff too. And you know, I'm a much happier and lovable person, and my husband had the joy of sharing something he likes and enjoys with someone he loves, and had it appreciated. It works the other way as well; if I want to watch a sappy romance, which he would definitely rather not watch, he will still sit down and make an effort to laugh at the jokes, enjoy the acting, and every once in a while actually does enjoy himself. This keeps us together as a married couple, instead of splitting off to pursue our own particular interests, or keeping something that we enjoy away from our spouse, for fear that they might not like it.

My husband also happens to like mixed drinks, but they have to be done well. I went out and got a couple of two/three ounce shot glasses, a stainless steel mixer, two martini glasses, two highball glasses, and some odd sized glasses (all at the 99 cent store by the way; you don't have to spend a fortune), and a couple of bottles of the basics, to stock a little tiny corner of my china cabinet, which is now his liquor cabinet. Depending on what your husband likes, gin, rum, a coffee flavored liquor, cream, club soda, tonic water and lime/lemon juice are pretty good starters. You're not going to turn your husband into an alcoholic by letting him enjoy a drink or two in the evenings. I think it's kind of like indulging in some ice-cream or other desert after dinner. Lots of desert is harmful, but not in little, enjoyable quantities. Same thing with alcohol.

The rest of the ingredients can be found in your cupboard; powdered sugar, brown sugar, butter, spices, salt, etc. I don't usually indulge in these kind of pleasures myself (I could be pregnant most of any time), but I do take a little sip just to make sure it comes out all right. ;) Find out if your hubby likes certain drinks before or after dinner, or with desert, etc. If he's a beer lover, keep one or two big mugs in the freezer, and a couple beers in the fridge; when you pop off the cap and pour it, try to pour the beer as close to the mug as possble so there's the least oxidization as possible, then set the mug upright to develop a nice "head", which is the foam. After about a minute, serve :-D

Here are some basic recipes that your husband might enjoy, and that will be easy for you to make.

Classic Gin and Tonic
In a normal (8oz) drinking glass combine in order:
4-5 Tonic Water Ice Cubes (freeze tonic water in an ice-cube tray)
3 ounces Gin (we use Seagram's Extra Dry Gin-experiment)
4 ounces Tonic Water
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice (you can find this in the liquor section of the store)
Stir well, serve with a kiss :*. This is a nice, relaxing, cool beverage after a long day's work.

Hot Buttered Rum (my own version)
In an 8 oz coffee mug:
Cream together app. 2 tbspns. salted butter with a very small pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves and 1 Tablespoon (adjust to taste) Dark Brown Sugar
Pour in 3 oz Dark Rum
Fill the mug the rest of the way with boiling water, stir well, serve with a yo-ho-ho.

Cafe Dessert (my own recipe)
In a three oz shotglass, pour:
1oz Kahlua/Starbucks Coffee Liquor/or other Coffee Liquor
2oz Heavy Cream/Half&Half/or Whole Milk
Stir slightly, serve with a milk moustache ;)

If this is interesting, I'll put more on later. There's nothing like eating a good dinner in a clean house, then settling back with your husband for some reading or a movie with a nice drink.

How Much of a Lady are You. . . .fun;)

2006-08-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

You Are 92% Lady

No doubt about it, you are a lady with impeccable etiquette
You know how to put others at ease, even if their manners aren't the greatest.

Are You A Lady?

This was a fun little quiz a friend sent to me! I got 92%. . .LOL

Happy is the husband. . . .

2006-08-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

"Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days
will be doubled" Sirach 26:1 (Or Ecclesiasticus 26:1)

Feast of St. Laurence

How many husbands in this world are happy? While it is the husband's job to care for, protect, shelter and love his wife, it is also just as much the wife's job to make her husband happy, as much as she possibly can. While the husband is expected to sacrifice 9,10, even more hours of the day to work in support of the family, the wife should be willing to make this sacrifice as well, and try to outdo her husband in love and kindness. Taking this attitude is rather hard sometimes. We wives want to be happy and when our husbands are thinking of other things, sometimes they forget to do the things that we want in order to be happy, tempting us to take matters into our own hands and make ourselves happy. That, however, is selfish. Our society thrives on selfishness and tries to turn it into good attributes. But what the saints used to do in those kind of situations, was turn to their real spouse, their real love, Jesus. When our husbands disappoint us, or in their tiredness, forget all of the little things we women make so much fuss over, it is an opportunity for us to grow in grace. Instead of treating him back the way we THINK we have been treated (we women also tend to exaggerate things in our own minds), we should always treat our husbands exactly as we would treat Jesus. That is how Christians must act.

It's a little easier to remember the golden rule with people outside of our homes and families. It just makes so much sense, "treat others the way you want to be treated". But you might never see that person again, whom you treated so politely today in the grocery store, or the post office, car wash, soccer game, everywhere we go, while you have to live forever with the husband who's ego you deflate day after day. Just let him take a poke at your ego though and see how you react!

Love makes no sense in the home or anywhere, unless it is directed towards Jesus. This is what holds you up when hard times happen, as they do in every marriage. Whether it be financial, emotional, physical, spiritual, the hard times come in one form or another, but they will not alter your decision to love each other if everything is always done for Jesus.

Sirach will now go into what makes a husband happy, and what is interesting is that the same things also make the wife happy! The things we can do and accomplish for our husband's happiness also serve to make us feel needed, fulfilled, loved, cherished, and beautiful. It is, in miniature, the relationship we also have with God. God gave us rules to follow, which make Him happy, and many of us find out, that when we follow those rules, we are also happy ourselves!

St. Laurence, pray for us. *Between the hours of 10pm and 4am, step outside and watch for "St. Laurence's Tears", the summer meteor showers.

The Good Wife in the Book of Sirach

2006-08-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

The book of Sirach seems to be a much overlooked book in the Bible. Protestants do not count in this observation, since they don't even HAVE this book in their scripture collection, but amongst Catholics, the only time I ever heard of Sirach was during my parishes' non-traditional version of the Stations of the Cross every year. I forget exactly which station this verse was always interjected into, but it was probably when Simon was dragged over to help Jesus carry the cross. "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that finds one, finds a treasure", Sirach 6:14 Other than that, many modern day Catholics barely know that Sirach exists.

Along these lines, many Christian models for Biblical wives are based off of the "worthy woman", described by Lemuel, King of Massa, which his mother taught him [Proverbs 31]. Not only is it lengthy and descriptive, but since it is in both Protestant and Catholic bibles, it is an easy (ahem, ecumenical) way for women of all "faiths" to try to emulate a good wife. There is also the fact that many modern women also embrace this woman for their role model, in that the descriptions we have of her can be twisted to make her sound very appealing for the liberated, independent women of today, but that is a subject for another posting. What I want to think about today, is the very ignored Good Wife in the book of Sirach.

Sirach 26:1-4; 13-18 "Happy is the husband of a good wife;
the number of his days will be doubled. A loyal wife rejoices her husband, and he will complete his years in peace. A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord. Whether rich or poor, his heart is glad, and at all times his face is cheerful." "A wife's charm delights her husband, and her skill puts fat on his bones. A silent wife is a gift of the Lord, and there is nothing so precious as a disciplined soul. A
modest wife adds charm to charm, and no balance can weigh the value of a chaste soul. Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home. Like the shining lamp on the holy lampstand, so is a beautiful face on a stately figure. Like pillars of gold on a base of silver, so are beautiful feet with a stead-fast heart."

Isn't that beautiful? A lot of women nowadays don't want to hear such descriptions of perfection, because they are content with the person they are right now. Our society and culture refuse to hold people up to standards of perfection; "everyone is special" is the mantra, meaning that no one needs to try to reach their full potential, because everyone is "fine right where they are." "Jesus loves you just as you are", I hear all the time. Of course He does, but He also loves us too much to leave us this way! I also hear many people, out of a false humility, state that they are simply aiming for purgatory, because, after all, they'll still get to heaven that way, and why should they "arrogantly assume they can make it to heaven in the first shot"; the reality of that attitude is, that aiming for heaven takes much self-discipline, sacrifice, crucifixion to their desires and earthly appetites, and that isn't fun. In all truth, if you aim for purgatory, what happens if you miss? The only thing lower than purgatory is hell. . . But if you aim for heaven, the worst you can do is hit purgatory. Aim high so that if your aim is off, you'll still BE somewhere.

In my next few postings will be some of my personal musings on how I put the above scriptures to use in my daily life. I want to be careful not to present my "own interpretation" of the scriptures, because that starts people going off the deep end. Instead, I just want to reflect on how I have decided to utilize them in my day to day life, and my hope is that my thoughts might help you, my reader, onto similar thoughts of your own.
May God's blessings rain down upon you this day.

God's Blessings Upon You :-D

2006-08-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Feast of St. Jean Marie Vianney, Cure d' Ars

Hello, and welcome to my Rose Garden.

It is hard being a lady in this day and age; I personally was raised doing hard, physical labor, keeping tough younger brothers in line, cooking, cleaning, swearing up a storm, and basically an independent tough young woman who needed NO ONE. I could take care of myself, all 5' 1" of me. I worked with large livestock and farm equipment, both of which could kill you if you weren't more tough than they, and basic survival instincts helped form the young woman my parents were raising into the person I became. My parents, though well meaning, toughened me up this way because they didn't see any hope for young girls of my generation. Their female siblings had gone through divorces, lawsuits, poverty, in spite of college educations (not my own "in spite of", but a contradiction to the world's point of view), and they figured that by the time I was a woman, there would be no one left to take care of me but. . .me.

Though I secretly admired beautiful things, flowers, lacey dresses, perfume, good manners, dainty shoes, I would have none of it, because it symbolized weakness to me, a characteristic that would not do for my image. During inescapable contact with the outside world (I always considered the place I grew up in as my own little shire), my main defense against myriads of young men pursueing my virginity, was the fact that I was just as tough, insensitive, cruel hearted, unfettered, and egotistical as they, above praising their virtue and accepting their assistance, unflattering to their egos, deflating to their pride. It worked. But it shouldn't have had to.

Trials and tribulations later, God's grace led me and my entire family to Traditional Catholicism, a story for another post, but the crux of all that turned my life around. I had been Catholic since birth, and had always striven after holiness; sainthood was always my family's goal, but confusion had reigned for so long in the hearts of Catholics since modernism had taken a stranglehold on humanity, that it was and is very hard to distinguish between black and white sometimes. Now there is no confusion. Only the realization that there is much, much hard work and sacrifice to be done.

The greatest joy in my life came when God blessed me by sending someone to take care of me. My husband and I have been married for almost two years, and he has been my defense against the outer world. His strength and humility, intelligence and perseverence have become the pillars that support my feeble soul. Our home is a sweet little shire, set apart from the world's influence, decorated in a Catholic and meditative manner, peaceful, and a place that my husband looks forward to coming back to after long hours of work. It sounds like a dream, and it was, but now it is real. It is my hope that perhaps some of the ideas put forth on this blog might help other young ladies to see that their dreams of marital bliss, holiness, sanctity, happiness, fulfillment, and everything else can be attained here on earth, if we will only do God's will.

Again, welcome to my little garden, and I hope you get yourself a cup of tea or coffee, a muffin or a bagel, and take some time out for yourself from the world, nestle up to thoughts of holiness and draw into your feminine heart which is so pleasing to God.

St. Therese of the Child Jesus is the patroness of this blog; if you have any issues, take them up with her. You can also comment on the posts; I am open to debate and will only delete offensive or mass coments.