Thinking beyond the politics . . .

Too good to not share. Tears are guaranteed!

http://www.militarytimes.com/hancock

Looks good . . .

I'm always looking for more inexpensive places to stock up on needed basics like flour and other pantry goods. Right now, it is very expensive to purchase speciality flours or even regular necessities. Yes, some of these items are sold in large quantities but I'm thinking that two or more people could divide and conquer . . . I MEAN save on such items. Can't beat the shipping and there is nothing to say you have to be a business to purchase from them.

http://honeyvillegrain.com/

Holy Thursday . . .

Holy Thursday has arrived! It is an interesting day in the ending of the Lenten Season. It starts out with the Passover celebration, begins some important sacraments for our Church and ends in the tragedy that begins our life! A lot of endings, beginnings, and eternity all in one. It is a sobering feeling at the end of Holy Thursday Mass when the Blessed Sacrament is taken away as was Christ taken forcibly from the garden. You actually feel the void of an 'empty' church, especially when we arrive for the Good Friday services the next day. I have to feel sorry for people who have never experienced the entirely of this week in the Church as it truly enhances the joy of Easter.

Our pastor gave an interesting viewpoint on Judas' betrayal of Jesus. I always wondered that greed could have a long-time follower and friend of Jesus do such an awful deed. Our pastor said that to him, yes, greed was the motivating reason behind Judas betraying our Lord but he thinks that, perhaps, Judas thought it wouldn't actually be a problem. Why? Our pastor wonders if Judas wasn't figuring on Jesus 'disappearing' as He had other times when he was being sought and would do so this time, too. It would leave Judas with the 'free' money and not hurt Jesus. Judas tried to out think God and, as we all know, this was the one instant that Jesus was prepared to be 'found'. Maybe that is why the guilt of Judas was doubly great as his great desire for money caused this to happen to Jesus. Not Biblical, of course, but surely an interesting thought on the subject.

Makes me wonder how many times we have gone with the greed and turned our own backs on Jesus and shunned all that He suffered to save us.

Winning the big one?

Although everyone likes to win a prize, there are probably a lot of times we'd rather not take possession of a winning. My husband and I were thinking about this, one day, and came up with a list of raffle prizes that would surely not make the top ten list of anyone! This was all in fun and I don't THINK any of these things have ever been prizes anywhere . . . but I may be wrong!

1. Bail bond service. One time only with maximum coverage of $25,000.

2. Free hazardous waste disposal service for a month. Nuclear, chemical or atomic waste only - does not include disposable diapers.

3. Free Masonic funeral service, coupon expires in six months.

4. Interpreter service for a month; Cantonese or Farsi only.

5. Pest Control Service for a year, covering only an infestation of a rare species of Australian spider.

6. Coupon redeemable for all your welding needs for a month.

7. Free root canal. Must be used within two weeks of receipt.

8. Free body piercing, does not include ear piercing.

9. Coupon for meat. Ten pounds of liver brought directly to your door every week for a year.

10. One ton of decorative garden rocks, delivered to your door the day after the fair

How you earn Mother's Day . . .

“The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral—a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. Even the angels have not been given such a grace! What is more glorious than this—to be a mother.”
Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty

Been there!

"Oh, to be only half as wonderful as my child thought I was when he was small, and only half as stupid as my teenager now thinks I am."
Rebecca Richards

Fulton J. Sheen sure knew best!

A priest who would say: "I am on vacation, so I don't read Mass" has already confused vocation with vacation.
Fulton J. Sheen

Ask a man: “Are you a saint?” If he answers in the affirmative, you can be very sure that he is not. Fulton J. Sheen

Many men sneer at virtue - because it makes vice uncomfortable. Fulton J. Sheen

Thinking of the Fall . . .

Starting around September, we regularly drive up into the mountains for fresh apples straight from the tree. We usually go to a small orchard owned by a delightful, elderly couple and their equally 'mature' dog. No one is allowed to purchase a single apple until they try all the varieties available that day and listen to the gentleman's stories which are always informative and fun. It's just part of the process and when us regular visitors see newcomers barge past and demand their apples, we wince and are a bit sad that the new people are missing out on the best part of the apple purchase. Even their dog is a delight and quite frisky for her 12-plus years. When she is happy to see you, she throws herself down in your path and rolls over hoping you have a treat for her.

We have been going there for about five years and our elderly friends are getting more and more frail. Every September, we gingerly arrive and pray we see them all still there in good health and good spirits.

Naturally, we come away with quite a variety of unusual apples which challenge me in the kitchen to do justice to their unique qualities. Thinking about apple season got me thinking about baking with apples and how they provide such a wonderful scent to the house. I remembered this recipe and hope to have time to make it this next week but wanted to share it with you now.

WALNUT SPICE APPLE POUND CAKE
2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
3 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
3 cups apple; peeled, cored & finely diced (tart, green apples work best.)
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Mix sugar and oil, add eggs and beat well. Combine flour, soda and salt. Add flour mixture to beaten egg mixture. Stir in vanilla, apples, spices, and walnuts. Mix well. Spoon batter into a greased tube pan. Bake at 325 F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before removing from pan.

Who is the smarter here?

When my now-seventeen year old was four, he hated fish sticks so imagine the family’s surprise one dinner time when he rapidly consumed six of them. He said they were chicken sticks and we all felt we could wait until he was twenty-one before we set him straight. One Friday I 'slipped' and told the children I was putting fish sticks in the oven for their lunch. Marc heard and yelled, “I hate fish sticks!” Then he pulled me down and whispered in my ear, “Just call them chicken sticks, Mom.”!

Stove-Top Rice Pudding

To my thinking, this is the ultimate comfort food on a cold evening! Actually, it is pretty comforting to make in the summer because you don't have to turn on the oven to prepare it. Just a note, I use a long grain rice so can't say what Jasmine or short grain rices will produce.

1 cup rice
3 cups milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a heavy cooking pot. Gradually bring to a boil, stirring often to prevent burning. As soon as it reaches a boil, cover and turn heat down very low. Continue cooking until all the liquid has been absorbed and rice is tender. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Serve warm or cold.

A nice variation is a cup of chopped apple dredged in a teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter cup of sugar. Stir in after pudding has been cooked.

Passover Macaroons . . .

Yes, I'm Catholic but I enjoy making and eating Jewish food! My favorite cookbook is one with recipes and history of Jewish holidays. This is a light, nonfat cookie that goes great with iced tea or hot coffee. What better time to share it than at Easter/Passover time!

passover almond macaroons
Barbara M. Barthelette
2 ½ cups toasted almonds
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
5 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grind the almonds very fine in a food processor or other grinder.

Place almonds in bowl. Add the sugar and egg whites, one at a time, blending by hand until a thick paste is formed. Add the almond extract and refrigerate for ten minutes.

Take pieces of the dough, the size of a walnut, and form into balls. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until the cookies rise and brown a little. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

Cupcakes conquered!

I had a successful baking day, yesterday, and have a pretty line up of decorated cupcakes to show for it. My only setback was an oven that was heating up in an unbalanced way so the cupcake tray on the left was baking faster than the one on the right. A dozen cupcakes got ruined but you can be sure I kept close watch on the subseqent batches. I ended up with five, different cupcakes. Given the volume, I did not fill them this time but the generous buttercream toppings more than made up for it.

My menu for cupcake production?

Kaula Chocolate cupcake with a chocolate/orange frosting.
Spice cupcake with a very orange frosting.
Cinnamon cupcake with a cinnamon/vanilla frosting.
Peanut butter cupcake with vanilla frosting.
Orange cupcake with deep chocolate frosting.

Gave out all the cupcakes to friends, yesterday, except for a tray of samples for one of my college daughters who is coming home for Easter.

I hadn't done any baking during Lent so it was fun to get back into the process.

Cutting back on sugar . . .

Although I do not feel that sugar is an evil in our lives, I do try to keep it a very moderate component in our diets. We don't ban it, we just keep reasonable. However, when I make a treat, I don't substitute.

During the various seasons when there is a surplus of favorite fruits, a Sunday evening dessert is ofen a fruit crisp - you know, the prepared fruit in a baking pan covered with a crumble crust? I just read that you can use half the sugar called for in the recipe and add a teaspoon of baking soda in it's place and still get sweet results. It seems that baking soda neutralizes some acid thus enhancing the sweet taste. I'm all for cutting back and plan to try this with my next apple crisp.

Thought I'd pass that seemingly useful tip along.

Sigh . . . the years DO fly by!

"You know that children are growing up when they start asking questions that have answers."
-- John J. Plomp