Feast Day of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother

"We beseech Thee, O Lord, grant to Thy servants the gift of Thy heavenly grace; as the child-bearing of the blessed Virgin was the beginning of salvation, so may the joyful festival of her nativity bring us an increase of peace."

Roman Missal, Collect for the Feast (September 8th, Gregorian, 7th century)

Reagan knew . . . What else can one add . . . ?

New apron creation!

 I was gifted with some darling fabric and turned it into a one-of-a-kind apron. I liked the supplental fabric with the recipes on them. They made a neat addition to the bodice and pockets of the apron. I like to sew but, sometimes, sewing is totally fun!

Sweet Tomato Cake in the Works . . .

 Although I posted a recipe for Sweet Tomato Cake, last month, the Google Blogger wasn't posting pictures for some reason. As you can see, they have rectified the situation and you can see the cake being created. The left is the flour, sugar, cinnamon, etc. being prepared. The measuring cup is full of seeded tomatoes. and the bottom shows one of the completed cakes.

Seeding the tomatoes was . . . interesting. I dipped them all in boiling water and quickly plunged them into ice water so the skins would slip off easily. That was neat and tidy to do. However, getting the seeds and liquid out of the tomatoes meant just squeezing one in your fish and letting it all spew out. I'm still getting the tomato stains out of my tee shirt!

Like a really boring television show . . .

 Every morning as soon as Marcela, the cat, is released from her confines, she races to the slider to view our dog, Chick. Chick is desperately in love with the cat but still the cat is too little to chance Chick's overpowering embraces. So, each morning, they commune through the screen door. Once in awhile they will go nose to nose through the screen to get a good sniff of this other odd creature.

One Week To Go . . .

 

 

I spent this week contacting more cat rescue places who mostly have either e-mail contacts or answering machines. They don't reply to either! Because of scheduling with my husband's work, these babies have a reprieve of one week before we have to take them to the Humane Society which is a contradiction as I heard they are not putting the cats down with injection but gassing them. A friend said she was at the shelter for our area and saw, in person, abuse of an animal by a worker there. We were considering paying for a vet to put them down but at anywhere from $50-$75 apiece, we can't afford it. The top picture is of two half-grown male cats we've been calling Bold and Fresh. Bold will race into our house any chance he gets and then immediately wants out as he realizes his 'mistake'. Fresh is shyer but desperately wants patting and immediately goes into a loud purring mode. Both cats have unbelievably soft fur.

The second picture is of a cat we've been calling Miss Stubby. She got the name because she is so shy that when she crosses over an unprotected space, she looks like she has two-inch legs! In fact, she was hanging around for a month before we realized she really had normal legs. In this picture, she looks a little frazzled but, over the last month, her fur suddenly tamed down and she has the most perfect cream fur on her feet and is very soft and smooth.

The lower picture is Mrs. Black Cat who is heavily pregnant. This is not a great condition for a cat headed for the shelter and a sad way to end the kittens lives before they are even born.

It is so frustrating that the responsible people who see to their animals care and make sure they have their shots and are neutered/spayed get the heartache of dealing with other people's abandoned animals.

We've been praying to St. Jude (patron of hopeless cases!) and St. Francis of Assisi (patron of animals) but time is growing short and options are not presenting themselves. We have to get these cats, especially the black ones, off the streets before Halloween.

Brittle Almond Bars or Almond Brittle Bars?

I know, I said I was done with the 'A' recipes but discovered this one tucked away in my files. As you can see, you can file it under 'A' or go with today's 'B'!

Brittle Almond Bars or Almond Brittle Bars?
1 cup butter - margarine won't work!
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup toasted and ground almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet (with rims) with parchment paper.

Beat together the butter, espresso powder, extracts, and cinnamon. Whip in the sugar until it is well incorporated. Stir in the flour and mix. Press dough into prepared pan as evenly as possible. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Set baked cookies on cooling rack. When it is fresh from the oven, sprinkle on the chocolate chip and spread them out as they melt to cover completely. Add the ground nuts over the surface and then let set a bit, cut into bars, and leave in the pan until completely cool. The refrigerator will hasten this process!

If you want it to look like 'real' brittle, you can just break up the cookies into irregular pieces.