Although I possess a copy of Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", I have never really read it other than to get cooking hints or ideas. I watched Julie and Julia last night and have now been browsing seriously through this book. In fact, there is one of her beef recipes simmering in the oven right now!
I selected this recipe to try because it was featured in the movie and was made to look relatively easy. The movie didn't depict the part that said it was really three recipes in one with a lot of prep work. The smell wafting from the oven are proving to be worth the time, however. It also taught me to read through the entire recipe TWICE to insure I have all the steps and sub-recipes in order.
Actually, is spite of the busy work with the two, extra steps, the recipe was pretty straight forward and easy to follow. It is amazing how Julia Child has taken the heights of French cooking and put them into an obtainable format.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
If you are interested . . .
I now have a Yahoo Group set up. If you are interested in joining and sharing thoughts more instantly and widely, subscribe to Catholicsathome-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Prayer for our country . . .
Just after 9/11, someone posted a prayer that I have kept in my prayerbook ever since. It was for the protection of our country from terrorists. After the political outrages of the last year, it would seem that a lot of our terrorist activity is within our system and proposed and acted upon by the politicians elected to office to represent us. Funny how the majority of citizens are in favor of one thing yet our politicians follow their own agenda. Here is that prayer which now has a dual purpose - for both foreign terrorists and the domestic ones. Contrary to the political popular belief, it is not the Christian faction that are the domestic terrorists!
O Jesus, Divine Redeemer, be merciful unto us and the whole world. Amen.
O Powerful God! O Holy God! O Immortal God have pity on us, and on all that are in the whole world. Amen.
Pardon and mercy, O my Jesus during these present dangers, pour on us Thy most Precious Blood. Amen.
O Eternal Father be merciful to us, by the Blood of Jesus Christ, Thy only Son, be merciful to us, we beseech Thee. Amen. Amen. Amen.
O Jesus, Divine Redeemer, be merciful unto us and the whole world. Amen.
O Powerful God! O Holy God! O Immortal God have pity on us, and on all that are in the whole world. Amen.
Pardon and mercy, O my Jesus during these present dangers, pour on us Thy most Precious Blood. Amen.
O Eternal Father be merciful to us, by the Blood of Jesus Christ, Thy only Son, be merciful to us, we beseech Thee. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Happy with my job . . .
Probably due to remembering all my vitamins, yesterday was a pretty good day. It was also get ready for pay day shopping day so I excavated the refrigerator to see what was past it's due date and what could crawl out on it's own. I seem to have gotten a handle on getting items used up in a timely manner because all I found was milk approaching it's demise and some aging apricots. I went into homemaking gear and turned the still-good milk into Greek carmel cream and the apricots returned as a mousse. It felt good to not only refrain from wasting food but to turn it into a treat for the family.
I think attitude has a lot to do with how we face our homemaking portion of life. If we walk into the kitchen and dread every step that brings us near the stove and meal preparation, we aren't going to do a very good job. I have always told my children that doing their school work is their job and do it like they were getting paid for it. Later, I realized that I had to take that very same advice to heart in being a homemaker. After all, my husband is working so I can stay home with the children. The least I can do is make sure he has a comfortable home to relax in when he comes home!
And, like any job in life, the more you do it with a glad heart, the more you like the process and results. I stopped looking at cooking as a chore, years ago. When you think about it, you can fix what you like and still get compliments on the meal! A win/win situation! As with most mandatory projects, you start researching for better ways to do your job and before you know it, you look forward to providing the family with great meals and the work gets to be part of the pleasure.
A side benefit of enjoying your time in the kitchen is that you learn to be frugal and still present good food. You start avoiding the frozen, precooked stuff and WANT to make really homemade food for your family. My 'hobby' in long check out line at the grocery store is checking out everyone else's grocery cart and figuring out what they wssted their money on and how they could have shopped (to my mind!) more productively. My weekly report card is how much I saved at the grocery store. My real reward is the smile on my husband's face when he comes home from work and sees a healthy but tasty meal on the table. My husband leads the Grace Before Meals and it is always with a sincere heart. I like the "A" for effort I get on that report card!
I think attitude has a lot to do with how we face our homemaking portion of life. If we walk into the kitchen and dread every step that brings us near the stove and meal preparation, we aren't going to do a very good job. I have always told my children that doing their school work is their job and do it like they were getting paid for it. Later, I realized that I had to take that very same advice to heart in being a homemaker. After all, my husband is working so I can stay home with the children. The least I can do is make sure he has a comfortable home to relax in when he comes home!
And, like any job in life, the more you do it with a glad heart, the more you like the process and results. I stopped looking at cooking as a chore, years ago. When you think about it, you can fix what you like and still get compliments on the meal! A win/win situation! As with most mandatory projects, you start researching for better ways to do your job and before you know it, you look forward to providing the family with great meals and the work gets to be part of the pleasure.
A side benefit of enjoying your time in the kitchen is that you learn to be frugal and still present good food. You start avoiding the frozen, precooked stuff and WANT to make really homemade food for your family. My 'hobby' in long check out line at the grocery store is checking out everyone else's grocery cart and figuring out what they wssted their money on and how they could have shopped (to my mind!) more productively. My weekly report card is how much I saved at the grocery store. My real reward is the smile on my husband's face when he comes home from work and sees a healthy but tasty meal on the table. My husband leads the Grace Before Meals and it is always with a sincere heart. I like the "A" for effort I get on that report card!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Freedom . . . sort of . . .!
Tuesday is our day off from daily Mass. I have a devout altar boy son who gets up six days of the week to serve Mass and he really needs that one morning to sleep in and vegetate a bit. It also gives me that one day of the week to really get some housecleaning done so I will not feel guilty when I sit down to my sewing machine.
I cut out a definite pattern type project for quilting yesterday. I guess I'm not a stay-in-the lines sort of person. I used enough fabric to see how one pieced square would look and I didn't like it. I put it aside and with the same, chosen fabrics, I went my usual route and made it up as I went along. I finished the piecing today and when I arranged my quilt squares, it was nice to see that in the midst of my abstract ways, there was an interesting pattern midst the odd choices.
It is always interesting to see how a piece of fabric that doesn't look like it will really fit into the overall pattern turns out to be the turning point of the whole patten. It happens often so I never restrain my instincts. Sort of reminds me of the self-centered world of today where unwanted babies are thought to not 'fit in' and are disposed of without a qualm. It makes me kind of wonder how their life might have been a turning point in the whole pattern of life.
I cut out a definite pattern type project for quilting yesterday. I guess I'm not a stay-in-the lines sort of person. I used enough fabric to see how one pieced square would look and I didn't like it. I put it aside and with the same, chosen fabrics, I went my usual route and made it up as I went along. I finished the piecing today and when I arranged my quilt squares, it was nice to see that in the midst of my abstract ways, there was an interesting pattern midst the odd choices.
It is always interesting to see how a piece of fabric that doesn't look like it will really fit into the overall pattern turns out to be the turning point of the whole patten. It happens often so I never restrain my instincts. Sort of reminds me of the self-centered world of today where unwanted babies are thought to not 'fit in' and are disposed of without a qualm. It makes me kind of wonder how their life might have been a turning point in the whole pattern of life.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Intellectual Interlude for today . . .
"The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything - or nothing. "
-- Nancy Astor
"We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us."
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"Today you can go to a gas station and find the cash register open and the toilets locked. They must think toilet paper is worth more than money."
-- Joey Bishop
"I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians."
-- Charles De Gaulle
-- Nancy Astor
"We rarely think people have good sense unless they agree with us."
-- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
"Today you can go to a gas station and find the cash register open and the toilets locked. They must think toilet paper is worth more than money."
-- Joey Bishop
"I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians."
-- Charles De Gaulle
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)