* I finished last week's cookbook and my remaining library book (before I go back to reload) is a tea shop mystery by Laura Childs. She has two other series that I don't love as much, but the tea shop series is still pretty enjoyable and not just the same thing over and over.
*This week we are finishing voice testing and starting on our pieces for our first concert in 62 days. It's an odd combination of working through logistics and slowly moving forward on songs. This weekend I have two Masses at different places and I'm hoping everything works out for getting things put together.
*On Sunday we made Grilled Pork Cutlets with red wine vinegar and rosemary marinade. I didn't make anything extra because we had potatoes and corn from lunch and rice and pasta from earlier in the week. Lunch was corn and potatoes and peaches: a quintessential summer meal.
*Monday and Tuesdays were busts. Monday was actually the Husband's kidney transplant anniversary (16 years) so we got El Salvadorean food to celebrate. Tuesday I got stuck and spent way too much time in the car so we ended up picking up KFC before doing our first and only swim at the town pool. It was a little cool but very enjoyable.
*Tonight I'll make Monday's meal, black bean soup. It should be fast, hopefully, before I go back to Back to School night.
*Tomorrow will probably be Orange Skillet Chicken. It's actually made for pasta but we're going to have it with rice and I'm going to add some soy sauce to the sauce to make it more Asian-y.
*Friday will probably be Apple French Toast, and I'll save Spanish Tortilla for next week.
*We were lucky enough to have an estate sale down the street when the couple living there moved to assisted living. The Son and I found some treasures: the cup below for my sister, a bag and hat and mug for the son, and a necklace for me.
*St. Monica is celebrated on Wednesday this week, and her son St. Augustine is celebrated on Friday. Born in Africa in 331 and died in Italy in 387, Monica converted and spent much of her life praying and crying for the conversion of her wild son. Her life was one of sacrifice for the good of others. A priest once told her to not worry about her son because anyone who was prayed over as much as he was would surely convert.
(Picture traced from Pinterest to https://flandin505.wordpress.com/2011/08/27/st-monica/)
One of the books I'm slowly working my way through is the owner's manual for my car. I know how to drive it but I want to make sure I understand as much as possible. I haven't learned a whole lot yet but I think it's a good practice.
*Sunday we had saffron chicken kabobs with pita and cucumber and rice. The linked recipe is not quite right but it's close; mine did not have any yogurt and was very orange flavored--in a good way. We ended up using chicken breasts, cutting and pounding, and then grilling those and cutting them up after.
*Monday I made lasagna. I almost never follow a recipe, because part of making lasagna is using up what you have around. I had noodles, bolognese and a raw tomato sauce and some packets of marinara from restaurants, ricotta, and then I bought cottage cheese and mozzarella and a little more parmesan. It was delicious.
*Tuesday we had a sheet pan of nachos with homemade salsa and guacamole. And spicy beef. This was really really delicious, and we ate 5/6 of the pan. I'm eating some of the leftovers for lunch. I know that nachos don't sound like a good leftover, but the toppings are so good that even if the chips are soft I'm still excited about it. The only change I made was no jalapenos because we can't do those pockets of spicy.
*Last night I made Tortilla French Toast. This was a new recipe for us and I put the picture below. I think it worked, but the Son agreed that there was a little bit of a weird taste in it: I think it was the tortilla taste where our brains were expecting a crepe taste. Still very good but a little weird.
*Tonight I'm making Waldorf chicken salad. I cooked up chicken on Monday and then shredded it; this morning I'll combine it with celery, mayo, lemon juice, apple, and walnuts.
*Tomorrow is leftovers. We have a lot! Plus some food from Jerusalem Cafe from Saturday, and the Son made jelly biscuits yesterday. We are fortunate.
*Monday I got a whole bunch of new music to learn for my choirs, so I'm working through exposing my fingers to each of those. I only have two Masses this weekend and they are at the same parish, so that workload is minor. I'm over halfway through the music for the musical first runthrough; "Blow Gabriel Blow" is super long and I'm grateful they are cutting something like 50 measures out of it.
*The Husband has really stepped up and gotten fruit almost every weekend from the farmers' markets around us. One Sunday we did brunch with friends and he made a massive fruit salad with peaches, plums, cherries, berries, and even some watermelon. It was amazing.
*Last week had a great saint almost every day. This week is almost as full, but I'm going to stick with the Mary theme and tell you about Friday, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary. As Americans we have a fraught relationship with hierarchy and monarchy. On one hand our whole country was founded as a rejection of a lineage of monarchy; on the other hand, many Americans can't get enough of following royal gossip, whether it be legislative or pop culture monarchy. I think that what we might take fruitfully from the Queenship of Mary goes back to the role of the Queen Mother in the Old Testatment: as seen in Esther in particular but also the first book of Kings and also 2 Samuel is that the Queen Mother had a particular role of speaking for the people before then king, and as much as possible the king could not deny her requests for them. How consoling then that Mary can intercede for us in a particular way, both in bringing our intentions before God but also in helping us understand what our intentions should be.
(From Pinterest to http://catholic-line-art.tumblr.com/image/114739711311)
I picked up this 1967 journal last summer while at a conference for Oblate Directors in North America. So far it's been really fun to see how those living right after Vatican II predicted the "new Church" would revise the sacrament of Baptism.
It's so hard to get good food pictures!
*Sunday we had soy-ginger glazed grilled chicken breasts, corn fritters, and mint thin cookies. I have planted mint but it hasn't really gone to town yet, so I bought a package of mint from the store to put in them. They made a large batch and are very tasty, as are the fritters and chicken.
*Monday we had my mom's waffle recipe, which is the best waffle recipe that we have found in 25 years of looking.
*Tuesday I made chilled tomato soup. I have to dial down the paprika, but once that was done we had a really nice soup. The Husband picked up some grilled cheese sandwiches from Sonic to finish off the meal. I also made a doubled peach crisp from this recipe, and we already finished it off the next day.
*Last night we had herbed turkey burgers. They had mint and parsley from the garden in them; my parsley never grew very well so that may be the end of that plant. The burgers were tasty but a little small for the ciabatta buns. We also had frozen tater tots.
*Tonight is leftovers as the Husband is traveling, son has work, and I have a Vigil Mass for the Assumption.
*Tomorrow is Pizza Hasselback Potatoes, and that's the week! Three new recipes and five repeat recipes.
*My boss has ordered a bunch of music for the new year, but none of it has arrived yet, so I'm just working on 4 Masses for this weekend (Thursday, Saturday, and 2 Sunday) and then piecing through my musical music. I have finished act I and the entre'acte and have not moved on to Act II.
*We finally made it to our local county fair this year after 10 years. We ate food, rode a ride, toured around a 4H building (one of many) and walked among the horses, rabbits, and chickens. It's been a while since I exhibited at the fair but it's nice to see how many things are the same. Below are some gorgeous quilts that won ribbons.
*Friday is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary into heaven. The doctrine as outlined in 1950 states "that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." (https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_p-xii_apc_19501101_munificentissimus-deus.html par. 44)
Mary's life and assumption give us hope that if we follow Christ we too will be reunited with him in heaven, body and soul, at the Second Coming.
(Traced from Pinterest to https://lily-maiden.blogspot.com/2008/12/advent-day-9-immaculate-conception.html)
