St Elizabeth of Hungary is today's saint. Born in Hungary and married very young to Louis of Thuringia, she had three children and took care of the poor in a hospital after her husband died. Alive in the 13th century, she seemed to share the concern of other kings and queens that their wealth was actually an impediment to getting to heaven if they weren't careful to take care of others.
I'm usually a couple weeks behind when I post a picture on Fridays. I had been posting a book, but this week I'll wait and do a book pic next week. This is marvelous food and my "I Voted" sticker from two weeks ago. We didn't have any "important" elections voting is still really important. I investigated our local water board and the board for the local community college and then voted on my way to work.
*Tomorrow night I don't know what we are having; I'm out of ideas and energy for the week already.
*Tonight we are either having food from the Moonlight Market downtown OR some poblano and pinto tacos. I've made these tacos before and they are pretty nice; I use green bell peppers and one poblano pepper because all poblano tend to be too spicy.
*Last night the Son made chicken and noodles. We found it a little bland, but it was easy enough to put together. He cooked the chicken and noodles separately and then put the casserole together and cooked it. I liked it enough to bring it for lunch today.
*Tuesday we had Lime Chicken Tacos. I cooked the chicken while at work, came home in the afternoon to shred it and pull everything together, and then had it when I got home from sitzprobe that night at 9:45. This is a pretty low-effort, high result recipe that doesn't have too many leftovers.
*Monday was Great Northern Cornbread with Bacon to go with the chili I made the night before. I'm cooking my way through the Cook's Illustrated Baking Book, and I'm slowly working through the quick breads. This was my first night with long practice, which is the par for the next two weeks.
*Sunday I made a big pot of chili. This is one of the husband's favorite meals when it gets cold, and it got down to 30 degrees this weekend so it was time! The hardest part is stirring every 15 minutes for 3 hours. In general chilis and stews are low effort high reward along with being even better the next day.
Lineup for the week:
1. I'm continuing to play through one song a day from the new songs in the 2026 OCP Breaking Bread. I think I'm about 5 songs from finishing that task.
2. I'm playing three songs a day to get ready for two Masses this weekend at two different churches. We are getting into the readings from Revelation and Daniel so lots of "Christ as King" songs in the lineup along with songs about living as a Christian.
3. Musical! Last night was our sitzprobe, with the cast and the student pit orchestra and the professionals. We played for almost 4 hours. My hands hurt, my legs have cramps from keeping steady beat. It was a lot of fun. Tonight it's just me with the cast trying to figure out transitions and covering music.
4. Working toward Christmas concert: I'm only playing one song a day to polish until the musical is over.
We replaced our original sliding glass door, getting rid of the metal frame, and now we have so much more protection from the heat and cold. It's marvelous.
Leo was pope from 440 to 461. He is responsible for the Tome of Leo, one of the earliest examples we have of recognizing the primacy of the pope. He also oversaw the Council of Chalcedon which articulated the Hypostatic Union of Christ having two natures and one Person.
Since they tore down and rebuilt the grade school across the street from us, farther down the block, we can see such beautiful sunsets. Right now I also get to see the beautiful sunrise. I appreciate getting rid of daylight savings time, but my body struggles for about a week to adjust to the new schedule.
*Sunday we had spaetzle and corn and maple glazed pork tenderloin. The pork was quite good! There was a little fuss but the result was worth it. I also made butter pecan breakfast bread for the Christmas stash.
*Monday night we had tomato soup (Campbell's) and grilled cheese. We always do our grilled cheese on the panini press now. It's faster and crunchier. We used cheddar and provolone.
*Tuesday night the Son made crunchy pea salad. He's currently cooking once a week, building his repertoire and saving me from one night of cooking. I'm pretty grateful. We felt like the onion was a little too strong, we either needed to pickle it or reduce the amount or cook it.
*Last night was leftovers and Sonic drinks and sides.
*Tonight we're having a makeshift stir fry. It's leftover pork from Sunday, water chestnuts, onion, bell pepper, mandarin oranges, and a sauce I'll make up. I'll also make rice.
*Tomorrow is just me so...leftovers if we still have pasta OR maybe a salad from Chik-Fil-A.
*We are done with the concert and our two Masses! We are, as of today, 2 weeks from opening night for the musical. We are about 6 weeks from the next concert. So my music practice consists of:
*One new song from the 2026 Breaking Bread hymnal
*Two songs from the coming Mass on Sunday (I'm playing two Masses at the same place so my burden is less this weekend)
*One piece from the Christmas concert (this will increase once we are closer to the concert and past the musical)
*Up to half of the musical (there are 12 pieces roughly per half, and I'm up to playing 10 pieces a day)
About 4 years ago Jan and I built an atrium, the first one at this school, in a little conference room at the top of the stairs. This year I had to move it to a much bigger classroom and still make it cozy for the 3-6 years old. How did I do?
St. Martin de Porres lived in Peru from 1579 to 1639. Born to a nobleman and a freed slave, his mixed race kept him from being a full Dominican brother, instead being appointed a doorkeeper and a Tertiary. His humility and embrace of menial tasks sets an example for all of us of our true position before God and the joy that can be found in embracing unfair crosses.
Halloween in a house of adults is pretty quiet. We hand out candy, we usually go to bed early especially after a week like this week that is so busy.
I did finish Concilium so I added my new 2025 Journal for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. After I finish it I still need to finish the 2024 one.
*Home Fries with scrambled eggs and bacon were our supper on Sunday. Most Cook's Illustrated home fry recipes use the oven, and I would prefer that method, but this one used a skillet. They were very good...maybe a little too brown? I still loved them.
*Best Shortbread was our Christmas cookie for the week. I made a double batch so that we had enough to eat and enough to freeze. It takes a little bit longer than the recipe says to fully cook through the middle, but once that's done it's a pretty delicious cookie. I've never made the variation with dipping in chocolate.
* Butternut squash and mushroom noodle bowls is a Better Homes and Gardens recipe. I used bucatini since I couldn't find udon noodles and green beans for mushrooms because the Son doesn't like mushrooms. I wasn't thrilled with the end result; I tried using frozen squash to save time, and it got a little mushy. The sauce was still good.
*The Son made Citrus Chicken last night with Rice a roni while I was gone getting ready and performing at a concert. He did a great job--it was my leftover lunch today.
*Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup will hopefully be our supper tonight assuming I don't crash out from last night's concert. I'm using chicken thighs and some preground spices so it's not as intense as pho but will hopefully turn out well.
*Sophisto Joes is always our dish for Halloween for almost 20 years. I really enjoy that it's both easy but also fancy. It makes plenty for leftovers, and I like to eat it over potatoes or chips.
*Well, today was concert day so that's about 10 pieces that I won't be playing any more! The students did really really well, and I'm proud of their hard work.
The same friend who took me to Leila's also invited me to pick flowers from a farm to make our own bouquets. We bought a big bucket full and had enough to make 3 or 4 bouquets each. They were pretty long lasting too; I kept some of the blooms on our prayer table at work for almost a month!
*Tuesday is the Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, two apostles. They were both martyred in Persia, Simon after preaching in Persia and Babylonia and Egypt, Jude in Palestine and Mesapotamia. Jude is probably most famous today as the patron of hopeless causes.
I'm about halfway through The Bohemian Girl, a collection of short stories by Willa Cather. I'm actually surprised at how depressing the stories are and how anti-small town they seem so far. I'm hopeful they improve in tone. The writing is great, just the themes right now are a little down.
I realize looking over this week that I made a lot of America's Test Kitchen recipes, which means I gave myself a lot of work. To be fair, I did have two days off of work so I felt like I could fit in these recipes that had been in my "to make" pile for a while.
*Sunday we went out to eat at the Snack Shack in downtown Mission for burgers and fries and delicious cherry limeades. Then the Husband headed out of town and the Son got ready for work and I had an evening by myself. It was glorious. With the Son moving back home my time by myself is pretty rare, and I try to appreciate it thoroughly.
*Monday I made chicken salad. We had two sets of leftover chicken and then other assorted leftovers. It was pretty easy to make before I went to pit orchestra practice
*Tuesday the Son made Sweet Potato Biscuits and then warmed up butternut bisque from a jar from Aldi's and some taquitos from the freezer. The biscuits were almost dessert-ish with the added spices and vanilla. I'm enjoying them toasted with ice cream. They are also great for breakfast.
*Wednesday I made Light Eggplant Parmesan. I was really happy with how it turned out BUT I'm a little afraid of the leftovers, I'm going to try toasting them to recapture some crispiness so they're not completely soggy.
*Thursday, today, I'm making Arroz con Pollo with a variation that uses bacon and roasted red peppers and skips the capers and olives (because the husband detests olives passionately). I have made a different version from Cook's Illustrated with Sazon; I'm hoping I can get this done efficiently since I have a meeting in the evening.
*Friday, unless I've run out of energy, we having Austrian Potato Salad. It's cooked, has some pickles in it, and it really nice and meatless.
Pictured: biscuits and eggplant Parmesan
*We have one week from today to our Fall Concert, so as of yesterday I try to play all the concert pieces every day in order. I'm up to 6 musical pieces a day as of today, so that is also an increase towards stamina needed for the musical--which is less than a month from today.
My friend Jill took me to Leila's Hair Museum in Independence before it closed permanently after the death of Leila. Was it a little weird? Yes. Was it hot because someone had stolen the wiring out of the air conditioner? Also yes. Was it delightful and amazing? One hundred times yes. The first hair decoration is made out of Leila's own hair; the second and third incorporate many family member's hair and are open at the top to keep luck in for the families and to be added to.
St. Paul of the Cross lived in Italy from 1694 to 1775 and founded the Passionists, who take a fourth vow to spread the memory of Christ's passion among the faithful. He was known for great preaching skill and his devotion to acts of mercy.
