More Great Ideas for the Season

Matilda has some great links today for All Saints and All Souls Day parties and decorations!

Colleen is hosting a Loveliness of Leaves fair over at Footprints on the Fridge this week, and next week Dawn, at By Sun and Candlelight will host a Loveliness of Handmade Gifts fair.

Over at Rocks in My Drier, Shannon is counting into the hundreds again this week in her Works For Me Wednesday extravaganza of tips and ideas. I haven't got time to post for that one today, as we're doing some vigil day preparations for All Saints Day tomorrow, and getting ready to have a nice Prairie Days homeschool evening.

We're watching the Little House on the Prairie movie for the first time together now that we've finished the first two books. The girls are all dressed up in pioneer dresses, bonnets and pinafores today, and will pass out candy and beatific smiles, should any goblins come to the door tonight. (We rarely have trick-or-treaters as our home is outside our town's "ghostly tour") If I have a chance, I'll print up some little Happy Feast of All Hallows Eve sliplets to wrap around the candy. &:o)

Our best wishes that everyone has a safe and fun evening! We know your angels have your backs!

Yup. Sleepy.

2 AM?

I refuse to look at the clock to see.

I know what the cause of this bout of insomnia is, though.

I totally jinxed myself by poking my head in to see what was going on over at T with Honey , where I made a comment about how her insomnia, sounded like my insomnia, and

~ here's where I really blew it ~
I thought to myself, "Gee, I really haven't had too much problem with that lately!" Yeah, stupid. So, of course now I have a raging, purple-dotted, serial-yawn, pinochle-with-the-moon case.


Yeah, it's mental, I know. But, whaddaya gonna do?

I guess I'll go try a rosary.

Boy, I'm gonna be Sleepy tomorrow!

Halloween

So, I guess I'll have to show my true colors... I'm a Halloween Grinch. You know the kind; the ones that are out to spoil everyone's fun.

But I'm not furry and green and rarely sneer. That kind of Grinch fits right in at Halloween.

Instead, I'm the kind of Grinch that stands out like a sore thumb this time of year in most gatherings; I have little homemade feather wings, and a foil pipecleaner halo... and I pass out holy cards.

Almost every holiday has its controversy, I'm afraid. Except maybe St. Patrick's Day ... which... I guess you could object to as it's become just an excuse to go to an Irish pub and sample too much Guinness...

Or, well, there is St. Valentine's Day. But, I guess you could object to that feast day evolving into an excuse to flirt, couldn't you? I can't deny these are both abuses I'm afraid I may have been guilty of in the past, myself. Let's face it, it's just human nature to want to celebrate.

The Church in its wisdom has always understood this. In a nutshell, we need to relieve stress with periodic partying. And, with this need in mind, when they came to a new culture to teach and convert, missionaries strove to take native celebrations and convert their meanings and subtly adapt their trappings to Christian themes. They purposely placed Church holidays around the approximate times of important events in the life of Christ, but also to coincide with nonchristian celebrations they wished to replace. And they were almost universally successful in this quest.

The institution of the Feast of All Hallows, or All Saints,was an attempt to replace the Roman feast of the dead, Feralia. But, the customs most commonly associated with the celebration of this holiday in the modern world are Gaelic in nature, a passdown from the druids.

Not a wholesome lot, the druids.

I think most of us Catholic moms do try to downplay the materialistic trappings that have come to smother the real meanings of each of our Catholic holidays ~ holy days. But, Halloween may be the one that is hardest to overcome. Out of all of the holidays, I think Hallween has reverted most to its pagan beginnings. And, while most of the holidays have caved into crass commercialization and saecularization to some extent or another, none of them has fallen into such an unwholesome set of new traditions, as Halloween has. Let's face it, much of it is downright demonic, and unapologetically so. But, we excuse it because it's an American tradition, and, well, we did it when we were kids, and we turned out alright...

And, seriously, if we don't dress our children as witches or devils, it should be alright, shouldn't it?

Well, if the Church thought it was OK, I don't think they would have replaced the Feast of the Dead with something as purposely full of joy as the Feast of All Saints, for one thing. I think the popes purposely picked something as polar opposite these particular pagan celebrations as they could in this instance. And with good reason.

Not every child will be negatively affected by a few days' journey into a dark world, perhaps. But what about the ones who will be? Highly sensitive children are not even the ones that are most at risk here, but children who might have kindled an unhealthy interest in dark matters, and, Heaven forbid, eventually come to experiment with the occult. You don't think this could happen to your child? Read the statistics on the rise in numbers of teens joining the wicca cult just since the JK Rowlings books have been published. The devil is a busy little loser. He'll use every opportunity he can get.

Evil matters should not be taken lightly. And that is exactly the purpose of Halloween as it's practiced today. "Innocent" fun.... dabbling in evil matters. Your sweet little girl may be dressed up like a princess, but she's walking on the same sidewalk with "witches" and "ghouls" and "ax murderers."

Why glorify this kind of thing? At best, it's just a big, ugly distraction from a far better celebration. One that they can still dress up for. And the costume thing may even be beside the point, because as we all know, Halloween is really all about the candy.

It's not hard for any parish, or group of families, or just a single family to whip up a night of fun, with candy and games, in celebration of the Feast of All Saints. Seriously. The amazingly talented and energetic women I see in the wide world of Catholics are more than up to the task. Many of us already do this annually.

Now, can rejecting the Trick or Treat scene make you an oddball in your neighborhood? Well, sure, it may very well. Isn't that great? We should be oddballs in this world, for goodness sake! If you're not an oddball in this saecular humanistic society, you're not living your faith, plain and simple. Why shouldn't our children learn this?

The tradition of celebrating the saints on this day instead of following in the path of the rest of the world is a real life example to your children of your priorities as a family of God.

And good grief, it's not like an All Saints' Day Party is a sacrifice! You can make it just as much fun, more fun, we think, than the typical Halloween outing! But, instead of being about darkness, it's all about light. And it's in the safety of your church hall or someone's home, where I think most of us parents would rather the children be, anyway.

You, too, can be one of those "obsessive Catholics."

Just like the saints.

(Aw, come on! It's fun!)

Here are some great ideas for All Saints' Day Parties from: The Domestic Church, Catholic Culture.com , Women for Faith and Family, and Catholic Parenting

Quick Question

Is anyone having trouble loading this blog? I'm hearing that it's taking all kinds of time to upload for some people, and that it may have something to do with the sonific music thingies, perhaps...

I just took off the music spots and messed with the settings. Is it working better now??

Our Rockies

The broad shoulders of the Rocky Mountains are slumped a little this morning.

And the purple glow of the season is fading like the sunset going to sleep over our mountains.

But we Rockies fans will sleep well this winter.

We'll sleep peacefully, when all is said and done, and the disappointment wears off, because, you see, we won before the season even started.

Our team is a family, home grown. Our men are good men, our organization a truly class act. Our boys (and they are, for the most part little more than boys) had an amazing year and we're so proud of them we're bursting.

Don't be mistaken, we here in the Rocky Mountain west know we've already won in some of the most important ways.

We'll sleep peacefully through the winter here in Colorado, dreaming of the spring.

When the first crack of the bat on opening day will wake us to a purple sunrise.

And then you just watch our boys! They'll be back. Ours is a young team, still learning, just on the way up. That purple glow will continue to light up the summer baseball sky for many years.

We can't wait for Opening Day, 2008!

Our Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox!

The Feast of Christ the King

The Feast of Christ the King was established by Pope Pius XI during the horrors of World War I, to serve as a reminder to all mankind of the true source of and solution for peace in our world. There is no better time than now with unrest still as worldwide, on battlefields and in hearts, to remember that there will never be peace unless the world surrenders its heart to the reign of Christ the King.

Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Indulgences: 5 years; plenary once a month for daily recitation on the usual conditions. On the feast of Christ the King, to be solemnly read with the Litany of the Sacred Heart before the blessed Sacrament exposed: then, 7 years, and a plenary indulgence supposing Confession and Communion (Pius XI, 1926, 1927, 1932)

Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before thy altar. We are yours, and yours we wish to be; but to be more surely united with you, behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today to your most Sacred Heart.

Many indeed have never known you; many too, despising your precepts have rejected you. Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them all to your Sacred Heart.

Be King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken you, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned you; grant that they may quickly return to their father's house, lest they die of wretchedness and hunger.

Be King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.

Grant, O Lord, to your Church assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry : Praise to the divine heart that wrought our salvation; to it be glory and honor for ever. Amen.

Hope Springs Eternal

Our House Selling Saga...

Meg, over at Life in a Nutshell has it pegged. The realtor we have right now is a family friend, so we really don't have a poor notion of him at all, but, we've just got to laugh at Meg's hilarious depiction of realtors, as we've had several now, and they are not all created equal, let me tell you!

We've had a house on the market here, and there constantly now for almost five years! And it's not because we're house flipping or anything.

First, starting about five years ago, we tried to sell our farm on the Eastern Slope of Colorado, and found out that there's just not much of a market for a pioneer-vintage home with its own forty acres of prairie. Not even with barns, outbuildings and mucho fencing. Not even with a landscaped yard, a baseball diamond, a playhouse, treehouse, sandbox, and a short walk to an awesome town library. The people-with-money-to-buy want a new house it seems. Even though our property has real, genuine, highly coveted mature trees. They'd rather have a new house, even if it's a cheaply-built modular, on forty flat acres of nothing. At the same price as ours with all the stuff.

=sigh=

It's not our fault people are crazy.

But, then we found this guy who wanted to run a horse operation, who loved the place, and had letters stating his pre-qualification.

Sounded good...

So, we moved over to Western Colorado because we had the farm under what-looked-like-at-the-time, (AHAHAHAHA!) an iron clad contract; the house had even passed the inspection and everything. So, with me pregnant, getting ready to be stuck on bedrest, and knowing that it would be about six months of bedrest, we decided we'd better just take the leap and move over to where there was a school we trusted. Trying to run a house and farm and teach five children while on bedrest was not something I wanted to tackle again (and I knew I didn't want to do it because I'd done it before!).

So, we moved.

And then, of course, that deal fell through. In the course of the whole time that place has been on the market, at least three other deals have fallen through. Usually because people couldn't qualify....

But, we had, in the meantime, bought this house, the River House, over here in Western Colorado. A nice old house, with "good bones," but one that we got cheap because it needed some work. We took two years to make it livable, and fell in love with this part of the state.

Then my husband's long term contract ended, and he decided it'd be prudent at this juncture to jump off the consulting roller coaster, so we were without a job for several months, while he lined up a new position.

And where else would that new position be, but back on the Eastern Slope of Colorado?

NOW we know why God didn't answer all those prayers about selling the farm! He knew we were going to end up living there again. Amazing, isn't it? His answer to our pestering was "I have something better in mind... because I know what the future holds and you don't! And you gotta wonder if He didn't add, "So quitcher belly-achin'!"

So, anyway, it's back to the old farm, and now we're selling the Western Slope house.

Let me tell you, we could write a book about things that can go wrong in house deals. And we've gotten really good at all the tricks necessary to get a house ready in a jiffy for a showing. We're getting so good at this, we're almost professionals. Or well, I guess to qualify as a professional anything, you have to make money at it, don't you?

Anyway, we have a supposed contract on the River House coming in today.We know better than to get our hopes up, yet hope being a cardinal virtue... Well, we know we can't give it up. We do have certain hope in God's perfect plan for us. We know that He'll do what's best, and that's what we're praying for: His Will to be done. Still, can't help but hope He doesn't want us to go bankrupt.

And, He did say, "Ask and ye shall receive..."

So.... if anyone out there has a couple seconds to send up a word for us, could you please ask Him, pretty please, could this maybe be the one deal that will go through? We don't ask so that we'll make money on the transaction, but just so that we won't lose our shirts. We simply don't make enough money to pay for two houses. We never have!

And my blue-haired-grandma-retirement-jeep fund is already gone.

Darn it.

100 Things I Learned the Hard Way

31) You haven't succeeded in preparing the house for important company (or a showing when you're selling), until you've broken a jar of pickles in the kitchen.

32) It doesn't matter how hard you try to "accessorize" and uber-clean the house, if it's a big old non-conforming victorian, with spotty electricity and iffy plumbing ~ well, it's all just lipstick on a pig. Clean it decently, make it smell nice, lower the price, and just be very patient.

33) Don't leave your makeup where your three year old daughter can get it. (The same thing goes for scissors, permanent markers, vaseline...).

34) Don't name an animal you plan to eventually put in your freezer.

35) Unless you are committed to the natural-ness of cloth diapers, they are just NOT worth the pain, heart-ache and expense. Especially if you have two or more in diapers. If you use a diaper service, you're sure not saving money; if you don't use a service, you will be married to your washing machine and be changing diapers 24 hours a day. The hot water does cost money, and your babies are bound to have rashes. And, seriously, washing out those poopie diapers... Yuk!

36) Never assume all the children are in the car. Count heads at least three times before pulling out of any driveway.

37) Never assume all the children in the car belong to you. Occasionally stray toddlers hook up with big families in large department stores, assuming we are the line for the daycare bus.

38) Unless you're pregnant, avoid wearing clothes that can even remotely be misconstrued as maternity, especially if you have friends and family who are likely to lay bets on you.

39) At least half of all the reading you do should be to or with your children.

40) God actually has three answers: "Yes," "Not yet," and "I have something better in mind."

(Thanks to my friend, Rosemary, and the man at the airport for this one!)

My Big Boys...

Focus on Jonathan Charles

Top photo: Jon on far right, during sing-along night with our former parish priest, and two other sons, Kevin (L) & Dominic (R).

Bottom photo: Another angle of the pic in my sidebar, showing Jon snoozing next to his two littlest brothers.

OK, so, not to brag, but I have some of the nicest boys. Handsome. Talented. Intelligent. Hard working. Kind and helpful. You'll have to forgive me for saying it; I'm a mom. And, I'm an appreciative mom today.

You see, I just got off the phone with my fourth son, Jon, (the one recently mentioned as a spaghetti sauce seasoner around here). From all the way in Omaha, on his way to choir practice, no less, he talked me through rewiring the vcr and dvd back into the television. A chore necessitated by the fact that his youngest brother keeps pushing the boxes backwards in the shelves under the tv, thus, apparently forcing out all the connections.

Anyway, what a guy is my Jon! All our boys are awesome, and I'll surely give them their due in turn... But I hope you don't mind if I exult for a minute on this one, as he's high on my list of stars right this moment.

Jonathan (16), along with his brother, Dominic(14), both attend a Catholic academy in Omaha, not because we cannot or will not homeschool them, but because it seemed to be God's Will that they be there. Their older brother, Kevin (18) is in Omaha as well working for the parish and acting as the Boarder Master at the boarding house. They all are thriving so completely and love it so much there that it's downright insulting! Well, nah, actually, you know that I'm kidding! I feel perfectly content that they're doing the Will of God, as we are in their schooling, but I do miss them like crazy!

Especially when the tv or computer isn't working!

Jon, you see, is a natural at anything electronic; he wired us for surround sound out at the farm when he was only 11 or 12 years old. He's a straight A student. He's good at any sport he tries. He's an especially good golfer, though he's too busy with his many creative pursuits to spend a whole lot of time on athletics. It's not his theme, I think.

He's more Palestrina than Gary Glitter (Rock and Roll Part II).

Jon's extremely musical. He's in the parish choir and plays the organ for the seminarian's choir. Besides that, he's a most amazing artist! You wouldn't believe his oil paintings! I'll post a couple pics of them following this post. He's also a fabulous cook, and regularly treats all the boarders in his school to goodies like cinnamon rolls come Saturday mornings. And, he's always been the nurturing big brother, with the special bond with the Littles.

Jon's just the original Renaissance Man. He's a wonderful son and just a really nice person. I'd be delighted to know him even if I weren't related to him. God has so blessed us!

And now we can watch Rolie Polie Olie and hear the sound, thanks to him, the peach!

(It's a good thing he hasn't got internet at school or he'd be mortified to read this about himself!)

Some of Jon's Paintings

This one, Jon painted for his Grandparents some time back.

I love the soft, pastoral feel of this one...

This one's called "Bilbo's Place," and is a family favorite, of course...
This is one he painted alfresco in an art class one morning and considered a throw away. But I love it. You should see the St. Therese of Lisieux he's working on! I can't wait until that one's finished. Everyone who's seen it covets it! I'll try to get a picture of it on here one of these days.

What Works for Me Wednesday

So, here it is. Here's my contribution to Rocks In My Dryer's weekly compendium of useful (Well, useful if you feed a crowd like we do!) tips:

Feeding a Crowd

Let me start off by admitting that I am not a chef, just a mom. I'm an adequate cook with a few specialties; that's about it. And, though there are definitely foods, I enjoy, I've been too busy fulfilling the needs of a lot of tummies on a budget, to become a "foodie." I'm looking forward to that possiblity for my retirement, though! Goodness, there are some inspiring cooks out in the blogosphere!

In the meantime, though, we've become pretty adept at feeding a crowd and leaving them satisfied. Though a goodly part of the year, there are only around eight of us at home, when our four boys are home from school, we feed twelve people daily ~ and their friends and girlfriends often join the fun.

Practicalities
Our family, like most other large families (and army units), has always lived on a lot of casseroles and one-dish type meals. It's easy and economical to stretch meat in a sauce over a starch (like noodles or rice). Most of our meals are of this variety. Here's a typical week's menu:

*Sunday ~ either a big brunch of pancakes or waffles, eggs and bacon or sausage or a large dinner midafternoon, consisting of a roast or a ham, depending usually on whether we're raising or stocking beef or pork at the time.
*Monday ~ Leftover Casserole using anything possibly left from Sunday's dinner. Sometimes
we will purposely cook quadruple the amount of a roast to use throughout the week just for this purpose.
*Tuesday ~ Vat of spaghetti, enchiladas, stroganoff Corn Beef Bake (recipe follows), or the like, the remains of which will usually be eaten for lunch the next day.
*Wednesday/Thursday~ Chicken in the Trees (recipe follows), cooking up extra chicken for lunches. Stew or soup, black beans and rice, using any possible leftovers.
*Friday ~ Popcorn, cheese and fruit; quiche; broiled fish occasionally; tuna casserole.
*Saturday~ Any leftovers from the week are used up this day, reheated at lunch. Dinner is usually a "free-for-all," as well, unless a special event is planned, like a barbeque in good weather. Saturday is our work day so we try to keep it simple in the kitchen.

As a general rule...

We try to eat healthfully, which is possible, though sometimes challenging, on a budget and feeding so many people. We splurge on fish and specialty meats occasionally, especially at holidays. We lean toward organic vegetables whenever we can, but settle for frozen most of the year. We do fill up on carbs, which for my very active (somewhat skinny) children is a necessity. I wish it were as much a necessity for me!

We try to eat red meat only three times a week, maybe four, if we're stretching leftovers. We eat a lot of chicken, especially in soup and fajitas, both family favorites. When in season, especially, we serve sliced vegetables with meals, and occasionally salads. Our group is big on crudites. Anything they can dip, they like. I sabotage almost every casserole I make by adding hidden vegetables. Grated carrots, onion, and zucchini disappear in almost anything.

The only prepared foods we generally buy are the huge bags of meatballs you can get at Sam's or Cosco. They are a great time saver, and well-liked by the troops. Every once in a while we'll get boxed pizza. We almost never fry anything, and stay away from anything breaded. Too few nutrients, too many calories, for too much money.

We either raise or buy a side of organic beef whenever we are able. It's an expense, either way, but one we think is worth it. We raised our own organic pork for many years on the farm, and became quite used to substuting "the other white meat" for almost everything. I wouldn't suggest this without having organic pork, though.

I rarely follow strict recipes, anymore, unless I'm baking, and spice almost everything to taste, so what I'll do is sketch out what I do, then add a link to the closest recipe I can find out there on the 'net.

Some of Our Favorites

Beef and Cornbread Bake

~Brown 1-2 pounds of ground beef, drain grease, pour whatever portion of a jar of salsa thoroughly saturates your portion of beef
~ Make up a double batch of cornbread batter, either using your own recipe, or using the prepared boxes, judging how much you will need by the size of the pan you think will feed your family. A large jellyroll pan feeds most of us if the teenagers aren't here (That's roughly 8-10 people).
~ Pour half the cornbread batter into the bottom of your greased pan.
~ Add the ground beef mixture on top of that.
~ Top with 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand).
~ Pour remaining half of batter on top of beef and cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven at about 375 degrees, for between a half hour and 45 minutes, depending on how big your pan is. I just keep an eye on it to see when the cornbread is baked through in the middle.
*Serve with more salsa. Or ketchup, if you're one of those ketchup loving toddlers.

Here's an official version: http://southernfood.about.com/od/hamburgcasseroles/r/bl30326t.htm

Chicken in the Trees

~ In standard jellyroll pan, melt app. 3 tbs butter in preheated 350 degree oven.

~ Add chicken cut of your choice, bone-in, boneless, breast or thigh. (We prefer boneless breasts for ease of eating, and feel like we'd just as soon not pay for bones, anyway.) Squeeze in whatever you can fit in the pan, turning over to coat both sides of chicken.

~ Sprinkle both sides of chicken with seasoning of your choice. We like garlic salt and lemon pepper, but cajun spices are good, as well as taco seasoning, or just salt and pepper or Mrs. Dash.

~ Bake until chicken is baked almost through, approximately 20 minutes, maybe more, depending on the thickness of your meat.

~ While chicken is baking, mix up a batch of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup. We do this from scratch, but you can also use a canned soup. (Watch out for the msg and sodium in these, though!). We sometimes stir some soy sauce or worcestershire into the soup for a little extra zing.

~ After the chicken is out, using either fresh or frozen broccoli (or one of the broccoli mixes), fit as much of the vegetable into the pan as you can, squeezing it into the spaces between the chicken and layering it over a little.

~ Pour the soup over the chicken and vegetables. Bake for another 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

*We often melt cheese on top of the whole mixture, depending on how calorie conscious the cook is at the time.

Here is a close facsimile: http://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Chicken%20under%20the%20trees


Friday Feast

(Everyone's Favorite)

~Arrange plates of sliced cheeses (whatever are the family favorites), grapes and sliced apples on a picnic blanket on the living room floor (or high on a table if you don't want your toddler crawling into it).

~Serve vegetable crudites and dip, if you think it will be eaten, and maybe some caramel for dipping the apples if you don't mind the mess.

~Add one large bowl of popcorn (preparing to refill if necessary), a pitcher of juice, iced tea, cocoa or cider, depending on the season and your tastes.

~We have paper plates available for the fruits and veges, and individual cereal bowls for the popcorn, and leave the drinks on the dining room table for anyone under twelve years old to help keep the mess down a little.

~Say Prayers Before Meals and Roll a Movie!

Tuna Casserole

Most everyone has a favorite tuna casserole recipe. We don't like to use the canned soups, and make our own cheese sauce, with peas, usually. Or without veges in the recipe, serving salad or crudites on the side. This is not a really popular dish around here with our current group, though, so I don't make it often these days. Following is pretty close to our recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tuna-Noodle-Casserole-I-2/Detail.aspx

Spaghetti

Let, me tell you, we make some rockin' spaghetti around here. And we're not even Italian. but, it's truly good stuff, and it's never the same twice, especially when the boys are around. You see, the base recipe for our spaghetti, comes from the old standard Fannie Farmer Cookbook, but we've drifted from it a bit. We start a vat early in the day. Sometimes with meatballs, sometimes meat sauce. (Are you reading this with an Italian accent?)

As the day progresses, anyone who is around, samples the sauce and adds to it, mostly me and my husband, but, my big boys will get in on it, too, especially our fourth son, the Renaissance Man and Super Chef, Jon. This can get tricky at times (Especially since my husband is a saltaholic!), but it always turns out really well.

In addition to the basic recipe, which follows, we will add things like diced zucchini, sliced black olives, ground sausage if we have it. And whatever spices anyone thinks they can get away with. It would surprise you!

Here's the basic recipe, though, courtesy of Emeril Lagassi: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_31567,00.html

To Find New Recipes

I generally go to the http://www.foodtv.com/ or good old Fanny Farmer (my favorite cookbook) when I'm looking for a specific recipe. I also love to use the community cookbooks that have been given to me through the years (especially the ones from my southern relatives!), as all those recipes are tried, true, and almost always simple. But a couple new favorite resources for me are the St Lawrence League and the Hillbilly Housewife.

Other Rules of Thumb We've Learned:

Good things to keep stocked

*Using good food grade containers is a must! We've lost stores by getting sloppy about this ~ and who can afford to do that?

Good meal stretchers:

* dried beans, (navy, pinto, peas ~ you name it)

* rice (minute and long cooking

* noodles of all varieties

*beef and chicken broth

* ingredients for biscuits, rolls, or corn bread


In General:

* fruit juice, tea bags, coffee, cocoa

* canned pie filling, which is good for tons of things! Try adding apple pie filling to oatmeal for a great, easy treat. Lemon pie filling doubles for lemon curd on scones. Add blueberry as a filling inside croissant dough. Use cherry pie filling for instant shortcake topping. In a pinch any of it can even be used for filling a pie! You're only limited by your imagination.

* jello and pudding mixes, for easy, inexpensive, popular desserts.

* dry milk, to add to diminishing milk supply in fridge. Used with the correct proportions of mix and water, the children can't tell their milk has been sabotaged, especially if it's well chilled.

*I'm sure there's more, but the above items are the ones that come immediately to mind!

Things that do not pay to stock up on ~ and by "stock up," I mean buying in advance more than about four months' worth:

* any kind of flour or corn meal (bugs love it!) unless you have freezer space or food grade containers with good seals.

*sugar, for the same reason and with the same qualifications.

* chocolate, as it gets "stale," unless you have freezer space for it and can seal it tightly

* breads, because, though they certainly freeze, they freezer burn so easily and take up so much space in the freezer. Ours always ends up getting squashed, or the bag breaks.

* spices, as most lose their potency after a relatively short time, need to be regularly updated, so it usually doesn't pay to buy the huge containers, unless you really use them a lot.

*Again, I'm sure there are more, but these are the biggies, in my experience.

Are You Curious?

~ Milk a week? Right now, since we don't have our own dairy animals, we go through 4-6 gallons a week, depending on what we cook. (That's with none of the teenagers home.)

~ Eggs? We go through two dozen, easy, in one breakfast. (Miss having our own chickens!)

~ Two pounds of meat per dinner is typical.

~ When everyone is home, we empty at least a couple boxes of cereal a morning.

~ A gallon of sweet tea at mealtime, at least.

~ We make one large shopping trip a month for essentials at Sam's. Mostly for paper products, chicken, canned products like crushed tomatoes, whole olives, etc, and some produce.

~ Weekly runs to the local grocery story are mainly for dairy and bread.

~ We frequent our local farmers' markets whenever possible, but are very sensitive to using organic whenever possible. Many farmers produce, unfortunately, is heavy on pesticides!

~ Our monthly grocery bill when we're not raising our own food is roughly $1000 a month, not including paper products, etc...

~ We could live for at least two months on the current contents of our pantry and freezer.

~ I don't regret one penny we spend to feed these people. They're a really nice bunch, and, really and truly, I wouldn't throw a single one back to save on the grocery bill.

Leaf Raking at the Farm

Gathering Leaves

by Robert Frost

Spades take up leaves

No better than spoons,

And bags full of leaves

Are light as balloons.

I make a great noise

Of rustling all day

Like rabbit and deer

Running away.

But the mountains I raise

Elude my embrace,

Flowing over my arms

And into my face.

I may load and unload

Again and again

Till I fill the whole shed,

And what have I then?

Next to nothing for weight,

And since they grew duller

From contact with earth,

Next to nothing for color.

Next to nothing for use.

But a crop is a crop,

And who's to say where

The harvest shall stop?

Chocolate News

I knew it! Chocolate does run in some people's veins!

Nestle's paid for a study that proves it. Lab tests can find imprinted in your metabolism a chemical signature which either determines or signals (that seems to be a technicality yet to be determined) a predilection for certain types of foods. In this case, chocolate.

Not like we didn't already know this out here in the general public. Some of us are just born for chocoloate.

So, can I now say with authority that I can't help eating that plate of fudge Michelle made Saturday? That it's destiny that I should eat it all, bit by guilty bit?

We have to talk about diets... Am I immune to the ill effects of chocolate if its chemical signature floats in my metabolism?

Read the whole story here: http://www.physorg.com/news111389753.html

Punkin Chunkin!

It was a cloudy, rainy day for a Pumpkin Festival, but, it cleared up just enough, for just enough time, that the city of Aurora, CO was able to pull it off. We bundled up, and stroller and baby backpacks full, headed out for the fun a week ago this past Saturday. And it was worth the cold and snotty noses!

I wish these pictures could convey the movement and noise and excitement of it! It was almost impossible to photographically catch the pumpkins in mid air, because they went too fast, and too high, most of them. Or they turned to "Pie in the Sky" right out of the chute, and I couldn't catch that on the digital, either. Ah, well, you can imagine the children got a kick out of it, especially since the devices were often decorated, and the contestants were dressed in costume and put on silly skits.

But, the big draw, as you might guess, was the strolling volunteers giving away free candy.

There were ten or twelve contestants entered, and don't ask us who won, because we were too chilled to stay for the end. But I'm willing to bet it was one of the air canons. You can see them poking up here.
This was our favorite: Draco the Dragon, a trebuchet. His eyes light up,

and they have him rigged to breathe steam out his nostrils. Very cool.

This air canon went all out dressing up in inflatables, and sent its pumpkins about a 1/2 mile out into the meadow, and I'm only exaggerating a little bit . The canons and trebuchets being outstandingly better mechanisms for distance launching, there were only a couple simple catapults in the contest. They were fun to watch,though, as their pumpkins landed close to us where we could see them explode on the ground.

This is the only pumpkin I caught airborn. Can you see it up there?
Here's a shot of pumpkin debris in the grass. Can you see it? There was lots more, but most of it was way out in the field. Unfortunately, this just doesn't convey how much fun it is to see squash fly through the air and burst on the ground into a million pieces.

More Fun Stuff at the Pumpkin Festival

Now, for a more civilized use of this noble vegetable... This really talented pumpkin carver, inspired us to go home and try this art!
Being of Irish heritage, we're suckers for a pipe band! Anna, Theresa and Cathy looking on in the foreground.
Michelle in a pumpkin orange shirt. You can't tell by looking at her how cold it was out there!
Though it looks like Anna's lips are blue with the cold, it's actually just from a blue lolipop.William and Gabriel, my two little pumpkins. William was determined to get through these bars and out onto the field where all the action was taking place. Typical two year old, bless him.

We were really sorry our big boys missed this event, as the science of the contest would have interested them a lot more than the group we brought. Dominic (our 14 year old) would have loved this!

The Feast of St. Hilarion

St. Anthony of the Desert, a friend of St. Hilarion,

of whom I can find no picture.

Do you know about St. Hilarion?

Well, he was an early saint, living in the mid fourth century, a contemporary of St. Anthony of the Desert. He was born in Palestine, educated in Alexandria, and became a hermit near Gaza in Israel. He wound up in the Egyptian desert with St. Anthony, but became too famous to be a hermit there, and fled to Sicily, Dalmatia, Croatian and Cyprus, all the time in front of the crowds that were attracted to his sanctity and many miracles. He was an amazing ascetic, a wonderful saint of the early Church.

And he is the patron saint against snake bites.

A cottonmouth, also known as a water moccasin.

Snakes. Let's talk about snakes. Do you mind?

I'm not really afraid of snakes, but I'd just as soon not run across one live and in color. It's a thing I would rather avoid. Nevertheless, I have had the trouble of making almost hand-shake acquaintances with snakes more times than I would have liked in my life.

Growing up in the rural southeast, it was an easy thing to do. Lots of snakes there.

There was the one that my brother kicked because he thought it was an innertube. That one scared me so much, I literally jumped out of my shoes and ran all the way across the meadow in my bare feet ~ through stickers, mind you! Didn't even stop for stickers! See, we were a southern anomaly; our mom wouldn't let us go around barefoot like everyone else. We were, therefore, "tenderfeet" ~ or is that "tenderfoots"? Anyway, thanks Greg, for that shining moment of courage when you went back and retrieved my shoes for me.

Then there was the cottonmouth I sat on.

I kid you not, I sat on a cottonmouth and am here to sit and type about it! We had a makeshift "fort" made out of a large piece of plywood propped up between our tool shed and the house, right on the carport. It had been very rainy, so this snake had decided to slither up from the marshy forest near our house, to our fort where he could stay nice and dry and cozy under the pillows that my friend, Debbie, and I had piled in there for our pre-teen comfort.

Well, the fort was a nice place for my friend and me to hang out on a rainy day, too. So, unaware we had a houseguest, we brought a snack and settled in for a chat. I reached my hand under the pillow that my knees were propped on, and, well... I think there is some instinct built into our genetic code that alerts us immediately when we've made skin to skin contact with a snake ~ even if we've never touched a snake before. Let me tell you, did I light out of there fast!

My mom called base security (this was on a Navy base), and they came out to "wrestle the snake down." When they first came out, they were smirking. They didn't believe that this was more than a run of the mill case of garter snake and hysterical mother. Until they got a look at the guy. That cottonmouth was eight feet long! And I'm not exaggerating. Ask my mom. All the security guys had was a rusty hoe to kill it with. Boy! What a hair raising adventure that was to watch!

They finally got it, and took it back with them, I'm sure, to show it off at the office.

But, unfortunately, that's not the end of my snake tales (No pun intended). We lived in suburbs most of my teen years, and ran into little more than the occasional garter snake. But, then I got married and eventually moved to the country, where the snakes could find me and the fun began again.

A corn snake

My wh was home sick from work one day out at the farm, and I was taking the children out to the park or somewhere to get them out of his hair. I had loaded all the children into the van, but had forgotten something, so ran back upstairs into the boys' room. And lo, and behold! There, lolling on my son's mattress in a ray of sunshine was a big old corn snake!

Well, of course I screamed. That was about the last thing I expected to see! My wh came running to see what the fuss was about (Poor guy, being sick and all...), and there it still lay, like a snake pinup model, lazing there, looking at us, like we had intruded.

So, what do you do?

Well, we scratched our heads for a minute. Then went and got a pillowcase, thinking we could catch it in that. (Yelled to the children coming up the stairs to get back in the car. "There's nothing the matter!") Then, my poor sick husband made his way slowly (What a brave man!) over to the snake with the open pillowcase, got to within about four feet, then glanced at me and said something about "getting ready." And in the space of time it took for the two of us to take our eyes off it, the snake had darted off the mattress, headed for the boys' toy trunk. We thought it was going to hide behind it. But, there was the teeniest crack in the wall paneling next to the trunk, and, though it seemed impossible, the snake wriggled into that tiny space!

My husband grabbed it by the tail. (Yes! He really did! Aren't I married to a brave man?) I screamed. The children at the bottom of the stairs screamed.

So there we were. Me in the doorway, panicked and helpless. The children downstairs screaming about they knew not what. Wh with a snake by the tail. The snake, probably a little miffed, trapped half-in half-out, with its head in the dark of the eaves behind the paneled wall.

Wh looked at me like: Now what? I looked at him like: Heck if I know!

And in the space of time that glance took, the snake suddenly backed out of the hole (How it did that, I don't know), whirled around at my husband, opened its mouth and roared in a snake hiss sort of way.

My wh yelled (which he never does!) and dropped that snake's tail right quick!

And the snake slipped immediately back into that hole.

What did we do after that, you ask, with a snake crawling around in the eaves of our house? Well, we found out about St. Hilarion and prayed.

We also put tack strips in the backs of all the crawl spaces, and repaneled the wall in the boys' room. We never saw the snake in the house again, so we assumed St. Hilarion had helped out with that.

Let's see, after that, the boys caught the odd snake or two. They would keep them in garbage cans with the lids on, saving them to show to my sister, Linda, the snake lady (Yes, one sister's into spiders, the other is a snake expert). But, somehow, those snakes always managed to escape. Snakes are amazing creatures. Escape artists.

And acrobats.

One summer morning I had gone out to the backyard and drank a cup of coffee, sitting on top of the picnic table. I came in the house, the children went out. After just a minute, I could hear Michelle yelling, and ran out to see what was going on. There was a corn snake (Suppose it was the same one?) on top of the picnic table that I had just been sitting on!

And seeing that there is no conceivable way that a snake could climb up onto a picnic table... it had to have dropped from the tree overhead! Aghghg! Still gives me the eebie jeebies thinking about it! That snake must have been dangling right over me!

But as creepy a thing as it was, no harm came of it. And all the other episodes came out fine in the end, too. We know there are no accidents in the world, for the good, most especially. For all the close scrapes, (and the fact that we never have seen a rattler out on the farm!), I know I have the union of our Guardian Angels and our Saint of the Day to thank.

Thank-you, St. Hilarion!

(We're moving back out to the farm in about a month, and we are just assuming you are on the job already, right? We don't mind if you call St. Patrick in for backup.)

Ok, so I'm really, really tweaked this morning!

We got home from the farm late yesterday afternoon. And, boy was it wonderful to be able just to sit on a couch again! (We were camping out at the farm sans furniture while we painted the house, for anyone who missed that.)

When I got up this morning and started putting everything away, I found, on our shoe rack in the mudroom, a pamphlet from the Jehovas Witnesses. Now, this was not on the shoe rack when we left. Our mudroom door does not have an outside lock (remember this is an old house), but we do have a lock between the mudroom and the main house. Some JW knocked on our door, apparently, and not finding us home opened our mudroom door and put their hand in my house to leave that pamphlet on our shoe rack! Can you imagine the gall!!!

And what makes it worse is the fact that one of the key articles in this pamphlet concerns contraception and the Catholic Church! I just can't believe that anyone would be so incredibly.... What!? Rude doesn't cover it!

For one thing, the article totally misrepresents the Church's stand on contraception, of course. But, to think that someone ~ someone from my community, obviously ~ would feel justified in making such a statement to my family in such an incredibly intrusive way! Running off like a thief, where I cannot answer their objection to my entire life and to the Faith I love, whose truth I would defend to my death.... AGH!!! Wouldn't I love to give them a piece of my mind!! I wonder if they snuck over here and put that pamphlet in my door because they knew we were not here?? (OK, sorry, maybe that's getting too conspiracy-theorist, but... Sheesh!)

(Deep breath) Anyway, when I calm down, I may have to write a letter or something. What to say? Agh! I feel so violated!

And REALLY TICKED OFF!

Mothering Styles...

I went over and took the quiz at mother styles and actually, I think the assessment is pretty much on target. Especially for answering only four questions! I guess I'm an "Individual Integrity" mother, one who is:

"both a role model and teacher of how to be an individual and live life with integrity. She is introspective, defining her own success from within, and generally confident in her decisions. She is unlikely to be persuaded by her children saying, “But all the other mothers are doing it.”

The INTJ is competent in providing for her children’s basic needs, but she is likely more focused on developing their self-esteem and confidence. Observant and insightful, she puts great importance on independent thinking and self-sufficiency, yet she is comfortable providing protection and boundaries.

Self-motivated and intense, the INTJ works hard and takes life seriously. As a mother, she lives for those moments when she can impart knowledge and offer her children perspectives on life and important issues.

The beauty of these assessments is that each of them is positive. I can't say I'd be ashamed to qualify for any one of the mothering styles. God gives us all the tools to do good things, though the tools may be different!

100 Things I Learned the Hard Way

3rd Installment

21) If you want to understand the concept of how a box kite works, drive a 15 passenger van through the mountains in high wind.

22) Never stock up on sauerkraut ~ even if it's on a terrific sale and y2k is an iminent threat. (We only just unloaded our last can!)

23) Moving from young parenthood to old parenthood you will come to understand the transition from cheap toilet paper and state-of-the-art paper towels, to cheap paper towels and cashmere toilet paper.

24) If you want a plant to be a groundcover, act like you hate it, never water it, and call it bad names. "Lovin' up" a plant just makes it want to be an only child.

25) You can teach your children to love one another. You can teach them to respect one another. But, you cannot force them to like one another. Certain personalities will just not mesh, no matter how much you want them to.

26) The best possible medical care you will get from yourself. Whether you believe in natural or conventional medicine, if you are not well-armed with information, aware of your own body and its symptoms (or your loved one's), and ready to go to the mat for what you believe to be the right course of action, you're not safe with any health provider. Always get a second opinion. And a third. And maybe a fourth. Do your homework. But, mostly, rely on God; He's in control, anyway.

27) Never, I repeat, never, use an inflatable air mattress to raft down a river. And, I would like to use this opportunity to publicly thank my sons' guardian angels for a most fortuitous rescue when certain people thought this was a good idea, because it was cheaper than a proper raft.

28) God did not make many Saints Catherine of Sienna. Or Saints Francis of Assisi. Most of us are meant to follow the simple, steep paths to Heaven followed by Saints like Theresa Martin and Ven. Matt Talbot.

29) It's not a good idea to leave the toothbrush you just used to clean out that yucky stuff behind the faucets out on top of the sink where a two year old can get it.

30) Never assume you understand someone else's motives and challenges. Only God does.

Leaves

Leaves

by Elsie Brady




How silently they tumble down


And come to rest upon the ground


To lay a carpet, rich and rare,


Beneath the trees without a care,


Content to sleep, their work well done,


Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly


Until they nearly reach the sky.


Twisting, turning through the air


Till all the trees stand stark and bare.


Exhausted, drop to earth below


To wait, like children, for the snow.

Greetings from the farm!

Yikes, this is a challenge! I am perched, rather uncomfortably, on the edge of an air mattress trying to type this out on my wh's laptop on top of an upturned storage bin. And this laptop's keyboard is really squished close together, and I'm having a dickens of a time hitting the right keys. AGH! But, I wanted to check in and make sure everyone knows we haven't dropped off the face of the earth.

We made it out to the Pumpkin Fest, and it really was a blast! I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance.

Since we were down in the Denver area, we camped out at the old farm, where we'll be relocating during Thanksgiving week. While we were camping out, it occured to us that it'd be a really smart idea to do any painting we wanted to do before all the furniture is here... And, then, while we were painting, it occured to us that we should really take out that wall we wanted removed before we paint that room, and before the furniture is all in... And if we're going to take out that wall, we should really check into replacing the old furnace that's right there...

Are you getting a picture of well-intentioned chaos?

We may not end up getting to anything other than the painting, but, boy is it easy to spend time and money you don't have!

So, anyway, instead of getting home to the Western Slope (and my comfy bed and familiar keyboard, and camera downloading stuff...) early in the week... Well, there's just no telling when we'll get there. This series of projects may take us a while. At least until I run out of either paint or patience!

But we're really going to be glad we did it. Really, we are.

In the meantime, it's rather like a campout. Almost no furniture. Only a couple pots and pans and basic groceries. Very few toys. Just the old forty acres and all the old haunts. The derelict treehouse and playhouse, the barn and outbuildings. Weeds up to your armpits. Giant grasshoppers.

The kids are having a grand time!

Mommy's just trying to grin and bear it. Maybe work off some purgatory time...
**Anyone have any tips on painting trim? Are there any faster ways than bluetaping everything and then still having to touch it all up when you're done???

100 Things I Learned the Hard Way, cont'd

Installment #2

11) Peanut butter really does get gum out of hair.

12) In a healthy, normal rural environment, the idea of feral cat overpopulation is a myth. Natural predators take care of this problem as God intended, and spaying and neutering barn cats means you will soon have no cats. And there is no better birth control plan for the mouse population than a few good barn cats.

13) You won't need health insurance until you don't have any.

14) If a child can get his head in the rungs of a chair and get it stuck there, you can eventually get it back out by the same route. If you can figure out that route.

15) Some children learn to use the potty at the age of 3, some aren't ready until they're 7. It all evens out in the end (No pun intended, really!), and more harm than good will come of worrying and obsessing about the late bloomer. (If this sounds familiar, see #5 of the last installment...)


16) There is no quick way to clean venetian blinds. Hanging them on the clothesline and spraying them with the hose just doesn't work, darn it.

17) Grooming a Bichon Frise is nothing like cutting children's hair. It's more like trying to sheer a a very curly little sheep with an electric carving knife. It's a job best left to the professionals.

18) There is no better investment than the time and money you spend nurturing your children's talents. Finding a deep interest often indicates a talent, or God given gift. And building skill out of talent is for life.

19) Never leave the digital camera on the bumper of the nun's car because you know it'll be safe there. The nuns won't take the camera, but they may very well drive away with it.

20) If it doesn't truly help you or someone else to pass on a bit of information, pass on telling it.

Goin' to a Punkin Chunkin Extravaganza!

Have you seen those competitions on TV? You know, where they have the catapults and trebuchets, and compete to see who can launch their pumpkins the farthest? We've been enthralled by the very idea ever since we first saw it a few years ago. So, when we heard there was going to be a competition near Denver this weekend, we started packing our bags.

What's the draw?

We're not an especially mechanically-minded group, nor is it the physics of the feats that interest us. I think it's more the asthetic interests we have. The panorama of autumn scenery. The backdrop of the October blue sky, with the brilliant orange pumpkins flying through it. Sailing, high overhead. It's the thrill of the flight! Yeah, the poetry of flight and the arc of orange against blue...

Nah. Actually it's the smashed pumpkins at the end, I think.

We'll take pictures, I promise.

Hope you all have a smashing weekend, too! See you next week!

To see some Punkin Chunkin:

If you're in the west and can make really quick trip plans, here's the link to information about the Punkin Chunkin event near Denver: http://www.auroragov.org/AuroraGov/News/025714

If you're in the northeast, you might want to check out the official World Championship punkin chunkin contest. Held annually in Delaware, the fun begins on November 2nd. Apparently there are roadtrips being organized all along the coast to carpool to this event. For more information on this one, click here: http://www.mycommunitytickets.com/organization_info.asp?orgid=31

The Feast of the Divine Maternity

Mary, the Mother of God.

The Mother of God.

How can we say those words and not be absolutely floored by everything that they imply? I'm never at a loss for words, and yet, I'm at a loss to try to add anything to the sheer, simple, awesome space that those words take up in the universe of meaning.

That God would come to earth for us.

That He would choose to come to earth as one of us!

I think if we were truly to understand this condescension, we would fall on our faces in humility, in shame of our unworthiness. I think we would die of it.

And yet He came.

And He chose for His mother such a one. Perfect from conception. The ideal of womanhood.

The Blessed Virgin, Mary.

And He shares her with us. He gave her to us as our Mother, when He gave her to His beloved disciple, John, on Calvary.

And He gave us to her.

Our dear Mother, Mary.

The Mother of God!

Pray for us, now and at the hour of our death!
Help us to imitate your perfect example, as mothers, as wives, as daughters of the Church;
Keep us always in your loving care.
Amen