Goodbye May Daybook!

Outside my windows,

Our flowers are blooming. The crocuses, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, azaleas, and lilacs have faded.

Roses, Our Lady's pincushion (scabiosa 'butterfly blue'), angel daisies, armeria, dianthus, peonies, and lupines are now in full bloom.

I thoroughly enjoy spending time outside weeding because it gives me an opportunity to appreciate the beautiful flowers that God has made.

The children and I are thrilled that we have grapes, peaches, plums, raspberries, and strawberries forming too.

In the kitchen

I tried a new recipe. Pork isn't a favorite in our house, but I made this for dinner recently, along with the vegetables mentioned, and everyone was raving. Some of the children had seconds. It was so tasty that I made it again when our pastor came over for dinner.

I am hearing Agnes and Cecilia practicing for their violin recital in June, a shower running, and children talking.

I have been listening to Enthronement and Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.



My husband gave me these beautiful roses for Mother's Day.

I am still thinking about the amazing sermon that our pastor gave on Mother's Day. It was a wonderful gift. I know that I am not the only one thinking about it, as I was told by one of my daughters that she and her sisters were discussing it. I am also thinking about the excellent catechetical class that he gave recently. It was the last class that he was offering before he leaves for his new assignment in July.

We are going to miss Fr. S. a lot when he leaves for his new assignment as FSSP District Superior of North America, but he has promised to visit our parish often, and I know that he will make an extraordinary District Superior. Please keep Fr. S. in your prayers as he takes on his new responsibilities.

I am praying for Fr. S. and for our future pastor.

I am reading Footprints in a Darkened Forest by Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Like all of his books, it is very insightful. These quotes are just a few of the nuggets of wisdom found in the pages of this book:

"Youth was meant to live like wheat in a field, not to be pulled up until it was ripe."
~ p. 11 

"Eternity is without succession, a simultaneous possession of all joys. To those who live toward Eternity, it really is not something at the end; it is that which influences every moment of the 'now.'”
~ p. 18 

"In every prayer there is at least a brief wedding of time and Eternity."
~ p. 19 

"Our Blessed Lord said, 'If you do My Will, you will know My doctrine.' He did not say, 'If you know My doctrine, you will do My will.'
~ p. 208

I am thankful for my little boys. Kieran was thrilled to receive this cowboy outfit for his birthday.

He was delighted with his cake. Upon seeing it, he exclaimed, "That's a neat cake!"

Our youngest thoroughly enjoyed eating his brother's birthday cake.

Anecdote:

Me: "Smell this rose."

Kieran: "It smells good. We need to cut these pricks."
Me: "Oh no, we don't want to cut those. They are part of the rose that you thought smelled good."
Kieran: "But these are pricks. See!"
Me: "They are thorns, and they are part of the rose."
Kieran: "We need to cut them."
Me (breaking a thorn off): "Look, this is a thorn. We can break them off, but you don't want to cut them."
Kieran: "Why do you want to break them off?"
Me: "So that you don't cut my roses."
Kieran: "I don't want to cut your roses. I want to cut the pricks."

I can't win. A few weeks ago, he cut down a rose bush, or "prickles" as he called them. Last Saturday, he cut a bunch of the roses pictured below. The roses, or "pricks" that he was referring to here are yellow roses that are growing in our backyard. Hopefully, one day he will appreciate the roses, despite the thorns.

I love my little boy!

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

I am re-posting this recipe from 2009. Enjoy! 

I know that the Irish don't actually eat corned beef for St. Patrick's Day, but we do. I actually have a great Irish stew recipe that we like to eat on or around the feast of St. Agnes each year because it uses lamb meat. I'll have to share it one of these days.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

1 Corned Beef
2 onions, each studded with three whole cloves
4 carrots, peeled and halved
2 ribs celery, halved
4 sprigs Italian parsley
1 green cabbage, cored and cut into 6 wedges
3 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 small leeks (white part and 2 inches green)
6 carrots peeled and cut into 2 ½ inch lengths
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. Place the corned beef (do not rinse) in an extra-large pot or soup kettle. Add the onions, halved carrots, celery and parsley sprigs. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 3 hours, turning beef over in the broth every 30 minutes. When the meat is very tender, remove from the kettle and keep warm.
2. Strain the broth and return it to the kettle. Add the cabbage, potatoes, leeks, cut-up carrots, salt and pepper and 2 tbsp. of the chopped parley. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Arrange the beef on a warmed serving platter and surround with the cooked vegetables. Ladle broth over the beef and vegetables, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley.

Serves 6, with leftovers. We usually have guests on St. Patrick’s Day. I simply buy the largest corned beef available and increase all vegetables, based on the number of people who will be sharing our meal. Family and friends have always enjoyed this meal.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Apple and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

This casserole has become a Christmas morning staple in our house and makes for a tasty Christmas breakfast. The original recipe came from a Costco cookbook a couple of years ago. Catherine makes this slightly adapted recipe on Christmas Eve day each year, which means that she will be making it again tomorrow. Today, we are baking cookies and other goodies again. After waking up on Christmas morning, I wander into the kitchen and pop the breakfast casserole into the oven. Enjoy!

Apple and Sausage Christmas Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 pound breakfast sausage (we use maple syrup flavored sausages) 
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped 
• 5 TBSP sugar, divided 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 6 cups cubed French bread 
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese 
• 9 large eggs, beaten 
• 2/3 cups sour cream 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 3 cups milk 

Recipe:

Coat a 12-x-9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Brown sausage in a skillet, stirring to crumble.

Toss apples in a bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon.

Place half of the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the sausage, half of the apple mixture, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sour cream. Whisk in 3 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add milk and whisk until combined. Pour over the mixture in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Bake, uncovered, for about 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 8 to 10 servings. Although there are 10 people in our family, we always have leftovers.

Print Recipe

Cranberry-Pineapple Jello Mold

Several years ago, my friend, Peggy, shared this cranberry-pineapple jello recipe with our local Catholic homeschool group. Since then, we have had it every year for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes New Year's Day too.

Cranberry-Pineapple Jello

Ingredients:

1 lrg. Pkg. (6 oz) raspberry jello
1 small can (5-6 oz?) crushed pineapple, drained
1 small can whole berry cranberry sauce (16 oz)

Directions:
Make jello using only the hot water. Add cranberry sauce and pineapple. Stir until cranberry sauce has melted. Pour into mold. Chill for several hours.

We pour the jello mixture into an old Tupperware mold. When the mold is served, the young children at our table delight in seeing the design (star, Christmas tree, or heart) in the jello.

Pumpkin Pancakes

After hearing one of my children suggest that we make pumpkin pancakes, I found this recipe. I think that some of us might prefer pumpkin pancakes to our oatmeal pancakes.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
6 teaspoons baking powder
6 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of ground cloves
3 cups milk
1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons fresh/canned pumpkin puree
6 tablespoons melted butter
3 eggs

Directions:
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves.

In a separate bowl, stir together milk, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and eggs; fold mixture into dry ingredients.

Melt some butter in a skillet over medium heat. Pour in ice cream scoop of batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes about 3 minutes per side. Serve with butter and syrup. I like maple syrup.
Makes approximately 30 moist and tasty pancakes.

Adapted from this recipe which was found in Martha Stewart Living, October 2006

I apologize that I usually don't have photos with my recipes, but I am not good about taking photos of food. I prefer taking photos of people.

Baked Pumpkin

A few years ago, as my husband carved a pumpkin, I wondered how we could use the pumpkin's flesh. In doing so, I stumbled upon the recipe below (I wish that I had noted where I found it). Baked pumpkin (or pumpkin bake as we call it) is very easy to make. Kieran had so much fun helping me pour all of the ingredients into our Ninja, pushing down the top to purée all of the ingredients, and then pouring it into the baking dish. This is a great recipe to make with young children.

Pumpkin Bake

Ingredients

4 tablespoons of butter
2 medium eggs
2 cups of pumpkin
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of milk
½ cup of flour
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Pinch of salt
Pinch of baking soda
Cinnamon

Recipe

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Put the butter in a 9 x 13 or 8 x8 baking dish (or any size in between) and melt.

Put the remaining ingredients, except cinnamon, in a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into the melted butter and sprinkle top with cinnamon.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve.

The smaller baking dish makes for a more moist pumpkin bake. However, pumpkin bake is always enjoyed at our house regardless of the dish size.

7-Layer Bean Dip

On Pentecost Sunday, we tried this 7-layer bean dip recipe for the first time and it was delicious. We served it as an appetizer with tortilla chips and it was a hit with everyone. Kieran would have eaten it all if we had let him. I used regular re-fried beans and medium salsa, and it tasted great! This bean dip, along with a big bag of tortilla chips, would make for a good picnic potluck dish too.

Christmas Morning and A Recipe

After returning from Midnight Mass (my favorite gift), the children sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and then opened their presents. At least all of the children, except for Kieran, sang and opened their presents. Kieran was sleeping like a log and we all knew better than waking him up. My husband and I also decided to wait until we had had a little sleep before opening our presents.

Brendan was thrilled to receive a used Macbook, a woodburning kit, and a new Swiss Army Knife. My brother gave him a smaller knife a few years ago, but we felt he was ready for something larger this year. This leather pouch (purchased after Christmas with a gift card) was also appreciated. He was happy to get Saint Ignatius and the Company of Jesus too.

Theresa was a little surprised to receive inline skates at first, but she has been enjoying using them inside and out. I was fairly certain that she would like them. Her favorite gift was her new guinea pig, Marshmallow.

Elizabeth really likes her new doll and has named her Lucy. Each night when Elizabeth gets ready for bed, she gets Lucy ready for bed too. The twin nighties were a huge hit. Now, my little girl wants twin dresses. She was very excited about the beads that Catherine gave her too.

Patrick was happy to receive another Lego set, his Nerf gun, and Mortimer's Christmas Manger. The latter was a personal request of his. I think that he is the first one of my children to ask for a specific Christmas picture book.

Finnian's favorite gift was his remote control car. He also liked his Lego set and Nerf gun.

Catherine was thrilled to get her own Liber Brevior. She liked her Gumdrop case and dress too.

Bernadette started to devour The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien shortly after opening it and she has been wearing her new black boots regularly. She also appreciated receiving The Art of The Hobbit.

Kieran began by opening his presents in his Christmas stocking. I think that he would have been satisfied with just the chocolate. Theresa had to coax him to open his other presents. He enjoys his lawn mower and corn popper. Unfortunately, he thinks that his new potty is a toy.

My husband was happy to receive this, A Man for All Seasons, and the two other movies that he found in his stocking. He likes good films. I like great books.

My children and I all like the Chef's Choice electric kettle that I got. It is so much better and faster than using a microwave to heat water. Thanks go to Kimberlee for sharing photos of her birthday and tea corner. I knew what I wanted for Christmas after reading her post. My parents had an electric kettle when I was growing up and I don't know why it took me such a long time to get one. I really appreciated getting and am enjoying reading Saint Bernadette Soubirous and Mother Love too.

After waking up on Christmas morning, I wandered into the kitchen and popped the breakfast casserole that Catherine had made on Christmas Eve day into the oven. This casserole has become a Christmas morning staple in our house and makes for a nice Christmas breakfast. The original recipe came from a Costco cookbook a couple of years ago. Catherine has adapted the recipe slightly.

Apple and Sausage Christmas Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 pound breakfast sausage (we use maple syrup flavored sausages)
• 2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
• 5 TBSP sugar, divided
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 6 cups cubed French bread
• 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 9 large eggs, beaten
• 2/3 cups sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups milk

Recipe

Coat a 12-x-9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Brown sausage in a skillet, stirring to crumble.
Toss apples in a bowl with 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon.
Place half of the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Top with half of the sausage, half of the apple mixture, and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sour cream. Whisk in 3 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add milk and whisk until combined. Pour over the mixture in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Bake, uncovered, for about 70 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Makes 8 to 10 servings. Although there are 10 people in our family, we always have left overs.

Sugar Cookies and Icing

These sugar cookies are more like shortbread cookies. They are not very sweet which means sweet icing complements them perfectly. The almond flavor of the cookies and the sugary sweetness of the icing taste very good together.

Supplies:

• Cookie cutters
• #2 metal tip (we use Wilton, sizes vary between brands)
• Various other metal tips (optional, depending on how you want to decorate your cookies)
• Mixer
• Pastry bags and/or squeeze bottles (I would like these and maybe these.)
• Toothpicks and cornstarch*

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tsp. almond extract**
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 5 cups flour, sifted

Directions:

Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Mix in egg, almond extract, vanilla, and flour. Roll dough into two individual balls and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill dough until stiff (about an hour). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough to 1/4" thickness on a well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheet or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I prefer doing the latter). Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should not brown. Decorate when cool. The number of cookies will vary, depending on the size of your cookie cutters.

Royal Icing Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 2 Tbsp. meringue powder
• 5 Tbsp. water
• Gel food colors

Directions:

Mix all ingredients on low speed until peaks form. If using a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment. This icing is good for piping on the cookies. Store the icing in an airtight container.

We divide the icing into a couple of airtight containers and use the gel food colors to color the icing. We begin by piping the icing on the cookies. Once all the cookies have piping around them, we take some of the icing and thin it in separate containers.*** Place the thinned icing in the squeeze bottles to flood your cookies. Let the cookies dry thoroughly (we leave them overnight), and then decorate as you wish.

*We use toothpicks dipped in cornstarch to move stray piped icing. Clean toothpicks can be used to put a little color in the flooded icing. The toothpicks can be dipped in the gel food color or thinned icing and applied to the flooded icing on the cookie (we did not do that with these cookies).
**Lemon zest, lemon juice, or  lemon extract can be used with equally good results. That being said, my children prefer the taste of the almond cookies.
***Add one teaspoon of water to the icing at a time to thin it. If the icing becomes too thin, add a little powdered sugar.

Enjoy your cookie baking and decorating!

Saturday Morning Breakfast: Oatmeal Pancakes

Oatmeal pancakes are a Saturday morning favorite in our house with family and friends alike. The recipe that we use was originally shared with us by one of my husband's coworkers. We have altered the recipe a little bit. The pancakes are delicious. Don't take my word for it. Simply try some.

Oatmeal Pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats (we use Quaker oats)
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• Vegetable oil or butter for greasing the pan (we use butter)

The Night Before (Friday night at our house)

Combine oats and buttermilk in a bowl. Mix it so that the oats are all covered with the buttermilk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate over night.

The Next Morning

Take the bowl of oats and buttermilk out of the refrigerator and set aside.
Melt the stick of butter.

In another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda.
Add the 2 lightly beaten eggs and melted butter to the bowl of oats and buttermilk. Mix well.
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix. The batter will be very thick.

Heat butter or oil in a skillet on the stove top. Scoop (we use an ice cream scoop) pancake batter into hot skillet. When the first side is cooked, flip the pancake and cook the other side. Serve the oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup, other pancake topping, or eat them plain. The latter is how my youngest daughter prefers to eat her pancakes.

Tips

A double batch of pancakes serves 9 of us 3 to 4 pancakes each with a few leftover. When doubling the recipe, we have found it best to actually make two batches, using two separate bowls.

If you have leftovers, don't expect them to last. My children snack on leftover oatmeal pancakes as though they are pieces of fruit.

For some reason, these do not taste good with blueberry syrup, but do taste good when fresh blueberries are added to the batter.

Barley and Carrot Soup

The other day, I checked Twelve Months of Monastery Soups out at the library. I've never bought a cookbook for myself before, but this one might just be going on my wish list. As I skimmed through the first few pages of the book, I noticed St. Antony's Soup and I knew what we were having for dinner. I doubled and altered the recipe slightly and it was delicious. Don't take my word for it, ask my husband and daughters.

Below is how the children and I made the soup.

St. Antony's Soup 

(serves at least 12)

Ingredients

• 8 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups barley
• 1/2 an onion
• 2 cups shredded carrot (Brendan made shredding carrot look easy with our Ninja)
  
• 1 cup parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 cups water (use 10 cups if you like more liquid in your soup)
• 6 Tbsp Organic Better than Bouillon Chicken Base (we buy this at Costco)
  
• Dash of pepper (Patrick added at least 3 dashes, but we couldn't taste it)

Pour 8 Tbsp olive oil into a large pot. Add 2 cups barley. Cook for one minute. Add the remaining ingredients and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with buttered toast.

Variation

During dinner last night, Theresa asked if she could have some leftover soup. She added her serving of chicken to the soup and said that it tasted very good.

We will definitely be making this soup again.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

I know that the Irish don't actually eat corned beef for St. Patrick's Day, but we do. I actually have a great Irish stew recipe that we like to eat on or around the feast of St. Agnes each year because it uses lamb meat. I'll have to share it one of these days.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Recipe

1 Corned Beef
2 onions, each studded with three whole cloves
4 carrots, peeled and halved
2 ribs celery, halved
4 sprigs Italian parsley
1 green cabbage, cored and cut into 6 wedges
3 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 small leeks (white part and 2 inches green)
6 carrots peeled and cut into 2 ½ inch lengths
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. Place the corned beef (do not rinse) in an extra-large pot or soup kettle. Add the onions, halved carrots, celery and parsley sprigs. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 3 hours, turning beef over in the broth every 30 minutes. When the meat is very tender, remove from the kettle and keep warm.
2. Strain the broth and return it to the kettle. Add the cabbage, potatoes, leeks, cut-up carrots, salt and pepper and 2 tbsp. of the chopped parley. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Arrange the beef on a warmed serving platter and surround with the cooked vegetables. Ladle broth over the beef and vegetables, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped parsley.

Serves 6, with leftovers. We usually have guests on St. Patrick’s Day. I simply buy the largest corned beef available and increase all vegetables, based on the number of people who will be sharing our meal. Family and friends have always enjoyed this meal.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!