What Do You Call Today?

It's the day between the

 bloody cross

and the

empty tomb.

 It took me a long time to wrap my head

around calling 

Good Friday

*good*.

And I understand now that

you can't get to Easter morning

without going through

Friday.

I understand I can't get closer

to God without

going through my dark times.

Those times show me how much I rely

on Him and how much

He takes care of me.

Those periods of time are important.

They grow me. 

They help me reflect on God. 

They center me.

They are very important times, 

if not very *good*.

Today is an important day.

I cried looking up at the cross last night.

It's time to reflect.

It's time to grow.

It's time to put Christ back in my center.

Today is a very important day.

It needs a name.

http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-ray-pritchard/50-good-fridayeaster-sermons.html

(Image credit)

Big's 90th Year

Have I mentioned that it's the year of 

Big?

It is. 

And March is Mark's month.

Mark bakes.

Big likes baked goods.

Mark bakes with chocolate.

Big LOVES chocolate.

Ahhh, an idea forms.

Mostly my mother's.

She's very busy giving everyone ideas

for their months.

This was actually a morph of her 

idea for me and her idea for Mark. 

She thought Mark should bake Big some 

biscotti. Two shipments, 

one at the beginning of the month

without nuts

and one at the end of the month

with nuts.

Not quite sure about the whole

with/without nut thing but that 

is the mystery that is my mother.

She thought I should have a 

Chocolate Friday

in place of a

Margarita Friday

in my month. 

Which was OK when my month was

September. 

Pushing Margarita weather a bit,

but do-able.

Well, mom needed to swap months with me

and now I have October.

There are no Margarita Fridays

in October. 

In Illinois.

And thus was born the 

Chocolate Party!

Mark and Patty sent out two boxes

of wonderful

and I did what I do.

Made a party!

Chocolate coma

 all around.

Beef Something

This is a little something I concocted one evening.

It was almost lost to the world.

I made it up but neglected to write down even notes

as to what I had done so as to even *think* about

making it again. 

That was about a month ago and then the other night

something was tickling the back of my mind, 

wasn't there some beef thing that

I cooked with carrots and onions

and then blended the veg and juices to make a gravy

that I then put the shredded meat back into and

served over stuffing

but later tried the leftovers over mashed potatoes

and that was better.

Didn't I make something like that?

And where did that recipe come from?

Giada?

Nope.

Rachel?

Nope. 

Paula?

Nope.

Turns out it was inspired by something I saw on

Diner, Drive Ins and Dives.

It all comes back to me.

It was a chuck roast that I browned off

in a dutch oven

then browned carrots and onions

in the drippings, 

put the meat back in with some garlic and

a couple cups of beef broth. 

I put it in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours.

I took the meat out and used an immersion

blender to puree the veges and liquid

to make a great gravy and then returned

the shredded meat to the pot.

I served it over a few different things

but the best was white mashed potatoes

with a sprinkling of peas over top. 

Yea!

Now it's written down. 

Maybe I can make it again. 

Without as much strife.

Oh, but I should probably name it.

Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta

Say that three times fast!

It's meatless Monday and this is a little riff on 

something I saw on the Today show today.

It's basically a pesto that you make with roasted 

red peppers instead of basil.

I used jarred peppers that I drained

and then tossed in the food processor 

with pine nuts, garlic,

parmesan and olive oil.

I sautéed some mushrooms, red onions 

and asparagus then added in the cooked pasta

and the pesto along with a little 

of the pasta water.

That's a dollop of ricotta on top. 

Ava thought it was ice cream. 

For once she looked at our dinner longingly.

Until we told her what it was.