Saturday, March 30, 2013

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.

(Image credit)

Friday, March 22, 2013

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.



Tuesday, March 19, 2013

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.






Monday, March 18, 2013

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.