I'm so sorry that this is late. We have been having early mornings and sleepless nights. The smoke has cleared, though, finally, on Saturday, and now you wouldn't know that we had been socked in for nearly two weeks. We are still trying to outrace winter in our garden, and now that we don't need it to filter out the smoke, the air conditioning units are going away. It is back to chilly mornings and warm days with chilly evenings. I am also running a bit late on my recipe round up from last week. I will try to get that posted this week. You can see the basbousa above. It isn't the exact recipe my mother and aunt gave me, because the recipe often includes coconut, and I had coconut flour I wanted to use, so I was experimenting to see if using that in the batter would work, and it did! However, I still need to tweak it to make the texture of the cake right.

Our breakfast this Sunday looks like last Sunday's and will be the same next Sunday. A local restaurant has been offering a substantial breakfast as a fundraiser each week for three children in our area who are battling cancer. Our children know one of them, so we went last week to support her, but Rich and I decided we would go each week to support the other two, as well. That isn't exactly in our budget slashing plan, but that money is an offering, and we are trying to increase our offering, anyway. Our church follows the model of the Old Testament, in that the tithe is what is given to the priest and his family, and the offering is what is given for the mission of the church, the building upkeep, charity, etc. We always give at least 10% of our gross income in tithe, to support our priest families, and we wanted to be giving another 10% in offering, but often, it is closer to 5%. We try to look for opportunities to give more, and this one was a little closer to our hearts. Our friend's daughter is almost Amira's age, and she has stage 4 cancer in her bones, and we are praying for a miracle. They found out on Father's Day, and the reality is that without divine intervention, she will die. We are heartbroken, and can only imagine how her parents and sister are feeling right now. Please join us in praying for a miracle for her, as well as these two other children. If you would like to give money toward the family's medical expenses, I can send you a link, if you contact me.

You might notice that the Feast of the Conception of Saint John the Forerunner is this Wednesday. Contrary to a lot of anti-Christian and anti-Catholic rhetoric, this is why Christmas is in December. When calculating the date of Jesus' birth, the Church Fathers looked back on the visit of the Blessed Mother to Saint Elizabeth, and when in her pregnancy it was. Since Zechariah had been serving his time in the temple before he went home and they conceived their baby, and there were only two times of the year (given his section of the priesthood) that this could have been, they had to determine if it was the spring session at the temple or the autumn. For several reasons, the September date was considered more likely. Which meant that Jesus conception, and the Annunciation, would have been March 25, and nine months later is December 25. This is the reason that the Feast of the Nativity is when it is. So, in some ways, the feast this week is the first feast of the year relating to the Nativity of our Lord.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Pancakes with Butter and Syrup, Sausages, Scrambled Eggs, Mixed Fruit, Juice
  Dinner: Faux Poutine Made with French Fries, Beef Gravy and Queso Fresco, Roasted Summer Squash, Leftover Basbousa
• Monday - Feast of Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
  Breakfast: Biscuits and Strawberry Yogurt, Peaches, Coffee
  Dinner: Chorizo, Summer Squash, Pepper, Corn and Onion "Crostini" on Toasted Jalapeño Cheddar Bread, Sliced Watermelon
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with Jalapeño Cheddar Toast, Sliced Honeydew, Coffee
  Dinner: One Pot Greek Style Chicken and Rice, Roasted Summer Squash
• Wednesday - Feast of the Conception of Saint John the Forerunner
  Breakfast: Steel Cut Oats with Chopped Apples and Cinnamon Sugar, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Cuban Black Beans and Brown Rice, Sautéed Peppers, Corn and Onions, Sliced Watermelon
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Ful, Green Hot Sauce (Sah'awiq), Chopped Tomatoes, Toast, Sliced Asian Pears, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Brown Rice, Spiced Sautéed Summer Squash, Peppers, and Onions, Sliced Cantaloupe
• Friday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast with Honey, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Cheese Tortellini with Tomato Pepper Sauce, Garlic Bread, Fruit Salad
• Saturday - Memorial of the Falling Asleep of Saint John the Evangelist
  Breakfast: Sausage and Potato Breakfast Casserole, Sliced Honeydew, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Pasta with Sausage, Tomato, Pepper and Onion Sauce, Fruit Plate

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday. Linking to Menu Plan Monday

Labels: Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Homesteading, Menu Plans, Quarantine, Shelftember, Tales from the Kitchen