Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

For us in the West, Sunday was the final day of the Paschal Octave, but for the East, it was the Paschal feast. We were able to go and share their Pascha service and break the fast with them this weekend, so were eating our breakfast at about 3:00 in the morning. A couple of our boys went back to share in the Agape Vespers and feast Sunday afternoon, and our wonderful Anglican parish here took care of the Sunday evening meal so we wouldn't have to do it. Our boys, especially, really love the Orthodox liturgy, and Jerome feels so comfortable there, so it was great that they could return.

Part of the reason this is so late is because poor Rich either ate something that didn't agree with him or came down with something terrible, because he was violently ill Sunday night and Monday, and we were all so exhausted and concerned about him. So, I was either resting or caring for him, and this didn't get the attention it needed. It doesn't seem to be spreading to anyone else, but after our exhausting couple weekends, and me getting food poisoning last Monday night, we are wiped. Please pray that the family does not fall ill.

We are still working on introducing foods back to Jerome, and overall that is going well. It is still the Paschal season, and we are celebrating, though we are back to our Wednesday and Friday fasts, but we are going to be a little easier on those days during this season, and there might be fish, dairy or egg for those meals. Please keep praying for Jerome, his skin is such a burden to him.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Sirnica and Italian Bacon and Romano Pasqua Bread, Apple Cinnamon Bread, Croissants, Fromage Fort, Strawberries, Olives, Prosecco
  Dinner: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Salad (from our Generous and Kind Parishioners)
• Monday - Feast of Saint Mark
  Breakfast: Leftover Farmer Casserole, Green Salsa, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Grilled Sausages, Macaroni and Cheese, Salad with Ranch Dressing
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Sloppy Guiseppes (like Sloppy Joe's, which none of us like, only with Italian Sausage and Sauce, and covered with Provolone and Parmesan), Green Salad with Roasted Beets
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Tomato, Kalamata Olive, Eggplant and Red Pepper Toast, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Baba Ghanooj, Muhamarrah, Bread (Gluten-free for Jerome), Banadora Maghlieh, Moroccan Almond-Orange Cake (Safe for Jerome!)
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Cereal and Milk, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers
• Friday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Honey, Sliced Oranges, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Black Beans and Rice, Faux Pots de Crème
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Vanilla Yogurt, Cream Cheese Swirled Cherry and Mixed Berry Coffee Cake (Gluten-free for Jerome), Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Take Out Fish and Chips

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, Fesah', Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Menu Plans, Pascha, Tales from the Kitchen

This recipe is easy to modify. You just have to be willing to experiment. I have crushed red hots to make cinnamon marshmallows, and made a caramel version that were both okay, but not great. I think the chocolate modification is the best (see below), and I will probably try to use some flavoring oils sometime, also. Try not to be intimidated by candy making, it is not nearly as hard as you think, but you do need to have the time and concentration to complete the work safely and quickly. I am going to try using either honey or golden syrup to see if they make a good substitute for the corn syrup, to make this safe for Jerome.

4 envelopes of gelatin
3/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups sugar
3/4 cups water
1 1/4 cups corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Line a 9 X 13 inch pan and a loaf pan with parchment paper (or use an 11 X 15 inch pan). Coat paper with oil.

Fit your stand mixer with the whisk attachment. Combine 3/4 cup of water with vanilla extract, sprinkle gelatin over to bloom.

Add sugar, salt, corn syrup and remaining water to a heavy saucepan (you want one that is large enough to handle the sugar boiling). Bring to a boil with the lid on and without stirring. When this mixture is at a boil, remove the lid and continue to cook without stirring until it reaches the soft-ball stage (234-240 degrees F), you will want a candy thermometer for this.

With the mixer at medium speed (yeah right!, slow-medium at first, boiling sugar spraying at my face is not my idea of a good time), pour all of the hot syrup slowly down the side of the bowl into the waiting gelatin mixture. Be very, very careful - use a splash guard if you have one. When all the syrup is added, bring up the mixer to full speed.

Whip until the mixture is very fluffy and stiff, ~8-10 minutes. Pour marshmallow into parchment lined pans, smooth with an oiled offset spatula if necessary. Allow the mixture to sit, uncovered at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

Sift confectioner's sugar generously over the rested marshmallow slab. Turn the slab out onto a cutting board., peel off paper and dust with more sugar. Slice with a pizza cutter into desired shapes. Dip all edges in sugar and shake off excess powder.

If you want to use cookie cutters for cute shapes, make the marshmallows thinner by using a jelly roll pan.

Yield: A lot. They will keep for several weeks at room temperature in an air tight container. If you don't eat them all.

For chocolate, replace 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar with sifted cocoa (dark is best), and sift the confectioner's sugar with cocoa to dust them. For caramel, use brown sugar for the white sugar when boiling. Both of these will reduce the volume of the marshmallow a little, but they are still tasty.

You can make these fruit flavored by replacing about 1/4 cup of the water to soften the gelatin with 1/2 cup of fruit puree. You can also replace about a third of the sugar with ground up hard sugar candies.

I read that you can add some peppermint oil to the mix and swirl the top with a few drops of food coloring when it is still warm. I imagine you could do this with other flavoring oils. I'm interested in cinnamon, but I would probably do it by grinding up red hots and adding them to the sugar, then swirling red food coloring on top.

You can also use fancy spoons that you get at thrift shops or those nicer plastic spoons to scoop up swirls of them to wrap in cellophane or paper candy cups to package with cocoa kits. Tie with a ribbon and voila!

Look at the sweater! I cannot wait to have you try knitting it. Also, I made itty, bitty, baby elf slippers for the grandbaby and I'm working on a hat to match, too!

We are finished with The Story Girl, and are neatly half way through The Golden Road. The "adult" reading of Bearing God: The Life and Works of St. Ignatius of Antioch the God-Bearer is going slowly, but wonderfully. I didn't finish it during Lent, but am nearly there.

Linking to Unraveled Wednesday.

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Labels: Books, Design, FOs, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Grandbaby, Homemaking, Knitting, Yarn Along

Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Traditionally, the eight days of the Paschal Octave have absolutely no fasting in them. Jerome is still going without certain foods, though he started his trial of sesame last week, so we are letting him have small amounts of the baba ghanooj and hummus for his portions of them this week. This permits him to share in the feast a little more. We had some gluten-free flat breads that we found at the Grocery Outlet that were safe for him, so he is able to use them in place of the khoubz with the salads and dips.

Blessed Feast!

• Sunday - Pascha/Fesah'
  Breakfast: Paschal Braided Bread, Pascha Cheese, Scotchicanese Eggs (Gluten-free crumbs for Jerome), Strawberries and Sliced Oranges, Hot Chocolate and Coffee with Chantilly Cream
  Dinner: Herb Roasted Green Lamb, Hummus, Baba Ghanooj, Muhamarrah, Tabbouleh, Waraq 'Ounab, Harissa, Sah'awiq, Duqqus, Fatayir bi Sabanich, Fatayir bil Joubneh, Sambousak, Laban bi Chiyar, Khoubz Araby (Gluten-free Flatbreads for Jerome), Red Eggs, Vegetable and Olive Tray (with Kalamata Olives, Green Baladi Olives, and Marinated Peppers), Tourshi, Tourshi Makhloot, Baq'lawa, Gatayif, Persian Love Cake (Gluten-free for Jerome), Red Wine, Sheherazades (a pitcher), and Mexican Coca Colas
• Monday
  Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs, Toast, Fruit, Sahlab and Hot Chocolate
  Dinner: Grilled Hot Dogs for Neighborhood Potluck, Rose and Saffron Ice Cream
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Mexican Eggs Benedict with Chorizo and Avocado Cream, Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Moroccan Kofta with Cardamom and Lemon, Rice, Fatayir bi Sabanich, Fatayir bil Joubneh, Laban bi Chiyar, Moroccan Beet Salad, Moroccan Almond-Orange Cake
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Strawberries and Chantilly Cream, Sausage, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Leftovers, Peep S'mores
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Egg, Cheese, Tomato and Avocado Tortillas (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Sloppy Guiseppes, Green Salad, Blueberry Cheesecake Gelato
• Friday
  Breakfast: Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuits (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (Gluten-free pasta for Jerome), Green Salad, Faux Pots de Crème
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Farmer Breakfast Casserole with Sausage, Cream Cheese Swirled Cherry and Mixed Berry Coffee Cake, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato Sandwiches (Gluten-free bread for Jerome), Pickles, Leftover Desserts

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: Bright Week, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Fesah', Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Homemaking, Keeping the Feast, Menu Plans, Pascha, Tales from the Kitchen

The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

We have made it! This is the busiest, hardest, most challenging week of the entire year. We are walking the Via Dolorosa with Christ. We are living each of those days with Him. Meals this week are lighter and simpler, and follow the strictest fasting rules. Traditionally, a full fast begins on the evening of Maundy (Mandatum - from the new mandate/commandment Jesus gives, as He established the priesthood, the sacraments of the Eucharist and confession), and goes through the end of the Vigil on Saturday, as we await Jesus by the tomb. The events of this week are what give shape to every other week of our year. We have the priesthood, the Eucharist, confession, because of this week. We fast on Wednesdays and Fridays because of Judas' selling Jesus on Wednesday and Christ's crucifixion on Friday. We celebrate a little Paschal feast every Sunday. This week is the most important week in the year.

This is the second year of our family trying to keep closer to the Church's fast. Even our littlest girls are wanting to participate and share in this life of Christ in the Church. So, this year, I will only be preparing food for one person for one meal on Good Friday, and only for two people on the Vigil Saturday. Jerome will have eggs, chocolate, coriander/cilantro, and all dairy back in time for the feast, which makes life quite a bit simpler for him and us. He will be re-introducing sesame, so we will be able to give him small amounts of the hummus and baba ghanooj for our feast, as long as this week goes well. He has been such a good sport about this, and has borne his own fast quite bravely and willingly. Yasmina and Mariam have been in cooking classes at our homeschool co-op, and making all these foods they cannot eat, bringing them home and dutifully putting them in the freezer to save for when the fast is over. Even though, technically, Mariam could have eaten them. They have both said that they want to bring them to the vigil for our breaking of the fast, to share with everyone. Our children truly show us how eager we should be to live out the piety we are taught in church.

Glory to God, we are able to have a vigil liturgy with our small congregation that Rich serves. A retired priest is coming to serve the liturgy and share in breaking the fast with us. Because it will be earlier in the evening than it has been in past years, this means we will be breaking the fast a little earlier, so we will have our bacon and egg-fest before midnight. It is still a point of sorrow for me that East and West are separated at this highest, holiest feast of the Christian year. We think that since each side calculates the date of the Paschal feast on the fixed date of March 21 (Old Calendar versus New Calendar), instead of using the astronomical date, that we should all shift to that astronomical date (first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox is how the date is determined), and let the secularists keep the western date, and their bunnies and so on, while we take advantage of chocolate sales and celebrate it together. One day. In the interim, we will continue to do our bit for unity.

May you have a blessed Holy Week! If you are Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, or Coptic, we pray for a continued Holy Lent!

• Sunday - Palm Sunday
  Breakfast: Vegan Fluffy Pancakes (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Raspberry Syrup, Fruit, Coffee and Tea
  Dinner: Moroccan Fish Tagine, Rice, Green Salad, Layali Lubnan (Lenten and Gluten-free)
• Monday - Holy Monday
  Breakfast: Vegetable Hash Breakfast Burritos (Gluten-free tortillas for Jerome), Dried Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Onion Pakoda Sandwiches (Gluten-free bun for Jerome), Pickles, Vinegar Coleslaw, Fruit Plate
• Tuesday - Holy Tuesday
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Almond Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Tomato Rice Soup (using safflower oil), Fruit Plate
• Wednesday - Spy Wednesday
  Breakfast: Tomato, Kalamata Olive, Eggplant and Red Pepper Toast, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Cilantro Shrimp Burgers, Cabbage Slaw with Cumin Lime Dressing, Fruit
• Thursday - Maundy Thursday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas with Peppers and Onions, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Oranges, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Crudités, Fruit Plate for the Little Girls
• Friday - Good Friday
  Breakfast: None
  Dinner: Peanut Butter Sandwich with Pretzel Crosses for Nejat
• Saturday - Holy/Vigil Saturday
  Breakfast: Faux Egg Bites for the Little Girls, Fruit, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Tahina and Date Syrup Sandwiches for the Little Girls

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.

Labels: Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Governor Inslee Needs a Frozen Fish to the Forehead, Holy Week, Homemaking, Lent, Menu Plans, Special Diet, Tales from the Kitchen, Triduum

We are almost through Lent and Holy Week! This is the last week before the ardurous journey through Holy Week. This Sunday is properly called Passion Sunday, which again points to how we in the West have abandoned the early practice of the Church. Passion Sunday was the final Sunday of Lent, while Palm Sunday was the beginning of Holy Week, as a separate and distinct fast and observance. We will mark the Passion of Christ tonight at church, as a remembrance of what Christ did for us and our salvation, and have a recounting of all He walked through in His final week of life on this earth. Palm Sunday ushers in the living with Him those final days and steps, as we walk each day with Him, from Palm Sunday, through His betrayal on Spy Wednesday, His Last Supper and the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist, His arrest and trial, His crucifixion, and His rest in the tomb, as He harrowed Hell to free those captive to death. We live through the events of that week each year. However, in the West, on Palm Sunday, we also throw the Passion in there, and after we commemorate His triumphal entry, but before we actually commemorate the events of His Passion, as though it were too much to ask people to live those days with Him and with the Church. It is jarring and confusing, especially when even our own calendars and prayer books show that vestige. Regardless, the prayer book marks this day as Passion Sunday still, and we are remembering it. We will keep His final days in mind this week, meditating on His words and actions, as we prepare for the hard Via Dolorosa we will embark on Monday.

Our exciting news is that Jerome should have all dairy products back in time for our Paschal feast. His milk test has gone well, and that opens up all sorts of good foods for him for breaking our fast. We have been able to go to the Stations of the Cross at church here, but we are still leaving for home to have dinner, just because it is so much more complicated to figure out dinners there for Jerome. He has quite a lot back, but the things he still can't have are in everything. Please continue to pray for him, especially that this Lenten journey will bring him closer to the health the Lord intends.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Ful, Shatta, Kalamata Olives, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Shrimp Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce, Jasmine Rice, Fruit Plate
• Monday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Chickpeas with Peppers and Onions, Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome), Sliced Oranges, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Baked Potatoes, Faux Cheese Sauce, Steamed Broccoli, Oranges
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Vegetable Hash Breakfast Burritos (Gluten-free tortillas for Jerome), Dried Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Slow Cooker Root Vegetable Soup, Salad, Bread (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit Plate
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Avocado Toast with Citrus Shallot Seasoning and Sprouts, Home Canned Pears, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Shrimp Fajitas, Salsa Rice, Canned Peaches
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Apple Coconut Breakfast Bowls with Almond Butter Drizzle, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Thai Pumpkin Soup, Crackers (Gluten-free for Jerome), Fruit Plate
• Friday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast (Gluten-free for Jerome) with Honey, Sliced Oranges, Tea and Honey
  Dinner: Vegetable Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce (using rice noodles, sunflower oil, and coconut aminos), Mandarin Oranges
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Tahina Breakfast Bites, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Leblebi (Moroccan Chickpea Stew), Tamis (Gluten-free for Jerome), Middle Eastern Chopped Salad (Dairy-free), Koulourakia

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.

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

Here is a bonus recipe for you! When we returned from Croatia, I did a lot of cooking from Croatian recipes, just because we knew it would be difficult to get all our kids there with us, and we wanted to share as much of our experience there as possible. We make this on a fairly regular basis. This is a simple relish/salad type recipe that is great with any rich food, grilled food, or just on its own. I say Croatian style, because I have swapped the red pepper flakes for Aleppo pepper, which we prefer, and left out the water. The recipe makes a lot, but it holds in the refrigerator quite well. You can cut the recipe in half, if you like, but I think you might want all of it. You can substitute English cucumbers or slicing cucumbers, but I would peel them and cut in half lengthwise, then slice them.

Croatian Style Marinated Cucumbers

3 pounds Middle Eastern cucumbers, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or red pepper flakes)
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it all in a bowl and let marinate at least 20 minutes. That is it!

Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen