It is back to reality this week. We have lots of catching up and lots of trying to do our normal routine. We will begin schoolwork for real, dance has been going for a couple weeks, co-op started last week, we are back on track for the fall. This past week, Rich and I were up in British Columbia, in Kelowna, and the fires seemed under control, the smoke was not too bad, and we enjoyed a beautiful and relaxing time while there. Our church family is really caring for us by providing dinner tonight, so all we have to do is bring fruit to share.

Produce is still coming in well, both from our gleaning group and our garden and fruit trees. We will be harvesting turkeys, geese, and some roosters for our freezer in a few weeks. In the meantime, we are eating a lot out of our freezers to make room, and have some rather large roasts and birds planned for church dinners and family meals to make the room we need in there. Because of the abundance of produce, really we are trying to stay on top of all the good things we have right now. There is so much in our refrigerators and pantries that we want to use or preserve before it has to go to the poultry, and I'm keeping a pretty good list of all of the produce to help me with meal planning. This helps me with our annual shelf cooking period, too.

We are drying plums from our trees, and will be canning peaches soon. There is some cherry juice in the freezer that I think needs to become jelly, and we have some sweet cherries in there from a couple years ago that I am thinking of experimenting with to see if my technique for butters and jellies will work with them. That may be a game changer for us.

Autumn has technically begun. It began here in the last week of August, but now the calendar agrees. The mornings are quite cool, but we haven't had any below freezing mornings or evenings yet, which is a good sign. We have already had more than a month of autumn, which is better than the two or three weeks we usually get before we see below freezing temperatures at our house. I will take it. My hope is that we have watered our maple tree enough for it to change color, and that it changes color before the hard freeze comes to kill all the leaves.

We had quite a bit of pumpkin purée leftover from last week, so we are using the last of it in an autumnal breakfast of pumpkin pancakes this morning, and we also are trying the cherry cake recipe I made a few weeks ago, to see if I can improve on it a little. Unfortunately, a lot of kids got a cold that was going around last week, so we had to postpone a birthday party that was already later than the birthday. We also had tons of leftovers from the week, because appetites were low, even in the people who weren't really showing as ill. So Saturday's dinner has been pushed to another week this next month. I am mostly in denial about this cold which certainly did not start making itself be felt and known yesterday. We are taking loads of vitamins, drinking gallons of herbal tea, and resting a bit this weekend.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Pumpkin Pancakes with Maple Syrup, Home Cured Bacon, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Soup and Bread, Chicken, Salad, Fruit Plate
• Monday
  Breakfast: Battatas ou Bayd, Toast, Sliced Pears, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: One Pan Autumn Chicken Dinner, Sautéed Mushrooms, Green Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette, Rolls, Sliced Peaches
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Fried Egg, Sausage and Cheese Sandwiches, Sliced Apples, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Fassoulia and Beef, Duqqus, Rice, Salad/Fruit/Dessert brought by Bible study members
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Raisins and Brown Sugar, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Vegan Egyptian Mahshi, Turmeric Rice, Duqqus, Beet and Herb Salad with Grapefruit and Lemon Dressing
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Leftover Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins, Sausage Patties, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Bacon Cheeseburgers on Light Bread Buns, Tatertots, Fried Peppers and Yellow Crookneck Squash, Pickles, Sliced Oranges
• Friday - Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Toast, Sliced Apples, Tea with Honey
  Dinner: Mediterranean Braised Vegetables, Arabic Style Rice Pilaf (made with oil and water), Nectarine and Blackberry Filled Dragon Bread
• Saturday - Feast of Saint Jerome
  Breakfast: Cherry Coffee Cake to break the fast after Liturgy
  Dinner: Penne Gorgonzola with Chicken and Broccoli, Fried Olive Bites, Green Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette, Lion Cupcakes

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.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world -- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. -- Revelation 12:7-9

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in praelio. Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur. Tuque princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen.

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