Saturday, November 19, 2011
Family in Photo
It has been a while since I made a record of our doings. Unfortunately, not all of these will be happy updates. We have had a great loss this week. Those of you who know me well or in person already know about our loss. I'm sorry that this will come as such a startling surprise to the rest of you.
Amira and Yasmina helped their dad get the hay in from our tiny crop around the border of our property this summer.
Here is Mariam the morning of her baptism. We stayed at a friend's house on our way to our long trip. We stopped at one of our communion's churches where the priest very generously performed a private mass for our family and did the baptism with the godparents in absentia because of some difficult circumstances in our location.
Alexander served at the mass and lit the Paschal candle. There are two times in a believer's life in which the Paschal candle is lit specifically for him: At baptism and at his funeral.
Mariam, newly baptized into the body of Christ.
Our whole family with Fr. Mark after the baptism and mass.
This is Mariam in our modified camp swing at Yellowstone.
Here we all are at the Continental Divide.
Here is our baby who will never need to be baptized. Rayan was delivered Tuesday, November 15. I miscarried naturally at home, so we were able to keep the body for burial. I do have pictures of the baby for those who truly wish to see, but here is our child in a treasure box that Alexander made for me when he was six. We asked if he would offer it as a casket for Rayan. It was much too big, but seemed more fitting and respectful than a jar or box from something else. This is the first time we have ever been glad for a unisex name, as it was too difficult to determine the sex. Rayan means gentle and heavenly and is an Arabic name given to both boys and girls.
From the words of the burial service:
O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered; Accept our prayers on behalf of the soul of thy servant departed, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.
We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." I Corinthians 15:20-26
"Jesus said unto them, 'All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.'" St. John 6:37-40
Amira and Yasmina helped their dad get the hay in from our tiny crop around the border of our property this summer.
Here is Mariam the morning of her baptism. We stayed at a friend's house on our way to our long trip. We stopped at one of our communion's churches where the priest very generously performed a private mass for our family and did the baptism with the godparents in absentia because of some difficult circumstances in our location.
Alexander served at the mass and lit the Paschal candle. There are two times in a believer's life in which the Paschal candle is lit specifically for him: At baptism and at his funeral.
Mariam, newly baptized into the body of Christ.
Our whole family with Fr. Mark after the baptism and mass.
This is Mariam in our modified camp swing at Yellowstone.
Here we all are at the Continental Divide.
Here is our baby who will never need to be baptized. Rayan was delivered Tuesday, November 15. I miscarried naturally at home, so we were able to keep the body for burial. I do have pictures of the baby for those who truly wish to see, but here is our child in a treasure box that Alexander made for me when he was six. We asked if he would offer it as a casket for Rayan. It was much too big, but seemed more fitting and respectful than a jar or box from something else. This is the first time we have ever been glad for a unisex name, as it was too difficult to determine the sex. Rayan means gentle and heavenly and is an Arabic name given to both boys and girls.
From the words of the burial service:
O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered; Accept our prayers on behalf of the soul of thy servant departed, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me, shall never die.
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.
We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death." I Corinthians 15:20-26
"Jesus said unto them, 'All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.'" St. John 6:37-40
Labels: Baptism, Faith and Morality, Family, Homesteading, Prayer Requests
Friday, July 06, 2007
Summer Vacation
We started off in Richland. Our godson was being baptised, and we took the drive out there so we could be there and join in the festivities. Our first stop was at Michelle's work, as they were having a gigantic company picnic. We had grilled salmon, pasta salad, coleslaw, rolls, corn and ice cream. The kids were excited to be there, everyone enjoyed the food, and there were fun things for the children to do.
First we had to sign away our rights to our children, so they could play on the structures. Amira and Elijah played in the little jump house for at least an hour.
Dominic and Alexander got to ride horses for the first time. Oddly enough, the horse people didn't make us sign the waiver first. Well, we all know about how notorious those jump house injuries are, and really who gets hurt on horses?
After we finished up at the picnic, we headed to Arthur and Michelle's house. We stayed up too late talking, catching up, laughing and eating. Early in the morning, Michelle's folks and sister came. I haven't seen Andrea since Elijah and Amira were baptised, three years ago, and I think it's been longer since I saw their parents. Her folks see me as one of the kids, though, so they were buying us pizza and ice cream and refusing to let us pay like somehow we might blow our after school job money. It was very sweet. They adored our children, of course, and played grandparents to them. Since our children know a good thing when they see it, they milked it for all it was worth. Another friend from high school happened to be in the area with her husband, and they came by for the day and for the baptism the next day as well. It was like a mini-reunion of sorts.
Saturday night, Matt gave his testimony, and they had a kind of examination of the candidate. Nerves aside, Matt was glad to be doing it, and he spoke well. Sunday morning was the big day, and his baptism was a splash. Get it? Splash? I crack myself up. I have pictures, but I haven't asked Arthur and Michelle, or Matt if it's alright to post them, so that will have to wait.
Well, you know I can't go somewhere without checking out their yarn shops, so I did. Matt knew of one that was about 12 blocks from their house, so I put Jerome in the snuggli and took a walk with the credit card. I actually didn't buy much. I needed a 16" circular needle, because I had left the one I needed at home, and I picked up a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and two skeins of Patons Soy Wool Stripes. However, I really need to plug Knitty Gritty Yarns in Richland, WA. Her shop wasn't large, but it was well organized, friendly, there was a table in the front for classes and people stopped by to knit and chat, and the owner was so nice. In the back section of the shop, there was a play area with little chairs and soft cushions, toys and books. It was clearly designed so moms could shop comfortably and the children could be occupied. She took a lot of care in the layout and feel of the place.
We left Richland Monday, and I've already told you about our dinner on the way home. That was Rich and Dominic's birthday, and Tuesday was when I did their birthday dinner at home. We gave Dominic his presents at the park in Richland before we left, so he had some fun things to look at and do in the car on the way home. So, for dinner at home, I made lasagna, salad and Italian bread. We had a banana cake with lemon-cream cheese frosting for dessert. Dominic picked the meal and the cake, because we let birthday people pick their meals. Rich has very willingly given up the right to this, because obviously birthdays matter to little people more. Speaking of birthdays, mine is in 18 days. Just, you know, reminding you, in case you forgot.
Where was I? Oh yes, back home. We cleaned up from our family party, and did lots of laundry and got ready to leave again. This time for Eugene. We took the long way there, though, stopping at my BIL's new house in Vancouver first, for dinner, then at Rich's folks' in Gresham to spend the night. On Friday, we drove down to Eugene, making a stop at Rich's grandparents' in Salem. After lunch with them, we made it the rest of the way to Eugene. A friend was waiting for us with dinner, and nice beds for us and the children. We pretty much crashed at her place, and got up to meet with one of my virtual friends at Black Sheep. Michelle was lots of fun, and her children were sweet. We stayed together as a group long enough to see the spinning wheels, and live chinchillas. Which I now want. The boys hit it off right away, and went to see the animals with Rich and Amira, and her daughter stayed with us mamas, to see all the booths. They were a delight, and it was so fun to spend time with someone who loved all this fiber stuff as much as I do.
We saw so much that was pretty and interesting, but one of my favorite things there was this:
Everything, including the rocks, branch, everything, is needle felted. I was impressed. My photo doesn't do it justice. Of course, I bought a lot of yarn.
After spending the morning at Black Sheep, we went to lunch at Track Town Pizza. We had a nice drive through campus, and I showed the kids a lot of places Rich and I used to go, and places I used to hang out in while I was in college. We went to the potluck at Black Sheep and came home to rest for the baptism the next day.
Mike and Rachelle came down from Corvallis with Kyrie, they left Ben with his grandmother, to be the godparents for Jerome. They actually took a trip to her parents, just so they could come and be godparents for Jerome. They left Olympia on Saturday, went to Eugene on Sunday, back to Corvallis and home on Sunday night. Rich's folks came down with our niece, Kayla, from Portland. The service was beautiful. Fr. Bryce gave a wonderful sermon, and it was a joy to celebrate this new member of God's family with the man who married us.
Jerome had been playing with the cat's dish at our friend's house, and we kept moving him away from it. So, when he got to put his hands in the font, and nobody stopped him, he was thrilled and was perfectly behaved for the entire baptism.
We were so happy to have Mike and Rachelle there, sharing in our joy and promising to help teach and guide Jerome in the faith. I wish I had a picture with Mike in it, but the only one we had was the side of his face. This was during the prayers over the newly baptised.
This was during the peace.
Our trip didn't end there, however. Rich's folks took our older four back with them to Portland, and Rich and I took Jerome with us to lunch with Fr. Bryce and his wife, plus our friend who took us in for the weekend. We went to a nice Thai place and had a great time. From there, we drove down to Klamath Falls, where our priest and his wife had reserved us a place at a resort so we could take a rest and have a little time to ourselves. We explored the lake, the farmland around town and a little bit of downtown Klamath Falls. And I bought yarn. Of course. Jerome even let us sleep in, so we were pretty well rested. The drive from Eugene to Klamath Falls is beautiful (take 58 to 97 rather than I-5), and the weather was perfect. We headed home rested and more relaxed. We got to Rich's folks pretty late at night, crashed and slept in as much as we could and gathered everyone to go home the next day.
We've kind of been recovering ever since, because we have had cleanup and organizing and then a holiday and now houseguests coming, but it was a lovely trip and so much fun. Which is good, because it doesn't look like we'll be travelling much the rest of the year. Everyone is coming to us from here on out. We have Arthur, Michelle and Matt coming this weekend, my friend Lisa coming a couple days later with her son and it looks like one of my cousins and his family coming in the next month. We're hoping to talk another cousin with her family to come this December, too.
So, that's it. That's what we did for our summer vacation. The rest of the summer looks pretty busy too, but should be lots of fun.
First we had to sign away our rights to our children, so they could play on the structures. Amira and Elijah played in the little jump house for at least an hour.
Dominic and Alexander got to ride horses for the first time. Oddly enough, the horse people didn't make us sign the waiver first. Well, we all know about how notorious those jump house injuries are, and really who gets hurt on horses?
After we finished up at the picnic, we headed to Arthur and Michelle's house. We stayed up too late talking, catching up, laughing and eating. Early in the morning, Michelle's folks and sister came. I haven't seen Andrea since Elijah and Amira were baptised, three years ago, and I think it's been longer since I saw their parents. Her folks see me as one of the kids, though, so they were buying us pizza and ice cream and refusing to let us pay like somehow we might blow our after school job money. It was very sweet. They adored our children, of course, and played grandparents to them. Since our children know a good thing when they see it, they milked it for all it was worth. Another friend from high school happened to be in the area with her husband, and they came by for the day and for the baptism the next day as well. It was like a mini-reunion of sorts.
Saturday night, Matt gave his testimony, and they had a kind of examination of the candidate. Nerves aside, Matt was glad to be doing it, and he spoke well. Sunday morning was the big day, and his baptism was a splash. Get it? Splash? I crack myself up. I have pictures, but I haven't asked Arthur and Michelle, or Matt if it's alright to post them, so that will have to wait.
Well, you know I can't go somewhere without checking out their yarn shops, so I did. Matt knew of one that was about 12 blocks from their house, so I put Jerome in the snuggli and took a walk with the credit card. I actually didn't buy much. I needed a 16" circular needle, because I had left the one I needed at home, and I picked up a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and two skeins of Patons Soy Wool Stripes. However, I really need to plug Knitty Gritty Yarns in Richland, WA. Her shop wasn't large, but it was well organized, friendly, there was a table in the front for classes and people stopped by to knit and chat, and the owner was so nice. In the back section of the shop, there was a play area with little chairs and soft cushions, toys and books. It was clearly designed so moms could shop comfortably and the children could be occupied. She took a lot of care in the layout and feel of the place.
We left Richland Monday, and I've already told you about our dinner on the way home. That was Rich and Dominic's birthday, and Tuesday was when I did their birthday dinner at home. We gave Dominic his presents at the park in Richland before we left, so he had some fun things to look at and do in the car on the way home. So, for dinner at home, I made lasagna, salad and Italian bread. We had a banana cake with lemon-cream cheese frosting for dessert. Dominic picked the meal and the cake, because we let birthday people pick their meals. Rich has very willingly given up the right to this, because obviously birthdays matter to little people more. Speaking of birthdays, mine is in 18 days. Just, you know, reminding you, in case you forgot.
Where was I? Oh yes, back home. We cleaned up from our family party, and did lots of laundry and got ready to leave again. This time for Eugene. We took the long way there, though, stopping at my BIL's new house in Vancouver first, for dinner, then at Rich's folks' in Gresham to spend the night. On Friday, we drove down to Eugene, making a stop at Rich's grandparents' in Salem. After lunch with them, we made it the rest of the way to Eugene. A friend was waiting for us with dinner, and nice beds for us and the children. We pretty much crashed at her place, and got up to meet with one of my virtual friends at Black Sheep. Michelle was lots of fun, and her children were sweet. We stayed together as a group long enough to see the spinning wheels, and live chinchillas. Which I now want. The boys hit it off right away, and went to see the animals with Rich and Amira, and her daughter stayed with us mamas, to see all the booths. They were a delight, and it was so fun to spend time with someone who loved all this fiber stuff as much as I do.
We saw so much that was pretty and interesting, but one of my favorite things there was this:
Everything, including the rocks, branch, everything, is needle felted. I was impressed. My photo doesn't do it justice. Of course, I bought a lot of yarn.
After spending the morning at Black Sheep, we went to lunch at Track Town Pizza. We had a nice drive through campus, and I showed the kids a lot of places Rich and I used to go, and places I used to hang out in while I was in college. We went to the potluck at Black Sheep and came home to rest for the baptism the next day.
Mike and Rachelle came down from Corvallis with Kyrie, they left Ben with his grandmother, to be the godparents for Jerome. They actually took a trip to her parents, just so they could come and be godparents for Jerome. They left Olympia on Saturday, went to Eugene on Sunday, back to Corvallis and home on Sunday night. Rich's folks came down with our niece, Kayla, from Portland. The service was beautiful. Fr. Bryce gave a wonderful sermon, and it was a joy to celebrate this new member of God's family with the man who married us.
Jerome had been playing with the cat's dish at our friend's house, and we kept moving him away from it. So, when he got to put his hands in the font, and nobody stopped him, he was thrilled and was perfectly behaved for the entire baptism.
We were so happy to have Mike and Rachelle there, sharing in our joy and promising to help teach and guide Jerome in the faith. I wish I had a picture with Mike in it, but the only one we had was the side of his face. This was during the prayers over the newly baptised.
This was during the peace.
Our trip didn't end there, however. Rich's folks took our older four back with them to Portland, and Rich and I took Jerome with us to lunch with Fr. Bryce and his wife, plus our friend who took us in for the weekend. We went to a nice Thai place and had a great time. From there, we drove down to Klamath Falls, where our priest and his wife had reserved us a place at a resort so we could take a rest and have a little time to ourselves. We explored the lake, the farmland around town and a little bit of downtown Klamath Falls. And I bought yarn. Of course. Jerome even let us sleep in, so we were pretty well rested. The drive from Eugene to Klamath Falls is beautiful (take 58 to 97 rather than I-5), and the weather was perfect. We headed home rested and more relaxed. We got to Rich's folks pretty late at night, crashed and slept in as much as we could and gathered everyone to go home the next day.
We've kind of been recovering ever since, because we have had cleanup and organizing and then a holiday and now houseguests coming, but it was a lovely trip and so much fun. Which is good, because it doesn't look like we'll be travelling much the rest of the year. Everyone is coming to us from here on out. We have Arthur, Michelle and Matt coming this weekend, my friend Lisa coming a couple days later with her son and it looks like one of my cousins and his family coming in the next month. We're hoping to talk another cousin with her family to come this December, too.
So, that's it. That's what we did for our summer vacation. The rest of the summer looks pretty busy too, but should be lots of fun.
Labels: Baptism, Birthday, Black Sheep, Faith and Morality, Family
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Baptisms
This past weekend, we went to Eastern Washington to visit Arthur and Michelle and to be there as their son, Matt's, godparents for his baptism. It was a great time, and we were so pleased to be a part of it. Their church has a different understanding of baptism than our church, ours takes it a step farther than theirs, but we agree on the points they believe in, so it wasn't an issue.
For them, they perform baptisms as an ordinance rather than a sacrament, as we do. It is because Christ commanded it, and because it is an initiation rite into the Church that baptism is necessary. However, they believe it is only a symbol of a change that has already been effected, a public statement of faith, rather than a means of receiving a particular grace from the Lord, which effects a change in the person, because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Something their pastor said in his sermon about baptism really struck me, as I hadn't quite seen this emphasis before was that Jesus gave baptism equal significance with evangelization and instruction in the Great Commission. He also compared baptism to a wedding ring, which makes sense if you understand that they see baptism as a symbol and don't want to put as much significance on it, but a better analogy is of baptism to a wedding. Both are the sacraments, and the means, by which one becomes something else. In the first, a Christian, in the second, a married person.
This coming Sunday, we will be taking Jerome to be baptized. It will be a glorious time, and the angels will be rejoicing in heaven as we rejoice here on earth. For a moment, as in the Mass, our prayers will be joined with theirs and the separation between the Church on earth and the Church Triumphant will be gone. This has been a long time coming, as we tried to work it out so that he could be baptized between Christmas and Epiphany, and it just didn't work out with everyone's schedule. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is joined to the body of Christ this coming Sunday, and enabled to participate in the Mass and the life of the Church.
For them, they perform baptisms as an ordinance rather than a sacrament, as we do. It is because Christ commanded it, and because it is an initiation rite into the Church that baptism is necessary. However, they believe it is only a symbol of a change that has already been effected, a public statement of faith, rather than a means of receiving a particular grace from the Lord, which effects a change in the person, because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Something their pastor said in his sermon about baptism really struck me, as I hadn't quite seen this emphasis before was that Jesus gave baptism equal significance with evangelization and instruction in the Great Commission. He also compared baptism to a wedding ring, which makes sense if you understand that they see baptism as a symbol and don't want to put as much significance on it, but a better analogy is of baptism to a wedding. Both are the sacraments, and the means, by which one becomes something else. In the first, a Christian, in the second, a married person.
This coming Sunday, we will be taking Jerome to be baptized. It will be a glorious time, and the angels will be rejoicing in heaven as we rejoice here on earth. For a moment, as in the Mass, our prayers will be joined with theirs and the separation between the Church on earth and the Church Triumphant will be gone. This has been a long time coming, as we tried to work it out so that he could be baptized between Christmas and Epiphany, and it just didn't work out with everyone's schedule. Please keep him in your prayers, as he is joined to the body of Christ this coming Sunday, and enabled to participate in the Mass and the life of the Church.
Labels: Baptism, Faith and Morality, Family, Prayer Requests
Monday, April 02, 2007
Menu Plan Monday: April 2
- Monday: Homemade Pizzas and Salad
- Tuesday: Sausage and Cabbage Soup
- Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese, Applesauce, Salad
- Thursday: Maundy Thursday Potluck, Mejeddarah (an Arabic lentil and rice dish)
- Friday: Good Friday, this is a fast day, but I will be making food for the kids and my in-laws who aren't fasting, and I will eat something light since I am nursing Jerome. Baked Potatoes with Cheese and Broccoli Sauce.
- Saturday: Black Beans and Rice
- Sunday: Paschal Feast. Herb Roasted Legs of Lamb with Pan Sauce, Pita and Hummus, Tabbouleh, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Laban bi Chiyar, Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, Jest Pink wine, Prosecco, Lemonade. All other food and drink is brought by our church family, friends and family - and it is a lot of food, I will post a report after it's all over.
My visit with my cousin in West Virginia was lovely! I haven't seen her in nearly 24 years. The last time we visited was when I was seven. Since then, we have both gotten married, she has had four children and I have had five. The last picture I saw of her children was of her eldest when he was an infant, and he's almost 19 now, a handsome, kind and intelligent young man in his first year of college. She has three other sons, a 14 year old, nine year old and four year old, who are all very sweet and handsome boys as well. What a pleasure to spend time with them. She is working on her PhD in psychology, and fortunately, her husband was able to get leave from the Saudi Navy to come and stay with the family while she is in school. It was a short visit, but we had a great time catching up and getting to know each other. I was even able to practice my Arabic a bit. I quite surprised my cousin, because I kept saying how bad my Arabic was, so she really expected me not to be able to speak, but she heard me talking to her neighbors in complete sentences and paragraphs. She said she couldn't believe it was me.
Since plane tickets for six would eat away at a lot of the money we have put away for the boys' schooling next year, Jerome and I were the only people they were able to meet. I brought pictures of the rest of the family, and I'm working on getting them to come out either for Thanksgiving or for a longer stretch around Christmas. Also, I suspended my Lenten fast while I was there, they are not Christian, and I didn't want to make their lives more difficult just because I was there.
Aside from staying up all night talking to my cousin, we visited with some of her friends and neighbors and they threw a traditional Saudi party the last night I was there, with so much wonderful food and all the women dancing and talking and laughing. I was made to feel so welcome, and Jerome was doted on by all who saw him. My cousin's husband has quite a sweet tooth, it turns out, and loves chocolate. It was determined that he adores cheesecake, so I made a triple chocolate cheesecake with my cousin for him, and then the next day made a vanilla cheesecake with strawberry topping that we brought to the party.
I'm glad to be home, but it was sad to leave them all. I arrived here just in time for Holy Week, and this is a busy week at our home. We are getting the house cleaned up and ready for the Paschal feast we are hosting Sunday. Thursday through Saturday, we have services every night, Saturday being the Great Vigil. I am very excited about the Vigil this year, because I will have something corrected that was in error. My baptism was invalid, it turns out, and so although my priest has told me not to hesitate to take communion, because I had a devout baptism of intent, we are going to rectify the sacramental issue and baptise me along with a young man from our church at the Vigil. Since the church teaches that there is one baptism, and no need to rebaptize, so long as three conditions are met to make the sacrament valid, this isn't actually a rebaptism, but a real baptism. My first was invalid, two out of three of the requirements were not met, so sacramentally, it didn't effect a change.
After the Great Vigil, we will have a mini-feast at around midnight. It will be quite a late night, so after we get the kids into bed, we will try to get some sleep and wake up to cook and do last minute cleaning. Rich's folks will be here, and they always pitch in to help, so we'll have many hands making the work speed along.
Originally posted July 27, 2005 to Tales from the Kitchen
Sausage and Cabbage Soup
I know it sounds awful, but it was really wonderful! And even better the second day. It took very little time to put together, and was very tasty. With two whole grain baguettes, it cost all of about $10 to feed us for three meals.
I made this for dinner on Saturday, and we had enough leftover for reruns for lunch the next day, including a babysitter, and a few more bowls for lunch on Monday.
16 oz Polish sausage, sliced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups chicken broth (homemade or the box)
1 12 oz bottle hefeweizen (wheat beer)
1 pound thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I used red potatoes, yukon golds would have been nice, too)
1 medium head cabbage, cored and finely shredded
4 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
salt, to taste
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Whole Grain Mustard
Sour Cream
In a 5 quart pan over medium heat, stir sausage often until lightly browned. Spoon out and discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from pan (which I don't do, ever).
Add onion and garlic to pan, stir often until limp and slightly golden.
Increase heat to high, add broth, beer, potatoes, cabbage, carrots. Tie spices in cheesecloth and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover, simmer until potatoes are tender to bite, 10-15 minutes. Discard spices. Season with salt.
Stir in parsley. Ladle soup into bowls. Serve with mustard and/or sour cream as garnish.
Labels: Baptism, Church Year, Faith and Morality, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen
