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Sunday, January 11, 2026

Menu Plan: Final Days of the Epiphany Octave Within the Nativity Season


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

It's the last three days of the Epiphany octave, and we are still in the Christmas season. We are still enjoying the Nativity and its celebration, though we are back to the normal pattern of fasting.

Dominic and Shawn left with Winnie yesterday morning, and we already miss them. We are hoping to take a trip to visit them in the spring. Shawn's mother and a couple of her brothers were here this weekend, and left today, so we are a little lonely now. It was wonderful to have all our kids and grandkids under our roof on Saturday. Though we didn't do our normal slate of sweets and treats, we have spread the Christmas joy around in the lovely foods we've been eating.

Part of what I did when I was in Saudi Arabia was ask my family how they made specific dishes, and record it for us and our children. I will be sharing some of those foods with you here, too. It was wonderful to get both the food stories and the family stories, which I have also recorded, for our family. I got to learn more family history, including the specifics of our ethnic background, including to which Saudi tribes our family belongs.

Our week is back to normal, mostly, though we are still easing into schoolwork. Next week, we will be back on schedule with that, and then in a couple weeks, we will start our homeschool co-op for winter. I'm still trying to catch up at home, and get into a normal sleep pattern. Please keep us in your prayers.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 5:17 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 04, 2026

Menu Plan: Days 11 and 12 of the Nativity and the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We are finishing the feasting portion of our Christmas celebration this week. With everyone's exhaustion and schedules, we are not making King's Cake for Epiphany this year. However, since Dominic and Shawn are visiting us, and they are Old Calendar, we will do a little more Christmas celebrating with them. Because of that, we will also be keeping a lighter fast for Wednesdays and Fridays while they are here.

We have the feast of the Theophany and Epiphany this week. So, we are still celebrating, even though we are getting back to our normal fasting schedule. The Christmas season doesn't end until the final feast of the Nativity, which is the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. We keep our tree and decorations up through that feast, and still eat festive foods, though we slow down and ease back into normal eating during this time, so Lent doesn't hit us like a freight train. One of our kids had the idea to make star shaped French fries for the feast, so we are doing that.

Shawn's family (most of them) will be coming up this weekend, also, and we are excited to celebrate with them. May your feasting be joyous, and your New Year be full of health and love!

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 2:11 PM 1 comments

Sunday, January 12, 2025

Menu Plan: Final Days of the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

It's the last two days of the Epiphany octave, and we are still in the Christmas season. It's been a different Christmastide this year, with the new grandbaby and illness in the house. We are enjoying it, even if it is more subdued.

This week is pretty full, and after a busy weekend this weekend, too. There is a birthday party this Saturday and we are preparing for a baby shower. Plus normal life, schooling, catching up on some things that were not finished before Christmas, and so on.

I pray that your year is filled with blessings and that you can see God's hand in your life. In your generosity, please pray for ours.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 12:42 PM 0 comments

Sunday, January 05, 2025

Menu Plan: 12th Night and Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Today is 12th Night - the last day of the Christmas feast. Normally, I would make a Twelfth Night cake, but we are still recovering from the past week and a half. It would have been a perfect time to make it, though, as whoever found the baby in the cake would be obligated to make it next year.

Our wonderful church family has been providing quite a lot of the church dinners, either by rounding out what we are bringing or providing the meal entirely. It is such a gift to us.

More of us have fallen ill, however, so things are still a bit out of whack here at home. Please pray for us to completely beat this cold. The good news is that, while it hits pretty hard, it seems to go through fairly quickly, too.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:42 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 07, 2024

Menu Plan: Octave of Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We have ended the Christmas feast and begun the feast of the Theophany and Epiphany. So, we are still celebrating, even though we are back on our normal fasting schedule. The Christmas season doesn't end until the final feast of the Nativity, which is the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple. We keep our tree and decorations up through that feast, and still eat festive foods, though we slow down and ease back into normal eating during this time, so Lent doesn't hit us like a freight train.

Last week, we made adobo fish tacos with pineapple salsa, and they were spectacular. The recipe is from Patti Jinich, and I only changed one or two things. I didn't use oil when I pan grilled the pineapple, I tripled the fish and adobo recipe for us, and doubled the salsa, using serranos rather than jalapeños. A local grocery store makes fresh corn tortillas, so we used those and just steamed them to eat with the dinner. We would definitely make this again.

As I said last week, we are cooking more from our pantries and freezers again now, and we are eating more of a regular diet for us. Three of our kids are heading to a church winter camp over the next weekend, so we will only have five people to cook for at home, which will be challenging. I'm already thinking of how to scale back and it is super weird. I might be making a single recipe of food for our meals. Anyway, please pray for our family as we have people traveling and for our health that nobody would be knocked out with sickness as the bitter cold weather approaches. We are also supposed to see highs in the single digits and lows in the negatives this weekend. We need your prayers.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 8:41 AM 0 comments

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Menu Plan: Days 7 - 12 of the Nativity Feast and Theophany


Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We have a whole other week of no fasting! It has been both a restful and celebratory time, which is just perfect.

Tonight is our 27th anniversary, and we get to celebrate with our church family and then with dancing. This Friday, we will have a 12th Night Christmas party for my knit night group. It is a good week. Next week we will be back to normal school schedules.

Once we are back in the New Year, we will also return to a little more frugal shopping, and use what we have in our freezers and pantries as much as possible. We are still making room for more butchering, and also preparing for a lovely trip for Dominic and Shawn's wedding. We are so excited to share in that with them. Our prayer for you in this New Year is that you find the joy and peace of Christ!

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 4:13 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 08, 2023

Menu Plan: January 8 - 14


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We are now in the feast of the Epiphany (west) and Theophany (east). It is a feast of the Incarnation within the Nativity season. I didn't share the icon last week, but here it is for the third day of the Octave. I love the icon of Theophany. Christ is buried in the cave of water in His baptism, but is not immersed as it is Creation which is baptised by Him. The waters of the Jordan are turned back ("When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled" ~ Psalm 77:16, "The sea looked and fled, Jordan turned back." ~ Psalm 114:3). All Creation is moved by His presence. Our readings this week reflect His revelation and manifestation to the world. All of those readings show the presence of the Trinity as well. I love how the Church teaches us about His life and Incarnation and our life and salvation because of that.

We were able to go to the blessing of the waters here at the lake, and celebrate the Theophany. It was a little shorter than normal, for some reasons of health in our priest's wife, but it was still beautiful and moving. Rich retrieved the cross from the water, but he didn't have to jump in to get it. Then, we had our knit night party, and really had a full house. There were bout 28 people in our little place. The food was fantastic, the company was delightful, and I think everyone had a good time.

We are back to our normal pattern of eating. Wednesdays and Fridays are abstinent days, but there aren't a lot of major feasts or fasts until Lent. We begin school work with a vengeance this week, but also the girls have a winter show coming up, which will keep us rather busy.

Dominic is settling in at his film program, and because of some connections in aviation, we were able to get passes so we could go through security and bid him farewell at the terminal when he flew out, like we used to do. Even though Alexander is married and moved out more than a year ago, this feels like the real first one out, because he is gone for so long without us seeing him. It will be six months before we see him, unless we can swing a visit between now and then, though even that would only be Rich and me. Pray for him and also for us. Alexander and Autumn wil be celebrating their first anniversary this weekend, and we are so happy for them. It has definitely been a momentous year.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 11:56 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 01, 2023

Menu Plan: Eighth Day of Christmas through January 7


Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

We did get to have both the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, glory to God! They were beautiful, and we were overjoyed to share our Christmas with our church family. This week is another fast free week, so we are enjoying that, as well. Even though the feast of the Nativity ends this Friday, the season still goes on through February 2. This is the real Christmas season. Don't miss it! We just shook off the commercial part of it, as a priest friend of ours puts it.

This week we are enjoying sweets and treats, but not just because of the holiday. Dominic will be heading to Tennessee this Friday morning (early, early, early), and we are trying to give him a send off with all the foods he loves. And, even though our Christmas feast is ending, for the Old Calendar folks, theirs begins Saturday.

Rich and I got to go to a fabulous party on our anniversary. One of the port tenants held a New Year's bash in a mostly hollowed out 747, complete with food, bar, band, DJ, and games. It was a lot of fun, and Alexander and Autumn were able to come with Amelia for part of it, too, since he works at one of the FBOs on the port. We will be ending this week with our annual Knit Night party, which will be loads of fun, and larger than most years. We have had several new folks join our knit night, and they will be coming with their families.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:59 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 09, 2022

Menu Plan: End of the Epiphany Octave


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

We come to the end of the octave of the Epiphany this week, and then go on to Alexander's wedding. What a week! We are very excited and busy.

Please keep us all in your prayers for this very busy week and pray for Alexander and Autumn as they begin their lives together.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:35 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 02, 2022

Menu Plan: 9th Day of Christmas through the Theophany, and Beyond


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Though we are coming to the end of the holiday, we are enjoying celebrating the Christmas season to its end in February. Theophany is this week, and I am trying to get excited about going to the blessing of the water in the snow and ice and frigid single degree weather. It snowed some more this week. Not too much, but with our temperatures, it stays around for far too long. We hit -12˚F yesterday morning, and Rich had to spend more than four hours getting our pipes and pressure tank back to normal, even with heaters, lights and closed pumphouse doors. Living in a place that stays frigid through April has made me appreciate the snow even less than before. I used to find it pretty, at least, but now I see it and despair. But Christ is born, regardless, and I am keeping that in my mind.

We had so much leftover that some of last week's meals have carried overthrough this week. We return to our normal abstinent diet schedule on Friday, which will be a relief in some ways. It is a good thing to mark our time and even what goes in our mouths by the life of Christ. Jerome's introduction to milk is not going well, but it also coincides with our below zero temperatures and dry, winter weather, so we are not sure which is doing it to him. The humidity and temperatures are supposed to go up this week, so we will keep going with the introduction, and see if he improves. It would be sad for him no longer to be able to have milk, but it doesn't necessarily exclude cheese, since the proteins are used in a different way in them, so we will still try the cheese after this, even if he can't have milk. Please pray for him and for clarity on this issue.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:51 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Menu Plan: Last Four Days of the Octave of Epiphany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

Glory to God in His Saints! My father was moved to a normal hospital ward! Thank you for your prayers.

Besides that, my brother and his wife safely delivered a son. We had some other good news this past week that hasn't quite been finalized, so I will share that when I can. I know it has been a topsy turvy week, but I am focusing on my family and friends right now to keep me a bit more stable. We are so deeply grateful to God for the extremely good, the very good, news we have had.

This next week was supposed to be our first full week of schooling, but the January exhaustion has hit us all, so we are spending some more time on just reading and math, and getting some organization done. It's not hard to catch up at home. This past year was rather hard on everyone, so we are being gentle with ourselves.

Since we did that inventory of our food and drink in the house, I am trying to be more mindful of eating what we have and only buying what we really need or to replace things we use. This month, through Ash Wednesday, my plan is to only buy paper/cleaning/pet supplies, milk and a few fresh things we need. So, our meals are utilizing our stores. We ran out of dried thyme, but the winter has been so mild here that our planted thyme is just overflowing all over the yard. We are trying to clear out our home of excess, so I am also going through my yarn stash and offering more for sale, giving some away to friends, and donating to the senior center in our town. It will feel so much better to have the space in our home and in our minds. We will tackle books, too! In any case, this will help us spend less, too, and we have been paying down debt lately, which feels great. I do the budgets, and it is a burden to me to always be keeping ten plate spinning and in the air, as well as having to be the one to say no. This will allow us to say yes to more. It is a time of easing burdens and increasing blessing here. I hope your new year is full of blessing.


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

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 9:36 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 03, 2021

Menu Plan: 10th - 12th Days of Christmas and Theophany


Christ is illumined! Let us shine forth with Him!

I love the icon of Theophany. Christ is buried in the cave of water in His baptism, but is not immersed as it is Creation which is baptised by Him. The waters of the Jordan are turned back ("When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled" ~ Psalm 77:16, "The sea looked and fled, Jordan turned back." ~ Psalm 114:3). All Creation is moved by His presence. Our readings this week will reflect His revelation and manifestation to the world. All of those readings show the presence of the Trinity as well. It is such a moving and wondrous season in the Church Year.

Our feasting will end this week, but we will keep the festal season of the Nativity through the feast of the Purification on February 2. We keep our decorations up for the season, as well, and play Christmas music, still. Next week, school will begin again, but we are enjoying our break still. It is the end of the feast, but not the end of the Christmas season. Rather than beginning the day after Halloween, it begins late Christmas Eve, and goes through February 2. We have shaken off the commercial aspect and the secular misrepresentation of this miraculous feast of the Incarnation. Now, we can celebrate in earnest while the rest have abandoned its observance.

I thank you for your prayers for my father, and am glad to say that he is slowly improving. We are continuing in prayer for him and our family.


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

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 08, 2017

Menu Plan: January 8 - 14


Christ is illumined!

This week we get back to school and real life. This is the third day of the Octave of Epiphany and soon we will be living our ordinary lives. If you come here looking for some meatless options, there will be some from this week on again. There are several repeats this week, just because we ended up shifting menus and meals around considerably last week. We had miserable snow from Saturday afternoon on, so we decided to miss our evening church, which meant I had to think of a dinner for the family. This may also shift this week's schedule as well. Which is unfortunate, since we have school for Alexander, and ballet, and driver's ed, and I don't want to go out of our house.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 6:04 PM 0 comments

Monday, January 02, 2017

Menu Plan: Eighth Day of Christmas through the Second Day of the Octave of Epiphany


Our week is almost bookended with two major feasts of the Nativity: The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ and the Feast of the Theophany, known as the Epiphany in the West. One, in which Jesus receives His name and is submitted by His Blessed mother and Saint Joseph to be under the Law. One, in which He is revealed to the world as God. I love how the readings for the Octave of Epiphany brings out all the ways His light is revealed, to His disciples in the Transfiguration, to the Magi who are shown signs to come seek and worship Him, to both Jews and Gentiles in His baptism, which also showed His deity and manifested the presence of all three Persons of the Trinity, to the steward at the wedding at Cana, when His mother's petition altered the timeline of His revelation to the world, and His first miracle was performed. Even though Christmas isn't the most significant feast of the Church year (it isn't even the second), I love how there are so many important feasts within it. And that is only considering the 12 days of the feast, and not the entirety of the season, which closes on the Feast of the Purification on February 2. I love how these feasts and practices teach the most important things to everyone, regardless of their intellectual capacity or age.

We ended last week with our anniversary, and though we had cancelled our more elaborate plans for our 20th wedding anniversary, I don't feel like we missed out on anything. Our favorite local restaurant, that specializes in mostly local and regional foods, seasonal menus, where every single item we have eaten, even things we don't normally like, has been exquisite, was having a fixed menu with wine pairings. I forgot to take pictures of everything until we were already on the fourth course, and I had eaten part of it. Rich had to keep me from going around to everyone else's table and photographing their food.


The menu for our evening. There was also a glass of champagne to begin the meal. Since they brought two, I drank Rich's.


I had a little bit of the grilled octopus and shrimp ceviche left (with even a tiny bit of the crab) and let the kids each have a taste of it the next day. They immediately wanted to go there to eat. Rich suggested that maybe we do a Mother's Day brunch there.

My grocery shopping this past week garnered some excellent deals. I was able to get French Compte cheese for less than $3.00 a pound, and some of the roasted onion and red pepper sausage we like for $0.99 a pound, as well as an excellent deal on Mandarin oranges. So, we are enjoying those quite a bit this week.

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.

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// posted by Ranee @ Arabian Knits @ 10:56 PM 0 comments

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