City Wife, Country Life

How to Make a Strawberry Pavlova

2012-05-23T16:28:00.001-07:00

It has been said that Pavlova, an Australian meringue dessert, is one of the hardest desserts to make well. Of course that meant I wanted to try it.

All said and done, if you're comfortable working with meringue, it's super easy. If you're not, it's a little intimidating but utterly doable!

I happen to be terrified of meringue. I can't tell by looking at it if I'm at the soft peak or stiff shiny peak stage, so I did a few searches and found this picture guide to be extremely helpful. If your meringue cracks (like mine did) or deflates, it's still delicious and beautiful. Add a little more whipped cream and call it good.

This is a light, relatively cheap dessert to make. Go ahead and try it for Pentecost this Sunday! If it flops, you're only out 4 egg whites, some sugar, and a few minutes of work. If it succeeds, you've got a beautiful heavenly puff of confection that is sure to impress even the most discerning epicure.

Strawberry Pavlova
Inspired by: What's for Lunch, Honey?

Ingredients:
For the meringue

4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Kirsch (optional)

For the filling

1 pint strawberries (or any fruit/nut/chocolate!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons Kirsch (optional, replace with 1 tsp. vanilla)
1 Tablespoon apricot or orange preserves or jam, thinned with water (optional)

Method:
For the meringue

Preheat oven to 350° F. Draw a circle approx. 8" in diameter on a sheet of baking paper. Place, pencil-side down, on a baking tray.

To make the meringue, whip the egg whites (in a stand mixer, with a hand mixer, or with a whisk) to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, occasionally scraping down the side of the bowl. Once all the sugar has been added whisk for another 2-3 minutes until stiff peaks form. The mixture should be thick and glossy. Make sure the sugar has dissolved completely and the meringue is not grainy. Add the cornstarch folding gently with a spatula, then pour in the vinegar and the kirsch and fold through.

Spoon the meringue onto the baking paper and using a palette knife shape into a circle using the penciled mark as a guide. Pull the meringue upwards around the edge to create furrows, which will support the sides of the pavlova. Make a well in the middle, which will hold the filling. Make sure the base of the meringue is not too thin.

Turn the heat down to 210° F and bake the for 1 ½ hours until the pavlova is dry and crisp. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue in the oven, with the door ajar until cooled completely – 4 to 5 hours. Do not remove the meringue from the oven when it is still warm as it will cool too quickly and may crack and collapse.

Slide the pavlova onto a plate and spoon the filling into the center.

For the filling

Wash and hull the strawberries.

Whisk the whipped cream, vanilla, and sugar until stiff and fluffy.

When ready to serve, fill the meringue with the whipped cream, arrange the strawberries over the top and brush with apricot preserves to make them shiny. Serve immediately.

Countertop Choices

2012-05-10T16:16:00.003-07:00

I'm kind of jumping the gun on making this decision (considering we're not even remotely ready to build our dream house), but kitchen dreaming is in full swing and I'd like your input.

I've only ever been around Formica countertops, and I actually like 'em. They're cheap, sturdy, virtually indestructible, and I think they've come a long way since the bright yellow of the 60's. They're starting a new line called "Ideal Edge" that hides the dead-giveaway brown mark around the seams, and they've got a pretty convincing stone look, too.

That said... who doesn't dream of real marble, butcher block, granite, soapstone, quartz, and all the other gorgeous counters?

Considering how much time and effort is spent in the kitchen, higher end countertops might make it into our low-budget house, if they're worth it.

So what kind of countertops do you have, and do you like them? How heat/stain/scratch resistant are they? Any tips, advice, or comments?

Organic Pest Control: Joke's On Me

2012-05-03T20:04:00.001-07:00

Determined not to have my entire garden decimated by the mysterious pest, I mixed up a lethally spicy concoction of jalapeños, habañero peppers, raw garlic and water. Supposedly if you spray the spicy slurry on the leaves, the bugs, birds, and beasts will leave your precious produce in peace.

Besides clogging the nozzle of my spray bottle, it seems to be working quite well. I positively doused everything but the lettuce, because, after all, I wouldn't want the trick to backfire (so to speak).

A few days later, Enter, Stage Left: this tantalizing recipe.

"I have pea shoots!" I yelled to my laptop. "I have walnuts, and Parmesan. I even have mint!"

Excitement got the better of me.

You can see where this is headed, of course.

"Delicate," they said. "A burst of intense pea flavor," they said.

I think the salad was good. I'll let you know when my tongue is extinguished.

Pay Extra to Avoid Confrontation?

2012-04-30T13:56:00.003-07:00

Recently I bought some Belgian Endive at the grocery store. The clerk, clearly unaware of what the vegetable was, charged me for Baby Bok Choy instead. The Bok Choy was more expensive by a bit, but I figured the difference was not worth mentioning... 10 cents or so. I remained mum.

On Saturday, we were overcharged $2.37 for something else. I thought of the avocados I've been avoiding because they're too expensive. $2.37 could buy me enough avocados for a decent sized bowl of guacamole. So we spoke up. The clerk insisted he was in the right. We calmly, kindly, but persistently maintained we were overcharged. A manager was called, the error was discovered, the clerk blamed it on the computer, the refund was given (there was no one behind us in line, by the way).

Was it worth the little scene for $2.37?

There have been dozens of small examples like this which, cumulatively, add up to quite a bit. I dislike confrontation, but I don't like squandering our hard-earned money on incompetence, either.

On the other hand, I remember back in high school when I worked a cash register myself. A woman was buying over $400 worth of tiny ceramic trinkets, each costing less than a dollar, each needing to be wrapped and carefully packed. It was discovered that a single item had been marked down by 21 cents, and I'd missed it. The arcane accounting system the store used required re-ringing up the entire purchase. "You want me to re-do the entire purchase for 21 cents?" "Well it's my 21 cents." In a very unprofessional gesture, of which I am not proud, I fished a quarter out of my pocket and plunked it on the counter. She left satisfied, and I was irked for the rest of the afternoon.

Who am I to decide that 21 cents is insignificant, but $2.37 is worth mentioning?

Do you speak up when you're overcharged? If the clerk insists he's right, do you "let it go" or do you pursue the issue? At what point is it "not worth mentioning"?

Garden War 2012: Pests Are Winning

2012-04-17T18:10:00.001-07:00

Garden pests: 2. Me: 0.

Will you look at that??

It's supposed to look like this:

That's a bed in another part of the yard.

Aren't they pretty?

They need to be thinned, but I have a really hard time plucking out perfectly healthy plants, since I have a really hard time getting anything to survive seedlinghood anyway!

'Cause seriously:

It's tragic. The garden pests wiped out my biggest radish and spinach bed!

I've yet to catch them in the act, so I don't know if it's slugs or ants. If it's slugs (which are famous for attacking this particular bed), I would hand-pick them out if they'd ever show their slimy faces! I've heard about beer traps, but who wants to let the slugs party at our expense? All you can eat and drink?

What if I'm giving 'em a bad rap and it's really ants? I know better than to try to beat those guys; they're united and indefatigable.

I'm not quite ready to whip out the heavy pesticides, but organic (i.e. do nothing) just ain't workin'.

The Bleeding Hearts next to my radishes are kind pretty apropos.

How do you keep the pests at bay?

Blessed Easter Art

2012-04-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

O wonder of your humble care for us!
O love, O charity beyond all telling,
to ransom a slave you gave away your Son!
O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ!
O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer!

-From the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil

Weigh In On Your Garden Plans

2012-04-02T16:53:00.002-07:00

Last Saturday we finally planted our vegetable garden!

Six weeks late, but the peas are in. So are the radishes, onions, lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes and beets.

By the way, in the future I'll be buying beet seed in bulk, 'cause that stuff is a total ripoff. Each seed only produces a single beet, and the $1.89 package I got contained only 16 seeds!

Anyway, in a few weeks we'll be able to plant the herbs, beans, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant (for more baba ghanoush!). I don't think we have enough room for corn, melons, squash, nor cucumbers, sadly.

Last year we had an awesome discussion about this, and inspired by your comments I planted a bunch of new things! What's going in your garden this year? Or what should I include in mine?

Fool Proof Guide to Killing Seedlings

2012-03-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

64 little tomato seedlings are now buried in their peat moss graves. The popsicle stick label markers, made in a burst of creativity, are now grim headstones... cruel reminders of happier times.

I asked a master gardener yesterday what I was doing wrong, since this happens every time.

"How often should I water them?"

"About twice a week. How often did you water them?"

Guiltily: "Twice a day."

"Go to confession, woman. That's first class herbicide."

This Week on Pinterest

2012-03-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

From my "I Want to Make - Savory" Board: {Pin} Herbed Garlic Parmesan Popcorn

From my "I Want to Make - Sweet Treats" Board: {Pin} Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

From my "Hardy Har Har" Board: {Pin}

From my "I Want to Make - Sweet Treats" Board: {Pin} Chocolate / Chocolate Truffle Easter Eggs

"I Want to Make DIY/Crafty" Board: {Pin} How to Make Countertops from Wooden Doors

My Favorite Lenten Reading

2012-03-14T13:10:00.001-07:00

We're squarely in the middle of Lent now. Three and 1/2 weeks in, three weeks and three days until Easter.

I encourage you to keep on keepin' on!

While meditating on the Stations of the Cross (especially St. Peter Julian Eymard's Eucharistic Stations) is a favorite, as is this meditation on the Passion of Christ by St. Thomas More, I'm really really soaking up the goodness of In Conversation with God. There are three little meditations each day, which are great for morning, noon and evening prayers, and they are so fruitful.

Which are your favorite readings and meditations during Lent?

Good Christian Ladies

2012-03-13T13:58:00.002-07:00

Reading the news, with its anti-Catholic anti-Christian anti-God bilge, sometimes it's so easy for me to lose hope and abandon the culture to the secular humanists. Not the least in a literally ad nauseum list of recent offenses are: the HHS mandate railroading our consciences, the legalization of same-sex so-called "marriage," the protection of hate speech against the Church as a 1st Amendment right but the pastoral letter of a bishop preaching the truth is censored by our government, and the debut of yet another God-mocking TV show, "GCB".

And yet, when I get together with like-minded people I am so encouraged. There is so much good in our midst!

I think it's really vitally important, especially in this time of persecution of true Christians, to foster deep friendships and encourage one another in our faith. There was a great article in the National Catholic Register lately about church friends being super-friends.

A sad fact is, in most parishes, just going to Mass on Sunday is unlikely to score many friends. The stampede to the parking lot after Mass possesses the frenzy and urgency of front row tickets to a Justin Bieber concert in an all-girls middle school. It's intense, I tell you, intense. So unless you join some committees, groups, or societies, it's very easy to feel horribly alone in church full of people.

But you know what? Joining committees, groups and societies isn't so hard. I've joined a parish Bible study, the religious education program, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, the funeral bakers committee, and am an aspirant to the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. I've got so many Good Christian Ladies (and gentlemen) around me that it's hard to be discouraged!

Ultimately, of course, our hope is in Christ our Lord. He has already won the victory over sin and death, amen?? "Therefore, encourage one another and build up one another, as indeed you do." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Do you belong to any church clubs, groups or societies? How do you make godly like-minded friends? How do you keep your eyes fixed on Christ and retain hope in this culture?

Appetizers: 3 Delicious Dip Recipes

2012-03-06T13:10:00.001-08:00

Bell peppers. Crackers. French bread. Carrots. Pita chips. Celery. Your Finger.

All of these are appropriate dipping apparatus for these beauts:

Hummus

1 cup dried chickpeas
several cups cold water
2 Tbsp. whey (the watery stuff on the top of yogurt and sour cream) or vinegar

Soak chickpeas in cold water and whey (or vinegar) overnight. The next morning, rinse well in a colander.

large pinch baking soda
2 cloves garlic
pinch of thyme

Put soaked, drained and rinsed chickpeas in a pot and cover with water. Add baking soda, garlic and thyme. Cook on a low/medium simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, skimming all of the foam off during the first 10-15 minutes of cooking.

When extremely tender, drain, reserving a few tablespoons of liquid.

2-3 Tablespoons of tahini sauce (ground sesame seeds, usually found next to the peanut butter in the grocery store)
1 tsp. cumin powder
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
salt to taste
garlic powder to taste

Place all ingredients except olive oil into a food processor. Process while drizzling in the olive oil. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary -- if it's too thick you can add the reserved chickpea cooking liquid to thin.

Garnish with paprika (or cayenne pepper) and drizzled olive oil.

YES, you can skip the first two steps and use canned chickpeas, but if you're going to go to the trouble of making your own hummus, why not make it from scratch? I've made it with both canned and dried chickpeas, and I much prefer dried -- there's a distinctly fresher flavor and a decadently smoother consistence.

Wow.

Now this one was a major surprise to me, because I don't like eggplant. But something magical happens on the grill and transforms the plebeian eggplant into gourmet aubergine bliss.

Baba Ghanoush

I followed the recipe exactly from Pioneer Woman Cooks, except I downsized the recipe to use 1 eggplant and I processed it in the food processor to be smooth instead of mashing it with a fork to be chunky.

I'm addicted to the stuff.

I like it so much I'm going to plant eggplant in my limited-space garden this year just so I can make more. That's love.

"Did somebody just come in from nearly dying in the desert and tell his wife 'Make me something cool and refreshing?' I mean, how else could they come up with something this light and refreshingly good?"

Apparently my sister-in-law likes this as much as I do. And I wholeheartedly agree with her sentiments. Tzatziki is a cucumber yogurt dip that belongs on every party menu. It tastes like Summer in a dish.

Tzatziki

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
2 cups plain Greek yogurt (or 2 1/2 - 3 cups regular plain yogurt, strained through a coffee filter or cheesecloth for a few hours)
juice from 1 lemon
handful chopped fresh dill (dried will do)
handful chopped fresh parsley (dried doesn't really cut it, but you could try)
handful chopped green onion (or minced regular onion)
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Chill for several hours (the flavor improves with time).

Any or all of these would be wonderful appetizers for a party, but... um... well... they're great afternoon snacks, too!

Meatless Mediterranean-Middle Eastern Meal

2012-03-05T16:06:00.003-08:00

I get weird food cravings. I crave foods I've never had.

How on earth is that even possible?

But it seriously happens to me! Last month I craved celeriac (good stuff, lemme tell you), and the month before that it was roasted parsnips, and the month before that it was fish roe (holy moly this stuff is good).

I'd never eaten any of those, but somehow the idea got into my head and I couldn't be sidetracked until I'd hunted 'em down and gotten a fix.

This month, the never-eaten-but-desperately-craving was Middle Eastern food. So over the course of a week, I put together this smorgasbord:

Tabbouleh (bulgur, parsley salad with mint, cucumbers, lemon juice, red onion, and tomatoes).

Muhamarra (toasted walnuts, roasted red peppers, pomegranate syrup... I won't be craving this one again, it was pretty funky).

Hummus (okay, I've had this one before but I NEEDED it).

Baba ghanoush (grilled eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, herb dip -- I didn't need a cracker after the first taste, just a spoon and no witnesses for my feeding frenzy).

Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves... rice, olive oil, lemon juice, currants, pine nuts, mint, parsley, spices: heaven).

Falafel: fried chickpea patties... moutherwateringly delicious, especially put into a pita pocket with kalamata olives and:

Tzatziki sauce (yogurt, lemon juice, dill, cucumbers) and...

Kefir cheese (I'd drained it in a coffee filter but had no idea it could be cheese just by draining it in a cheesecloth -- SO CREAMY DELICIOUS!!).

All in all I'd say the dinner was exactly what I was craving but had never tasted. Though it was meatless, it was about as far from a penitential meal as you can get.

Stay tuned for recipes this week!

Edible Sprouting Around the Kitchen

2012-02-28T14:49:00.000-08:00

My tomatoes are sprouting!

ML stands for "Mortgage Lifter." I'm trying to grow some new varieties of tomato this year: Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, and Brandywine.

This sprouted lentil salad is quickly becoming my favorite. A few cups of sprouted lentils, green (or red) onion, feta (tomato basil feta is really good here), black olives, garlic powder, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Last week I put some green beans in it, too, but I can only imagine the possibilities this Summer with a garden full of fresh produce.

Today I had some on the side of minestrone soup with a hunk of buttered sourdough bread. I shouldn't eat this well during Lent!

Here is some sprouting wheat.

I'll probably grind some into sprouted flour.

But most of it is going to be made into tabbouleh!

I have to dehydrate it first.

And then stick it into the blender to make bulgur.

I've never made bulgur before, so this is an experiment.

If it doesn't go well, I've always got my sprouted lentil salad.

Lenten Penances: Self-Denial or Dieting?

2012-02-21T17:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Shrove Tuesday!

One of the most common conversation starters for Catholics around this time of year is, "what are you giving up for Lent?" or more commonly, since "doing something extra" for Lent is trendy these days, "what are you doing for Lent?"

I'm in the annoying camp who loves to ask this question but dances, dodges and darts around the answer myself. It's a matter of humility, actually... and not the false kind.

"What are you doing for Lent, Jane?"

"Oh, I'm praying all 20 decades each day, donating my life savings to charity, going on a mission trip to Africa, and fasting on egg-free, gluten-free, dairy-free rice cakes until Easter. What are you doing?"

"Uum... I'm gonna 'try to lay off the sweets.'"

My Lenten regime of the past few years looks more like a diet than an observance of voluntary self-denial for the penitential season of Quadragesima. "No sweets, no white sugar, no white flour" suspiciously resembles my doctor's recommendation for weight loss.

There are many good reasons for fasting and abstinence. Among many others, 1) It's a form of loving solidarity with those who really have nothing to eat. 2) It's an act of sacrificial love for God, united with Christ's suffering on the cross for the salvation of sinners, including ourselves. 3) It's a training and strengthening of the will against sin by denying ourselves licit pleasures so we will be better able to reject illicit ones. 4) It's a purging of selfishness and an awakening to the needs of others. 5) It's an expression of trust in the providence of God, from whom all good things come. 6) Voluntarily being hungry for earthly bread makes us hunger for Christ in the Eucharist.

But... er... lose 10-15 pounds to look smashing in that new Easter dress doesn't actually fit on that list, come to think of it.

So this Lent, with the grace of God, I'm going to break with my traditional Lenten ~~diet~~ penance, hit myself where it hurts, and actually strive to fast and do penances for the right reasons. I have a hunch that slashing internet time, excess sleep, and meat, and filling the void with Adoration, almsgiving, and fasting might be better for my soul than the Atkins diet.

What are you giving up (doing?) for Lent?

The Day After Valentine's Day: For Married Ladies

2012-02-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was, as expected, beautiful. Just the two of us eating dinner at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. Dessert and board games with friends. Home to wine, cheese, and some of my favorite treats. *happy sigh*

But today? Today is the Day After Valentine's Day.

Yesterday was the day for mushiness and love and sap and all that goo. You were expected to be lovey dovey yesterday. But nobody expects anything romantic today.

Love inspires more than the law requires.

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could surprise our husbands with some extra love on this First Annual Day After Valentine's Day?

I challenge you to do one gratuitous act of babying your husband. Untie his shoes when he gets home, warm his bath towel in the dryer while he showers, fluff his pillows, jump up to refill his water glass -- something unexpected, unnecessary, and utterly loving. Simple. Little. but Gratuitous.

A Story of Life, Love, and Loss... Or Maybe Just Starting Seeds

2012-02-10T15:32:00.000-08:00

It was a fatal day in high school when the pernicious seed was planted in my tender mind: gardening would be a perfect hobby.

Sunlight. Fresh air. Relaxation. Warm earth. Good exercise. Abundant fruit.

I should have doused the idea with RoundUp the moment it germinated. But alas... it took root and my garden fantasies have proven a much more fertile ground than my backyard ever since.

It all started with 96 styrofoam cups, strategically arranged in my mother's cake pans. I plunked some virgin dirt and a few seeds in each cup, poked holes in the bottoms, set them in her cake pans with some water, and put them in the warmest brightest spot in our house I could think of: the top shelves of my closet.

Yes, dear friends, I was a closet gardener.

But my secret didn't last long. When my sister wanted to bake and couldn't find the square cake pans, I was forced to sacrifice some of my precious incubating trays for a dish of cornbread. My seedlings never forgave me. One by one the bright spring green shoots flopped over, limp as a tantruming toddler, and they never rose again.

Of the 96 seeds started, exactly one survived. I babied it in my windowsill so long it actually grew a little cherry-sized pepper. When it threatened to die, I ate the pepper and buried the plant in the compost alongside my dreams. Gardening was a bitter disappointment.

And then I married a farmer.

Suddenly, gardening sprang back up from the depths of the smoldering compost heap to the upper echelon my interests. I was a natural born gardener! I was made for this! It's in my bones!

Old fantasies die hard.

Despite the mixed success/failure of our gardens the past few years, that little seed of interest sown back in high school continues to bloom each year, and once again I find myself on this cold February afternoon...

... starting seeds.

Slow Cooked Chipotle Rubbed Pulled Pork

2012-02-06T16:10:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite recipes of all time.

We had company the other day, and in four drafts of the menu possibilities, this smoky succulent little meal made the short list every time.

It is so moist.

It is so tender.

It is so flavorful!

And best of all... it is SO EASY!!

The guests loved it, and most importantly...

... so did my husband.

I served it in some homemade flour tortillas with guacamole, sour cream, cilantro and lime juice, but I also used some leftovers the next morning in a heavenly scrambled egg taco. It would work fine on a bun, or on its own aside beans and corn.

Just make it.

Slow Cooked Chipotle Rubbed Pulled Pork

For the rub:
1 Tbsp. kosher salt (you may need more to taste after it's finished cooking, but this is for the rub)
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp. Chipotle powder

Olive oil
3-5 lb. pork shoulder roast

1. Mix all rub ingredients together in a small bowl.

2. Pour 1/2 the rub onto the shoulder roast (in a crock pot or dutch oven) and drizzle several tablespoons of olive oil on top. Rub thoroughly onto the top and sides (adding more oil if it's too pasty). Flip the roast over and repeat on the other side, being sure to use all of the rub.

3. Put lid on crock pot or dutch oven. Cook on low crockpot setting (or 200° oven) for 12-18 hours, or until the meat shreds easily with a fork. There should be no resistance whatsoever. Taste and adjust seasoning (adding any or all of the rub ingredients). Shred and serve.

Canned chipotle peppers are, in my opinion, way stronger and hotter than the powder. I'm sure you could easily use the canned ones if that's what you've got, but I couldn't tell you how many to use. The powdered version has never failed me.

16 Friday Funnies

2012-02-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

Because we all need a good laugh or two... or 16:

All of the pictures above are from Pinterest.

All of the pictures below are from a great Facebook page called "*Very Clean* Funny Pics.

Happy Friday!

Wordless Wednesday: Bible History Lesson... or Football Game Plan?

2012-02-01T10:13:00.000-08:00

My Quandry: Detachment and Desires

2012-01-30T15:38:00.000-08:00

Many a chilly afternoon I can be found staring out the window, dreaming about our future dream house. The layout. The details. The paint colors. The furniture. The style. The projects. The parties. The guests. The cozy family evenings.

The truth is, I like nice things. I like pretty things. I like good quality things. And I'm willing to spend extra money for items with any (and preferably all) of those attributes.

Manuel Barthold (1874-1947) Saying Her Prayers

I don't want luxury, mind you. My dream house doesn't include a sauna, marble columns, or niches for Grecian statues. Opulence and luxury are not the goal, but items of good quality and beauty are important to me.

And yet I struggle to reconcile this with detachment preached by the saints. I've been reading a lot of the Carmelite saints, lately, and without exception the message is: detachment from worldly goods and goals is necessary for advancement in the spiritual life.

I am detached, I think, insofar as my world wouldn't come crashing down with the china cabinet; they're just things. But I'm attached insofar as I'd probably immediately set about replacing them because I like entertaining on pretty dishes. I like people (including myself and my husband) to experience beauty and family comfort when they visit my home.

I know it's not necessarily sinful, but is it intrinsically contrary to the spiritual life to work towards buying nice and pretty things, to owning a home that's not just a roof over our heads but a little haven of beauty as well? Should I be happy to buy a used mobile home and 70's Goodwill furniture and spend my energies and money on loftier goals?

How do I know when I own possessions and when they own me? How do I know if I put my hope in Christ or in a new comforter that I'm hoping to buy? How do I reconcile detachment with worldly desires?

If you know the answer, let me know.

Fattest Birds of the Season

2012-01-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

When it gets cold, birds fluff up their feathers to stay warm.

These three must be pretty cold.

Or rather, they look pretty warm all puffed up in their winter jackets.

They found a nice warm spot in the sun... lookin' pretty cozy.

Oh my goodness... does it get any fatter??

Enjoy your nap, cozy fat one!

Uh oh... there's a new gang of fattest birds in town!

Have you ever seen such round quail??

Good thing for these plump little roasters it's not quail season, 'cause they look like mighty fine eatin'!

Our Love Story, Part XVI

2012-01-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since the last Love Story installment. Now would be a great time to reread the other parts, or at least the last episode...

~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~^*~
The morning after the dance, I didn’t know what to expect. Had the ice finally broken now that he'd asked me to dance? Would he flirt openly? Would he say outright that he liked me? Would he go back to his polite distance? I couldn't meet his eye at the breakfast table for fear of blushing and revealing too much of my heart to him, but I needn't have worried because he'd buried himself in the newspaper.

"It's gonna be another cold one," he uttered.

"Yeah, no kidding," I thought darkly, feeling utterly ignored, but thankfully I managed to mutter an, "Oh really? Well, what do farmers do when it's cold?"

"Prune trees."

"How do you know what to cut?"

"Well, first..." he started, looking delighted to have a willing ear, "Well, you kind of..." he paused after some wide hand gestures, "Well, you want to make sure you..." a pregnant pause -- "Well, it's kind of easier to show than to explain."

"Can I come?" I offered.

"You really want to? It's pretty cold out there."

"Of course!" I said, jumping at the chance to get private lessons in any subject.

He grabbed two sets of gloves, goggles, headphones, and his keys and out to the orchard we drove.

There are long rows of trees in this cherry orchard, and the ones we were going to prune were right in the middle through a jungle of underbrush, low branches and already-pruned limbs. I couldn't possibly show him how out of shape I was, but the blasted cold are showed every breath as a puff of smoke so I starved for oxygen and stifled my gasps as we treked through the forest. At last we arrived and I panted into my coat, feigning a cough. He'd been carrying the gear and a 10 lb. pole saw but barely showed any signs of breathing.

*SWOON.*

"Alright, so now you can see... you want sun to reach the inside, not too many high limbs, not too many leader branches..." he explained and I nodded, as though it were basic arithematic.

"Here, why don't you just watch me do a few?"

"YES!"

He sliced into the limbs as though they were butter. He swiftly and deftly carved the tree into a work of art. Then another, and another. I couldn't discern any rhyme nor reason to the limbs he'd slated for removal, but it seemed second nature to him.

"Here, you try."

First I donned his headphones, which promptly fell of my head. Then I put on his men's extra large gloves, which fit like oven mitts. I saved the ugly goggles for last, knowing full well I'd look like a fly with those giant things on. Thus attired, I was handed the 8' long pole saw.

If you've never seen one, it is what it sounds like, a chainsaw on a long pole -- the most unbalanced, unwieldy and dangerous implement ever invented. I nearly fell over from its weight.

My task: to weave through a maze of hot electrical wires above my head with a sword on the end of a 20' jousting stick to butter a Ritz cracker, while wearing oven mitts and an astronaut helmet. Or at least that's what it felt like.

This was my chance to impress him, though, so I revved up the chainsaw and started hacking away. The first few cuts were pure magic -- I'd selected all of the right branches to prune and had weaved through the limbs (next year's profits) to adeptly hew them off. Then I got a cramp in my right elbow. OOOOOUCH! I was frozen in place with the heavy clunky power tool over my head and got the chain stuck in a limb. The cramp passed and I unwedged the chain.

Furiously upset with myself, I took off those awful oversized ~~oven mitts~~ gloves and rolled up my coatsleeves. The headhpones fell off as I tossed my head back, but I went back at that tree with a fiery passion. In my furor, the saw slipped and took off two huge vigorous branches with it. I looked at Mr. Amazing in HORROR! He smiled warmly, shrugged his broad shoulders and offered a few pointers.

My arms were aching under the weight of the saw, my ears were ringing from its loud buzz, and my face was burning with hot shame. This was NOT going as planned.

I funneled my frustration into calculated precision and bungled my way through a few more limbs before declaring the job, "DONE."

When I stepped back to survey the ~~damage~~ handiwork, I was hardly surprised but thoroughly humiliated to see that the once-thriving fruit tree looked just like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

"I'm so sorry. It looks awful!"

"Ah, don't worry, it'll grow back next year."

His patience, good naturedness, strength and gentleness almost overwhelmed me. All I could think was, "Oh my gosh, you're PERFECT. Will you marry me!?"

Thankfully, all I meekly uttered was, "Will you do the next one?"

After watching him muscle through several more trees, we went back to the house for lunch.

Mention was made of a sledding trip for the next day with Miriam, her sister Katherine, and two of their nieces. A day away from Mr. Amazing would be just the thing; a little breather from the romantic tension (or lack thereof).

The next morning, I'd already packed when Miriam lowered the bombshell: "Oh, I'm not going, I don't feel well. My brother is going to drive you all instead. It'll be fun!"

I wanted to strangle and kiss her at the same time. I felt like the whole family had conspired to set us up. But oh, how good of them to do so!

"Ready?" he said, keys and a sack lunch in hand.

To be continued...

Downsized Dreams

2012-01-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

It's cold, raining, and threatening to snow. I'm outside with loppers, frozen hands, smarting cheeks and a runny nose doing manual labor.

Rewind a week.

I was inside, snuggly warm, sipping hot tea, gushing over the hundreds of fruit tree varieties in a new, crisp, brightly colored mail-order garden catalog.

"Five apple trees, 4 pears, 2 peaches, 2 nectarines, 2 plums, 2 apricots..." I merrily hummed the order as I highlighted each appetizing selection. "Hm.. I need kiwis, honeyberries, sea berries, cranberries, elderberries, gooseberries, quince... a variety of nut trees... a few dozen each of raspberry, blackberry and bluberry bushes..."

It didn't take long before I'd highlighted myself into an $890 corner (before taxes, shipping and handling).

Burn.

I furiously schemed how I could raise the money for my fantasy farm in time to place an order, at least for next year. It took a little finagling of the budget, but I know I can do it.

Fast forward to the frozen scene.

What am I doing? Helping my husband prune a tree. A semi-dwarf fruit tree. One. Uno. A single tree. And it's hard work. And it's cold. Did I mention my frozen fingers?

"You mean I'd have to do this on 32 trees? Every year?"

Who wants honeyberries anyway?

The Week I Lived in My Dream House: A SHOCKING Discovery

2012-01-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

For part of this past Christmas vacation, my husband and I spent a week visiting some dear friends in the southeast. We stayed with one of his good friends; a successful businessman bachelor, a very generous man devoted to Catholic ministry.

I've been looking forward to this trip for some time, because besides being excellent company, this particular friend just finished his own 3,500 square foot dream house, and his tastes exactly coincide with my own.

Panoramic water views on multiple wraparound porches. Balconies. Verandas. Crown molding on cathedral ceilings. Teak floors. Industrial kitchen. Custom tiling. Marble counters. Craftsman woodworking. Waterfall walk-in shower. Custom touches and luxury finishes everywhere. Walls of original artwork. Imported furniture. Persian rugs. A complete guest kitchen!

No expense was spared, and yet somehow it is not pretentious, gaudy, or overdone.

Tasteful. Elegant. Classic. Beautiful. The floorplan is utterly original but eminently practical. It's exactly my style and everything I would want or dream of in a house, down to the bronze towel racks.

The first day was heaven. We sipped wine and tasted cheeses and dried fruits before cruising downtown for the Christmas lights display. When we came back to the dream house, we had jerk chicken grilled over a wood fire in his enormous stone chimney. After dinner, we rushed to do the dishes in his two-drawer power wash dishwasher; a piece of fine china out of place in this magazine house stuck out like a sore thumb. "This is livin'" I thought.

On the third day, our host departed for his own vacation with family in the northeast, so we had the whole dream house to ourselves! We watched a movie on his hidden but ascending-from-out-of-the-solid-wood-furniture flat screen plasma TV, were duly impressed by the hidden surround-sound theater speakers, and leaned back on his plush European couch. I didn't dare put my feet on this couch; it was much too nice. "Wow, what a life," I thought, eating Blue Bell ice cream on a silver spoon.

On the fifth day, I hollered upstairs to my husband. "Watcha doin' up there?"

No response. "That's strange... he always answers me right away."

I walked up the polished hardwood stairs to find him happily frying up an omelet on the six burner gas range. "Oh, he must not have heard me."

That evening, after a taxing day of socializing, I went down to bed early.

Something wasn't right. My husband wasn't on the other side of the wall. He wasn't within earshot. He was hardly in the same zip code. He was in the far corner of the upstairs, which may as well have been 1/2 mile away.

"This house is too big," I murmured to the 12 foot ceiling. "And I'm too comfortable," I grumbled between the 1,500 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. "And it's too nice," I sighed as I looked for a place other than the Lebanon-cedar nightstand to rest my water glass on.

Then it dawned on me in a flash of sunglare-in-the-rearview-mirror light. Trust me, the irony of the realization is not lost on me.

My perfect dream house... the exact fulfillment of all of my tastes...

"It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here."