St. Peter’s Day

Ever since I learned there is a St. Peter’s fish I have tried to get ahold of some or prepare another white fish for St. Peter’s Day. It is often hot this time of year and fish doesn’t require that much time in the oven so it seems like a good plan. With the quarantine this year we have been totally cooped up and feeling a bit stir crazy. One of Deuce’s Bffs has a family beach house and they were able to shelter in place there for a few months. They are back in town now and I casually mentioned that if they ever have any midweek cancellations that we would live to rent it. I went a couple years ago with my grade school girlfriends and have been wanting to take Mr. W there. Lucky for us they did have a cancellation so we were able to spend 4 nights here.

I had already picked out my recipes for St. Peter’s Day so I decided that we could just prepare it at the coast instead, fresh fish is always appropriate when you are so close to the ocean. The pickings were a little slim in Manzanita as well as a couple other fish markets in nearby towns so we substituted halibut instead. We made this fish and I found this tahini sauce to accompany it. It was my first time making the sauce and it was SO good! Little Miss helped to make the sauce.

We also made an orzo salad to go with the fish and fresh fruit since we knew the kids wouldn’t eat the 

. 

We also bought a marionberry pie from the local bakery.



In nearby Arch Cape there is the St. Peter the Fisherman parish. T-Bone and I have been there before for Mass on another vacation. I did not get the kids up early enough to go to daily Mass, but we did drive by and enjoyed the artwork outside.

There is so much wildlife to enjoy at our friends’ house. We’ve been seeing tons of humming birds, some bunnies and chipmunks, and today I went to sit in a quiet corner to take a zoom call and discovered a pair of deer right outside!

St. Valentine's Week

We always have fondue for celebrate St. Valentine's Day. We usually only do the cheese course and the chocolate course, maybe one day we will all be hungry enough to need the meat and broth course. I've gotten way into the Emma Bridgewater recently and with several different heart combos I decided they would be the perfect dishes to use for our dinner. Mr. W even brought me some roses. I went to See's Candy with Deuce to get boxes of chocolates and brought this pretty heart shaped chocolate box to be refilled for Mr. W's gift from me. The clerks at the shop and the man in line behind us were totally impressed with our box.

Little Miss was very helpful getting our table set.

For dessert Mr. W had gone a little overboard and bought pound cake, rice krispy treats, and waffles for dipping. :)

Deuce has also been really into using Muffy to decorate in the family room. We picked out a gently used heart dress from ebay. We couldn't find any good Hoppy outfits so we just kept her in part of her Christmas dress.

The next day T-Bone had a basketball game near my mother's house so we all went to her house first for some tea and breakfast.

Kid schedules are crazy busy so it was a couple days before we had a chance to bake and decorate cookies. I was hoping to serve these for a Poetry Tea, but didn't manage to get that together either. Cookies on the go taste just as yummy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's all about food and family, and most importantly there is a heavy focus of pie. We weren't hosting a huge group this year so I only doubled (instead of quadrupling) the cranberry daiquiri recipe and made both the pies. Last year my grandmother finally consented to moving into a retirement community and has no regrets in the decision. There is a restaurant downstairs where she can dine with other residents and I think she can even have food sent up to her room. Everything about the community is so convenient for her, so convenient that she is reluctant to want to leave, even for holidays and special occasions. Her knee really troubles her so she would rather avoid stairs, and most of her family have homes that require a few steps up. As a result we are now a smaller party that can all sit at one table together.

I love how the pecan pie is all puffed up when you remove it from the oven.

Everyone can fit in the dining room this year. I set the table with the Moonlight Rose dishes and the french crystal goblets. Did I mention that we were burgled during our summer vacation? They stole our sterling silver that we received for our wedding, among other things. It was pretty sad setting the table this year without it. I filled in with a set of silverplate flatware that I inherited from one of my great grandmothers (and that they saw, but did not steal.)

I always use this collection of squirrel and quail place card holders and this year I found some pretty harvest themed place cards while Little Miss and I were out shopping. (And I remembered that I bought them AND where I put stored them!)

Deuce was a good helper while I et the table and was very complimentary of my work. He was inspired to make a centerpiece for our table: a turkey of legos. I love it! I think he is so creative.

He and the others also loved to help we dress up the Muffy and Hoppy dolls for the holidays.

Martinmas Lantern Walk

I have posted before about how I discovered Martinmas in a book about old fashioned, Victorian holidays while I was living in NYC. Obviously I wanted to incorporate this into my domestic church after I had children. Interestingly 3 of the mothers in my online mommy group live in Germany right now due to work or deployments. I love hearing about the popular holidays that they and their July 2013 children get to celebrate while living there. Martinmas is one of those popularly celebrated holidays and their children have lantern walk celebrations at school. It is so nice to think about the universal church and doing an activity here that people are doing on another continent.

I used to just take flashlights with us on lantern walks if I even managed to get us outside. In recent years I have put together lanterns for the children. I use fancy jam jars, construction paper, used tissue paper, white glue, and wire. First I cut out the construction paper and tissue paper in strips that will fit around the circumference of the jar. (I could have taken a lot of time measuring out something that would fit perfectly, but I haven't done that. I just cut a straight strip knowing that I will have to trim off the edges on the bottom and that there will be some overlap where they fit together. We use these once a year in the dark so simple is good enough for me on these.) Next we use the glue in a thin layer on the outside of the glass jar and apply the colored tissue paper to it. Then I have them draw out some designs on the construction paper that either they or I will cut out. I try to recommend a cross for Jesus or an M for St. Martin.  We put glue on the back of the construction paper and apply it to the outside of the jar on top off the tissue paper. I use a rubber band or two to hold the paper in place until the glue dries completely. Lastly I pass them off to Mr. W and have him cut and wrap the wire around the top rim of the jam jar and form a little handle on top.

Last year I remember that the tea light candles kept blowing out during our lantern walk which totally frustrated the older kids. The reason why I put the paper on the outside of the glass was so that I could have an open flame on the inside. Anyway, this year I got smart and put battery operated tea-lights inside. That eliminated that complaint.

I suggested that we stop by one of T-Bone's friend's house on our walk to say hello, but he was mortified by that idea. When I said, why not, they are Catholic too?, he said, yes, but they aren't Catholic dorks.  I probably should have been offended by that, but I couldn't help but laugh. He has me totally pegged! :D

Mr. W opted to stay home and make a nice dinner for us instead of joining us on the lantern walk. Most sources suggest goose for Martinmas too, Cooking With the Saints has a recipe for duck, but we decided that a pork loin would be nice and seasonal. The Feast Day Cookbook has a recipe for cinnamon apples for St. Martin's Day so he made that as an accompaniment. The children's lanterns make a nice table decoration.

After dinner I read the book Snow on Martinmas to them. It mentions lantern walks in there too so I am not the only dork.  

Pumpkins, cider, and poetry

The Freddy's had a huge display of season treats including pumpkin donuts from Franz bakery. I could not resist that kind of temptation and, therefore, decided to have another Poetry Tea. I bought a jug of fresh apple cider to round it all out.

We had cheese, crackers, pretzels, and salami to accompany the pumpkin donuts.  I asked the boys to bring down their Shel Silverstein books; each has received one from us on their 7th birthday. I had some Mother Goose verse out for Little Miss to read aloud from too.

This poem about perseverance from The Children's Book of Virtues edited by W.J. Bennett spoke to me. Homeschooling is a significant challenge.

The best part about this is that the kids really like reading these silly poems aloud. The books were still on the table tonight from yesterday's tea and the boys were still taking turns reading aloud.

Celebrating St. Francis

St. Francis Day is a particularly special day to celebrate in our house. Little Miss's school was doing a blessing of the animals at the end of the school day so the boys and I packed up the bunnies to take them in to be blessed.  There were a lot of dogs, but our bunnies were very popular with so many of the students. Deuce found a beetle in the grass while we were waiting and was hoping Fr. would bless the little beetle too.





I'm not a dog person, but I enjoyed this St. Bernard representing on St. Francis Day.


Mr. W is back at his college celebrating 100 years of his fraternity chapter so I threw together a very light supper and we ate inside, I just did not have it in me to set up a picnic in the yard while solo parenting for 4 days. We always have a meatless meal to celebrate St. Francis and tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches is a crowd pleaser here. I don't even follow a recipe for the soup anymore, as long as I have a big can of crushed tomatoes I can pull something together.


Fortunately the kids were super helpful and enjoyed decorating the table for our meal. T-Bone cut some hydrangeas for me to arrange for the centerpiece and put out the fruits. (Hence the stickers still on them.) Deuce had requested pears for the holiday so I bought several options for him.

As everyone finished their meal I read St. Francis and the Animals by Leo Politi and my autographed copy of St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Return of Michaelmas

"Netherfield Park is let at last... he is to take possession before Michaelmas..."

Pride And Prejudice is my favorite Jane Austen novel, but lines like this were always so perplexing to me as a child. When the heck is Michaelmas? What time of year are they supposed to be laying out for me? And what on earth is Michaelmas anyway? This old fashion, English ordering of the year was as lost to me as any French word ever inserted into a story but not translated (my only regret to learning Spanish in high school.)

It has been a really long time since we have celebrated Michaelmas by roasting a goose. In looking back through my notes it was 2008 the year after we had our oldest child. Parenthood took a toll on us I guess! I have made the Michaelmas pie in the a couple of times and done a simple tea party rather than the full dinner. But I was really missing the full goose experience. Since St. Michael's Day fell on the weekend this year I felt like I had a better chance of talking Mr. W into roasting a goose. He didn't say no when I first suggested it so I took that as a yes. Earlier this week I bought a 9 lb frozen goose at New Seasons which was comical because the man behind the butcher counter acted as if he had never had anyone request a goose before, and was I sure I really wanted it because they are frozen, they'd have to go all the way upstairs to retrieve it from the freezer, and I would have to wait at least 5 minutes. "okay"

Because I knew Mr. W did not want this to have a lot of fan fare I did not invite anyone over figuring we would just eat the goose ourselves and probably have some left overs. Then yesterday morning he decided that it would be too much goose for us so he invited the Fs over for dinner when he saw them at the tweens' soccer game.

As I mentioned I had to review my notes from my Michaelmas binder and fortunately found a few former menus. We revised it slightly this year and served:

• Gordon's roast goose (Mr. W really enjoyed this recipe vs the Irish recipe. he liked the cavity stuffed with citrus and the addition of citrus zest on the skin.)
• Potato apple stuffing (From The Traditional Irish Wedding Book; we actually serve this as a dressing, baked in a casserole dish rather than in the bird's cavity.)
• Brussels' sprouts with bacon and cream
• sautéed carrots
• homemade pickles, dried apricots, almonds, fresh blackberries (for the finicky eaters among us)
• two bread options
• Michaelmas pie (I reduced the cloves by half because in the past I have found it overwhelming)

By the time I found two printed out recipes for for bannock I learned that Mrs. F had volunteered to bring both bread and a cocktail to share. I would really like to try this out next year.

The Michaelmas daisies I have in the garden are beginning to fill in nicely although I did not water enough this summer so some were looking a bit spent. But I was able to put this whole arrangement together from my own garden so I am quite pleased. Maybe one day we will be able to afford to have the last of the laurel hedge removed and my favorite bunch of Michaelmas daisies won't look so leggy. I paired the fresh arrangement with the original wheat sheaf arrangement. And I still have this sweet old Michaelmas daisy fairy postcard. 

I have served carrots in the past, based on my old menus, but unlike blackberries, I could not remember what was the significance. Today I learned about Carrot Sunday which I love! This would be good motivation for me to plan carrot seeds as part of our kitchen garden/homeschool science class and then harvest them on the Sunday before Michaelmas. And maybe learn the ceili dance!

An Introduction into Poetry Teas

I wouldn't say that I am overwhelmed by homeschooling, but I am certainly researching homeschooling tips and tricks anytime I get a chance. Sometimes that might take me down a rabbit hole. One such hole was the concept of Poetry Teatime. My curiosity was piqued; this takes something very near and dear to my heart, tea time, with something I cannot stand, poetry. I have never been able to understand poetry, my brain just doesn't work that way. So much so that the few books of poetry we have been gifted have sat on bookshelves unread by me to the children. (And I am sometimes guilty of donating them to charity.) Now this homeschooling tangent had brought me to a website essentially challenging me to not pass my bias along to the children. And it could be fun for all my children, both homeschooled and traditionally schooled because tea time snacks has always been a part of our after school lives. If nothing else it would give me a chance to set a pretty table.

I began by perusing bookshelves in everyone's rooms looking for any book that might technically contain poetry, or at the very least have a nice cadence. Once this pile of books was assembled it sat on a spare chair in the dining room awaiting me to get it together to actually host the tea time, after school activity schedules are hard. Finally yesterday I found that perfect combination of free time and beautiful weather so I decided that our inaugural Poetry Tea could be held outside. In recent years I've gotten sucked into Emma Bridgewater pottery and I just splurged on a big teapot during a sale so I decided to set the tea table with them. A little bit of fruit, a box of Ikea alphabet cookies, and apple cider were enough to satisfy the children into sitting for me to read aloud.

I was pleased that all of them read a couple poems as well. We talked about authors they might know of who write poetry and eventually they landed on Shel Silverstein. Both the boys have one of his books and I encouraged them to bring those to our next tea.

This is the collection of books that we read:
All For Love by Tasha Tudor
Hi, Koo! by Jon J. Muth
The Springs Of Joy by Tasha Tudor
The Real Mother Goose

Sapphire & Silver Tea

A few years ago while I was reading an issue of Victoria magazine I was inspired to throw a sapphire tea for my mother's birthday. I can't even remember now what the article was about specifically, blue and white dishes? Gem stones? Blue crystal? whatever it was I decided that it would be perfect to throw her a sapphire themed tea for her 65th birthday. I even ordered more cobalt blue biot crystal to fill out the set we received as a wedding gift. But then somehow she and I never scheduled it. I brought up the idea again this summer and convinced her to do it the afternoon before she and some of her girl friends would leave on a girls' trip because her best friend, who lives in Canada, would be in town.

I set the table with a white, chrysanthemum patterned linen table cloth, Moonlight Rose china, silver, and the blue Crystal.

I had purchased a set of 6 silver glittered taper candles at some point and fortunately was able to find them where I had stashed them in time to use them in my heirloom glass candlesticks.

The white and blue flowers I bought at the grocery store and arranged myself.


Now that I am homeschool and this is technically a school day I decided to use as much ready made treats as possible.

Sapphire & Silver Tea Menu

Murchie’s Ms. Grey black tea

~

Curried chicken salad on Blues Bread

Tillamook cheddar and garden tomato on white bread

Cucumber cups with dill cream and smoked salmon

~

Crumpets with strawberry jam or salal and blueberry preserve

~

Blueberry & oatmeal bars

Assorted La Provence macarons

Assorted JaCiva chocolate truffles

Fresh blackberries, blueberries & mangoes

I also made a signature cocktail, I wanted something blue AND with Sapphire gin, and settled on the Sapphire Alpine. I made a huge pitcher full and it was way too much. The Boomers did not drink nearly enough of that as I had hoped! I served it in martini glasses in the drawing room while I was assembling the tea sandwiches.


This tea was a lot of fun to put together and my mother, her friends, and her sister really enjoyed it which made it all worth while. I was so tired afterward though being on my feet for several hours serving and pouring out hot tea. I went to be early last night!