… and these Thy gifts …

I’ve been on a 40-day fast from Facebook, until July 29. Now I’m considering extending the fast to other online activities. I’m starting to get depressed seeing all the hatred and vitriol on the ‘net directed against Christ and His Church. Heartbreaking stuff. Sniff. I know anger isn’t the answer. And I’m increasingly getting upset and frustrated…. and yes, angry. So I’m taking a break. At least a week. Maybe 40 days. I need to get back to more prayer and less reading, esp. of current events. Sigh.

Yeah, yeah. A Catholic’s gotta do what a Catholic’s gotta do. I’d like to invite all of you to pray with me… for all who do not know Christ, for all who do not understand and choose to hate anyway, for all of us who are trying to fight the good fight, for all of us to be able to respond in love and charity, no matter what.

Prayer for Conversion

‘Bye for a bit.

No Comments »

from Catholics Asked to Tell Their Bishops to End Ban on Contraception

The danger was significant when unintended pregnancy and maternal mortality were the predominant risks, but with the advent of HIV and AIDS, it is essential that individual Catholics speak out. Catholics for Choice will be campaigning around the anniversary and for the rest of the year.

Choice people, listen up: contraception does not prevent HIV and AIDS. These are behavior-related problems. Condoms and birth control pills won’t stop their spread if people are not taught that only abstinence from pertinent behaviors (multiple partners, drug use, homosexual behavior) guarantees immunity from these diseases. Come on, you guys are much smarter than that. If anything, contraception gives people false security — please do not mislead them, especially our youth. That statement up there is a LIE and you know it. If you’re going to insist on giving people a choice, at least make sure it’s an INFORMED CHOICE — informed by the TRUTH.

No Comments »

Well, it’s official. The Summer Cold has invaded our family. Three of us are down. Tonight we allowed our 12-year-old to skip the family Rosary so he can sleep early — we were praying quite late because Dad and I got home around 9:30 from our dinner date (celebrating 18 years and 7 months of wedded bliss, yeah, baby!!). Well, the 6-yo who got it first pleaded that she couldn’t lead her decade because she’s got a severe case of the sniffles. Her Hail Mary’s sounded like this:

[sniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif] Hail Mary, full of grace [sniffffffffffffffff], the Lord is with thee.

9-yo volunteered to take over and we were grateful… problem is, he’s got the sleepies, and his Hail Mary’s sounded like this:

Hail Ma[yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwnnn]ry, full of grace, the Loooo[yawwwwwwwwnnnnnn]rd is with thee….

it was one slow Rosary, I tell you. I wonder if the Saints who were hovering near were stifling yawns as well. Wait, there isn’t sleepiness in Heaven, is there?

2 Comments »

for Paco, but Aisa may also use it after graduation — I dropped the ball on formal Logic and Philosophy studies a couple of years back. After doing Angelicum Academy’s Harry Stottlemeier, we used several books from The Critical Thinking Company. I wasn’t confident enough in my own ability to teach logic, but the Traditional Logic books (and subsequent books) look really good. I’m excited again. And mom’s excitement sometimes can make or break a particular course of study!

… primariliy to help us out with our Henle Latin studies. We finished Latina Christiana 1 & 2 last year) and have moved on with Henle, but the going has been sloooooow….. I’m hoping the study guide will put me back in the right frame of mind to tackle learning and teaching Latin at the same time. Greek has been put off for a bit…. but maybe we can do it as a fun study while we’re in Italy next year.

Yay, a history spine we can be excited about again! For the past several years, we’ve been using The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia for our spine, with various living books as supplements. But it’s been dry and dragging recently…. I think having the book almost in tatters doesn’t help. At least it’s been well-loved. But it is time for a change, and I’ve been looking forward to using this book from the Catholic Schools Textbook Project.

I’ve been doing the planning and buying piecemeal for the upcoming schoolyear. The pregnancy virtually stopped all formal schooling the past couple of months. Thank goodness we school year round or we’ll never catch up. So now I still have to send in the assessment tests, put together the kids’ portfolios, overhaul the study (argh, started in March and currently at a standstill), and THEN do our planning right after… at this rate, we’ll be back to normal schedule by… hmmm…. October . But hey, that’s why we’re homeschoolers, right? We make up our own schedules. And anyway, the senior is still planning to graduate by August. I can’t imagine the feeling — being DONE with a schoolyear just as we’re beginning… LOL. Should be fun. I’m not sure how the younger ones will like that. DD-17 will be planning her graduation party while they have to work-work-work…

No Comments »

My hubby does the taxes in our household — bless his heart — since our move to Ohio our taxes have been less complicated and we haven’t needed H&R Block like we did in the past, but still, I wouldn’t want to do it myself. Fortunately, I’m one of those people who really doesn’t have to worry about the taxes — hubby takes care of it — when there’s a refund, he knows what to do with it; when we have to pay taxes, he knows how to take care of that. But neither of us knew how much of our tax dollars ended up with organizations/businesses that we absolutely do not want to support HAD WE THE CHOICE. Talk about blood boiling. Not a very fun state of mind to be in in 90-degree Ohio weather, I can tell ya.

Want more? Here’s the Stephanie Simon article: Extending the Brand: Planned Parenthood Hits Suburbia. Read it and weep. If you like charts, look here.

They’re not satisfied with Black Genocide, now they’re going after the affluent too. I wonder who’s next on the list. Asians? Mexicans? Who knows…

Note: The Black Genocide website has some very chilling facts on its introductory page, but it only stays for a minute, then it takes you to the homepage, but nobody should miss it, so I’m quoting here:

The purpose of this website is to reveal the disproportionate number of black babies exterminated by the abortion industry in America.

Although black women constitute only 6% of the population, they comprise 36% of the abortion industry’s clientele. The leading abortion providers have chosen to exploit blacks by locating 94% of their abortuaries in urban neighborhoods with high black populations.

This high rate of abortion has decimated the black family and destroyed black neighborhoods to the detriment of society at large.

Combine that with Mr. Unrestricted Abortion Obama …. and what have we got, America?

You know what frustrates me? Several Catholic teens I know are not sure they want to support Obama or McCain. And yet they are very supportive of organizations like Save Darfur and Invisible Children. I love these kids to death, but man, sometimes I just want to shake them. America needs their support. America has dying children, and sometimes I think we just don’t see them.

And let’s not forget that PP’s so good at this, it’s even “reaching out” to other countries (International PP got its start in India, but got funding from PP USA early on:

Is that scary or what?

ETA:

Wanna learn more about Margaret Sanger?

Margaret Sanger, Founder of Planned Parenthood, In Her Own Words
The Truth About Margaret Sanger

2 Comments »

1 16-oz pkg extra-firm tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes and patted dry with paper towels
1/3 cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
vegetable oil for deep-frying, I used safflower

Your choice of sauce for dipping: Thai chili sauce is good, as is plum sauce or peanut sauce or a mix of soy sauce-sugar-sesame oil

In a bowl, combine sesame seeds, cornstarch, flour, and sugar. Toss tofu cubes gently in the mixture to coat. Heat oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, drop in tofu cubes gently, and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels, and serve warm with dipping sauce. My kids eat this with rice or noodles, but they’re great for appetizers as well!

No Comments »

My uncle’s wife who’s from Pangasinan, Philippines, makes a similar dish, except that hers is more a veggie dish, with the emphasis on the snow peas. She also adds shelled peas and cashews to hers, a nice variation to this dish.

Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry (Cha How Lang Tao Nung B’kong)

adapted from a recipe in The Elephant Walk Cookbook

For 4-6 servings

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 pound medium shrimp, shelled, deveined and butterflied
1 pound snow peas, topped, tailed and de-stringed
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry until just beginning to turn color, about 15 seconds. Add shrimp, snow peas, fish sauce and sugar. Continue stir-frying until shrimp are just cooked through and snow peas are crisp-tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Season with the freshly ground black pepper. Serve hot.

2 Comments »

1/4 cup coconut cream
2 tablespoons red curry paste (I’ll have a recipe up sometime)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups pineapple wedges (fresh preferred, but canned is acceptable)
lobster tail meat from a 1 1/2-2 lb. lobster, sliced into 1/2 inch medallions (you may used precooked)
3 makrut/kaffir lime leaves, 2 torn apart and 1 shredded
1 tablespoon tamarind puree
1 cup Thai sweet basil leaves
1 large red hot pepper, sliced finely

Simmer coconut cream in large skillet or saucepan, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until oil separates. Add curry paste and stir well; cook for 2-3 minutes. Add fish sauce and sugar and mix well, cooking another 4-5 minutes. The mixture should be darker in color now; if not, keep cooking a few more minutes until color has turned. Add coconut milk and pineapple. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until pineapple has softened. Add lobster tail meat, lime leaves, tamarind puree and basil leaves. Cook 5-6 more minutes or until lobster is just cooked through. Garnish with basil leaves and hot pepper slices, and serve hot over rice.

No Comments »

Two of my favorite writers — Rod Dreher and Michael Pollan — talk food. Must read!

Some helpful resources:

Slow Food USA
Local Harvest
Eat Wild

And information:

a YouTube Playlist: Torn From the Land: The story of the take over of American farmers’ land by financial manipulation of world grain, interest, prices. The end result was the acquisition of family farms by corporations for 5 cents on the dollar.

Plus, how timely is this? Archbishop Migliore: Investing in Sustainable Agriculture

No Comments »

This Japanese tofu dish is a modern rendition that I found in “Japanese Cooking” by Kazuko and Fukuoka (published by Barnes and Noble) — the combination, surprisingly (to me), works, especially the the use of butter and garlic chips. Two thumbs up from my kids. I’ve adapted it to suit our measurements here (US).

1 16-oz package extra-firm tofu, drained, wrapped in paper towels and weighted down with something heavy to remove excess moisture — prepare this about half an hour before cooking

For marinating:
1/4 cup chopped scallions
5 tablespoons sake
5 tablespoons tamari soy sauce
5 tablespoons mirin

2 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin lengthwise
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4 inch “pats”

Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl. Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes after draining, and marinate for 15 minutes, folding occasionally to distribute flavors.

When ready to cook, drain tofu, reserving marinade. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet. Add garlic slices and stir-fry until golden; remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Add 2 butter pats to the oil, then the tofu cubes. Fry tofu until a nice golden brown and crisp on the edges/sides, about 5-8 minutes on each side. Add the reserved marinade and fold gently. Remove from heat. To serve in the Japanese manner, arrange tofu cubes on a plate. Pour a bit of the sauce over, and top with a pat of butter and a few garlic chips. (The butter melted before I could take a pic!)

1 Comment »