- About
- 169 Pinoy Foodie Blogs
- Recipe Index, In Progress
- Homeschooling
- 4Real OPML File
- Paco’s Curriculum and Book List, 2007-2008
- Migi’s Curriculum and Book List, 2007-2008
- Music Schedule
- Free Flashcards for Latina Christiana I
- Aisa’s Curriculum and Book List, 2007-2008
- Online Resources
- Unschooling / Relaxed Schooling Helps
- Filipino Homeschoolers
- The Plan for Art
- How to Homeschool
- My Favorite Books on Books
- Towards *our* Philosophy of Education
- Yena’s Booklist 8/07-7/08
- Paco’s Curriculum and Booklist, 2008-2009
- Migi’s Curriculum and Book List, 2008-2009
- Yena’s Booklist 8/08-7/09
- Aisa’s Booklist ’08-’09
- Plan for High School, Paco 2010-2011
- Books We Love: Science
- The HHS Mandate and The Catholic Response, A Compilation
our "ideal" family size, for now anyway
I’ve been closely following the RH bill debate in the Philippines for several months now. One of the biggest reasons proponents of the bill give for pushing for the bill is that the bill will legislate helping families achieve their ideal family size. I know. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Let me say that again. The bill will legislate helping families achieve their ideal family size. The bill also mentions that two children is ideal. Hm.
How a bill (or eventually a law, if passed) would do that, I have no idea. How exactly do they propose to do this? I can imagine the conversation now.
Family Planning Official: Good morning, sir, ma’am, what is your ideal family size?
Husband/Wife: Two children. Can you help us achieve that?
FPO: Certainly! We have these contraceptives available for free or at low cost. Take your pick.
Okay. So I don’t really have a clue how that conversation will go down. Do you? I have so many questions I don’t know where to begin.
Why would any country have to enact a law to help families achieve their ideal family size?
Isn’t this a decision that belongs to the married couple and the married couple ALONE?
Except in a communist country, I don’t see how the government could take this decision into their hands. And as far as I know, the Philippines isn’t a communist country. Maybe they’re headed that way. For their sake, I hope not, but stranger things have happened.
How exactly would they help these families ACHIEVE that ideal family size?
Are we talking counseling sessions here on how often to have or not have sex? Are we talking a supply of pills? Are we talking sterilization advice? Are we talking counseling sessions after every child to make sure the parents are “on the right track”? There are so many scenarios running through my head as to how this “achieving” would be accomplished. None of them sound remotely appealing to a married woman like me. I don’t relish the idea of ANYONE, much less the government, butting into a conversation my husband and I should be having IN PRIVATE.
And that word IDEAL. I shudder to think that any person, much less any government entity, would presume to speak to my husband and me about an IDEAL family size. Aren’t we getting too presumptuous here?
My husband and I have been married twenty-one years (thank You, Lord!) and to this day we don’t know what our ideal family size is. Was it when we had only two kids? Was it when we got to four? Is it ideal to stop now that we have five? Whether we plan to have more or not isn’t even an appropriate topic (I don’t think) for this blog. That’s just too private a matter to discuss in public. You’d have to be a VERY, VERY CLOSE, INTIMATE FRIEND to even know what my husband and I think about this.
THAT’S the element, I think, that’s missing in all this talk about ideal family size. So much about marriages, sex, and families have just been assumed to be a matter of public debate the last few years. We have lost so much in terms of privacy and respect and recognizing the autonomy of the individual. We think we can decide for others what’s ideal for them and what’s not. Who am I to tell my friend who has 12 kids, “Enough is enough”? Who am I to tell my friend who has 2, “You need to have more”? Don’t we have enough problems and decisions in our own lives, don’t we have enough on our plates? Why do we even feel it’s necessary to talk about what’s IDEAL for anyone?
It truly pains me to see this happening in my beloved country of birth. I honestly don’t see it leading anywhere that’s good or holy or beautiful. Even if they decide that ten kids is the “ideal family size”, there still would be something inherently wrong in making that pronouncement.
Only a husband and wife have the right to make this decision for themselves. And for the Catholic couple, this is something that’s strictly between them and their God. Neither you nor I, and certainly not legislators, have ANY RIGHT WHATSOEVER to influence this process of prayer and discernment and soul-searching. No one deserves this kind of patronizing, condescending attitude foisted upon them — that SOMEONE else knows better and that they’re not smart enough to figure it out for themselves. No level of intelligence, no economic situation warrants this kind of trespassing, rude interference in the affairs of the individual and the couple. The RH mantra, “Keep your rosaries out of our ovaries”, goes both ways. We don’t wish to impose Catholic morals on anyone. Neither do we want government’s concept of “ideal” foisted upon those who are most vulnerable.
And as a Catholic, it pains me to see that we can presume ourselves more knowledgeable than God when it comes to what’s ideal. I could never have known which child would be my most sensitive, or most loving, or most in need of care, or most in need of physical closeness. I could never have foreseen which child would bring me to my knees. And it’s not one child that will do that; it’s not just one season. Every child, for one reason or another, brings us closer to Him who designed all of these — the sizes of our families, their personalities, their quirks. That this subject would be tackled in the pages of a Filipino newspaper brings me an incredible sadness. God has His plans. It is not up to us to question, or insist that we know better. We don’t know better (though we’d like to think that we do). We trust, we follow, we grow in holiness as we learn to accept and obey. There is blessing in everything He touches. Even in the poorest of the poor, His hand is there, guiding, nurturing, bringing plans to fruition. I shudder to think of where we might drive ourselves if we continue to insist on grabbing the reins instead of sitting back and simply enjoying the ride.
If you love walnuts, this recipe is for you. It’s all walnut, walnut, walnut. And oh yeah, butter. But mostly walnut. The “batter” is walnut, the frosting is walnut. A pity that several family members are allergic to walnuts. Which is why I waited 10 LONG YEARS to make this recipe. That’s right! I’ve had this recipe in my files for ten years. I finally made it a couple of weeks ago. And hah! You’d think I’d have the sense to make it perfectly after waiting to make it for TEN YEARS. But nooooo….. I had to mess it up. Thank goodness butter is so forgiving. My friend Debby said it reminded her of her grandmother’s nut roll — I’ve never had a nut roll. Mostly I kept this recipe because of the word “Gascon”. There was something romantic about that. And the walnuts, which I love. So here we go. You can also find the recipe here. I made a few changes to the recipe, first of all with the eggs. WHY OH WHY do they always ask you to beat the egg yolks first, then the whites? That would only work if you had a hand-held mixer and two clean mixer bowls. If I were to write the recipe I’d start with the whites first. Get them all whipped up and ready to go, transfer to a clean bowl THEN beat the egg yolks. The whites will keep, if you don’t expect them to wait long.
2 cups walnut halves
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz. unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, separated
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9-inch cake pan and line with parchment.
Grind walnuts with 1/4 cup of the granulated sugar plus 1/2 teaspoon salt.
In a mixer bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a clean bowl and set aside.
Beat 4 tablespoons of butter with the remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well before adding the next. Stir in the ground walnut-sugar mixture.
Gently fold the beaten whites into the walnut batter, then pour into the prepared pan. Tilt the pan to evenly distribute the batter. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the cake is set and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the side of the pan and turn the cake out onto a serving plate to cool completely.
In a food processor, pulse the remaining 1 cup of walnuts with the confectioners’ sugar until finely ground. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and pulse until creamy. Spread the frosting evenly over the cake.
Using the edge of a tablespoon, make a decorative pattern in the frosting. Cut the cake into 1-by-2-inch bars and serve.
I had dropped my 8-inch square baking pan (porcelain) on the floor a few months ago and shattered it — so I had to make do with a metal cake pan. Which means that, when you cut the bars, there are ends leftover from the trimmings. Hee. A nice little treat for the baker. No need to remind me that I had most of it anyway, after the party.
Now, here’s where I made a mistake. Because I was following the original recipe (not very well, obviously), I did the butter with the sugar and then the yolks, BUT I put in ALL of the butter into the mixer instead of just 4 tablespoons. UGH. I hate it when I do that. I didn’t want to add more ingredients to make up for the over-abundance of butter, since I needed the eggs for another recipe. So I transferred the beaten yolks into a sieve, pressed out some of the butter-egg-yolk-sugar until I had about four-tablespoons-worth, and used the remaining amount to whip into the egg whites. The 4-tbsps-worth of butter-eggyolk-sugar mixture, I cooked on very low heat for just a few minutes, just so the egg yolks (that aren’t supposed to be there) don’t stay uncooked. Then added 2 more tablespoons butter, to make really yummy oh-my-heavens-what’s-in-it frosting. The frosting was FABULOUS and no one was the wiser so I can safely say that if you want to do it my way, you won’t regret it. I’m sure this compensation for my mistake isn’t going to make any sense at all to someone trying to follow a nicely-written recipe. I merely put it here to document my blunders and remind myself not to do it next time. If there is a next time. Maybe in another ten years.
Well, I’ve spent the last fifteen minutes trying to post another reply at this blog post over at Definitely Filipino — and my comment just won’t go through, so I’m doing it here.
The latest missive from “Kizmet”: Reproductive Health Bill: the Bible’s Viewpoint vs. the Catholic Church’s
LOL indeed Stef.
Those Bible texts were under the Mosaic Law. I meant Christian laws please. We are not under the Mosaic law today, are we?
Please try harder. ~_^
Kizmet:
Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. He Himself said it in Matthew 5:17-19:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
He didn’t say, “Now that I’m here, forget all that Mosaic law rubbish. We’re starting over.”
You’re the one not doing your homework, my dear. Nice try. Here’s your assignment:
1. Show us where it says in the Bible that we should contracept or abort.
2. Show us where it says in the Bible that Jesus Christ proclaims Mosaic law as passé and should now be ignored or dismissed as such.
When you’ve done that, we can talk again. And seriously, I *am* listening, and I am keeping an open mind. Hope you are too. 
And since I’m here, might as well respond to these:
At times, the Catholic Church fails to understand a simple statement as that. Despite being written in elementary English, the Bishops and the Pope after many years of burning their brows about theology are a disappointment to humanity. They erroneously lay claims to righteousness.
And we should take this person’s word as more credible and authoritative than the Pope’s and Bishops’ because……???? Are we expected to slap our foreheads and say, “Oh my gosh! That *IS* the truth! Now why in the world did we never hear of that or think of that before? Such wisdom in the youth!” As Chesterton says, “First it must be remembered that the Church is always in advance of the world. That is why it is said to be behind the times. It discussed everything so long ago that people have forgotten the discussion. St. Thomas was an internationalist before all our internationalists; St. Joan was a nationalist almost before there were nations; Blessed Robert Bellarmine said all there is to be said for democracy before any ordinary worldling dared to be a democrat; and (what is to the purpose here) the Christian social reform was in full activity… before any of these quarrels of fascists and Bolshevists appeared.”
Your “insights” have long been trumpeted by atheists, agnostics, and Catholic Church haters. Nothing new there.
As the American Standard Version Bible puts it: “Who art thou that judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand; for the Lord hath power to make him stand.”-Romans 14:4
And this means….? The Church proclaiming the truth is judging? Hmmm…. another “new idea”. Not.
As an institution of faith, it does not belong to the Catholic Church’s leaders who are themselves imperfect human beings the right to render judgment against their followers merely because the latter chooses to heed what the Bible really teaches.
But the author hasn’t adequately explained yet “what the Bible really teaches”. We wait with bated breath, Kizmet. Please show us where the Bible says we should contracept or abort.
Mankind does not exist to propagate only. If couples choose not to include pregnancy in constituting a family by employing any of the contraception methods, that is their decision to make, and no one reserves the right to judge them.
Strawman. You came upon this statement where? See if you can find it in the Catechism or any encyclical where it says, “Mankind exists to propagate only.” And again, “speaking the Truth” not = judging. I’ll grant you this: it may feel like judging to those who are not ready to see the Truth from the Bible’s or from the Church’s perspective. That’s okay. We can’t really help that sometimes. But I can tell you this: we hate being judged just as much as you do, so when we speak what we believe as Catholics, at least for my part, I am *not* judging you at all. I am a little frustrated that you can’t see things from my/the Church’s perspective, but that doesn’t mean I see myself as better than you in any way.
I’m doing this post for the families in our troop… we had our annual potluck (rescheduled from December because of the snow!) last week and I brought this. Some folks liked it and asked for the recipe. I said I’d send the link but I also fiddled with the method, so I thought it would be easier to put it up as a separate recipe than keep on referring to how I changed the original.
Sorry, no pic. I did take one before I delivered Father’s share the next day, but for some reason the file got lost. Here goes:
1 large pack of boneless chicken thighs (I told Alfredo and Aisa to get the large pack of chicken breasts but Costco was out, so they got the thighs, which worked out well!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup kosher salt
water to cover
Combine the above in a large pot and let sit 3 hours or so.
Drain and grill (I used an indoor Lodge grill/griddle on two burners) chicken thighs on medium-high heat, about 7 minutes per side. Do not crowd. (I grilled about 4 pieces at a time.)
While chicken is grilling, whisk together
1 cup pineapple juice
8 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Cook in a small saucepan until lightly thickened.
After chicken is grilled, dip in sauce and arrange in serving dish. (You can also pre-cook the chicken for 5 minutes on each side, dip in the sauce, and refrigerate, covered. Before serving, bake at 250 degrees, covered, for 2 hours.)
Serve with salsa made from:
1 cup chopped pineapple (I used canned)
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (Kroger didn’t have organic red bell peppers so we ended up with green, but the flavor and color would have been better with red)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
the juice of half a lime
1/2 jalapeno, de-ribbed and de-seeded, then minced, (or to taste — the one I got wasn’t hot AT ALL, so I added 1/2 teaspoon of minced red Thai chilies to bring up the heat)
salt to taste
Enjoy!
You can find the original recipe here.
Got this in my inbox today: 8 Reasons the French Are Slim. As usual with these lists, the focus is on the WHAT and HOW of EATING. But fitness isn’t just about eating. It’s about using up what we eat… which is why farmers of long ago were HEALTHY even on a meat-and-potatoes diet. And the farmers I know will argue that it really wasn’t strictly meat-and-potatoes either; they ate LOTS of veggies and fruits too. So going back to the French, #9 reason why they’re slim is because THEY WALK EVERYWHERE. I’m not French but when we stayed there for a bit, in the 18ème, we were struck at how easy it was to get our daily exercise. Their streets are made for walking. It seemed impractical to own or rent a car, and unless you were going far it didn’t make sense to wait for the train or bus. Very different from our neighborhoods here, most of which don’t even have sidewalks.
Two years ago, on a whim and after the Paris trip, we decided to walk to Panera in the middle of the day. A friend saw us, thought our car had broken down, and offered us a ride! People driving by slowed down and looked at us as if we were crazy. Since there wasn’t a sidewalk on the main thoroughfare we were forced to make our way through sometimes rocky terrain, crossing a small creek in the middle of one of the neighborhoods. It was only a few blocks, negligible by Montmartre standards. We entertained ourselves by flinging French phrases — including some mild insults 
— at each other, and pretending we were making the trek to our favorite boulangerie/patisserie. The destination wasn’t as exciting, but you try to be happy with what you have.
It’s ridiculous how our suburbs work…. to go walking anywhere, you have to drive first. If we want to go walking around our neighborhood, it’s best to do it before rush hour, otherwise we may be getting exercise but we’ll also be inhaling the carbon emissions from cars on the nearby highway. I would rather walk the streets of Paris than get on the machines at our local Y, four minutes from where I am. The genius of Paris is that you’re enticed to walk not just by the streets themselves and what you’ll find on them, you’re also led by your nose. All your senses are engaged, and rewarded at the end with some flaky, buttery stuff. While I’m all for delayed gratification, the short-term ones provided by a walk to the local bakery or pastry shop are infinitely more appealing than the thought of showing off a well-sculpted body at some crowded beach somewhere, several MONTHS later. Forget that.
There’s an idea for the Kinect and Wii Fit folks. Get us some Parisian scenes we can strap onto our heads. While you’re at it, infuse the program with the scent of freshly baked baguettes as well.
naughty Nino under the table, his mouth full with peppermint marshmallow
…. I just found out, is now available at Amazon!
Here’s my original post on it, 5 years ago when it was younger : Utensibility Meme
I was just going to post something about this workhorse of mine. The past three weeks it has made two batches of peppermint marshmallows, six batches of macarons (one a complete flop, but that was my fault), 2 fruitcakes, a batch of Food for the Gods, sugar cookies and gingerbread, a batch of ensaimada, plus rainbow cookies and shortbread…. all without complaint. It is my most steadfast companion in the kitchen (besides my loving dh who volunteers to wash dishes and pots and pans and baking sheets often!)…. so faithful, so reliable. It just finished mixing 3 pannetone recipes and 3 batches of Cinnabon rolls. I don’t know what I’d do without it. Thank you, Electrolux!!
I also found the Amazon review that said this was rated low by Cook’s Illustrated. I discovered that review a couple of years ago and thought of writing the folks at CI (whom I respect and admire a lot! except for THAT review). All I can say is, they don’t know what they’re missing. When I first started working with macarons, I worried that the mixer bowl would be too big to handle 90 grams of egg whites, but NO problem at all. After five years of baking with this machine, it still works like a dream.
Today, dh and I celebrate 21 years!!! (And hubby’s birthday too!)
He took a half day off work and we met him at Mass with all the kids (Aisa’s off school on Wednesdays!), then had a late lunch at Half Day Cafe. The toddler is napping now so we may sneak out for a bit…. then dinner at home later. We’ll station the kids downstairs with the Wii and a movie from Netflix or something…. while we have lobster and steak in the dining room. Ack! I’m out of candles! And I can’t find our little candleholders! Maybe we’ll use the Advent wreath as our “lighting” — there’s an idea. Urgh. I forgot to buy wine. There’s sparkling apple cider in the pantry though. Better than nothing, I suppose.
We were married on a much, much snowier day than this one. And colder. At least dh doesn’t have to shovel his way in or out of the driveway today. Heh, and we now have teens to do that if need be.
Nino Report to follow, Ninongs and Ninangs.
Cleverest Christmas video ever.
h/t Deacon Kandra and Margaret Cabaniss
Over at First Things: Brilliant!
Found this today in the organic section at Jungle Jim’s. At $6.99 a pound (!!!) I wasn’t going to get a whole pound just to try. The cashier did a double take when she rang it in and asked, “Is that right? $2.59 for a single apple?” I said it was my splurge for the week. What intrigued me was the name. I was thinking of all sorts of possibilities, esp. liturgical ones. Maybe St. Therese’s Feast Day (she with the Roses), or maybe Mama Mary’s (she being the Hidden Treasure). I found out it won’t work for St. Therese, as this apple supposedly is only available around November, and St. Therese’s feast is in October.
Despite it being pretty, it just didn’t deliver enough flavor to justify a second purchase. It’s tarty and crunchy enough, but a bit too starchy, almost like a (icky) Red Delicious. It was fragrant, though, and the pink is a nice watermelony hue that would be beautiful atop a tart or some other pastry crust, if it maintains color throughout the baking process. I’m not interested enough to try. The price doesn’t help either, even if it is organic. I do want to give kudos to the growers for introducing us to this heirloom variety.
Considering that the previous Narnia movies weren’t 100% satisfactory (see Narnia Invaded for examples), it was heartening to see a review of the new movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This gives me hope. If a secular writer can say that about Dawn Treader, those of us that actually want Narnia movies to have those religious overtones just might find it more to our liking. I was alerted to the review while listening this afternoon to Ave Maria Radio.
Nine more days! Do you have your tickets yet?
Sunday, after Mass.
The 8-yo: “Mom, what’s an orgy?”
Mom, after brief prayer to the Holy Spirit: “It’s a party where people go really wild and do bad things.”
8-yo: “Mom, are we going to have a snack later?”
Sometimes I think the Holy Spirit responds, not by giving Mom awesome wise words to share with her children, but by confounding their young minds so they shift focus IMMEDIATELY. JUST. LIKE. THAT.
(Sunday’s Second Reading was Romans 13:11-14.)
Laughing over morning coffee hot chocolate … funny, but OH-SO-SADLY-TRUE.
