Fall Evenings

There's nothing like a fall evening when mom is working and running late with dinner to really get your creative juices flowing. See what I mean?

Church as Family

Today was the last day our church family will enjoy the presence of our Father Joseph at the altar; he is moving to another church - fortunately one still in town, so perhaps we will still see him and his family now and then. We missed church last week and so were unprepared for this; it wasn't until the end of the liturgy, when the church gave Father Joseph three rousing verses of God Grant You Many Years, and Father John our archpriest started to cry, that we realized what was up. As Husband and I wiped away a few tears of our own, I thought about the beauty of watching this family of ours eat together - or rather, take communion - each week. This Sunday we were up in the balcony: the perfect place to watch the throngs of people gather at the chalice (or chalices, in the case of our rather large church) each week. Some with babies in arms, others with arms crossed firmly across their bodies, they each tilt back their head a bit, bend a knee and receive Christ Himself each week. All from the same tiny spoon, and somehow there is always enough, even when the church is filled with people standing from one side to the other as it was today.

We are still in the midst of joining this family officially, although they have treated us as their own from the first. When we are one day down in the throng, waiting to be given that beautiful, holy food, I will miss - a little - the view from the balcony. The sight of the crowds of people, quietly and gracefully coming forth to taste and see Him, is a balm to my spirit. So have Christians gathered and ate together for so long, and in those moments all of them throughout the ages seem to be there with us, part of that family that will last beyond eternity.

"... Not unto judgment nor condemnation, be my partaking of thy Holy Mysteries, oh Lord, but unto the healing of soul and body. Amen." - St. John Chrysostom

7 Quick Takes Friday

This my first time officially participating in 7 Quick Takes (hosted by Jennifer Fulwiler), so if you're coming here from there, welcome!

1. The first replacement election equipment arrived this week in Houston. All 10,000+ voting machines owned by Harris County were destroyed in a suspicious fire several weeks ago, right after the Harris County Voter Registrar announced his intention to go after several groups allegedly engaged in voter fraud (groups with connections to the likes of Acorn, I might add).

2. This Friday marks the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Rita, which was our first (and only thus far) hurricane evacuation. Eric Berger at the Chronicle has an excellent post on the storm (as usual), and how, despite the nightmare of the evacuation, Houstonians were probably right to be a little panic-stricken. As he says, 3 days before landfall, "The storm's maximum winds at the time were 175 mph, which roughly corresponds to an F3 tornado. Only this wasn't a tornado but a hurricane spanning hundreds of miles. And the storm was forecast to come ashore to the west of Galveston Island, pushing a massive 20- or 25-foot or greater storm surge across the island, into Galveston Bay and up the Houston Ship Channel. Winds over downtown Houston probably would have exceeded 120 mph. Damage would have been catastrophic. People had every right to be freaking out about the storm. It absolutely was a worst-case scenario for Houston."

3. Last weekend I made jerky for the first time, and as I promised my FB friends, I'm posting the recipe here. The boys are notorious jerky-eaters, so I put a little in their lunch boxes every day. And it's not just them: it's the most-stolen item at lunchtime, especially this week when the word got out that it was homemade. The quick and dirty on the jerky is this: I followed the "cold marinade" method listed here, and dried the jerky in the oven with the door cracked open. I used 3 lbs of buffalo and an eyeball marinade mixture of soy sauce, a dab of honey, apple juice, onion and garlic powders, and black pepper. 24 hours in the marinade and about 8-9 hours in the oven, in part thanks to the fact that I didn't slice it as thin as directed. The boys actually like the thicker strips, as they are easier to bite into. Next, I'm trying turkey.

4. While we're talking about food, I also made a delicious squash cake from The Meaning of Pie, my friend Kelly's excellent food blog. Two still has no idea the cake has squash in it. I did use lightly toasted pecans as a topping, but I skipped them and the raisins in the cake itself. I also skipped the dried squash slices, as I figured this would give me away altogether.

5. The Texas State Fair opens today, and once again I am left without plans to attend. Someday, someday, I will make plans in advance to take the boys to Dallas to gaze upon Big Tex and eat something fried.

6. Speaking of fried, Bettina Siegel has a post today on Frito-Lay awarding cash to school football programs ... for eating their products. That's just what big, beefy high school football players need, isn't it? More salt and fat. Yum, yum.

7. This week has been such a doozy, as is any that begins with backing the minivan into the half-open garage door. God must have increased my patience tenfold to help me get through this week without blowing up like a rocket, and for that I am immensely grateful. Despite the broken window and subsequent $265 charge to replace it, I have done less than my usual share of child-yelling, work-complaining, and all around crabbiness. God is so good, sometimes when we least expect or deserve it. I. am. so. grateful.

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all. And don't forget to check out other quick takes here.

The Post in Which We Go to the Principal

One had his first trip to the principal today and, as I like to blog about my children's accomplishments, I thought I'd write about this one, too. Seriously, if he'd knocked someone's lights out, I'd be too busy sitting on him while calling military schools to blog, but this was, well, it was silly. Essentially, he was rude to a classmate twice and, rather than deal with it herself (by, oh, making him sit out for 10 minutes of recess), the substitute teacher for the day called in the big guns. Some choice quotes from One's re-counting of the tale:

"So I told him to be quiet because he can't seem to stop telling poop jokes during math and I get sent to the principal? What's that about?"

"I was on the playground at recess and Ms. A. (one of the administrative staff) came to get me. She looked so serious, I thought her aunt had just died. She barely spoke to me, just led me to the office like a bailiff taking a criminal to the judge."

Who can punish a child who tells such a story - and tells it so well, at that?

Green and Clean

A recent NY Times article discusses whether "green" cleaning products actually do the job of getting things clean; it gives opinions on both sides of the issue, but most of the quotes agree that "green" does not equal "clean".

I have to disagree (me, disagree with NYT? whatwhat?). We switched to green cleaners two years ago and have had some very good luck. Yes, there have been bombs, but lots of what we've tried has worked at least as well as traditional cleaners. And while traditional cleaners, especially bathroom and floor cleaners, tend to make me sick (dizzy, head-achy and the like), none of the green cleaners have done so.

Here is a list of what has worked and some of what hasn't. As you can tell from the comments, I'm 1/2 about how it works and 1/2 about how it smells. I know: I'm weird. I've heard that before ...

It Works:

Meyer's liquid laundry soap: It works and I love the lavender scent. It's just a little pricey, that's all. I'm giving Biocleen laundry liquid a try to see if I love it as much; it was $4 cheaper this weekend at Whole Foods.

Palmolive pure and clear dishsoap: this is my favorite dishwashing liquid. It actually works. And my dishwasher has been broken for over a year, so I should know.

Greenworks liquid laundry detergent: it worked, but it it has a very strong smell. I gave it to my MIL because I hate over-powering laundry smells. Seriously: this was like generic, $5-a-huge-bottle-smelly. Yuck.

Method floor cleaner: I haven't heard my cleaning lady complain, and it has a nice scent. We've used the "squirt and mop" version as well and it worked, too.

Method glass cleaner: smells minty - yum!

Greenworks all-purpose cleaner and Greenworks bathroom cleaner: both work just as well as any others I've tried.

Method wood furniture polish: the only bad thing is you go through this pretty fast, so it's not an economy buy.

Ecover dishwashing powder: works as well as any non-green dishwashing soap I've used. At least, when I had a dishwasher that hadn't had its hoses eaten by rats. Yes, rats. They were thirsty, apparently. Don't ask for more details, please?

Ecover limescale remover: it's not Limeaway, but it works fine.

Bon Ami and castile soap: I love how this cleans the bathrooms, even if you do need to do lots of rinsing afterwards. I buy Dr. Bronner's lavender soap, and it makes the bathroom smell divine.

Simple Green: the old classic. This subs for floor cleaner, counter and bath cleaner, laundry stain remover, you name it. It's also great at cleaning the tiles around the pool (if you have one) and for washing the car. Husband hates the smell, but I always keep a bottle of it around just in case.

Murphy's Oil Soap: perfect for the wood floors. Love, love, love. And it's so gentle, you can wash the dog in it. No joke.

It Doesn't Work:

Seventh Generation dishwashing liquid: yuck is the nicest thing I can think of to say.

Method laundry detergent: we used the unscented kind, and after a few weeks the clothes were a little too smelly. Also, the packaging kept breaking, and I'd have to guesstimate how much to use since the measuring pump was dead. Not good.

Method dishsoap: the soap worked okay, but the bottle was too bulky and you couldn't stop the top from getting disgustingly gunky.

Seventh Generation dish soap: lousy, lousy, lousy. Didn't cut grease at all.

Meyer's dishsoap: I love the lemon scent, and it worked, but we went through this way too fast for the price.

Seventh Generation powdered laundry soap: I liked the lightly scented version, but every few weeks I'd find clumps of undissolved detergent in the machine. Bu-bye.

Seventh Generation liquid laundry soap: it left grease stains on our clothes: grease stains that were not there when the clothes when into the washer. Bu-bu-bye.

There are a few non-green cleaning products I still hang onto. I still use store-brand bleach when needed, and you'll pry my Clorox bleach pen and Oxyclean stain remover from my cold, dead hands. The last two are a must to keep the boys from destroying all of their clothes. And even they aren't enough: I still need to use dishsoap on greasy stains - you know, the stains you see on dark clothing when they come out of the dryer? It's the only thing that really works. Lastly, my cleaning lady would quit if I took away her Tilex Mildew Remover. The cleaning solution I hate the most (what fumes!) but she won't give it up. And I won't give her up, so I still buy it. She's been very patient with me and my green-mania, so I owe her one.

Lastly, my favorite green cleaning thing of all? Vinegar in the washing machine. I've completely eliminated dryer sheets from my shopping list, which is a greatly-desired feat for a mother of two eczema-prone children. I put a cup of vinegar in the fabric softener thingy for every load; some of this runs into the wash water and the rest is left for the rinse cycle. It works so well, and you don't smell the vinegar when the clothes are dry. No, really: I'm not lying.

A long list, I know, but give a few of these a try. Wait: I'm feeling really pompous, so I'd just like to say: try them. the environment you save just might be your own. Ooooh, wasn't that good?!? ::thickwithsarcasm::

Roasted Chicken and Fall Vegetables

We made a fantastic dinner tonight, perfect for a fall evening. If it happened to be cold here it would have tasted even better. Here's the recipe: it takes a fair amount of prep work but once everything is in the oven, you're done. This was inspired by Husband's perfect brine recipe and David Waltuck's recipe for Roast Chicken with Root Vegetables and Cider from his Staff Meals cookbook.

Brined and Roasted Chicken:

1 3-3.5 lb whole chicken, backbone cut out and flattened slightly
32 oz low sodium chicken broth (Pacific brand is my favorite)
16 oz cold water
16 oz apple juice
1/2 cup kosher salt
splash or 2 of soy sauce
2 bay leaves
1 T dried sage
1/2 good-sized cinnamon stick

To make the brine, heat the chicken broth to a boil, along with the salt, soy sauce, bay leaves, sage and cinnamon stick. While it's heating, fill the sink with several inches of ice water and place a large, clean bowl in it. When the broth mixture is boiling and the salt has dissolved, turn it off, let it sit for 10 minutes, then pour it into the bowl in the sink. Let it cool, and then add the cold water and apple juice. Chill until the brine is 40 degrees (ice cubes instead of water helps to speed this up). Place the brine and the chicken in an extra-large ziploc bag (and then in a large bowl so that all the chicken is covered in brine) and refrigerate for 6 hours.

When it's almost time to pull the chicken out of the 'fridge, take the top rack out of the oven and pre-heat it to 400 degrees. Chop the following vegetables into 1-2 inch pieces, place them on a large baking dish and set aside:

1 large sweet potato, peeled
4 large carrots, peeled
1 of the following: leek, red onion, or yellow onion
6 fingerling potatoes (I found some purple ones today and they looked and tasted great)
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled
1 head cauliflower

Take the chicken out of the 'fridge and rinse well with cold water. Dry it and place it on top of the oven rack (lightly grease the rack first). Rub olive oil and paprika into the chicken skin, and slide the rack into the oven. Immediately after doing so, place the vegetable dish under the chicken on the bottom rack of the oven.

Roast everything at 400 degrees until the chicken has an internal temperature of 160-165. Sit the veg once or twice during cooking to make sure everything cooks evenly. Take everything out of the oven and let the chicken rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into eight pieces and serve with the veg on the side.

I wish I'd taken pictures, but it was too good: we served ourselves and ate before I even thought about it. I also had two young "sous chefs" cutting all the veg for me, and I was thinking more about little fingers than I was about the camera at that point of the process. Oh well. You'll have to visualize instead.

A last note on the brine: this brine is really flexible, and can be used for pork roasts and turkey as well as chicken. To use for a turkey, just double the recipe. You can exchange the apple juice for orange juice, cranberry juice, or any combination of the three. You can also change out the spices: some good ideas are star anise, nutmeg, thyme, rosemary, "Provencal" herb mix - you name it. Whatever you would normally season the meat with before cooking can go in the brine instead. I used it with a pork roast last week and it turned out very well. Pork is so lean these days the brine really helps to stop it from drying out in the oven.

Enjoy!

Someone to Know: Karen Gaffney

My friend Dena (hey Dena, get a blog so I can link to you! you have cool stuff to say!) told me about this young woman, Karen Gaffney, who swam across Lake Champlain today (between VT and NY), 8.6 miles in 60 degree water. She has Down's Syndrome, which makes such an accomplishment even more remarkable. Given that over 90% of babies who have Down's Syndrome are aborted, it's wonderful to see someone like Karen raising awareness of how much people who have that condition can accomplish - and how much they can add to the lives of the people around them.

Go Karen!

Friday Links and Such

Here's a few things from the week to make your Friday evening at little more interesting - that is, if your Friday evenings are as exciting as mine are and you spend them in your jammies, watching TV and surfing.

If you're somewhere near Central Texas on October 1-2, there's a fantastic adoption conference in Austin, hosted by Together for Adoption. The Livesays will be there, as will Dr. Karyn Purvis and many, many others. And I will too - at least I'm hoping so. Missy says I should be, so I'm tryin'.

Danielle Bean has an op-ed on Sarah Palin and feminism in The Washington Post that is definitely worth a read. No surprise there: most everything Danielle writes is worth checking out, including her blog.

Kristen at Rage against the Minivan asked this week "what does it mean to be white?" and got lots of interesting answers.

I have a new favorite quote that I found at Amy Block's website: "Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine and injustice in the world when He could do something about it ... but I'm afraid He might ask me the same question." How great is that?!

New favorite blog? Father Stephen's. Just make sure you have at least 15-20 minutes before you start to read his daily post: it will take you that long to read and then meditate on it. Wonderful stuff. Here's a great quote from today's post: "Christ has promised that we would have life “more abundant.” By this is not meant that we will be rich or have more material things (for these are not the true life). But the Kingdom is an endless abundance that enters our heart and world, shattering the narrowness of opaque minds and opening to us the fullness of life in Christ." [emphasis added]

Another favorite quote, this one stolen from Simcha Fisher. It's by St. Therese of Liseiux. "Why should we defend ourselves when we are misunderstood and misjudged? Let us leave that aside. Let us not say anything. It is so sweet to let others judge us in any way they like. O blessed silence, which gives so much peace to the soul!" I needed to read that this week - oh, my, did I need to read it! And Simcha's post in which she uses that: it's another must-read. It's about whether Mary would have worn pants. No, really, it is, and it's about so much more than that at the same time. Read! Read!

Finally, a sad local story: Murder by the Book assistant manager David Thompson died suddenly this week at the age of 38. You can read about his storybook-like courtship and marriage of his wife, McKenna Jordan, here. It's a fitting story for two people in love with good books - but oh-so-sad in retrospect, as his lovely wife is now a widow at just 27. Great sympathy to her and to all of David's family and friends. May his memory be eternal!

I guess since I got to seven, this almost qualifies as a "7 Quick Takes Friday", as hosted by Jennifer Fulwiler. You can check out all of this week's entries at her blog. Maybe next time I'll be motivated enough to go grab the graphic and list my post there.