O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother; For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages.
The Lineman had been searching the web for weeks. He looked for breeders, prices, and pictures... he was on a search for a puppy.
A PUPPY!
Oh yes...
We had gone back and forth on this, truthfully a four legged addition to the family wasn't exactly a venture I wanted to undertake.
But The Lineman did.
He is dog kinda guy and I knew that having new dog (we had a lab mix many years ago) would be in our future at some point.
Anyways, last week The Lineman found this little guy. Again we went back and forth.
Was the timing right? Would the kids help? Would I go mad?
It's a big responsiblity to get a pup.
So Christmas Eve, Hubby took a loooonnng drive. With the kids and his mom in tow, I stayed behind to get Christmas eve dinner ready, they went to check out the pup. Notice the key words 'check out'.
By the time the prime rib was out of the oven; my SIL arrived with her family, my FIL arrived and The Lineman entered the house with
our new pup.
Meet Obi
(his real name;-))
Christmas Eve was pretty fabulous after that grand entrance.
12 children + 1 pup = FUN
There was an absolutely yummy prime rib dinner, my first attempt mind you (at the prime rib).
There was the Christmas concert before the midnight Mass; Lucy and her cousins were a part of the choir. There was of course the midnight Mass,
Every year we re-print the kid's hands on the skirt.
This year
they each took turns placing their hands on each other's prints from years past
For some reason they got a real kick out of it...
My only regret, is that the fabric wasn't of the best quality. I remember that year being particularly hard and this was really all we could afford. Now I need to figure out how to save the material, so that I have this well after my kids are gone.
It's a day of planning and grabbing last minute ingredients for our annual "bake day"!!
For a few years now the kids and I have taken a day, or two, to bake the gifts for our neighbors. Lucy chooses a couple of recipes to add to each box. This year even Max is in on it. I think he wants to try something with peanut butter. So far we have:
Looking forward to a yummy smelling house tomorrow. And hope not to eat too many of them before they get packed away for the neighbors!
As for the pozole; it's already on the stove simmering away. The recipe is easy, though it varies as with most of the recipes from Mexico. We are such complicated people, we Mexicans LOL. Any who, here is my mother's recipe without measurements (I have found that adding the amount of spices is best left to the taste buds of those making this :
Pork Neck Bones
New Mexico Dried Chile Pods
Guajillo Dried Chile Pods
(these can be found in most Latino stores or sections of the grocery stores)
one brown onion
whole and peeled garlic cloves
salt
chicken bouillon (cubed or powder)
Hominy (we use Juanitas brand from a can)
Water
Cook your neck bones slowly in enough water to cover the meat and make a nice broth. Add your peeled onion (whole or half depending on the amount of pozole your making) and at least 3-5 cloves of the peeled garlic. As the meat cooks, skim off the frothy stuff that sits on the top of the water.
In the meantime, remove the stems and seeds from your chile pods. Then place the chile pods in a pot and soften your dried chiles in some water over low heat. This won't take long. The amount of chiles depends on your taste. Guajillo chiles aren't exactly spicy, they give the soup a smokey flavor I personally like.
Once the meat is done use the broth for this next step. Place the soften pods and some of the broth, enough broth to cover the pods into a blender. Blend away. You want a smooth slightly thick liquid. Make only the amount that suits, yes again, your taste.
Use a strainer to add this chile sauce to the meat pot. Taste as you go; then add salt, chicken boullion and/or more chile sauce to the pot. Stir well and keep tasting until you like what you taste! Finally, drain your hominy and add it to the rest of the soup.
Allow all this to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or so. You want the flavor to blend and become one ;-).
Serve with: lemon wedges, diced onions, chopped cilantro, and whole oregano on the side. Each person can add and mix their goodies as they like. Easy right?
Traditionally, we greet the dawn on the feast of Nuestra Virgencita with Mass and Las Mañanitas. The local panaderias are packed in the early morning and in most kitchens there is the familiar smells of champurrado or hot ponche.
We awoke to sing to nuestra Virgencita!
Request her prayers
(a special request was made as a good friend has lost her mother today)
After our Little Flowers meeting & Lucy's Hospitality Program at her Nina's;
we feasted on a nice dinner
Fajitas de Pollo
Arroz Rojo con aguacate
Tortillas de Harina
Pan Dulce
&
Hot Champurrado
Cecilia couldn't wait to eat her pan
As mentioned over @ Catholic Cuisine
Champurrado is a thick Chocolate drink, served hot and made with corn flour (masa harina, I like to use Maseca).
Most Latino households have one version or another of a champurrado recipe (or receta). Really they'll vary between families.
But basics stay the same
Ground Masa
Chocolate
A form of Sugar
Cinnamon
Whole Milk & Water
My mom has her own version. She has never written her recipe down and I always forget the ingredients. There are like 20 something items in hers.
My MIL's comarde has a recipe that....shhhh don't tell my mom....but it's super duper good!!!
My SIL uses that recipe, and again I've never written it down. I just depend on the goodness of their kitchens to make me some.
Honestly, I just need to write these recipes down once and for all.
Here is one that I think taste pretty good (with some variations) from the web:
* Ingredients *
3 cups of water
2 cinnamon sticks
1 anise star
¼ cup masa harina
2 cups whole milk
½ disk Mexican chocolate,
chopped (Abuelita or Ibarra chocolate) more if you like your drink richly chocolate.
note: you can use a semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate if you can't find either of the two mentioned above.
3 ounces piloncillo, chopped or 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (if you can get the piloncillo don't substitute)
* Directions *
In a large saucepan boil milk with the two cinnamon sticks and anise star. Remove from the heat, cover and let the cinnamon sticks and anise star steep for about 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon sticks and anise star, return to low heat and slowly add the masa harina to the warm milk, whisking until combined. If you happen to have a molinillo, use it; it works better than the whisk.
Add water, chocolate, and piloncillo next.
Continue to whisk away.
The masa in the drink can easily burn and ruin the whole batch, low heat and a continuous whisk will keep it from burning.
Continue to heat until boiling; reduce the heat and simmer for at least 10 minutes. Don't walk away from the pot though. And I would continue whisking until you serve.
(This recipe is pretty easy and can be adjusted to your taste. Some like their champurrado thicker than others do. Add less or more milk for the thickness. I wouldn't add more water. Some like to add ground cloves. Some like to do the mix of the masa and milk in a blender. The options are totally open)
However you observe December 12th isn't the important part. It's knowing that Our Lady is with us praying for us and taking those request to Jesus.
Dios te salve María, llena eres de gracia, el Señor es contigo bendita tu eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre Jesús
I'll start by saying that our family had a difficult Monday. Not to put out our business out there or to embarrass my children. But I certainly don't believe I'm alone out there when it comes to 'tough' days filled with corrections and discipline. There was a fair share of it around my home. It really bummed me out though! And by the evening time I felt a bit defeated. My heart wasn't up to putting up treats or baking any sort of good eats.
What to do?
I prayed!!!
And then, I walked into the kid's room and had a long-long chat!! By the end everyone was hugging and offering sweet apologies. I knew I couldn't let the days events dwell in our hearts. This season is so much more about preparing our very souls. To seek and find the ways to grow in virtue. I had almost forgotten that the same preparing time involves our children.
Yesterday, my children needed some reminders and needed me to help guide their behaviors. They also needed me to return to them and speak to their hearts. I hope I did that. I hope that this morning when they read their letters another step towards Heaven was reached.
Did you hear about the little City of Pasadena? Have you seen the results of a wind storm that brought down power lines and trees?
Truly, the power of the wind is remarkable.
But it left many families without a home. Some people hurt.
And it's keeping my Hubby, the lineman, working long and dangerous hours. He's had maybe 10 hours of sleep since last Wednesday and we probably won't see him but for a few hours this whole week. He's working with thousands of volts of electricity. He's climbing 30-60 feet of poles. I'm nervous for him, and his crew. On Friday he described the wind, 100 mph gusts whirled and howled as he climbed up a damaged pole. Getting rained on (did you know that the wind can carry falling snow from the mountains and come down as rain...without a cloud in the sky...amazing). But up he went. To get people their power and to do his job.
So would you help in prayers?
For those who have lost homes, Lord Jesus provide for them and give them peace of mind.
For those who were injured, Lord Jesus heal their bodies.
For those, like my Hubby, who are working to restore power. Lord Jesus, keep them safe. Protect them in body and spirit. These guys are so very tired. Keep them alert, and bring them home safely.
Thanksgiving evening, among her 6 babies, 8 grand babies and
of course our spouses :-)
Doesn't she look pretty?
We think so.
& this is my honey! I happen to think he is very pretty too. Of course I mean handsome!
{funny}
My SIL got these for the kids to do on Saturday. She also supervised the art details to the houses.
Gingerbread houses are either a mother's idea of a fun project where 'anything' goes
or
it's an example of our (us moms) need to control the creative process.
I won't say what the process was in making these...but those of us who just watched got a kick out of it.
{happy}
The young 'lady' here is the baby of our family. Cecilia calls her "the pretty lady with the black hair"...we wondered all weekend whether Cecilia even knows my sister's name....LOL!
Either way she is SO good with the kids. Plays with them, gives them lots of attention and finds ways to make each of them feel special.
She, Ms. L, is quite special. She's had a bit of a tough road recently, but has been able to get out of it. She's lovely this little sister of mine!
{real}
This is what they really wanted to do with the houses...eat and destroy!
