Holy Mother Church

Have a Blessed Day one and all!

Achieving Culinary Success

This was last year's culinary disaster on Shrove Tuesday, much to my disappointment.

But today I was blessed with the best results I have EVER had in making pancakes, probably due to having used the correct type of flour, and not having hurried and tried to make them whilst people were eating.

I made a batch of them, sprinkling each one with sugar, folding it into eighths, and placing it in a warming oven. Then when they were all made, I served them up with whipped cream, and lime juice - not because I wanted to be trendy, but because by the time I got to the supermarket, they had sold out of lemons - nice to think everyone in town is preparing for the Lenten fast by having pancakes and lemons....

Well, the proof of the pancake is in the eating...and we managed to get through the lot of them, with one left to fight over! I did spare a thought for all those poor mums of large families, but I'm sure most of them have worked out the "prepare it in advance method" for keeping sane on Shrove Tuesday!

Happy Fasting to one and all.

St Maria Goretti ORA PRO NOBIS

Please, any British Catholics who are worried about the moves by our Government to make sex education compulsory for children as young as five years old, sign this petition to our Bishops, as soon as possible - THE VERY IDEA OF THIS SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED.

Here is what the petition says -

Petition to the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales
Do you wish to sign this petition? Add your name to the list here .
We, the undersigned, respectfully petition the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to protest in the strongest terms against the latest Government proposals which seek to make sex and relationship education compulsory for children from age 5 upwards. We believe, in line with the constant teaching of the Church, that such education at so early an age could only have a severely detrimental effect on the children involved, on family life and on society in general. We call upon you as our Shepherds in the Faith to issue an authoritative statement on the Church's teaching on this matter, and to declare that you, as our Bishops, oppose any attempt to undermine the sanctity of the parent-child relationship, the innocence of the child, and our God-given parental authority in such crucial matters.
Download a copy of the petition. Download a copy of the letter we are planning to send to the Bishops.
Thank you for your support.

New Business, New Friends ...

I have been busy for a wee while, very much enjoying a new direction in life, making modest clothing for (at present) little girls. It came about from a chat group of several homeschooling mums who were all complaining that it was hard to find decent well-made clothes for their children - there is plenty of "tarty" stuff around, or clothes with revolting logos on, but not a lot of nice traditional, well-made stuff available. So I invested in an overlocker, and got sewing. It's been fun, and hasn't turned into a sweat-shop (yet!). The business is dedicated to Madame Martin, Therese's mum, since she worked from home too.






In the meantime I also managed to make a few items of clothing for some new friends I've made - but, as we are constantly being taught in the spiritual life, we must not cling to our friendships too much, and have to follow the path of detachment (and, the Good Lord knows, we've been trying to afford a detached house for years, but he's not giving one to us .. hmmm, but, digressions aside) so I needs must send my little friends on to the Sisters of the Gospel of Life in time for Christmas, so that others may benefit from their friendship, and have hours of fun dressing and undressing them ...






















By the way, if anyone fancies the dress at the top - it fits an 18 month to 2 yr old - it's waiting to be bought!

Beloved Guardian Angels

To My Son's Guardian Angel.
I humbly salute you, O faithful, heavenly Friend of my child! I give you heartfelt thanks for all the love and goodness you show him. At some future day I shall, with thanks more worthy than I can now give, repay your care for him, and before the whole heavenly court acknowledge his indebtedness to your guidance and protection. Continue to watch over him. Provide for all his needs of body and soul. Pray, likewise, for me, for my husband, and my whole family, that we may all one day rejoice in your blessed company.




I have a lovely tale about my boy's guardian angel -

When he was a tiny baby, and we were living in a town with no real friends near, and family far away, my husband was studying away from home during the week. I was soooo tired (I'm sure all mums of newborns know about that feeling) but wanted a bath, yet had a fear of falling asleep and drowning, since no-one would know, and no-one would find out, or care for the baby until his daddy got back at the weekend. I got into the bath, telling his guardian angel to make sure I didn't fall asleep. Needless to say, the warm, comforting bath, and the tiredness soon took over, and I felt myself drowsing off, when I was suddenly woken by a "plop! plop! plop!" - three pairs of plastic nappy pants had been dropped in from the shelf above the bath, where they had been neatly stored for several weeks (I'd been using disposables mostly, at that time). I had to laugh, I just knew it was his Guardian Angel looking after him. What was nice, was that he didn't drop the terry nappies, as that would have made me cross, just went for the "easy dry" option, and three for the Trinity, too!!

Keep up the good work, Guardian Angels, our young ones are so precious!

And another lovely prayer to the guardian angels:-

Faithful friends of my children
Guardian angels given to them by God
I turn to you with deep faith.
May your intercession, secure for me the
grace to bring up my children for God and for Heaven.
Guard them everywhere, especially where my eyes cannot reach them.
Follow them everywhere, especially where I cannot be with them.
Warn them when they cannot hear my voice. Rescue them at all times.
Protect them against the attacks of evil forces. Show them the path to life
in God's Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.
Encourage them to give their will to God daily and seek only His light in their lives.
May the Good Lord reward you for your love. AMEN.

Sorrow turned to joy!

This morning I decided to place some grocery items on a high glass shelf in my pantry. I had emptied said shelf a week or so ago as I had noticed the brackets beginning to pull away from the wall, and I had some very heavy pottery dishes on it. I had screwed the screws back into the rawl plugs, and as it had remained in position, and I'd given it a wiggle to make sure it was well-secured, I loaded it up with 'light-ish' items...

or so I thought...

I must thank my guardian angel for getting me out of the pantry -

I was in another room when I heard an almighty crash, and rushed back to find...

























I don't think I've ever seen such a mess !

Thank the Lord, despite the great height everything had fallen from and the fact that the shelf itself was in smithereens, there wasn't a great deal of damage. A few broken cups, but even hubby's bottle of Mead wine, and a couple of jars of home-made raspberry jam, which I had foolishly placed on the shelf, were unscathed. The strangest thing was the sound of the glass continuing to crackle.








One bag of flour had burst, but didn't seem to have any glass in it, so after clearing up the debris, I decided to get out my bread-making machine, ...

























The nicest thing was, as I stood looking at the disaster and he'd rushed in from another room to see what had happened, the bread-maker said, "I'm glad you didn't get cross about it Mummy" ... I must admit things like that don't make me cross, I think I was just so amazed by it all!























The old tin of yeast I found lurking in the back of my fridge didn't seem to have lost any of it's power!



























You can tell which one the bread-making machine shaped for me...






















Well, I'm glad the disaster motivated me back into making bread, even though I was exhausted after all the cleaning up...


























(Edited to add, due to UKOK's comment! ...)

Good Bread Recipe

Quantities of loaves ............................3.............2................1

Flour (strong white bread flour.................3lb .....1 1/2 lb .....3/4lb
Salt (tablespoons)..............................1 1/2....... 1........... 1/2
Butter..........................................3oz ....1 1/2 oz ....3/40z
Yeast (teaspoons - tinned dried yeast)..........5.........2 1/2 .........1/4
Liquid (fluid ounces)...........................30 .........15............ 7 1/2

I tend to use organic bread flour - health-food shops, and some of the larger stores stock it (Waitrose is my nearest).
Yeast is made by Allinsons - it's not the stuff for machines, but that might work as well.
The liquid can be plain water (you get the yeast started by mixing it with half the quantity of liquid, at a lukewarm temp., with a teaspoon of sugar in it, left for 10 mins to make sure it's frothing).
However, for this recipe, and it turned out delicious, I used up a carton of Rice milk I'd kept in the cupboard in case anyone with milk allergies turned up! (It had fallen too, and looked like it might start leaking!)
Sometimes, for a richer recipe, I use two eggs (for the first two quantities, and one egg for the last) beaten, and then make up the rest of the liquid with milk (having kept some aside to get the yeast started).
I also add seeds (pumpkin, sesame, whatever you fancy!) - just chuck a couple of handfulls in to the flour, before adding the liquid.
Liquid is all added at once, once the yeast is frothing nicely, and then get bashing for ten minutes, UKOK should be alright as she has two bread-making machines she can use to help save her wrists!!!
Leave to rise for about an hour, bash down, shape, and leave to rise for another hour (although some people don't bother with 2 risings, I find it's better), place in or onto WELL BUTTERED tins, then bake @ about 200 deg.C for 10mins, turn down heat, to 180 deg. C, for another 20 - 30 mins. (It can all be done at one temperature, I'm never sure what's best, but this way it seems to turn out ok).
The way to test whether the bread is cooked, is to turn it out of it's tin (or turn upside down if it's on a flat tray), tap the base, and if it sounds hollow, it's done. If it doesn't sound hollow, (but looks cooked) I put it back in upside down, for another 5 mins or so, and that usually does the trick.
Happy munching - (you really do need the home-made raspberry jam for perfection!)

Thankyou Alexa for the "I Love Your Blog" award. Not sure I want to answer the following questions with one word, but if I must:
1. Where is your cell phone? hidden.

2. Where is your significant other? school.

3. Your hair color? brunette (cough, cough).
4. Your mother? Welsh.
5. Your father? Scots.
6. Your favorite thing? gardening.
7. Your dream last night? pleasant.
8. Your dream/goal? become Christ-like (can't say that in one word, sorry).
9. The room you’re in? study.

10. Your hobby? bereft.
11. Your fear? losing heaven.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? improved.

13. Where were you last night? in bed.
14. What you’re not? sad.
15. One of your wish-list items? detatchment.
16. Where you grew up? Gloucestershire.
17. The last thing you did? put coal on fire.
18. What are you wearing? denim dress.
19. Your TV? hidden.

20. Your pet? woodlouse. (we do borrow a dog called ' Bless' occasionally too).
21. Your computer? hubby's.
22. Your mood? middling.
23. Missing someone? hubby.
24. Your car? red.

25. Something you’re not wearing? trousers!

26. Favourite store? none (but John Lewis's if near one!).
27. Your summer? where was it?

28. Love someone? aha.
29. Your favourite colour? green.
30. When is the last time you laughed? today.
31. Last time you cried? few days ago.

Now I'm supposed to tag someone with this award, but since most of my blog buddies are one step ahead of me, (or too busy, and grown up to join in these things) I reckon they've all been done, but anyone who's on my blogroll can consider themselves worthy of the award, that's why I've put them there!