Country Bean Soup

1 cup dried navy, great Northern, or lima beans, sorted and rinsed
5 cups lower-sodium chicken broth
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 medium-size carrots, shredded
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped .
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper
1/4 cup minced parsley

To quick-soak beans, in a large saucepan, combine beans and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. (Or, for overnight method, combine beans and 4 cups water. Let stand in a cool place at least 8 hours or overnight.) Drain and thoroughly rinse beans.

In the same pan, combine the beans, chicken broth, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, sage, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Discard bay leaves. Using a fork, slightly mash some of the beans against side of saucepan. Stir in the parsley. Makes 4 side-dish servings.

Prep Time: 15 minutes plus soaking Cooking Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

1 Serving: Calories 180. Total Fat 1 g. Saturated Fat 0 g.
Protein 11 g. Carbohydrate 34 g. Fiber 8 g.
Sodium 288 mg. Cholesterol 0 mg.

Country Ham and Bean Soup Prepare as for Country Bean Soup, adding 1 cup bite-size pieces cooked lower-sodium ham with vegetables and omitting the 1/2 teaspoon salt. Makes 4 main-dish servings.

1 Serving: Calories 242. Total Fat 3 g. Saturated Fat 1 g.
Protein 20 g. Carbohydrate 35 g. Fiber 8g.
Sodium 433 mg. Cholesterol 23 mg.



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Trying A New Idea

As some of the contributors of these blogs are either now ill, or other factors don't allow their being able to contribute here as much as before, I am going to try a “new” approach.

Since the home page for this series of blogs is “Faith of the Fathers” (faithofthefathers.blogspot.com), there will be a new headline animator (courtesy of FeedBurner) for this page placed in the top portion of the sidebar on each page of all the blogs. Since some people read only “Saint Quote of the Day”, “Pope Benedict XVI”, or one of the other of our other 23 total blogs under the Faith of the Fathers blogs (we have a kids section with 6 blogs), those readers may not be aware of the other blogs, and their content.

In the past, Marie, Ginny, Emmy and myself have all contributed our own original writings to “Spirituality and Mysticism”, “Saints of the Faith”, “Spiritual Warfare”, and essentially on all of our pages. Many of those writings (theirs, not mine) were quite good, are still quite good, and are very much worth reading, or even reading again if you've read them before.

So, each week I am going to place on the main page, a posting with some recommended posts from each section, called “Recommended Reading”. I will also have a post for “New Postings” as they occur. The “New Postings” will include “Daily Mass Readings” posts, “Saint Quote of the Day” posts (which are both daily postings), and “Pope Benedict XVI” (which occurs weekdays with news from the Vatican Information Service). Other new postings will be noted as they occur.

Since I will be going solo apparently, I can't promise how often new postings will occur on the other blog pages, but I will do my best.

At the ripe old age of 54, I have given up on the hope of being adopted by near-sighted millionaires who would throw embarrassing amounts of cash my way, which would leave me with the time necessary to write all I want. Since I have grown accustomed to eating and living indoors, it is necessary that I work, and my postings will occur as time permits. So please bear with me.

I hope this will be of help to our readers, and bring some good reading to the readers of all our blogs.

The Peace of Christ to you all!

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Your childen need your presence more than your presents.

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Vegetable Stew-Lenten Recipe

Ingredients

1 medium Rutabaga

2 Turnips

4 Parsnips

2 carrots

3 stalks of celery

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste

2 T tomato paste

1 cup frozen peas

1 chopped capsicum(de-seeded)

1chopped Courgette

Directions

Since some of these vegetables are often preserved by "waxing" them, they will need to be peeled, with a potato peeler or a paring knife (and the peels can't be saved). They are hard and need to be cubed into spoon sized pieces.

Chop and sauté the onions, celery, capsicum, courgette and garlic in a stewing pot, using enough oil for them to be moist. Add the seasonings to taste. Cover the mixture with water and then add several more cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook on low for 2 hours. Add water, and seasonings as needed. Adding the tomato paste to the stew, after an hour, adds a rich flavor and color.

If a thicker stew is desired, remove some of the broth and let it cool. Slowly add the cooled broth to a bowl with 3-4 tablespoons of flour. Whisk the flour into the liquid and add to the stew, returning the mixture to a near boil, stirring as it thickens.

(This stew does very well overnight in a crock pot.) (It also works wonderfully well as a "pot pie," if cooked for one hour in a stew pot and then poured into a pie pan, with or without a dough bottom, and covered with pie dough. Then bake one more hour in the oven.)

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To handle yourself, use your head. To hadle others, use your heart.

Anon

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Coconut Cupcakes

Ingredients

3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 extra-large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

Cream Cheese Icing (recipe follows)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In three parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each cup to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely. Frost with cream cheese icing and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Cream Cheese Icing

1 pound cream cheese at room temperature

3/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, blend together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

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Inspirational Quote

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.

Soren Kierkegaard

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Cooking for Lent-Ratatouille

Ingredients

1 Eggplant

3 Zucchini

3 Yellow Squash

5 or 6 Plum Tomatoes (or canned tomatoes)

2 bell peppers

1 medium onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 Tablespoon of Basil and Oregano

1/2 Teaspoon of ground black pepper.

1/2 Teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)

3 Bay Leaves

olive oil

parmesan cheese

Directions

Peel and cube the Eggplant, Zucchini and Squash. Slice the tomatoes. (Hand crush canned tomatoes.) Remove tops and inner membranes from peppers; slice and cut slices in half. Slice Onion, and then quarter the slices. With flat side of knife, press down on garlic cloves; remove skin; slice.

In a large soup pot, sauté peppers, onions and garlic in a small amount of olive oil - adding peppers first, then onions, then garlic - until onions are turning transparent.

Then add Eggplant, Zucchini, Squash, Tomatoes and seasonings. Add enough water to cover vegetables.

Cook on medium heat until liquid begins to boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for one hour, stirring occasionally. (Mixture may also be poured into a casserole dish and baked at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, uncovered for the last 15 minutes.)

Serve in bowls, topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Freeze leftovers, or share with a family or friend who may need a wonderfully prepared home cooked meal.

Enjoy!

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Life is mostly froth and bubble,

Two things stand like stone,

Kindness in another's trouble,

Courage in your own.

~Adam Lindsay Gordon

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Shrove Tuesday-Pancakes

Ingredients

For the pancake mixture:

110g/4oz plain flour, sifted

pinch of salt

2 eggs

200ml/7fl oz milk mixed with 75ml/3fl oz water

50g/2oz butter

To serve:

caster sugar

lemon juice

lemon wedges

Cooking Tip

Some people, like myself may prefer to spread their pancake with different flavoured jams or maple syrup. The choice is yours.

Directions

Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing. Now make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it. Then begin whisking the eggs - any sort of whisk or even a fork will do - incorporating any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl as you do so.

Next gradually add small quantities of the milk and water mixture, still whisking (don't worry about any lumps as they will eventually disappear as you whisk). When all the liquid has been added, use a rubber spatula to scrape any elusive bits of flour from around the edge into the centre, then whisk once more until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream. Now melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a pan. Spoon 2 tbsp of it into the batter and whisk it in, then pour the rest into a bowl anduse it to lubricate the pan, using a wodge of kitchen paper to smear it round before you make each pancake.

Now get the pan really hot, then turn the heat down to medium and, to start with, do a test pancake to see if you're using the correct amount of batter. I find 2 tbsp is about right for an 18cm/7in pan. It's also helpful if you spoon the batter into a ladle so it can be poured into the hot pan in one go. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip it around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter. It should take only half a minute or so to cook; you can lift the edge with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife - the other side will need a few seconds only - then simply slide it out of the pan onto a plate.Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate fitted over simmering water, to keep them warm while you make the rest.

To serve, spinkle each pancake with freshly squeezed lemon juice and caster sugar, fold in half, then in half again to form triangles, or else simply roll them up. Serve sprinkled with a little more sugar and lemon juice and extra sections of lemon.

Or spread with jam and roll it (like a tortilla).

Enjoy!

Source

Delia Smith

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Shrove Tuesday-A History

The last three days before the beginning of Lent is known as Shrovetide. The old names for these days were:

Quinquagesima Sunday

Shrove Sunday

Pancake Day - Shrove Tuesday
The day on which all fats and cream had to be used up.

Shrovetide was celebrated with games, sports, dancing and other revelries. There were feasts to use up the food that could not be eaten during the Lenten fast. Football was played in the streets and Nickanan Night (as Shrove Monday evening was called in Cornwall) was a time for boys to run riot in the villages: hiding gates, taking off door knockers, and making off with anything that householders had forgotten to lock away.

Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before to Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between February 3 and March 9.

Where does the word Shrove come from?

The name Shrove comes from the old word "shrive" which means to confess. On Shrove Tuesday, in the Middle Ages, people used to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began.

Shrove Tuesday a time for celebrations

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it's the last day before Lent.

Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren't allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

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Inspirational Humour

I'm trying to find myself. If I should return before I get back, please ask me to wait.

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Shepherds Pie With Mushroom

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can mixed vegetables

8 cups homemade mashed potatoes

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon garlic salt

Directions:

Brown Ground Beef and add onion, cook until onion is transparent. Add soup, veggies and garlic and mix, pour into a oblong baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes on top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

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