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A fellow mom from my Catholic Moms Group invited people over to bake pretzels the other day. We used a recipe from another mom in the group. They were SO delicious. I ate two pretzels there, then went home and immediately printed out the recipe to make another batch to accompany our (very disappointing homemade) minestone soup at dinner. I ate four at dinner, and another one later as a snack....and two more as a snack this morning. But hey! Pretzels are a traditional Lenten food...so I was actually being devout somehow...not just gluttonous as you might be thinking.
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But seriously, make them. They're delicious. Don't skimp on the salt.
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On Wednesday, I was pretty glued to EWTN, waiting to see if we would have a new Pope. The time between the first sighting of white smoke and the presentation of Pope Francis was about an hour (thankfully, BOTH kids were napping at the time, so I was able to hang around waiting impatiently). I didn't want to leave the room even for a second, so I had to find a way to feel productive while I sat and waited. I pulled out the iron and finally got through most of the ironing pile. We have a Pope now, which is good. I'm hearing such mixed reports on the man, and I've decided I just can't - and probably shouldn't - make any judgements. But he needs all our prayers, so that will be my focus for now.
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Some toddler stuff...Sly held up a thermometer the other day and said "That's for hurting your bum". haha
Sly watches Sid the Science Kid on PBS some mornings (sort of an annoying show, if you ask me, but it's on at the perfect time of day for me to get certain things done, so I use the rely on the electronic babysitter...). Anyways, he's been learning all these science-y vocabulary words and concepts. He comes up and talks to me about things like "water systems" and "habitats". I doubt he understands much about them, but...as a former biology teacher, and hopeful future homeschooling mother...I don't know how I feel about the fact that he learned all this from tv first. Maybe I should just be glad he's learning it.
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We visited Tom's parents last weekend, and on the way home, passed through Lancaster, PA so we could go to Mass on the way. I've never been there before. Parts of it were ridiculously touristy. This sign pretty much sums up the extreme exploitation of the Amish we saw in parts: |
| "Not just stuff...Amish stuff" |
But we drove through the actual town, and it seemed very nice and more geared towards residents. I'd love to explore the whole area sometime. There were many big old houses, and lots of rolling countryside.
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Do you love General Tso's/Orange chicken, but don't have the money to order take-out? I mentioned this before, but it's pretty easy to make at home. Cut up chicken into chunks (white or dark meat, as preferred), dip in beaten egg, dip in coating of your choice (I used a store-bought chicken breading mix, but you can do flour and bread crumbs) - double-dipping each piece will make it crispier -, then fry in a pan using the fat of your choice (I used corn oil). Toss with an entire bottle of store-bought sauce. Not at all healthy, but it's certainly delicious!
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Because I'm running out of time, and can think of nothing else very interesting...let me just share a little tidbit with those of you who might not be familiar with the phenomenon of an unenclosed basement toilet (or "Pittsburgh potty" as I've heard them called). I'm not sure if this is common outside Pittsburgh or not, but I've certainly seen (and used) my share of them around here. They tend to be in older houses, and I have suspicions that in some cases, these may have once been the *only* toilets in the house. Nowadays they usually serve as a backup in case of emergencies (the regular toilet is broken, someone's hogging the bathroom and you really gotta go...).
Some people hang a curtain in front of them, or build a little wooden surround kind of like a stall in a public bathroom. At our house, whoever originally put in the toilet decided that privacy was for sissies. It's right at the bottom of the basement stairs so you can be in full view of anyone looking down.
I reached seven - alright!
Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary
I liked how Simcha Fisher quoted Chesterton in regards to hearing mixed messages about Pope Francis: "If you hear a thing being accused of being too tall and too short, too red and too green, too bad in one way and too bad also in the opposite way, then you may be sure that it is very good." :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't really heard anything negative that I haven't taken with a bit of salt considering the sources.
We have a Pittsburgh Potty!
ReplyDeleteRe: Chatter about Pope Francis. EWTN and facebook friends (mostly) are swooning. Everyone else is mad. As for me, I'm kind of bummed that the liturgical level is not likely to be at the same caliber as Pope Benedict, but I'm hopeful about his abilities as a pastor and teacher.
Yes, in our old house, the basement toilet was once the only toilet--our landlady told me how she had to argue with her brothers to convince them to put a toilet upstairs (and not just a sink) when they were renovating.
ReplyDeleteThe more I read about Pope Francis, the more I like him :)
Soft pretzels might be my favorite part of Lent, ha ha! So, so good.
ReplyDelete