Saturday's blessings

I made the chicken pot pie!

Here's what I wrote about it earlier today:

Cooking experiment:

Leftover chicken, white sauce with paprika and red onion made last night, leftovers from Thursday's lunch + 2 types of biscuits. I separated each biscuit into 2 pieces (easily done by hand), put the chicken and sauce in and covered with half biscuit slices. 350F for 15 minutes.

Result of this Chicken pot pie :

Flavour A+ .... 

Heating all the way through : C- .... 

Biscuits fully cooked inside B ....

Advice for getting it to an A+ first go around?

Options I am thinking of include (for next time)... prebaking bottom biscuts for 5 minutes, holes in top crust, covering with foil for 20 minutes ago baking uncovered another 15 minutes.

I am DV going to reheat the leftovers in my single size casserole dishes (I have 2) in the toaster oven (fits both in at once) and think that they will reheat fine - with tin foiled used on top as needed....

I am quite pleased at the flavour itself and loved that it was an easy thing to make up, with the white sauce made the night before!

***

Based on feedback/advice, I will bake the biscuits before hand and 

try again! But not until after Pascha, since tomorrow is the last 

day for eating meat! 

It is still a nice meal, even though it was not perfect

and I was able to reheat the leftovers in my smaller 

single serve casserole dishes, so it was nice and hot.

The bottom was still too soggy but I will try a new way next time

and am happy with that!

As typical for me, a week or so ago I could not imagine

Great Lent and no meat and now I am feeling more

ready and excited.  And ready.... 

***

So, it was such a nice Saturday today.

My Husband puttered around so I had time to make my breakfast

and morning tea, and then have breakfast together...

He worked on something else so that I could make the 

chicken pot pie and of course used the new casserole dish.

I am so thankful for it - so nice to have 2 oval dishes now 

(the white one is old and has a crack, so I know it's days are

perhaps numbered but will worry about that when the time comes)

and that they worked so nicely for our dinner.

I feel like the newer fiestaware that I got is great for the two of us.

I now have some bigger serving bowls and these more small

or medium size ones, that are dishwasherable and can be

baked with... so that's really nice.

***

My Mom got me this (above pictured) Dutch tea cozy years ago, 

I had it in Ottawa already when I lived on Cooper Street, downtown, 

about 12 years ago now. It's like a big pillow inside and 

keeps the tea hot and then warm for hours. 

I have such happy memories of using it years ago

 in Ottawa and am so glad I still have it!

***

So something unexpectedly came in the mail today,

it's a real treasure as it is directly tied in many ways

to Holy Dormition Monastery, 

which is a bit over an hours drive from my parents home,

and is where I had my second Holy Communion as a very newly

christmated Orthodox Christian.... 

I am one of the many, many people who love this monastery,

and it is my "home" monastery even though it is not the closest one

to us in distance.... 

So, here's the book:

The last picture, the icon on the left, I accidentally cut off the words.

It says The Burning Bush

and it is a picture of Moses and the Angel and the burning Bush.

The Mother of God is shown to be inside the bush

because she is a type of it, 

as in she had the Son of God inside of her for 9 Months and

she was not consumed... (like the bush was burning but not consumed)...

This book, called Touch and the Healing of the World, is written

by the MD who was with +Fr. Roman Braga in his last years and in

+Fr. Roman's years with cancer. 

I can already tell you that I hope to begin reading this book very soon.

I, along with many many people, love +Fr Roman Braga and

while I was not able to go to +Fr Roman's funeral 

(it was within weeks of my Husband's adult godson dying, 

we just could not make the trip out), I have been to +Fr Roman's grave.

It's a really nice one, with a bench by it and a grave candle lamp lit...

It's really special to realize that in Christ we are never

separated from Christ's love and also from those who have gone before us.

Christ is with us and with them and it's wonderful to realize,

as I did years ago when reading the protestant author 

Catherine Marshall, that the early Church prayed for it's departed

and that we are not so deeply separated that we can't ask for 

departed Christian's prayers and, if we knew them, talk to them

for reasons of prayer. 

This book has a beautiful picture of +Fr Roman in the dedication page

and I was deeply touched to have received this book. 

***

I am really hoping and praying that I can still

get back to a better schedule with more reading in it.

I see that I have to be patient with myself, 

various things I need to do more than the dream of

reading and writing, and I realized again

that the unbloggable struggle we have, amidst many blessings,

sometimes is overwhelming to me and I need to be

patient and do what I can that day

and that's it. 

***

Well, I better get going, it's late and my Husband

reminded me earlier of how hard it is to wake me

for church, esp. when we are going to our far-away church!

God bless and help and save us all! 

And prepare us for Great Lent!!