Sunny Tuesday ~ cleaning, cooking, and the Eve of a Great Feast

Once again,
I find how tired I am after a trip.
And Mr. Husband hurt his back a bit
so we are a little out of sorts.
*
I need to return two library books.
I ordered groceries online, they will come late this afternoon.
*
I am trying to figure out some good ideas for
toys for our littlest short people, under 5 years old.
I did find some teddy bears, made in the USA.
Any ideas for small gifts that are not being made 
by slave labour? 
Do share, please and soon!! :) 
{Note, I don't think I have much time to
make presents, FYI, though ideas on
this are welcome too.}
*
I got a head start on dinner today.
Will just reheat them...
Vegan potato and onion pierogies!


I chopped up two onions first.

Fried them in canola oil.

Put perogies in boiling water.

Once they float up they are done.

Spooned the perogies into the fry pan
with already caramelized onions. 

Fried the perogies until they lost the look
of being 'wet' and had a bit of golden colour on them.

They were pretty good!

I used up our organic frozen peas as a side.
These will be for me, as Mr. Husband does
not care for many cooked veggies... :)

 

A pretty simple lunch
and now I know they will work DV
for Christmas Eve's Holy Supper!!
*
I woke this morning so grateful for
Mr. Husband and I's home.
I was thinking of the
nuns abducted in Syria
and am praying that they will have a safe return
home soon.
*
It is a wonderful thing to have a home
that is peaceful and seeking to join in
the the liturgical life of Christians and the Church.
*
FYI, for those who wish to have more
information on Wes and Alana and how to help them
financially, please see their new website.
*
Tonight Mr. Husband and I hope to prepare for tomorrow's
Feast of the Theotokos' Entrance into the Temple.
We have prayers for this that we hope to do at home,
as it would be difficult for us to find a church near by
on the old calendar and in English.
*
We still have not gotten the 12 Festal icons for the
12 Great Feasts... Any thoughts on
where we should look?
*
Tomorrow will DV by my Oma's two year anniversary
of her falling asleep on this Holy Feast.
May her memory be eternal!

Butternut Squash Soup and thoughts of Christmas Eve

On Friday in all it's November beauty,
I made butternut squash soup for the second time.

I had 4 squash this time,
as we were making it for two dinners.

One of the dinners fell through at the last minute
but I was cheered by the fact that
it meant that I could freeze some.
I am already dreaming of Mr. Husband and I's
Christmas Dinner.
This soup is going to be the first course.
A chicken we already have frozen will be part of the main course.

The hardest part of making this soup for me
is cutting the squash in half!

I forgot that it was not just honey spread on the
quash before roasting them;
it was supposed to be a mixture
of a veg. oil and honey.

Last time part of my apple and onions were lost
as 1 hour of roasting makes them lumps of burnt nothingness.
So I was quick to save them this time.
I took them out every 17 or so minutes to turn
and remove things as they came done.
The apples and onions need less than 30 minutes or so.

This time I had chicken broth on hand.
I have not had time to try to make my own again,
though I have many good recipes and tips to try!

Smelled wonderful on the stove!

I pureed the soup and froze it with
saran warp on top as I read
it can stop freezer burn. 

I did not add the cream to the frozen soup
and marked it accordingly.
My google research on the topic
seemed to imply that cream may have to be
re-added after it taken out from the freezer
and so it seemed more economical to just wait with the cream.

 

Other than for the top little jar
which was enough for one big bowl of the soup
for my dinner on Saturday.
I added some cream.
I think the soup is a bit sweeter this time;
I am wondering about the oil I forgot and
the extra honey that I used because of this omission.
And that the squash did not get as burnt on the tips as last time,
or that I did not add the needed salt and pepper.
*
I am sure that I can season as I go, when reheating this soup.
I am beginning to dream about Christmas,
Mr. Husband and I's God-wiling
second Christmas as a newly married couple.
I have been squirreling away gifts for Mr. Husband,
ideas of Christmas Dinner,
gift ideas for various loved ones
and hope to make a really special meal at home for us.
*
I am also hoping to have a small holy supper this year
for Christmas Eve,
using the same table cloth that I used before and hope to find
vegan perogies with potato and onion.
Last Christmas we were not able to do the Holy Supper
which has become so much of my experience of Christmas and
the preparing for Christ's Birth.
I am so hoping it will be different this year ~
that we will not be sick, that we can have a simple
Holy Supper.
I am thinking of this as a menu:
~borsht (fasting)
~perogies (fasting)
~ bread
~salad
~dried fruit
~perhaps a lenten poppy seed dessert.
*
Here are some links about the Holy Supper
here, here, here (these first three being from the same place.
Also here, here, here and here.
*
I will never forget my years in Ottawa
and the various Holy Suppers I have been to there
and have hosted.
And how we would all after the meal go to church
for the Christmas Eve service.
My church started this service a little later than some churches
so everyone had time for their Holy Supper.
This meal adds so much to Christmas and
hushed glory and splendor that is there on Christmas Day.
*
Years ago the women who I have blogged about as the
Matriarch and Grandmother of my Ottawa Parish
lent me her cookbook with Christmas and Pascha recipes.
I found the PDF I made of these recipes today.
I also found a copy of this cookbook on Amazon
for a reasonable price and bought it,
thinking so much of this women.
*
So hopefully by December I will have a used copy
for God-willing future Christmas and Paschas...
Here's what it looks like,
just as I remember it:



I really miss them all,
those I knew and love in Ottawa;
as I blogged about before,
I hope that what I saw and was given in Ottawa
I hope to have always within me
and bring to everyone else that God
gives me on my life's path,
first of all being my beloved Mr. Husband and making
our own Orthodox Family Traditions as the years go by.
May God so grant this mercy!

Holy Supper

Did a simple version of the Holy Supper.

Borscht, Perogies, Bread, Fruits.

The bread I saved from my Oma's

Panahkyda.

Today liturgically is her birthday;

as well as in actuality my Grandpa's birthday;

I talked to my Grandma today

as I try to always do to remember my

Grandfather;

my Grandma always told him he was born on the

12th day of Christmas,

Epiphany as they know it....

The borscht turned out really well!

Did it a simple way as I did not have

a lot of time.

1 can beets with juice

1 can northern white beans

2 very big carrots chopped up small

3 large potatoes chopped up small

half of a larger can of tomato sauce

sauteed until caramelized onion with lots of margarine

added three or so cloves of garlic half way through

and some ground sea salt and pepper

chopped up and added lots of dill at the end.

Perogies with lots of caramelized onions

done in a generous amount of margarine.

Dried apricots and figs.

Water for dinner

and black tea afterwards,

as per request of guests.

It was a lovely meal!

Then we went to church for Great Compline and

the Litya.

We made it to Christmas Eve!!

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

New Year

Today after liturgy

I had my Oma's memorial service.

This was very good;

I wish already for another one for her...

My friends and I went out to eat afterwards in

memory of her

since there exceptionally was not a church meal

after liturgy today.

Grief is no easy thing but it was a relief

to have these prayers in the church for her.

As much as I had wished to have my house

clean for New Years

I was too sick to manage getting the whole house

prepared.

I am slowly getting better from the bad

chest cold I have been having

and was able to go to my friend's New Years Eve

Dinner party which was really nice.

I am hoping to get my house cleaned tomorrow

and that I finally will be well enough to do so.

I love my strand of white lights

that a dear friend gave me.

I hope to host the Holy Supper

again this Christmas Eve

which is this Friday.

*

I have not heard yet about the job proposal that

I submitted and hope to hear tomorrow.

*

The whole job searching thing I find

very difficult.

*

It was so good to have the service for my Oma today.

I really miss her but felt more sure

of being near her in Christ

during the prayers for her at church

and this is indeed a deep blessing.